~Chapter 69~
Damn, finally…
‘Khal!’
[Where are you, Ruby?]
His voice was pressed down, but it sounded like it was at the breaking point. I answered quickly.
‘I’m here, Ipsun Mountain!’
I fumbled, touching my earlobe and closing my eyes. I could feel Licht’s stare, but there was nothing I could do. I only hoped it looked like I was dizzy.
‘I don’t know exactly where. Licht and Lady Titi are hurt, the bad people were caught…’
[And you.]
‘Huh?’
[Are you hurt?]
‘I’m fine.’
A very deep, long sigh followed.
[Stay where you are. Don’t cut the circuit. I’ll come right away.]
His voice gave me chills. My nose stung.
[Don’t do anything dangerous. Don’t use magic. Got it?]
‘Mm. I got it.’
I didn’t ask how he would find me. Khal always showed up in front of me with some crazy way no matter where I hid.
After the short talk with him, the stiffness in my shoulders finally eased. I hadn’t even realized how tense I was.
“Rubian, your face looks the worst right now. Come rest here.”
Licht pulled me close. I leaned against him.
‘Hurry, my spare battery…’
As I pulled my knees up and tried to bury my face, something dropped from my clothes.
“Rubian, this is yours.”
Titi picked it up, wrapped in a handkerchief, and handed it to me.
“A bell…? A small chime?”
Ah.
I dazedly accepted it. I had wrapped it in a cloth so it wouldn’t ring and forgotten it in my pocket.
Licht stared at me, holding the bell.
“Did Lord Jebert give you that?”
I nodded faintly.
Then Titi, who had been holding back tears, suddenly covered her face again.
“I want to see my dad… and my mom too.”
“Me too…” Olivia bit her lip and hugged Titi.
“Don’t cry anymore. You’ll lose your strength, young ladies,” Licht comforted them.
They were noble children, suddenly thrown deep into the forest. Of course they were scared.
“I hope someone comes soon…”
I held the bell in one hand and hugged my knees. Listening to the crackling fire, my thoughts drifted.
Dad…
The chaos of the kidnapping had pushed this away, but the worry finally crashed down.
Is he really worried about me right now?
He must’ve heard by now. Maybe he was desperately searching for me.
Rosetta Jebert… did he meet her too?
Then he must’ve learned I was a girl.
How do I face him now…
I buried my forehead deeper.
Borrow Khal’s magic to erase memories…
No. I couldn’t mess with the whole Jebert family’s minds.
My head throbbed as I shook it. My shoulders trembled.
What do I do? I’ll just beg until I’m forgiven.
I already knew.
There was no escape.
I had only delayed the punishment I was bound to face anyway.
He didn’t know I was a mage, but he’d still be angry—why did I hide my gender? And he’d be right.
I would apologize, beg, and ask to stay by his side anyway.
“Your father… will never come to this cemetery.”
Even so, what if…
What if he said he would never raise a daughter?
Is he regretting it now?
Telling me to call him “dad”…
The voices of Titi and Liv calling for their parents echoed in my ears.
The truth was—I wanted to cry my heart out too. But I didn’t even know who I could cry for. So I just stayed silent.
“Old Duke!”
A knight ran up. The old man radiating fierce energy snapped his head around.
“Did you find her? Tell me you found her!”
“We found wagon wheel tracks! But the rain washed them away…”
Crack. The pin he was holding crumbled into dust. It had been found in the alley where Rubian disappeared.
“I’ll kill them all… every last one…”
“Please, calm yourself!”
Dark energy seeped out. The old man’s clenched fists trembled, his face torn with anguish.
“What kind of absurd nonsense is this?!”
The child was gone.
And what?
They said the child wasn’t a boy but a girl.
Nothing made sense. Where had it gone wrong?
But more than that—
They claimed Rubian ran away in fear after her true gender was revealed.
Balrog swallowed a groan, closing his eyes.
No. No, my dear.
That doesn’t matter.
You, just as you are, are already precious and irreplaceable.
What did such things matter?
“Seal off Ipsun completely! Send knights to the mountain! Tell those fools Camellan and Olson the same!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“And Leviathan?”
“He’s already searching Ipsun Mountain!”
“Let’s go!”
Clatter. Balrog threw the broken sword to the ground. Bloodied criminals rolled in the dungeon, groaning.
They were the ones who had failed to escape.
“Heal them. Keep them awake.”
The beastlike old man looked down at them like worms.
“From now on, I’ll show you true hell.”
The wagon tracks in the forest suddenly ended.
Leviathan scoured Ipsun Mountain without a pause. The knights trailing behind had fallen away, but he didn’t care.
When even his horse collapsed from exhaustion, he abandoned it without hesitation and searched on foot.
Turning over thorns and beast corpses, he wondered if this was all a nightmare.
“Leviathan!”
Rosetta came riding fast. She stopped for a moment at his face.
It was terrifyingly blank. No emotion at all. His eyes looked less human than a dangerous predator.
Just like during the war…
She bit her lip and gripped his hand tightly.
“Calm down. You’re not even breathing properly.”
“Rose, I…”
His cracked voice shook.
“I really don’t know. I don’t know what I did. Why didn’t Ruby tell me the truth…?”
Whatever it was—
“It’s my fault.”
It was his stupidity that led her into this hell.
If he could, he would rip himself apart.
He hadn’t even known what his child had been suffering. He was only happy to hear her call him “Dad.” The memory stabbed him like a spear.
“Damn it, I…”
And then—
Ding-ling.
“…!” Leviathan jerked his head up.
“Levi?”
“Wait, Rose.”
Ding-ling. Ding-ling.
Through the rain, faint bell chimes rang.
“If you want to call me, shake the bell. I’ll understand.”
His gaze snapped north.
Could it be?
Eyes wide, Leviathan rushed forward, but someone blocked his path.
A rain-soaked boy dropped from a tree.
“Duke.”
Khalid caught his breath and delivered without hesitation:
“The cave. Northern slope.”
