Chapter 18

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 18

Chapter Title: The Golden Lion's Treasure and the Polluted Water (2)

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As Floyd stepped forward from the bench and spread his arms wide, Dennis and Jewelry came running and threw themselves into his embrace. With one arm around each child, Floyd effortlessly hoisted both of them up at once.

“My lord, what brings you to the Lily Palace?”

“Just came to visit. And to see you two while I was at it.”

“Dad still hasn't found out we come play here. Thanks for keeping our secret, my lord.”

Hexston already knew the children frequented this place, but Floyd nodded as if he had no idea.

“I always keep my promises to you.”

Roxiana looked up at Floyd and the children in his arms with a faint sense of surprise. Even if Hexston was Floyd's knight, she'd never seen children so casually intimate with a nation's ruler.

In the Kanta Kingdom, there were plenty of knights who brought their families into the palace, but their children wouldn't dare lift their heads in the king's presence. Not just in Kanta, but in any country.

After listening patiently to the children's chatter, Floyd set them down and said,

“I need to talk with the princess here, so off you go. Be careful not to touch the pond water. Better yet, just pick flowers on the grass and play there.”

The children glanced at Roxiana before scampering back to their play spot. Roxiana turned her gaze from them to Floyd, who sat down beside her.

“The children seem to visit here often. Do they ever bother you, Princess?”

“Not at all.”

“Good to hear. I was worried those little rascals might be a nuisance.”

The children played just the right amount of mischief, made just the right amount of noise, bickered just the right amount, and laughed a great deal. Every time they burst into laughter, Roxiana felt a warmth in her chest, even as a sharp pang of longing twisted inside her.

Perhaps that's why she came out to the garden whenever the children visited—a masochistic impulse, she thought. A punishment, pain, torment for the one survivor while her family lay dead.

Watching Dennis struggle to climb a tree, Roxiana spoke up.

“You are truly cruel, Your Highness.”

“Me? In what way?”

“You ordered the entire place filled with Adelia flowers.”

Lately, the Lily Palace had been bustling with activity, which puzzled her, but she later noticed everything being replaced one by one with designs featuring Adelia flowers. From sculptures to framed pictures on the walls, carpets, sofas and cushions, bedding and curtains—there wasn't a spot without the Adelia flower etched into it.

No matter where Roxiana collapsed in the Lily Palace, she couldn't escape the fragrance of Adelia flowers; it was packed so full they could have called it the Adelia Palace.

“If that's what makes me cruel, then the real cruelty is on you, Princess. Forcing you to watch innocents denied even peace in death. Do I seem that heartless to you?”

“It's what I want.”

“I can't grant every whim someone has. Especially not when it's self-inflicted torment.”

Roxiana clamped her mouth shut.

She couldn't get through to Floyd.

Stubborn man. Even if it was self-harm, it was her body—what business was it of his?

“At least you're keeping your promise to me. You've put on some weight, and you're coming out to the garden more often.”

“......”

“In Torkan, the Star Festival happens in December. It's a grand, joyous event, so when the time comes, you should venture into the city, Princess. You'll enjoy it.”

Enjoy it?

With my family all dead, tossed into a well—how could I enjoy anything? Could you? Could you smile after seeing your parents' corpses with your own eyes?

Suppressing the urge to scream, Roxiana meekly nodded. Her lifeline was in Floyd's hands. She'd resolved to do whatever he asked for that, so going out to see a festival was nothing.

She must have gripped her skirt hem without realizing it while holding back her anger. Floyd lightly tapped the back of her hand with his index finger.

“Relax a bit, Princess. I won't bite.”

“Then go ahead and eat me. Chew me up from fingertips to toes, leave nothing behind.”

Floyd's brows furrowed slightly at her resentful words before he chuckled.

“We'll see. I'm not quite hungry enough to devour you right now.”

“......”

“But I might get thirsty soon. Better drink plenty of water yourself, Princess.”

At those words, Roxiana turned to stare at Floyd. Lately, the voices only she could hear had been saying similar things more often.

-Loti, stock up on water.

-It's getting dangerous now. Even we're struggling to hold on.

-We'll be leaving soon. Go to the water's edge and call us. If you can't hear our voices, don't touch the water.

She didn't know what was happening with the water or what danger loomed, but it didn't seem good, so she ignored it. How could this man say the same things?

Sensing her gaze, Floyd turned to meet her eyes and smiled faintly.

“Don't worry. Just in case. I'll handle it before then.”

“How... did you know?”

“Hm?”

“That the water is dangerous...”

Could this man hear those voices too?

Did he possess the same power as her?

“Of course I know. It's happening in my country. Do I strike you as some rogue with no care for his land, just booze and nothing else?”

For some reason, their conversation felt like they were talking past each other. Unaware she'd touched on something irrelevant, Roxiana asked again.

“What's happening in this country?”

Floyd gave her an odd look before explaining the recent events. Water polluted by magical beasts, dying people, swift magical beasts hard to catch, and people settled in the forests.

“The folks living here settled because they trusted only me.”

It wasn't arrogance. From what Roxiana knew, Torkan's people had staked their lives on Floyd alone to make their home here.

The Whinasel region, where Torkan now stood, had fine weather and fertile soil—ideal for living. But cracks had spawned everywhere, letting magical beasts overrun it. Once called the “Land of Death,” the “Land Forsaken by the Gods,” or the “Cursed Land.”

Even those rooted here for generations had begun to leave one by one. When the Gania Kingdom, former owners of the region, declared they could no longer manage it and would abandon it,

he appeared.

Floyd Latan. Once known as Floyd Pellur, the illegitimate son of Gania's King Joseph V. The ominous man cursed with fire and cast out.

His flames incinerated the magical beasts, and the once-cursed figure earned the title of Red Tiger, Slayer of Magical Beasts.

People who had scorned, ignored, and feared him began to admire him. Kings from every nation vied to lure him to their lands.

But Floyd withstood the temptations and claimed the Whinasel region as his own, changing his name from Floyd Pellur to Floyd Latan.

Nations needing his power against unpredictable magical beasts from cracks accepted his seizure of Whinasel and naming it “Torkan.” The Emperor granted him the rank of Grand Duke.

The king's bastard, forever wandering with no home, thus became a nation's sovereign.

It was a tale famous enough to star in every bard's song. Roxiana herself had once gripped her hands in excitement listening to the story of the Red Tiger, Slayer of Magical Beasts—from her second brother, Ian.

'Yes, this man is the hero of that story.'

Roxiana studied his profile with renewed wonder.

His rust-red hair grown wild to frame his eyes, deep-set beneath thick brows, a straight nose, and stubborn lips.

In the tales, he seemed solemn, weighty, taciturn—a merciless swordsman swinging his blade without blood or tears. But the real man was different. Floyd laughed easily, got angry readily, a hot-blooded type who seemed to adore children.

Right now, worry creased his face. He wasn't one to hide his feelings well.

“I never planned to build a nation here.”

“Then why...?”

“I just needed a quiet spot for myself—no, for me and the guys who helped me. This place was perfect. Lots of cracks, so no one coveted it.”

But people trusted Floyd and his knights, who mercilessly slew magical beasts. One by one, they gathered to this forsaken land and to him.

“At first, it was a hassle, annoying even. But what could I do? Leave the people who came to live die? Before I knew it, numbers grew, someone granted me the Grand Duke title, recognized this as a nation. No escaping it now.”

Floyd shrugged.

“I never studied rulership, born royal but never learned proper etiquette. A guy like that on the throne, playing king? It's enough to make me lose my mind. Every crisis like this, I wonder if I'm making the right calls. Drives me crazy.”

Roxiana blinked at his candid words. She'd never seen someone bare their vulnerabilities so openly.

It didn't strike her as weak. It came from supreme confidence, the knowledge that showing frailty wouldn't diminish him in anyone's eyes.