Chapter 41

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 41

Chapter Title: A Leash for the Rebels

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Saya. If anyone comes looking for me, say you don't know anything. If I stay, you'll be in danger too. This country's rotten. I'll go avenge Father. Wait for me.

The next day, soldiers patrolled the streets searching for the one who had beaten the guard captain.

Only then did Saya realize why her brother had fled in such a hurry.

Saya buried her face in her hands.

"Look, Theo. You left me without a second thought, but here I am still worrying about you and can't even look after myself."

Is this really right?

But her tears dried quickly. Though she was left all alone, she had to keep living.

Saya chewed and swallowed the dry bread with a crunch.

"I promised to deliver the herbs until the contract is canceled."

She finished her simple meal and got to her feet. She quickly gathered her things and was opening the front gate when—

"Hello."

Saya came face-to-face with a girl standing in front of her gate.

The girl had moon-like silver hair and green eyes. She looked utterly out of place on this street—like some refined and precious young lady.

"What's your name?"

The girl stared at Saya for a moment before asking abruptly.

"Sa-Saya."

The girl smiled brightly.

"I'm sorry to show up without any notice, but if you're not too busy, could you spare me a little time?"

Medea stepped into the house, where only faint embers remained.

It was still light outside, but the interior was shrouded in darkness.

The young homeowner looked exactly like the boy she remembered.

'Was Theo a girl?'

"No family?"

"My parents passed away long ago, and I had one brother... but he's dead."

Despite being a stranger, Saya found herself answering those clear green eyes without thinking.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause after the girl's response.

"Your father was a retired soldier, wasn't he?"

Saya's pupils trembled. Her heart pounded at the girl's voice, which already seemed to know all about her.

Was she here to arrest her for her brother's crime?

Saya threw herself flat on the floor. The girl reacted swiftly.

"My father's name is Pearson, and I have a twin brother named Theo. Three years ago, he beat the guard captain and ran away, so I lied."

Medea raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know where your brother went?"

Saya shook her head.

"He sends word now and then just to let me know he's alive. He says he still can't come back because he's being hunted."

Three years had passed—any warrant or punishment should have weakened long ago. Yet he wasn't returning to the capital...

'That means he's already joined the rebels. For someone as meticulous as Theo to risk sending messages, he must cherish this girl greatly.'

Medea's index finger tapped rhythmically on her knee as she thought.

"I didn't come here to ask about that. I heard you're suffering alone and thought I might offer some help."

Neril looked at Medea. Realizing she intended to take Saya in, she interrupted urgently despite knowing it was rude.

"Your Highness, I'll handle that later. We can't have some stranger of uncertain background near Your Highness—"

In mid-sentence, Neril realized she had let slip the princess's status and faltered.

But Saya's eyes had already widened as she stared at Medea.

'A princess...!'

Stories of the princess living in the grand palace far away were even famous in her slum.

Saya bowed her head even lower to the floor.

"Please take me with you. I don't want to stay here."

The young girl thought to herself.

The young lady—no, Her Highness the Princess—before her was the first and last lifeline offered to her.

"You can order me to do anything. I'll do whatever it takes, so please don't leave me here."

A princess could surely make her brother's mistake against the soldiers disappear as if it never happened.

She was glad to have found a way to survive even while bearing her brother's sin.

"My brother may have committed a crime, but my father died on the battlefield fighting for Baldina. Your Highness, is that still not enough?"

The young girl's voice sounded desperate somehow.

But at the same time, it was clear and precise.

Saya resembled the Theo from her memories, yet was different.

Her seemingly frail but upright eyes held a resolute determination that would never break.

The way Saya pleaded with the princess while simultaneously watching Neril showed exactly how she had struggled to survive in this place.

And finally, mentioning that her father had been a soldier of Baldina to appeal for sympathy.

"Even if you don't follow me, I can arrange a way for you to live."

A thick pouch of gold coins was held out toward Saya.

"But I don't keep just anyone by my side."

Saya was quick on the uptake.

The beautiful princess. And the knight who obeyed her absolutely.

There was only one gap she could slip into.

"Your Highness has no need for someone as lowly as me, but I've never failed at anything I've tried, and I pick up new tasks quickly. I can do anything—even things that would be awkward to ask of your knight or others."

Medea looked down at the child steadily.

"Princess over there! Grab the princess!"

"Everyone, look! Here's the princess who got caught after running away to save her own skin!"

'Theo, if we're talking past lives, I should kill you preemptively.'

But in the end, you showed me mercy by letting me go. So as payment for that, I'll look after your little sister.

The karmic ties between past and present end here, but I'll grant you one more act of grace.

'I'll spare your life too.'

Instead, when you and the rebels scale the walls, this girl will be the final leash holding you back.

Medea gave her advance warning.

"You might regret making me your master."

I'll use you as a noose around your brother's neck.

"Is that still alright with you?"

Saya gazed into those clear green eyes. At the very least, there wasn't a shred of deceit in them.

She nodded vigorously.

"Then come with me."

The white hand that grasped the child and pulled her up was cold.

At that moment, in the same slum neighborhood.

Cezare arrived.

As Facade's mercenaries—looking utterly mismatched with the rundown, narrow streets—appeared one after another, a tense atmosphere settled over the area.

Thugs with fierce glares started to pick fights but backed away at the murderous aura emanating from them.

"This the place? Where that witch is?"

Garo answered Cezare's question.

"Yeah, boss. My informant spotted an old man speaking continental dialect in the slums outside the walls. Said one of his possessions had a pattern that looked like the Shadeya tribe's mark."

"Cezare, don't get your hopes up."

Terrence, who had tagged along out of concern for his friend, shook his head.

Cezare scanned the empty street thoughtfully.

It was a small neighborhood. They could search it thoroughly by the end of the day.

They quickened their pace.

It was as they passed a particularly dark and shadowy alley.

"Looking for me?"

An old man in a robe grinned without lifting his head.

"You're late. With what little time I have left, I thought this old man would head to the afterlife first."

Garo narrowed his eyes.

The old man's words sounded just like he had known they were searching for him.

Had he deliberately evaded their pursuit all this time, making it so hard to track him down?

If so, then why reveal himself now?

At that moment, the old man spoke to Garo.

"Those who are meant to meet will meet. With our times crossing on the line of fate, this point of contact has been born."

Cezare strode over and stood before the old woman. A thick shadow fell over her.

"Are you the shaman of Shadeya?"

The wind blew, pulling back the robe covering the old man's forehead.

"Black star, how pitiful—something vile has entwined your fate."

Terrence flinched upon seeing the unfocused, cloudy jade eyes.

"You're blind..."

Yet the shaman precisely raised her head and stared at Cezare—as if she could see him.

"The primordial darkness is vicious and sticky; it won't let go until your breath fails you. You've been bitten by something vicious."

Cezare's golden eyes flashed. He knelt down to meet her gaze and asked.

"Do you know a way to lift this curse?"