Chapter 110
“Come here.”
Aria heard Sabina’s call and reflexively ran. Then Sabina took Aria in a flash and sat her on her own lap.
“Finally, the princess has woken up.”
Tristan said playfully as he took a handful of the pale petal-colored hair and twisted it with his fingers.
Aria looked up at Tristan for a moment.
He had given Sabina the seat he should have been sitting on originally, and was leaning dazedly next to her, with a glass.
Suddenly, a word came to mind that didn’t fit with Grand Duke Valentine…….
‘In the previous life, the Emperor’s lover was standing in that position…….’
Then Tristan asked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Aria shook her head, showing it was nothing. And she quickly erased what she had thought from her mind.
“You look happy.”
She naturally had a smile on her lips. It was a sight she would never have seen if she hadn’t changed the future.
Sabina and the Grand Duke.
“I think I will do the same even if I go back in time.”
“What?”
Sabina raised her eyebrows, and grabbed Aria’s cheeks as she spoke those cheeky words. She was called here to get scolded, yet she proudly declared that she did nothing wrong.
“Ohh cosh, I’m going to reflect ontees…”
Aria muttered.
Her pronunciation was all blurry because of the cheeks that stretched out on either side.
“I don’t know…”
She fluttered her eyelashes as Sabina fiddled with her plump cheeks and didn’t want to let go. The way she looked cute and pathetic, Sabina had no choice but to stop harassing her.
Aria rubbed her red cheeks, and she took the time and said quickly.
“I’m sorry for secretly committing a reckless thing without consulting you two.”
“It’s my fault.”
While Aria was in the midst of apologizing, Lloyd abruptly intervened.
“I took Aria, even though it was considered risky enough.”
“Then is it okay for you to be in danger?”
“What? I…”
Lloyd put on an awkward expression, as if he had never expected to hear such a word.
Sabina let out a sigh.
‘I was healed of my illness four years ago, but I’ve been sick since the day that child was born.’
In reality, she had only been a proper mother to her sons for four years. She could see how Lloyd had grown up over the years just by looking at his awkwardness over her worried nagging.
“I couldn’t take good care of you, so it’s understandable. There’s no way you could have been properly cared for under this knucklehead.”
“Knucklehead, are you talking about me?”
Tristan asked, pointing to himself. Sabina replied with a snort.
“Then who else would it be?”
“Hmm, that’s strange. I think I raised him prettily enough.”
“Twice the prettiness, he’ll be a dead body.”
Sabina stretched out the brazen Tristan’s ears. He pretended to be hurt and yelped in front of his wife.
“Mother, I am an adult.”
Lloyd, who had been making an uncomfortable face for a while, refuted. Then Sabina answered firmly.
“Not yet.”
He still has two years left until he becomes an adult recognized by the Empire.
Lloyd rubbed the nape of his neck, not knowing what to say.
“Even if I am not an adult, I am the Young Head who will soon be responsible for the family.”
“Does such a person throw himself into a dangerous task without hesitation?”
Well no……. The more he spoke, the more he felt like he was falling into a hole.
To argue that it wasn’t even dangerous, something went wrong and his reason was almost taken away by malice and he got eroded.
Lloyd decided it was wise to just shut his mouth and listen to his mother.
“I will accept whatever punishment you give.”
This time, Aria intervened, “Me too.”
“Hmm…….”
“I’m really sorry to have caused you worry about this. I’ll make sure you don’t have to worry about it again.”
“Can I trust you?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Aria and Lloyd answered her question at the same time.
“Ha…….”
Sabina sighed again. There are no parents who can win against their children.
“Anyway, since you’ve done the work, take responsibility until the end. Go and finish your work.”
Those who were taken into slavery remain in this castle. Aria thought of them and nodded her head.
“Call Vincent on the way.”
Vincent told Aria to be prepared, since Grand Duke Valentine and his wife found out about this.
‘He spoke like someone else.’
But he was still a minor and was Sabina’s son. It was the same that he recklessly jumped into something dangerous.
‘You would be scolded too, idiot.’
Aria smiled broadly and nodded her head.
It was a pity that she couldn’t see Vincent flustered as he listened to the worried nagging.
Maxim was not so powerful enough that there was nothing to fear under the sky. But, at least within the Kingdom of Bruto, he was the head of the Underhill Slave merchant who can take down even a flying bird.
He was not afraid of the King either. It was because he knew the King would not be able to do anything about himself, unless he had caused an outright rebellion.
By the way…….
“The Master has entrusted me with your disposal.”
“Disposal? Me?”
Maxim responded with a smirk.
“You seem to be misunderstanding something, but I’m rather the victim here?”
“Victim?”
“I lost the entire crew, staff, and ships as well as the slaves because the subjects sent from there ran wild. How are you going to pay it back?”
“You are mistaken.”
Hearing those words, the man was silent for a moment, and then spoke in a much lower voice than before.
“You seem to be mistaken, but you’re just a merchant who supplies ingredients.”
“…!”
“Whatever the cause, you failed to carry out your mission. Even valuable experimental materials and subjects were lost at once.”
Mission? Maxim was not on a mission, he just took on a commission for money.
In the first place, it was absurd for the head of a secret research institute run by the state, not the King, to talk about his disposition.
“Are you saying that the head of the research institute is going to treat me like a subordinate and even punish me?”
“Head? The head of the research institute is only the Master’s agent, he’s not the same person.”
He’s not the same person?
‘So what?’
It was literally a research institute run by the state. Of course, the wardens and masters were all officials who eat royal salaries.
‘Wait a minute.’
Was the Master supposed to be the King?
“Did His Majesty personally order my disposal?”
“Why do I have to listen to the orders of the King of such a small country?”
“What?”
At that moment, Maxim stopped fidgeting and stood up awkwardly.
He had a pretty accurate guess at the bottom. And he now smells it was quite dangerous. That’s why he felt intuitively that he shouldn’t laugh at what that hooded man was saying right now.
“Then who is the Master?”
“He is infinitely close to heaven.”
Heaven? So, in the sky?
“Is he the Pope or something?”
It was a bad joke thrown without much thought. There’s no way that the head of a creepy research lab that conducts human experiments or anything like that is God’s agent.
But strangely, the man in the hood didn’t answer.
“…Ugh!”
Then he felt a stinging pain in his right arm.
Maxim felt frustrated, but it was already too late. He looked down at the injected arm and then slowly turned his head.
The men had already done it silently a long time ago.
“This is a newly developed poison. You can consider it an honor to be the first test subject.”
“Wa, wait. Wait. You’re too impatient. If you kill me now, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Damn it. He had stepped on a landmine. Maxim began to utter something urgently.
“I heard a song…”
He could see the eyes glancing through the hood open wide, as if surprised for a moment.
A fire broke out at that moment. He was like being thrown into the middle of lava.
A terrible pain.
That was the last thing Maxim remembered.
“A song?”
– Yes. Obviously he said so.
“I’ll figure it out for now. Save your life as much as possible.”
– Yes. I will do my best.
A conversation was heard in the room.
‘Song?’
Veronica listened to the conversation coming through the crack in the door, and as he finished the communication, she made a gesture.
Knock, knock-
The sound of the knocking stopped the Cardinal’s voice.
“Hmm, come in.”
Veronica had a familiar smile that was almost engraved on her face. It was that kind of smile that made even those who saw it feel relaxed and smile with her.
“May God bless you.”
“May God bless you.”
After gently putting their hands together to offer a formal blessing, they sat down with a table in between.
They were accustomed to pretentiousness. After exchanging meaningless greetings and compliments for a long time, they got to the point.
“So I heard you have something to say to me.”
“Ah, actually…”
Veronica grabbed the teacup she was holding with both hands and lowered her gaze. And after hesitating for a long time, she belatedly gathered up the courage to say it.
“The words the Cardinal said by chance keep ringing in my ears.”
“By chance? What……”
“The divine power.”
At those words, the Cardinal wriggled the corners of his lips, which had drawn a benevolent smile for a moment.
“I must have said it was nothing then.”
“But, how could the Cardinal say such a word without much meaning…”
“Saint Veronica.”
The Cardinal quietly put down the teacup and said, as if to reveal his uncomfortable feelings.
“I said clearly that I was speaking of nothing.”
“……”
“Whatever you may have guessed, if you dig deeper than this, I will have no choice but to send the Saint to a place that God cannot reach.”
It was a pretty brutal threat.
For those who had devoted their lives to serving God and devoted their lives to the Papal Palace, it was almost a death sentence. Had it been for another priest, they would have already fallen on the floor begging for their wrongdoing.
But Veronica didn’t blink. She didn’t even avoid the Cardinal’s gaze.
‘Look at this?’
The Cardinal, who had only known her as a weak saint with a good character, raised his eyebrows.
It was intriguing.
