Chapter 21
“Thank you. I’ll walk now.”
Elysia has fully calmed down.
She even realized that there was nothing else she could do other than just hoping that they would be alive, and she was in a hurry to run first to find them in case of an emergency.
Before she was reborn, she lived a familiar life alone.
She grew up in a vampire facility from the time she was born without knowing who her parents were. So, perhaps, the existence of a family that suddenly occurred in this world made it impossible to make rational judgments. She told herself that she would rather not give in to her heart, but who could reject their unconditional affection.
It seemed that Elysia could understand why humans laugh and cry so much in the fence of family.
How long have they been walking? There were quite a few traces in their sight.
“I guess this is the right way.”
It was a rare trace.
“This is right. I can hear people talking.”
“Really?”
As they walked a little more, Elysia could hear it.
She ran in the direction of the sound. Cassian slowly followed behind her, looking at the surroundings. Finally, in front of Elysia’s eyes, the figure of the party returning to the Empire was seen.
The red eyes were busy looking for her family members.
“...Father!”
Elysia ran and fell in the arms of her father, Duke Lowell.
“Sia! Why are you here...!”
A tattered cloak was caught in Elysia’s hand.
It was terrifying since the cloak her father was wearing was what the monster was biting.
‘Ah... It’s really fortunate.’
After running away, her brother, Ted, who was sitting and heavily breathing, was surprised by the appearance of Elysia and approached them.
The servants and knights who survived together shed tears in their hearts that they had lived, seeing the face of Cassian who followed.
“Oh, really... How much I...”
Elysia burst into her cries, which she had been holding back. The Duke and Ted struggled to soothe Elysia, who was crying out loud.
A knight who was watching them said to Reid, an aide to Duke Lowell next to him.
“By the way, why are these two...” freewebno(v)el.com
“They must have been hurt while dealing with a monster... I assumed so.”
The gaze of the knight and the aide turned to Cassian. He had a shallow wound on his neck and chest, and also had several nail marks, and bruises on both wrists.
“...”
“...”
The eyes of the knight and the aide turned to Elysia. The nape of her neck was red, seen through the robes she was wearing, and she also had bruises on both her wrists. Their faces were burning.
After staring at Elysia, Cassian gave cold eyes toward the two blushing men. It meant for them to cover their eyes immediately. The knights and the aides were rather agitated and put their eyes on the floor.
“Is it a habit to loosen the buttons?”
“What?”
Cassian approached Elysia, locked her loose button, and covered the mark on her neck. She stared at him and opened her mouth.
“Why are you looking at it, then? It’s frustrating to button it to the end.”
“Keep it buttoned.”
The Duke of Lowell, who was watching the two from behind, shouted.
There was no awkwardness between the two, anyone would have thought that the two were intimate, and were lovers.
***
Cassian calmed down the fuss and led the party outside the Jericho Mountains.
Everyone’s faces were brighter when he said, if they move without rest, they will be able to get out today. It was possible because they ran away from the Jericho Mountains.
Even though they encountered the monster several times in the middle, they were able to pass without much damage under Cassian’s leadership. He asked the knights on the move about the situation of the raid and was busy checking the village he saw on the way.
The road to find her family felt like a long day, but the sun was setting before she knew it.
Elysia’s brother Ted quietly opened his mouth.
“By the way, Sia. What is your relationship with the Duke of Esteban? There were rumors that we don’t know.”
“Oh, that’s... actually...”
As Elysia hesitated her words and blushed her face, her father’s face began to get unpleasant.
They were staring at Elysia’s gleaming lips.
“The rumor, it’s true.”
“What?!” The two shouted at the same time at her words.
The rumor that Elysia took on the sympathy of Duke Esteban was true!
As Elysia cleared her throat, she, embarrassedly, put her hands together. Her father’s misunderstanding became even more pronounced.
With these two appearances, Elysia decided that it was better to talk about it now than to find out when she arrives at the Empire.
From the engagement to what happened with the Emperor. Leaving out the contract relationship part.
“What?”
“It can be said that you promised to be married.”
The Duke made a loud voice at the same time and grabbed Elysia. She asked him to quiet down and took her finger to her lips. In the process of explaining what had happened, Duke Lowell’s face repeatedly turned white and blue.
“Your Majesty, you’re going to cut me in the back of my head.
Duke Lowell gritted his teeth quickly. He stared fiercely at Cassian’s back.
Although he felt fortunate she had escaped her engagement with Revos because his feelings towards Revos weren’t quite good. He, nevertheless, couldn’t be happy that there was a man taking her daughter all of a sudden.
Of course, there was nothing he could do now. Both the engagement and the marriage were already approved by the Imperial Family.
“Father, brother. The Duke has saved you, you shouldn’t look at him like that.”
“But...”
It was difficult to admit that he was a good man just because he had accompanied her to this dangerous place.
The two men made a pledge that they would never go on a business trip in the future. And as soon as Duke Lowell stepped foot in the Empire, he said he would visit the Emperor.
“It’s surprising by the way, Father. I didn’t know that His Majesty the Crown Prince was going to marry Sia.”
“Shut up. Thinking that we have been neglecting our Sia... huhu.”
He was forced to watch her with Revos because Elysia liked him so much, but he didn’t think she would break up with Revos while he was away like this.
Duke Lowell gave strength to his hand. It left as though his heart was giving out because of the bombshells that kept coming out of Elysia’s mouth.
***
Elysia had contacted Ramote in advance, so when she left the mountain range, she could see him waiting for them. As soon as she saw Ramote’s figure, she ran towards him.
“Old Man...!”
Ramote clicked his tongue, after receiving Elysia, who was about to jump and hug him.
“I was worried that you might go out by yourself, but I didn’t think you really did! You should have contacted me in advance.”
He frowned his eyebrows, raising his glasses with his hand not holding her. Elysia, who was hit in the forehead, frowned and protested.
“I’ve already been scolded by father and brother.”
“I think it would be okay if you were scolded. But... I guess you’re not alone.”
His gaze turned to Cassian, who was standing in front of the party. Ramote couldn’t help but see Cassian’s stinging gaze.
The party was alternating between the direction of Elysia and Cassian with strange eyes.
Duke Lowell seemed to be familiar with the appearance of Elysia in Ramote’s arms since there was no reaction coming from him at all. Rather, the atmosphere became more subtle due to the family’s attitude of being familiar.
“Are you coming with me?”
“Huh? No. I have to join the subjugation team.”
Elysia turned her head and gave Cassian a look. He was looking at Elysia with a deep expression.
“Be careful. Tsk. Duke Esteban is staring at me as if he would kill me.”
“Huh? It doesn’t seem like that.”
She listened to Ramote and grabbed him by the collar. As Cassian raised his eyebrows, the group slipped away from his side.
“Be careful, old man. You have to communicate when you arrive. All right?”
“Yes. I’ll have to talk more about it when you return.”
“Huh...?”
Cassian approached her, grabbed her waist, and pulled her towards him. Elysia, out of Ramote’s arms, looked at Cassian with a confused expression.
“My lover is not being careful.”
“Old man is not a man, but a family.”
Cassian smiled lightly and made an expression telling her not to spout nonsense. While the two quarreled, Duke Lowell approached Ramote and talked. He then approached Elysia and grabbed her hand.
“Do you have to participate in the subjugation? Even now...”
“I’m already expected to participate. Besides, the Duke’s schedule changed because of me, so I have to go.”
Since Cassian ordered to advance the subjugation schedule two days before departure, the subjugation team was scheduled to depart tomorrow. He planned to join them on the way to the East Sea.
“Be careful, especially with Duke Esteban.”
“Father! Shhh! He can hear everything!”
“No matter what you say, you have to be careful because it’s still before marriage.”
‘Father, that person who should be more careful is him. I’m holding back the urge to attack him.’ She sighed as she drew words in her head that she could not say.
Duke Lowell thought it wasn’t enough to ask Elysia, so he approached Cassian. He gave him all kinds of warnings.
Elysia buried her face in both palms in embarrassment and shame.
Ramote shook his head over the Lowell families and opened his mouth to her companions.
“They look exhausted, but you have to move quickly to get to the nearby town.”
No matter how tired they were, they had no choice but to listen to Ramote. Since it was what the great wizard said. Besides, they still haven’t gotten out of the distinctive shadiness of the Jericho Mountains.
“Then, go with caution!”
The faces of her family were still dark as they watched Elysia, waving her hand with her bright expression.
***
Elysia and Cassian went diligently to find a place to rest for the night.
The place where they are now was on the north side of the mountain range, and they had to go further down to meet the subjugation team.
“You look close with the Archmage.”
Elysia tilted her head at the sudden talk about Ramote.
“Oh, right? He’s my benefactor. It’s like a family.”
“Today let’s rest around here.”
“All right.”
She nodded quickly as she felt tired.
“There seems to be water nearby, so go there.”
As she moved a little further, she could hear the sound of water dripping.
‘I’m sure he has better ears than me.’
Not far away there was a small waterfall. The mountain range was much cooler than the Imperial midwinter weather, and surprisingly, there was a waterfall with hot water. There was a thick fog all around it, perhaps because of the water temperature.
There was a word that came to Elysia’s mind.
Hot spring bath!
“I can rest here! It’s nice to hear the sound of water, right?”
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