Chapter 59: Many Types of Love
It was the morning of the day after the festival. In the Lord’s castle, after
most guests had left, Adam sat alongside the rest of the Reinvelt Knights, Lord
Soren and his wife, and the steward of Serenia City.
"Did you hear anything, Lord Soren?" asked Adam.
"There are doctors here and there; our physician is also saying the same thing."
The room was filled with silence.
Corruption.
There was no denying it; it was exactly what they didn’t want to admit. Lady
Arlene had been struck by the corruption.
"My lord..." Dumas spoke up. "I... Lord, there is."
"There is no cure. I know, damn it." Adam held his head. "You think I don’t know
that? But fuck. How do you expect me to give up here? All those CEF bastards..."
Dumas, Adam, and the Reinvelt Knights had spent most of last night killing and
then getting rid of the CEF bodies. They had no choice but to. After that,
carefully, Adam decided to reveal the true situation to Lord Soren and the
people he could trust, which had brought them to this meeting.
"It’s fucking hilarious. How does contact with a demon, just one, at such a time
cause the corruption? What the fuck is with that? Is it some cosmic joke?"
Even if it was, did God only find Arlene to play this joke on? There was simply
no way he could give up on his sister. No chance.
Soren and everyone else in the room sympathized, but for all of them, the matter
had already gone ahead.
Soren had planned for it, too.
"Young Master. At this moment, we have to make sure that Lady Arlene’s sacrifice
does not go to waste—"
"Don’t you dare say sacrifice!" Adam slammed the table. "She’s alive, and she
will live."
"Young Master! You need to think straight. While she has the chance, at least
let her know this won’t go to waste. The CEF had a demon hiding among their
members. We have a body!"
Adam had already lost the political edge by killing all the CEF members. All to
extend the misery of his sister by just another night. Whether it was now or
some days down the line, however long she could hold on, she would eventually
have to die.
Soren hoped that Adam wouldn’t be maddened enough to see her turn corrupt.
"No, there might still be a way. Something out there, someone."
"Young Master, if we announce it right now and take Lady Arlene back to the
capital, there will be a good chance."
"Fucking hell, we’ll take her, sure. I have already sent letters back home.
Anywhere that has a cure. Whatever part of the world. Even if we can just keep
her alive until then."
"Why are you prolonging her suffering? Dumas! Say something."
"Young Master..."
"Dumas, don’t give me bullshit. I get Soren, but you don’t dare."
Dumas leaned in and held Adam’s shoulders. "I am not going to say that either.
There might be a way."
Soren and everyone in the room straightened up. They were shocked that Dumas
would even propose that.
"The CEF said they could go in and through the forest with the Obscurer, right?
And they have left it here. If there’s any figure in the world..."
Nea, Keith, Soren, and Adam himself—all of them looked at Dumas with an absurd
glare in their eyes. They couldn’t believe their ears, and had no choice but to.
"The Witch Queen?"
Adam took a deep breath.
If anyone. If anyone in the world could do it.
No, why would that be possible? The only way that could be possible was if they
were to believe that the corruption was caused by the Witch Queen.
But that had fallen through, too.
"We have just avoided the possibility of a long war!" Soren said. "And you’ll
start it again?"
Adam turned.
"No... if there’s any chance that the Witch Queen can save her."
He couldn’t just leave it be.
It was his sister. How would he show his face to his family? Hell, how would he
be able to live with himself after giving up on his own sister?
"I’ll go personally. If she has a cure and refuses, then we wage war."
Adam stood up.
"Wait, Young Master, we’ll come with you—"
"No. Not right now." Adam shook his head. "I will go."
He went out of the room, leaving the others behind. Dumas went along outside,
too. Soren saw it and held his head, reeling back in his chair.
"Those damned CEF... they have ruined everything for us. First, Lady Arlene, and
now even Lord Adam."
"Hey, don’t say that."
"Lady Nea, you must hear me out at least! We need to stop this from happening."
Nea shook her head. "I am sorry, but I agree with Young Master. I am not giving
up on Lady Arlene either, no matter what."
"Hah..." Soren sighed. "You guys say giving up as if I am asking you to abandon
her. We don’t get to live in our ideals; we live here in this world. You think
we’ll find the cure for something that humanity hasn’t cured in over a thousand
years overnight?"
He stood up and moved away as well.
"Mark my words, the way to be true to her right now is to understand her
position. Even she would not want this! You’re making light of that woman!"
Nea bit her lip.
Was it so selfish of them to want her to live? She couldn’t tell.
Perhaps she didn’t need to, either, because the door swung open right then and
Dumas came back, his eyes wide. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands.
"S-she ran away..." he said. "Arlene ran away."
"What!?" "Huh?"
Everyone in the room turned back to him in shock.
"She left a letter saying she can’t allow us to ruin things for the North and
that she will die peacefully on her own..."
Adam gulped. She must have been listening.
"Let’s go right now!" Soren screamed then. "You think I will sit and let the
lady be alone at this time? Absolutely not!"
What was selfish and what wasn’t.
Perhaps all of it was love.
What they needed right now was to look for her.
