Chapter 101

“You’re here…”

Rosenin, who had e to her senses, said with her cheeks dyed red. The mask she had been wearing had been broken and disappeared in the middle, and her face, tainted with grime and blood, would probably be difficult to recognize even by a family member.

“I didn’t expect you to e in person. Thank you for letting me know and for helping Vera and the child. Naturally, I won’t let you down.”

Rosenin pouted her lips like sulking, but that’s all. She glanced at Elisha up and down before lowering her eyes, then repeated the motion several more times.

The Rosenin Elisha had known in the past was shy… However, the Rosenin she had encountered at the birthday banquet of the 2nd Prince held at the Golden Hall was a lively and bold girl.

She wanted to protect her at all times because it looked cute.

Elisha herself had taken the initiative in reducing the hardships and failures that the sister would’ve suffered because of her brothers, so she thought she would be able to see her bright side from now on.

It seemed that this incident was so shocking that she became so flustered that she couldn’t even make eye contact.

When Elisha patted her shoulder, she quickly put her pouting lips in and leaned her head against the back of her hand, perhaps for another reason. She seemed to want to know something.

This is hard. As expected, Elisha was more malicious than good. While the depth of good intentions was challenging to guess because of the feelings for the other person, evil intentions were so clear that no clearer light could be found.

Even if malice was disguised as a box painted with jewels and melted gold, it somehow crept through the cracks and gave off a stench.

That’s why you could crush it and blow it up at once without even thinking about it.

Elisha firmly held Rosenin and Vera, who each occupied her arm.

“If you’ve taken a breather, leave. This is no place to stay forever.”

At Elisha’s words, Rosenin turned around and nodded in agreement, and Vera replied that she understood.

Behind the three women were layers of bodies, and the barren land was filled with so much blood that it could not be pletely absorbed.

So Zile and the Zelot Knights, who were watching them, looked a little fed up. Was it not the 2nd Consort who made the place like that in the first place, and didn’t she even calmly fort the other two people by having them sit in such a place?

They thought it was too late to say that, so no one spoke out. They were the Zelot Knights who took on secret missions and saw a lot of dirty and rough things, but today’s sight was disastrous enough to make them sick.

When the fight had escalated, the motion had grown more extensive, and as the people from other places gathered and joined, the fight got even bigger again… It was a terrible repetition. The 2nd Consort showed her abilities without raising an eyebrow at the center of it.

People had been curious the other day when she told them that she had made those who had dared to touch her in the desert pay, whether the curiosity was about her power or the results of the ‘payment’.

Zile had been one of those people, but not anymore. As the water spirit splashed in the blood and blood surged like a barrier and attacked others, Zile repeated to himself.

One doesn’t have to experience hell once they’ve seen it. He already knew what would have happened there.

Elisha and the group hurried out of the West. It was an incident that stirred the West from the bottom up, where Elisha and the others came in, and Vera and the others tried to get out. Elisha knew there would be a plex process this time again.

“No one is chasing us.”

Vera said, fortunately.

“Because all those who could immediately follow us are dead.”

“Ah…”

Rosenin responded kindly in her way, but Vera hesitated before closing her mouth. She was at a loss as to what to say.

Instead of going down the mountain range, the party went up the mountain in the opposite direction to the heart of the Pavezzo Mountains and decided to swerve sideways before the majestic central vein began.

The higher they climbed, the more difficult it was to climb the mountain without much preparation. However, there was no denying that it was the best situation at that moment. Clearly, if they had gone down the mountain as it was, they would have been caught up in a bigger problem in the West.

“If we continue to walk sideways before the main vein, we will get to the entrance of the central region. From there, we can go to Barossa using the portal of the nearby estate.”

Everyone agreed. Only Rosenin had an ambiguous destination. Elisha herself would’ve sent her somewhere else, but she was unsure. The Zelot Knights had confirmed Rosenin’s face. There was no way this would not reach the emperor’s ears.

“I… I’m going east.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. A war is about to begin. At times like this, the upper states have a lot of work.”

That was right. When Rosenin made a decision, Elisha accepted it without question. As for Rosenin’s share, she’d have to take care of it later.

It was annoying for the emperor to learn about Rosenin, but it didn’t make any difference immediately.

He was not a person to divulge information without any profit, and he must have recognized that there was a high possibility that Count Gotham’s daughter would bee the seed of the Eastern conflict following the 2nd Consort.

The seed would grow if he watered it. There would be no reason to trample it with his feet.

At night, while setting up a place to rest, Elisha found a stream nearby. Compared to its original size, the flowing water was so thin that it looked like a thread, but it was there. The knights had gotten as much water as they needed early, leaving only the three women.

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous? There may be monsters…”

One of the knights who remained until the end stopped talking when he saw Elisha staring at him. If a monster appeared, the life of the monster would be pitiful, not those women’s.

Realizing that, the knight bowed his head and quickly followed his colleagues.

Vera and Rosenin usually went through that knight, who was unlike the other knights who exuded a gloomy aura in his occasional clumsy appearance, if they had something to say.

The three women and Benjamin sat down in two groups with running water between them and washed their hands. Washing their face with the back of the hand moistened with water, wiping their eyes, and drenching their dry throat.

“Ah, I haven’t given you this.”

As if she had just remembered, Vera took a white envelope from her sleeve and handed it to Elisha. The envelope, which should have been clean and stiff at first, was severely wrinkled, like a reminder of the hardships of the past.

“You shouldn’t give me this in such a hurry. We don’t know how much it will shake the West.”

“That’s why I’m giving it to you. It’s like a knight’s sword. It has to be wielded by someone who knows how to use it. If someone like me is holding it, I will only get myself and my people hurt. Therefore, Your Majesty, please protect me, my husband, and our Benjamin with that.”

She thought so from the beginning, so there was no need to worry or delay.

Elisha was eventually handed the envelope.

The stamp on the wax that sealed the envelope was the winged carriage pattern of Count Dout.

Since the wax had already been torn off, Elisha opened the envelope without hesitation. There were several folded sheets of paper inside. Elisha opened one of them.

“Ha.”

A laugh broke out. It was a contract that Anne, the first daughter-in-law of the duke, received from a desert tribe belonging to the pro-Kran Kingdom faction.

For desert tribes, contracts were critical. For those wandering without roots, a contract was essential to establishing a relationship between themselves and others.

That’s because it was a matter directly related to survival. The pro-Kran Kingdom faction, represented by the Hib and Darren tribes, failed to continue the sacred contract.

From the following paper she pulled out, Elisha learned why, unlike the indigenous desert tribe, the pro-Kran Kingdom tribe, who had lived a relatively prosperous life, had no choice but to engage in such a dangerous task. Of course, she had guessed it earlier, but she had no evidence.

“You threatened me, Anne.”

Even to the Kran Kingdom, they looked like a terrible military force.

Since she, the daughter of the count and daughter-in-law of the duke, had e out like that, even though they were of different countries, the pro-Kran kingdom faction could not help it as long as it affected their lives which were just beyond the border.

She had tried to overdo it, saying that since it was happening in the West, even if an unknown force suddenly came out, she’d be able to erase their traces no matter what happened. It was a letter of protest in its own right to proceed with the work.

It also mentioned the termination of the contract. It was funny to think that she had done anything that could’ve been done, from the contract to the protest letter.

As such, the pro-Kran Kingdom faction believed that Anne would never disclose this contract. When this became known, it was not them but Anne’s side who’d be the most upset.

So, this was a natural question one didn’t need to consider. Since it’s like this, then why?

“Did Anne just leave this letter alone?”

In the end, it ended up in Elisha’s hands just like this?

“No way. Is it fake?”

Rosenin asked with a flash in her eyes. Even Vera was surprised and didn’t know what to do. Elisha shook her head. No matter how bold that side was, they were still servants under the emperor.

Treason was the best to blame on others, but it was too dangerous to pretend to be outplayed. In particular, nobles knew well that giving even a tiny weakness was fatal to a person who never let go of anything, like the current emperor, who cut down on everything around him.

Besides, if this was fake, the duke family was trying to trap Vera and herself…

But look at the situation now. Who was actually harmed? The West was ups and downs, and the pride of the Western nobles was cracked.

The dead were considerable, although it was more of a dog’s death.

This would’ve been a terrible mistake, no matter how big a profit Duke Verdin planned to gain later.

“In this situation, Duke Verdin should insist that it’s real even if it’s fake.”

Vera tilted her head as Elisha lightly shook the paper.

“Isn’t treason more frightening than losing the trust of the Western nobles?”

“2nd Consort is saying that the situation of the duke is as bad as treason if it is a false conspiracy.”

When Rosenin intervened, Vera finally understood. The two look at Elisha again. A calm, low voice described the situation one by one.

“At first, he must have tried to cover it up quietly. And even if the contract was known, it was Anne, not Duke Verdin, whose name was written here. ‘The family didn’t know about it. Anne tried to hurt the consort because of a personal grudge.’ If Duke Verdin offered sacrifice in hopes of leniency, the emperor would have promised with him to some extent.”

“Then you’re saying that Duke Verdin won’t be judged for the crime of treason?”

Perhaps because it was still her husband’s family, Vera asked back in a slightly brighter voice. Elisha, who lifted her brows, replied a moment later.

“That’s not true. I’m just talking about the case when things didn’t go this far. For that, there had to be no slaughter in Rotinan. It was not the unidentified knights and desert tribes who attacked me at the end of the Pavezzo mountain range, but the Western nobles.”

It did not matter that they had done it not knowing it was Elisha, but the fact that they died there in the end, a proof of their loss. As if it was their fate to drive the West into the disaster of war.