CH 113

Lily’s body was not mine. It was a body that had to be put in a coffin for a funeral.

Thus, Lily’s family would want to put this body back where it should be.

So that the child who had never lived a life could sleep peacefully amidst the mourning of the family.

“…I can’t forgive you.”

Hugo muttered in a cracked voice.

I shut my mouth and lowered my eyes. I never expected to be forgiven anyway.

But what followed was unexpected.

“I… I don’t want to hate you. I don’t even want to hurt you.”

I couldn’t help but panic. I thought Hugo would go wild when he found out that I was a fake.

However, the reality I faced was a little different.

“I accidentally found out the truth…” 

Hugo made eye contact with me and smiled. Wet eyes were revealed through the crooked glasses.

“You’re going to deceive me anyway, why are you so feeble? Why didn’t you laugh and mock me for the rest of your life?” 

Startled, I grabbed the ragged hem of my robe.

What do you mean laugh? I couldn’t have done such a thing. How dare I.

“My only sister…”

Hugo buried his face on my shoulder as if he would collapse.

“So that I can continue to cherish you.” 

Hugo’s cheeks that were pressed against the sides of my neck were hot as if they were being burned. He continued to pour out words, instead of me whose tongue had hardened.

“You should have been even worse to me. Enough to kill me. When the stadium collapsed, you should’ve run away alone, leaving me.”

Those were blatant criticisms, but there were cries at the end of each sentence.

“But you saved me. You understood me.”

Hugo grabbed my forearm. His hands, which were bigger than when I first met him, belonged to an adult.

“I can’t hate you, but I can’t accept you right away. I’m so pathetic and foolish…”

Well-trimmed nails dug into my forearm.

At Hugo’s next words, I became numb as if I had been hit in the back of the head.

“I cannot forgive myself.”

‘What are you talking about? It’s me who’s at fault.’

Not knowing what to do, I hurriedly put my arm on his back. I had never imagined a situation like this.

It was better for Hugo to get angry and kill me. If so, at least I knew what to do.

But seeing him break down like this, what the hell am I supposed to say?

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

For fear of hurting him again, the words I couldn’t utter could not rise up my throat, they merely circulated in my chest.

‘I didn’t mean to make you cry…’

The wish was so contradictory that it was difficult to even put it into words.

I didn’t want to see Hugo’s crying face. I swear it had never been like that.

“Hugo, Brother…”

The title that was barely changed had returned to the original again. I did not even realize that fact and started crying.

What words could I say to comfort him? Could I even comfort him?

In the end, I couldn’t give any consolation and just spit out the plea I had prepared.

“…Please save me.”

It was a blatant request. But Hugo was not angry. He just leaned against me and swallowed his tears.

I bit my lower lip.

In fact, I already knew. No matter how dead the body was, Hugo couldn’t hurt Lily’s body. 

I was using that mentality horribly.

To achieve my purpose.

“I have something to do.”

I closed my eyes and focused on the pain I felt at my fingertips.

Then I felt my arms melt. The vision field of the left eye was reversed, and the bones realigned according to the shape of the deformed arm.

The power of the demon was coming out.

“Because I’m alive…”

Hugo’s breath slowly faded. He had been under the ground for quite some time while still injured, so it wasn’t strange that his consciousness gradually faded.

“Please let me take you home.”

There was no more time to delay. I wrapped one arm around Hugo and raised my head.

I climbed up the crumbling ground with Hugo. As I frantically dug into the shaky wreckage, I saw a faint light.

The moment I reached out to the light, someone grabbed my hand.

The person who lifted me up to the ground at once was a person I knew well.

***

“I’m going crazy.”

Pedro gulped down cold water and looked around the ant cave where the darkness of the night had descended.

The entire slum was devastated by the earthquake earlier.

Refugees flocked to the edge of the pit, and the cries of the wounded continued to resonate.

Even if the knights that were under the direct control of the duke stepped out and took control of the situation, the living hell showed no sign of getting any better.

“Leader, why is the barrier like this these days? There was an earthquake even during the Princess’ debutante…”

“Can’t you say something to the Emperor?”

“Stop complaining and join the rescue, you punks.”

Pedro waved his hand and sent the knights down to the ant cave.

The situation was serious.

Although the barrier had not yet been completely broken and neither had evil spirits appeared, evacuating the residents of the ant cave was more difficult than in the stadium.

The main reason was the opposition of the people living in the pit.

“Why are you asking us to take responsibility for those beggars?!”

The people of the upper village were blocking the only road connecting the top and bottom of the pit.

The swarm of beggars in the ant cave wandered around, not knowing what to do, as they looked back at their hometown which became a mess.

“It’s not that we’re asking you to take responsibility, it’s because if they stay here, they will die…” 

“So what! It’s such undeserved grace, for the ants who are already living thanks to us!”

The villagers pointed at the beggars.

Pedro, who was watching them from a distance, groaned.

Strictly speaking, it was an understatement to say that the beggars of the ant cave depended on the people above the pits.

This was because among the foods that beggars ate, there was more food waste that was carelessly thrown away than the bread they gave them with good intentions.

However, the people of the upper village saw the two as the same.

People raised their voices, and some groups of fist fights came out.

One of the restless knights whispered carefully to Pedro.

“Leader, don’t you think we should stop them?”

“…….”

Pedro thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“Leave it. If I step out, it will only makes things bigger.”

“However…”

“I have already called the head of this district.”

Pedro tossed the wooden water bowl and stood up.

“Have you heard from my father yet?”

With big strides, Pedro went downhill. The knights around him put down their drinking water and followed him.

“Ah… Yes! But won’t he be here soon?” 

“The Duke is not the one to watch things go on like this.” 

There was a firm belief in the eyes of the knights.

Unlike them, Pedro shrugged.

“Well, what…” 

There was one thing his subordinates didn’t know.

Pedro’s father and the only duke of the empire, Alan von Bauner, thoroughly maintained the ducal land not because he cared for the people of the territory.

“…Rather, it’s because it’s the land Lily will return to.”

“Pardon?”

“No, nothing.”

Pedro scratched his curly hair and entered the crumbling ant cave. 

The earthquake had stopped, but the slums were still in chaos. He loosened his muscles, making a clicking sound, and threw a magic stone to replace the lamp at his subordinates.

“Let’s disperse. Negotiations with the upper village will be handled by the gang boss in this district. We’ll evacuate as many villagers as possible.”

“Shall we find Sir Benimus too? I haven’t seen him since earlier…”

“Don’t worry about Benibeni. Even if he dies, he doesn’t die.”

“T-Then…”

A knight asked, hesitatingly.

“What about the Princess?”

“…….”

Pedro shut his mouth for a moment, then tied the robe’s laces tightly.

“If you find her, tell me right away.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped between the collapsed buildings.

When the debris of the building was lifted, the person under it crawled out. It was a boy younger than Lily. The child burst into tears as soon as he saw Pedro.

“Yes, yes. It’s been hard.”

Pedro picked up the boy who had an injured leg and put him on a cart heading out of the ant cave.

Even when the child disappeared from view, the smell of blood remained like an afterimage.

Pedro pressed the back of his hand to his lips. The tip of his tongue was dry at the thought that his younger siblings might have been hurt like that.

The original purpose of his visit to the ant cave was to find Hugo and Lily.

However, as soon as they entered the trash mountain, an earthquake occurred, and the knights unintentionally cleared the ant cave that was in chaos.

Because of that, he could not properly follow the whereabouts of his younger siblings.

His stomach went numb. He felt like he wanted to cry out Lily’s name right away.

But Pedro didn’t stop, he moved forward.

“…I have to trust her.”

He clenched his fists and repeated.

Pedro had deep faith.

He trusted his father, who was broken after his mother’s death, his second brother, who suddenly ran away, and his youngest sister, who returned after 10 years.

He could sense that they were all hiding secrets, but instead of digging into the truth, he decided to embrace them all.

Pedro wanted to be a home for his family. He wanted his loved ones to be at peace as long as they were by his side.

Infinite faith was how he defended his family.

As he was about to focus on the task in front of him, a familiar voice caught his ankle.

“…Lily?”