~Chapter 63~
A few hours earlier.
Right after parting with Killian, Aisha headed with Til to another one of Rune’s hideouts.
And there…
“Unbelievable.”
“What?”
“He had a printing press like this? And he never said a word to me until now?”
“Did you just fart?”
“So annoying.”
All this time, Rune had been helping publish Sunday’s Exposé. Sometimes Aisha had wondered—how did they even manage to print a magazine in such a short time in Draxion, where there was no freedom of the press?
The answer was simple.
The printing press was huge.
Disgustingly huge.
‘No wonder Roselia hated Rune so much. I think I’d have hated him too.’
But that wasn’t all.
“Come here.”
“What’s that?”
On the wide table was something covered with a dark cloth. Rune wasn’t the type to waste time on meaningless gestures. That meant something important was hidden beneath it.
“You said it yourself. This issue is going to be distributed for free.”
“So what?”
“That means we’ll have to print far more copies than usual.”
“True.”
“‘True’? That’s all you have to say?”
“If the scale is like this… maybe it can be done. Wait.”
Her thoughts caught up with her. They had much less time than usual. Killian had already left for the palace thirty minutes ago. That meant they had to finish all the printing within an hour at most.
“Finally, you idiot. Now you see what I was trying to say?”
Til clicked his tongue in irritation, but Aisha wasn’t discouraged.
“But you must have a backup plan. Otherwise, why bring me here? Right?”
“…”
“If you say no, I’ll kill you.”
“That’s the first time anyone’s ever said that to me.”
“So? What are you going to do?!”
Til didn’t answer. He only shrugged, reached out, and pulled away the dark cloth.
What was revealed looked completely unfamiliar.
“What is that…?”
“Something smuggled out of the Aldrosia Empire.”
Was it a machine, or furniture? Hard to say.
It had a round shape, glowing faintly blue, with countless strange gemstones embedded in it. Whatever it was, it looked absurdly valuable.
“Unlike Draxion, Aldrosia’s magic is very advanced. Which means we don’t have to sweat blood to produce enough copies. This will handle it.”
“Magic?”
At last—it was starting to feel like a fantasy novel.
The sudden word “magic” made Aisha’s eyes sparkle.
“Think of it like a duplication spell. As long as we have the original, we can copy as much as we want. The reason I haven’t used it until now is because it requires mana stones—and those are very expensive—”
“Paper, paper!”
Aisha had no intention of listening. She ignored Til completely and sat down to begin.
“…I’ll bill you for this.”
“…”
“I’ll see you kicked out into the streets, Aisha Ashton.”
But Til quickly realized it was pointless. No matter how much he scolded, Aisha was already lost in her writing.
Sigh.
Til rested his chin in his hand, staring at her as her hand flew furiously over the page.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never actually watched her write before.’
She looked like a different person entirely. Usually, she seemed scatterbrained, but now she was sharp, focused, alive.
It was strange.
“…Aisha.”
“…”
“Why?”
“What do you mean? Don’t talk to me if you’re going to say something stupid. I’m busy.”
“Are you doing this for Duke Killian… or just to make Sunday’s Exposé more popular?”
“What?”
“The reason you’re pushing yourself so hard.”
Her pen, which had been dancing across the page, suddenly stopped. Aisha looked at him with a complicated expression.
“Who knows.”
Only after a long silence did she answer.
Honestly, she had never thought too deeply about it. Things had been moving too quickly.
‘Am I really doing all this just to help Killian…?’
Maybe.
But…
“I hate cowardice more than anything in the world.”
“So?”
“And Roselia is the most cowardly person I’ve ever seen. On top of that, I’m the type who, if someone slaps me once, I’ll slap them back ten times.”
“I see.”
“Now stop talking. I really am busy.”
Til closed his mouth as she asked.
But before long, another thought filled his mind—one he’d never considered before.
‘If it wasn’t Killian Winters… if it had been me in his place?’
‘Would you still be sitting here, writing an article for me?’
“Hmm.”
Til stroked his chin, unable to answer his own question. He only stared quietly at Aisha, who seemed to shine brighter than ever.
“Breaking news! Breaking news!”
Children’s voices rang out louder than usual that day.
“Sunday’s Exposé special edition! Today’s issue is free!”
“Take one here!”
“If you care about Draxion’s peace, if you love Draxion—no, if you’re a citizen of Draxion, you must read this breaking news!”
The street children who always helped Aisha were more excited than ever, handing out copies of the magazine.
“What’s this? Sunday’s Exposé breaking news?”
“How could there be breaking news now? I heard Duke Killian Winters, the publisher, was arrested…”
“It has all the stories about Duke Killian Winters! But this time, he’s not the main character!”
“What? Then who is?”
“Give me one. I’ll find out when I read it!”
Soon, people swarmed around the children like bees. Half curious, half doubtful, they grabbed copies of Sunday’s Exposé.
And before long, every single one of them turned pale as they stared wide-eyed at the headlines.
Because…
Emerald Palace’s Discount Sale Today: Rebels 1+1
Outsourcing Civil War — Empress Dowager Roselia’s Dazzling Tricks
Rebel-Hunting Project! Look in the Mirror, Your Majesty!
The headlines were as sensational as they could possibly be.
In the end, Aisha had done exactly what she was best at—writing cutting political articles and pulling attention with outrageous headlines.
And she had done it brilliantly.
