~Chapter 83~
It was Saturday morning, two days after leaving the Winters estate.
Aisha had just finished her draft.
“Who defines evil?”
Til picked up the manuscript and began reading her article.
“The Imperial family says: ‘Rune’ is nothing more than an illegal group that must disappear. But maybe now is the time for us to look at them with a new perspective.”
The Dark Guild Rune (hereafter called Guild Rune) were the ones who revealed evidence of Roselia’s crimes and the corrupted nobles who worked with her. Things the official investigation couldn’t even begin — who had been doing them until now?
“First, our Sunday’s Exposé has no intention of glorifying Guild Rune. We write based on truth, rejecting lies. Very different from those high above.”
For years of war, the ones who secretly supported the Imperial Army were Rune’s mercenaries. When the borders were weak, they kept enemy soldiers from crossing.
It was no lie but the truth. Even Aisha had only learned this recently.
Til had records of everything they did. Among them were stories of secretly guarding the borders.
It was also Rune who helped villages ruined by war.
……There were even records like this.
They had helped citizens who lost their homes and starved, with no support, spending their own resources. Completely different from the Imperial family, who never opened their granaries.
“Hey, that’s fine and all, but what’s a granary? Am I dumb for not knowing that?”
“Ah, sorry. I’ll need to fix that part.”
Rune wasn’t evil that had to disappear, but rather a shadow the Imperial Palace didn’t want to see. It wasn’t hard to understand why the Palace wanted to ignore them. But the truth was, if they put on the mask of justice now and tried to chase Rune away, the ones to suffer would be the citizens.
“Anyway, I really like it. You wrote everything I wanted to say.”
“Well, glad you like it…”
Aisha frowned slightly. She hadn’t meant to make it sound that good.
‘But I didn’t lie. Rune never harmed civilians. Those were just rumors.’
Aisha guessed the reason was simple. Rune didn’t attack ordinary people because they weren’t profitable.
The ones Rune “killed” … no, “cleaned up,” were mostly nobles. Especially the corrupt ones tied to Roselia.
Of course, no life was less valuable than another, and talking about justice in such things was laughable. But honestly, wasn’t this like some kind of Robin Hood?
“Still, try to live with some conscience, Til.”
Aisha flipped through the piles of documents on the desk.
“Winning against 300 to 1? Who’s supposed to believe that? Why’d you put that in here? That’s ridiculous.”
“What do you know?” Til smirked.
“You really don’t know me, huh? I might kill people, but I don’t lie.”
Great, what a thing to brag about. Aisha made a flat face.
“You know how hard that was? Fighting 300 people… I nearly died back then too.”
“So why did you fight them? You left out who they were, the reason, everything—just bragging.”
“Ah, right!” Til suddenly shouted loudly, changing the subject.
“Since the article’s done, want to go out? By the way, distribution will be tomorrow morning as usual — my guys will handle it.”
“Go out? Where? I’m exhausted. If someone’s going, it should be you.”
Honestly, she could fall asleep the moment she closed her eyes.
Since leaving the Winters estate for Til’s hideout, Aisha had only focused on writing articles. Meals were rushed, and she slept lightly on the sofa. Til even nagged: “I prepared you a bedroom, not for you to live like a beggar on the couch.”
‘But if I don’t keep myself busy, I start remembering.’
Kilian Winters.
The time she spent in the Winters mansion.
Work was better than facing those thoughts.
“Come on, just for sightseeing. You like that kind of thing, right? And it’ll be good material for articles.”
“Sightseeing? Material?”
Aisha narrowed her eyes, but Til just shrugged.
“Hilda Everett is arriving today.”
At those words, Aisha froze.
“Everyone’s going to see. Even Paul closed the tavern and went out.”
“……”
“They say she’s a stunning woman. And, of course, the one guarding her from the border is Kilian Winters.”
Guarding…
So it was true.
He must have already met Hilda Everett.
……And then, did Kilian fall in love with her at first sight, just like in the original story?
Forgetting someone like me completely.
Maybe that really happened.
“They should be arriving in the capital by now. So we should hurry and—”
“Forget it.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t want to see.” Aisha lowered her head slightly.
“If I saw that… then what am I supposed to do?”
If she saw Kilian looking at Hilda with tender eyes, her heart might shatter. It might even burst apart.
But.
“You’re so stubborn. People need fresh air sometimes. Otherwise, you’ll get sick, you know?”
Til seemed to think she was just being lazy. Without hesitation, he hoisted her up like luggage.
“Hey! You bastard! Put me down!”
Aisha hit his back with her fists, yelling.
“Be grateful you have a business partner like me. Who else in the world would care about you like this?”
Til didn’t bother listening to her.
He never did.
And so, against her will, Aisha started heading outside.
Sadly, very sadly.
