Episode 13
At the same time, in the Chester Republic…
The noble Duke Cassor Severan, leader of the royalist faction, looked very serious. He was full of worry.
“Duke.”
The Chancellor, who had just returned from a meeting, sat down in front of the duke and smiled lightly.
“Still haven’t found Christine Elite Oredot?”
“…That’s right.”
Duke Severan glared at the Chancellor, who was about the same age as him.
To the royalists, Christine was the only and noble princess. But the Chancellor spoke as if she didn’t matter.
‘He didn’t even call her “Lady”.’
Despite the duke’s sharp glare, the Chancellor stayed calm.
To him, the royalists were just chasing dreams of the past and would fade away on their own.
After the last emperor stepped down, the Republic was born. But the country was still unstable. Every time a crisis happened, the Chancellor realized the people hadn’t fully accepted the republic.
So, even though he saw the royalists as enemies, he kept ties with them—just in case.
The Chancellor leaned on the table with a relaxed smile.
“She’ll show up soon. I heard Seimon Deirt went to the New Continent. Maybe to find his ex-wife?”
“Deirt went there?”
Duke Severan looked surprised.
“He went without a plan. Doesn’t look like a business trip. He’s been searching for Oredot for months. Maybe he finally got a clue from the New Continent.”
The Chancellor sounded confident.
The duke felt relieved that Christine was alive, but also uneasy about Seimon chasing her so persistently.
Seeing this, the Chancellor grinned again.
“What, are they going to get back together?”
“Don’t say such nonsense!”
“Why not? It could happen.”
Still calm, the Chancellor picked up a pen from the table and tapped it on his palm.
“Are they going to repeat that marriage from three years ago?”
“That won’t happen, so don’t worry.”
Duke Severan stood up, angry.
“Did you call me here just to say that?”
“No, no. That’s not the real reason.”
The Chancellor motioned for him to sit again.
Duke Severan, trying to calm down, sat back down. As much as he disliked the man, the Chancellor was the most powerful person in the republic now.
He ruled Chester in the absence of an emperor.
“A few months before Crown Prince Martin was assassinated…”
The Chancellor brought up a sensitive topic. The duke’s face immediately twisted in pain, but the Chancellor continued.
“There was a large amount of money moving among the royalist nobles. We looked into it, and this is what we found.”
He handed over a report.
“Don’t you think it’s strange? Why then, of all times?”
“What are you trying to say?”
The duke clenched his teeth. His hands holding the report were shaking.
“Are you saying we staged an assassination of our Crown Prince?!”
He was furious.
To the royalists, Prince Martin was incredibly important. How dare the Chancellor say something like that?
“I’m not saying that.”
The Chancellor calmly placed the pen back on the table.
“But the situation is suspicious. Don’t you think we should investigate?”
His eyes gleamed sharply.
“There might be an enemy within your group. You should check.”
“…I’ll take care of it.”
Feeling insulted, Duke Severan stood up, gave a cold nod, and left without another word.
The Chancellor stroked his chin.
Christine would be back soon, and suspicious activity had been found related to Martin’s death.
“A big event might happen again. We need to be ready.”
His eyes turned cold.
Meanwhile…
Christine had taken time off work and dragged Seimon to the best brain tumor hospital in the Lohas Republic.
After completing all the tests, the specialist showed the results and shook his head.
The tumor was small, but too deep inside the brain. Surgery was not an option.
“What about chemotherapy…?”
Christine quickly asked about alternatives, but the doctor tapped the table with a serious face.
“According to the scan results from Chester, it’s a poorly differentiated tumor. Right now, there’s no effective chemo for that. If we try other drugs, he’ll only suffer from side effects.”
“There’s really no other treatment?”
“As of now… no, there isn’t.”
The professor hesitated, then finally gave that answer. Seimon, who had been quiet until now, let out a dry laugh.
“See? Same result.”
He turned to Christine and spoke calmly, as usual.
His voice was quiet, but inside, he was full of pain and frustration.
Every time he let himself hope, it was crushed. Pretending nothing was wrong was the only way he could protect himself.
If only he could scream or flip the table, maybe he’d feel better.
But he didn’t want to show that side to her.
Christine, unaware of these feelings, could only look at him with sadness.
“…Seimon.”
Her sorrowful voice pressed heavily on his chest.
He caused this situation, yet hearing her voice made it hard to breathe.
“That’s enough. Thank you, Professor. We’ll be going now.”
Seimon stood up, pretending to be fine.
Though his heart felt heavy, he grabbed the door handle, trying not to show any weakness. He waited for Christine to follow him and took a deep breath.
But Christine didn’t move.
“If there’s any experimental treatment… anything at all, please let us know. We’ll try it.”
She wasn’t ready to give up.
“Let’s go, Christine.”
“Seimon, wait.”
Christine gently stopped him and asked again, more calmly,
“Even if there’s only a 1% chance, we’ll try. Please tell us if there’s anything.”
The professor, looking troubled by her persistence, hesitated, then finally spoke.
“There is one experimental treatment in clinical trials… but it’s not stable yet.”
Christine’s eyes lit up.
“So there is something.”
The professor dug through a shelf and handed her a file.
As Christine read through the paperwork, her eyes widened.
“They’re using a special energy beam from magic stones… But since magic is banned in the New Continent, it can only be done in Chester.”
“I see!”
“But the risks are very high. Please listen carefully.”
The professor explained everything with a concerned look.
He was right — it was very dangerous.
The overall success rate was 48%, but only 15 patients had brain tumors.
Out of those, 12 died. Only 2 survived.
One of the survivors was still in bad condition. The other was suffering from severe side effects.
Seimon carefully reviewed the file, then closed it.
It felt hopeless.
He frowned deeply.
Was this all just asking him to suffer until the end?
He pressed his fingers against his forehead, then suddenly left the room, saying he needed fresh air.
Silence followed.
Christine stayed and talked a little longer with the professor. She forced a small smile as she left the room, hiding her heavy heart.
Is this really the only way?
Her silent question floated into the air with no answer.
Looking around the hallway, she spotted Seimon standing on the hospital balcony.
She pushed the glass door open and spoke.
“What were you doing until it got this bad? You had no symptoms?”
Seimon looked at her and quickly pulled his hand away from the cigarette in his coat.
“I told you before.”
“But you’re a patient. You should have at least rested—”
As Christine tightened her grip on her bag strap, Seimon let out a dry laugh.
Realizing again that there was no way to survive made him irritable.
“You really don’t get it? I was busy chasing you.”
His voice grew cold and sharp. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. The burning pain in his chest started again.
He turned his head away, avoiding her gaze.
It was too hard to remember those days.
The days he ran everywhere, desperately searching for her — the pain of missing her hurt more than the illness itself.
