Chapter 45: The Terrorist (8)
“If I’m there, the terrified culprit might show up themselves. That way, we can catch the culprit and prevent any possible explosion. It’s a two-birds-one-stone mission. There’s no reason not to do it.”
Ilena said coldly.
Then, with provocative eyes, she looked directly at Iago and added:
“And even though I clearly like you, I don’t need your permission to act according to my own will, Iago.”
Gasp!
Of course, she meant she liked him as a friend, and Iago immediately understood it that way.
But they weren’t the only ones who misunderstood the nature of their relationship.
‘Is this… a love battle?!’
‘A struggle for dominance between lovers!’
‘What will His Majesty do…?!’
The ministers covered their mouths with their hands, glancing between Iago and Ilena, fidgeting anxiously.
“…….”
“…….”
A tense staring contest unfolded between the two, each unwilling to back down.
After a moment:
“…Fine. I give you permission.”
Iago finally surrendered after stubbornly staring at her insistently, unwilling to let the fight drag on any longer.
At his words, Ilena relaxed her provocative gaze and smiled slyly, as if she’d never been serious.
“But—”
However, one should always hear the rest of a person’s words. Iago quickly added:
“You’ll go with me.”
“What? That’s way too dangerous!”
“Ah, so you know it’s dangerous? And yet you still intend to go?”
Iago growled lowly, uncharacteristically firm and confident, standing his ground unlike his usual gentle demeanor.
Ilena, too, lost her usual composure and shouted irritably:
“No, that’s not acceptable!”
Round two had begun.
“If you don’t need my permission, then I don’t need yours either, Ilena.”
“You and I are different!”
“What’s different?”
“You’re a king! What do these people do without you? Think rationally for once!”
“That goes both ways for me!”
“What?”
“What do you want me to do without you?!”
Ilena was momentarily at a loss for words, speechless.
“…!”
“…!”
Meanwhile, the sudden and awkward confession had the elders watching the couple turn their faces away in embarrassment.
Their awkward gazes drifted toward the ceiling.
“Uh, there’s a crack in the ceiling.”
“Yeah, we’ll have to fix it after this is over.”
“I’m going to the restroom for a moment.”
But trapped in her own world, Ilena didn’t hear any of the elders’ murmurs.
“W-what… can’t live without me…?”
Flustered by the unexpected confession, Ilena even stammered, uncharacteristically.
‘Do friends even say things like that to each other?’
She’d only ever been in brief romantic relationships during her busy schedule and had no experience with friendships, so she had no idea what real camaraderie felt like.
“I will. So if you intend to go, I won’t stop you. But I’m coming with you!”
Seizing the moment, Iago said firmly.
Overwhelmed by his determined stance, Ilena hesitated and mumbled awkwardly:
“W-well, if you insist… then fine.”
“Good. Let’s go, then.”
Iago nodded resolutely and led her out.
“Y-yeah.”
‘Was Iago always this way…? …And was I always like this?’
Something felt odd, but there was no time to dwell on it. Ilena pushed her complex thoughts aside and left the conference room with Iago.
Afterward, the elder ministers remaining to manage things silently cheered inside.
‘His Majesty has won!’
‘We thought he’d be caught, but he’s not!’
‘When it matters, he delivers!’
The square was located beside a large cathedral, in the middle of a bustling shopping area.
Normally empty, the square was now crowded due to the weekend market.
Rows of temporary stalls had been set up, and merchants displayed their handmade goods.
Small, delicate music boxes, dolls made of yarn, accessories, wooden instruments—there was a wide variety.
Both Ilena and Iago hid their striking appearances under cloaks.
The culprit was surely watching from somewhere.
Anyone capable of orchestrating a plan of this scale surely had palace surveillance in place.
“The bomb squad has entered the waterworks,” Iago whispered into Ilena’s ear through his communicator.
Ilena nodded and glanced around the square, which seemed peaceful and almost beautiful.
People smiled innocently, unaware of the danger lurking below.
‘I must protect them.’
Almost as if reading her thoughts, Iago took her hand and whispered:
“We can protect them… only one hour until the scheduled time.”
Ilena and Iago walked slowly through the market, hands tightly clasped.
At every entrance to the square, soldiers in plain clothes waited.
With a simple signal, dozens of highly trained elite troops could rush in.
But all of that would only matter if the culprit appeared in this square.
The culprit still didn’t know that they had discovered the bomb.
‘Will they take the bait of the shrine maiden, or not?’
Ilena kept her nervousness hidden, pretending to be a naive shrine maiden browsing the market in case the culprit was watching.
One hour.
50 minutes.
40 minutes.
35 minutes.
Each time she glanced at her watch, her heart raced, and she nervously picked up a cone of ice cream from a stall.
“Haa…”
A sigh of relief seemed to flow from above her head, deep from the chest.
Ilena quickly looked up.
Underneath his deeply pulled hood, Iago’s face shone brighter than ever, smiling radiantly.
Perhaps because of the high noon sun, the sight of his smile made her eyes sting and her heart flutter.
He called out, his tone full of relief and joy:
“They found it! They’ve found it, Ilena! The bomb has been safely defused!”
“Ah.”
No matter how much she tried to pretend to be calm, the tension in her shoulders melted instantly.
Ilena let out a long sigh of relief.
‘It’s done. The explosion is prevented.’
Finally, the previously blurry scene became clear.
People shopping or enjoying their weekend looked joyful.
Small children ran around excitedly between adults who had paused to browse or buy goods.
‘We’ve protected this scene.’
The discomfort that had weighed on her for days from tension finally lifted.
Warm, soft emotions spread through her.
She felt proud of herself and confident she could handle any problem that came her way.
‘What is this feeling…?’
It didn’t take long for her to realize.
This was a feeling of accomplishment.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she felt this way.
She had always taken her achievements for granted, constantly chasing goals set by others.
Once she reached one goal, she immediately rushed toward the next without savoring any satisfaction.
Rubbing her rapidly beating heart, Ilena thought:
‘If only we could catch the culprit now, that would be perfect.’
Old habits didn’t disappear magically.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have suffered from depression for two years.
‘The culprit doesn’t know the bomb is defused yet… will they come to get me?’
As Ilena began planning the next step, a soft voice called:
“Ilena.”
She looked up.
Iago leaned close, meeting her eyes, and said gently:
“The bomb issue is solved. We can catch the culprit later. We know their appearance, and we’ll find them, even if we have to search the entire country.”
His calm, low voice.
Ilena realized how tense she had been.
Feeling herself relax along with him, she nodded quietly.
“Yeah.”
Catching the culprit today would have been too much to hope for.
“Always set your goals at 200%. That way, even if you fail, you’ll succeed 120%.”
Ilena smiled wryly, recognizing it as one of her old habits.
Watching her, Iago, smiling, gestured toward her hand:
“That ice cream looks really good.”
She had bought it just to pretend to be the shrine maiden exploring the market.
Ilena bit into the melting ice cream.
It was lemon-flavored.
“Haha… I bought lemon ice cream, huh?”
She hadn’t even realized the flavor.
Had she been missing out on so many simple pleasures while chasing only goals?
“It’s good.”
Smiling softly with ice cream at the corner of her mouth, Ilena laughed quietly.
“….”
Watching her as if entranced, Iago slowly raised his hand, using his thumb to wipe her mouth.
Then he took her wrist and took a large bite of the ice cream.
Startled, she widened her eyes, and he smiled with a playful squint.
“See? Just as sweet as your eyes.”
Her heart fluttered and cheeks flushed, like a butterfly had landed inside her.
It was at that moment, just as she opened her mouth to respond…
