Chapter 29
Lakan, without showing any displeasure, actually followed Charmant’s every move far more obsessively than when he first saw her.
His breathing was rough and heavy.
“I don’t know how much you agreed to be paid for saving this, but—”
“……”
Lakan tossed a pouch in front of Charmant with a flick.
Treated like garbage, Charmant’s face twisted in displeasure.
“I’ll give you a hundred times that.”
What? A hundred times? Is he crazy?
Charmant was gradually losing consciousness after pouring all her strength into this.
Still, she bit her lip firmly, telling herself she must never lose awareness in front of this madman.
“No, I’ll give you whatever you want. I’ll give you honor as well.”
“……”
“I am meant to become the emperor. I will let you enjoy what you cannot have. So, will you follow me?”
Blood-red long hair perfectly matched the harsh land of Runtbel.
His skin was firm like plaster, his smile cool and out of place, and his eyes filled with ambition.
That was the first meeting with Lakan, the emperor of Runtbel.
When she opened her eyes again, she was facing piles of gold bars and jewels.
Lakan said it was to show her with his own eyes so she wouldn’t doubt his words.
But that wasn’t the end.
Behind that treasure, standing at the door, were more than twenty people ready to kill her.
Although her mind had long since decided, this meant she had no choice.
Charmant chuckled bitterly as she picked up a gold bar.
She seemed to see the power she would soon have.
Sacrifice, Three Disciples, Elyum, Runtbel.
And Lakan.
Gritting her teeth, Charmant clenched her jaw.
“What kind of grudge do they have against me?”
Since returning from the banquet, Charmant had spent a lot of time in thought.
Because of this, Jesper, sensing her mood, quietly mopped the floor without being told.
“That was obviously an action targeting me.”
Even without knowing the full context, making such an offer to the enemy nation was infuriating.
“There might be worse.”
It probably didn’t stop at just once.
In the end, she suspected that her disciples had been ordered to place a sealing chain around her neck themselves.
“They hid it well.”
Those guys.
If they had done it fearing she might rebel, that would be understandable… but this was seven years ago.
Back then, Charmant barely had a self.
More precisely, she had killed her self.
Only for Runtbel, for Lakan.
Nothing but loyalty.
And that was long before Charmant conquered the continent and brought victory into Lakan’s arms.
So there was no reason for him to be wary of her.
If he had been cautious even then, he could only be called a fool.
There had to be more to it.
It was simple to think he just wanted to stop her, but if there was more, it wouldn’t just stop at that.
Just as he did to her, he meant to cut off his opponent’s lifeline.
What had happened seven years ago?
Charmant strained to dig through her past.
Lakan had clearly failed in this plan. Until just before Charmant’s death, her three disciples were by her side.
But she couldn’t shake the suspicion that he kept scheming continuously after that.
He was as vile as he was powerful.
Instead of just blocking him, exposing his plans might truly be the way to stop him.
Or maybe, unlike the past, this was happening because her body had disappeared.
She wished she could ask her disciples.
Thinking that during the time she didn’t know, they had lived with death pressing behind them, crushed her heart into pieces.
Yet they never blamed her or showed anger even once.
She hadn’t been protecting them; rather, they had been protecting her.
That fact tormented Charmant deeply.
How could she face them now?
“I think I should ask King Elyum to accept the proposal.”
First, she had to bring them. Even if treated as sacrifices.
If she could just bring them, there would be opportunities to pull them out of danger in other ways.
The fact that someone wanted to eliminate them even though she didn’t exist in Runtbel now meant their resolve to remove the three was unshakeable.
If the future flowed as before, it was likely the three disciples wouldn’t survive after her death.
They had hoped to be recognized by Lakan for their loyalty to her and live better lives than hers.
But that was just a delusion she had dreamed.
“Phew…”
“Charmant, are you worried?”
Jesper, who had been restless near Charmant for some time, asked cautiously.
Startled, Charmant looked up.
She had been lost in thought for too long with the child beside her.
“Um, no. It’s just that I can’t wake up easily.”
“Really? Your expression looked serious.”
Jesper, who was used to watching Charmant carefully, had completely caught her expression.
Charmant gave a bright smile.
“Yes, I’ll be more careful when the child’s here.”
She pushed the thoughts aside completely.
“You said no. Did you write in your diary yesterday?”
“Ugh.”
Jesper frowned and took a step back.
Because her handwriting was messy, Jesper wanted to help by telling her to write neatly, but she had skipped a day already.
Charmant placed her hands on her waist, bent forward, and looked at Jesper.
“Who promised to listen well?”
“I-I will write! Yesterday I played so much I was sleepy…”
Her voice trailed off.
Still, Jesper had quite a few friends.
Apparently, he was something like the gang leader in his neighborhood.
Yesterday, he had even brought his friends and played noisily in the alley, causing trouble for Miya, who was tending flowers.
Though Miya soon chased them out, telling them to go play somewhere else.
“Jesper.”
“Yes?”
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“When I grow up?”
“Yes, your dream.”
“A cool person.”
Charmant tilted her head.
“A cool person?”
“Yeah, someone who can protect weak people and do all that. Also wants to be tall.”
She expected him to say a job, but it was abstract.
Charmant straightened her back and nodded.
“Do you want to wield a sword?”
“A sword? Like a knight?”
Jesper’s eyes sparkled.
“Yes.”
“Oh! I want to! But can I do it too?”
“Of course you can. I can handle a sword a little too.”
She said, wanting to encourage him more, but Jesper looked suspicious.
“…Charmant, you’re not going to teach me how to cut potatoes, are you? Besides, you’re bad at cooking. You’re good at cutting but not at other things…”
He muttered disappointedly.
She had only once made him a fried egg, and yet they were saying she was bad at cooking.
She had intentionally cooked for him, thinking it was good for his growth.
“A bit annoying, but it can’t be helped.”
Charmant chuckled dryly.
“Not that kind of knife. Actually, I’ve been secretly learning swordsmanship.”
“Real swordsmanship?”
“Yes. Want to get up early with me and learn?”
“Yes! If you teach me!”
Jesper jumped up and down like he was ready to grab a sword and swing it.
‘I should use the excuse of buying a wooden sword for Jesper to check out some proper swords too.’
She thought it was time to stop just going through the motions of happiness.
She needed to harden her resolve.
In the worst case, she might have to reveal her true identity herself.
“This is the entrance to Soro Forest.”
“Take this.”
“What’s this tree? Is it a token or something?”
“Yes, it’s used by the Soro Forest elves. It carries the elves’ energy, so keep it on you.”
After leaving Jesper with Miya, Charmant and Ahil returned to Soro Forest.
This time, they used Ahil’s teleportation portal, so they didn’t use any mana at all.
Charmant took a small token out of her robe pocket and handed it to Ahil.
Since it contained their energy, just carrying it would keep them from being detected.
After confirming Ahil had taken good care of the token, Charmant entered the forest first.
When she confirmed Ahil was following, they walked deeper in.
This time, no sound of drawn bows could be heard.
After walking for a while as she remembered, they soon sensed a presence.
[This time it’s two of them.]
With the voice, the elf who had come for Charmant last time appeared.
Charmant greeted them in their language.
[The person who said they would come to get you last time. The owner of Runhill.]
[Ah, that one. The leader is waiting.]
“The leader says they’re waiting for us. They came to meet us.”
“Language… no.”
Ahil suddenly stopped speaking and shook his head, standing next to Charmant.
Charmant asked worriedly,
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t change your words.”
Still uneasy, Charmant warned him once more.
Ahil smirked.
“So you can use that tone too.”
“Huh?”
“No. Let’s go quickly. I want to see the leader’s face too.”
Ahil took the lead instead.
Charmant’s eyes widened, and she followed him.
