CH 18

Her hand moved earlier than she thought. After putting the syringe down for a moment, she reached out to him and grabbed his hand, which was full of tendons.

“Leone. It’s me, Trixie. Smell it, Leone. You are okay. Please.”

He scratched her hand. It hurted but it’s okay though.

“Leone. Did you have a nightmare? Are you okay? It’s me, Trixie. Be a good man. It’s okay man, you know, right? It hurts a lot. Be patient. I will make you comfortable.”

She didn’t know Leone’s seizures would be this severe.

When Leone was still agitated, the touch she gave to calm him down and her kind words worked. It wasn’t like that, not being able to recognize anything and standing up full of thorns.

But he was.

It was the first time she had seen Leone like that. It was as if it had lost its reason and struggled in pain, going blind. And his eyes, that made it difficult to guess what kind of emotion he was feeling… First time she had seen that look. It was to the point where she was not sure if she would be able to calm him down.

When she approached to appease him, Leone’s eyes, which jumped at her as soon as he saw her, were neither human nor dog. Anger, pain, and sadness itself were close to condensed ghosts. What was that child going through?

She felt like crying.

‘Leone. Did you notice my body temperature? Could you possibly notice that I am here? Can’t you smell me?’

They were talking face to face, so it was better if he kept an eye on her.

The moment Leone’s actions slowed down a little bit she grabbed his arm as hard as she could and pressed it with her knee as she climbed up. Even with only one arm, it was difficult to subdue. The force was strong enough to shake the body sitting on the arm.

It was a clumsy move, but in the end the syringe was stabbed in his arm.

“… crack… xie.”

And not long after, Leone, who had been twisting his whole body for a long time, looked at her with cloudy eyes.

“… Leone. Let’s sleep well today. Come have fun with me tomorrow.”

“… xie.”

Just like the first time, Leone forced his eyes open for a while as if he wanted to overcome the drug energy, but soon fell asleep. Only then did Adler let Leone go, and she came down from his arms.

“… ha.”

Deep sighs from the two of them filled the room.

She was the only one that Leone felt like his family and wanted to protect and share food with. Although she didn’t feel that strong of a bond, she did feel a clear sense of responsibility. She wanted to share his pain. To do that, she needed to know what Leone was saying at those moments, even if she couldn’t exactly hear him.

‘What I can know now.’

To be able to even guess the reason for that child’s nightmares and actions…

“Mr. Adler.”

She should listen to his closest aides. So she asked the tired-looking knight in an equally tired voice.

“Yeah. Trixie. You worked hard today, so go in first. Maybe when you wake up… Are you crying right now?”

“Yeah. Crying.”

Tears involuntarily flowed down her face. Leone’s bloodshot eyes tormented her heart.

When Deoksoon first came to her house, she couldn’t go out at all. When someone else came to the house, he behaved wildly and howled incessantly. It was because of the trauma of being abandoned again and again at the shelter. If she hadn’t brought Deoksoon from the shelter and hadn’t had the information given to her by the people who gave his temporary custody, would she have known that?

For a beast that cannot speak, it must be heard by someone who could do it.

She wiped away her tears.

“Mr. Adler.”

She called out to Adler in a determined voice.

“Tell me please.”

There’s something he hasn’t told her. There was a story that they couldn’t tell her exactly.

Leone’s condition was too serious to dismiss the nightmare as just a bad dream.

“That is impossible.”

Adler’s face was clear of fatigue and pity as he understood her question and answered it at once. The face of a heavy-mouthed knight who protects his lord. That was all that remained.

“You have to speak for the sake of the person you serve. The trauma is so great, there is no way to deal with it.”

“I don’t know anything about his trauma.”

“Anything is fine. Anything that could be a clue. For Leone.”

“I can’t say more for Sir Leone.”

“The nightmare Leone had can’t be just an obvious nightmare.”

Adler closed his eyes.

“Trixie. I appreciate you, and I would do anything for Leone. But this is a different story.”

“So you’re saying let’s leave it as it is? We have to find out what Leone’s nightmare is and help him.”

“You don’t even know the content of Sir Leone’s dream, do you?”

“So let’s find it.”

She knew why he couldn’t speak. Because it’s the story of the emperor’s family. In the first place, she came as a ‘servant of an aristocratic family’, not to work for the prince. That place itself was a secret that should not be known to the world. Knowing it, she asked.

“Some things are poisonous if you know them deeply.”

Adler’s eyes were deep.

“I hope you understand. You are a valuable talent for us.”

“It’s for Leone. There is nothing I can do to help him without knowing anything.”

“Then I’ll say this.”

His voice grew. It was such a sound that the entire lobby echoed. Normally, she would have fallen asleep, but not now.

“For Sir Leone, the words I have said countless times.”

She was speechless, choked.

Unless he was an idiot, he had to understand that the one who suffered more with that situation was Leone. Couldn’t he guess how long those years of suffering were for him?

“I’m not being selfish right now, I’m talking about what’s best for Sir Leone. There’s nothing good about Trixie finding out. Then go back to the annex for today… I won’t hold you accountable for coming here late at night. This is my order as an employer.”

“… All right.”

So she had no choice but to back off.

It was frustrating. Of course, he was next to a character whose information was rarely described in the novel. So it was a difficult situation where she couldn’t even exert her strength as a reader who read this novel. It was the story of the imperial family, and it was possible to guess that it was related to the emperor. But what she wanted was details.

Wouldn’t it be impossible for Leone to have been so traumatized by being caught up in a political strife? What the hell was going on?

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Thank you for your effort.”

She got out of the main building.

She felt like giving up, after her tal with Adler.

Yes, exactly. Come on, she had to give up.

* * *

The door burst open. Even though it was broad daylight, in a dark room with thick curtains drawn down, a man standing there saluted with a disciplined attitude. The man who opened the door was wearing a fancy suit. He was General Bede, who was in charge of guarding the imperial capital. He was a warm-hearted man who was quite popular in the Empire. However, unlike his clean and well-mannered appearance, he was a spy for the Evans family who was seeking the throne. It was because of the influence of Archduke Evans that a person born from an insignificant viscount family rose to the rank of general in charge of guarding the capital.

“You found the location?”

“Yeah! While scouring the foothills of Mount Meto, an informant said he saw a well-dressed man.”

“Really!”

“Yeah. It is said that late at night, a tall blond man and a short girl with curly red hair were together. I only looked at it from afar because I was afraid that I would be discovered if I got closer. I thought I noticed it in the middle, but it was okay because I seemed to have confused it with a rabbit. The two of them talked for a long time there and then disappeared.”

“… finally.”

“The blond man was very alert and it was too dangerous to follow him, so I missed it, but I have written down the names of the peaks in that location.”

“It’s encouraging. The first news in a year.”

General Bead grinned, his eyes shining. A creepy smile spread across his lanky face.

“You know how. For confirmation, do not choose any means and methods.”

“Yeah!”

“If you lose your life, keep sending it back to check. Check it properly with both eyes and come back. That way we can report it.”

“Yep! All right!”

A man in full discipline ran out of the room. Only General Bede stood tall in the dark room lit by a single candlestick. The reason why the Grand Duke gave him that position after secretly hiring him through his connections was simple. It was to keep an eye on the ‘beast prince’ and ‘monster’ so that they wouldn’t disappear. No matter who killed, the Archduke must be able to identify the corpse, so the Archduke said that he shouldn’t miss his presence.

5 years ago. How disappointed the Archduke was with General Bede when the prince escaped criticism and successfully escaped from the castle and disappeared. He said he couldn’t even catch his footsteps. After that, General Bede frantically searched the empire for five years. to find the prince.

He occasionally sneaked into people who were supposed to be guarding the capital, and when information came in, he ran wherever he went. No matter how much the empire was in decline, the capital was always peaceful. There was an abundance of money and capital, and the aristocrats splurged. For ‘high-ranking people’, the security work itself was considered meaningless. So everyone did not criticize General Bede. He just thought he was a cute young man who loved to travel.

“This time… ”

When Archduke Evans is disappointed, he must return to the humble countryside. This time, he even suffered the stigma of being an unfilial man who abandoned his family and abandoned his name. Maybe even get knocked out.

It couldn’t be.

General Bede’s eyes lit up.

Leone Atarta.

It was a name that was like a lottery ticket in his life.