Chapter 270

Translator: yun

“Is this stated in the recipe?”

“Yes. But I have never heard of it shining like this before… I wonder if that portion of the recipe had been lost to the times.”

“I already told you to speak to me comfortably.”

“Ah. Right.”

Rusbella grinned.

“I shall.”

She then looked at the flask once more with pride. But I wonder why Rusbella’s expression seemed to gradually harden as she stared at the flask. Why? With a serious expression on her face, she raised her head before looking at me sadly.

“W-What should I do? No, what do I do, Ashley?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I overlooked something…”

As she furrowed her eyebrows, I tried to comfort her.

“This medicine, for it to be effective, it has to be consumed within an hour upon concoction. Ah… When I first made it, I didn’t think much about this condition and just ignored it.”

Rusbella said as she clutched onto the flask anxiously. What the heck? This was the first time I ever heard of such a thing. In the original novel, Rusbella had concocted the medicine known as nectar right before giving it to the male lead… Ah. Rusbella had given it to him to drink right after she made it. I closed my eyes in the darkness for a moment before opening them.

“Is there any way that person can come here?”

“No. He’s imprisoned right now.”

“Ah…”

Rusbella looked even more helpless. But in a moment’s time, she raised her head before soon wearing a determined look. As though she would be prepared even if a tsunami was to strike. The words she was about to utter were very befitting a female lead. As expected of her well–intentioned and kind nature.

“Then, I’ll accompany you back to the Empire.”

“What?”

I responded without thinking.

“You said that the person you love was dying. I’ll help.”

“You’re coming to the Empire? You have no idea how dangerous the Empire is, do you?”

My gaze wavered. According to the original novel, the only thing waiting for her in the Empire would be Castor’s obsession. I was not certain if doing so would lead her to the main event in the original novel but in any case, only harsh ordeals would be awaiting her there.

I bit my trembling lips before letting it go. I asked her.

“… Why are you going so far?”

At my words, her elegantly-coloured eyes blinked slowly like a feather slowly floating down from above. Rusbella hesitated to speak for a moment before smiling innocently.

“We hail from the same country.”

Struggling to respond, I was rendered speechless. I didn’t know how to reply. Bringing her there was not only forcibly deviating from the original plot, but I was also bringing her to her ordeals.

I had already deviated much from the original plot so the fact that this was another deviation was not the most important. But she was coming to the Empire. So far, all I had changed were the lives of the supporting characters like Rebecca and Ahasia. But what about Rusbella? She was the pillar holding this world up.

But if I didn’t bring Rusbella there, Amor might die. Didn’t the cleric say that Amor was already tethering on the edge before I left? Perhaps, even after suffering tremendously as the original novel stated she would, Rusbella might make it alive in time to meet the male lad. But I didn’t want to do anything as stupid as to leave Amor’s life in the hands of an assumption.

Just when I was about to speak.

Thump thump thump.

I heard an unusual set of footsteps echoing. I looked back in surprise. It sounded extremely close. How did we not notice until they got this close to us?

“Who could it be? It seems like they knew we would be here.”

They must have purposely hid the sounds of their footsteps as they walked over. When I glanced back at her, Rusbella looked shocked as well. The door swung open and a group of people entered. There was a grand total of five people that entered the room. And the grey robes they were donning were not unfamiliar. The Templars of Chaos? I frowned at their appearance. Some of them had knocked me out just to bring me to Abel.

“Pant, pant, pant… princess…”

When her gaze landed upon me, the middle-aged woman brightened before quickly subduing her expression. She then strolled towards me before kneeling on one knee.

“Allow me to speak, princess!”

“Are you the reason why the security today was lax?”

“Yes. We have been combing the academy, searching for you.”

“Me? At this hour?”

I already told Dane I would be going out for a while tonight but why? I frowned at her. In just a few moments, the middle-aged woman managed to lick her lips several times over.

“There’s… There’s been a huge problem!”

It was not long before she finally announced brutally.

“A coup had risen in the Empire.”

What?

“A coup? What on earth are you talking about?”

The middle-aged woman then lowered her head. Between her urgently spoken words, she took slow breaths as if she was forcing herself to say something difficult.

“And the coup had failed.”

And finally, she swallowed her breaths before whispering.

“The main perpetrators, the 2nd Prince and the 6th Prince, have been captured.”

The Flower Blooming Amidst Sadness.

As though I was drowning in cold water, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. The now distant words became white noise that kept buzzing in my ears. When I came to my senses, I was standing in the middle of an empty lot. Pontus and Abel, whose arrival I hadn’t noticed, could be spotted close by. And as soon as I noticed Dane and Ray, I realised where I was.

I covered my eyes.

“Princess!”

Pontus seemed to be the first to notice I had awakened. As he walked towards me, he explained the situation.

“As you’ve already heard, there had been a coup. You have to leave right away.”

I closed my trembling eyelids gently before opening them. It was real. This was really happening.

“The emperor… has been ordering for your presence.”

When I opened my eyes again, it was not Pontus I saw. It was Dane who was staring at me over Pontus’ shoulders. I made eye contact with him. He was flashing a smile but it didn’t look happy or sad.

“A letter from Fleon? What did he say in yours?”

“Nothing much.”

That was when I realised. Dane already knew this would happen.

“Please listen carefully. The emperor will be sacrificing the princess to the crystal upon arrival.”

Pontus spoke urgently.

“The princess can wield two powers. And they are both extremely powerful. So, the moment she becomes a part of the crystal… the emperor might be able to regain his full power.”

“What happens if the emperor regains his strength?”

He continued after hesitating.

“If the emperor regains his powers… I wouldn’t be able to undo it. No, the moment we lose you, we will have failed.”

The Power of the Lord and the Power of Death. This meant that I would become a power to be reckoned with as I wielded both the powers of the 1st and 2nd gods. And my sacrifice might provide the emperor with an enormous amount of power. And the situation in the Empire would only continue. I raised my head.

“What should I do?”

He spoke hurriedly yet calmly. The calmness in his eyes only proved that he knew a way. Pontus gave a slight smile. With a look of pride which was unusual considering the current situation.

“I’ll get back in touch with you. You may call us again whenever you’re ready. We will be waiting for you with all things prepared.”

I stared at Pontus before shifting my expression.

“Are you talking about a coup?”

Pontus did not answer. He only retreated with a chilling smile but at his beckoning, the people behind him in the open space began moving hurriedly. It took quite a while before they finished.

“Where’s Rusbella…?”

When I muttered in the silence, someone appeared from the crowd. I almost couldn’t believe that it was Rusbella. She marched through the bustling lot before approaching me as if she had just found me.

“Ashley!”

“Rusbella! Where have you been?”

“Ah, it seems like you weren’t listening when those people came to take you away. I went to tell Slon something.”

“Ah.”

As she talked about the male lead, Rusbella had a refreshing look on her face.

“I wanted to talk to him before I leave.”

“Where?”

I was lulled into a daze by her following words.

“The Empire.”

“What?”

I widened my eyes. Where was she going? The Empire? How the heck? Was Rusbella not listening to me just now? No, she couldn’t be coming.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Rusbella. There is currently a coup in the Empire…”

“Mhm. I heard.”

“If you did, then why are you still going? It’s dangerous.”

She hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly. She might have been speaking slowly but she sounded determined.

“But if I don’t go, the person you love might die.”

“…..”

“I would hate for that to happen.”

For a moment, I almost got caught up in the emotions that were swelling within me but I told myself I couldn’t. After the coup, the Empire must currently be in a mess. Could I take care of the female lead in a situation where I couldn’t even ensure my own safety? I had to refuse her. Rusbella grabbed my hands.

“I want to help you, Ashley.”

She stared me straight in the eye.

“You once told me. A life should be exchanged for a life. You save mine.”

Her bright golden eyes were shaking. But from her eyes, I regained a stability I couldn’t find in Castor’s before looking back into her eyes. She didn’t shy away from my gaze.

“Let me pay you back.”

She smiled naively. A gust of wind blew towards her hair from the back, making her hair look like a roaring golden flame.

“I’ll help.”

The benevolent gaze of the female lead made me scoff helplessly. Was her recklessness due to the fact that she was the female lead? But her offer was tempting. If I bring Rusbella, I could save Amor using that flask. From her suffering, I could be saved from the abyss. Till the very end, I couldn’t bring myself to shake off her hand.

Everyone was surprised to hear that I would be bringing Rusbella and someone even desperately protested against it. Pontus was the one that brought up that we would not be able to carry her luggage as well along the dangerous route back.

But after hearing about Amor’s story, he soon stepped down. It was more like it was because he realised that I wouldn’t budge. And once Dane agreed with me, he backed off the subject completely.

“That’s what she wants. I will not entertain any more disagreements.”

Dane dismissed them with one sentence. I wonder what expression Dane was wearing when he said that. Without being able to see Dane’s face, I glanced at Rusbella before giving some advice.

“Listen closely, Rusbella. The moment it gets dangerous, I’m sending you back.”

“Okay.”

“You mustn’t turn back and just run.”

In any case, she was the female lead of the story, I would have no idea how the world would react if something were to go wrong with its female lead. With an innocent expression, Rusbella held my hand tightly.

“I promise.”

The sight of her doing that overlapped with something else but I couldn’t tell what it was until the end.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded at Pontus. I thought it would only be apparent that I would return to the Empire using a carriage as I did before but Pontus was about to do the unthinkable.

T/N:

i’m sorry ;-; my unreliable self has forgotten to post for a week once again