Chapter 191

“Why are you trying to excavate the Holy Sword?” Grace asked from her seat across Yelena. Yelena looked at the dignified young girl who was her tea time partner for the day.

“Hm…”

The mere symbolism of the Holy Sword made it extremely valuable. Naturally, it was a relic that anyone would covet.

Yelena had a special reason for needing the Holy Sword.

But Grace was asking Yelena why she was trying to excavate the Holy Sword, not why she wanted it, despite the former being a rather meaningless question from an objective standpoint.

“Do you think that the Holy Sword doesn’t necessarily need to be excavated?” Yelena asked, and then had a sudden thought.

‘Maybe Count Morgana wasn’t the one who decided to give up on excavating the Holy Sword…’

At that moment, Grace answered.

“I feel anxious.”

“Anxious?”

“About the forest in which the Holy Sword was discovered. Originally, there was nothing there.”

Grace fiddled with her teacup and continued.

“The trap was concealing the Holy Sword’s existence completely. But perhaps the trap’s power weakened… All of a sudden, traces of the Holy Sword emerged.”

Grace stopped fiddling with the teacup. Seeing her small and short fingers, Yelena was hit with the realization of how young the girl really was.

In other words, there wasn’t really anything else that made Grace seem her own age.

“What if a war breaks out?”

“…A war?”

“I don’t mean a war between people. The Holy Sword was created to kill what couldn’t be killed with human strength.”

Grace looked up from where she had been staring at her teacup.

“The Holy Sword being exposed to the world after being sealed by the trap… It might be a warning that war is upon us. A war that can’t be controlled with human strength.”

“…”

“…Because I have those thoughts, I’m not very fond of the Holy Sword, to be honest.”

Yelena searched Grace’s eyes and gulped.

‘I knew she was intelligent, but…’

This level of intelligence was basically clairvoyance.

To think that a 10-year-old child held this insight.

Yelena suddenly thought of Crown Prince Bartèze. To think that such a human lived in the same kingdom as this child.

‘This is what they call “balance,”’ Yelena thought aimlessly. Then, she opened her mouth.

“It’s okay.”

She was replying to Grace, but part of her was also talking to herself.

“Even if there is a war, I’m certain that we will win.”

***

Yelena was spending her time sitting by the window like a wife waiting for her husband to return from war. Her eyes widened.

“…!”

The horse carriage that her husband and Aendydn had left on was entering the castle grounds.

‘Kaywhin!’

Less than half a day had passed. Yelena was delighted by their early return and ran outside to meet them right away.

Then, she halted.

Her husband’s appearance was a little different from when he had just left the castle.

He was holding a sword in one hand, but Yelena couldn’t see his jacket. Where had it gone? A number of buttons on his shirt were open. Actually, upon a closer look, it wasn’t that the buttons were open; they seemed to have been torn off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Kaywhin.”

Did something happen during the excavation? Yelena called Kaywhin with a worried look on her face as she approached him.

Kaywhin halted when he noticed Yelena and stepped backwards.

“…?”

“Don’t come closer, Wife.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Ah, well… I smell of blood. Monster blood.”

Aendydn helped explain from next to Kaywhin.

“When we retrieved the sword, a hoard of monsters came out from inside the trap. The ones we caught on the mountain were child’s play. Child’s play, I tell you.”

“I took my jacket off, but… the smell is very strong.”

Yelena stared at Kaywhin blankly and then spoke.

“…Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“I’ll have to see for myself.”

“No, Wife. The smell of blood is more repulsive than you think.”

“I don’t care.”

“But…”

Yelena took a step closer, and Kaywhin took a step back with a conflicted look.

Aendydn, who was watching the situation unfold, shrugged and then said, “It can’t be helped. Let me assist you.”

He flicked his finger.

And then.

Splash!

Water shot out of nowhere and drenched Kaywhin from head to toe.

“…”

A soaked Kaywhin froze in place with a flustered look on his face.

The water from his hair dripped down his face. His thin shirt stuck to his body and was now see-through, his muscles in plain sight.

Yelena stared at Kaywhin with wide eyes.