Chapter 80

***

When Jaxor mentioned me, Kwanach angrily approached him.

“If you don’t want your both arms to be gone, you’d better watch your mouth.”

Kwanach’s voice was horrifyingly low and dark.

But Jaxor showed no signs of shrinking. A person who had given everything away was one who felt no fear. He chuckled.

“If you brought the noble Empress to a place like this, it meant you didn’t mind having a vulgar thing like me in front of her.”

Jaxor deliberately stretched out the word ‘noble’ with a long, drooping sound. His intention to belittle me was obvious. He didn’t even try to hide it.

Clank, Kwanach wordlessly took out the sword he wore at his waist. The luminous stone was the only light source in the room. Only the tip of the blade glowed bright blue in the darkness.

‘Is Kwanach going to cut off his limbs?’

Despite the fact that the tip of the blade was pointed at him, Jaxor showed no sign of being afraid. In fact, there was a look of resignation in his eyes.

Kwanach murmured with a mixture of bitterness and anger in his voice.

“Still, I tolerated you as an old friend….but you’ve gone too far.”

Jaxor responded.

“You’ve given up because of that woman a long time ago. You’re not the Kwanach I know.”

Jaxor spoke as if reminded Kwanach about the time they were slave soldiers.

Kwanach’s patience had come to an end. His body moved forward quickly. Soon the tip of the blade stabbed Jaxor’s shoulder.

“Arghhh!”

Jaxor, who had been chatting leisurely, wrinkled his face and groaned.

The tip of the sword dug relentlessly again. Kwanach held back enough not to kill hiM, but the amputated surface had not yet completely healed. There would be a lot of pain from the blade digging there again. Blood mixed with pus came out from the severed part.

“Ugh, darn it.”

Jaxor bit his lip and tried not to lose consciousness.

I wondered if I should stop Kwanach, but he was the chief interrogator. I was only there to observe.

Jaxor trembled. It was a convulsion caused by pain. Kwanach withdrew the sword for a while, and then, when Jaxor’s breathing returned, he again touched the wound.

Jaxor’s face contorted in agony.

“Why did you join in the suffering of an innocent man while he caused me so much pain?”

I couldn’t understand.

What was it all for? What was the reason?

“Hmmm…hmmm…………”

Even in the midst of all this, Jaxor occasionally let out a gruesome laugh. Each time, his purple eyes glowed strangely.

It was that time when I watched Jaxor’s eyes carefully.

‘purple ……?’

Suddenly, his eyes came into my vision with a clarity that I could not have expected.

Purple eyes were not a common color among humans. However, it was not so rare that it could not be found at all.

The combination of purple eyes and silver hair was the exclusive characteristic of the Pernen royal family, but there were often those who had only purple eyes.

So I had never shown any particular interest in Jaxor’s eyes. Their color was dull, dark, and when viewed in the dark, they were closer to black than purple.

‘But they’re a similar color to Roman’s …….’

Roman has bright silver hair, while Jaxor’s hair was a desaturated gray.

‘Is it a coincidence?’

It may be a coincidence. There may be no connection whatsoever.

But now was the time to pin down even the smallest possibility.

‘What if Roman and Jaxor are related by blood?‘

It may be a ridiculous family, but I could understand why Jaxor would be so on Roman’s side. And also that he abandoned Kwanach, with whom he had spent his entire life with.

But it didn’t make sense. Even if Jaxor was an illegitimate child, he was still a descendant of the Pernen royal family. How could such a man be a slave?

Maybe I was being sensitive. Perhaps it was a cut-throat situation and I was thinking of a small clue to expand on.

“Ahhhhh…”

Jaxor kept moaning in pain. I opened my mouth as I stared at him.

“Jaxor.”

When I called out for Jaxor, Kwanach stopped his sword for a moment. Jaxor stared at me with a wiggling throat.

It was a look of obvious hostility. There was a gruesomeness that came from someone whose beliefs were so strongly twisted.

I opened my mouth, trying not to let Jaxor regain his momentum.

“I don’t want to talk to you for long. There is only one thing I’m curious about. The experiment that Roman was conducting. Do you know anything about it?”

“Experiment? Kwanach asked about that too. I don’t know anything.”

Jaxor raised one eyebrow. Suspicion and confusion crossed his face.

“Either you’re blind, or you really don’t know.”

I turned my gaze to Kwanach.

“Did you tell him about Roman’s experiments with sclerosis?”

“I didn’t tell him the details. The idea was to see what he would confide in me first. It was also difficult to interrogate him properly while we were on the move.”

Jaxor said negatively, still had the power to be sarcastic even in the midst of bleeding.

“If you two are going to talk, do you mind if I step out for a moment?”

As Kwanach tried to lift the sword, I hurriedly grabbed his arm.

“One moment, please.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t think it’s easy this way. Let me handle it for a minute.”

Jaxor was not one to be intimidated by torture. Knowing this, Kwanach also acted much more complicated when talking about Jaxor.

It should not be easy to scare the heart of Jaxor, who had endured so much hardship since his childhood. A different approach was needed.

I took another step toward Jaxor. Kwana stared at me from behind, unable to hide his anxiety. Still, he didn’t step forward to cover for me or prevent me.

Kwanach now believed in me. My power and my ability. I want to live up to his trust.

I said, looking straight at Jaxor.

“Roman collected and experimented on the bodies with sclerosis. I don’t know what the experiment was, but it must have been black magic against nature.”

Jaxor’s eyes crinkled at the edges.

“You really didn’t know?”

Jaxor, who had been silent for some time at my pursuit, shook his shoulder once and said,

“I don’t know how many times I’ve told you the same thing over and over again. I don’t know anything! He wanted me to pull it out of the Imperial Palace, so I pulled it out, and he wanted information, so I gave it to him. That’s all there is to it.”

“…….”

“What is Roman up to, what is his plan, and who are the others who have joined hands with him? I don’t know anything about that!”

“If it was simply because of money, you didn’t lack money. So why?”

“I am sure that the wealth will never end. And I didn’t like the way my country was when the emperor fell in love with an outsider.”

From behind me, I heard the sound of Kwanach gritting his teeth. I kept my composure.

“I’ve been wondering… Can you understand that a man so clever like you who had held the position of general committed treason for money? and without knowing anything about Roman, you joined hands with him and betrayed the emperor?”

“So what if I was a general? I’m ignorant to begin with.”

“If all this is true…… Well, you’re such an idiot, and your foolishness will make the continent sicker.”

“…….”

“Roman casts a curse on the Pahar River. It created the plague called sclerosis. As you know, my people use the Fahar River as drinking water. Even babies grow up drinking that water.”

Jaxor’s painful face sank a little. His gaze turned dim.

The Jaxor of whom so many tales of heroism speak, and of whom I had heard from Kwanach, was not in the least an evil man. He was not a fighter who dedicated his life to justice, but he would have felt guilty if he had played a part in killing innocent people.

I began to steadily push Jaxor.

“Roman fattened only his own profits and polluted the drinking water of the empire for the purpose of using it for his experiments. And as he intended, many people suffered.”

Jaxor’s eyes wavered.

“The wealthy were able to buy medicines to prevent the disease… But you know the commoners could not do so. It was the lowest of the low that got it.”

‘’I…I said I didn’t know.”

The end of Jaxor’s denying voice trembled.

“Yes, perhaps Roman hid it from you.”

“…….”

“But if you come clean, it will help us uncover Roman’s schemes.

“I….”

”Jaxor, you picked the wrong person. Roman is a devil who has selfishly sacrificed many people.”

“…….”

“It’s all over anyway, isn’t it? You guys lost. Make sure you are on the right path now. Unless you want to regret it until the moment you die.”

“You know what?

Jaxor’s shoulders shook from the moment he heard the word devil. He immediately stared at me with a blue streak on his neck.

“Devil? No, you’re the devil. A woman who would have been brought up in a palace with nothing but beauty, what do you know…!”

During the last battle, Roman also said something similar to me. It was as if his voice was laced with sadness.

What made them so angry? At least I could see that Jaxor’s story of not knowing Roman and being bought by him for money was false.

Jaxor was so angry that he poured out his words and chewed his lips. Then he murmured in a shaky voice.

“Do you have proof? Is there any evidence that Roman spread sclerosis and conducted experiments? I don’t know if you are lying to me in an attempt to win me over.”

“If I bring proof, will you give me information about Roman?”