Chapter 28 

“Ugh...”

Consciousness returned unnaturally slowly.

I tried to open my eyes vaguely, but my whole body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and even my eyelids wouldn't open properly.

Muscle aches and the burning from wounds enveloped my entire body.

Through the eyes I managed to open with difficulty, I was met with a cozy scene.

Warm sunlight streaming down. Curtains gently fluttering. The chirping of birds.

It was incomparable to the prison of the penal unit where I usually woke up.

I tried to turn my head slightly, and my heart sank.

Sitting on a small chair next to the bed, Vivian was glaring at me.

“You're awake,” She said. “I thought you were dead for good since you slept straight for two days.”

“...Two days?”

It felt like I had just taken a short nap, but more time had passed than I thought.

I asked Vivian, “Since when have you been here?”

“...”

She didn't answer. Instead, she rang the bell at my bedside to call others.

Head butler Pippin entered with neat footsteps and said, “Mr. Kylo Allen, you're awake. That's a relief.”

If you're going to say it's a relief, it would be nice if you could at least show a more relieved expression.

I might even believe that Vivian was more worried about me than Pippin was.

Vivian looked quite haggard, making me wonder what had happened.

If I hadn't collapsed like this, I might have worried about her first.

“P-Pippin. Please bring Scholar Crellin. A-And some food that's easy on the stomach.”

“Yes.”

Vivian's behavior was somewhat different from usual.

From the fact that my sickbed was in such a tidy room, to her taking care of me to some extent, and even ordering the physician and food as soon as I woke up… I couldn't understand any of it.

“...Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” I asked out of curiosity.

After finishing her conversation with Pippin, Vivian turned to look at me.

She paused momentarily at my question, then sighed and said, “I'm afraid you'll die if I don't take care of you. If you die here, that's my responsibility.”

“You always wanted me to die.”

“I thought so... but now I want to see you suffer more.”

“...”

“You told me, didn't you? That death like this is too easy.”

At her words, I turned my head aside with a subtle smile.

There were many contradictions in her words, but somehow I felt like I could understand.

Because I was like that when I looked at Vivian. Maybe she's acting in a somewhat similar vein.

Scholar Crellin soon came to see us. He examined my body here and there and said there would be no problem if I rested, then left.

Next, maids came in carrying food. A warm aroma filled the room.

Chicken soup and fragrant herbal tea.

A large maid who introduced herself as Rona spoke. Her voice was unexpectedly gentle.

“I simmered the meat gently to make this. It's good for warming the body and won't be too heavy on an empty stomach.”

Rona poured the soup into a small wooden bowl and placed it before me. The steam from the soup rose slightly, tickling my nose.

Vivian, who was beside me, said in her usual indifferent voice, “Eat.”

Even after hearing her words, I hesitated for a moment. My whole body was aching so much that I wondered if I could even hold the bowl.

But as I stared at the soup for a moment, I realized that I was quite hungry.

Suddenly, the appetite that surged over me engulfed me like a flood.

I took a spoonful of soup and put it in my mouth, and as the warm broth slid down my throat, even the pain in my body slowly subsided.

***

Vivian had been watching me for quite some time. She observed me eating silently, then turned her gaze to Rona.

"...Mine as well." Her tone was cold and firm, but her fingertips trembled slightly.

I paused my spoon and looked at her closely.

Fatigue was evident on her face. Even though I was watching her, Vivian didn't even notice my gaze.

As if she were extremely hungry, she scooped up the soup with somewhat hurried movements.

Her usual graceful demeanor was now rather clumsy and awkward.

Only after realizing that I was watching her did her hands pause for a moment.

When our eyes met, she turned her face away somewhat awkwardly.

"...You."

I asked quietly.

"...You were starving while I was gone?"

"..."

Vivian didn't answer and raised her bowl a little higher. As if to hide her face behind it.

She tried to maintain her composure, but her ears, which she couldn't hide, were reddening with embarrassment.

"You bragged you'd be fine without me, but you were starving? So you haven't eaten at all for five days?"

"..."

Without a word, she quickly finished a bowl and then spoke bluntly to the maids.

"...Another bowl."

Seeing her wipe the soup from the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, I couldn't help but chuckle.

At the sound of my laughter, Vivian frowned slightly and warned me.

"If you eat slowly, there won't be any food left for you."

Then she accepted the next bowl handed by the maids and began to fill her stomach busily again.

Watching her like that, I smiled and resumed eating with my spoon.

****

It was a room bathed in sunlight.

Around a luxurious wooden table, two or three figures sat, cautiously observing one another.

In the silence that followed, a man seated to the left of the head seat spoke.

"The longer we delay, the harder it becomes."

The man at the head of the table rolled his eyes at that.

The first man continued, "You know that if we're going to get rid of Vivian, we have to act as quickly as possible."

"That's why we even tried poison."

"If we were going to give up after one failure, we wouldn't have started at all. The longer we hesitate, the more vigilant they'll become. You need to move on to the next step quickly."

The man at the head seat snorted.

"So what do you suggest we do? If we try using poison again, that Kylo Allen brat will end up eating it all. When he's not around, Vivian won't even eat. What can we possibly do?"

"Well, that's..."

"Should we try beheading her? Do you want to go do it? The moment you're caught, suspicion will fall on me too. Is that what you want?"

"Maybe we could attempt an assassination..."

"How? There are eyes everywhere in the castle, and Vivian's room is on the third floor. Unless you can become a shadow, how will you sneak up there? It would be easier to tell you to scale the castle walls."

Watching his advisor shrink back after a few retorts, the man at the head seat clicked his tongue.

It was all because of Kylo Allen, that bothersome brat.

The Allen family was ruining everything again.

It was Kylo Allen who saved Vivian from the brink of death after she was poisoned, who ate the food first so they couldn't use poison again, and who kept rescuing her from being ignored.

Kylo Allen seemed to be acting as if he wanted to deliberately provoke them.

He shouldn't have any loyalty to protect Vivian Rondor, yet he kept doing so.

They couldn't understand the minds of young people.

From their perspective, there was no one as troublesome as Kylo Allen.

It was impossible to eliminate him just because he was in the way too.

He wasn't some farmer from a remote village; he was the son of the undefeated knight, Jade Allen.

If they touched him, they might be the ones who get destroyed. The Rondor family might walk the path of annihilation.

And the fact that he's sticking close to Vivian is driving them crazy.

Moreover, the fact that they were spending more and more time together only added to the pressure.

"Why are those two sticking together like that? I heard they don't even get along."

"Could it be they're trying to bully each other?"

"...Hah."

If things kept going like this and Kylo actually continued to stay by Vivian's side as her guard, as the Duchess of Rondor had ordered... Then it would be safe to say there would be no way to eliminate Vivian.

The man at the head of the table leaned back and sighed.

"...The next chance will be the last."

He instinctively knew.

If they failed to eliminate Vivian in the next attempt, they'd have to sit idly by until she came of age.

And after that, they wouldn't be able to slip out of the net as luckily as they did when they attempted to poison her.

When the poisoning failed, they had broken out in cold sweats trying to kill off everyone involved one by one.

As the tail gets longer, it's bound to be caught; if they missed the next opportunity, they'd have to live quietly for a while.

He rubbed his dry face repeatedly and said,

"...First, somehow get that Allen brat away from Vivian."

At his words, his advisors nodded.

"We'll think about the rest afterward."

****

A few days later, I was by the riverside, continuing with the laundry.

The wounds on my body had healed to some extent, and my strength had returned.

Each time I felt my life stabilizing bit by bit, I couldn't help but hum a tune.

My standing in the penal unit had improved, and Vivian and I no longer sharpened our knives against each other.

The retainers of Rondor Castle, who had grown accustomed to my presence, no longer spat curses when they saw me.

Feeling refreshed, I stood up from my spot.

And the moment I turned around...

"...Whoa!"

...A maid appeared before me.

"Huh?"

And she was the very maid I had been searching for—the one who had given me that note saying "Be careful of the food."

"I've been looking for you... and here you are."

"As you might have already realized, I'm not really a maid."

Given the time that had passed, I had somewhat understood that.

However, I couldn't hide my apprehension toward her.

Because the fact that she had appeared before me again... didn't seem like a good sign.

"...My master, in light of the last incident, has a gift for you, Mr. Kylo Allen."

The maid once again grabbed my hand and placed a coin pouch on it.

The hefty weight told me it was a considerable amount of gold coins.

"Then, I'll be going."

The maid who handed it over, turned and left without hesitation.

"...What? You're leaving just like that?"

I couldn't stop her as she walked away. Even if I tried, she probably wouldn't tell me anything.

And I didn't want to get involved in any strange affairs by holding her back.

Still, I did have a realization. There was someone in Rondor Castle secretly helping Vivian.

Just knowing that seemed to lighten the burden on my heart.

But to reveal herself like this just to give me coins? I wondered if she wasn't being cautious enough.

"...Huh?"

At that moment, I realized there was something tucked beneath the coin pouch.

I clenched my teeth and sighed through my nose.

Of course.

There was another note.

The note read:

"Stay by her side."

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

[TL: You can support the translation and read 5 chapters ahead  of the release here on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/parth990

Join Our Discord for regular updates and have fun with other community members: https://discord.com/invite/SqWtJpPtm9 ]

Support Author

Join Discord