TYND 10

Chapter 10

“Every fortnight, they’d grow some strange herbs, cry loudly, make a fuss. They’d eat every beast they could catch. They were so wild I couldn’t bear to deal with them.”

Tsk. The guard clicked his tongue and tapped his crossed legs with his fist.

Lucy frowned at his excessive words and rapped on the iron bars. The guard, realizing belatedly that he’d overstepped, sheepishly lifted his head and continued, muttering “Ah, right, right…”

“Well, they didn’t ask to be born that way. But don’t you think you’re overstepping? What, just because they’re pretty, you change their status and send them to another country?”

“I’m not just helping them. They pay me, so I wash their status and send them abroad.”

“So? Did you make a lot of money?”

Lucy muttered and fell silent. The guard clicked his tongue again, imagining her defiant expression.

“Do you know anyone treated worse than Lycan? They’re poor, yet what money…”

“…There are so many poor people that it’s hard to get money. Well, it wasn’t originally about making money anyway.”

It really wasn’t about money. Lucy hadn’t started refugee brokering for profit. It had begun because of her mother’s meddling nature.

While walking along the coast, Ansila had stumbled upon a small boat. Inside were a Lycan mother and daughter who had fled the empire’s oppression. Ansila couldn’t ignore them.

—Lucy, isn’t there any way to help these people?

She had thought about it, but there was no practical way. They were Lycans, and this was Pomnos. If the boat had drifted elsewhere, they might have settled safely—but it drifted north.

Could a Lycan mother and daughter survive in a city where the Rapi considered Lycans enemies? Anyone else would have shaken their head.

Ansila, naive about the world, had no solution. The Lycan mother and daughter could only cry at their bleak future.

—After all the suffering under the empire, to end up fleeing to a Rapi city… We’re doomed.

Their tears were pitiful.

Lucy tried to ignore them coldly, but she couldn’t help but see herself and her mother reflected in them.

Their desperate escape from their homeland mirrored the reality of Lucy and her mother, fleeing the palace and enduring endless winters.

—There has to be a solution. Please wait.

Meddling seems to run in the family.

Unable to stand by, Lucy personally arranged for the Lycan mother and daughter to be exiled to a third country. Up to that point, it was a happy ending.

…If only it had ended there.

Sadly, the Lycan mother and daughter were apparently good storytellers.

“Have you heard? A noble lives in Pomnos.”

“I’ve heard too. They even secretly send people to other countries and introduce them to jobs. Such kindness… maybe the world isn’t so bad.”

Word spread that someone in Pomnos was helping Lycans escape, and those living near the border began to hope.

Before long, Lycans crossed the border to the north, searching the city for the refugee broker.

Sadly, Lucy was the only one helping Lycans in Pomnos. After refusing them several times, she eventually began to assist.

The more she helped, the more notorious she became.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have started this.”

Recalling the past brought a rough feeling to her throat.

Muttering bitterly, Lucy swallowed her bread with difficulty and glared at her food tray. A few pieces of dried fish and cold soup represented her miserable situation.

She had foolishly started something…

“How did it come to this?”

Even the reason she ended up in prison was ridiculous.

They say that if your tail is long, it gets stepped on. Both humans and Lycans had problems with tails.

Yesterday morning, Lucy had instructed a Lycan client to prepare supplies for exile. The Lycan left confidently and soon returned with everything. That part was fine.

Until they encountered a scammer’s item at the market entrance: “The Forgotten Dragon’s Tailbone.”

—Oh my. Is this really a dragon’s tailbone?

For Lycans, who considered bones a delicacy, it had to be a dragon’s.

They had covered themselves with a robe to hide, but the tail couldn’t be restrained.

Excited by the bone, the Lycan wagged their tail, revealing their identity to everyone.

—What the… Where did this beast come from?

A Rapi spotted the tail and confronted the client.

A rational person would have ignored it and fled, but the client was a Lycan, a hot-blooded creature that responded to fire with fire and fists with fists. There was no fleeing.

During the ensuing scuffle, the Rapi, overwhelmed, reported the Lycan, and Lucy, protecting them, was blamed as the mastermind.

The Rapis who had long disliked her added their voices, and Lucy fell into prison as the city’s most infamous rogue.

“Ah, really… How did it come to this?”

Chewing bread like it was her enemy, Lucy gazed sadly at the ceiling.

It would have been shocking if this were the first time, but it was already the third.

Her plan to quietly wait until the king died had failed, and Lucy had become the most notorious human in Pomnos.

“Endure a little longer. I’ve called someone to vouch for you; you’ll be released soon.”

The guard in the corner brushed off his feathers and spoke.

“Someone vouching for me?”

Frowning, Lucy tossed her tray aside and stood, about to shout, when she heard faint murmurs and heavy footsteps in the distance. Judging by the sound, they were military boots.

“Well, that was quick.”

The guard tapped his beak and turned toward the door. Soon, a man appeared, stepping through the doorway.

Tall for a human, he didn’t seem intimidating compared to the massive Rapi standing before and behind him.

Yet the crude sword at his waist and his expressionless face exuded a pressure that pressed Lucy’s shoulders down.

Walter Heiberg, with his dry, emotionless face, stopped in front of the bars and bowed politely.

“It’s been a while, Princess.”

Contrary to popular belief that Pomnos was a snowy, white kingdom, it had distinct four seasons.

Over land swept by summer, the cold northern wind ushered in the chill of autumn. Vast plains peeked with green meadows, merging with the endless horizon. Two shepherds hurried across the field carrying fleeces, while sheep grazed peacefully, creating a calm scene.

Walter stood by the window, eyes fixed on the horizon, and spoke.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes… somehow, I’m managing.”

“I worried, since it’s excessively cold for humans, but seeing you safe eases my mind.”

It would have been better if he had been sarcastic.

His tone, entirely serious, pricked Lucy’s conscience. She straightened her back, feigning calm, and handed him warm goat’s milk.

“Thank you for worrying. I apologize for troubling you. You didn’t come all this way because of me, right?”

Walter raised his glass and sipped the milk. After a brief silence, he looked at her.

“It’s been just over a year, I think, since I signed as your guarantor when you were first imprisoned. Since then, the Rapis seem to consider me your protector.”

When she was first imprisoned, the Rapis had suspected her of being a political criminal or spy.

As a city-state, Pomnos was ideal for foreign criminals to hide. Though most humans wouldn’t venture there due to the cold, history had instances of exiles.

A king’s cherished concubine’s daughter. A cadet academy graduate.

And now, she was helping Lycans in strange ways. The Rapis had every reason to be suspicious.