Chapter 37
“You’re not going to stop her?”
Kane asked, flinching slightly as he frowned.
“No.”
Lucas sat with his legs crossed on the sofa, answering calmly.
He already knew what Kane was looking at with such an appalled expression.
In front of them stood a large, pitch-black sphere, big enough to fit three bears inside, radiating a menacing aura. It was Rosedale’s creation.
Inside it were Count Doris, the administrator, and the sheriff, and small, continuous screams leaked out from within.
Lucas didn’t even bother to ask Rosedale, who sat with her hand on the sphere and her eyes closed, what she was doing.
Even if she killed everyone inside, it was fine. He was confident he could clean up quietly and thoroughly afterward.
But Kane seemed to think differently.
“Lady Rosedale. You must not kill them. You know that, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
Rosedale answered vaguely and slowly lifted her long lashes to open her eyes.
Then, removing her hand from the sphere, she walked over and perched lightly on the armrest of Lucas’s sofa.
“Just a little longer now.”
“What exactly is going on in there?”
Kane swallowed hard as he listened to the screams coming from the black sphere.
“Nothing much. I just let them swim a bit.”
“Swim?”
Rosedale didn’t reply—just raised the corners of her lips in a smirk.
The sphere was a complex creation of her magic. Based on illusion magic, it simulated the sensation of drowning, with water magic and anti-gravity spells layered in.
It would be painful enough to make them wish for death—but they wouldn’t die. If they died, they couldn’t give Lucas the ledger he wanted.
“Rozy, aren’t you tired?”
“A little?”
Rosedale quietly looked down at her hand, which Lucas was gently kneading. Her hand looked small and dainty in his large one.
Small things are cute. Just like small humans are lovable.
That’s why Rosedale liked being held by Lucas.
And the way he gently massaged her hand helped melt away her fatigue as a bonus.
“You must be tired too, Lucas. You haven’t slept.”
“I’m fine. I’m used to staying up all night.”
“You shouldn’t get used to things like that.”
Rosedale frowned and held out her arms.
“Come here. Cuddle me.”
“…Pfft.”
Lucas, staring blankly at her puffing out air from her nose, let out a not-so-small chuckle.
His stiff shoulders relaxed, and warmth returned to his previously shadowed eyes.
“Shall I?”
“Anytime.”
Her arms, spread proudly as if they were the coziest nest in the world, welcomed him warmly.
It was as if she was whispering gently: Come to me. I’ll always be here for you.
Lucas smiled softly and leaned toward her. His firm hand wrapped around her slender waist, and her small hand brushed the back of his neck.
His hair tickled her shoulder, and his eyes closed as she gently stroked him.
Even the dust in the sunlit air sparkled like aquamarine…
“Ahem.”
A cough from behind broke the tender atmosphere.
“Please separate yourselves. There are many eyes watching.”
“…It’s just you, Kane.”
When Rosedale looked exasperated, Kane furrowed his brow sternly.
“There are two! One to the left and one to the right!”
He pointed at both his eyes and motioned for them to part.
“It’s improper for a man and woman to behave so intimately with so many eyes watching. Fortunately, it’s just me. If it weren’t, your reputations might have been—”
“Okay, okay. That’s enough.”
Ugh, what a nag.
Grimacing, Rosedale reluctantly released Lucas. And Lucas, caught off guard, ended up being pushed away.
With the look of an exiled man, he quickly turned to Kane with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Kane, bearing the full brunt of Lucas’s cold gaze, shuddered as goosebumps ran down his back.
Just as he averted his eyes, Rosedale suddenly stood and redirected Lucas’s attention.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s time.”
“Time for what?”
Rosedale smiled at Lucas’s concerned face.
“Time to bring you what you wanted.”
With long strides, she returned to the black sphere.
“Seems like the liars’ long noses have finally been cut off.”
She tapped the sphere lightly with her index finger, and it burst like a soap bubble with a pop.
Count Doris, the administrator, and the sheriff fell to the ground, vomiting water from their stomachs.
“Gaaack!“
Cough cough—they coughed violently and gasped for breath, unable to compose themselves.
Rosedale knelt in front of them.
“Where is it? The ledger.”
“…”
Gritting his teeth, Doris stayed silent.
Rosedale simply stared at him in silence too.
A quiet threat. A warning that if he didn’t speak, he really wouldn’t make it out intact this time.
She clearly heard their desperate thoughts: I’ll tell you everything, just let me out of here.
Now that she had let them out, it was their turn to keep their promise.
“…The… Admin…”
“It’s in the bottom drawer of my office desk!” the administrator blurted out, cutting in just as Doris was about to speak.
“The drawer! Open the bottom drawer and lift the base—it’s hidden underneath. Please, spare me!”
The administrator rubbed his hands like a fly, begging, while the sheriff bowed his head in agreement.
Kane grabbed the key and hurried to retrieve the ledger.
Meanwhile, Rosedale trotted over to Lucas like an eager puppy, eyes sparkling.
“Your Maj—”
Just as she began to speak, ready to be praised—
“Your Majesty, here it is.”
Kane suddenly interrupted, thrusting the ledger into Lucas’s hands like a jealous youngest child trying to steal credit.
Lucas let out a quiet snort and took the ledger.
Rosedale clicked her tongue in disappointment—but then, Lucas’s rough hand landed gently on her head.
“Thank you, Rozy.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
Rosedale rubbed her nose and shrugged her shoulders, pretending not to care.
Lucas smiled at her shy reaction and slowly began flipping through the ledger.
His face was unreadable, but everyone in the room felt it.
The icy, murderous aura radiating from him—so chilling it made jumping out a window seem like a better option.
“You certainly profited well. Selling off my imperial citizens, no less.”
“Y-Your Majesty! Please forgive us!”
Doris, the administrator, and the sheriff all bowed their heads to the ground.
“We were merely following tradition!”
“C-Count Doris said it was fine! We just trusted him—”
“You liars! How dare you drag me down with you?!”
Count Doris turned red and shouted at the sheriff.
“Silence.”
At Lucas’s single word, all three men fell quiet as if spellbound.
He slowly rose from the sofa and walked over to stand in front of them, looking down quietly.
“Tradition? Administrator, are you saying custom takes precedence over imperial law?”
“N-No, Your Majesty…”
“Sheriff, do you mean to say that the word of a mere count, who governs a single village, outweighs the will of the Emperor?”
“Forgive us!”
The administrator and sheriff begged for mercy, desperate now.
They had always felt safe, thinking their crimes would never come to light.
With the vast empire to manage after the war, the Emperor surely wouldn’t pay attention to a small village.
But Lucas was far sharper and more intelligent than they had assumed.
Now, all they could hope for was not the Emperor’s justice—but the mercy of the young man beneath the crown.
Whether he knew their thoughts or not, Lucas turned to Count Doris.
“Count. I see you’ve been feeling like a king yourself.”
“Never, Your Majesty! Everything I did was for the wealth of the Iveria Empire, not for personal gain—urk!”
Doris stopped mid-sentence as a cold blade suddenly pressed to his throat.
Blue aura shimmered along Lucas’s sword as he looked down at Doris with a merciless gaze.
“How bold. To defile the Empire’s name with that filthy mouth.”
“Y-Your Majesty! I swear I’m innoce—”
Whoosh!
With a slicing wind, Doris’s lips were severed.
“I told you—I hate liars.”
“Uuuugh!”
As Doris writhed in pain, Lucas calmly sheathed his sword.
The administrator and sheriff trembled, their eyes unfocused.
“Kane.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Bring the criminals back to the palace. Even vermin deserve a trial.”
“At once.”
Kane gave a brief glance at Doris, his face unreadable.
“What about him?”
“Patch him up and lock him up. He must stay alive until he’s executed—his head will be hung in the village square with the others.”
“As you command.”
“E-Executed, Your Majesty?!”
“Spare us!!”
The administrator and sheriff suddenly regained their senses and clung to Lucas’s legs.
But the knights at the door came forward and pried them off without mercy.
“You should be happy.”
Lucas brushed off his pants indifferently.
“Your severed heads will serve as excellent examples.”
“Your Majesty!”
Ignoring the screams and cries behind him, Lucas walked out.
Kane followed, letting out a faint sigh at his sovereign’s cold back.
Lucas was not a merciless tyrant who enjoyed executions. That made the weight of this decision all the heavier.
Kane suddenly recalled the young Lucas on the battlefield, standing over a fallen enemy general with hollow eyes.
Is my lord still standing alone on that blood-soaked battlefield?
“Your Majes—”
Afraid of being left behind, Kane tried to say something—then paused.
It was because of Rosedale, chatting away cheerfully as she walked not behind but beside Lucas.
“Can we stop by the cake shop on the way back to the palace?”
“Again…?”
Lucas, who had been so tense and dangerous just moments ago, was now smiling.
Warmly. Like a fireplace in the middle of winter.
The only peace in Lucas’s war-torn life.
The only purity in a world full of schemes and deceit.
“…”
Well, maybe keeping one wild pony like her by Lucas’s side wouldn’t be so bad.
Kane smiled faintly as he looked at Rosedale.
