I Will Live for Your Death - Chapter 109

Ilarid cupped his cheeks and met his eyes. Lebel’s face felt rough after not seeing it for a few days.

Has fatigue accumulated during this time? Or…

Seeming to sense the meaning behind the caressing touch, Lebel smiled readily and said:

“It hurt.”

As soon as she heard him say it hurt, Ilarid’s expression darkened sharply.

“Where? How…? I’ll send a doctor right away.”

Lebel quietly shook his head. Then he took Ilarid’s hand that was on his cheek and placed it over his left chest. The small, ceaseless beating could be clearly felt.

“Here… it hurt a lot.”

Because you were injured, I was injured together with you.

Silence left a bitter taste as it pooled in their mouths. They both knew well that no medicine could do anything for pain in this place.

“You ordered me not to be in pain.”

Lebel pressed down firmly on the back of Ilarid’s hand resting on his chest, as if trying to suppress the pain. A shadow fell across his brow as his usually neat eyebrows began to tremble.

“So please, Your Majesty, do not be in pain either. I do not dare to give orders… so I will beg you.”

At this moment, that was his only thought.

**

As soon as Lebel stepped on the morning dew at the garrison, the nagging began.

“You’ve been away from your post often lately, Commander.”

Eddie approached with a playful tone, feigning a forced complaint.

Perhaps because he was around the same age as Luth, the youngest member, he had a feeling of being an unrestrained younger brother. Lebel smiled faintly and made an excuse.

“I’ve had a lot to do. Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask.”

“Please tell me.”

“I’d like you to obtain some medicine from outside the palace.”

Eddie’s face subtly hardened upon hearing his words.

He had thought the commander’s complexion looked pale recently, but brushed it off thinking he was just tired. Was it not simply accumulated fatigue after all?

“Commander, are you unwell?”

“Dizziness, headaches, occasional shortness of breath. And…”

Lebel trailed off, then pointed to his left chest with his finger.

“Here.”

Eddie stammered, turning deathly pale.

“Th-that sounds serious! You shouldn’t just take medicine, you need to see a doctor right away.”

“Medicine will do.”

“You know that kind of self-diagnosis is very bad, right?”

Eddie’s words were dripping with dissatisfaction.

When members fall ill, he rushes them to the doctor and even gives them rest time, so why does he treat his own body so carelessly?

It’ll upset Her Majesty the Empress. But no matter how cheeky Eddie was, he couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

Perhaps the pain the commander felt in his chest was caused by the Empress.

Even Eddie had noticed the sorrowful gaze that followed the Empress’s every step.

It must be painful. Perhaps he’ll have to suffer from unrequited love for the rest of his life.

“This sounds quite serious even to someone like me who knows nothing about illnesses.”

“…I see.”

Eddie wondered if the man before him truly understood the gravity of the situation. He finally understood why Lailo constantly told Lebel, “Take care of yourself, you fool!”

If it were anyone but the commander, he’d drag them out right now and force them to sit in the hospital. And he was prepared to shout like Lailo.

Please take care of yourself, you frustrating man!

He barely managed to swallow the insubordination rising in his throat. Then he heaved deep sighs in front of Lebel.

“There’ll be an uproar the day Lailo finds out. That guy cares terribly about your health, if no one else’s.”

“That’s why I’m asking you, not Lailo.”

Did he actually listen to anything that was just said? Eddie pouted.

“Why me?”

“Because you can keep a secret.”

Seemingly oblivious to Eddie’s smoldering frustration, Lebel even let out a light laugh as he answered. Of course. The members were always the ones left dumbfounded, clutching their heads.

“You find this funny?”

Even as he cried out in indignation, Eddie didn’t forget to survey his surroundings.

Recently, men from the Imperial Guard had been spotted frequently around the garrison.

They were aware that these were likely movements to monitor the mercenary corps, especially Lebel, on the Emperor’s orders.

‘We may be used to this kind of scrutiny, but…’

The problem was the commander. Given that the Emperor was leaving him be without saying much, there was a high chance he had some other scheme in mind.

Or he might intend to use him up to the bone marrow until he collapses, then discard him. Eddie had to carefully conceal his complicated feelings one way or another.

“I understand. I’ll go out today or tomorrow to get the medicine.”

Eddie’s instincts kept nagging at something that didn’t seem right. It was precisely after returning from Rosen. Was the endemic disease there really the cause?

“But promise me this. If you don’t improve after taking the medicine, you’ll go to the hospital right away.”

“Alright.”

You always just give stubborn answers. Eddie grumbled with his head hanging low, then added a few more words.

“Above all else, please don’t collapse first. You’re like the core of the mercenary corps, Commander. And… Her Majesty the Empress would be saddened too.”

Perhaps it would have been better not to add that last part. Eddie furtively glanced at Lebel’s reaction.

It was a new but obvious point.

A person who shoulders the entire mercenary corps while loving Ilarid.

A rather heavy weight pressed down on both of Lebel’s shoulders.

‘I’ll make it so you can call my name in the light.’

Ilarid’s words were a declaration of love.

Lebel could no longer die.

He had to survive until the end, if only to keep his loved one alive.

“…I won’t die.”

“What I said wasn’t a joke.”

“I know. Thank you.”

He was someone who sometimes overworked his body to an excessive degree. Why was a person who would readily step up for others so harsh on himself?

Lebel left behind a brief but sincere thanks and walked away. Eddie stared at his retreating back for a long while.

**

Cledius furrowed his brow as he listened to the report on the “Attempted Assassination of the Empress” incident.

In the end, it was back to square one.

The only fact they had uncovered was that the poison used was mainly found in the Eastern Continent. And even that would have been impossible to discover if not for Cledius.

“This is not a place for you to flaunt your incompetence.”

As soon as the report ended, Cledius’s irritated voice was heard. At the Emperor’s sigh, all the officials hung their heads.

“Who dares to point a blade at the imperial family? And at the Empress, no less.”

Though he didn’t shout, it was clear anger.

As the silence in the conference room deepened, the shadow across Cledius’s brow grew darker.

“From today, increase the security for the Empress’s Palace. Some of the Imperial Guard’s forces should be sent to the Empress’s Palace…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

At the unexpected voice, all the ministers stood up. The Empress, who they thought would still be confined to bed, entered the conference room with her usual upright posture.

“Your Majesty the Empress, how have you come here when you are not well?”

“Thanks to everyone’s concern, I was able to quickly get back on my feet. I’m sorry to have caused you all worry when you must be busy with state affairs.”

Due to the Empress’s sudden appearance, attendants bustled about preparing an extra chair.

Ilarid slowly approached the chair placed next to Cledius. With each step, her pressed voice was heard.

“You must be quite disappointed that I have risen unharmed.”

The chilly, sharp voice cut through the lukewarm air in the conference room. Cledius’s brow twitched for a moment.

“Your Majesty the Empress, how could you say such a thing…”

Some ministers, struck at their core, simply hunched their bodies and avoided eye contact.

Cledius’s gaze continued until the moment Ilarid sat down. Without taking his eyes off the Empress, he said:

“This is not a place for the Empress.”

“I have unfinished business. I’ve come to conclude it.”

But Ilarid never met Cledius’s eyes. She merely smiled gently towards the ministers seated in front.

The Empress brought up again the corruption in the Academy that they had tried to subtly bury. Groans involuntarily escaped the ministers’ mouths.

“Is it difficult?”

There was an edge to her words. I was poisoned yet I walked here like this, how dare you grumble about being tired?

No matter how young, Ilarid was the Empress. The ministers’ response was predetermined.

“No, Your Majesty the Empress.”

What more could they say without admitting to aiding the Academy’s corruption?

As it was, with all the newspapers clamoring about it, they had to be mindful of public opinion.

Those gathered in the conference room reluctantly began work according to the Empress’s orders.

As they left the conference room, the ministers kept shaking their heads. They had guessed she was no ordinary person, but the Empress far exceeded their imagination.

She managed to hold onto her sanity even after losing the Imperial Grandson in the tragedy that befell her family.

Not only that, she fulfilled her duties as Empress without changing her expression even when a noblewoman from a humble family put on airs relying on the Emperor’s affection.

However, thinking she had no power or backing and not even bothering to be wary of her was the root of their trouble.

“We underestimated the daughter of Keira Rowen Melpiram too much.”

“By the way, who led the assassination attempt on Her Majesty the Empress? There’s a limit to recklessness…”

Just as they were about to carelessly pin it on the Republican faction as usual, Ilarid drove in the last nail.

‘Thanks to the Republican faction, your work has been greatly reduced, so you must be quite comfortable.’

Blatantly pointing out how they blame everything on the Republican faction to the point there would be none left, everyone shut their mouths tight. Even Cledius couldn’t help but smirk at Ilarid’s words.

“Seeing His Majesty the Emperor’s reaction today… doesn’t it seem he cares greatly for Her Majesty the Empress? He must have turned away from Her Highness the Imperial Consort.”

The nobles quickly began calculating. They pulled and released, trying to determine if the rope they had grabbed was a lifeline or a rotten one.

If the Emperor still had lingering affection for the Empress, on the contrary, there seemed to be no hope for the Imperial Consort.

However, the Imperial Consort was the leading candidate to bear an Imperial Grandson, so the ministers were in a predicament.

“Duke Orzen, what do you think? I understand your wife is quite close with Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Well. How could I carelessly add my words?”

“The influence of Count Diobe and Marquis Geminia grows by the day. We should prepare in advance.”

“There is something even more frightening than an Empress loved by the Emperor. Do you know what it is?”

Duke Orzen suddenly stopped walking in the corridor. The noble following behind him looked around nervously.

“It’s an Empress loved by the people.”

There are those who fear what comes after death even more.

As if even a passing ghost might hear, Duke Orzen lowered his voice sharply.

“Even if deposed, the people will follow the exiled Empress. Even in death, she would wander like a ghost, inciting people. Just like ‘Melpiram’.”

Stories passed from mouth to mouth were even more terrifying than people. While people may change, souls do not.

The ghost named ‘Melpiram’ had been wandering the Empire for quite some time.

**

“…Has the taste of the tea changed?”

Though it was a quiet mutter to herself, all the servants in the Imperial Consort’s Palace couldn’t help but tense up.

The Imperial Consort’s capriciousness was nothing new. Recently, she had become even more fussy, frequently raising her sharp voice.

“We apologize, Your Highness. I will tell the children to bring fresh tea.”

“No. They must have misjudged the water temperature. Leave it be.”

The maids’ eyes widened. What wind had blown in today for her to let it pass without incident?

She was especially sensitive about this tea, which the Emperor had specially bestowed.

She would throw a noisy fit even if the temperature was slightly off, but this unusual calmness was unsettling, like the calm before a storm.

“Your Highness. Count Diobe has arrived.”

Perhaps she had received some new information from Alice? Selina greeted her father with an expectant expression.

“Have you found out anything about Her Majesty the Empress? Who has been entering and leaving the Empress’s Palace?”

“That’s not what’s important right now. Do you know what I’ve brought? I barely managed to obtain this from Marquis Geminia.”

Count Diobe waved his hands exaggeratedly while making a fuss.

It was a bit suspicious, but whenever her father acted like this, something unexpected would always pop up.

She blinked quietly as she gazed at the small package her father was pulling out.

Selina took the cloth pouch her father handed her and examined it closely.

On the red cloth, unknown characters were embroidered with gold thread. It seemed empty inside, as pressing down on it only produced the feeling of cloth rubbing against cloth.

“What is this?”

“It’s a talisman secretly brought in from the Eastern Continent.”