I Will Live for Your Death - Chapter 72

A ceiling Lebel had never seen before appeared before his eyes.

The sensation on his back and the lighting made it clear this was a hospital somewhere. Had he returned to the capital? Memories of struggling to hold onto fading consciousness and various voices heard intermittently came to mind.

‘So I’m alive.’

Still lying down, he began to revive his senses by moving each finger one by one. Though he had experienced this feeling of coming back to life several times before, it never quite became familiar.

His last memory was of Rosen. After finishing negotiations with Grand Duke Le Rosen, he recalled collapsing as he felt a sudden abnormality in his body, the words he had spoken to Lailo, and the final mission he had entrusted to Luth.

‘Luth. If I don’t wake up, assassinate the man calling himself the Imperial torture technician, ‘Tamil’.’

Though young, Luth was well-suited for such missions. But Lebel had woken up. The mission given to Luth could simply be canceled.

Dealing with Tamil was something he had to do personally. He couldn’t let someone else kill him. The man who had brutally tortured and driven Lebel’s benefactor to death. He had honed hundreds of blades, vowing to inflict the same pain by the same methods.

He slowly turned his head. As soon as he saw the person before him, Lebel immediately sat up.

“…Your Majesty the Empress.”

Could it really not have been a dream? In his feverish, dizzy consciousness, Ilarid alone had been clear. But thinking it must be a dream, a hallucination, he had called out her name right away. Had she heard? If Ilarid were to ask, how should he answer?

Ilarid silently handed Lebel a glass of water. After confirming he had drunk the water, Ilarid quietly opened her mouth.

“Can you speak?”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

No sooner had Lebel finished speaking than he felt a cold sensation beside his neck. Glancing down, he saw a dagger. It was as he had expected. Without showing any sign of surprise, he met Ilarid’s eyes.

“Speak. Who are you?”

The stiff voice and unwavering eyes drew a firm line between the two. If there was any suspicion or intent to harm, she was ready to slit his throat without hesitation.

Even in this situation, Lebel found Ilarid’s coldly sharpened appearance beautiful. In her eyes glaring at Lebel, doubt and expectation were simultaneously reflected.

“…I am Lebel, captain of the Likas Mercenary Group.”

The blade wavering near his neck dug deeper into his throat. It was in a position where it would touch his flesh if he moved even slightly.

If Lebel wanted to, he could easily overpower Ilarid holding the sword. But he looked at his only lord without avoiding the blade, his hands lowered.

“There is… only one person left now who can call me ‘Miss’.”

Everyone in the mansion except Lynette had died. Those associated with the Melpiram Count’s family could not escape the tragedy. Cledius’ sword tip was persistent and cruel. It felt as if there was even an unspoken will to completely erase all traces of ‘Melpiram’ from the empire.

Yet this unfamiliar person before her eyes had called Ilarid ‘Miss’.

Lebel knew Ilarid.

After he said ‘Miss’ and collapsed again, Ilarid had to add certainty to memories that had not yet fully surfaced. She was determined to ask him when he woke up.

But contrary to her resolve to ask carefully, wariness emerged first.

Ilarid gripped the dagger’s handle again. If by any chance someone who knew of the Melpiram tragedy was trying to taunt a survivor by mentioning ‘Miss’, she would never forgive them.

“So speak. If you utter any lies before me, this place will become your grave.”

Despite having a sword thrust right before his neck, Lebel smiled faintly. It was exactly as he remembered his Miss. My unchangingly strong Miss.

He had returned after far too long. Even if he revealed everything, Ilarid might not remember. She might cut off Lebel’s head without hesitation while telling him not to lie.

But it didn’t matter. If he was to face death anyway, he wanted to end by Ilarid’s hand.

At last, Lebel’s lips parted.

“Miss.”

His large hand wrapped around the wrist holding the dagger. The word ‘Miss’ he murmured was so sweet that Ilarid momentarily flinched.

They say one cannot read another’s heart, but Ilarid guessed from Lebel’s words. This person was not telling lies. However, she held her heart and sword steady, not wavering, as she waited for Lebel’s next words.

“Do you know of the slave market?”

Slavery had long been abolished in the empire. But there was always an underground beneath the official system. That was why there were still those who sought slaves through word of mouth.

The point of not having to write employment contracts and being able to use them like disposables without paying money. Those who bought and sold slaves naturally spoke such words. Amidst cruel excuses, the act of people trading people continued.

Ilarid had witnessed the reality of that slave market only once. She nodded slightly, still with a hardened face.

“I know of it.”

“A slave was waiting for auction.”

In her memory, one scene rose up. Ilarid’s eyes grew wider as she grasped the end of the memory rising like smoke. Watching her, Lebel’s eyes curved slightly.

“And our eyes met, Miss.”

Those green eyes that were still shining.

The same light as Ilarid, whom he looked up at that day in the gray alley. The clear, strong voice that rang out.

The young Lebel had thought that if he kept staring, he might go blind.

Lebel called her name again as he moved his body closer.

“Miss Ilarid.”

The dagger in her hand fell to the floor with a sharp sound.

Kneeling on the floor dirty with filth and mud, head bowed low, the chains entangled around that small body and the lashes flying…

Ilarid grasped Lebel’s hand reaching towards her.

“I remember…”

At last.

**

It was clearly during the empire’s festival season then too.

“It must be fun…”

Young Ilarid sighed as she looked out the window. She had not yet properly experienced the empire’s festivals.

Not only was there Count Melpiram’s order that nobility must maintain their dignity no matter what, but after being designated as the crown prince’s fiancée, she had to maintain an even stricter lifestyle.

Ilarid turned back to look at the desk. Was that really a book or an impregnable fortress wall? As she kept sighing deeply, the tutor who had come from the palace immediately cautioned her.

“Break time is over. And you must not show outwardly that you are struggling. You should endure and control it inwardly.”

Is that as easy as you say? Complaints rose to the tip of her tongue, but there was nothing she could do. Ilarid swallowed another sigh that was about to escape and sat down at the desk.

The pre-education received before ascending to crown princess was truly unbearably boring. She would rather be holed up in the library reading books like before.

Or riding horses with Limless, or practicing shooting under her mother’s guidance – that would at least feel refreshing.

“How many years do I have to do this?”

“You must master it perfectly until you enter the palace. From imperial etiquette to speech and writing, everything.”

“Good grief.”

Ilarid made a disgusted face and shuddered. Again, the tutor’s stern expression followed, and she pouted as she picked up her pen.

By the time she barely finished her lessons, it was already well past lunchtime. She didn’t even realize she was hungry due to being so tense.

“What’s the big deal about being crown princess…”

Surely her mother’s influence played a part. Keira’s expectations for Ilarid were quite high, and Ilarid also wanted to live up to her expectations.

So she thought she should work harder, become perfect.

But there was no helping that it was tiring and difficult. It wasn’t just etiquette lessons that drained Ilarid.

It was the gazes of people who freely judged and concluded about her.

As if that wasn’t enough, the eyes of all the noble young ladies were on Ilarid with the news that she would marry the crown prince, said to be the most handsome man in the empire.

Gazes mixed half with jealousy and half with envy. Various rumors about Ilarid were probably spreading rampantly in the salons where noble ladies gathered.

“Can’t someone else just do it?”

Grumbling, Ilarid raised her aching body and headed for the hallway.

Perhaps because of the festival, the excitement and anticipation emanating from the employees could be felt throughout the corridor. Already, some people were heading outside the mansion with freshly pressed clothes and a single flower pinned to them.

“Ilarid!”

“Lynette, is everyone going to the festival?”

“That’s right. I heard they’re going early to reserve seats for the fireworks show later tonight. I heard it’s being hosted by a merchant group from the Eastern Continent this time!”

Fireworks! Ilarid’s green eyes rippled happily. Fireworks she had only heard about in words. An opportunity to actually see the precious things said to have been brought from the Eastern Continent.

But that excitement immediately faded as soon as she realized the reality. To go out, she absolutely needed permission from her father, Count Melpiram.

When she was younger, she was refused because it could be dangerous to be pushed around by the crowd, and as Ilarid grew up, she was refused saying she needed to maintain the dignity of nobility.

“Father wouldn’t allow it… Ah, should I ask my brother? Ask him to go together?”

“Well, he already left.”

“He’s always so quick at times like this.”

Limless was surely the type to be holed up in a tavern frequented by commoners, downing drinks in the middle of the day. With his combative personality of not avoiding incoming fights, he might even be caught up in an altercation somewhere.

Lynette looked around and then stuck close to Ilarid. And she began to whisper carefully.

“Um, Ilarid. Should we also…”

“My, what are our daughters up to? What are you plotting together?”

Keira abruptly cut in between the two girls. Ilarid and Lynette jumped in shock.

“M-Mother. How long have you been listening?”

“Hmm? I’m not sure.”

Now that they were caught, it seemed they would spend the whole day cooped up in the mansion, let alone going out. Keira glanced at Ilarid and Lynette’s drooping shoulders and cast her gaze elsewhere as she dropped a meaningful remark.

“…These days, someone keeps leaving the door open near the first floor kitchen of the mansion. I’ve said so many times to be thorough with locking up, but there are still some who don’t follow it sometimes. What should we do… I heard the key is secretly hidden in a small jar in the backyard.”

“Pardon?”

Isn’t this basically telling us to listen? As Lynette was about to ask, Ilarid quickly covered her mouth.

“Oh my, that’s terrible. I’ll go give a warning myself.”

Lynette looked at the mother and daughter in perfect sync with an incredulous face.

Ilarid, are you reading a book right now? But only a strange “mmph” sound came from her blocked mouth. The countess with a meaningful smile walked away from them with quick steps.

“Phew… I thought I was going to die from suffocation. What were you thinking?”

“Lynette, let’s go out.”

“What?”

Lynette asked back in disbelief, but Ilarid was holding both her hands tightly with eyes full of curiosity and excitement.

Ah, there’s no stopping this. They had been friends for several years now. When Ilarid’s eyes sparkled like that, it was something that absolutely had to be done.

But Lynette’s desire to go out was no less than Ilarid’s. She glanced at the end of the corridor where the Countess Melpiram had disappeared, checking the coast was clear.

“Is it really okay?”

“It’ll be fine if we dress modestly and go out. We’ll cover our faces with hats too.”

The two with the same goal nodded at each other.

For the first time ever, sneaking out to enjoy the capital’s festival with a friend. The sound of small hearts pounding rang out incessantly.