Chapter 97: Chapter 99

Only a small lantern was used to light up the dark room.

Tap. Tap.

There was a loud sound of water dripping from somewhere. Berg agonized over his long hair.

How do you get out of this situation?

It was really embarrassing. Fortunately, there was no physical interrogation because they are related by blood.

I was too hasty.

Berg had no choice but to admit. Him, wanting to go back to the Holy Land in a hurry made things go awry. On the other hand, he felt wronged. He can’t believe that his brother is suspecting him after he came back home after a long time.

“Sigh….”

“The ground will collapse.”

Berg raised his head to Rodrigo’s soft voice. Rodrigo’s face, leaning on the door and smiling leisurely, came into Berg’s view.

“You look scared.”

“Who’s scared?”

“You still seem to have time to talk big.”

Rodrigo sat across from Berg with a grin.

“Don’t worry too much. You’re still my brother, and I won’t leave here forever.”

“Then let me get out of here.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you out. It’s just…….”

Rodrigo winked at the knight standing outside the door. Then the knight carefully brought in an old box and put it on the desk.

Berg, who recognized the box at once, clicked his tongue short.

“If you confess why you took the ‘relic’, I will give you a chance.”

It was more like a threat  that he wouldn’t be able to see the sun again unless he plays the right way.

“……do you know what’s in it?”

“I asked the question, but you’re asking me the answer.”

Rodrigo gave a strange smile, narrowing his eyes. Berg’s mouth closed tightly. Rodrigo checked his brother’s bumpy face and burst into a small laugh.

His younger brother who makes that expression when he is in trouble is cute, but this was not something he could just let go because looked cute.

He robbed the safe without the permission of the owner. If he had simply robbed some of the heirloom, he could have let it pass by saying, “My brother is a little greedy.” But the problem was that Berg touched something unusual. He laid his hands on the important treasure of the kingdom.

Rodrigo felt no less bewildered than Berg, and he knew what his brother was up to.

I should trigger him a bit.

Rodrigo answered Berg’s question in a soft voice.

“Well, I’ll answer you because I care about you so much. Yeah, I know what’s inside this.”

Berg closed his eyes tightly. The hole to escape has completely disappeared because that human being knows the existence of holy relics.

“A holy relic.”

In Rodrigo’s voice, Berg’s eyes fluctuated like waves in the rough wind.

“You knew what was in here, too. But I’m wondering. Why did you want to steal the holy relics that are now obsolete?”

“Stealing……. Of course I was going to take it, but I was going to tell you later.”

“Later? Oh! You were going to tell me that it was buried in the holy mountain of the family.”

“……Are you trying to play with words?”

“What do you mean play with words? It’s not me who’s trying to avoid the situation, it’s you.”

“…….”

“You’re close to the Duke of Valkyr these days. I know you’re not an ugly person who lives off to someone, even if you’re far from power.”

At Rodrigo’s assessment of him, Berg smiled sharply and sarcastically.

“You sound like you know me very well…….”

“Yes, I know. We grew up together. And you’re an easy nut to crack.”

Fox. That’s a fox in a human’s clothing.

Berg felt his blood pressure rise in the hateful tone of Rodrigo. He really wasn’t a good fit for him. Berg trembled with instinctive rejection.

“Well, you’re not going to tell me? Why did you want to take the Holy relic? Did you mean to hand it over to the Duke of Valkyr?”

“…what if I can’t tell you?”

Rodrigo tilted his eyebrows.

“That’s difficult. Your answer will determine how I’ll ‘handle’ you.”

At that moment, he got goosebumps all over my body.

As opposed to Berg, who is an easy-to-understand person, Rodrigo was a man who is hard to fathom what he would do. A completely unpredictable person. He seemed gentle, but he was a human being with a cold face behind him.

Even if we are born with one bloodline, I don’t know what punishment he will bestow.

The thought sent him shivers down to the spine.

“I didn’t mean to hand it over to the Duke of Valkyr.”

Berg replied with a sigh.

“Then, is it the will of the holy land?”

“……you can say so.”

“The answer is too simple.”

“Oh! I already told you, what do you want me to do?”

Srreesh~

“Do you think you’re in a position where you can raise your voice?”

As Berg raised his voice in a rage, Rodrigo’s cold gaze turned to Berg’s neck. Of course, it was a bonus that his sword was pulled out of its sheath.

“……not Duke Valkyr.”

“It’s not the Duke of Valkyr,……. Then who is it?”

Berg realized that he had been drawn into Rodrigo. Recognizing that it would be dangerous to open his mouth more here, Berg closed his mouth again.

There was a long silence. Rodrigo sighed and looked at his younger brother, who seemed unlikely to open his mouth even if a knife came into his neck.

Should I push him more to open that mouth?

What I’ve found so far is that Berg is trying to collect the holy relics for someone. If it wasn’t the Duke of Valkyr, he would be a good bait.

“Strangely, the timing is weird.”

Berg looked at Rodrigo with a clear expression of interest. Rodrigo tried to pull down the rising corners of his mouth, and recited quietly as if in a whisper.

“The other day, there was a request from the Duke of Valkyr to hand over the Holy Relic…….”

Berg’s brow creased slightly.

“Did you refuse?”

Rodrigo’s eyes gently arced. The answer to Berg’s question was ‘Yes, he did refuse,’ but Rodrigo was not willing to tell the truth.

“Well, I’m thinking about it. I like the conditions they offer me.”

Berg’s complexion turned pale. He bit his lip to reveal his nervousness. Rodrigo, thinking he was almost there, questioned in a subdued voice.

“You don’t want me to hand it over to the Duke of Valkyr. Then go ahead and say it. Who are you working for?”

A breathtaking silence came. Berg agonized fiercely in the silence.

Adelia-nim……. What am I supposed to do?

There are only two options given to Berg.

To reveal his owner, or to hide the information and hand over the holy relics to the Duke of Valkyr?

Berg had no choice but to choose the lesser evil instead of the worst.

Now that this has happened, he needs to get Rodrigo on board.

He wasn’t confident, but that was the best option.

“You asked who I’m working for…….”

“Yes.”

“The Saint.”

Rodrigo frowned at Berg’s answer.

“Hestine Valkyr? What a funny joke. Working for her means you’re working under the Duke of Valkyr.”

“No. My saint is not Hestine Valkyr.”

“What?”

Berg stared at Rodrigo with more serious eyes than ever.

At Berg’s next words, Rodrigo’s eyes filled with astonishment.

“The saint I’m talking about is Adelia Yurpheon.”

***

All of a sudden, her ears tickled, Adelia had a quaint thought.

“Who’s talking about me?”

Recently, there’s been a lot of nobles talking about her.

The cold night air brushed Adelia’s shoulders. Compared to the Huizeniac Empire, the daily temperature difference in holy land was quite large.

The moment she thought to go back inside, she felt a soft touch on her shoulder.

“It’s cold at night in holy land.”

It was Ivan.

He brought a shawl and put it on Adelia’s shoulder, who was looking at the night sky from the balcony.

Adelia felt the fullness of his kindness hiding behind his blunt face.

“It’s going to be hard to see your face for a while.”

“Right. Tonight will be the last night.”

Now Adelia was completely alone and had to pray only for Vishna. She didn’t like the situation, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’m afraid I have to see Spencer tonight. There’s been a bit of trouble with the trade.”

“Is it very serious?”

“It’s not that serious, so you don’t have to worry.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m glad.”

Adelia and Ivan’s eyes were tightly engaged. Ivan’s face slowly approached Adelia. Ivan’s face got close in an instant, but Adelia did not show signs of embarrassment. She lowered her eyelids as if it were just the right order.

But what Adelia was expecting didn’t happen.

As their foreheads met, Adelia opened her eyes and gave him a puzzled look.

“Ha….”

Then a distressing sigh came out of Ivan’s mouth.

“I don’t think I can stop, if I start now.”

Adelia’s face flushed red at the words. Adelia quickly fell off Ivan in a stiff movement and turned her head.

“……Hang in there.”

“I’m holding it in really hard.”

An awkward silence ensued.

Ivan looked at Adelia with regretful eyes and said a short farewell.

“We’ll meet again in three days. Don’t overdo it.”

“You, too.”

Ivan eventually left a kiss on Adelia’s forehead, unable to hold back at the end. Then he quickly got out of the balcony, wondering if he’d be reprimanded.

Adelia had no choice but to stare blankly at the spot where Ivan disappeared to.