Chapter 286

Chapter 286

Translator: yun

I could survive even if I die. But these people could not. This was a contradiction I had been dealing with all this time. I didn’t want them to get hurt which was why I would get hurt in their stead.

But what if I could not manage to save them even if I were to die in their place?

“If I die and come back to life, the you from this reality will disappear. Brother, then what reality am I actually living in? If you’re not here in this reality too brother, I think I’ll just die. How could I live without you in my future?”Findd new stories at novelhall.com

The pieces that made up my life. Losing him would destroy my day-to-day life.

“Why won’t you be able to live?”

Fleon pinched my cheek without holding back.

“Listen to me. People should be living. No matter what. They should live even after suffering loss. They should live though they’re miserable. And you will live without me.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Let me ask you a question. If you’ve been risking your life for me this whole time, then you’ve done nothing but waste your time. You fool. Ugly. You ugly chick. You’ve always made me feel guilty. You know? Because in all the realities only you’ve been aware of, you were the only one hurting...”

Fleon widened his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Tears streamed down his cheeks.

“I’ve always wanted to apologise. The first time we met, I had hurt your feelings with my harsh words.”

“I wasn’t hurt.”

“I had always worried that you might have been hurt because I wasn’t able to understand your feelings back then. I knew what I had done but I couldn’t fix my habits.”

He felt for my hand and held it gently once he found it.

“You’re not some damned chick.”

A trail of water swept down his sculpted cheek before dripping onto the back of his hand.

“I’m the damned one.”

His arrogant gaze that made him look haughty. I liked it whenever he wore that gaze. I had always loved his confident smile.

“So, let me go. Ashley. Let me meet my own end..”

My brother. My family. The arrogance that had supported me in the past was now hurting me.

“If you say it like that,”

Brother, you’re too cruel to me.

“I can’t help but to listen to you.”

I covered my face with my hand. I could feel him pulling me into his arms.

“You’re so mean. So mean... For leaving me alone.”

“Are you finally acting like my younger sister after all this time?”

“And I’ll continue to do so for the rest of my life so please live. Please live, Fleon...”

He wrapped his arms around my head.

“Dane and that guy, be happy with them. Make sure that you’re all happy.”

The embrace I was feeling for the first and last time felt so warm I couldn’t stop myself from crying.

Please live.

But Fleon never answered my final pleas.

***

“What’s the matter?”

Rebecca remained quiet for a while. She lowered her gaze slowly.

“We have discovered the 7th Prince’s whereabouts.”

“Where is he?”

Rebecca hesitated to speak, which was rare. At the sight of her darkened expression, I closed my eyes before opening them again.

“Hurry.”

I quickly made a face.

“... He’s currently in the dungeon under the Central Palace.”

Our surroundings were dark. The sky looked to be of a colour between indigo and a highly saturated blue. The air around us smelled like dawn.

“The dungeon? Why is he there? Dane had nothing to do with the coup!”

I sat up with a start. Rebecca maintained her serious tone.

“It was said that he had disobeyed an imperial command.”

“... An imperial command?”

Rebecca nodded.

“He was accused and had been detained for a while now. The accuser was Deros. The new chief of the Wheel of Rome.”

Dane and Lord Ray had arrived at the Empire one step before me. But once I arrived, they had disappeared completely.

“I didn’t have much time so I couldn’t find out any more details”

They didn’t even bother to contact me when something came up.

“Where is he? Lead me there.”

I got up with a jolt. Fortunately, I didn’t have to change since I had been recently sleeping in the same clothes I wore during the day.

I called for a Templar of Feathers. He might not be as good as Penne but this allowed me to travel more easily.

“Princess, Soricks and I will be escorting you.”

But it wasn’t just a Templar of Feathers who came running. Fellow patrolmen Soricks and Meta also arrived.

“The palace has become too dangerous these days.”

Ceres patrolmen had been mobilised into the palace that had been devastated by the failed coup due to the lack of manpower. But they insisted that escorting me would not pose a problem. After all, I was with them when I first started as well.

“E-endless glory to the flower of the Empire, the noble 8th Branch! I-I humbly greet the princess. I am the one in charge of the general management of the dungeon.”

After a while, I had arrived at the dungeon under Rebecca’s lead. Unlike the cell Fleon was locked up in, this was where real criminals were detained. Out of the three buildings the dungeons were in, Dane had been detained in one along with the most heinous criminals. Perhaps that was why this place carried a much different atmosphere from the palace that Fleon was locked in. Not a single embellishment was in sight and countless dark red stains could be seen here and there.

Slowly, I lowered my gaze. I stared at the man lying face-down.

“W-what brings you to this shabby place...”

“I never allowed you to ask questions, did I?”

The manager inhaled sharply before lowering his head once more. It seemed like Castor was behind his current attitude. Since I was rumoured to be his beloved princess.

“M-My apologies.”

It was currently very early in the morning. This was not the time for a princess to appear in a dungeon for no reason. Moreover, this visit could be easily misunderstood.

Hence, I will be once again doing what I had been doing for a long time.

“You’re the one in-charge?”

At the end of my question, I flashed a slow smile. Fleon had just died and it was still hard to smile but I forgot about it for a moment.

“Does my brother come here often?”