I Captured the Enemy Who Tried to Kill Me - Chapter 50
To be honest, I was afraid.
If I were discovered here, everything would be over.
But on the other hand.
‘You were the first.’
An Esper who spoke of salvation.
My clenched fist trembled, so I hid it by putting my hands behind my back.
While hiding my desire to thank him for saying such things, I hardened my face.
“Well. I don’t understand why you’re asking for my opinion, but this is all unlike Your Majesty.”
I prayed my voice wasn’t trembling.
That I was glaring at that man with my usual expressionless face.
Kaisis slowly sat back in his chair; the earlier fire in his eyes completely vanished.
And with his legs crossed, he looked down at me, his subject, arrogantly, clearly daring me to speak.
The fact that he didn’t look as hateful as before, and not as frightening as at first, was it because I had grown accustomed to him?
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Honestly, it’s burdensome and strange.”
“Burdensome?”
“Let me ask again. Why are you telling me these things?”
I coldly sneered, imagining Hillaria’s appearance.
“Since when have Your Majesty and I been such close master and subject?”
“……”
“Just give me the clues. I’m not interested in Your Majesty’s feelings. I have no interest in such intimate matters.”
“Yes, I knew you would talk like that.”
“If you knew, it would have been better to keep it to yourself to avoid making each other uncomfortable.”
As expected, Kaisis also snorted in response.
“Ha, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t tell you because I like you, Duke.”
“I received reports that it was a mental attack-type Gate.”
“And so.”
“If I were so strongly imprinted in Your Majesty’s unconscious that you saw someone resembling me in there, then truly…”
He seemed to understand what I didn’t finish saying, as irritation flashed across his handsome face.
“What. Is it disgusting?”
“Wouldn’t it be?”
“Why do you seem to become more disrespectful with each passing day?”
Watching Kaisis roughly run his hand through his hair, I deliberately rolled my eyes up and down.
It was truly disrespectful behavior and gaze, but that man didn’t persecute Duke Ariel for just this much.
“I apologize, but you asked if it was disgusting. Isn’t that a feeling Your Majesty already harbors?”
When I asked coldly, almost indignantly, Kaisis narrowed his eyes.
Even this was ominous. Normally, if I had provoked him this much, he would have immediately changed the subject.
The gaze still looking at me through narrowed eyes was heavy.
‘Say something.’
How many minutes of terrible silence had passed? Time seemed completely frozen.
At some point, Kaisis let out a cold sneer.
“Duke. You’ve managed to sour my mood from early in the day. It seems I was indeed delirious and saw something wrong.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
Only then did my heart ease a little.
Yes, he was just testing me.
If he truly suspected me, he would have rushed over to blow his energy into me.
Or perhaps he absolutely didn’t want to admit it.
After a while, the man who had been glaring at me finally changed the subject.
“This Gate was the same as the one six years ago. The location, the pattern. Once might have been a coincidence, but twice is impossible.”
It was fortunate that he changed the subject, but I didn’t feel good about it being exactly what I had been thinking.
“Someone using drugs, some kind of group. And perhaps the existence of a group that can influence Gates.”
Unlike me, who had read the original story and was here now, this man, who knew nothing, yet connected his suspicions like this, seemed both impressive and frightening.
“Also, if it’s not you magicians hiding my partner.”
You still haven’t abandoned that suspicion?
As I glared at him, unable to hide my weariness, he added:
“They might be related to that group. A group using unidentified powers. If they are hiding my partner. Don’t you think something serious will happen then?”
Well, that’s not the case, so it’s fine.
At that moment, I briefly hardened my expression.
Could it be…
‘The reason the sunshine female lead from the original story is missing.’
I had simply thought it was one of the changes that occurred when I appeared here.
But what if, what if. If the villains’ power was incomparably stronger than in the original story.
If so, would they have known about the existence of the sunshine female lead?
The Emperor’s only partner.
Had they thought of killing that Guide?
If they had made her disappear without leaving a trace.
‘That can’t be, right? That’s thinking too far ahead, right?’
Anyway, my conversation with the Emperor wasn’t over, and I couldn’t relax my guard until the end.
“Anyway, it couldn’t possibly be you, even if I died. Just a face that strikingly resembles.”
My heart tightened.
The status window also displayed several bright red warning windows.
“Please.”
Still, I smiled.
“Stop with the nasty jokes. It makes me want to vomit.”
I strongly denied it with blunt words.
“It’s also the most unpleasant thing I’ve heard this year.”
“But it’s also true that you overreacted.”
“……”
His languid gaze touched me again.
Those blue eyes seemed to see right through me, sending chills down my spine.
“I will find her.”
Those words felt like a warning to me.
“I will definitely confirm and find her.”
It seemed strangely like he still hadn’t let go of his suspicions.
“I will make her take responsibility for me.”
I noticed those blue eyes looking at my lips, which I was unconsciously chewing.
“Do you understand, Hillaria?”
Since when have you called me by my name like that?
My heart beat uneasily.
“I don’t care. Today’s report is finished. I have mountains of work to do, so I’ll be going now.”
Without even receiving the Emperor’s permission, I left the audience chamber.
The sound of the door slamming shut ominously echoed through the corridor.
And then, staggering, I almost fell as my strength gave out.
Ah, crazy.
The status window, which had been constantly sounding warnings, had now gone quiet, which was vexing.
‘That man.’
He doesn’t really think it’s me, does he?
***
Two days passed.
During that time, the imperial palace was filled with a sharp atmosphere.
In particular, the Duke was absent for two days, using the excuse that she needed to enter research for a demonstration.
Rumors that the Emperor and the Duke had completely fallen out also spread like wildfire.
And during that period.
‘She didn’t come.’
Someone appeared to be deliberately avoiding it.
‘And then she tells me not to be suspicious?’
Kaisis relaxed, unable to hide his fierce smile.
An S-class Gate, classified as high risk, had opened, and he was in battle.
‘I must truly be crazy.’
Even in this dangerous situation where his life was at stake, even at this moment, he was disgusted with himself for being unable to shake off thoughts of that woman.
He had indeed tested the Duke.
To see how she would react, whether what he had seen was true or not.
But his suspicions only deepened.
It was truly hard to believe, but he was only certain that there was a significant connection between his Indoja and the Duke that couldn’t be spoken of.
Moreover.
‘There was no need to make such a disgusted expression.’
Of course, he too had the same reaction when assuming the Duke was his partner, but still.
He was the Emperor, and she was the Duke, his subject.
Even while applying such a petty standard, Kaisis compared his night memories and his day memories of Duke Ariel like piecing together a puzzle.
His suspicions, which had accumulated neatly and in large quantities, rose like oil.
Although in the past, he had harbored hatred, thinking about the connection between his partner and the Duke, vowing not to let it go if the Duke was hiding her.
‘This is maddening.’
He needed a definite trap, a moment when he could catch her precisely.
How could he use the clues he had gathered?
If suspicions run deep, one must continue to probe until confirmation, and see and verify with one’s own eyes, right?
‘If she won’t come, I’ll have to draw her out.’
Kwajijik—
A massive number of ice arrows spread out like flowers centered on his body.
And they all simultaneously pierced into the body of the mud monster that was letting out a majestic cry.
Peobeobuk, an eerie sound rang out repeatedly.
In the midst of tremors that felt like the sky was tilting and the earth collapsing, only Kaisis’s power spread steadily.
He coldly ordered the knights on standby:
“Everyone, stand back.”
And finally, completely gathering and condensing his pent-up energy, he struck the heart of the Gate’s master.
Kwaaaaang!
“Your Majesty!”
Kaisis repeatedly clenched and unclenched his blood-soaked hand.
Blood dripped grotesquely.
Feeling his body condition rapidly deteriorating, he looked at the sky of the Gate that was beginning to collapse.
Along with the unbearable pain.
Kuwoong— The Gate’s leader monster fell with a huge cloud of dust and a thunderous sound.
The knights each deployed their barriers against the impact that was like a mountain collapsing.
In the midst of the thick smell of blood, blue eyes flashed eerily.
“Today… she will come.”
His Indoja, who was beloved and lovely, was also the object of his resentment.
