It Seems Like The Infamous Trash Can is Right Here! - Chapter 180

He pressed a sweet kiss to my lips, then rushed out of the bedroom. I stared blankly at his retreating back.

I was the one feeling anxious…
Yet seeing how frantic he was left me oddly reassured.

‘He’ll be back soon.’

Judging by all the injuries he gets, his fighting skills might not be as formidable as I thought, but in other ways, isn’t he more capable than anyone else?

Surely, by the time I wake up, he’ll be back.

With those thoughts, I closed my eyes.

I’d only fallen asleep around dawn, my muscles sore and body spent from all the lovemaking last night. Sleep came quickly.

And when I woke, Lionel was indeed beside me, just as I’d expected.
It felt like a perfectly ordinary day.

Until I saw what Halid had piled something drenched in blood up at the front entrance.

* * *

Halid’s day began before dawn.
He ate a simple breakfast packed with protein and went over his to-do list.

He first took care of the items that needed to be handled within Calitas, then began preparing to go out.

He dressed in comfortable clothes suitable for movement and packed a change of clothes for after training. He also took along the documents he needed to handle, then stepped out of the mansion.

His destination was, of course, the Luanax estate.

A waiting attendant by the carriage handed him the bouquet and gift that had been prepared in advance.

“May you succeed today as well.”

Today as well.

As always…

As Halid climbed into the carriage, he found himself wondering: Had he ever once truly succeeded?

Unlike battles against beasts where winning and losing were clear, the battlefield he had thrown himself into now was one where nothing could be measured.

Was he even doing well? Was he on the right path?

He was doing his best to push forward, just as Serenia had advised, but he still couldn’t feel certain.

Mornings at the Luanax estate were always quiet.

Its master, Lionel, seemed to spend nearly every night with Serenia, only getting to sleep around dawn. Vivian, too, slept like the dead until nearly midday.

Thanks to that, at least in the mornings, Halid could use the underground training hall at the Luanax estate as though it were his own.

The facilities here were far better than those in Calitas.

It was thanks to Lionel’s immense wealth and his refusal to spare any expense. The walls and floors remained unmarked even when slashed with sword auras, allowing for full-force training without restraint.

Lately, his formerly stagnant skills had begun improving rapidly.

He had reached the level of Sword Master some time ago, but there had been a snag in his ability to manifest sword aura. Lionel’s advice had provided a clear resolution.

His sparring matches with Lionel had also done much to sharpen his abilities.

‘There aren’t many with more practical battle experience than him.’

Halid thought of the scars that marked Lionel’s upper body. Perhaps living multiple lives meant facing countless brushes with death.

Of course, not everyone went through that.

Only those who dared to defy the Imperial Family.

As he swung his sword, mentally retracing the path Lionel had shown him with his blade the day before, Halid thought of the one who had stepped into this space for the first time yesterday.

A sudden curiosity struck him.

In all those repeated lives of Lionel, Vaikal and Count Solen’s, had there truly never been a single time when he had reached her?

Had it always ended in failure?

Was there never one fateful day, when no one else stood beside her, and she had chosen him instead?