SWY 103

At first, he dismissed it as a ridiculous assumption, but the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Above all, who else but the emperor could the Marquis of Ailun, once a man who held power in the palm of his hand, possibly consider worthy of such high regard?

‘Didn’t they say Lord Luhas spread an unusually large amount of Paphun tea in and around the imperial palace?’

He also recalled hearing that addiction had become a serious problem in the capital.

That meant, perhaps, the first outbreak had occurred there before the world turned completely upside down. It was possible the imperial family already knew about the walking corpses.

If the emperor and a few royals had decided that escape was their only option, and fled to Serman with the loyal Marquis of Ailun in tow… then it made sense that Parel had turned toward this place instead of the capital.

‘Fuck, that bastard emperor…’

It was only speculation, but there was no other explanation for why Parel had come here. After all, he was just as consumed by revenge against the emperor as the late Lord Luhas.

Sharhan, who once swore loyalty and dreamed of becoming a competent vassal to earn wealth and status, now felt only disgust for the emperor and the imperial family. His face twisted in contempt.

“What’s wrong?”

Lestel, who had somehow come up and was standing five steps below, asked with concern as he looked up at Sharhan’s darkened expression.

“The one the Marquis of Ailun brought along… No, forget it. I’ll tell you later.”

Sharhan had raised his voice in a burst of emotion, but upon remembering Peter’s presence, he controlled himself.

Peter, still uncomfortable around Lestel, quietly slipped back down to the first floor. Moments later, Ardelle came upstairs.

“You’ll help me wash the kids, right?”

Downstairs, the children were in high spirits, pulling out clothes they’d brought from the barn after satisfying their hunger with soup.

Ever since fleeing the mountain, the children had been crammed into a single room, handling even their toilet needs there. Their hygiene was at its worst. Malnourished and filthy, they were one step away from falling ill.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Sharhan and Lestel agreed without protest. Since they had decided to spend the night, they were willing to help however they could.

“Thanks.”

Ardelle took care of the girls, while Sharhan, Lestel, and Derry handled the boys. But even with Derry’s magic, bathing twelve kids was impossible. Water was scarce, and they didn’t have enough fuel to heat it properly.

So they compromised by using clean cloths soaked in hot water to wipe the children down as best they could. Peter and Robby insisted they were old enough to handle it themselves, so the three men split up the rest.

Sharhan, worried that Lestel – who had been waited on his whole life – might be useless, couldn’t help but glance over, only to be surprised and amused. Unexpectedly, Lestel was doing a decent job cleaning them, though the kids were so scared of him they were on the verge of tears.

As soon as they changed into the clothes Peter had brought, the children ran to Ardelle, crying, “Miss!” as if they’d been rescued from kidnappers.

“Guess that pretty face only works on Ardelle. All the kids are terrified of you.”

Ardelle comforted the frightened kids with practiced ease, then turned her amused eyes on Lestel. Watching her, Sharhan subtly stepped to the side, blocking her view of Lestel.

He sighed inwardly at his own pettiness. But when he felt Ardelle’s gaze boring into his back, he smirked to himself, ‘Hmph. Like hell I’m moving. Why should I step aside for you?’

“What are you two talking about so seriously?”

Ardelle, who had been glaring at them disapprovingly, finally stepped in. The kids, now much cleaner than before, were playing with Derry.

“They seem to find me intimidating.”

“It’s probably your aura. You were the same as a kid. Always cold with that pretty face, keeping everyone at arm’s length. Do you know how scary you were for a child?”

“You weren’t scared.”

“I overcame it with the power of love.”

Sharhan stared incredulously at Ardelle, who raised her chin proudly. He was genuinely amazed at how she could express her feelings so openly, especially right in front of the person in question.

“You sure throw that word around easily.”

At Sharhan’s teasing tone, Ardelle glanced at him and shrugged.

“Why not? If you don’t say how you feel, how is anyone supposed to know?”

“……”

“From the way you two still stick together, I’m guessing you’ve never even properly dated, let alone thought about marriage… Am I right? Aren’t you sick of it? I’ve been amazed since we were kids. The way you’d fight the moment you made eye contact, then desperately search for each other if you were apart… and fight again when you met.”

Just then, Yenny who had been clinging to Derry’s arm asking for another magic trick, came toddling over. “Miss, I’m sleepy.”

Sharhan watched as Ardelle picked her up and gently patted her back to help her sleep.

The children were asleep in front of the fireplace. Even with a fire going, the room still had a chill, so they huddled close together, sharing body heat.

Exhausted, Ardelle had fallen asleep too, hugging Yenny tightly. Derry, who had given his magical robe to Peter and Robby, was curled into a ball from the cold.

Sharhan and Lestel moved quietly through the rooms, looking for anything that could be used as firewood. But almost everything, furniture, books, had already been burned. Larger, more expensive pieces like beds and wardrobes had likely been stolen while the caretaker’s family was gone and the villa left empty.

‘The fire’s going to go out soon. The kids will be cold…’

Sharhan was sitting halfway up the stairs, watching the dying fire with a heavy heart, when Lestel asked in a low voice,

“What were you about to say earlier?”

“Huh? Oh… I was thinking, maybe the ‘important guest’ the Marquis of Ailun brought was the emperor. It’s the only thing that explains why Parel came here. Based on Peter’s description, the man has to be Parel.”

“You’re probably right. Even if he acts neutral on the surface, my father’s pro-imperial to his core.”

Lestel’s voice dripped with scorn as he spoke of his father like a stranger.

“If the marquis came with the emperor…”

“Then it means the outbreak of moving corpses started in the capital.”

Sharhan picked up the thread of Lestel’s thought.

“It also means things were so bad that not even the Imperial Guard or the Capital Defense Corps could contain it.”

There had been countless assassination attempts on the emperor by Luhas’s killers. That led him to increase the number of imperial guards beyond what his predecessors had. And even with the sizable Capital Defense Corps, if he still had to flee… it was terrifying to imagine how many corpses were in the capital.

It also meant Lord Luhas’s thirst for revenge had been extreme.

“Exactly.”

“But why Serman, of all places?”

There was nothing especially notable about it, aside from it being the domain of the loyal Marquis of Ailun. Lestel paused to think before answering.

“Because of the ruin.”

“Ruin? What ruin? There is a ruin in Serman?”

Sharhan had never heard of such a thing. Just as Lestel was about to open his mouth after biting his lip, Sharhan snapped his fingers.

“Wait, Derry said places where mana flows stay cool no matter the season. That’s why he guessed the Ice Cave was a ruin. Hold on… Are you saying the Marquis of Ailun knew that too?”

“Seems like it.”

“So that’s why he came here with the emperor? Thinking something might come out of the Ice Cave?”

Ancient artifacts from ruins were often highly useful. Just looking at the power of the mana explosives Parel had taken, it would be very effective against the moving corpses. But still, no one could predict what might come out of a ruin.

“Maybe he does know.”

“How?”

“It’s just a guess… but just like the village chief of Gagos has been protecting the ruins for generations, maybe someone’s been guarding the Ice Cave too…”

“You mean, there might be a family or a person who’s been keeping watch over it?”

“……”

Lestel gave a small nod without speaking.

Sharhan stared at him. In the dark, it was hard to make out his expression, but something in his tone and manner suggested he was hiding something.

“Lestel, you…”

“Sleep.”

“……”

“We’re leaving at first light, right? We should rest.”

Lestel patted Sharhan’s shoulder and stood, then went down to lie behind the children.

Still feeling uneasy, Sharhan furrowed his brow and followed, lying down next to Lestel. They were trying to use their bodies to block the cold from reaching the kids.

The old, worn carpet offered no insulation, and the chill from the floor was so sharp it ached in his bones.

When Sharhan shivered, Lestel pulled him into his arms. He accepted the warmth quietly, but sleep didn’t come easily. His mind kept wandering in circles.

At some point, without even realizing it, he drifted off.

What woke him was the low murmur of a man and woman talking.

‘Lestel and… Ardelle?’

Sharhan’s eyes flew open.