Chapter 30
After burying six bodies in the serene lake, the two decided to return to the Railaten estate.
‘This much doesn’t bother me at all.’
Roshanne, not having gotten the answer she wanted, suggested they play a bit more before heading back, but Cheyton firmly refused.
He insisted that even if she felt fine now, after such a major ordeal, she needed to return to the estate and rest.
‘Is he seeing me as too fragile?’
This kind of concern was new to Roshanne, making it feel unfamiliar.
Returning to the estate to rest.
She had never heard such words before.
Up until now, even if she was injured, people would just say the wounds would heal quickly and order her back to the battlefield.
Roshanne leaned her head against the carriage wall and gazed out the window.
It was a world seen through unfamiliar eyes.
Since Roshanne had always ridden horseback at the forefront, the view from inside a carriage felt entirely novel.
‘It’s really comfortable.’
Her backside didn’t ache, and it wasn’t exhausting. Thinking that the emperor had lounged in such ease while she went off to war made her brow furrow.
“…Were you very startled earlier? Are you alright?”
After a long silence, Cheyton finally spoke.
“I’m fine.”
“But it must have been your first time seeing assassins like that, so you were probably quite shocked. …It’s my fault.”
A pang of guilt.
Roshanne quietly stared at the ever-changing scenery outside the window, shaking her head as if unaware.
“It’s not Your Grace’s fault, so you don’t need to worry.”
A faint smile spread across Cheyton’s lips.
“…You mentioned before, while studying history, that you were curious about what happened during the subjugation of the Mad Dragon?”
Roshanne rolled her eyes to look at Cheyton.
“You’re the first to ask me something like this. Others found it odd but just let it go without prying.”
“I’m the type who can’t stand not knowing when I’m curious. Besides, Your Grace’s madness probably started from there… As the one helping treat your madness, don’t I have a right to know?”
Roshanne replied clearly.
It wasn’t wrong. It was Roshanne who subdued the madness that erupted unexpectedly.
“I’ve answered Your Grace’s questions with utmost sincerity. So now it’s your turn.”
Certainly, the conversation Roshanne had shared on the boat was dangerous. It challenged the emperor’s authority, and if interpreted broadly, it could even be seen as intent to commit treason.
To have heard such an enormous response and then fail to answer Roshanne’s question would be utterly despicable.
“Hah. It would be safest to hear what I’m about to say and then erase it from your mind.”
Cheyton finally opened his mouth.
“Ten years ago, by the emperor’s command, I joined the Mad Dragon subjugation squad.”
It was the secret of that day, which Cheyton had never shared with anyone in the ten years since.
“Though it was called a subjugation squad, the order to seal the Mad Dragon and return was essentially a command to die there, so the atmosphere was incredibly grim.”
Was that how it was?
Roshanne recalled the memories from back then. Come to think of it, it did seem that way when they first departed from the empire.
“At that time, the emperor brought a woman, saying she would lead the subjugation squad. She was truly remarkable. It was the first time I’d seen someone confront the emperor so directly.”
Roshanne nodded.
After all, back then, she had acted recklessly, knowing the emperor couldn’t abandon her no matter what she did.
“Because of the imperial blood mixed in me, I recognized who she was right away. She was that very ‘hero’ who followed the emperor’s commands. You’ve heard about the ‘hero’ from Crown Prince Joseph before, so you must know…”
“Wait a moment.”
Roshanne interrupted Cheyton mid-sentence.
“You said it was your first time seeing that woman? Then how did you know she was the hero?”
It was an important question.
Roshanne straightened her head from where it had been leaning and asked with a tense expression.
“As soon as I saw her, I felt a sense of awe.”
“Awe?”
“It was like my heart was racing, as if facing a god.”
Cheyton placed his hand on his chest. Even now, his heart was pounding wildly.
“You already know that the hero only heeds the emperor’s commands, right? That’s because she’s bound by the imperial bloodline. So, those who carry the imperial blood also feel a strange emotion when they see the ‘hero.’ I suppose it’s because they’re inextricably linked. I’ve only heard about it from my father when I was very young; I don’t know the details.”
Roshanne furrowed her brow. If she hadn’t heard this from Cheyton, she might never have known that the imperials felt such emotions when looking at her.
‘Is it okay now?’
Roshanne glanced at Cheyton. There was no change in his expression.
Nothing unusual had happened when she met Joseph before, either.
‘I should be careful around imperials, just in case.’
Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t affected like that now, but one could never know about the future.
“Does the reason you were so certain last time that only the emperor can summon the hero have something to do with this?”
When Crown Prince Joseph had threatened to summon the hero.
Cheyton had calmly reassured Roshanne that there was nothing to fear. He had said that the hero could only be summoned by the emperor.
This was the moment to uncover the meaning behind those words.
Roshanne’s eyes flashed with intensity.
“Well… perhaps it is. The hero has been passed down through successive emperors like a family heirloom.”
“Like a heirloom, passed down?”
“In the past, someone envious of the hero’s power supposedly stole the vessel in which the hero was sealed and fled. They must have thought that possessing the vessel containing the sealed hero would make them the hero’s master.”
Roshanne rummaged through her memories.
Though hundreds of years had passed, there had never been a single instance where someone other than the emperor had awakened the hero.
“But even after stealing the vessel that sealed the hero, they couldn’t summon her. The hero responds only to the emperor’s call.”
Roshanne swallowed dryly.
To release the seal bound to her soul, it required not just the vessel of the seal, but the emperor himself.
The successive emperors who had wielded her like a limb.
The emperor.
Roshanne closed her eyes to suppress the overwhelming sense of revulsion surging within her.
“Yes. …Go on with the rest.”
Roshanne waved her hand dismissively.
“Anyway, that hero… We called her ‘Captain.'”
With her arms crossed, Roshanne quietly smiled in a way that Cheyton wouldn’t notice.
When they had asked her name, Roshanne had replied that it held no meaning anyway, and from then on, they had called her ‘Captain.’
The ticklish title had made her shudder at times, but Roshanne had liked the way it sounded.
It made her feel like she was truly one of their comrades.
“The Captain was truly extraordinary. She took down dozens of monsters all by herself. With someone like her, we all thought we’d make it back alive, soaking in hope and laughter.”
Roshanne remembered it too. Recalling the shared memory, she nodded with a smile.
“And then we found the Mad Dragon. It was incredibly strong, and we struggled for days.”
Cheyton’s gaze turned distant as he stared out the window, lost in the recollection.
“But in the end, the Captain succeeded in sealing the Mad Dragon, and everyone rejoiced. And then, she vanished without a trace.”
The joy shared with her comrades in the subjugation squad after sealing the Mad Dragon had been fleeting; right after, Roshanne had been sealed once more.
That was her last memory.
“She probably disappeared because the objective of ‘sealing the Mad Dragon’ had been achieved. Without even giving us a moment to celebrate together… We had planned to petition the emperor upon our return to let us enjoy a banquet with the Captain.”
From here on, it was the story of that day that Roshanne didn’t know.
“And as we tried to return, the moment we emerged from the Mad Dragon’s lair, we encountered the imperial knights.”
Cheyton clenched his teeth.
“Did the knights come to assist with the subjugation?”
“No. We thought so at first.”
Cheyton shook his head coldly in response to Roshanne’s question.
“As soon as they spotted us, the knights aimed their bows or brandished their swords.”
Bows? Swords?
Roshanne, who had been listening with her arms crossed, lifted her head in shock.
“We were all exhausted right after succeeding in sealing the Mad Dragon. Hardly anyone could even stand properly.”
It couldn’t be…
“Blood was spilled.”
Cheyton was still gazing outside.
“An arrow shot by the imperial knights pierced the forehead of the man standing to my right.”
Cheyton’s voice was flat, as if devoid of any emotion.
“Countless arrows flew in, and we fled, but it was futile. Knights with swords pursued us from behind and cut us down…”
Cheyton turned his head to stare at Roshanne.
“And like that, they all died.”
“Why, how could…”
“Because the hero’s existence couldn’t be recklessly revealed.”
Roshanne’s heart plummeted to the depths.
“The hero must exist solely as the hero and cannot become familiar. Only a select few should remember the hero.”
Suddenly, it dawned on her that in the books chronicling the empire’s history, not only was Roshanne’s name absent, but so were the names of her comrades who had fought alongside her.
Could it be that all those comrades…
Roshanne’s hands trembled with rage.
“It was utterly disheartening. We had risked our lives to seal the Mad Dragon for the empire, only for that same empire to try to kill us once our usefulness was exhausted. So I thought, if this is how it is, I’d rather break the Mad Dragon’s seal again.”
Cheyton’s eyes gleamed with a chilling coldness.
“But the unsealing failed, and because I rashly tampered with the seal, I was eroded by madness.”
Roshanne covered her mouth with a trembling hand.
“The others sacrificed themselves to save me, the youngest in the subjugation squad at the time. And I alone barely escaped with my life and returned to the imperial palace.”
A twisted smile formed on Cheyton’s lips.
“The emperor intended to dispose of us secretly, without anyone else knowing. I figured that if I returned to the palace and showed everyone that I had come back, I’d survive.”
“……”
“And I did survive.”
The carriage came to a halt.
Before they knew it, it had arrived at the Railaten estate.
“Milady.”
Cheyton opened the carriage door, stepped out first, and extended his hand to Roshanne, who was still enveloped in shock and horror.
“Has your curiosity been satisfied now?”
He was still smiling.
