Chapter 06
She had assumed that since the youngest member of that subjugation party had survived, naturally everyone else had too.
To think that only that child had made it out alive.
“…Everyone else… they’re all dead?”
“Yes. The mad dragon subjugation party was essentially a group sent to their deaths. Even if they returned safely, there were hardly any who rejoiced over it.”
Even if they returned safely, there were hardly any who rejoiced over it.
For some reason, the duke’s final words lingered in Roshanne’s ears. At the same time, images of her comrades from the subjugation party—those who had laughed and cried together—flashed before her eyes.
‘Ah…’
She had taken it for granted that they were all still alive. They had been strong, good people.
They had all been excited, looking forward to the day they would seal the mad dragon that had plunged the empire into peril and return home.
Even though the hero couldn’t return with them, she had hoped they would find happiness enough for her share as well.
But in the end, no one had found happiness.
Had all the other comrades she had fought alongside met the same fate?
Her vision went dark. For a moment, Roshanne couldn’t think at all.
“When exactly? When did they all die? On the way back? Or…”
The sealing of the mad dragon had undoubtedly succeeded.
Though everyone had been gravely injured, no one had died up to that point. After that, the hero had been sealed, so she couldn’t know the details, but it made no sense that such a large group had all perished.
“Roshanne.”
Lost in her memories, Roshanne lifted her head at the sound of her name being called.
The duke, his chin resting on the desk, looked up at her with a puzzled gaze.
“Why are you so curious about something that has nothing to do with you?”
“…It’s not a bad thing to study the major events of the empire.”
“…That’s not wrong. But just leave it at that.”
The duke closed his mouth.
“There’s nothing good to be gained from knowing more. Not for you, and not for the family.”
His sharp eyes warned Roshanne. Digging any deeper wouldn’t just endanger her alone—it would put the entire Railaten ducal family at risk.
There was something more to the subjugation party’s deaths.
Even without saying it, the duke’s heavy lips conveyed as much.
“Do you have any more questions?”
“…No.”
“Then leave now. And don’t mention my hand’s condition or the questions you just asked to anyone outside.”
The duke waved his hand dismissively. His resolve not to say any more was firm.
Realizing there was nothing more to learn from Duke Railaten, Roshanne quietly turned and left the bedroom.
‘…The survivor.’
The man she had met at the wedding, Cheyton Barpheus, came to mind.
That once-small boy was the sole survivor. Which meant he knew everything.
‘I need to meet Grand Duke Barpheus.’
At that moment, a servant approached the duke’s bedroom.
Thinking she needed to find a way to meet Grand Duke Barpheus, Roshanne stepped aside.
The servant then knocked on the duke’s bedroom door to deliver a report.
Knock, knock.
“My lord, a guest has arrived.”
At the servant’s announcement, the door opened, and the butler stepped out.
“Who is it? Inform them that the duke is unwell today and cannot receive visitors.”
“I did say that, but they insisted on waiting in the drawing room…”
The servant trailed off with a troubled expression. Realizing it must be someone the servant couldn’t turn away on his own, the butler furrowed his brow.
“Who is the guest?”
“His Grace, Grand Duke Barpheus, has arrived.”
The conversation between the two reached Roshanne’s ears clearly as she was turning away. She snapped her head up.
‘The drawing room…!’
The gods had not abandoned the hero.
Just like in her days roaming the battlefields, Roshanne dashed frantically for the first time in ages, her high heels clicking wildly.
She arrived at the drawing room door in one burst, ahead of the butler.
Cheyton was waiting beyond this door.
Grasping the doorknob, Roshanne slowly steadied her breath.
‘As expected… I can’t sense his presence.’
No human presence could be felt from the other side of the door. With a grimace, Roshanne flung the drawing room door open.
“…”
Inside the drawing room, the man she had met at the wedding, Cheyton Barpheus, lounged languidly on the sofa with his legs crossed.
“…Grand Duke Barpheus?”
“I heard the duke wasn’t in a state to receive guests, so I thought I’d have to leave without seeing him today, but here comes the lady instead.”
Eyes as red as pools of blood fixed intensely on Roshanne, burning with heat.
“The duke is unwell, so I’ve come in his stead.”
Having spoken, Roshanne closed the drawing room door. Then, to prevent it from being opened from outside, she wedged a nearby broom handle into the doorknob.
“…? That’s a unique way to greet a guest. Starting with imprisonment?”
Unfazed by Roshanne’s actions, Cheyton instead let out a laugh.
“I have something to ask Your Grace, and I don’t want to be interrupted.”
“Your manner of speaking… Hmm, has your mind not fully recovered from the illness yet?”
“Huh? I’m not sick.”
“…Well, I’m not usually one for strict etiquette myself, so fair enough. This works out perfectly. I came to inquire about the lady anyway. Better to ask the person in question directly rather than the duke.”
Roshanne sat down across from Cheyton. She could sense the butler approaching the drawing room from outside.
If the door opened, she’d lose her chance to converse, and then she wouldn’t be able to hear about what happened to the subjugation party, let alone any information about heroes.
Just as Roshanne was about to hastily open her lips, Cheyton spoke first.
“Does the lady have some connection to the sealing of the mad dragon?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
She replied nonchalantly, but inside, Roshanne was in turmoil. Her heartbeat was so vivid that it felt like the pounding would echo outside for all to hear.
She had been careless.
Cheyton was the emperor’s nephew, part of the imperial bloodline. Blinded by the familiarity of him as a comrade from ten years ago, she had momentarily forgotten that he was of the imperial family—the ones who had sealed the hero.
‘He might have recognized me.’
Roshanne pressed her lips tightly shut. Now, she couldn’t ask if he was the only survivor from the mad dragon subjugation party ten years ago.
There was no need to sow seeds of suspicion in Cheyton unnecessarily.
“Denying it won’t help. I felt it clearly.”
Cheyton murmured with utter conviction.
She had been found out.
It was certain now.
Was he perhaps trying to capture the escaped hero and offer her up to mend relations with the emperor?
‘Should I just kill him here?’
Why had she forgotten that even a comrade from ten years ago could easily turn into an enemy?
As Cheyton extended his hand toward Roshanne, it was clear he intended to grab her to prevent escape.
In that instant, Roshanne instinctively prepared to strike first.
“…Huh?”
But Cheyton’s hand wasn’t reaching for Roshanne’s neck. Instead, he lightly took her hand in his.
And… that was all.
He didn’t pull her closer with more force or restrain her to stop her from fleeing.
He simply held her hand gently, ever so softly, and that was the end of it.
“…What are you doing?”
Caught off guard with her hand in Cheyton’s grasp, Roshanne asked in confusion. After taking her hand, Cheyton’s expression relaxed considerably as he slowly leaned back into the sofa.
“Yes. It was definitely like this last time too. The moment I held the lady’s hand, the incessant, noisy voice echoing in my head stopped.”
“A noisy voice echoing in your head?”
“Yes, the curse of the sealed mad dragon.”
The curse of the sealed mad dragon…
‘Madness?’
The mad dragon’s curse was one that drove its victims to insanity. It was said to fill the mind with ceaseless whispers urging one to kill.
Tormented day and night without respite, the afflicted would eventually slaughter everyone around them and, in the end, take their own life—a horrific curse.
‘Why would Cheyton have that curse?’
Roshanne had been the one to seal the mad dragon. So there was no reason for Cheyton to be cursed.
“Holding the lady’s hand temporarily halts the mad dragon’s curse, at least.”
Cheyton’s thumb brushed lukewarmly across the back of Roshanne’s hand. The unfamiliar sensation sent chills racing down her spine.
“I thought it was my imagination then, but now I’m sure. When I hold the lady’s hand, the world around me falls silent.”
Cheyton’s darkly flickering eyes scanned Roshanne with a covetous gaze.
Roshanne averted her eyes, dropping her head downward to escape that look.
It must be the hero’s soul within her body suppressing the mad dragon’s curse. Indeed, when she had fought the mad dragon, Roshanne had been immune to its curse.
“My lady.”
In contrast to his soft voice, Cheyton’s impassive eyes turned toward Roshanne’s hand.
“I want you to heal me with this hand of yours.”
As if all he desired was for that hand to free him from this curse.
“When did you get cursed?”
Normally, upon hearing of the mad dragon’s curse, most would react with fear first. But Roshanne showed no sign of dread.
Instead, her bold question about when he had been cursed prompted Cheyton to curve his lips into a faint smile.
“From the time we sealed the mad dragon.”
It was a story from a full ten years ago.
