Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Talking with him was surprisingly comfortable and even enjoyable. Despite the vast age gap between us — he was old enough to be my parent or grandparent — Adrein and I found an easy rhythm. No, perhaps it was more accurate to say he was being so considerate. He listened carefully to what I said and gave the right responses. I felt almost like a little granddaughter chatting with her grandfather.

But as I kept talking with him, I began to notice that the legendary hero Adrein’s exploits differed a little from what I’d heard.

“My paternal uncle was a good man in that he cherished and loved his people. But he had a tender heart. And back then, a long famine had left many starving. The resentment turned toward the Imperial House, and a rebellion broke out.”

“……Back then, was it truly the famine that left people starving, and not some other reason?”

“Yes. But my uncle never thought to crush the rebellion quickly. Instead, he tried to meet their demands. He kept the relief efforts going even as the treasury ran dry… So after the Emperor died, I had to make a choice. Could a man sit on the throne on legitimacy alone?”

“…….”

“My heart wished it could have been so. I didn’t want conflict. But as a member of the imperial house, I couldn’t follow only my heart. Those in high places must always be cold.”

He said it flatly. His tone was soft, but the content was chilling.

History records Adrein as a hero. And to serve that, it painted the Crown Prince of the time—Adrein’s paternal uncle—as a villain. A debauched man, an incompetent ruler who ignored his starving people. But according to Adrein, he hadn’t been a bad person.

“……Quite different from the story they tell about me, isn’t it?”

Adrein smiled faintly as he asked.

“It… is.”

“After they gave me the title of hero, a great deal of the story about me was fabricated. Fitted with deeds befitting a hero. As if to say my actual actions were wrong. I don’t think so, though.”

“…….”

“Now that you’ve heard my story, young lady, please remember it correctly.”

“Yes…”

I nodded slowly in answer. Then I hesitated and spoke again.

“Ah… It must have been painful. Not wanting conflict, whether you were right or wrong…”

“Hm? Ah… Ha-ha. Yes. That’s right. He was my blood. Besides my uncle, I lost my cousins… and I lost someone precious to me as well… But still, it had to be done.”

He took a sip of tea. Then he turned aside and cleared his throat once.

Adrein didn’t defend himself by citing history. Instead, he said he had done right even when it was morally wrong. I bit my lip and fidgeted with the teacup in both hands.

“You might be disappointed it wasn’t the heroic tale you expected.”

“Oh, no…”

“I had no choice. There are many people under the imperial house. So I had to make the rightest choice. The life I enjoyed, the marriage and family I built—even my death, all of it was a choice for Krentis.”

At that word, I latched onto ‘marriage.’ He seemed to have married not because he wanted to, but in the direction he judged most correct. The maid ghost was left as just a passing connection.

His tone, so flat, felt bitter. When the maid ghost appeared, seeing his attitude would surely sadden her.

“If I may… Was your marriage also a choice made that way?”

“That’s right. When the time came to marry, I was able to meet the most suitable match.”

Sir Dylan’s words at the Imperial Castle suddenly surfaced in my mind. He’d said he favored love matches over marriages arranged for familial gain… The father and son seemed to stand at complete opposite poles in many ways.

“……And so I managed to produce an heir, late as it was—but the boy I got gives me no end of worry, he’s so disobedient. Perhaps because he’s my only son, I find myself going soft on him.”

“Still, Sir Dylan seems remarkable in his own right.”

“That boy has no talent as a knight. And he doesn’t grasp that if the border collapses, even the capital could be at risk. He’s meant to lead this place one day—the worry weighs on me.”

He lifted his teacup again and drank. I could glimpse the chasm between father and son. If the father governed by sword and shield, the son would stake his claim on capital—or culture.

*Cough*—

Adrein set down his teacup and cleared his throat softly.

*Cough, cough*—

“Excuse me.”

He covered his mouth with a clenched fist and bowed his head as he spoke. At the same time, ghosts began to materialize slowly behind his back.

‘It’s already late…’

*Cough, cough*—

But something was off. As Adrein’s coughing stretched on, more and more ghosts kept appearing.

One, two, three… Seven… Eight.

Eight ghosts in total had manifested. And even now, I couldn’t be sure no more would come.

I studied them closely. Several of the ghosts had blond hair and blue eyes—clearly Krentis royalty. Others wore traditional Raon attire I’d only ever seen in books, and the rest were clad in knight’s armor.

It wasn’t hard to guess who they were.

All of them must have been people killed by Adrein during Krentis’s civil war and the conquest of Raon.

At a glance, they had every reason to hold a grudge against him—but the ghosts weren’t harming him. Perhaps they lacked the strength to do so. They simply stood in a line behind him, wearing mournful expressions.

“Hmm…”

Adrein cleared his throat and lifted his face. But then he froze, his gaze locking onto the seat beside me. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open.

“Arne?”

I turned my head in the direction he was looking. The maid ghost sat there, her face expressionless.

“Arne…”

His voice trembled—part shock, part aching longing. Truth be told, this was the moment I’d hoped for ever since leaving Luision. At last, the two had met. But for some reason, I felt a deep unease settle over their reunion.

“Strange. Adrein. Can he see ghosts…?” I thought.

I glanced back at Adrein’s face. He was dragging both hands down his cheeks, murmuring in a low voice.

“No. I’m sorry. That can’t be… That… can’t… be right.”

Judging by his baffled reaction, he probably hadn’t been able to see ghosts before.

So why can he see them now?

That’s when the ghosts standing in formation behind him all turned their icy gazes toward him in unison. They kept their bodies still, only twisting their heads—a grotesque sight. I felt a chill surge through my whole body in an instant.

Slowly turning my own head, I looked at the maid ghost. But contrary to my expectation that she’d be lost in the joy of reunion, she stared at Adrein with a cold expression. Just like the other ghosts clinging behind him.

*Cough—*

Adrein coughed once.

*Cough—*

On the second cough, blood gushed from his mouth.

“Huh?”

My entire body went stiff. The thought struck me: maybe he’s seeing ghosts because he’s close to death.

“Are you okay?!”

Startled, I shot up from my seat and shouted. Adrein tried to rise too, but he couldn’t find his balance and collapsed like a crumbling tower.

*Thud.*

His body sprawled face-first on the floor. The ghosts silently watched the whole scene.

“Nngh…”

Adrein let out a short, pained groan. I hurriedly tried to call for help. But then my eyes snagged on the sword that had fallen from his waist.

A strange, eerie sensation washed over me. The white scabbard matched the one in the imperial portrait. Sir Dylan had said it was the only sword of its kind in the world, custom-ordered by his own father…

I grabbed the scabbard and hilt with both hands and drew the blade. The sharp edge caught the light and flashed, dazzling me. Squinting, I noticed a diagonal groove carved into the blade.

The only sword with a diagonal groove.

The red-haired middle-aged man had fallen to the floor, his eyes wide open in death. And his blood had dripped down the sword’s groove, pooling thick and sticky on the ground.

This was the very sword that had killed the maid ghost’s father, from her memory.

*Clatter—*

I dropped the sword to the floor. The ghosts stared blankly at me and at Adrein, who was vomiting blood beside me. And there, among them, stood the maid ghost. She was with them.

Only then did I understand everything. She shared a grudge with those ghosts—all killed by Adrein’s hand.

Her house had been annihilated in the rebellion Adrein started, and in that process her father was murdered. After that, dragged to the imperial palace, she was killed by Adrein’s father—the Emperor. That was how her luckless life ended.

Then… what? What do you want… Don’t tell me it’s revenge against Adrein?