278 – Those Who Disappeared
In the end, Ardein left the palace without achieving any results. He just felt frustrated, like his stomach was shut. But in the end, he couldn’t say anything and just clenched his fists.
A feeling of helplessness that was so devastating that he never wanted to feel it again. She was familiar with this feeling. As she groaned from her illness, her world was not kind to her. It didn’t take long before everything she had was taken from her and she fell to rock bottom.
At that time, she cursed people and the sky. She especially resented heaven and the beings called gods. All her treatments failed, and as her condition worsened, so did the resentment. But even as she poured out her resentment, she knew the truth. This is just a really useless thing.
No matter how much anger I pour out on my own, heaven doesn’t even care. Even if humans are ruined because of the fate she has given, she never utters a single word of ridicule.
That absolute indifference is more difficult to bear than contempt. In the end, she couldn’t do anything and just cried on her bed. She felt her helplessness back then, and now she felt it again.
‘That’s why it was like that.’
The only thing that is different from those days is that this time she does not have to wipe away tears, trembling in helplessness alone. Everyone is in the same situation, and there is no one to blame. This did not happen because someone was wrong with politics or made a mistake. Just,
Just living in this era.
This happened because we were born with that original sin. Only then did she feel like she could understand the strangely gloomy and desolate atmosphere of the imperial palace.
‘So there were no people like this.’
No one has a solution, so even those with the greatest loyalty cannot help but be shaken. So many courtiers disappeared as a group. They decided to flee outside the palace or return home to be with their families for the last time.
The guards, who would normally have blocked and prevented unauthorized outings, made an exception to the rule this time. They were well aware that this system had turned into a huge graveyard.
Those who wanted to go home were allowed to go home, and those who wanted to escape from the system were allowed to do so. I knew that even if I ran away anyway, I would only have to use more effort and suffer, but the result would be the same.
“You ran away again.”
When I trudged back, I saw that the beastmen, including Kisea, who had come here with me, had already disappeared without a trace. Perhaps because he sensed that something unsettling was brewing in the system, he disappeared like the wind, like a ghost. I almost got goosebumps a little.
“After all, a wolf is a wolf?”
The princess sighed. She is leaving to find a way to live, something that cannot be stopped. There is no solution, and there is no way. On a topic for which no alternative can be presented, is there any further reason to fight than to stand in the way of people who are willing to risk their lives?
That’s why I left. It’s not entirely unexpected. But what was bitter was that he ran away without saying a word of greeting. Still, I thought I had built up some kind of friendship, but was it all my imagination and arrogance? Was I, to them, ultimately nothing more than a stranger from a different race?
“How can you disappear like a ghost like this?”
This is not something to hold a grudge against or get angry about. Above all, it was difficult to even get angry in a situation like this. It was just rude.
How can a person be so obnoxious? Oh, they weren’t people, they were animals. Maybe it was natural from the beginning. Maybe she was just hoping for too much…
“The princess has gone off to enjoy the party, so what is she doing here alone?”
But then one of the ‘beasts’ suddenly showed its face. I almost fell backwards in surprise. She could barely control her expression, but she couldn’t help but look shocked, as if she had seen a ghost.
Are they left because they are sheep and not wolves? Her Chancellor Lambeth – I should call her former Chancellor since the Beast Kingdom no longer exists – was looking at her with his usual sullen expression. Just by looking at her facial expression, I had no idea what she was thinking.
No, it’s more of a party than that? So you’re saying you didn’t run away? Oh no, a party? Did I hear that right? Her already complicated mind became even more complicated.
“A party…? “Are you talking about times like now?”
“I think so too, but others don’t think so. I didn’t intentionally stop him. But I didn’t participate either.”
It was so absurd that I had nothing to say. The world is ruined beyond the empire, so what kind of party is this? No, is there a ghost that will kill you if you don’t attend the party?
From Noble mtl dot com
“It will be a little different from what you think.”
Seeing the woman unable to control her expression, the old man smiled and opened her mouth.
“Rather, I think it would be good for the princess to go there. “If I were a little younger, I would have gone there too.”
He just smiled and told me where the party was being held.
Dress codes and invitations did not exist or were necessary. Anyone can participate as long as they are physically fit. Even prisoners who were usually secretly ignored among humans were invited, and anyone who was interested could come in, even if they were just passing by.
The princess was honestly shocked, but she still decided to go to the party place. Of course, she is not going to enjoy the party. Once she was done, she grabbed her head first.
The thought of dragging Kisea, Leon, and the other b*tches there by the collar gave me a headache. Even if they were brought in, there was no way to use them, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t just let the masters and other forces enjoy themselves there.
She immediately left the palace.
*****
When a crisis occurs, chaos and destruction always follow. Because there can be no such thing as a peaceful war, during a war, you always see such things, even if you don’t want to see them. Plunder. Arson. Disorder. Confusion. And the usual constant screaming. Things like that.
Princess Ardein, who had finally figured out the situation, thought that the system would definitely be in this situation as well. Even the most talented people on the continent are giving up because they have no solution, so what can other people do? She thought that everyone would be terrified and tremble in fear, cursing the sky and blaming God. She thought she would be a mess, just like she was in the past.
‘The streets are cleaner than I thought.’
She thought the world had reached the end of the century, with mobs running around, robberies and looting rampant, but this time she was wrong. When despair reaches its peak, it actually becomes nothing.
There were no people trying to plunder the gold and jewels. People seemed to have already adapted to the death that was approaching them. Most of the stores were closed, but some were open and accepting customers. A famous tavern in one corner of the island also opened. The owner stopped charging for beer, and customers started paying for other things instead.
What filled the streets was not screams and shouts. It wasn’t even cold silence. Music. The system was filled with various melodies that no one even knew who was playing. Minstrels played the lyre without receiving money. Street musicians also played guitar without asking for alms.
The people standing around the group had different expressions on their faces as they listened to the performance. Those who were sensitive shed tears, and those who were not sensitive also closed their eyes and hummed the melody as if they were savoring the music. Ardane, a woman whose artistic soul had long since died, did not react in that way, but she still paused for a moment and listened to the song.
For some reason, I wanted to do that. For some reason, it felt like it had to be that way. The reason is that she herself does not know. She was someone who always skipped the dances that upper-class girls usually enjoyed.
From the time she was a girl until now, she has never liked music. Other than military songs, there were few songs I really knew. I didn’t even know what that song playing right now was.
There is no field where skill is as important as music. This is a field where even street musicians can be invited by nobles right away if their playing skills are outstanding. Even if you don’t have the skills, you can work at a theater or opera house.
The imperial palace is where the most talented people go. That person’s skills are obviously only insignificant compared to the imperial musicians. The difference in her level was so clear that even Ardane herself, who did not know how to sing well, could feel the gap.
However, in the past, she was bored with the music played by the best performers using the highest quality instruments, but now she is stuck with these musicians and cannot leave. It wasn’t because I liked the song, but rather it felt like a moving feeling that I didn’t know why.
In the past, when she commanded the military and fought a war, she clearly felt that if there was a policy from above, there was a plan from below. When an order comes from above that she is unaware of, everyone under her has a plan to deal with it.
Then, thinking that she didn’t know why the memory suddenly came to mind, she slowly walked away. Behind her, people were applauding the musician who had finished playing.
“You look exhausted. “Eat some of this and tongue.”
“You can at least quench your thirst with this. “I’m buying you a drink because I like your song.”
Now a penny is not worth a penny. The musician did not turn his hat over and place it on the floor, and people did not throw coins to him. Instead, he brought bread and beer to fill their stomachs and quench their thirst. Yes, everyone had their own solutions.
The destruction of the world is just around the corner, but at least not today.
Nothing is over yet.