4. Rynella’s fate is decided by Rynella (84)
The swordsman’s visit was sudden.
Without any warning, he walked through the front door of the mansion. At first, the workers did not even know his identity and were confused.
The swordsman did not bruise the servants who blocked him.
It was just writing in the air.
Bloody magic flowed down and carved geometric patterns.
No one knew the meaning, but there was no one who did not know the origin of the letter.
Dragon blood character.
It was a legacy left by the dragon race, the symbol of the supreme authority over the empire and the great teacher of mankind.
The employees had no choice but to kneel down in admiration.
The owner of the dragon blood character was no different from the emperor’s agent.
It was rude to even carelessly set eye level.
It was even more unimaginable to block that step.
In this way, the swordsman was able to safely enter the Percus Mansion.
It was the Percus family that caused the uproar.
It was impossible to disrespect the owner of the dragon blood characters. On the contrary, as a servant of the empire, it was not enough even if he did his best to entertain.
Even the swordsman is a great adult in the imperial family.
It was the right thing to do with hospitality.
However, it seemed that the swordsman did not come looking for a particularly luxurious reception.
This can be inferred from the fact that he called me to the drawing room as soon as he entered the mansion.
In the first place, the purpose of his visit was simple and clear.
having a conversation with me.
All other business seemed useless to him.
I had only had a few minutes of conversation with the owners of the mansion, my parents.
I was rather fortunate.
It was the Percus family, which was nothing more than a rural viscount.
Not only did he not have the energy to treat the royal family who had suddenly visited, and even the servants did not fully understand the courtesy of the royal family.
It would have been several times better if we had only practical discussions rather than getting caught with pointless quibbles.
The swordsman must have come looking for that, too.
He was the sole master of the empire and the emperor’s uncle. You could get your hands on anything if you just wanted it.
There was no need to waste time bothering the Korean family.
That’s why he came without even contacting me.
As I was about to kneel down and pay my respects, the swordsman greeted me in a low voice.
“It’s a useless courtesy. Anyway, it’s the second time we’re having a serious conversation.”
I had to keep my mouth shut for a while.
He seemed to have had a conversation with me before.
However, no matter how much I looked back, I had no memory of having a conversation with a swordsman.
There was no way I couldn’t remember a conversation I had with such an important person.
Then there was only one possibility.
The swordsman must have had a conversation with ‘me’ from the future.
Why didn’t you tell me this important fact in advance?
I felt a surge of resentment towards someone, but I managed to control it.
It was just pretending to be Taeyeon and thanking her benefactor.
“Thank you for last time, old swordsman.”
“Well, rather, I’m sorry this old man was late. In the past, I could have arrived sooner than that… … .”
The swordsman held up his teacup while blurting out the end of his words.
The tea water that slurped down his esophagus gave off a subtle scent. It was a high-quality tea leaf that few existed in the mansion.
Still, it seemed that the royal family had come to visit, but even as he drank it, the swordsman didn’t even say a word of commendation.
It was worth it.
The imperial family handles only the finest tea leaves. There was no way that he, who was above the emperor in terms of age, ate ordinary tea.
Rather, there was something else he admired.
“As people get older, they become more suspicious and cunning… Then hesitation always mixes with his actions. So I admired you.”
Tak, the middle-aged man who put the teacup down looked at me.
At the sudden compliment, I lowered my gaze slightly.
To be honest, it was burdensome.
He was a person who could not be compared to me whether he was judged by his status or ability.
It was good to be recognized by a legendary swordsman, but there was also a fear that I might not have bought too high expectations.
Either way, it was nothing more than a well-fed complaint.
On the continent, people who wanted to take a picture of their eyes, let alone the swordsmith’s recognition, were widely scattered.
Compared to them, I was on the very lucky side.
The swordsman seemed to accept my shy attitude as humility.
He nodded his head with a satisfied smile.
“It was like seeing the old me… It is reckless to rush into an enemy whose victory is uncertain, but it is also a virtue that a young swordsman should possess. If it had not been for you, my arrival would have been even more delayed.”
It was around that time that the swordsman secretly offered the other side with a wink.
I had no choice but to hesitate for a moment.
Even so, the opponent wasn’t the royal family.
To sit across from each other meant to have a conversation on an equal footing. Other members of the imperial family wouldn’t know, but if it was a swordsmith, it wasn’t enough to have a conversation while kneeling.
However, the worry did not last long.
It was the swordsmith’s recommendation.
I did not have the option of rejecting his offer.
I had no choice but to carefully sit across from him.
The swordsman kindly even poured tea into the cup placed in front of me.
Living there, there were days when I received tea served by the imperial family.
Even if I received it, I wondered if it would be received from Princess Shien.
With me so bewildered in front of me, the swordsman continued talking.
“Originally, I was planning to enter with the White Wings Knights. It’s probably a few days’ time difference, but if that monster starts rampaging, it’ll be an instant to destroy a territory… You saved this territory.”
Thanks to me, Yeongji was able to be saved.
It was a swordsman’s statement, so it wouldn’t have been empty words.
So I secretly let out a sigh of relief.
It was fortunate.
To me, the Percus estate was not a simple countryside.
It was the hometown where I was born and raised, and the base of life for the locals.
If this place became a mess, many local residents would have to become displaced people and disperse.
And the future of the displaced people who had nothing was obvious.
Most likely, the news will be cut off and they will die.
To prevent such a tragedy, it was worth risking my life.
The swordsman smiled bitterly at my relief.
“But apart from that, for a while, an agent of the intelligence department will stay in the Percus estate. I won’t punish the Percus family for your achievements, but as you know, it’s related to the Dark Church… … .”
“I understand.”
I wanted the swordsman to apologize, so I quickly replied.
The swordsman’s eyes became strange.
No one was comfortable with the idea that he would have an agent from the intelligence department to watch over his family.
It may be considered fortunate to have escaped punishment, but on the other hand, it was normal to be unable to erase the bitter feelings.
Yes, under normal circumstances it would have been.
I took another drink and even bowed my head again to express my gratitude.
“On the contrary, thank you. Because you care… … .”
“… … You are a clever friend.”
The swordsman smiled even more satisfied and let out a faint laugh.
It was possible that an unknown person might be staying in the Percus family right now.
A monster wearing a mask.
Since his identity has not been revealed, the possibility that he still remains in the mansion cannot be ruled out.
Therefore, surveillance by the Imperial Intelligence Service was a decision that should be welcomed by my side.
To watch over meant, in other words, to be able to protect against danger in case of emergency.
I felt like I was finally relieved of one worry.
To be honest, I trusted the Imperial Intelligence Service more than Sir Irene.
I could tell just by looking at the skills of senior Neris, who was only a trainee.
Although he may seem stupid at first glance, he was a person with a good opinion in his field of expertise.
As such, the Imperial Intelligence Service was basically a competent group.
It was somewhat tasteless, but at least it was more suitable for escort than the power I could mobilize.
It was fortunate in many ways.
Power is such a useful thing when you get close to it.
However, it didn’t seem like that was the end of the swordsmith’s business.
On the contrary, he seemed a bit hesitant, as if his true business remained separate.
For me, it was nothing but a puzzle.
Because I couldn’t guess why a person who could be a swordsman would hesitate.
However, the words that came out of the middle-aged man’s mouth were enough to embarrass even me.
“… … He might be alive.”
It was an unexpected word.
My puzzled eyes turned to the swordsman. However, the swordsman only looked at me with more profound eyes.
He handed me some papers with a sigh.
It was a tightly sealed document.
It was meant to be a confidential document.
My doubts deepened even more.
However, in the words the swordsman added right after that,
“Your ‘real’ sister.”
My thinking stopped.
My hair was bleached pure white, and I didn’t even think about it for a moment.
I just stared blankly at the swordsman.
The swordsman let out a deep sigh as if he knew that.
“… … Please refer to the document for details. Even so, I couldn’t find the exact whereabouts.”
Suddenly, the papers in my hand felt too heavy.
With trembling hands, I looked at the three or four pages of papers at most.
A ‘real’ sister?
It’s the same cliff again!