Succession Round 2, Lord Ransel. (11)

22.

Thump, thump.

Inside the swaying train, Marigold curled up and lay down.

The luggage compartment was filled with sleeping people.

There wasn’t even enough space to stretch her legs, and in that stuffy, stifling place, Marigold curled up like a hedgehog and closed her eyes.

The stench, the humidity, the snoring, and the teeth grinding. It was a place she wanted to escape from immediately, but Marigold found this sleepless night quite pleasant.

For her, nights like these were a time to savor each and every event from her past lives.

-Mary.

Marigold recalled one by one the beings who always appeared in her numerous lives.

In times of poverty, in times of youth, even moments before death, even during her days as a blind, struggling worker. Lancel Dante always appeared and was with her.

In her life, where her family had fallen and she was penniless, Lancel was always an undeserved presence. To call it fate was, frankly, a little embarrassing.

Because she needed Lancel Dante.

But Lancel Dante didn’t need her.

-Mary.

-Mary.

-Mary.

“Ugh!”

Marigold squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears.

As if a dam had burst, Lancel Dante’s voice echoed repeatedly.

Each time in a different form, a different voice, the voice that came to find Marigold. It continued to weaken her heart.

“I, I spent plenty of time with him in this life, so that’s enough. I’m satisfied now. Whew.”

Marigold stammered urgently. As if running away from the overflowing memories, she unconsciously muttered to herself.

“I got married, traveled, did everything I wanted to do, so there’s nothing more I want now. Good, good. I did everything I wanted to do with Lancel.”

In Porland.

In the shining forest.

In the desert, in the volcano, in the flower garden.

Marigold had no more regrets.

“Whew, I’m glad I lived diligently. It would have been better if I had lived a little more diligently… no, this is enough. This is enough.”

“Be quiet! Let me sleep!”

“S-Sorry.”

Marigold quickly lowered her voice at the sound from somewhere in the luggage compartment.

‘So, Lancel.’

Marigold curled up even deeper.

Stroking the head of the Fairy, Pina, who was sleeping soundly in front of her, with her fingertips.

‘From now on, I’ll give you all of my remaining life.’

A smile lingered on Marigold’s lips.

‘Just like Lancel did.’

.

.

.

“Mary. Our lives are really dizzying.”

He didn’t know how many times it had been. Looking at the notebook Marigold had left behind.

Lancel scanned the list containing her last wishes once again.

Frankly, there wasn’t a single grand thing on it. Just small things that one would experience while traveling.

Even then, more than half of them were recorded as failures.

‘They say the Anemone Flower Field can only be seen during this season, so I’d be sad if it’s already gone.’

‘It was incredibly vast, just like the rumors said.’

‘Ugh, I wish I had come a little earlier…’

‘We can always come again next time, right?’

Marigold’s face, which looked somehow lonely in the vast flower field, continued to haunt his mind.

Time.

Something that Regressors had plenty of.

Lancel didn’t have any particular attachment to whether the regression failed or not. Frankly, even if he died a miserable death while doing something foolish, even if he was tied to the pillory and burned to death, it was fine.

‘I can just revive!’

But Marigold was different.

Unlike what Lancel thought, every moment was her last. At the festival, at the hot springs, in the flower field.

She had been accumulating the memories of every moment she spent with Lancel as her final album.

The reason why she was doing such a thing was obvious to anyone.

Because she thought it was for Lancel Dante.

‘Mary. If I catch you, you’re dead.’

Lancel’s fist trembled. He was finding it increasingly difficult to hold back from wanting to smack Marigold on the top of her head right away.

He wanted to swing this fist quickly at this presumptuous rookie Regressor who had done something he hadn’t asked for, without even asking him.

He didn’t know how many months he had been saving up this knuckle sandwich.

“Lancel Dante. It may be meaningless for me to say this to you now, but this has enough grounds to be considered lèse-majesté. Be aware that if I report you, you’ll be burned at the stake immediately.”

“That’s really ‘now that you mention it.’ Technically, Your Highness, you’ve been kidnapped by me.”

“Kidnapped… Gaining someone’s loyalty is always difficult, so I was willing to endure anything… but I didn’t want to experience such humiliation, Lancel Dante.”

Lancel glanced at the woman sitting next to him in the driver’s seat, dressed like an ordinary woman.

Beyond the veil covering her face, a glimpse of blue hair could be seen.

“Consider it an experience in life. After all, there’s not much time left for this empire to be peaceful. There will be plenty of days to suffer humiliation besides today. You might even die if you’re unlucky.”

“Hehe, have you ever heard the saying that rulers fear living even a single day without power more than death?”

“Those are really tiring people. In a life busy with just fearing death, to have something even more frightening.”

“Tiring. That’s right. You know it well. This is all a self-inflicted hardship.”

It was then.

Lancel stopped the carriage he was driving.

“Stop!”

Knights in armor were blocking the road.

“We are searching carriages passing through this area. Cooperate willingly.”

Before Lancel could answer, the knights approached.

“What are you carrying?”

“Animal hides.”

The knights were turning over the animal hides loaded in the back of the carriage, looking for something.

“You there, woman, show your face.”

“She’s my wife. Do you really have to go that far?”

“Wife?”

The knights frowned.

Suddenly examining the face of a strange woman was against the code of chivalry.

“Hmm. Wait here for a moment.”

Then, the woman sitting next to him chuckled.

“It’s the Imperial Knights. What are you going to do, Lancel Dante?”

“……”

“What would happen if I screamed here? You’d be branded as a traitor immediately, wouldn’t you? A rogue who dares to kidnap and drag away the great bloodline of the empire.”

Lancel didn’t respond.

He already knew. What choice she would make.

“Kyaaak! A rogue kidnapping the princess! Knights, kill this man immediately! Rescue me!”

“……?”

“What, what was that?”

“What did you just say…?”

The knights were collectively dumbfounded.

“Save the princess!”

It wasn’t the first time he had been tricked by this woman’s playfulness. Lancel cursed inwardly and drew his sword.

The opponents were only about a dozen knights, but there would be a main force somewhere else. It would be troublesome if reinforcements arrived.

Swoosh-!

The gleaming blade was unleashed on the bewildered knights. Two knights riding on the carriage were instantly knocked off.

“Kuaaak!”

“T-This bastard drew his sword!”

Lancel whipped the horses. The two horses reared up on their hind legs and began to gallop.

The knights blocking the way were hit by the suddenly starting horses and thrown away.

“Krak!”

“He’s getting away!”

“Catch him! Catch him quickly!”

The shouts faded away.

He could see them chasing after him on horseback.

Right next to him, the woman who claimed to be the princess was holding her stomach and laughing.

“AHAHAHA!”

Even as crossbow bolts flew and struck around the carriage, she was wiping away tears, wondering what was so funny.

“Lancel Dante, you’re a rogue who dares to point a sword at royalty and make them suffer humiliation, but I like you because you’re fun to tease.”

“If you don’t want an arrow in your head, keep your head down.”

“You’ll block it anyway, right?”

As if on cue, Lancel raised his arm and covered the back of her head.

The hard gauntlet deflected the incoming crossbow bolt.

“Wonderful! You were like a knight from a story, Lancel Dante.”

“……Are you out of your mind? I’m keeping you alive because you’re needed by me and Marigold.”

“Hoo. Marigold, you’re a really blessed woman. I also dreamed of a romance with a knight like you when I was young.”

“……”

23.

“…You know Lancel?”

The person Marigold went to see immediately after arriving in the Imperial Capital was Baron Ibil Shen, who had often appeared in her memories.

“I’m planning to attend the Imperial Ball next week, but I need some money. About five Gold coins… Please put it on Lancel Dante’s tab for now.”

“So, you’re, you’re here to borrow money from me? Like this, suddenly? In the middle of the night?”

“Yes.”

“…We’ve never met before?”

“Yes!”

Baron Ibil Shen was sweating.

A woman who knocked on his door in the middle of the night was suddenly mentioning Lancel Dante’s name and demanding money.

She was so confident that he wondered if it had been entrusted to him.

“I’ll borrow the Gold coins.”

The audacity was so great that Baron Ibil Shen wondered if he was supposed to give it to her.

“You said five coins?”

“Yes!”

“…But, why do you need so much money to attend the Imperial Ball?”

“Well, to buy a dress, decorations… um… umm… and to eat some delicious food since I came all the way to the Imperial Capital…”

Baron Ibil Shen narrowed his eyes.

Borrowing money by mentioning the name Lancel Dante meant she wasn’t a commoner.

Someone who knew he owed the Dante Family a debt of gratitude couldn’t be a commoner.

‘She seems like a noble Miss who doesn’t know the ways of the world…’

However, she looked rather shabby.

Almost like a beggar.

“I’ll have to write a promissory note first.”

“Of course! I’ll definitely pay you back later. Ten times… no, twenty times!”

“…I’m not the kind of person who lends money to just anyone…”

He felt uneasy, but Baron Ibil Shen handed her the Gold coins and the promissory note.

The name in the signature field was ‘Marigold Curtain Marigold.’ It was a name that felt familiar yet unfamiliar.

“That’s a name I think I’ve heard before. Have we perhaps met somewhere before?”

“Ah, no, it’s our first time meeting.”

“……Is that so?”

“Thank you! I’ll definitely pay you back!”

The woman named Marigold hurried away.

“……?”

Baron Ibil Shen, who had been swindled out of five Gold coins by a stranger, felt unsettled all day.

After going back to bed, he had to wake up the next evening.

Thump, thump-!

By someone who had come to his mansion again.

“I’ve come to borrow some money.”

“……Lancel?”

This time, Lancel Dante himself was knocking on his door.

“Give me money. Money.”

“It’s the middle of the night…”

“Five Gold coins. I’ll pay you back tenfold in five years, so please give me some for now. Quickly. Immediately.”

“……W-Well, you’ve come from far away, so come in and have a cup of tea…”

“I’m a bit busy. I’m planning to attend the Imperial Ball, so I need to start preparing now. And eat some delicious food.”

“……Again?”

“Huh?”

Baron Ibil Shen slapped his cheeks. He was doubting the situation, wondering ‘Is this a dream?’

“What are you doing?”

When Lancel Dante’s expression turned strange, he hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Ah, I’ll lend you the money. You’re from the Dante Family, so I have to trust you. It’s not like you won’t pay me back.”

“……”

“It’s not like you won’t pay me back.”

“……”

“It’s not like you won’t pay me back…”

“Just give it to me quickly.”

Baron Ibil Shen ended up handing over the Gold coins.

Lancel Dante naturally took it into his pocket. As if he had borrowed money from him several times before, it flowed smoothly.

“……Did word get out somewhere that I’m good at lending money? Someone came yesterday and borrowed money too. They even mentioned the Dante Family name.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The reason was the same as yours, the Imperial Ball? I feel like I’m possessed by a ghost, really. Even though I’m known as stingy in the Imperial Capital, did word get out somewhere that I’m a money tree, or what…”

Lancel Dante’s eyes widened.

“Did someone come? Tell me the name of the person who came.”

“Huh? That… who was it? Ma… Mary…”

As his lips parted.

Lancel Dante was already gone. He took the money without even writing a promissory note and disappeared into the distance.

“……?”

Baron Ibil Shen had to spend another unsettling day.