125 – Influence

*

Edward was carefully walking while holding Tess’s hand.

Tess, who couldn’t see, was walking slowly with very small steps, her face full of tension, and Edward was also walking in small steps, dragging his shoes across the floor to match her pace.

Tess hesitated, barely taking each step, but never hugged Edward or made a crying sound.

She knew very well that in order to live her life from now on, she had to get used to the fear brought about by her invisible eyes.

Edward also highly valued Tess’s will to take courage without falling into despair, so he didn’t rashly urge her or hastily help her, but silently stood by her side.

After walking slowly for a while, Tess stopped at an intersection.

At the same time, a large carriage suddenly popped out from the side and passed in front of Tess and Edward, creating a large gust of wind.

Tess took a slow breath, sweating profusely, and Edward swept back Tess’s bangs that were blown by the wind, arranging them and talking to her.

“You’re doing much better than I expected?”

“Hehe, but you still can’t let go of my hand, oppa. I’m still anxious.”

“I know that… but are you really okay without a cane?”

“Yeah, it’s a little different from seeing with my eyes, but I can still feel roughly how far away things are, and what’s coming. If I practice a little more, I’ll be able to walk around normally.”

Tess smiled awkwardly with a still tense face.

Perhaps because she had been lying in bed all this time, Tess’s face was already glistening with sweat, even though the distance she had walked on her own two feet was less than 200 meters.

Edward wiped the beads of sweat from Tess’s forehead with a pitiful expression.

He couldn’t be by Tess’s side all day long for the rest of his life, so Edward was very worried that she might have an accident while walking alone.

He was seriously considering whether he should stop this walk right now and tell her to just stay at the mansion.

But seeing her stop after sensing the carriage that suddenly appeared from the side road, which even he hadn’t seen, it seemed that her unique, sensitive senses were still sparkling.

If she practiced enough, the day she could walk around on her own might not be far off.

Edward couldn’t possibly stop his proud younger sister, who was overcoming her fear and trying to regain her normal life.

Edward gently pulled Tess’s hand and said.

“Can you keep walking? There’s still a bit left to the cake shop,”

“What if I say I can’t walk, are you going to give me a piggyback ride or something?”

Tess said that and smiled playfully.

Instead of answering, Edward slightly released her hand, then put his arms behind her back and knees and lifted her up.

“Kyaa!”

“Oppa is strong.”

Edward grinned and lightly lifted Tess up and down.

Tess was only 13 years old and not yet fully grown, and because she had been fighting illness and staying in bed for a long time, Tess’s skinny body was very light.

Although they were only two years apart, no one mistook them for lovers thanks to Tess’s particularly petite frame.

They looked like affectionate siblings to anyone who saw them.

People walking down the street whispered as they looked at Tess and Edward, who had picked her up.

Some people smiled, saying it was nice to see, while others grumbled, saying what a dusty thing to do.

Tess blushed a little after hearing the whispers around her and said.

“…Ugh, it’s okay since I can’t see anyway, but aren’t you embarrassed, oppa?”

“No, why would I be embarrassed? My younger sister is a beauty.”

“Awoo, I can barely remember my own face, am I pretty?”

“Yeah, the man who marries my younger sister will be very happy.”

“Hehe. Actually, I’m ugly, you’re just making it up, right?”

“Do you remember how pretty Mom was?”

“Yeah,”

“You’re the same.”

“Hehe,”

Edward stopped himself from talking about Robin and only talked about Mela’s appearance.

Robin certainly had a handsome appearance that stimulated the fantasies of many women, but he didn’t particularly want to say anything that seemed to praise him.

Edward, who resembled his father in his overall appearance except for his hair and eye color, unlike Tess, didn’t like his own face very much after seeing Robin’s shameless behavior towards Dena.

Tess, who was held in Edward’s arms in the so-called princess carry position, groped for Edward’s cheeks with her free hands and pinched them lightly.

“Oppa.”

“Eubeu- What’s wrong.”

“I remember how handsome oppa is too.”

“…”

Edward didn’t answer and started walking slowly with her in his arms.

*

The sun was already sinking beyond the ramparts that obscured the horizon.

The red sunset was painting the city’s buildings red, and the lukewarm sunlight, tilted to the fullest, pierced through the windows at a near-horizontal angle, illuminating the room in red as well.

I was holding an music box, wrapped in thick blackout curtains that didn’t let light through, like a vampire avoiding sunlight.

Ellie’s voice from the music box started with a sigh, as if she was dumbfounded.

“He didn’t come today?”

“The sun is already setting, if he hasn’t come by this time, he probably won’t come today.”

“…Ha, he’s stupid but has a lot of pride, and he doesn’t listen to what I say,”

“Yeah, that’s a very accurate sentence describing Robin.”

Robin didn’t come to me today, even though the Emperor directly told Baron Salvier to apologize.

Of course, since it was a request close to an order, he couldn’t not come to me forever, but if he were a normal person, especially in a situation where he had been investigated for a week under suspicion and charges of heresy, he would usually try to comply immediately, being mindful of the Emperor’s eyes.

Whether he was brave, prideful, or just had the temperament of a born son of a bitch, Robin was very different from ordinary people.

I felt again how much Robin had been playing the role of an ideal hero, and I felt empty.

Even though I had been with him in the Hero Party for three years, I had never noticed that Robin was this kind of person.

That’s why the betrayal was so shocking.

The only vulgarity I saw in Robin was just the swearing he unconsciously spat out in really urgent situations.

I, on the other hand, would laugh heartily every time Robin swore, saying that he was finally showing some humanity, and pat him on the shoulder.

Haha, you 병-신 (byeong-shin = retard/idiot).

Every time I saw Ellie, I was confused whether me and the party members were 병신 (byeong-shin = retards/idiots) for not recognizing Robin’s true nature, or whether Ellie was exceptional, or whether Robin had stopped his meticulous acting after killing me and becoming a Count.

As I was lost in useless thoughts, Ellie said in a slightly annoyed voice.

“You too, and Jennifer too, and Lara-nim… the people in the Hero Party really have a knack for easily exceeding my expectations, that’s not an easy thing to do.”

“Is that so.”

“Well, even if it’s Robin, he won’t be able to maintain his pride for that long. He might have just lied down because he was tired today, he’ll definitely come to you tomorrow or the day after.”

“Ha, honestly, I don’t really want to meet him,”

“I understand. I don’t want to either.”

“Haha”

I laughed dryly at Ellie’s words.

If sounds could be tasted, it would be a sound that tasted very bitter.

There was no answer from the music box for a while.

I opened and closed the music box for no reason, waiting for Ellie’s reply.

After waiting for about 2 minutes, Ellie’s voice flowed out of the music box again.

“Have you made a decision?”

“What decision?”

“Robin will ask you to help with the victory celebration party, have you decided what to do?”

“Ah, that.”

I organized my thoughts in my head for a moment before speaking to Ellie.

The plan was already complete.

The end of this nasty joke-like story was finally within reach.

The title of Hero was still sparkling among the general public, but among the nobles in the political world, who were sensitive to rumors, Robin’s position was already hitting rock bottom.

The public support that was continuing due to inertia was also only a matter of time before it bottomed out, so Robin’s downfall was a predetermined future, as the Emperor had said.

However, I didn’t have the heart to wait so leisurely.

And I didn’t have the heart to end it with just that much either.

I will erase Robin’s name from the history of this empire, no, from the history of mankind forever.

“I’ll accept it.”

“Hoo,”

“I’ll hold the Hero’s 20th anniversary victory celebration party instead. But,”

Lara once told me.

My default expression is either angry, sneering, or excited about playful thoughts.

Maybe that’s exactly what my expression is now.

I was angry at Robin, sneering at his downfall, and excited about the ending I had prepared for him.

I clenched the music box so hard it felt like I would break it and said quietly.

“That day will be the Hero-nim’s last day.”

*

The sky was getting darker and a faint moon was slowly revealing itself through the clouds.

Thanks to the lamplight in the hallway seeping into Mela’s room through the fallen door, Lily, who was watching Mela from outside the window, was able to watch Mela easily.

Of course, Mela wasn’t moving at all, to the point where she wondered what the reason was for watching her like this.

Lily looked at Mela with worried eyes.

Mela hadn’t eaten anything, at least during the day that Lily had been watching.

No, not only didn’t she eat, but she didn’t drink water, sleep, relieve herself, or even shift her posture due to discomfort.

Lily was starting to suspect that she might have died while sitting there.

And Lily, who had been staring at Mela all day, was also deeply saddened by her fate.

Lily couldn’t even fathom what Mela was feeling.

Was it injustice, sadness, resentment, or despair?

Lily couldn’t even begin to guess how great the pain would be when she realized that the man she had loved had miserably taken away the most precious thing from her and had been deceiving her for 20 years.

Ed had told Mela not to die.

Lily recalled her own words to Ed, asking him not to get used to cruelty, not to become insensitive to killing people.

It was the day she was able to look into Lily’s eyes, which resembled the enemy she hated so much.

Lily had been able to feel many times that Ed had gratefully tried his best to listen to her selfish, idealistic demands even during the difficult and terrible process of revenge.

It was because of the optimistic judgment that Ed wouldn’t be able to stop taking revenge, but at least if he built human relationships with many people and kept receiving favors, there would be many people who would help him find happiness again someday.

However, life was an existence that scoffed and trampled on the moral consciousness of a mere 17-year-old young elf and created and threw as many painful choices as possible.

The world we live in was a place where irrationality that surpassed ideals and ethics constantly bubbled and overflowed in every alley.

It was really sad and unfortunate, but even to Lily, it seemed that death was the only salvation for Mela.

Her behavior, which was almost like a corpse, seemed to prove it.

But mercifully or very cruelly, Ed forbade Mela from dying.

Of course, she didn’t want to blame Ed.

It’s an impossible request to ask him, who had all the things he loved defiled, to watch Mela’s death as well.

No matter how harshly Ed treated Mela, isn’t it obvious that Ed wouldn’t want to see Mela’s corpse?

But Mela, as seen by Lily’s eyes, looked like a personification of sadness and pain.

She was so sad and so painful that even her tears had dried up, and she looked like a person who had lost her soul.

From Lily’s perspective, who knew all the truth, it could be said that Mela was also somewhat responsible for her own fate, as she had given up on standing up on her own after Ed’s death, but at the same time, she could also see through Robin’s memories how thoroughly he had acted in front of Mela, so she still couldn’t deny that she was receiving too harsh a punishment for her crime.

To the point where death would feel merciful.

“…Mom, how many days did you watch that Mela imo (aunt/older female friend)?”

Lily, who was having a hard time watching Mela, bit her nails, hoping that Lara would return soon, even though she knew she would be tired.

She couldn’t possibly watch Mela for days.

It was then.

Mela, who had been sitting motionless until now, suddenly pulled back the curtains and leaned her head out the window.

Lily was startled and hid herself among the leaves, holding her breath.

Was she perhaps going to throw herself out the window?

Lily prepared to stop her, full of tension.

But Mela didn’t fall out the window.

She just stretched her head out and was looking towards the entrance of the mansion.

Lily moved her eyes following Mela’s gaze.

There, Edward and Tess were walking hand in hand at a very slow pace.

.