episode_0035

The princess’s fingers twitch as if she feels empty, with her arms crossed.

It’s a tense atmosphere, but there are no weapons. It feels awkward.

“Tell me everything you know.”

“There are still some parts I’m researching. So let’s fill in the gaps at the beginning.”

“Start?”

“Yes. Let me go through the details of your memory. I will fill in what I can.”

“···.”

Rohan began to rustle and tear open the hamburger wrapper.

I gave the princess one of the two hamburgers I bought before coming, but she shook her head, saying that she didn’t need it.

In a place like this, it was wise not to eat what others handed out.

“Princess Testarossa. This is not a difficult problem.”

“?!”

“Just search your memory and check the questionable parts. From the day the ruler of Tigrova changed.”

A title that Rohan has never called before.

The princess’s eyes were filled with astonishment at what was in someone else’s mouth.

“···You dug that deep into me. I’m impressed. I actually trust you.”

“If you feel uncomfortable, I will change the title. If you give me a pseudonym, I will follow it.”

“Okay. It’s a name that has no substance anyway. There’s no reason to ask for manners.

“Is that so?”

“There’s no need to force yourself to use honorifics. Call me whatever you want.”

A word of permission.

Rohan spoke politely as if he had been waiting for it.

“Testarossa is long… Then let’s call it Zion.”

Zion Testarossa.

How long has it been since I’ve heard someone call me by my real name instead of ‘princess’?

Those words were like a flame that appeared before her dark eyes, so the princess couldn’t hold back her strange elation and let out a hollow laugh.

“I’m so shocked. My name was sold so easily.”

“No one around me knows this but me. Don’t worry, this is non-sale information that only I know.”

“Have you ever thought that saying that puts you in danger?”

Rohan barely managed to hold out without laughing at Zion’s threats that weren’t really threats.

How can someone with a nature that makes it impossible for him to persecute the innocent say something like that?

It might be a good use for the old elders, but to Rohan, it was just fresh.

“I don’t think I’ll die since I’ve proven my ability to obtain information.”

At Rohan’s words, Zion shrugs his shoulders, saying he doesn’t know.

“I wish you would give me a name that I can call myself. Even a pseudonym would be fine.”

“Rohan.”

Zion mutters the name Rohan a few times and then nods.

“Good. Let’s look back on the day when the ruler of Tigrova changed.”

“Yeah.”

Rohan listened, chewing on his French fries.

“Honestly, I don’t remember anything. I was just a snotty kid who didn’t know anything back then. I was in my room when I heard the news of my parents’ death from the elders, so I ran away.”

From then on, Noah Frozenheart’s father, Emperor Seolho, became the new ruler of Tigrova.

Rohan made it seem like he was listening and made Zion chew over the important facts.

“You mean you haven’t seen your parents with your own eyes? You only heard about them from the elders.”

“···That’s right.”

That part must be the most uncomfortable for you.

Rohan was primarily satisfied with the reminder.

“Let’s first get the most important facts straight.”

“I will listen. Speak.”

Take a moment to pause.

Rohan opened his mouth, satisfied with Zion’s concentration.

“First of all, King Seolho has never killed the Testarossa royal family.”

“···.”

“But it is true that we fought and won. Tigrova is a country where one’s power is the greatest power.”

Seolho Daeje displayed overwhelming power and became the rightful ruler of Tigrova.

However, he was not cruel without reason and had a thick reputation that did not need an example, so he sent Zion’s parents back without killing them.

As for his subsequent actions, Seolho Daeje is different from the impression Zion had in his head.

He accepted the few elves who lived in the coniferous forests as members, while at the same time trying to place the Testarossa bloodline in important positions in Tigrova.

“That’s it for now.”

Rohan’s explanation is finished.

Zion’s expression contains an indescribable uneasiness.

Bright red blood flowed out from his lips, which he had chewed hard to suppress his emotions.

“If I give in a hundred times and say that what I just heard is true. Then your parents···.”

The girl’s question about who harmed her parents was left unfinished.

Assuming that Rohan’s words are true, there are characters that cross Zion’s mind.

The elders and Rohan.

It is clear that one side is lying to itself.

“Let’s take a step forward to make it easier to come up with an answer.”

“···.”

“What do you think the elders want?”

The girl’s head was already a mess.

The air was heavy, as if it was weighing me down.

“Answer me. Do you know what the elders want from Zion?”

Rohan urged in a low voice.

Zion answered in a small voice.

“···Retrieve Tigroba from the Great King Seolho.”

The fact that you are revealing things so easily without any suspicion means that it is very confusing.

Rohan felt sorry inside and forced himself to continue the conversation.

“How do I get it back?”

“I, the last of the Testarossa bloodline, will fight and win.”

“Fairly?”

Rohan rubbed his chin as he watched Zion expressing his affirmation.

‘If you add the condition of someday, then the possibility is not zero.’

Because Emperor Seolho will grow old and Zion’s military power will reach its peak and rise.

but.

When you set the premise of a few years, it was an absurd plan that could only be criticized as a flower garden in the head.

Unless you insist on a special number like the elders.

“Then think about this. What do the elders think they are doing by bringing in these screw-ups?”

“···.”

“What are they doing that they can’t help with training with their own abilities?”

The small room suddenly became quiet.

Squeak── Rohan leaned back in his chair and waited.

I’m not waiting for an answer.

I just had to give Zion some time to think.

“Zion.”

“···.”

The girl raises her head at Rohan’s call.

The pupils are sticky and have lost their bright energy.

A face filled with ominous thoughts.

“What kind of beings are humans and water people?”

“Humans and beastmen···.”

Zion is in a dazed state of consciousness.

There was an answer that came to mind reflexively to the unexpected question.

Could not continue.

Rohan’s gaze and atmosphere are ominous and fierce, as if warning him not to ever utter those words.

The girl forcibly woke up her mind from the slimy swamp.

─ Princess. Humans and beastmen have the same dirty blood as Satan.

─ Do not mix with races other than elves. They are disgusting creatures with mouths that will spew lies at every opportunity.

It’s something I’ve heard from my elders many times as I’ve grown up and my values have been established.

I’ve heard those words so many times that I even hear them in my dreams and hallucinations.

Zion squinted his eyes at the sharp, stabbing headache.

“Tell me what you saw and felt, not what someone taught you. What did the pedestrians on the street look like?”

“···.”

I didn’t really have any feelings about it.

I didn’t feel good, nor did I feel bad.

but.

A girl with closed eyes whom I encountered while shopping for Water Drop Friends merchandise.

How could you curse that dirty blood at the girl who greeted you first with a gentle smile?

“···.”

Rohan gave Zion another moment to think.

Just watching is enough.

‘It must be hard to hear that kind of information from the beginning.’

I thought I had purified the information as much as possible to make it less spicy, but I guess I was too harsh.

If it didn’t collapse, then it’s okay.

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that clearing up this first suspicion is the entire story of ‘The Broken Crown’.

How long did the elf girl sit silently with her back against the wall?

Beep be …

The clock struck the silence, telling us it was time to go back.

“First of all··· I have to go back···.”

Zion moved around with a listless voice.

He put on the combat boots he had taken off and took out the goggles from his pocket.

“I don’t know if this information was helpful. I’ll try to collect more in the future.”

Rohan opened the window as if seeing off a guest and spoke softly as the cool breeze invaded the room.

“Zion.”

“···.”

A girl with one foot on the windowsill looks this way.

“Don’t be so shocked. You don’t have to believe my information right away.”

Zion mutters, “I’ve heard everything, so what do you want me to do?”

Rohan added a word of apology.

“You may have some ideas on how to check the facts.”

“···.”

Naturally, there were many areas that raised doubts.

Because I’ve been outside for a long time.

widely.

Zion, who had been climbing up onto the windowsill, came back down into the room.

The girl asked, looking straight at Rohan.

“Just in case··· Really just in case···.”

“Uh.”

“If everything Rohan said is true… what should I do?”

Zion looked to be on the verge of mental breakdown.

“Don’t act hastily even if you’re so angry that your head feels like it’s going to explode.”

“···Are you telling me to wait? Or are you telling me to be cool?”

“Both.”

“···.”

Zion kept his mouth shut.

Either way, it seemed like there was no confidence.

“Wait.”

Rohan took one of the remaining hamburgers from the desk and wrote his number on the wrapper again.

He forced it into Zion’s hands.

“Do you remember what I said?”

“···.”

At those words, a conversation immediately came to mind in the girl’s memory.

A brief conversation we had when we first met in the ruins.

─ I’ve roughly written down the times I’m available to call, so feel free to call me even if it’s not work.

─ If you have a problem or are having a hard time and want to eat something sweet, even small matters are fine.

Zion nodded with a slightly relieved look on his face.

Rohan saw the girl off again, telling her to go carefully.

“Because we’ll meet again anyway.”

No matter how much I think about it, it’s a story that makes no sense from Zion’s perspective.

Still, she couldn’t deny it, so she left Academy City, remembering Rohan’s words.