Ch.41Devotion Offered by the Sword (16)

I saw something whitish.

Kain pondered. ‘What is that? What do they call that?’

It was too far to see clearly. ‘I’ll know if I get closer.’ Kain walked. He pushed open a gate that even a child could easily climb over. Apple trees with white blossoms came into view.

Venelucia is an island. Good soil is hard to come by. Perhaps that’s why the trees are smaller than those in his homeland, both in height and size. But the harvest is quite substantial.

Even now. Yellow bees are busily moving between the white flowers, transferring pollen. Aren’t they?

It’s not free. He called a beekeeper. When the beehives are placed in the middle of the garden and opened, the bees pour out like this. These admirable insects diligently connect the flowers, marrying them, before collecting honey and returning home.

Calling the beekeeper is expensive, but worth it. Thinking about the fruit that would form from each of those flowers, Kain would smile to himself.

“I wish they were a bit bigger.”

Beatrice emerged from behind a tree. She wore only a thin cloth wrapped around her. His comrades would be shocked if they saw, but she was always like this when alone with Kairos. Her dark brown curly hair swayed gently.

“As long as they taste good, that’s all that matters.”

Kairos leaned against a tree. Beatrice walked over leisurely. As always, her posture was straight, proudly pushing forward her small but pretty chest.

“No matter how much I caress them every night, they won’t grow. Have you not given them enough love?”

“Too much love can kill.”

“Or,” Beatrice reached Kairos and untied the knot at her shoulder. The cloth slid down with a soft rustle. “Maybe if they bear fruit, they’ll grow bigger? What do you think?”

She kissed him slowly. He lowered his head to press his lips to her chest. Beatrice embraced his head.

“I sent you to extract state secrets from the Republic, but here you are, stealing a woman’s heart instead, you Imperial thief. What do you think about that?”

Her soft fingers scratched the back of his head like claws. As if she always had the upper hand.

The symbol of Venelucia is a lion. Beatrice was the only daughter of the Doge, the Republic’s leader, and also his political partner. An old, majestic male lion father and a young, charming lioness daughter. And between them, a thief.

“Isn’t that a funny way to put it? Not ‘thief’ but ‘Mr. Thief’?”

“Should I call you murderer instead?”

The blue sky suddenly turned blood red. Beatrice stood still, becoming a tree. The apple trees bled, and the buzzing of honeybees transformed into the sound of arrows hitting trees and swords clashing against each other.

Kairos struggled to break free from the tree. What he grabbed were apples. They resembled large breasts. But as he grabbed them, they squished and turned to water, flowing to the ground.

Rose vines grew from that spot. Blood dripped onto the white roses, staining them red. Soon they twisted among themselves and became a crown of thorns. The vines writhed and wailed.

“Heart thief, give us at least your own. You who made another’s heart bleed, give us at least your tears.”

Kairos tried to escape. He didn’t care that thorns were tearing his skin. In the distance, from the darkness, the Knight of the Scabbard approached, looking like a bloody mess. Wearing black armor, holding a sword in its scabbard in his right hand.

The knight swung his arm. There was a thud. Beatrice, who had become a tree, took the blow from the scabbard instead. What splattered was wood chips, and what flowed was sticky sap. Moss-covered soil flew like flesh onto Kain’s face.

– Kairos. Run.

* * * * *

Kain woke up with a scream. His heart was racing, making his breathing rough. Startled sunlight peered in through the window. Unknown birds chirped as if saying “look at this guy.”

“Ugh.”

He instinctively tried to rest his head back and screamed again. The back of his head throbbed. Perhaps he had hit the wall too hard.

But this wasn’t the floor. It was a bed. He wasn’t wearing the black clothes he had put on for infiltration, but only a thin gown. However, that wasn’t all.

“What is this?”

His left wrist was tied with a cord. When he pulled, it tightened. The other end was tied to the corner of the bed. He brought his right hand closer, but it was the same.

The cords were relatively long, with loops pre-made just big enough for a finger to fit through, so they didn’t dig into or constrict his flesh painfully. But the knots were tight. The kind that could only be untied with both hands. Just to be sure, he tried pulling his ankles. They seemed to be in the same situation.

‘So, I’m tied to the bed with my arms and legs spread.’ It was absurd. He was thinking about trying to bite through the cords when—

“Oh, you’re awake?”

Lily walked out from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. She was wearing a white gown.

“Whetstone. How did this…”

“Stay still.” Lily climbed onto the bed. She pulled the blanket to cover the gap in his open gown.

“I thought you were going to faint. I heard a thud and saw you slumping down against the wall. I got up to wake you, but…”

“But?”

Instead of answering, Lily showed him her bruised arm.

“Even a wolf trapped and starved for a week wouldn’t resist that violently. You were thrashing your limbs wildly, and you even tried to bite my arm. Don’t you remember anything at all?”

“I did that?”

Lily raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

“You know what? You did the same thing at the monastery. You screamed and thrashed all night. Back then I managed to calm you down somehow, but last night, or rather early this morning, that didn’t work. So… I’m sorry, but I had to take action.”

‘So that’s why the back of my head hurts.’ Kain cleared his throat. It was a bit embarrassing.

“You were cold, drenched in sweat, and covered in bruises from who knows what you were doing… First I removed your clothes and wiped you down with a wet cloth.

I untied you all night and put a gown on you, and you finally seemed to sleep, but then you started thrashing your arms and legs again like you were drowning. If I hadn’t tied you up, you would have seriously hurt yourself.”

Lily turned her head and cleared her throat.

“Ahem. In case you misunderstand, ahem. Ahem! I’m telling you this was just standard agent-to-agent procedure, absolutely no other intentions…”

“Thank you.”

Lily didn’t seem particularly moved. She stared at Kain blankly for a while, then tilted her head slightly. Her damp blonde hair fell over her shoulder.

“…Are you really okay?”

“Uh… what?”

Kain was flustered. Lily crawled over and felt his forehead and checked the pulse in his neck.

“Normally, wouldn’t you add something like ‘But,’ or ‘However,’ or ‘I appreciate it, but this kind of thing…'”

“Did I do that?”

Kain smiled. He wanted to wipe the sweat from his forehead, but his tied arms limited him. Lily meticulously wiped his forehead with a dry towel.

“I’m glad if you’re okay. I thought you were seriously injured. But… um.”

Lily seemed somehow intimidated, which made Kain feel sorry for her. To think she couldn’t even take a simple thank you at face value.

“It’s okay. What is it?”

“Who is Beatrice?”

His contorted face answered instead of words.

Lily seemed to notice something and twisted her lips. She closed her eyes and exhaled with a “hoo.”

“You were looking for her all night. Is she a contact? Or a key person for the mission…”

“She’s dead.”

Lily paused at Kain’s answer. She clearly seemed about to say something but swallowed it.

“A dead woman. I told you before that I went to the eastern… alliance countries. I went to Venelucia. At that time, the Doge was Niccolo Dandolo, and Beatrice was his only daughter. My mission was… to help Beatrice defect to the Empire.”

Lily brought her hands together and fidgeted with her fingers. But she didn’t look away. She sat on the bed looking down at Kain.

“Both Niccolo and Beatrice wanted to change the political system of Venelucia and the Eastern Alliance. But the two of them, despite being father and daughter, were political rivals. The old male lion and the young lioness… Niccolo was popular among the older generation, while Beatrice was popular with the young reformists.

But in either case, if even one of them succeeded, the divided Alliance would have become one again. That would have been a major threat to the Empire. Niccolo was too suspicious to approach, but Beatrice was bold and liked meeting people, so the Security Bureau told me to make contact with her.

The exact mission was to find out what the father and daughter were up to. That was clearly the original mission, but…”

“…It didn’t go well.”

“I got engaged to her.”

Lily closed her eyes tightly. She exhaled a painful sigh. Kain wanted desperately to escape, but his limbs were tied, and he didn’t want to be a coward in front of the woman who had saved his life. One act of cowardice was enough. Kain calmly told the rest of the story as if it were someone else’s.

“By the time I came to my senses, we had both gone too far. Niccolo’s attacks were relentless, and Beatrice gradually lost her power. Even her closest supporters left her, and I was the only one left by her side.

Beatrice already knew by then that I was an Imperial spy, but… whether she didn’t want to believe that her only supporter was a spy, or whether she truly loved me enough to overlook it, I don’t know. I didn’t care.

She just wanted to stay by my side. The once fierce lioness had become a shut-in, afraid to even go outside.

I suggested going to the Empire. I said it might be stifling, but it was spacious and safe… But we were discovered. I escaped, but she died in my place.”

Lily showed no expression. She was almost indifferent. Kain didn’t want to say more, but he relied on momentum. He needed to conclude.

“I thought it was over. All over. I barely escaped with my life and returned to the Security Bureau. I thought I deserved to die or be imprisoned in an underground cell without seeing sunlight for the rest of my life. But instead, I was praised. I was promoted to section chief. Everyone at the Security Bureau wanted to greet me…

I couldn’t understand it. Why? How? I only heard the answer much later. Niccolo, having lost his only daughter, went mad and took his own life.

With the fall of two major figures at once, Venelucia couldn’t withstand the shock and fell into political chaos, and the Eastern Alliance, which had Venelucia as its leading state, also collapsed.

Later, I even received a medal. They called me a hero. They couldn’t say it openly, of course. But it was written that the Empire would forever remember my contribution, dedication, and loyalty…

I tried to forget. I tried to forget everything. I told myself I had done enough, that it was for the Empire. I thought that way, that it was for the mission. Even though I failed, the outcome was good, so wasn’t it all for the best? I thought I had buried it all…

But the shadow I saw at the monastery took her form. And yesterday… no, early this morning, I saw it more clearly. Last night I dreamed of that woman… a very, very bad dream.”

His voice cracked and his strength failed, so he couldn’t speak anymore. That’s why Kain had to helplessly watch as Lily quietly folded her body over his. Lily embraced Kain, buried his face in her chest, and gently held his head with both arms.

“That day. I saw the shadow too.”

Lily’s voice trembled faintly. Didn’t someone say that the shadow brings out the most fearful thing in a person’s heart? It distorts, exaggerates, and amplifies. Lily had also seen the shadow but had endured it because it was “something that couldn’t exist.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw my father.”

Lily’s chest expanded greatly.