Chapter 100: When everything is over – 3

“…You understand why you were called.”

In the long hall where soldiers stood in line on either side, Baelor stood motionless.

Vivian looked down at him from the platform, with Kailo standing by her side, as always.

No one needed to exchange complex words to grasp the situation.

The Rondor family was doing everything in its power to purge impure blood, and this was the final stage.

Why the First Knights, including Baelor, were guarding trade routes.

Why Vivian no longer employed the First Knights.

Why they were frequently excluded from escort missions.

Everyone knew the reason.

Even Baelor seemed to know.

Standing before Vivian, he held his head high without appearing desperate.

“Should I explain, or will you put down your sword on your own?”

“…What the hell.”

Damn it.

Baelor alone hadn’t lived a life of privilege.

Perhaps he, too, believed he had done his best to be loyal to the Rondor family.

Vivian knew this as well.

But his direction had been wrong, and there was a price to pay for that.

“…You thought too much.”

Vivian murmured.

“If you’d just been a sword to be wielded, that would have been enough. But the moment you started thinking for yourself and developing an ego, you became a problem. The future of Rondor was not yours to consider.”

She remembered a younger Baelor scolding her.

-Can’t you stand with some dignity? Can’t you stop stammering when you speak?

He had shouted.

She vividly recalled the faces of his aides, who used to stride confidently beside him.

“…Tell me, Baelor. Do you still think I’m that stammering fool from back then?”

Baelor looked up at Vivian.

But he couldn’t hold her gaze for long and had to lower his eyes.

He had long accepted his defeat.

“…What will be my fate?”

The fate of a defeated or disloyal retainer was singular: obey the will of their liege.

“…Baelor. If I release you here, will you go to Robert?”

Baelor didn’t hide his conviction.

“I must.”

“You know I’m preparing for war against Robert, don’t you?”

“I do, and I speak with that knowledge.”

“And if I decide to cut your head off here?”

Vivian stared at the unmoving Baelor.

She thought of how terrifying he once seemed to her.

Then, she glanced at Kailo, standing by her side.

Her knight, who had stayed by her side until she no longer feared Baelor.

Vivian slowly pulled out a letter from her bosom.

At her nod, Baelor hesitated before stepping forward to receive it.

“Deliver this to Robert.”

Vivian said.

“…Are you… letting me go?”

“I’m not sparing your life.”

Vivian warned Baelor, who seemed relieved.

“…I’m giving you a delayed death. Die alongside Robert, whom you’ve so blindly followed. Witness the outcome of your overreaching decisions with your own eyes.”

Baelor couldn’t have known the full extent of the situation.

He likely didn’t believe Robert to be so cruel.

He must have thought that Robert, who had fought on the battlefield in Vivian’s stead as a child, was the rightful leader of the family.

But even that naïve thought was not his to have.

The reason Robert was not made regent stemmed from the judgment of the late Duchess and Nestor.

It was the will of the Rondor family.

From the moment Baelor chose not to follow that will, this outcome was inevitable.

Thus, Vivian felt no sympathy for him as she looked at him.

-Thud.

Baelor lowered his head deeply, then removed the sword from his belt and threw it to the ground.

The sword, engraved with the Rondor sun, rolled across the floor.

His aides, waiting for his sentence in the distance, followed suit.

They lowered their heads and placed their swords on the ground.

Then, they departed from the Rondor castle.

**

“Not you.”

Vivian said.

The war was tomorrow, yet she spoke such nonsense.

My hand, which had been reaching for food, froze.

Thinking it might be a joke, I waited, but Vivian looked endlessly serious.

“…You’re not participating. This isn’t your war.”

Vivian suddenly presented a rational argument, pressuring me.

But in our long, peculiar relationship, this felt even more awkward.

“When have our wars ever been separate? If it’s your fight, then it’s mine too.”

“…Kailo.”

“You must be nervous if you’re spouting nonsense like this. What, are you afraid I’ll die out there? To Baelor?”

“Even the dragon and the Eight Knights couldn’t kill me. What’s a toothless Robert Rondor going to do? Besides… it looks like we will be laying siege for a while. Don’t worry so much.”

“…More than that, hurry back and—”

“-Kailo!”

Vivian grew flustered at my silly jest.

I smiled, brushing off her irritation.

“This is the last, Vivian.”

Soon, I set aside my joking tone.

“…The people are already singing your praises in the streets, and Loctana is no longer impoverished. You’ve realized who sought to harm you. One is already dead.”

Vivian nodded.

“Only the final step remains. Don’t be uneasy. It’s better to finish this quickly.”

“…Yes.”

I, too, stood at a crossroads.

The suggestion to have a child, made out of frustration.

I never imagined Vivian would agree.

She asked me to propose again once everything was over, and that request now echoed endlessly in my mind, making it unbearably noisy.

I had planned to return to my hometown once everything was over, but a glimmer of hope had appeared.

It was proof that Vivian was willing to accept me.

Even if we were enemies, couldn’t Vivian, who held absolute power, act as she pleased?

And as that path opened, I felt as if I could breathe again.

You wouldn’t believe how difficult it had been, just at the thought of leaving Vivian behind.

But there was still one thing that bothered me.

Was the feeling I had for her a curse, or not?

When there had been no chance of us being together, I had wanted to believe it was a curse… But now, I wanted to believe otherwise.

I truly wished this was my genuine feeling toward her.

I wanted to believe that the price of pouring my heart out endlessly was finally being repaid.

To be honest, I had tried to avoid it.

If Vivian was willing to choose me, then what did it matter if it was a curse or not?

I didn’t want to confront it.

I just wanted to close my eyes tight and choose the easier path.

I didn’t have the courage to face the truth.

“…But.”

Then, Vivian cautiously called out to me.

Without even looking me in the eye, she mumbled,

“This is just hypothetical, Kailo… but if… what if I was infertile… then…?”

Caught off guard by her sudden remark, I replied.

“Why would you even bring that up? There’s no need to worry about something like that.”

“I said it’s just hypothetical. Anyway… if I can’t have children… then what would you do?”

Seeing how serious her expression was, I could no longer tease her.

Instead, I got up from my seat and walked behind her.

I tightly hugged her shoulders and said,

“How much more do I have to do… for you to trust me?”

Whether there were children or not didn’t matter.

A child would simply be evidence.

Evidence that Vivian had chosen me.

As long as Vivian decided to stay by my side, I had no reason not to remain with her.

The reason I had wanted to leave until now was because I thought we could never be together.

But if Vivian changed her mind and chose me… the story could always change.

I felt sorry for my family, but Vivian was my priority.

“…I’ll trust you, from now on.”

Vivian whispered as she held onto my arm.

Her breathing grew shallow as she struggled to hold back her tears.

I kissed the back of her head.

For a long time, I held her, soothing her turbulent emotions.

Slowly but surely, Vivian began to trust as well.

She started to believe that Kailo wouldn’t leave her.

His feelings for her were so deep they were hard to gauge.

When had it begun?

For what reason?

No one knew.

But Kailo loved her, and he put his whole being into that emotion.

He didn’t care for his own body.

He didn’t question logic.

He seemed to exist only to protect her, as if that was the sole reason he was born.

Unconditional love.

That was the emotion Kailo showed her.

Perhaps it was a gift from her family, sent from the heavens.

She had been too blind to see it until now.

But now, she was beginning to understand.

Even when it was time to lead his family, Kailo didn’t leave.

Even when his younger sibling came to find him, he didn’t return.

Even when the Delrum royal family personally offered their help, he refused their hand.

Instead, he chose to stay by her side.

Seeing him suggest having children… it was as if he was promising to stay with her forever.

Where did such deep feelings originate?

Vivian couldn’t understand his heart, but she was saved by it.

The emotions she felt when she faced Kailo were beyond anyone’s comprehension.

No one could overcome the feelings she held for Kailo.

Perhaps now, her feelings for Kailo were deeper than his for her.

Vivian had only one final hurdle left.

For Kailo to stay by her side… there was only one secret she needed to bury.

The past of Robert Rondor.

If she could bury that truth, there would be no more obstacles.

In exchange for hiding this truth, Vivian planned to give her everything to Kailo.

She would spend her life at his side, atoning.

Afterward, a happy future was certain.

She and Kailo would be inseparable.

They would become one, and it felt oddly natural.

Even if the whole world condemned her, Vivian was ready to endure it.

No hardship held any meaning in front of her.

As long as Kailo was with her, she could overcome anything.

***

Robert held Vivian’s letter and stood still for a long time.

The dim light seeping into the room illuminated the chaos around him.

Rolling bottles of liquor.

Broken furniture.

Scattered clothes and documents.

The aftermath of a defeated man.

Robert knew he was a defeated man.

From the moment Count Corrode had foolishly fallen in battle, no, from the moment his Eight Knights were pitifully scattered by the existence of Kailo Alan, the future had already been decided.

He chuckled like a madman.

Would he ever have imagined himself in this state?

It had all started from a small ambition.

No matter how he thought about it, there shouldn’t have been anything to trip him up.

With poison, a bell, a few soldiers, and some rumors, he had thought he could swallow an entire family.

After all, in the chaos of war, who died didn’t really matter, did it?

Besides, there was the perfect villain, Jade Alan, standing in plain sight.

Pinning everything on him was far too easy.

According to plan, he had been able to kill his elder brother, Duke Rondor, and dispose of his nephew, Lois, under the guise of an accident.

The Duchess couldn’t endure the truth, and with her fragile heart, she fell ill and disappeared on her own whim.

All that remained was Vivian Rondor, the one who seemed the easiest to dispose of among the four.

Honestly, it seemed so simple to get rid of her that no proper plan was even made.

But there was one existence that complicated everything—Kailo Alan.

Because of him, everything fell apart.

For reasons unknown, he began tasting all the food in Vivian’s place.

He shielded her, even suffering burns in a massive fire to save her.

He lingered around her, ensuring no one could approach easily, and personally took care of any suspicious individuals.

Those Robert had planted were terrified of Kailo after witnessing him ruthlessly eliminate them, and some refused to share any more information out of fear.

Even after all this, Kailo stayed endlessly by Vivian’s side, protecting her.

He was always her final line of defense.

Who would have thought those two would grow by licking each other’s wounds?

What kind of determination drove Kailo Alan to decide to protect Vivian?

The Northerns, as always, were incomprehensible, and for Robert, it became the worst outcome.

If there was anyone Robert Rondor resented the most in the world, it was Kailo Alan.

Because of him, Robert lost the title of Duke of Rondor, which should have been his, and now even death was closing in.

Robert opened another letter from Vivian.

As he read, he came across this passage:

“…So, shut your mouth and die quietly. I don’t want any noise from this matter. Regardless of how I feel about you, chaos is not what I desire. If you care about your remaining family, or if you don’t want to witness my inhuman side, or see all of Nerumport go up in flames, I recommend you die quietly.”

Robert laughed endlessly again.

“…Both of you… are mocking me together.”

Vivian was already toying with him, even deciding how he should die.

Even though it was clear she considered him the enemy of her family, her attitude was one of silence.

Why?

Obviously, it was because of Kailo Alan.

If he learned that someone else was responsible for killing her family, it would be hard to wield Kailo Alan as a tool.

Robert looked down at the letter again.

If a knight on the battlefield handed you a sword, saying the outcome was already decided and you should die with honor, who would be foolish enough to take it and slit their own throat?

At the very least, Robert couldn’t do that.

No matter what, even if it meant crawling through filth and losing fingers, he would fight back.

If death was inevitable, Robert’s only desire was to leave a mark so that Vivian and Kailo could never live peacefully for the rest of their lives.

He couldn’t bear to watch the two who pushed him to the brink of hell live happily, laughing together.

“It won’t go the way you think…”

Robert whispered.

If there was a reason for his failure, it was realizing too late how deeply connected Vivian and Kailo were to each other.

He had been blind to how they grew by relying on one another.

Robert threw the letter aside, downed a bottle of alcohol, and muttered:

“…It won’t go your way, Vivian.”

The only thing left for Robert to do was to inflict pain on Vivian and Kailo.