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171. Beggar Siblings? – Letter

The ball reached an early conclusion.

As the protagonist of the ball, Prince Anolf de Klaus, stormed off, Prince Klian de Tatalia, who had to deal with the chaos, took Princess Chloe with him, saying to Leo, “See you again.”

Leo was dragged away by the Knight Commander of the Royal Guard. People around tried to get valuable gossip from Leo, but the Knight Commander exercised his right to remain silent and pulled Leo out of the ballroom.

And then came the scolding and questioning. Absurdity. The interrogation continued in the Knight Commander’s office until sunset.

It wasn’t a situation to ask for something, but as Leo defended himself, saying, “It wasn’t me. It was the princess acting irrationally,” he shamelessly asked if it would be alright for him to go out. The administrative knight beside him couldn’t hide his disbelief and interjected.

“Do you think it’s proper for you to be going out right now? A royal decree just came down to bring Sir Noel immediately. You need to go now.”

“Please, just for a moment. I… actually have a girlfriend. The rumors will have spread, and if I don’t go and talk to her quickly…”

Leo knelt down. “Please.” He spent a while pleading, and the Knight Commander let out a heavy sigh.

“How long will you be gone?”

“Commander!”

[ Achievement: Met Klian de Tatalia – Gained slight favor from all nobles serving the House of Tatalia. Gained slight favor from Klian de Tatalia. ]

“…I’ll be back before sunset. It really will be just a moment.”

“Fine. Do that. Just don’t say anything.”

With a disgruntled face, the administrative knight led Leo away. “Well done, really.” He grumbled as he issued an exit permit, leaving the Knight Commander alone in his office, his expression complicated.

“A girlfriend, huh…”

The king hadn’t specified how long Sir Noel was to be brought, so it was okay for the audience to be slightly delayed. However, seeing Sir Noel kneeling and pleading felt quite pitiful.

With a bitter expression, the Knight Commander sat at his desk. He rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a letter he had never been able to send.

A letter written a long time ago. Dust coated it extensively, and at the end of that letter, which poured forth various emotions, was the name of a departed friend.

Ophelia.

*

Without even a moment to change clothes, Leo slipped out of the palace and hurriedly hopped onto the carriage.

“Erarlin Boulevard. As fast as you can.”

Seeing the Knight’s uniform, the coachman wasted no time in urging the horses onward.

The carriage raced through the twilight streets, and Leo remained silent. Leaning his elbow against the window, he propped his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

Eventually, they arrived at Count Gustave Peter’s mansion. Leo’s hope of a sliver of possibility proved futile, as he was, of course, denied.

“The Count does not wish to meet you.”

Of course.

Without lingering, Leo turned away. He felt as if his fate had been sealed, getting back into the carriage and heading toward the Orange Theater.

In front of the theater stood Ksenia.

The street after the play was scattered with pamphlets, and Ksenia was waiting for Leo, arms crossed, in front of the theater.

But as if she really hadn’t thought he would come, she looked at him in surprise before coldly spitting out, “So it was you after all.”

“…Ksenia.”

Ksenia didn’t mention the uniform Leo was wearing. Biting her lip to hold back tears, she erupted in anger.

“What excuse are you here to make? I don’t want to hear it. Just take your brother and go away. Don’t ever show up in front of me again.”

“Ksenia.”

“Don’t call me by my name! No… Forget it. I’m going back. Before I kill you.”

“…Understood. I’ll go back. But I have a request. Maybe my last one.”

“You…!”

How can this man be so shameless? From the first meeting to the last moment.

Yet Ksenia couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

The first image of the man she had thought was fate. Even now, despite being dressed sharply in a uniform and revealed to be a materialistic man who kissed a princess, Ksenia still remembered that beggar they had met back then fondly.

Ksenia neither affirmed nor denied. Leo took it as a positive and brushed past her into the theater.

“Leo! I heard you couldn’t make it today, but here you are. Wow—you really should have seen this. Lena…”

Oberg was carrying drinks and snacks. On the distant stage, actors were still drinking underneath the lights that had yet to go out.

Today’s star, Lena, munched away at the snacks, laughing with her now fellow actors.

Watching from a distance, Leo asked Oberg for paper and ink. He quickly wrote something on the wall with the paper held up.

“Ksenia. Please deliver this to Lena… not now, but later when my sister can read it.”

There were two letters. One for Lena, and the other addressed to Ksenia.

“And please take this too.”

A bundle of money. Ksenia found a heavy pouch in her hand.

“What is this?”

“Please take care of Lena. That’s my request.”

“What do you mean by that? Are you asking me to keep her safe until you marry the princess? Do I look that ridiculous?”

“No. It’s not that…”

Leo swallowed his emotions. Grinning faintly at the furious Ksenia, he said.

“I trust you.”

He turned and left.

Ksenia stood there for a moment, frozen. As she watched the man’s figure disappear down the dark corridor, she ripped the letter to shreds.

Shameless human!

But she couldn’t tear up the letter meant for Lena. Because Lena was the younger sister of that thick-skinned materialist, but she was also a precious little sister and a comrade.

Ksenia turned around. With determined strides, she climbed onto the stage and handed the letter and money pouch to her sister, who had a slight blush on her cheeks, wondering what kind of scoundrel had fed her.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Ksenia didn’t say a word. Sensing her sister’s unusual expression, Lena hurriedly unfolded the letter.

/ Dear Sister, Lena.

I’m sorry . Brother has now . Read you too , Princess Brother .

Brother will definitely , Ksenia will say . Until we meet again, be happy . /

She still couldn’t read very well.

All she remembered were a few greetings learned while reading fairy tales with Santian, like ‘happiness’, ‘princess’, and the like. That was enough.

Lena looked up suddenly.

“Um, sis. What does this mean? Is it possible that brother… brother is…”

Gone?

Tears welled up in Lena’s eyes as she made assumptions about her sister Ksenia’s flustered expression and bolted outside.

She couldn’t let her brother go like this.

“Lena! Lena! Stop right there! That’s not it! Uncle Oberg! Please catch Lena.”

Aunt Ksenia and Uncle Oberg chased after her. Thinking that if they caught her, she’d be unable to chase after her brother, Lena picked up speed.

However, Lena was swiftly caught, and to make matters worse, someone blocked her in the long corridor leading to the exit.

Holding flowers, Santian Rauno stood in front of Lena.

“Le… no… Sis. Where are you going? Why are you crying?”

“Move, Tian.”

“Santian! Stop Lena!”

“Get out of the way. Please. I need to hurry and catch up. Brother… our brother…”

Santian shoved the teary Lena against the wall. He took the cloak hanging on the wall and draped it over her shoulders before spreading his arms to block her path.

“Go! Hurry!”

“You little…!”

Santian was younger than Lena. Naturally, there was no way this small boy could hold back the well-built Oberg.

He couldn’t budge an inch under Oberg’s grasp, but he clung to him with all his might. He got a bloody nose from a kick to his heels, but Oberg’s stumble granted him some success.

Ah man, I can’t just kick him.

Santian was the boss’s grandson. Regardless of Oberg, he couldn’t bring himself to kick him. Pulling on Ksenia’s skirt as she tried to pass, Lena dashed outside the theater.

Chasing after her brother, her black cloak fluttered as she disappeared into the sunset-kissed street.

*

Leo got into the carriage. Arriving at the palace, he told the coachman, “Sorry, but I have no money. If we meet again, I’ll be sure to repay you.” and sent him away.

Damn it.

Worried about being heard, the coachman softly cursed, and Leo lingered in front of the palace.

If I go in there… I probably won’t come out alive. I knew that, but Leo gazed at the setting sun, steeling his resolve.

The princess kissed me.

And then, he saw it. Something was flickering dark red beyond her golden eyes.

Unless he was a fool, he couldn’t help but understand what that meant. The princess was enchanted, and the one who cast that enchantment was, most likely…

The king.

In his sixteenth year of reign. The king, Karoman de Tatalia, who was holed up in the heart of the palace, certainly had to be an apostle.

Now it made sense.

Why the usually well-behaved princess kissed Gilbert Forte, and even toyed with the Marquis Tatian’s son, Toton Tatian. And why Toton continued to enter the palace, refusing his father’s orders of avoiding the princess…

Leo raised his foot to kick the stone he had stumbled over.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of running away.

To escape with his sister to the Conrad Kingdom or maybe now he’d have the power to protect Lena, hiding away in the mountains… If he resolved to save himself, there were plenty of ways to survive.

But what would that mean?

Leo de Yeriel recalled Leo Dexter. Even he, who had pursued happiness while ignoring all the {events}, eventually died. Even if he hadn’t died, he would have ended up marrying Lena and reaching an ending.

Then everything would be for naught. Whether he was happy or not.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Leo Dexter’s mindset, but that couldn’t be called a fundamental solution. We needed to end this game to be free.

‘…But Minseo. I think you might be wrong.’

Is truly making Lena a princess the ‘True Ending’? Would that be the only way to achieve ‘Clear’? I had been puzzled by it, but Leo de Yeriel’s thoughts were different.

– To kill all the Ashins.

That seemed to be the objective this damned game wanted. If the creator of this game was truly a god, then they definitely wanted something. It was necessary to align their wishes with the movements of the Cross Church.

The Cross Church was smashing the barbarians who believed in the Evil God. Then, perhaps the god entrusted Minseo with a task that the church couldn’t fulfill—

Just like Saint Azra of [Demonios].

‘Is this the right judgment?’

He asked this in his mind, but no answer returned. It had only been two months since this round began, and even though Leo had died in the last round, Minseo had faded to the point of being unrecognizable.

If it were Minseo… she would have probably run away.

Anyway, he had stopped the princess from kissing Gilbert Forte, and there were still ways to defeat Prince Eric without Count Peter’s help.

Kidnap Cardinal Berg and throw him in front of Prince Eric.

But…

[ Achievement: King 2/7 ]

Opportunities to meet the king are rare. If he was to make Lena into a princess, it would be best to flee like this, but that was something that could be done in the next round too.

Leo de Yeriel chased after the stone he had just kicked. He kicked it again, gathering his thoughts.

This time, it’s my turn.

He wasn’t afraid of death. After all, he was destined to die on the streets without Minseo.

Rather, he felt grateful toward Minseo, who had cut off all connections so that his sister could live without him.

Lena would be safe under the protection of the people from the theater. It would be very sad for now… she’d be sad…

Leo, who was ready to make excuses, closed his mouth. The thought of leaving his sister alone again only brought him guilt.

‘Forgive your useless brother. Next time… next time, for sure…’

Leo steeled his resolve. Taking a deep breath with arms wide open, he squatted and stood up repeatedly to shake off his gloom.

Let’s go now. Go find out everything and die with dignity. I need to leave something behind.

Clenching the hilt tightly, Leo began to walk.

But just as he approached the palace’s main gate, someone rushed toward him. When Leo turned around, he found…

Reb, breathless.

[ Achievement: Met Another Leo 2/3 ]

“Ah…”

The mist faded from Leo’s eyes. As he stared blankly at Reb for a moment, the prince jumped back and forth.

“What happened to Lena?”

The golden eyes of Leo de Yeriel shone brightly. He realized that his turn had ended and was asking about the future—no, the past.