Chapter 122

After persuading the protestors, Daniel felt lightheaded and dropped to one knee.

The sudden loss of blood had drained the strength from his body.

While the crowd stood in confusion, Prien rushed over and helped Daniel to his feet.

Prien proceeded to administer first aid using healing magic and then shouted loudly to the crowd.

She was asking if anyone could call an ambulance right away.

Daniel tried to dissuade her, insisting that his condition wasn’t that severe, but Prien, who had medical knowledge as a medical officer, wouldn’t agree.

Prien earnestly requested someone in the crowd to call an ambulance again, and a few people nodded and reported the situation to a nearby hospital.

Thanks to that, an ambulance arrived shortly after and transported Daniel and Prien.

Upon safely arriving at the hospital, Daniel underwent a thorough examination by the medical staff. The doctor in charge was secretly amazed.

Thanks to Prien’s healing magic, Daniel’s wounds had completely closed.

Its efficacy was far beyond that of normal healing magic, so the doctor, shaking his head in amazement, determined that surgery wasn’t necessary.

However, the doctor recommended that Daniel be hospitalized temporarily to observe his condition, a suggestion Daniel accepted, leading to his temporary admission.

Now, a day has passed.

“Colonel Daniel.”

Prien, kneeling beside Daniel’s hospital bed where he lay asleep, gazed at him gently.

Seeing the bandage on Daniel’s forehead, her heart sank with melancholy.

“To be honest, I don’t quite understand what you are gaining by driving yourself this hard.”

Cautiously extending her hand, Prien clasped Daniel’s.

“But I trust that Colonel Daniel wouldn’t make the wrong choice. You must be enduring a complex web of political interests that someone as foolish as me could never understand.”

Prien’s eyes half-opened as her thick lashes also drooped.

“I don’t really know what battle you’re fighting, but I’d like to help, just as Colonel Daniel once rescued me when I was on the brink of collapse.”

Prien remembered.

She remembered the conversation she had with Daniel, who was then just a lieutenant, in the detention cell of the Military Police.

“At that time, I was ready to give up on everything. I knew deep down that I had been abandoned by my family and house, though I tried to deny it.”

A decent father wouldn’t force his unknowing daughter into the military, and that couldn’t be called love for a daughter by any stretch of the imagination.

Yet, Prien refused to acknowledge that she had been abandoned by her family and house.

Because she thought she’d collapse the moment she did, never to rise again.

Tragically, her standard of life back then wasn’t based on herself but on her family.

“I tried hard to gain my father’s approval, but it didn’t work out. I failed to complete the training process and ended up in detention. I cried a lot, thinking that it was the end of everything.”

That’s when Daniel, sitting beside her, frowned and spoke.

– An Imperial soldier shouldn’t recklessly show tears.

Though it was said with annoyance, Prien knew that its essence was warm.

Daniel told her not to cry and had a short conversation with her, from which Prien received considerable comfort.

“Colonel Daniel told me that my determination was noble. Even now, I don’t quite know why that made me so happy then. Maybe….”

Perhaps it was because it was the first genuine compliment she had ever received in her life.

To Prien, who had been constantly judged negatively because her magic was black, Daniel’s sincere praise was something special.

Blushing slightly, Prien lifted Daniel’s hand and let it caress her cheek.

“When we were later assigned together for Operations Support, it felt so good. What was even better was that Colonel Daniel had no preconceived notions about my magic.”

Not only did Daniel have no prejudice, but he had even told her that her magic was excellent.

Because her black magic didn’t allow even a single ray of light to pass through, it had an inherent stealth effect.

Moreover, during Daniel’s recent conversation with Belaff, he hadn’t called her a dedicated and competent subordinate?

For Prien, who had lived in isolation from both family and the world, Daniel, who affirmed her existence, was like a beam of light sent from the heavens.

Thus, she couldn’t dislike him.

It was a destiny that she was bound to fall in love.

Prien, relishing the warmth of Daniel’s hand through her cheek, slowly closed her eyes.

“I will continue to… Colonel Daniel.”

Just as her almost confession was about to be made, the door to the hospital room creaked open.

She opened her eyes to find an unfamiliar man in a barathea coat and a fedora standing there.

Embarrassed by the scene before him, the man froze for a moment before entering, taking off his fedora.

“I apologize for interfering with your time. I’m Buerlm, the editor of the Melbarton Newspaper. I’ve come to deliver an urgent message to Colonel Daniel.”

A newspaper person? She wasn’t sure why he had come, but she thought it was not the time now, and so she rose from her seat.

“Colonel Daniel is currently resting. Even if it’s an urgent errand, visiting after Colonel Daniel has had some rest would be more appropriate…”

While Prien was speaking, Daniel’s hand on the bed quivered slightly in response to the commotion.

Slowly opening his eyes, Daniel glanced alternately at Prien and Buerlm before frowning.

“…What is it?”

Understanding the question about what brought him at such an early hour, Buerlm answered.

“Colonel Daniel. I’ve come to discuss something urgent regarding yesterday’s incident.”

He had come to request proofreading because the report needed to be published quicker than other newspapers.

Understanding this, Daniel exhaled softly and sat up.

“Prien? Please leave for a bit. There’s something I need to discuss with this gentleman.”

“Understood.”

Prien, answering without a word, exited the room.

As her steps moved away and the door closed behind her, Buerlm opened the briefcase he carried and handed over a few developed photographs to Daniel.

“These are some of the well-composed pictures taken yesterday. Look them over and tell me which one you’d like on the front page.”

Daniel nodded and took the photos.

The first photo showed Daniel face to face with protestors.

The second featured Daniel shouting at the protestors while blood dripped from his forehead.

Seeing this photo, Daniel quietly swallowed.

‘Is that what I looked like?’

He appeared too intimidating.

‘This is terrifying…’

Clearing his throat, Daniel reviewed the next photo.

This time, it depicted Daniel hugging and consoling a male protestor.

His blood-streaked forehead remained the same, but the scene depicted a more humane perspective.

‘This highlights both the brutality of the protest and the compassion I’ve displayed.’

Thinking this was the perfect image, Daniel snapped his fingers.

“Print this on the front page.”

“Understood. Then would the headline ‘Colonel Daniel Steiner Bestowing Mercy Despite Protester Violence’ work?”

After a pause for thought, Daniel handed back the photo to Buerlm.

“Change it. We need to emphasize that the ‘anti-war’ protestors were the ones exercising violence. Moreover, the word ‘mercy’ is one that insinuates a condescending structure and could provoke backlash.”

“Then how about…”

“‘Anti-war protestors turning into violent mobs but Colonel Daniel Steiner showed them consideration’ should be better.”

Buerlm, nodding, took the photo as Daniel continued.

“The follow-up articles should continue to mention the violence of the anti-war protest. Our aim is to give the impression to the citizens that those participating in anti-war protests are rioters. This way….”

Lifting his gaze toward Buerlm, Daniel narrowed his sharp eyes.

“…these absurd protests won’t happen again.”

*

Exiting the hospital, Buerlm wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

“I don’t know why I feel so suffocated talking to that person…”

Though unsure if it was due to his mood, each word carried an intimidating authority, making it hard to conduct a relaxed conversation.

After wiping away his sweat and putting the handkerchief back in his coat, Buerlm looked around and spotted Tom.

He was one of the founding members of the Melbarton Newspaper and had been embedded as an undercover agent by Daniel Steiner amidst the protestors.

Since his mission was over, he was waiting in front of the hospital to return to the capital.

“Buerlm!”

At Buerlm’s call, Tom turned his head, but the palpable tension was evident.

Perplexed by this, Buerlm approached and questioned.

“Why are you trembling like that?”

“Because the task Colonel Daniel gave me…”

“If the mission was completed, why are you acting like this?”

Tom shook his head, as if to say it wasn’t that simple.

“I didn’t throw it.”

Hearing this, one of Buerlm’s eyebrows twitched.

“What? You didn’t throw it? What do you mean?”

“Exactly that. The moment I was about to throw, some other guy picked up the brick and threw it. I did remember his appearance clearly and immediately reported it to the police though…”

“Did they catch him?”

Tom nodded.

“Yeah. As of now, he should be detained at the police station.”

Relieved at this, Buerlm sighed deeply.

“It’s a good thing the culprit was caught. If someone active in the protest movement, the Imperial Times probably wouldn’t call it ‘Daniel Steiner’s staged drama.'”

The capture of the culprit was undoubtedly good news.

Still, the fact that there was an actual person who threw the brick was shocking.

‘The way Colonel Daniel was bleeding so much yesterday was strange…’

Now, thinking about it, a fake brick should have shattered immediately upon impact.

‘It was a real brick…’

Being grazed by the brick was, in a way, fortunate.

The doctor had said there seemed to be no physical abnormality.

‘Anyway, that’s a separate matter…’

Buerlm glared at Tom.

“Report the truth to Colonel Daniel right now. No matter how small the lie, if it’s exposed that we deceived Colonel Daniel, we can’t predict what would happen to us.”

“Alright, then… I understood.”

Just as Tom agreed with Buerlm and was about to enter the hospital,

“Wait, just a moment, Tom.”

Tom, who had been called back by Buerlm, paused as Buerlm fell silent, lost in thought.

Buerlm recalled how they had agreed to become a puppet media outlet for Colonel Daniel’s benefit.

“Tom. Didn’t we agree to be a puppet press that fabricated lies for Colonel Daniel?”

“…Isn’t that right? That night, you were crying so hard, saying you shook hands with the devil.”

“But, did we ever lie?”

The report claiming Baron Hendleymein was associated with Kemball of the Social Freedom Party was true.

Though Daniel politically denied it, Melbarton Newspaper had never told any actual lies.

In this protest incident, since the brick was determined to be thrown by a member of the protest, it wasn’t a falsehood that the protest was violent.

Reviewing everything, Buerlm spoke slowly, with mild sarcasm.

“…We’re merely stating the truth, aren’t we?”

A silence filled the space between them.

Staring blankly and blinking, Tom slowly opened his mouth.

“Huh? Now that you mention it, it’s true…”