"Let’s go.”
With powerful hoofbeats, Ruan’s horse was swiftly moving away from the mansion. It was a business trip that might last for days, yet he was alone, not even accompanied by Jayden.
As the dust began to settle, the servants, who had been lined up in two rows, bowing in unison, began to subtly move back into the mansion one by one.
Kaisern watched the Lord’s departing figure until the very end, then slowly turned around.
“I need a word with you.”
It was just as he was turning towards the mansion. Someone stood in his path as if they had been waiting.
“Cedric.”
It was Cedric Stephan, the commander of the Calisto Knights. He was staring at Kaisern with a deeply sunken gaze.
“What is it?”
“I have something to say about Derrick.”
“Is it something difficult to discuss here?”
Cedric frowned and looked around. There were still people who hadn’t entered the mansion yet.
“Let’s move somewhere else for a moment.”
Cedric started walking first, and Kaisern quickly followed him.
After a while, the two stood in the training grounds. By this time, everyone would usually be sweating and focused on training, but the grounds were quiet, without a speck of dust. It looked like it had been several days since anyone had trained there.
“Do you see this?”
Standing in the middle of the training grounds, Cedric looked Kaisern in the eye. His low voice filled the empty space.
“No one is here to train.”
“Where has everyone gone?”
Kaisern surveyed the empty grounds. It was only natural. In just a few days, one member had lost their life, and it had been revealed that the culprit was one of their own. Under such circumstances, proper training was impossible.
"Is it that woman’s doing?”
Cedric said, quietly meeting his gaze. Cedric stared at him with cold, sunken eyes, seeing his bewilderment at the out-of-context question.
“I’m asking if that foreign woman whom you’re so dearly protecting is the one who framed Derrick as the culprit.”
"Cedric, it seems there’s some misunderstanding.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I already know that this so-called witness who doesn’t exist was concocted by you and that woman.”
Cedric showed no intention of hiding his hostile feelings. There was no time to correct the misunderstanding. His low, raspy voice continued rapidly.
"But how could you do that? I know you never liked the existence of the knight order from the beginning. I knew you constantly monitored and suspected me and all the members, as if we had some ulterior motive for staying in this mansion. But even so, isn’t this too much? How can you just believe the words of a woman whose identity isn’t even known and sell out someone who’s like family to this household?!”
“I don’t know who you heard that from, but…”
While Cedric gasped for breath, Kaisern quickly cut him off. Kaisern couldn’t understand why he was suddenly saying such things.
But one thing was certain: he misunderstood that Yi Kyung was the one who framed Derrick as the culprit. No matter how easygoing and seemingly idle a commander he appeared to be, he seemed sensitive when it came to matters related to the knight order.
Like his sharp tone, a cold atmosphere, different from his usual self, emanated from him.
“What you know is not true. As you say, how could I implicitly trust the words of an outsider whose identity is not even certain?”
“Then who on earth is slandering that child?!”
Cedric raised his voice, as if exasperated.
"Derrick is not the culprit. He’s not that kind of child. I can prove it. The fact that Derrick wasn’t even near the garden at that time.”
“How will you prove that?”
“That’s… I saw him! Derrick was training in the training grounds all day that day.”
“The witness also said so. That they saw Derrick in the garden that day.”
Kaisern already had some inkling that Derrick was not the real culprit. Although he confessed, there were more than one suspicious point.
However, Cedric was clearly aware that Ruidel was being bullied within the knight order. Yet, he took no action, and he even reacted dismissively to the news of his death.
Despite all this, Cedric was now trying to shift the blame externally. Kaisern looked at him with a cold gaze.
“Above all, he himself confessed, and there were testimonies that Derrick and Ruidel had a bad relationship even before that.”
“Who on earth gave such testimonies?!”
“The members of your knight order, who haven’t even shown up for training for days, all spoke in unison about it.”
"What, what did you say?”
“Then let me ask you one thing. Did you, as the commander, truly not know what was happening within the knight order? Or did you just tacitly approve it, knowing full well? Wasn’t Ruidel also a member of the Calisto Knights?”
Cedric’s face instantly flushed red. Kaisern continued without stopping.
“The fact that you knew this and took no action means you are also responsible. So don’t try to shift that responsibility onto an innocent woman.”
Cedric’s flushed face created an atmosphere as if he would draw the sword from his waist at any moment. His tightly clenched fists, devoid of blood, trembled slightly.
However, contrary to what was expected—that he would raise his voice and curse—he merely stared silently at Kaisern with reddened eyes.
After a long moment, the voice that emerged from him was unexpectedly calm.
“You’re right. I can’t deny that I also bear responsibility. I wasn’t trying to shift the blame. But listen, Derrick is really not the culprit. Can’t you just believe me on this one thing?"
Kaisern was startled when Cedric reached out to grab his hand. He quickly stepped back, narrowly avoiding his touch.
“Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
“Derrick was a disciple I truly cherished. It would be a waste of his talent to end it like this. So please…”
“But didn’t Derrick confess? That was something neither I, nor that young lady confined in the guest room, expected at all.”
“So, is there really no way? I can’t give up like this. He might have to live in prison for the rest of his life after being stripped of his knighthood!”
"Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do.”
Kaisern spoke bluntly and turned around. However, it was true that he also felt bad. He too thought Derrick was not the real culprit.
But regardless of that thought, Derrick had already confessed. If he wasn’t the culprit, why would he take the blame for something he didn’t do? Kaisern intended to find out the reason from now on, but he had no desire to tell Cedric that fact.
“There’s one thing you don’t know! That evening, it wasn’t Derrick who had a serious argument with Ruidel, but Jayden!”
Cedric’s voice flew after Kaisern as he turned and began to walk. It was new information that he hadn’t heard from anyone else. Of course, assuming that everything Cedric said was true.
Nevertheless, Kaisern did not stop walking. He shouldn’t react prematurely. Not until he was sure who the real culprit was.
***
For some reason, sYip wouldn't come tonight.
When would she get out of this place? How could she return to her original world? With thoughts chasing each other, Yi Kyung tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asYip easily.
It felt like solving a test problem with no answer key. If she were to die in this world again, what would happen then? Her mind was entangled in confusion, so much so that she wondered if the life she lived as Seo Yi kyung was even real.
At the end of her wavering gaze, Jayden ultimately turned his head without giving any answer. But it wasn’t for nothing. He had given the reaction she expected.
Perhaps she dozed off lightly. She woke suddenly to a strange noise. It was faint but enough to rouse her heightened senses after recent events.
Carefully lifting her eyelids, she saw light filtering through the door crack—and a blurry silhouette beyond. Seeing the shape, Yi kyung felt it was strangely familiar.
‘Who…?’
She weakly parted her lips, but the words never formed.
“...!”
The figure suddenly grabbed her neck.
'Help me…’
Her vision instantly began to blur. The more she struggled to regain consciousness, the more it felt like she was being sucked into a deep darkness.
And at that moment, Yi Kyung realized that she had felt this sensation recently.
‘I’m dying again.’
Feeling her second life coming to an end all too soon, Ikyeong prayed. If there was a next life... if a third life awaited her, she sincerely wished to refuse it.
Those were times of utter loneliness, with nowhere to turn. The empty place left when everyone was gone couldn’t be filled by anything. So this time, she just wished to disappear as if falling into an eternal sleep.
Her desperate wish turned into tears streaming down her face. At that moment, the moonlight, freed from the clouds, brightly illuminated the shadow hiding in the darkness.
At last, when their eyes met as the shadow revealed its face—
'Jayden…’
Even as she lost consciousness, she could see clearly.
His eyes were smiling.
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