Chapter 14.11

“We have to get to the gate!”

Brienne grabbed Herace’s hand and ran desperately. They were escaping through the back door of the basement prison they had locked earlier.

Though she had given a stern warning to Duke Bannon, in the end, they could only flee.

Brienne’s magic was limited, and Herace was almost out of bullets.

Glancing back, Brienne gritted her teeth and pressed on.

Not only Hamartia, but even the Duke’s knights were chasing after her.

She realized Winor was among them, but she couldn’t shamelessly hope for his help. After all, she hadn’t found Winor’s siblings. She hadn’t kept her promise to him.

“It’s the Duke’s order! Capture them at all costs!”

“Seal the gate!”

Behind the murmuring voices, the sound of horses’ hooves could be heard.

Bang!

At that moment, Herace fired another shot, hitting a distant horse, then tossed the rifle to Kaiden.

Kaiden, running with his exhausted body, awkwardly caught the gun and asked in confusion,

“Herace, why are you giving me this…?”

“The bullets are loaded, so you should at least be able to fire.”

Finishing his words, Herace reached out to Brienne, who kept falling behind.

“Brienne, let me carry you for a moment.”

Unable to slow down, Brienne nearly fell into his arms. But Herace, as if used to it, lifted her and kept his eyes forward.

The gate was getting closer.

At the same time, the sound of horses’ hooves behind them grew louder.

But then—

“Brie…!”

From the gate, where the knights were stationed, a familiar voice rang out.

Brienne, startled, opened her eyes wide and looked ahead.

“…Father?”

She steadied herself and narrowed her eyes to look at the gate, seeing her family’s crest as well as the Belif Dukedom’s crest.

And behind them—

“W-We greet His Majesty the Emperor!”

Emperor Alexei appeared.

Brienne looked around in astonishment.

The Duke’s followers seemed just as surprised by the Emperor’s unexpected arrival.

“Everyone stop. By imperial decree!”

When Alexei’s strong voice rang out, the world fell silent.

The Emperor raised the documents in his hand high and shouted cheerfully,

“We have obtained internal evidence that many remains are hidden in Lake Bannon! Arrest the Duke immediately and search the lake!”

“Yes, Sir!”

With those words, Imperial Knights surged in from beyond the gate.

Only then did Brienne begin to understand what was happening.

‘…Melosi Bailey.’

It seemed Melosi had successfully escaped and sent reinforcements.

‘So she really did bring help…’

Watching the knights swiftly subdue the Duke’s followers, Brienne felt a surge of indescribable emotion. A smile of relief appeared on her lips.

She was so grateful Melosi had arrived in time, having done her best.

“Brie, my daughter!”

At that moment, Marquis Ford ran up and cupped Brienne’s face. Olivia, her eyes brimming with tears, and Shylo, looking furious, were with him.

“Are you all right? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Brienne, what on earth happened?”

“Herace Belif, you rascal, you put Brienne in danger again…!”

Brienne looked at the faces of her family, all speaking at once.

“Father, Mother, Shylo…”

After so many crises, seeing her beloved family made tears well up.

Brienne smiled through her tears while in Herace’s arms.

She had returned safely to her rightful place.

Just that fact alone made all the bad feelings that had filled her seem to drain away.

*

At that time—

“…Things have gone awry.”

Duke Bannon, watching the Imperial Knights pass through the gate from the window, stood up.

His secretary, face dark, picked up the travel bag he had prepared in advance.

“What will you do?”

The secretary reached for a bookshelf and opened a secret passage.

The Duke leisurely straightened his clothes and followed him.

“We’re going to Roeta. I’ll have to ask the Prince for help. We’ll split up here and meet at Mashern Harbor.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

But then—

“If you mean the Prince of Roeta, are you looking for me?”

A low voice came from deep inside the secret passage where no one should have been.

One step, then another.

Heavy footsteps approached, and a man with a sly smile appeared.

“Or, is it the Second Prince?”

Thud. A severed head fell from the man’s hand, rolled across the floor, and stopped at the Duke’s shoe.

The Duke’s expression twisted as he looked at the brown hair soaked in dark red blood.

“Hey, Your Grace.”

Garzen smiled eerily as he came right up to him.

Gesturing out the window, Garzen spoke in a cold voice,

“Be grateful you were caught by me before the Emperor of Rontiano. While you rot away in Roeta’s prison, I’ll make sure you’re not bored.”

There was nowhere left to go, forward or back.

It was Duke Bannon’s complete failure.

* * *

After the commotion, Roeta gradually regained stability once Hamartia was punished.

The troubled public sentiment began to return, and people stopped bringing up the past.

But at the Roeta royal council, things were different.

“This must be done.”

Garzen, having prepared documents, looked around at each prince.

“Didn’t we see what our ignorance led to?”

“Still… letting those mages roam free without the temple’s restrictions seems a bit much…”

“Supporting the lower classes too much is also a problem. If we raise taxes on the nobility, there’ll be serious backlash…”

“It’s not like I don’t know that.”

Garzen cut off the princes’ words immediately and sighed.

“Everyone’s so focused on quelling rebellion that they’re missing the real issue. Did none of you learn anything from this crisis?”

“…”

“The explosion at the Academy library that robbed us of our history and knowledge, and the fire at the Main Temple that took our pride and origins.”

“…”

“I too lost my dearest friend in all of this.”

If only they had listened to the lower classes even once before Hamartia resorted to violence.

If only they had prepared better to prevent such things from happening.

Garzen’s gaze darkened as he stared at the spot where Lusell always stood.

“I just don’t want us to lose Roeta anymore. We must protect our people.”

The princes, now serious, turned their attention to Garzen sitting alone on the platform.

The one who had beheaded Perian without hesitation for endangering the nation, and who had personally dragged Duke Bannon in.

Not the Third Prince, but the Crown Prince.

They looked at Garzen Roeta.

* * *

While the Holy Kingdom of Roeta pursued reform, the Academy, after a temporary closure, entered an early vacation.

As a result, Brienne couldn’t return to Roeta and remained in Rontiano. Diashi, who had rushed over after hearing Brienne’s news, stayed with her.

“Miss, shall I pour you another cup of tea?”

“Again?! Please, no more!”

Brienne burst into a relaxed laugh as she watched Diashi wave her hand at Marie.

Marie, who had been excited ever since hearing Brienne was back and hadn’t left her side all day, had now grown close enough to Diashi to joke around.

“Come on, you know you want more.”

“I said no! I’ll burst from drinking so much tea! Stop! Please stop pouring!”

“If I pour it, you’ll drink it all anyway. Let go, this is expensive!”

“If it’s expensive, I can’t waste it!”

After a long tug-of-war over the teapot, Marie and Diashi ended up raising their voices in frustration.

After a while, Marie, the victor, asked,

“But Miss, what’s with that letter you’ve been staring at for days?”

“Oh, this…”

Brienne awkwardly put down the letter as she watched Diashi grimace, holding her fifth teacup.

Diashi, now clinging to Marie, tilted her head.

“‘All this time… I’m really sorry. I hope my apology was enough, Miss Ford’?”

Though Diashi ended with a puzzled tone, Brienne’s eyes were deep in thought.

With only that one letter left—

Melosi Bailey had completely vanished.

Although the promise to be properly punished for her mistakes was not kept, seeing that the Bailey family, who had helped the Duke, met a miserable end, it was not a surprising choice.

‘What’s even more absurd is the news that Bailey Newspaper achieved its highest sales ever.’

On the day of the incident at the Dukedom, Melosi not only handed over the original documents to the Emperor but also used the newspaper to print a special edition.

Thanks to that, the dark side of Duke Bannon was widely known, to the point that there was no one in Rontiano who didn’t know.

Of course, the news that the bottom of that vast lake was filled with old remains.

Bailey Newspaper, left with only its name and reputation, was eventually acquired by the Belif family, and the Duke, now holding the pen, burned with vengeance and didn’t hesitate to tarnish Bannon’s honor.

Duke Bannon, once respected by all, fell overnight to something less than a street stone.

When Hamartia, furious that those who had ruled over them were high nobles, even set fire to the ducal residence, there was truly nothing left for Bannon.

And Hamartia was all arrested and destined to spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Winor was no exception.

“Truly… thank you.”

That afternoon, Brienne accompanied Sir Kelton to the prison with Winor.

Winor, looking even more gaunt, knelt and bowed his head as soon as he saw Brienne. He was grateful for being freed from an evil he did not want.

Startled, Brienne hurried to help him up.

No matter what, there was no need for such excessive gratitude.

After all, it was not something she had accomplished on her own.

“Brother!”

Just then, a loud child’s voice echoed from afar. Winor looked around in surprise.

“Brother, brother! Over here…!”

A child, hesitantly walking behind Kaiden, waved at him with wide eyes.

The small child running toward Winor had tears in his eyes.

“This…”

Winor’s eyes shook, overwhelmed by the unexpected situation.

Brienne gently patted Winor’s shoulder and smiled brightly.

“Sorry I’m late. But I kept my promise, right?”

“…Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”

Winor’s eyes grew even redder as he looked at Brienne.

“My Lady, I will never… forget this favor.”

Swallowing his tears, Winor embraced his siblings. Brienne stepped back to let them reunite in peace.