Chapter 2.9

There was no reason for Neia or Ronya to sacrifice themselves.
Everything that led to this situation was her own fault.
The one who should disappear was her. The one who could disappear without a problem was also her.
She just needed to go to the city guards and tell them that Robert and Neia had done nothing wrong, that they knew nothing about her.
Even if she was taken to Jenaire, she could find a way to escape on the way.
At least then, she wouldn’t have to die in Jenaire….

“…”

No, even before that—
Ines already knew what the best choice was for her right now.
She had tried hard to erase the marks on her neck, but even after five days had passed, they were still faintly visible. She subconsciously rubbed her neck.
It was actually simple.
“I hope you’ll stay in the safest place.”
The right answer was already clear, so much so that not choosing it seemed foolish.

The bastard child of Jenaire turned herself in to the city guards.
Her thin body was dragged roughly across the ground.
Rayan watched blankly as Ines was dragged by the knights.

“What should we do, Your Highness? Shall we bring her directly to the duchy?”

“…No. Leave her.”

“…Ah, yes.”

The knight glanced at his lord, confused.
For the past six months, he had been obsessed, as if crazed, with capturing that bastard child. But now, he looked like he had let go of all his feelings.
Even so, his cold green eyes never left Ines, watching her from start to finish.
He was impossible to read.
It was the first time the knight had seen his lord display so many different emotions in such a short time.

He suddenly gave the strange order to spread false news…
What was the point of twisting the already decided outcome of the continental meeting and putting it on a public notice?

But then, the knight recalled the consequences of that meaningless order and felt a chill run down his spine.
Gripped by fear and anxiety about war, the people had started stirring among themselves and pointed their anger at a target.
They completely shattered someone’s peace.

The majority can be far more brutal than the minority.
The lord must have known that when he spread the false rumor.

Ironically, though, the bastard child of Jenaire didn’t return to the inn crying.
That timid woman boldly went to the guards in Hyran and revealed her identity herself.
That’s why she ended up like this.

“My god, how shameless… She tricked that poor old man and lived off him all this time? I never expected that from the herb shop girl.”
“I was suspicious from the start. Tsk tsk… Poor Robert.”

Just a few weeks ago, these same neighbors had been kind to her. Now, they looked at her with disgust and pointed fingers.
She was dragged by the soldiers, looking even more miserable than when she had been taken to Lezan.

Rayan’s lips twisted into a cold smile.
Even now, she won’t call for me?
Was this her way of saying she’d rather die than accept his help?

She really was too arrogant.
She kept trying to slip out of his grasp until the very end.
Too foolish to make the one easy choice.

In fact, Ines didn’t even need to go back to the inn.
If she had just called his name once, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.
She must believe she still has a way out.

The method she once told him “you will never understand in your life.”
She must be trying to use that again to escape somewhere else.

So even though it looked like she was giving in now, she’d probably disappear again in a few days, just like she did from the Lezan palace.
But this time, her will must have been broken enough.
She must’ve realized that no matter how many times she runs, the same thing will just repeat.

Rayan was a man who knew exactly how to hunt prey like Ines.

“To live peacefully. If that’s the only thing you want…”
That didn’t mean he’d let her go.
It meant he’d destroy everything around her so she couldn’t live in peace anywhere else.

The ground she stood on was unstable from the start.
Just one little push would make her fall, like stepping into mud.
And it was easy to stomp on soft ground and mess it all up.

Ten years ago, Rayan had dealt with his uncle, the one who murdered his parents, in exactly the same way.
Every place his uncle ran to was destroyed by Rayan.
It was nothing short of madness.
Now he had just found a more efficient way than using his own hands.

The more the target ran, the crueler he became.
The feelings that were once as light as a dandelion puff had turned into something so brutal—and it was all Ines’s fault.

“Move faster!”
A soldier of Apael roughly shoved the woman’s narrow shoulder.
Ines staggered and lifted her head, a thin scratch across her cheek.

“…Tch.”
Rayan clicked his tongue in irritation after a moment of silence.
It wasn’t pleasant to see someone who should’ve walked to him on her own, unharmed, being treated like that.

She would’ve come to him eventually anyway—why not come looking decent?

“Shall we prepare to leave, then?”
“No. We’ll wait a few more days.”
“Pardon? But today makes ten days…. I don’t think we can delay any longer, Your Highness. There’s a message from Lady Kyra back home…”

The knight, startled, tried to say more but stopped when Rayan placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“…I spoke carelessly. I apologize.”
“I am your master, Lux.”
“Yes, forgive me.”
“I won’t say it again. Stand by.”
“…Understood.”

Over the knight’s shoulder, he saw the woman staggering again, unable to walk properly.
Rayan turned his back coldly on the unpleasant sight.

“And the soldier who touched her—break his wrist.”

The knight didn’t dare object to that order.

She had run away again.
How much of her life had been shaved away this time?
Her heart felt like it would shatter into pieces.
It was like a giant had crushed her heart in his hand.

Ines stumbled through the dark hallway.
While being taken to the capital by the Apael soldiers, she had summoned Kian again.
A large part of her lifespan had been taken.

Even though she had escaped, now she didn’t know where to go.
The continent was so vast, yet it felt like there wasn’t a single place that would take her in.
No, she was nearly certain of it.

Except for one place.

“Eleanor…”

But she couldn’t go there anymore, even if she wanted to.
The time she had promised Rayan had already run out.
He had likely gone back to the duchy five days ago.

Maybe none of this would’ve happened if she had just accepted Rayan’s hand from the start.
If she had just gone to him that day, two weeks ago….
If she had leaned into that short moment of comfort….

Then Robert wouldn’t have been hurt, Neia and Ronya wouldn’t have suffered, and her already short life wouldn’t have been shortened further.

She had turned away out of fear of wanting more—and lost everything she had.
How could she have been so stupid?

“…It’s too late now.”

Even though she knew that, why had she come here?

Ines walked down the hallway of the inn, holding back tears.
She retraced her steps from two weeks ago and stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall.

Her pale hand reached for the doorknob.
The door she once threw open so easily now felt incredibly heavy.

Creak.
The door opened.
The soft orange light inside spread slowly into the dark hallway.

“…Ah.”
Ines let out a dazed sound.
“Your… Highness?”

Her blue eyes blinked several times.
It felt like time had frozen.

It was as if all the hellish days since that moment two weeks ago had vanished.
Because the man was there—sitting on the same sofa, in the same position as before.

“…You didn’t leave.”

Her voice was so hoarse it didn’t even sound like hers.
The man slowly leaned forward from the sofa.

“I had a feeling I shouldn’t leave.”

“…You could have gone.”

“You have a wound. On your cheek.”

She got an unexpected reply to her tired words.
Ines unconsciously rubbed her left cheek with the back of her hand.
She didn’t feel any pain.

Yet tears fell.

“Does it hurt?”

She nodded without meaning to.
Ines pressed her eyelid with the hand that had touched her cheek.

She was in pain and exhausted.
She wanted to rest, but didn’t know where to go, so she had ended up here.

She never thought she’d face that man again like this.
But when she saw Rayan, she felt overwhelming relief.

He was the only one who had ever told her she’d be safest by his side.

“So you were thinking of going to Jenaire.”

“….”

“But I still think Eleanor suits you more than that barbaric place.”

She no longer had the strength to refuse this temptation.
The man gave her a small gesture.
As if responding to a signal, Ines took a step toward him.

She walked to him like she was under a spell.
But just a few steps away, she stopped.
A final trace of doubt held her back.

Could she really trust him?
Tears gathered on her cheeks and dropped one by one onto the floor.

Ines barely opened her mouth.

“…Give me certainty.”