Pryster and Benthrock met in the open plains.

It happened just a day after the twins received the letter.

Everything was swiftly arranged. A tent was erected in the center of the plains, a makeshift table set up, and Asena, Keirsey, Helen, Thein, and Lawrence waited for the approaching Count Benthrock.

Count Benthrock too made his entry with his entourage into the tent.

Asena didn’t even spare a moment to offer a greeting.

Upon seeing his face, she spoke immediately.

“.....Explain.”

In contrast, Benthrock was more composed than Asena. He first bowed his head in courtesy, then slowly took his seat.

His first words were not an answer to Asena’s question.

“....Before I explain, I must convey how shocked I am. I know you’ve come because of Cayden’s death.....but I never anticipated this reaction. I thought you despised Cayden.”

It wasn’t just Asena who was pushed to the edge. Keirsey also pressed him.

“Explain..before my patience runs out. If you lie... I won’t forgive you.”

Count Benthrock wiped the sweat from his brow and shrugged.

“It’s just as I said. He was ambushed by thieves. The exact details might be known by a spy named Yoren who was with Cayden... but he too is dead. So, we don’t know much. All we learned was that there was an attack on a group in the forest outside the village, and it turned out to be Cayden’s party.”

Count Benthrock picked up a glass of water in front of him and took a gulp.

With a brief cough, he covered his mouth, speaking with a casual demeanor.

“By the time I arrived, all the possessions had been plundered, and the bodies were gathered in one place and burned. Everyone was wiped out.”

In that, Asena found a glimmer of hope.

“That means you didn’t confirm Oppa’s death.”

Relief and anger. Anticipation and despair. In her deep despair, a sliver of hope stirred like a fish out of water, turning her emotions muddy with a tumult of feelings.

She was grappling with these emotions, sinking into this viscous hope. She was suppressing the madness threatening to overtake her.

At that moment, Benthrock snapped his fingers.

A servant standing behind him approached, holding something concealed by a white cloth on a tray.

He was about to place it on the table, but hesitated as the cups of Count Benthrock, Keirsey, and Asena were in the way, causing him to flinch.

With a rising impatience, Keirsey swiped away her own and Asena’s cups.

-Crash!

The glasses flew from the table, shattering upon impact with the floor. Yet, neither woman paid any attention.

All eyes were focused intently on the ominous object Benthrock had brought out.

When the servant placed the tray on the table, Count Benthrock, once again coughing briefly, pulled away the cloth.

A charred sword was revealed.

“It was found where the bodies were cremated.”

The moment Asena and Keirsey saw it, they felt as if they had been struck in the head with a hammer.

...It was all too… All too… familiar.

The hilt was completely burned away, and the blade was damaged, resembling a saw, but one specific mark remained unmistakably intact.

Count Benthrock also pointed to that very mark.magic

The serpent emblem of Pryster embedded in the center of the sword.

It was, without a doubt, Cayden’s blade.

Asena’s fingertips began to tremble.

Count Benthrock continued his explanation.

“This emblem. It’s Cayden’s sword, right? One of the burned corpses was clutching it tightly.”

“....Ah.... Ahh...”

“...I’m truly sorry.”

Asena’s eyes incessantly scanned the length of the sword. Trying to deny the reality, she sought any sign that it wasn’t Cayden’s blade. But she found none.

It was unmistakably Cayden’s sword. Upon closer inspection, even the markings from their childhood, etched into the hilt with a stone, were still present.

Cayden had gone, only this remained of him.

In the end, it was Keirsey who broke down first.

“Ahhhh!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!”

As if releasing all the emotions she had held back, her agonizing scream filled the tent.

Yet she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Cayden’s charred blade, crying out in anguish with wide, shocked eyes.

“No!! Ahhhh..!! It’s not true..!!”

Asena too tried to deny it, but the evidence was too clear. She had no strength to console Keirsey.

Nevertheless, her immediate reaction, unwilling to accept this reality, was once again anger.

The first spark of it directed at the present Benthrock.

“Why... Why didn’t you save him?”She didn’t even understand her own words.

“If you knew he was being ambushed...! You could’ve saved him...!”

While Benthrock empathized with her breakdown, he also wore a face of injustice.

“...Cayden wasn’t a Pryster.”

And his justification tightened Asena’s chest further.

“I couldn’t simply order our soldiers to risk their lives for mere commoners. The merchants weren’t residents of Benthrock either. Moreover, the Duchess instructed not to treat Cayden as a Pryster, didn’t you? Wasn’t it your resentment that got him exiled? In my judgment, showing him any favor might have brought harm upon you.”

The deeper Asena understood the situation, the clearer she saw Cayden’s blood on her own hands.

The more she realized, the more disgusted she felt with herself.

Her love had been consumed by flames, driven to his death.

She never imagined it would come back to her this way.

Keirsey, lifting the charred sword, clutched it close to her chest.

Thein and Helen, standing behind her, tried to restrain her, but no one could console Keirsey as her tears burst forth.

Holding the blade close, which was sharp and prone to cutting her, she wailed.

“Ahhhhhh...!!! Oppa!!!”

Seeing Keirsey, Asena’s heart started tearing apart. Watching her, the emotions she had been suppressing began to surface.

She couldn’t hide her emotions. Count Benthrock and numerous attendants watched, but a muffled cry erupted from her.

Though no sound came out, her breath broke with her sobs, spilling from her lips.

Drained, she collapsed onto the table.

Her hair spread out, cascading down.

She was currently grappling with an unfathomable fear. Even now, when everything felt surreal, her heart ached so much.

How much more would it hurt when the reality of his departure truly settled in?

Benthrock spoke softly.

“...We have a witness. He didn’t see everything, so he doesn’t know all the details... But would you like to meet him?”

With her head bowed down on the desk, Asena nodded.

She could hear someone entering the tent.

Keirsey continued to sob, tears streaming down her face, and Asena remained motionless.

On their behalf, Benthrock spoke.

“Tell us exactly what you saw.”

“...I...I mean, are you... sure it’s okay for them to hear this?”

“Don’t worry about them; just tell what you saw.”

“Ah, right. Understood. I was simply collecting herbs on the mountain. However, along the way, I heard screams and the sound of metal clashing, so I secretly approached the source... It was chaos. A battle... or should I say, a massacre? Bandits were attacking the merchants.”

“Also, tell us about the man you described to me.”

“Ah, if you’re referring to him... Yes, there was one who stood out, fighting valiantly. Even to my inexperienced eyes, he was in a hopeless situation, but he didn’t give up. He was fighting against three at once while directing others.”

The more Asena heard, the more certain she became that it had to be Cayden, and a dark shadow clouded her heart.

If possible, she wanted to scream at Cayden. To run away. To ask what he was doing there. But all of this had already happened in the past, and there was nothing she could do to change it.

She wanted to plug her ears. She couldn’t accept that the end of this story was Cayden’s death.

Keirsey was still crying, but she was also straining to hear his words – or rather, the final moments of Cayden.

“...Thanks to that man, the bandits had a hard time. You said his name was... Cayden, was it? Yes. Thanks to Lord Cayden, even with only 6 people left in the merchant group, there seemed to be hope.”

Suddenly, he paused and cautiously looked around.

“...Um... just to be sure, by sharing this story, I’m not putting my life in...”

Benthrock interrupted with a warning.

“If you’re not lying, there’s no issue. Stop beating around the bush and tell us what you witnessed. These aren’t people with time to waste.”

“Ah...! Yes..! Understood..! Then... the leader of the bandits stepped forward.”

Asena’s rage was directed at this individual.

“...Leader?”

It became clear who took Cayden’s life. She had never felt such a swelling rage before. She had thought her anger peaked when Cayden left, but it seemed she was wrong.

“Yes...! I was quite far away, so I couldn’t see the face clearly, but it was definitely a woman.”

“...A woman?”

“Yes. She stepped forward and spoke to the defenders who were still resisting. She said... if they would lay down their swords and hand over Lord Cayden, she would spare their lives.”

Keirsey, who had been sobbing, suddenly tensed up. Cayden’s sharp blade had penetrated her fragile body. Blood began to flow from her cheek, shoulder, stomach, and arm - everywhere the blade had reached.

“...And then?”

Swallowing her tears and suppressing her rage, Asena asked.

“.......”

The man hesitated again, sensing her palpable anger.“....And then?”

But under her second insistence, he finally spilled.

“....They all laid down their swords and betrayed that man—no, betrayed Lord Cayden. Without hesitation... After that, Lord Cayden’s momentum faltered. His upright sword began to point toward the ground. It was as if all his strength had evaporated.”

Tears welled up in Asena’s eyes once more, unexpectedly.

How terrified must he have been? What must he have felt? Was he so utterly desolate that he had to drop his sword?

The guilt of knowing that Cayden’s end was like that nearly drove her mad.

Asena had dreamt of Cayden’s final moments numerous times. She believed he would have experienced all the joys this world had to offer, then, surrounded by the love of his family, faced a peaceful death in old age when he had no energy left. Departing from her embrace, thinking it was a good life, smiling the loving smile she cherished so much.

But he had died betrayed, escorting a mere merchant group.

How must he have felt?

Didn’t it seem as if he’d been abandoned all his life?

He was abandoned by his parents and lived in an orphanage.

He was abandoned by his siblings, whom he loved unconditionally, and was exiled from the Pryster family.

And in the final battle of his life, he was abandoned... and met his death alone.

They never gave him any form of happiness.

They never rewarded him for anything.

Instead, they only tormented him. They brought him only pain. They exiled and betrayed him.

Now that he had left this world, nothing could change that truth.

How lonely must he have felt? How disappointed must he have been with the world to stand in front of an opponent with a sword, yet put it down on his own? Had he become so disheartened by the world to the point of relinquishing his ties to life?

How heart-wrenching must it have been, to realize that the reward for a life lived earnestly was abandonment?

Thinking of him, Asena felt she might lose her mind.

The man continued, “....I didn’t see much after that. Except that those who surrendered all met their end. The thieves started moving a bit, so I escaped. That’s the end of it.”

There was a sudden commotion behind Asena.

“Keirsey! Keirsey!”

Turning around, she found Keirsey unconscious.

Those, who finally managed to separate her from Cayden’s sword, were now carrying her.

Overwhelmed, Asena’s mind teetered on the brink of collapse.

She pushed all emotions aside. If she didn’t, she felt she would break completely.

She needed to recover.

There were only two places where she could find solace.

Her room and... Cayden’s...

A second wave of emotion washed over her. Suppressing the onslaught, she held back a surge of nausea.

She felt she too needed to retreat.

“...The forest. Where is it?”

Rising from her spot, with barely sustained composure, she asked Count Benthrock.

“.....It’s called Naita Forest, located to the northwest of the Benthrock territory.”

“....Whose territory is it?”

“It’s unclaimed land.”

Asena nodded and turned.

“.....Lawrence.”

“.....Yes.”

Lawrence, who had been listening from the background, had a somber expression. He was struggling to come to terms with the death of his pupil.

“....Find the culprits in Naita Forest.”

“.....Yes.”

A flash of determination glinted in Asena’s eyes.

“Bring them alive. This time, there will absolutely, absolutely be no room for mistakes. Capture them alive.”

“...Understood.”

“....I’m sure Oppa is alive.”

She spoke, almost as if forcing the words out.

“.....So...so....”

Lawrence bowed his head to Asena.

“I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll find the trace anyhow.”

This time, Asena called out to Helen and gave a nod.

Then unable to hide her tears, she abruptly left the tent. She couldn’t bear to stand before others any longer.

--- End Of The Chapter ---

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