TWFLLYM Ch 109

Resurrection (2)

Arad gritted his teeth. While it was fortunate that the Emperor believed Clobellina's story, no one expected it to cause this kind of trouble.

[Arad] "Your Majesty. Please move with the Royal Guard first. I will bring the Baroness myself."

No curse existed that simply made a person lose their mind. Therefore, Arad guessed that the "evil entity" the cat mentioned was the Baroness herself.

A Servel Tiger? This was no ordinary wickedness.

[Belto I] "What are you saying! Do you expect me to abandon my lover for my own safety? Never. I will not commit such a cowardly act!"

Arad tightened his jaw again.

[Arad] "No one calls Your Majesty a coward. I will bring the Baroness to you immediately."

[Belto I] "No, no. I can't! Out of my way! I must find Neira...... Neira!"

Belto I suddenly brightened. In the earlier chaos, the Royal Guard had pushed him along, forcing him to lose track of his lover. He could never forgive himself if something happened to her.

He remembered every detail of the moment they first met. Back then, his life felt empty. He had stopped managing state affairs, and his grown son no longer needed him. In that dull void, his lover became a spark that reignited his dead passion.

They shared the same appearance and thoughts. She was honest and simple. Looking at her quiet, gentle smile made him feel ten years younger.

The shadow of the late Empress, which had haunted him for years, finally began to fade. His lover had also lost her husband recently. She understood that loss meant loneliness.

[Belto I] "Neira!"

He called out to the Baroness as she appeared.

[Belto I] "You came to me! Blame this man for losing your hand in danger. It was never my intention."

Sometimes, very rarely, he felt she had changed since they first met. Especially just before coming to the palace, a sense of strangeness gripped him, as if she had become a different person.

As a natural romantic, Belto I blamed his own failings. If he loved her consistently, she wouldn't change. Because of this guilt, he tried to show her even more generous affection.

He reached out his hand toward her.

[Belto I] "Oh, my dove. Please, take my hand."

His lover responded, but in a way he never expected.

[Neira] "You know, I thought about this a great deal."

[Belto I] "......? Neira?"

Confused, he stared blankly at her.

[Neira] "I thought and thought. What is it that I genuinely want to do?"

Every time she opened her mouth, a sharp, spicy scent drifted out.

[Neira] "I could have kept acting like this woman. It's quite easy to enjoy wealth and power by taking the name of a stupid human man like you. But things are different now. It would be too short. Would it even last five years?"

[Belto I] "Nei......ra? What on earth are you talking about?"

[Neira] "Why do you think that is? Why did I, who naturally enjoyed eternal life, end up in a body that won't last five more years?"

[Belto I] "Neira! You are indeed cursed. Oh...... what should I do?"

He let out a groan and rubbed her hand against his cheek.

She watched his display with a mysterious smile.

[Neira] "It is all the fault of the witch of Versaryl. It is because of that name, a name I want to grind into dust and drink."

She raised a hand and brushed his hair. Father and son shared no resemblance except for their hair. The Emperor's brilliant silver hair was soft and thick, just like Kalart's.

[Neira] "So I made a choice. I don't need five miserable years. Instead of clinging to life for five years, I will pour out all my remaining power to crush everything that half-witch owns."

[Belto I] "Nei...... Gack!"

The Emperor suddenly screamed. The Baroness had grabbed his silver hair with a violent grip. Arad shouted.

[Arad] "Your Majesty! Give the order! I will deal with her!"

Though Arad asked for an order, he was already unsheathing his sword. The other guards did the same.

[Arad] "Release the Emperor!"

Clang!

She smiled at the guards, pointing their sharp blades at her.

[Neira] "Yes. That's how you should act."

Sssss......

A stinging scent spread through the air. Arad instinctively knew they shouldn't breathe this in.

[Arad] "Everyone, be careful! This is likely......!"

Thud!

The Baroness shoved the Emperor toward the guards.

[Belto I] "Ugh!"

As the Emperor stumbled forward, losing his balance, the panicked guards moved their swords aside.

Clash!

In the rush, one guard nearly cut his own comrade. The comrade's eyes burned with sudden rage.

[Guard A] "Did you just strike me?"

[Guard B] "What? No, that was—"

[Guard A] "Are you saying my life is worthless compared to the Emperor's? That I can die at any time?"

Exploding with sudden fury, the comrade raised his sword and attacked.

[Guard A] "Let's see how much your life is worth!"

[Guard B] "Hey! What kind of nonsense are you talking about!"

Clang! Clang!

Blades collided, sending sparks flying.

[Guard A] "Shut up and die!"

[Arad] "......!"

It was strange. An uncontrollable anger boiled within them.

Arad's shouting, the useless Emperor calling for his lover, the noise around them, even a single cloud floating in the blue sky—everything became a reason to swing a sword.

---

[Kalart] "Insane."

He let out a huff of disbelief. It was Eaton again. The man had lost his mind and was pointing a sword at him.

[Kalart] "Why do you fall for these things every single time?"

Clang!

The swords collided. Pushed back by Kalart, Eaton breathed heavily, his face flushed red.

[Eaton] "I am...... angry."

[Kalart] "About what?"

[Eaton] "That this arm is broken. That I can't cut you down in a single strike."

[Kalart] "You've indeed lost it."

Kalart snapped.

The Servel Tiger remained a threat despite being an illusion. The problem was that Kalart didn't know how to destroy it. Even when he moved in close to stab or slash it, the tiger didn't shed a single drop of blood.

Fighting it felt meaningless, yet he had no choice. The Servel Tiger continued its attacks like an obedient, well-trained pet.

Since the woman—who might not even be the Baroness—ordered it to kill him, the beast would likely stay in this state until his life ended.

Meanwhile, Eaton joined the fray. The Servel Tiger never accidentally attacked Eaton. For Kalart, the number of difficult enemies had doubled.

He felt his own anger rising.

[Kalart] "For the same reason as now, you once tried to harm her."

The old, buried anger resurfaced. Kalart's dark eyes turned cold, like a sharpened blade.

[Kalart] "I should have held you accountable for that sin long ago."

He couldn't understand why he had let Eaton live until now. Once reignited, his rage burned out of control.

[Kalart] "I will take your head right here."

He adjusted his grip and lunged at Eaton. His hand, aiming for the vital spot beneath the neck, showed no mercy. Only fury remained.

---

[Roserikta] "E-je-ne-wa-de-ri-o-e-da......"

[Elona] "Lady Roserikta?"

Elona fidgeted as she watched Roserikta, who had been muttering gibberish for a while.

[Clobell] "Leave her alone. She is reading a magic book in her head right now."

She tapped Elona to stop her.

[Elona] "Oh, is that it?"

[Clobell] "Once Rosy focuses, she can't hear anything else."

Roserikta was designing a witch's spell to cancel out the Liberation magic. She felt the pressure of time. Her mind focused entirely on the list of spells in her head, ignoring everything around her.

[Roserikta] "De-la-re-sen-je-a-wi......"

Despite the chanting, the two women and the cat moved quickly.

[Elona] "Amazing. People like this exist. No, she's a witch, not just a person."

[Clobell] "There probably aren't many like her even among witches."

[Elona] "Ah, I see."

Roserikta ran while clutching the biological encyclopedia she found in the Baroness' room, fearing someone might take it. After muttering another line from her mental magic book, she suddenly spoke.

[Roserikta] "Ran-se-wa-neu-deu-no-be-je-nyui...... I need Kitang."

[Elona] "Um, what? Did you say Kitang?"

Elona asked as if she had heard something bizarre. Kitang was a cheap distilled liquor made by boiling the leftovers of winemaking. It was a harsh drink with a terrible taste, rarely consumed in the palace.

[Elona] "Surely you aren't planning to drink it now?"

[Roserikta] "I need distilled liquor. The stronger, the better."

[Elona] "Well, nothing beats Kitang for strength. But why do you need it......?"

[Roserikta] "I have to disinfect it."

Elona didn't know what needed disinfecting, but she took Roserikta's words seriously. If she said she needed it, it must be useful.

[Elona] "You won't find that in the kitchen. No one drinks it. Finding it outside would take too long...... Ah! I know!"

She clapped her hands.

[Elona] "The Royal Physician must have some! I'm sure of it. The Head Maid once complained that his room smelled terrible because he likes cheap liquor."

[Roserikta] "Let's go."

She pulled Elona along without another word.

The screams and noise from outside grew louder. The sound made her heart burn with anxiety.

---

But the chaos wasn't only happening in the distance. They reached the annex where the Royal Physician's room was located.

[Physician] "Aaaagh! Save me!"

He came running toward them, barefoot and with disheveled hair.

[Elona] "What happened, Sir Kiden?"

The reason became clear immediately. The Chamberlain was chasing the physician, his eyes bloodshot and his hair equally messy.

[Lafitte] "Stop! Stop, I say! I will finish this today!"

The Chamberlain and the Royal Physician were chess friends. Whenever they had time, they played chess or cards for small bets. Their skills were similar, so they usually took turns winning.

According to the physician, he had won two games in a row today. The Chamberlain had suddenly snapped, flipped the chessboard, and grabbed the physician by the hair, shouting that he would never let him win again.

[Physician] "That man suddenly went mad...... Hieeeek!"

The Chamberlain looked around wildly and ripped a portrait of Raquelman I off the wall. He raised the heavy, gold-framed corner of the painting, intending to bash the physician's head.

[Clobell] "Seriously, what is wrong with everyone! Wake up!"

Clobellina shrieked and lunged at the Chamberlain.

[Lafitte] "Yikes!"

The Chamberlain froze in shock as the cat suddenly flew at him.

[Roserikta] "Run now!"

Roserikta quickly pulled the physician away.

Crash! Thud!

Unable to avoid Clobellina, the Chamberlain fell backward while clutching the portrait. The frame was so large and heavy that he couldn't maintain his balance once he started to slip.

[Lafitte] "Aaaargh!"

The Chamberlain let out a pained scream. The corner of the frame hit him right on the nose, causing blood to pour out.

[Elona] "Oh dear. Sir Chamberlain. Are you alright?"

Elona untied her headscarf and pressed it under his nose. Fortunately, the shock of the injury seemed to bring the Chamberlain back to his senses.

[Lafitte] "Uh, ugh...... Why am I doing this?"

[Elona] "You were cursed."

[Lafitte] "What? A curse?"

His eyes went wide. Elona nodded calmly.

[Elona] "Yes. Haven't you heard the rumors? The fairy cat appeared before His Majesty."

He hadn't heard a thing.

[Lafitte] "A fairy...... cat?"

[Elona] "Clobell here is the fairy cat! His Majesty said the fairy cat warned him that an evil entity had appeared in the palace to curse people."

Elona held Clobellina up to his face. He stared with wide eyes.

[Lafitte] "Wait, the Emperor said that? Is that certain?"

In reality, Clobellina had said it to Belto I, and Elona had simply overheard it. But by crediting the Emperor, the ridiculous claim became believable.

[Elona] "Of course. I heard it myself. Sir Chamberlain, you were just trying to hit the Royal Physician with this portrait. Do you remember that?"

[Lafitte] "Why would I do something so insane...... ah......"

The reason why he wanted to kill the physician was a dark blur, but he remembered lifting the portrait. He turned pale.

[Elona] "The palace is in chaos right now. Lady Roserikta is looking for the evil entity casting the curse. You must watch out for a spicy scent, like pepper. She says that scent carries the curse."

The Royal Physician cried out in excitement.

[Physician] "A curse......! Does that mean the Black Witch has appeared again?"