Chapter 18: If I’m Crazy About You

‘We’d better take a look around the blacksmith’s first, and then go to the mines.’

Late at night, Lavella rearranged the weapons that had been briefly inspected around her body and organized what she had to do.

‘And the soldiers of Rubitz… I guess we’ll have to dig them up, right?’

Lavella thought it would be a busy night.

When Lavella made up her mind, she quietly opened the bedroom door, however, the door to the next room opened a moment before her.

‘Iska?’

Lavella instinctively focused on Iska’s movements.

It was strange that he would hide his presence just to come out for a moment.

‘…Shall we follow?’’

After a short agonizing time, Lavella carefully chased after Iska who had moved away.

‘The Elder’s house?’

The place where Iska entered was an unexpected place.

“There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize you, no?”

“Hm?”

Iska’s conversation with Kuzne’s elder was, of course, even more surprising.

‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

Lavella focused a little more on the conversation between the two.

“The loyal vassal of Bismert, Cassie Cabachi. Greetings to Prince Rubitz.”

“!”

‘Prince Rubitz?’

Lavella’s eyes opened wide.

“A soldier of Prince Rubitz.”

“It’s all because of that Prince Rubitz, that son of a bitch!”

Moot’s words crossed Lavella’s mind one after another.

‘Yeah, what am I hearing?’

She thought he was a suspicious fellow, but he’s an Imperial Prince.

Honestly, Lavella didn’t expect that.

She thought he seemed to have a noble’s presence who didn’t roll in the dirt.

(TL/N: meaning she didn’t think he was a commoner.)

‘The second prince… why is he out here? Why isn’t he in the Palace? Why did he join our guild?’

Lavella tilted her head.

‘Then, who is mobilizing the troops from the imperial family?’

She was lost in thought for a while and didn’t notice Iska.

Lavella, who couldn’t escape, faced Iska.

“Oh my, did I get caught?”

When Lavella asked if he was a son of a bitch, Iska clicked his tongue.

He checked that she was in the room, but when did she step out again?

She was an unpredictable woman anyway.

“Lavella. I just want to point out one thing. Isn’t the son of a bitch thing his misunderstanding?”

“Oh, is it?”

Lavella’s words smoothly slipped out the ends of her lips.

As soon as he saw her, he had a troubled look as if he had made a mistake.

Apparently, he didn’t mean to tell her who he was.

It wasn’t her concern anyway, whether Iska was a son of a bitch or not.

For Lavella, it was more important how she would hit the jackpot, which fell into her hands in an awkward manner.

‘It would have been better if I hadn’t been caught by Iska.’

She could have thought about it in a more profitable way, but it was too late now.

Lavella’s head spun quickly as she tapped the calculator in her head.

‘It’s a good thing I didn’t attack right away.’

Iska laughed. Lavella’s mind was clearly seen thinking about how to use him.

‘I didn’t mean to let you know so soon. I was too careless.’

Iska felt Cassie standing anxiously at the window below and decided to finish his short reflection.

“I think we have a lot to discuss, so why don’t we move somewhere else?”

“Well, where shall we go?”

Lavella readily nodded at Iska’s suggestion.

He wondered what cards he should show to avoid her cutting his neck.

Iska’s mind became a little complicated as he stood up and saw Lavella smiling.

In this case, the answer was to inevitably be straightforward.

“I intend to ascend to the throne.”

As soon as he moved to a forest a little further from the village, Iska immediately got to the point.

It was before Lavella even asked.

“Huh?”

Lavella tilted her head as if she was surprised.

“What is it?”

“Well, I didn’t think you were the type to be so ambitious.”

“What kind of person do I look to you?”

Iska, who smiled at Lavella’s curved eyes, gave a calm answer and swept his hair.

It wasn’t a wrong statement. It was his fate that brought him to greed and forced him to become the Emperor.

“Lavella.”

Lavella squinted at Iska, who had quickly erased his unique playful personality.

‘Is this the real you?’

This was the image she saw on the hill during the sunset the day they went to the festival together.

It was serious and heavy.

“As you might expect, there may be a war in Imperia.”

“…….”

“But I don’t want war. I want a clean victory with less blood.”

“You’re an idealist.”

“Maybe. That’s why I need you.”

“Ah, you need someone to get their hands dirty on your behalf? You want me to wash your back?”

“…Lavella.”

In a clear and straightforward expression, Iska groaned as she leaned on her waist.

“I thought about this last time on the cliff, but what the hell kind of person do you see me as?”

“Well. I don’t know?”

She looked innocent, taking the tip of her finger between her thick lips and asking back.

“If that was my purpose, why would I come into Kirah myself? I could just have hired you with money.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m trying to gain all forces. Just like you gather the powerful in the guild, I do the same.”

Iska checked Lavella’s reaction while maligning a nonchalant expression.

She didn’t immediately reach for her weapon, nor did she seem to easily accept what he said.

Lavella seemed to gauge the truth of what she was hearing.

‘Chamer, I’m glad I didn’t tell you about him yet.’

Confessing his deal with Lavella should be after gaining more trust from her.

Iska wasn’t sure if he could bring it up now, so he decided to shut it for now.

“So, my prince, in your judgment, I was quite useful?”

“Quite?”

Iska snorted.

“You don’t have to be modest, Lavella. That’s not how it is, is it? I’ve been watching you myself.”

At her slightly sarcastic question, Iska nodded gently.

“I like you and I like the Kirah you’ve grown. Sincerely.”

He liked her better when she knew who he was and didn’t blink let alone change her attitude.

“You do.”

Lavella folded her arms looking up at Iska as he approached her.

“Then what can our prince give me?”

“What do you want?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

Iska took another step closer to Lavella who was thinking about it with her eyes down. He lifted her chin gently.

“Think about it, Lavella. History has told us how far a crazy Emperor will go.”

Looking at the lovely gold eyes, Iska smiled enchantingly.

“And I’m attracted to you, Lavella.”

“…….”

As Iska lowered his eyes swiftly, the distance from her gaze shrunk.

His thumb climbed up Lavella’s jawline and gently rubbed her tightly closed red lips.

“So why don’t you seduce me properly so that I’m all over you. I can do whatever you want.”

“Well, doesn’t it look like things have changed?”

She was sure it was him who should look good, not herself.

“Isn’t this an attractive proposition to you?”

“That’s right.”

Lavella’s small hand gently patted the hand that touched her chin and wrapped it tightly with her own.

“Of course, if you were the Emperor now.”

Lavella quipped coolly as she took off Iska’s hand.

It was foolish to make a deal with a situation that hasn’t happened yet.

“So cold.”

When he mumbled to express his regret, Iska smiled lightly as if he had expected it.

He was attracted to her because she was like this.

She was not an emotional woman, but a woman who judged the situation calmly.

“My ascension to the throne would be of great help to you and Kirah in many ways.”

“I won’t deny that.”

“My offer is due for the time being. Think hard about it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

It was time for Lavella to smile and shrug her shoulders as she gained time to calculate in her head some more.

A small bird flew in and hovered over the heads of the two.

As Iska held out his finger, the bird landed on it as if it had been waiting.

‘I’ve seen it somewhere…oh.’

It was the bird that she saw in front of the guild’s accommodations and medical facility.

“Well, I’ve got a place to go.”

Iska smiled as he looked at Lavella.

“Would you like to come with me?”

It was a smile that seemed to be a mixture of Iska’s unique playfulness that she had seen so far.

*   *   *

“He’s not coming.”

Cassie, who had been waiting by the window for Iska who disappeared, sighed as he sat in a chair.

“Hmph, where did you disappear to?”

He was nervous because he still had a lot to hear.

“Oh, by the way, I’m going to tell the Empress the news…no, not at all right.”

Cassie went straight to the desk and picked up the quill pen but shook his head belatedly.

There must be a reason why Prince Rubitz suddenly disappeared. He thought it would be better to decide after having a conversation.

Sitting down again, Cassie slowly swept down his long beard.

‘Mmhmm.’

The prince, who had disappeared without contacting him, showed up in Kuzne on his own.

And the woman in his group. A woman with platinum blonde hair and clear gold eyes.

Cassie’s wrinkled eyelids were strained.

“There’s no other reason than that.”

Cassie got up from his seat, locked the door tightly, closed the window, and even blocked the door.

When Cassie finished locking up the room, he removed the rug under the desk and a square-shaped wooden door was revealed.

It was a secret passage that was passed only to the elders of Kuzne for generations.

Even if they knew the existence of the gate, it was a dangerous place where they could never come out alive if they didn’t know the way because it was a complicated maze.

Cassie put his foot on the ladder without hesitation.

Closing the door above his head, Cassie reached out and fumbled as his feet touched the ground.

He looked for the torch that was always in the same spot and lit it up as he stared at the dark passage.

A long way to walk along a narrow enough path for one person to barely pass.

Soon a large opening appeared in front of him.

“…….”

Cassie lifted the torch and shone a clear crystal that filled a place wide enough to fit several houses.

A large chain of chains wound around the crystal that penetrated the wall leading to the mine.

The tightly pulled chain hummed and wobbled finely. It was proof that mana from the crystal was flowing out.

The mana flowing like that permeated into Kuzne’s mine. This was why Kuzne’s weapons were so strong.

Cassie identified the source of mana in the crystal.

Long platinum blonde hair and white skin. Clear gold eyes behind closed eyelids.

It looked quite similar to the woman who came with the prince.

‘The Great Wizard, Chamer.’

It was sealed here for hundreds of years and kept secret in Kuzne for many years.

‘May peace come to Imperia.’

Cassie wished his decision to break Kuzne’s principles and meet Prince Rubitz with Chamer was the right choice.

 

*   *   *

“Ritelni, I found you.”

“Really?”

Ritelni’s eyes narrowed as he entered the barracks guided by soldiers.

“Well, this is…”

Inside was a pile of large boxes containing various weapons.

It was too much for the soldiers in the garrison to use.

“Setz.”

“It’s not Kuzne’s.”

Setz, who picked up a sword, shook his head.

“Right? But it has Kuzne’s mark.”

Ritelni rubbed his chin and tilted his head.

It was after they cleaned up all those impersonating Prince Rubitz’s soldiers and their garrison.

“It’s about time you came, so let’s discuss it together.”

Ritelni measured the time spent flying the messenger bird and lifted up his crouched body.

“Ritelni.”

“Oh, you’re here.”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Just in time, Ritelni clicked his tongue at the main character who appeared as soon as he pulled down the cloth to the barracks entrance.

“There were a few strange things I was going to report to you…”

Ritelni, who was turning towards Iska, spotted Lavella and stopped talking.

When he saw the perplexed look in Ritelni’s eyes, Iska replied nonchalantly.

“Ah, I got caught.”

“!”

“Say hello, Ritelni. This is Lavella, the Captain of Kirah and my boss.”

Iska calmly introduced Lavella to see if Ritelni’’s mind was still in the middle of screaming.

“This guy doesn’t seem to be in the mood to say hello?”

It was time for Lavella to sweep Ritelni up and down with her eyes as if he were out of his mind.

“Ritelni!”

A soldier stormed into the barracks breathing heavily.

“Oops!”

The soldier who belatedly noticed Iska bent down.

“What’s going on?”

“You’ll have to come out for a second. Some strange men came to visit.”

What’s going on this time?

Agh, so confused, all day I’ve been confused.

Ritelni sighed while he looked resentfully at his master who caused a major blunder.