130.
The reason Rector stayed with Leviathan was freedom. The freedom to break social norms, that is. In fact, Aksen and the other Zodiac 12 weren’t much different. They had joined Leviathan with beliefs, but in the end, they were doing the same things as Rector.
Jinhyeon’s task now was to find the leader at the deepest part of Leviathan. Since most people were inspired by the leader’s words, if he died, it would be easier to deal with Leviathan. So he couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Seeing Greyardin clinging to Haruna, there was a high probability he would show up at Lucid’s party as well. Jinhyeon planned to kill him then. The sooner he resolved this, the sooner he could return to his original relationship with Yu Jin.
Yu Jin, who had woken up at dawn, was being meticulously groomed by Keith.
“Is all this really necessary?”
The previous head, Ruhan, didn’t do this, it seemed. He always dressed neatly. So Yu Jin wanted to dress similarly, but Keith objected.
“The situation is a bit different from Ruhan-nim’s. I think it’s better to appear attractive.”
He then whispered Leviathan’s name in Yu Jin’s ear. Only then did Yu Jin quietly sit and accept the grooming from the maid and Keith. It seemed Keith wanted to show them that Yu Jin was moving according to his will. Yu Jin hadn’t noticed before, but Keith had a tendency to enjoy control. If he ever got a lover, they might have quite a hard time.
Yu Jin endured the long process with such thoughts. And the resulting appearance drew exclamations from the people he met afterward.
“You’re truly beautiful.”
There was even a man who said this while blinking his eyes flirtatiously. Yu Jin had expected people to target him since he wasn’t married, but he hadn’t realized men would be included. Well, even being a lover of Lucid’s head would be beneficial. Yu Jin looked with a complicated expression at the man kissing his hand, which he had extended reflexively. He could feel Keith’s sharp gaze from behind.
As the kiss lingered, Yu Jin withdrew his hand and sent the man away. But such people continued endlessly afterward. Those who presented their daughters of marriageable age were better. There were even those who pushed forward children not yet of age, which was naturally tiring. What was power that it made people so ugly?
“Want to rest?”
For this reason, Yu Jin quickly nodded at Keith’s suggestion. Keith, who had appropriately cut off the people, took Yu Jin to a pre-prepared rest room.
“Ugh.”
As soon as they arrived at the rest room, Yu Jin collapsed onto a long sofa. His shoulders were stiff from how much he had been on edge. Noticing this, Keith naturally reached out to loosen Yu Jin’s shoulders but stopped in place. He had spotted a familiar bird peering in from outside the rest room window.
When the bird made eye contact with Keith, it shook its head like a person. It meant for him to follow.
‘Will it be alright?’
There was a knight guarding the door, and shadows were also hiding. Keith was confident that nothing major would happen if he left for a short while.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Where are you going?”
“It seems something’s come up outside. It doesn’t seem serious, so you just rest.”
“Okay.”
Yu Jin nodded and slumped back down. Keith left the rest room, leaving Yu Jin behind. The bird, having entered somehow, was waiting for him at the end of the corridor. When the guard knight looked at him curiously, Keith smiled and said,
“It seems my bird has escaped its cage.”
“I see. Then you should hurry and catch it.”
“Yes, please guard well.”
“Of course.”
The knight lightly thumped his chest with his fist. Only after confirming this did Keith approach the bird. As Keith got closer, the bird flew back. This repeated several times until they arrived at the garden behind the mansion.
“Isn’t this behavior too unnatural?”
As Keith sighed and spoke, a person emerged from the shadow of a large tree.
“Master.”
“Well, we can’t use an infiltrated person for such trivial summons, can we?”
From Rector’s standpoint, using a bird was much more convenient, as using a person might raise suspicions.
“But what’s the matter?”
“What else? I came to see my disciple’s face. When else could I sneak into Lucid if not on a day like this?”
Although Lucid had mobilized everyone for security, the defenses were looser than usual due to the many visitors. Of course, several excellent individuals were attached to the head, but it was different in other areas.
“Wouldn’t you be able to do it anytime, Master?”
“It’s possible, but those shadows are so annoying.”
“Is it alright now?”
“Aksen provided help, so we can talk for a moment.”
“Talk? What kind of talk?”
“Various things?”
Rector was an excellent swordsman with respectable skills. However, aside from his swordsmanship, he had somewhat careless aspects. Having acted as he pleased for so long, he wasn’t adept at deceiving others. To begin with, Aksen was in charge of such areas.
As soon as he realized this, Keith immediately turned his body, but Rector, who was under the tree, threw his sword to block the path.
“Master!”
“Sorry, but you need to stay here a bit longer.”
“Why?!”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you. You’re too obsessed with that child, Yu Jin. So I can’t trust you in that aspect.”
“Isn’t that the same as not trusting me?”
“Oh, is it? Still, I don’t think you’ll betray Leviathan.”
Saying this, Rector smiled with his eyes curved. Looking at him, Keith thought he wanted to cut him down, master or not. He wanted to leap over the sword Rector had thrown, but he might be attacked if he did. Although he hadn’t neglected sword training, he wasn’t confident in surpassing Rector. Seeing the killing intent Rector was emitting, he might even be killed.
Keith tensed his body and confronted Rector.
This really isn’t something a person should do. Yu Jin, who had been slumped the whole time, suddenly realized he was thirsty. He wanted to drink something. As he was groaning and trying to get up, suddenly there was a knock from outside.
‘Who could it be?’
Had Keith returned? But there was no voice following the knock. Only then did Yu Jin remember that a knight was guarding the door. Was his name Mollin?
“Sir Mollin.”
He called the name softly, but there was no reply. Instead, what came back was another person’s low, subdued voice.
“Yu Jin.”
As soon as he heard the voice, Yu Jin grabbed a nearby porcelain decoration. While staring at the door, holding his breath, the closed door slowly opened. And the one who appeared through that gap was Count Lumine. It had been quite a while since they last met.
“I was invited to the party.”
Count Lumine spoke in a leisurely voice. Yu Jin didn’t remember inviting him, but it was entirely possible. He had personally selected and written invitations only for high-ranking nobles and royalty, and for the rest, lower-ranking officials had appropriately classified and sent out invitations. So it wasn’t strange for Count Lumine, who held the title of count, to be invited. After all, counts weren’t that common in the empire to begin with.
“I don’t remember inviting you to the rest room, though.”
Yu Jin spoke coldly while glaring at Count Lumine.
“That’s true, but I wanted to see you.”
He had thought the count wasn’t an ordinary person to begin with, but now his eyes were strange. His cloudy eyes, as if covered with a white film, were looking at a point slightly away in the air.
“What about Sir Mollin?”
“You mean the knight guarding the door? He’s resting now.”
As he said this, he raised his hands, which were soaked in red blood. Although Count Lumine, being a noble, would have learned swordsmanship as part of his education, Yu Jin hadn’t heard that he was skilled. How could such a person have taken down a Lucid knight? It was an unbelievable story. That’s why it wasn’t difficult to guess who was behind this.
‘Leviathan.’
He knew they would approach eventually, but he didn’t expect it to be like this.
“Sir Mollin.”
He called for Mollin, but there was no response from him. Yu Jin was worried, but there was no way for him to help Mollin now. Should he be grateful that at least the shadows were there? They were probably gauging the moment to attack Count Lumine.
‘But is that okay?’
He might be missing a good opportunity. Having finished his thoughts, Yu Jin gritted his teeth and took a step forward. Perhaps it was an unexpected action, as Count Lumine tilted his head. The sight looked grotesque, but Yu Jin didn’t back down.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
