Drown Myself

Jillian's eyes widened as she heard those words from the innocent archduchess, but the eyes before her were not of a sweet princess. Those were the eyes that had gazed through Kolorantha and waltzed back to the realm of the living. Even if Jillian didn't really believe in the existence of Kolorantha, she felt like death was gracing its long fingers across the back of her neck.

"...Mac..."

Jillian gasped all of a sudden. She lowered her head and bit her lip. She didn't know what came over her as she almost whispered the name of her master. In fact, she wanted to pray for mercy in the face of such a strange woman. She then lifted her eyes to take a look at Artie again. ["Is this the power of the Kaigansan elves? How could she force me into submission just by hearing her words?

["That's right! I shouldn't be listening to her anymore! I must resist this magic!"] Jillian turned away and launched herself back into the depths of her cell. ["No, no, the master will be killing me if he finds out I sold him out. The archduke must never know that he had been found out by the Servants. I must endure… until I die."]

Artie's eyes widened as she rose from her seat. She then turned to Miel who stayed steps away from her. She walked towards him and gently grabbed his arm to lead him away. "Call off the execution. I need to speak with Larkin now. It's very important."

"L-Lady Shen..." Miel didn't know how to say it. He was actually very terrified at the moment. He had long known that angels were creatures made of light and gentle rays. Their bodies were shrouded in white light that only their wings were distinguishable from their other parts.

However, earlier… he knew very well that he was not looking at an angel. He had never seen an angel teeming with light that was as red as blood!

…

Larkin was staying in his room, drinking wine while watching the sunset from his room. Soon, he heard familiar footsteps that echoed along the hallway outside. The door of his room opened, and Artie walked in.

The archduchess didn't look the part as she was in a simple blue dress that had seen better days. Rolling on the ground before being sent to the dungeons didn't allow her to change her clothes, and rushing straight towards the archduke's room gave her no buffer time as well. However, she didn't fear the potential disgust in Larkin's eyes as she walked inside his room with such soiled garments.

"What did you find out?" Larkin beat Artie into speaking. The angel could only walk closer and sit down on the other seat at the table. "You went looking for him to find her, didn't you? Is there anything of importance?"

The angel sighed inwardly. She had always felt like Larkin was always a step ahead of her in everything. In things that she felt like she must tell Larkin, it always happened that Larkin had already received the news somewhere. Perhaps the only thing that he didn't foresee was the impending attack of the glass spirits.

However, that was heavily dependent on Artie's sole intuition after receiving that page from Heaven's Creation.

"...Machiav was making people believe that you are planning to overturn the kingdom. He seemed to be using the results of his attempts as evidence that you give no regard to the authorities in Achlys, which are higher than yours." Artie clutched on her skirt as she kept her hands on her lap. "I doubt this is the last time he would try and entrap you. You should be very careful… we should be very careful."

Larkin only gave her his gaze before pouring himself another drink. "And the assassin? She dies or not?"

Artie frowned at Larkin before sighing, reaching out to snatch the drink Larkin was pouring for himself. She went to drink it as she had been very thirsty walking around… only to learn that Larkin was so nonchalant about the problem. "The longer we keep her, the more Machiav would want to get her killed instead. She knows his name and his ideals; he must be itching to have her dead body delivered to him.

"I don't know if that would put pressure on him, but we should hold onto one of his pawns. Moreover, I haven't interrogated her for so long. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to ask you to call off the execution." Artie then shuddered visibly as she felt the slide of the wine along her throat. If only she wasn't thirsty, she wouldn't be drinking that.

Wait, she must have forgotten something very important…

"This… doesn't seem to be the same one as the one from… the… the dinner..."

"Worry not, I already gave my orders to delay the execution. Let Miel deal with the arrangements of her stay." Larkin took back the glass that Artie emptied. How powerful, he didn't even dare drink a full glass of this wine. He then turned to her. "Would you be staying here tonight again? I figured you would be too… drunk to walk."

Artie covered her face with her hands as she felt lightheaded. She then moved to get on her feet and attempted to get to the private baths. "I'll drown myself in the baths first..."

Bang! She fell onto the floor and passed out from the alcohol. Larkin only sighed and continued drinking.

…

Loud cheers echoed from the streets, and a child ran around to find a suitable spot to watch the parade from afar. Down a fence and up a tree, he climbed up just to find the source of the excitement. The young boy gazed into the line of knights and soldiers returning from the expedition.

His short blond hair moved along with the feeble breeze while his dark blue eyes stared into the scene. It was as if he was seeing his aspirations in a painting of life. He opened his mouth in awe, but he clenched his fist tightly. He would never become any of those knights; he was not born into the nobility after all.

"Miel!" A little girl called out, and she adeptly climbed the tree as well. The girl had dark hair and dark eyes, seemingly having no special feature on her face. She made it to the branch where Miel was and stared at the knights disappearing into the crowd welcoming them back into the capital. "It must be so good to live like them. They don't need to work hard for money."

"They serve the kingdom with their lives," Miel answered after a few seconds. He then shifted his gaze to the castle far away. "Jillian, one day, I will work hard to live in a castle like that, too! I will be a knight by earning the king's favor!"

He turned to her again after. "I will become a noble! Then, we'll get married so we can adopt everyone. That way, everyone won't have to be hungry!"