Your Majesty, Please Don't Kill Me Again!

Chapter 34

- August 19, 2023

“Even if he won’t get in our way, get rid of him. Fassbender should be the most powerful merchant company in Vellnelni, do you understand?”

Rupert's handsome brows creased up with worry, and he licked his lips. 

The man nodded in agreement.

“Hmm, Gorten. That name must be familiar to you.”

He took a step back and turned to look at me. He was already aware that Bellua and Gorten were acquaintances, so there was no need to lie. 

“Yes. His lordship and my father have known each other a long time.”

“Didn’t you say that if I wanted to, you would do anything?”

The corners of his lips rise as he smirked in amusement as if he already forgot how he just said he didn’t want anything from me. 

“You said that you’ll give me all of you, right?”

“Yes, and it’ll stay that way.”

“Find out about what Gorten’s planning. What’s his purpose in something shady like that?”

“Uh… How?”

Rupert couldn’t stop grinning at my confusion. When he reached the end of the alleyway, he used the tip of his finger to tap the red brick wall a few times. It was a sloppy hand motion, but instantly, the wall swelled up and a small door appeared. I retreated immediately when I saw an opening so small that the man named Max couldn’t fit into it. 

“Hic… Your Highness! That’s alchemy, and it’s against the law! What are you doing?!”

Alchemy, which had been forgotten because of the use of witchcraft, magic, and sorcery, wasn't used for hundreds of years, and it’s been taboo for eons. Even though it had foundations in chemistry, itself a new development, it’s well known that unlike pure science or magic, it used the power of the devil. 

Wizards and magicians of Shlabi’s magic tower, as well as people in general, were not supportive of alchemists and criticized them heavily. Alchemists were arrogant individuals who cheated death and treated people like animals. 

Alchemists who were full of themselves heard about how to beat death and treat people like animals.

The group called “Krunaruka”, also known as the Black Hand, were slaves to the Imperial Family. They couldn’t think for themselves, and only had admiration and loyalty for those on the throne. Their master, Emperor Grimoald the Third, created such forced subordination with the power of alchemy that even after death, he was unable to pass to neither heaven nor hell. It’s said his soul is still wandering, unable to rest.  

I don’t believe in ghost stories, but I don’t think it makes sense to maintain such taboos that weren't needed anymore. 

I was surprised when Rupert laughed at me.

“Do you think curses are real?”

“No.”

“I do. Since I’m already cursed, I don’t have to be careful anymore, right?”

Without hesitation, he went ahead and opened the door. The shadow from the door flew over and seemed to swallow him. 

I went up to the door he had just opened, hoping he would be deeply cursed.

“Are you sending me off?”

“No.”

“Then can I go now?”

“No.”

Rupert pushed Max into the door as if it was a poorly-fitted suit that swallowed him whole, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me gently. 

“Follow me.”

When we went through the door, it led us to a well-kept path. There’s even a dimly lit oil lamp here to make sure people don’t get lost. 

Blink blink. 

Following the bright lights and Rupert, who seemed to be calling me, I stepped onto the dark path. 

The moment Max stepped aside and closed the door, Rupert turned around and pushed me against the wall. 

Even though there was a soft yellow glow, I bit my lip in fear because I was trapped between his arms in this dark passageway. 

Even though Rupert’s young, so am I. 

He moved his messy hair over his shoulder and touched my forearm. I smiled to hide how scared I felt.

“Why are you like this, Your Highness?”

“Why are you not surprised?”

“Am I supposed to be surprised?”

Rupert narrowed his eyes and slowly dipped his head when I gave a lackluster response and didn't say anything more. 

I was close enough to him that I could count his eyelashes. Rupert had clear skin, well-groomed hair, and nice eyebrows, which showed that he took good care of himself. 

However, he looked strangely tired. 

If I had to choose, I would say he was mentally exhausted.

“Who else knows that I’m a man? Your brother?”

“Your Highness, no one knows.”

“Are you going to say that it’s your good intuition again?”

“That’s not it… but we live in a world where magic, curses, alchemy, guns, science, and supernatural things exist, and you won’t believe that it’s possible to have good intuition?”

Soon, Rupert and I were close enough to each other that the tips of our noses could touch. (1) He frowned as if he was trying to read my mind, but then moved away as if he wasn’t able to see what he wanted to see. 

“I have no faith in anything human.”

“Then don’t believe it, but just trust me instead.”

“Stop talking and follow me. If you don’t shut up, I’ll leave you here alone.”

When he said he would leave me, he was telling me that I was his. 

I smiled and went after him.

This cave-like path was well maintained for such a long road. There must be many people who used it, coming and going to their destination. I glanced around and wondered who made this secret passage, when, and for what purpose. 

Rupert looked at me as if he felt sorry for me.

“Cominternin.”

“Yes?"

“Cominternin. It’s where we are”

The Cominternin are the towering, tall stone walls that used to separate the Palace and the Royal Capital, but recently have been expanded and now divide Champagne into four large sections. It makes sense if the path we’ve been walking through is within Cominternin. 

I guess this is a path used by the guards on their patrol.

But how did Rupert know about this route? Based on its maze-like path, a low-ranked soldier wouldn't even know about it. 

“Have you been down this road before?”

“Of course.”

“But how did you come to know this?”

“I made it.”

Rupert made a loud noise, stopped moving, and leaned against the wall.

“Hurry up.”

“Did Your Highness make this? With Alchemy?”

“Don't make me say it twice, dammit!”

It seems like a short confirmation would be more comfortable than such a nervous answer, but Rupert was outspoken and bothered me with long words.

As I carefully put my hand on the damp wall which smelled like wet sand, he quickly changed directions. 

When he found a lamp that wasn't on, he turned it on with a fluid motion that looked like alchemy since he wasn't holding a lighter in his hand.

I kept watching this alchemist because it was the first time I had ever seen one in real life, even before I went back in time.

His tied-up hair made the dark lines of his figure stand out more than usual, making him look more and more like the Emperor I remembered. 

Rupert, who was obviously the Emperor in the past, and will soon become Emperor in the present was an alchemist. I wonder why Rupert chose to reveal his secret to me. I realized that although he found me annoying, he had accepted me somewhat. 

Even in a Capital that was accepting of magic, alchemists weren’t welcome. They didn’t have the honor of a sorcerer who used their life span, nor did they have the creativity of a scientist or inventor who created and spread new technologies that were more magical than magic, by only using the power of knowledge and not magic itself.  Still, no one knew how those who weren’t born with magical skills could steal their abilities. 

Even though I had no reason to be against them, I thought alchemy was cowardly. They didn’t work for gold, but rather they worked to create gold. The end result would be the same, but would that gold be worth as much as real gold?

Gold is valuable because it’s gold.

Rupert looked back briefly as if he knew what I was thinking. Standing at a cold, damp, dark crossroads and shining like a shadow, he opened his mouth with a blank expression, as empty as a pale ghost.

“Are you laughing at me?”

Without giving me time to answer, he quickly turned and moved on. With only a second left, I ran after him and quickly opened my mouth.

“No… but why are you telling me this?”

“Worshipping fakes and following falsehoods. You nobles usually do that. You only recognize the usefulness of magicians and scientists.”

I laughed a bit when Rupert spoke as if he wasn’t from a noble family himself. When he heard my laughter, Rupert turned his head and looked at me. As he got closer to the door, his head grazed the ceiling of the low, narrow passageway.

“The Emperor… no, have you seen my father?”

“I think I saw him when I was younger but I don’t really remember.”

“He doesn’t look like me at all.”

Rupert's voice had a hint of arrogance, and I was confused. 

Is it a good thing that you don't look anything like your father? 

He seemed pleased with the information that could lead to a scandal. As I pondered his words, Rupert walked up to the dead-end wall, stomped his foot a few times, and pulled a dagger from his chest pocket. He cut his finger and squeezed out blood as if it didn’t hurt. 

Drops of blood splattered on the ground he stepped on, and this time a door emerged from the floor, just like how it did on the blank wall.  Rupert bent down and opened that door as if it was obvious there was a door on the ground. 

He jumped into the hole like a rabbit and disappeared. 

I hesitated as I looked into the door, then grabbed the hem of my skirt and jumped down after him. 

“KYA!”

To the screamer's shame, the hole wasn't very deep at all. My hands made contact with the hard floor. 

The room we walked into wasn’t very large, but from the furniture, it appeared to be an old office of some sort. Rupert looked at the stack of papers, sighed a little, and walked over to the large desk.

I looked at him and hesitated, then took a handkerchief out of my pocket and walked over to him. He raised one corner of his mouth as I wrapped a handkerchief around Rupert's still-bleeding finger.

“What are you doing?”

“Stopping the blood.”

“Use the ointment.”

“I’m poor so I don’t have any.”

“I gave you one.”

In response to Rupert's reprimand, I vaguely gave an excuse that I gave it to my brother. 

But I think my flimsy excuse offended him even more. (2)

He wrinkled his eyebrows at an angle higher than the corners of his mouth and swatted my hands away.

“Who told you to give it to whomever you want?”

“I’m sorry.”

It was rude to blame me for using something he already gave me as I wished, but I wasn’t dumb enough to talk back. While ignoring my apology, he instead turned at looked at a man who, like Max, had entered the office through the ‘normal’ office door. 

--

(1): TL’s note: is this the wrong time for me to be kya kya-ing?

(2): Editor’s note: Lol Rupert gave Lari the expensive ointment to use for herself, but she went and “gave it” to Lehan. He wanted her to use his gift ~~