Chapter 161: Side Story 17 

Jeremiah had pulled through. The real issue had been the poison. It wasn’t that the arrow had struck a vital point. Even that had been swiftly and cleanly extracted. Jeremiah’s vision, clouded with fever, fluttered open. The breath he exhaled felt like fire.

‘It worked.’

His body ached and throbbed, yet he felt like laughing. Feeling the reality of success settle in, he shifted slightly and sensed someone’s presence nearby.

“Who’s there…?”

His voice came out barely audible. Jeremiah cleared his throat. After blinking several times, he was able to recognize the person standing before him.

“…Ysildus?”

“Seeing you smirking like that, I guess you’re not dying.”

Ysildus’s voice was edged with sarcasm.

“I told you to quietly stay out of the way, and you just had to cause trouble.”

He was seated with one leg crossed over the other in the chair across from the bed. His face, half-hidden in the shadows, was difficult to make out. Jeremiah winced and blinked again. Only then did he see the frosty expression on Ysildus’s face.

Awkwardly, Jeremiah sat up and forced a grin.

“I didn’t do anything. I was just… the victim.”

He let out a slow breath.

His body felt much heavier and more sluggish than usual. Cold sweat soaked his back, and his fingertips were icy, his feet nearly numb. Clearly, the poison had taken quite an effect.

“Ha… ha.”

Ysildus gave a hollow laugh.

“You didn’t do anything?”

He muttered under his breath and rose to his feet, approaching Jeremiah. The oppressive air he carried seemed to crush Jeremiah under its weight. Already weakened, Jeremiah collapsed back onto the bed.

“Dragging Alexa into this, and now trying to take her to the capital. Do you really think you’re innocent?”

The atmosphere felt so menacing, it was as if answering yes would get him strangled on the spot. Jeremiah buried his face in the pillow and chuckled faintly.

“…That’s enough.”

Jeremiah’s voice was slow and muddled.

“If Alexa’s going to the capital, then you’ll go too, and so will Terrun. That’s all I wanted.”

Ysildus stared coldly at the back of Jeremiah’s head. His broad, pale shoulders were trembling slightly, as if suppressing laughter.

He ground his teeth together.

If only it weren’t for Alexa, he could have made Jeremiah come to his senses. What a shame.

Alexa had acted as if Jeremiah had brushed against death itself. She had been by his side until just moments ago. Ysildus had only sent her off with the excuse that he would keep watch and she should rest for a while. He clenched his fist.

And then, as if he hadn’t just been smiling, Jeremiah spoke again, his voice drained of all strength.

“…We’re family.”

“What?”

“Us. We’re family, aren’t we? That’s what Grand Duchess Essellia said. If you share meals under the same roof and enjoy time together, that makes you family.”

It was something Essellia had told Jeremiah after the Queen passed away. Perhaps it was meant to comfort him, but Jeremiah had taken those words to heart.

To a boy who had suddenly become alone, those words were like a blessing. To Jeremiah, whose soul had been drying up, it had been so warm and he couldn’t bear to let go of it.

“We’re family, Ysu,” Jeremiah murmured in a fragile voice, “We’re one family.”

The repeated words were tinged with moisture. His fevered body and battered spirit had left him vulnerable, his thoughts spilling out unfiltered.

Ysildus let out a long sigh.

“You idiot.”

If Jeremiah had done all this just because he still wanted Alexa, then Ysildus would’ve stooped to the same level. He would’ve driven Jeremiah into a corner to protect Alexa.

But that wasn’t what Jeremiah wanted. He just wanted to be with them.

“If you’d just asked us to go with you, you knew we’d say no.”

Jeremiah’s voice was sulky, almost pouty.

It wasn’t that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. But to the wolves of Thersion, the capital was practically a death trap.

The glittering lights, constant social gatherings, perfumes, clothes, and shoes that humans admired, none of those held any appeal to the wolves. If anything, they were deterrents. This had been the only way to make them go along with him.

Ysildus stared off into space, at a loss for words. Now that he understood what Jeremiah had been thinking, he was left speechless. Even if he explained all this to Alexa, it would only make her feel more sorry for Jeremiah.

The hand that brushed through his hair was twitching with irritation. After all, Ysildus couldn’t bring himself to kill Jeremiah.

“Be grateful I’m a kind and humane wolf.”

Ysildus said coldly. Jeremiah let out a soft laugh.

“…You’re severely lacking in self-awareness, you know that?”

Ysildus didn’t know himself at all.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

News had reached Count Jertho that Jeremiah had survived the crisis.

“He was shot with an arrow! And he’s still alive?”

Count Jertho struck the floor with his cane.

“Was the poison faulty? It was a deadly toxin! No one’s ever survived a dose of it!”

“M-my apologies! I checked everything thoroughly, but… someone must have intervened!”

“Who?! Are you trying to suggest this operation has been leaked?”

Count Jertho’s sharp eyes glinted with fury.

If information had leaked, it meant there was a traitor. He had been more cautious with this plot than any before. Only a very select few had been informed.

“I-I don’t know…”

“Kill them all. Everyone involved in this operation, erase them.”

“…Pardon?”

The aide looked up, dumbfounded.

“Did you not understand me? I said kill them. All of them.”

At that moment, the aide thought… 

Perhaps blue blood really did run through Count Jertho’s veins. How else could he so casually order the deaths of those who had worked by his side for so long?

“Does this surprise you? We’re talking about meddling in imperial succession! My own life is at stake here! Don’t you understand that if the information’s already out, both you and I are in danger?”

The aide trembled.

“If their heads don’t roll, yours will!”

His mouth went dry. The aide lowered his head.

“On top of that, this failure has cost me credibility among the nobles. I guaranteed Prince Jeremiah’s death and now look.”

Count Jertho slowly rose from his seat.

“I’ll need to find another way.”

“What… are you considering, sir?”

“We’ll see.”

His eyes gleamed like a snake’s, cunning and cold.

One option was to compile a list of those nobles whispering about placing another on the throne in Jeremiah’s place and hand it over to Jeremiah himself.

Use their lives to buy his own safety.

‘That might be the easier route.’

He could shift the blame for this incident onto them. The dead, after all, don’t talk.

“Whenever an Emperor ascends through unnatural means, a bloodbath always follows.”

Count Jertho spoke slowly. And to survive that bloodbath, that was the mark of a true victor.

Once he offered up sacrifices to Thersion and ensured his own safety… Then, the next step would begin.

“Prince Jeremiah… he’s still unwed, isn’t he?”

“Yes, Count. As far as we know, he has no fiancée yet.”

“And what about Thersion’s heir?”

“There… appears to be a woman involved, but…”

“A fiancée can be replaced. All we need is to offer terms they can’t refuse.”

In noble marriages, love held no weight. What mattered was the gain each family would secure from the union.

“Look into that woman.”

Count Jertho had the perfect bait. He had several granddaughters of appropriate age, ladies raised with impeccable education in the Count’s household.

He’d send one to Thersion. And another… to Prince Jeremiah. The calculations were already complete in his head.

“If needed, we can lure her away with another ‘prey.’ And if not… we’ll find another way to remove her.”

“I’ll investigate immediately.”

Count Jertho nodded. It wasn’t too late.

The Emperor’s sudden death was a threat, yes, but even a rat hole can be an escape route. And Count Jertho was the kind of man who could carve one out for himself… even if it meant sacrificing others.

“This will be your last chance as well. If you fail again… I won’t show mercy. Understood?”

“Y-yes, Count! I understand completely!”

The aide shrank under the cold gaze, one brimming with lethal intent.

He swallowed hard. He’d always known this was dangerous. But the feeling now…

Was like sinking deeper into a swamp he could never climb out of.