Chapter160: Side Story 16 

Ysildus slammed his fist down on the desk.

“Gasp!”

Terrun, startled, blinked rapidly and backed away. It was the first time he had ever seen Ysildus express anger so blatantly. Ysildus was the type to mess with people while smiling, not the kind to intimidate others with raw, unfiltered fury.

Terrun’s eyes darted around before he quietly stepped over to the wall.

“I clearly told you to keep an eye on Jeremiah.”

“Ahem. Well, I didn’t expect something like this to happen! How dare they pull something like this inside Thersion Castle? And poison, of all things!”

Terrun raised his voice instead. He had heard before that the louder one shouted, the more likely they were to win… But when his eyes met Ysildus’s, he immediately shrank back. Maybe it was the scarier eyes that won, after all. With a dry cough, Terrun turned his head away.

“Hoo…”

Ysildus let out a slow breath and raked his fingers through his hair. Cunning Jeremiah had collapsed after taking an arrow right in front of Alexa. Wolves and human knights had immediately gone in pursuit of the culprit, but the only one they caught was a dazed-looking man.

He had wailed that he’d done nothing wrong, that he only acted because he was paid. They’d locked him up in the dungeon for now. Supposedly, someone from the capital had aided him, but there was no trace of that accomplice.

‘Jeremiah must have been involved.’

Otherwise, the timing was far too convenient. Ysildus had seen Alexa’s face with his own eyes, how she had fought back tears as she wiped Jeremiah’s blood. And the stubbornness reflected in her gaze.

“…Prepare to leave for the capital, Terrun.”

“What?”

“We can’t leave the Emperor’s seat vacant for too long. Even if Jeremiah dies, it must happen in the capital. If he dies here in Thersion, we’ll never escape responsibility.”

Ysildus had already reined in his emotions.

“Alexa will try to follow Jeremiah.”

“Why? She’s supposed to stay here with us.”

“Alexa’s different from us. She’s kind. There’s no way she’ll leave Jeremiah alone. She’ll insist on staying by his side until he recovers. And Jeremiah will say he can’t trust any other doctors.”

Ysildus understood Alexa better than she thought. He could already predict how she’d think and act in a situation like this. He even knew what Jeremiah would say. He had been working to prevent a scenario just like this.

Crafty Jeremiah. That fox of a b*st*rd.

And he had still managed to pull this off behind Ysildus’s back.

Ysildus wasn’t particularly worried about Jeremiah dying. At worst, they might have to amputate his arm. Then again, should they? Would that be bad?

He entertained the thought of cutting off that arm himself.

Terrun stubbornly shouted, “We can just send a different doctor!”

“But Alexa won’t accept that. And ordinary wolf doctors don’t know much about the human body. They only learn the basics, enough to get by. Apart from Karrolf and Alexa, no one knows humans well enough. In a critical situation, the only doctors in Thersion who can respond properly are Alexa and Karrolf.”

“…But Karrolf can’t leave Thersion…”

Without Karrolf, the entire medical system in Thersion would collapse. That left Alexa as the only option. Jeremiah must have calculated all of this when he set things in motion.

“I really hate the capital…”

“Maybe Alexa wants to leave you behind.”

At that, Terrun shook his head frantically and dashed out into the corridor. Ysildus watched him go, then brushed his hair back again.

* * *

Ysildus silently looked down at Neimir. From appearance alone, the man rubbed him the wrong way.

Alexa stood at his side, her face pale. When she said she had to meet with Neimir, Ysildus had come along. From the moment Neimir saw him, he had been gasping for breath.

‘A half-wit wolf, huh.’

Not threatening in the slightest. That was probably why he was hyperventilating in fear. Ysildus folded his arms and took a step back. That man posed no threat to Alexa at all.

“I have a question. My teacher said that if we can identify the poison, the treatment will go much faster. We’ve started analyzing the toxin on the arrowhead, but… I thought you might know something.”

Alexa asked calmly.

“Wh-why would I know anything! I told you, I don’t know anything!”

The man flailed and shook his head.

Neimir’s pupils were dilated with fear. It was his first time shooting a human. He hadn’t realized it would drive someone this mad. As Neimir tried to flee, the wolf knights held him tightly in place.

“Let go of me! Let go, d**n it! This is all Han Yu-hee’s fault! That b*tch cursed me when she died! I said I was sorry! You think I wanted to do that?! I need to make a living too!”

Neimir screamed profanities, his eyes rolling back.

“H-Han Yu-hee…?”

At that name, Alexa’s eyelids trembled. She had never expected to hear it again. Neimir didn’t seem to hear her muttered words and continued to shout at the top of his lungs.

“Han Yu-hee!! Yu-hee, I’m sorry! Please! I’m sorry, okay?!”

There was no mistaking it. As Alexa watched the man repeatedly cry out her name, her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor. Her hands were trembling violently, and her throat felt parched.

“Alexa? Is something wrong?”

Ysildus looked like he might kill Neimir on the spot and grind him into the ground. Alexa shook her head unsteadily.

“N-no… That’s not it…”

Han Yu-hee. He said Han Yu-hee.

Alexa thought she recognized the man. Kim Jaeshik. The senior who had stolen all her money and run. The man who had sweet-talked her, promising her a better life, only to drag her into a living hell. It had to be him. Alexa’s brows furrowed deeply.

People were said to cross between worlds. There was no reason Kim Jaeshik couldn’t have ended up here too, just like her.

Alexa let out a hollow laugh.

Everything comes full circle, doesn’t it? That saying was true.

“I-I didn’t mean to do anything. I don’t know a thing, I swear!”

Alexa stood up.

“How long have you been here?”

Her voice was cool and sharp. Neimir looked up, blinking.

“I asked how long it’s been since you came to the castle.”

“I-I don’t know.”

Neimir shook his head. His mind had gone blank; he couldn’t think of anything. That was why he hadn’t reacted earlier when the other man ran off and left him behind. Neimir didn’t even know the castle layout. How was he supposed to escape? He had stumbled around trying to flee and ended up captured.

“Aha.”

Alexa spoke with a chilling tone.

“Ysildus, I think he really doesn’t know anything.”

Turning to face Ysildus, Alexa smiled coldly, an expression she had never shown before.

“Is that so?”

Ysildus tilted his head, trying to read her thoughts. Was there something between her and this man?

“Yes, that’s what it seems like. And I think he needs a job, Ysildus.”

Alexa’s lips curved upward in a smile, but her eyes remained frozen over. This man had once lifted her to the highest sky, only to shove her off a cliff. There was no reason Alexa couldn’t return the favor.

Besides, Kim Jaeshik had committed a crime here – shooting someone. Not just anyone, either. A prince of this nation.

“Is that right?”

Ysildus touched her cheek with his fingers and murmured.

“What kind of job do you think would suit him?”

“Well… I’d rather you decide, Ysildus. I wouldn’t know what’s best.”

That was Alexa throwing Neimir straight into Ysildus’s hands. Neimir, sensing he was going to survive this, raised his head. She had seemed soft-hearted. Maybe she truly was offering him a lifeline.

Though… it felt like she had something else planned. For now, surviving comes first.

Neimir groveled on the floor.

“T-thank you! Really, thank you! I’ll never commit another crime!”

A man who had sinned could only go on sinning. Just like Neimir.

“…I hate that man, Ysildus. I really, really hope he suffers.”

Alexa whispered so only Ysildus could hear. In her eyes burned a stubborn, unyielding rage. Ysildus narrowed his gaze. What could that man have done to earn such hatred from her?

‘Han Yu-hee?’

It might be connected to that name. From the way the name sounded, it definitely wasn’t local.

Ysildus looked down at Neimir as if he were filth.

Just what was this thing that had drawn Alexa’s attention?

It was deeply, deeply displeasing.