Children of the Rune – Winterer - Chapter 413

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 183.
In the Name of Loyalty and Vengeance (25)
If Anna could not clear her name, Giscar’s position would become precarious as well. Within the Exile Council, those who opposed Giscar were just as numerous as those who supported him. Because Giscar had long cultivated and mentored talented young people, many of the rising powers who held important positions revered him. Consequently, accusations that Giscar sought to manipulate the Exile Council through them arose without end.
Giscar had never forced his ideology upon his students. Thus, being taught by him did not necessarily align their beliefs with his, and many often held contrary views. But such things were inconsequential.
The young people who admired Giscar hoped he would assume important responsibilities. There had been two occasions when plans were fully arranged, only to fall through because Giscar refused. In such circumstances, the old guard who feared the rising faction’s power constantly sought pretexts to attack Giscar.
Langie was the last prodigy Giscar had personally discovered. That he would bring Giscar’s student to the Investigation Division, and that criticism would inevitably arise if the investigation did not conclude cleanly—Langie was not unaware of this.
Yet in the end, it was merely a power struggle within the organization. He could not overlook a genuine threat for the sake of such concerns. Giscar, understanding this, had not objected further. But just before departing, Giscar had spoken.
“The Friends of the People cannot walk only one path. Yet simultaneously, they must walk only one path. I have found no answer still, and so I fear the future. What future could be the answer?”
Langie pondered for a long while before answering according to his conviction.
“The future is not the answer. Only what we put forth before the future arrives is the answer.”
Could he himself put forth an answer?
“Say something.”
Anna’s voice came from behind, and Langie awakened from his thoughts. Her voice was distinctly dispirited.
“What will happen to me?”
….
Langie slowed his pace. Soon he was walking alongside Anna.
“Miss Eisenelmo.”
It was the first time Langie had addressed her so formally, and Anna flinched before responding.
“Yes.”
“You are older than I am, are you not?”
“Ah… probably so.”
She did not truly feel it, but it was an undeniable fact to anyone’s eyes. Langie appeared to be about to say something before closing his mouth. Anna grew tense. It seemed as though a momentous conversation was finally about to begin.
Yet what came was an unexpected question.
“Did you perhaps see a doll in the visitation room?”
“A doll? Ah… yes, I know of it.”
Anna added after a moment.
“The dancing doll wearing a bonnet and a skirt with blue floral patterns?”
Langie nodded. Anna tilted her head.
“Why do you ask about that doll?”
“Have you ever discussed that doll with him?”
Anna blinked, unable to understand why he was asking such a thing.
“One day, I carelessly wound its spring and found it wouldn’t move, so I mentioned it to him. The next day or so, I saw he had repaired it completely. So I thought it was interesting that he could make such things, and I found it remarkable.”
“And?”
“So…”
Anna hesitated slightly.
“I would occasionally wind it up afterward so it wouldn’t break again. Little by little. Such things break easily if you don’t handle them frequently. It’s somewhat childish, I suppose, but he seemed to cherish it, so…”
“Before that?”
“Before that?”
Anna’s expression suggested she was thinking, “Why on earth is he asking about this?” but Langie simply waited. Eventually, Anna opened her mouth with reluctance.
“Yes. I was the one who took that doll out. I simply found it in the Warehouse while cleaning. Of course, I’m not at an age to play with dolls, but I had never owned one to play with as a child. I was simply curious—surely that’s understandable? Besides, he seemed to like it too.”
More and more people began to fill the main road. Langie spoke naturally as he looked ahead.
“Tell me more. Don’t hold anything back.”
“I’m not sure why you’re asking me this.”
“This isn’t a time for idle gossip.”
Anna was startled by his sudden words, her eyes widening as she looked at Langie. Could she understand even a little?
“From the Castle… you know, the Count’s House main fortress. Rosa Deimer Castle, where your teacher’s daughter lives. Packages full of miscellaneous items came from there. Five or six times, quite frequently actually. The doll came from one of those packages. I thought I was just cleaning up junk. I figured they were putting old things in the Villa.”
“Who brought the packages?”
“Just a servant, I think? I don’t know their name.”
“It was the same person each time, wasn’t it?”
“Ah… now that you mention it, yes?”
Langie’s cheeks stiffened slightly.
“Who else did that servant meet besides you?”
“Actually, I never met them myself. I only saw from a distance, and another student was the one who received and stored the packages.”
“Brian Matelo?”
Anna feigned surprise when Langie spoke the name.
“You know the name? Anyway, the packages were heavy, so it was better for a man to move them. And Brian knew that servant, so they went to the Warehouse with the packages and talked inside for quite a while. Ah, I’m not trying to blame Brian. It’s natural to avoid eyes and rest a bit that way. The assignments Giscar gives are always difficult… Anyway, those packages are still in the Warehouse. I only took out the doll.”
Langie stopped walking. He looked around, then climbed the slope on his left and entered the Forest. He walked until they were far from the road, then chose a flat Rocky Outcrop to sit on.
“What are you doing?”
Langie took out paper and pen, using the rock’s surface to write a letter. His attendant gestured for Anna to step back, so she couldn’t see the letter’s contents.
When he finished writing, he took out an envelope and even produced precious matches to melt sealing wax. He split his pen in half, revealing a seal inside. He pressed it onto the wax and sealed it. Then he handed the envelope to his attendant.
“Return to Giscar and deliver this. Even if it takes time, please bring back his reply.”
The attendant nodded and immediately left. Langie remained sitting on the rock, waiting briefly. Anna stood at a distance, bewildered.
Soon a new young man appeared and approached Langie, bowing his head respectfully. Langie returned the greeting.
“Shall we go?”
The new young man was the person who had followed at a distance when Anna had hidden in the Orchard to spy. They returned to the main road. Coincidentally, a group of about twenty people was traveling on it, so they had to exchange only ordinary conversation. The crowds grew denser.
When the gate to Keltika came into view, Anna took a deep breath. At the checkpoint when passing through the gate, Langie told them Anna was his sister. The young man was his Elder Brother, and they were going to look at the School as his guardians. The travel documents the young man presented bore a story supporting this claim—prepared at some point beforehand.
They passed through the checkpoint without difficulty. Once they reached the bustling district, the young man bid them farewell and disappeared down another street.
Anna had long wondered where the Exile Council’s headquarters was located. Since she was born and raised in Keltika, she enjoyed matching suspicious places in her mind. Could it be the Fertilizer Factory on the outskirts that supposedly only half-rotated? What about the abandoned ossuary in the Rose Garden Cemetery? Perhaps the back alleys of the Queen’s Market, where you inevitably got lost once you entered.
But the building they approached actually looked like a school. Anna saw a Tower rising beyond the barred gate and turned to look at Langie. She knew where this was.
“This is the Royal Grome School, isn’t it?”
Langie turned back with a smile as he was heading toward the Gatekeeper. It was the first smile she’d seen from him throughout their time together. A voice that sounded considerably lighter came from over his shoulder.
“I think I mentioned we were going to school earlier?”
He certainly had said so at the checkpoint…
Anna followed Langie while entertaining a spectacular imagination—that this school, which many noble children attended, was actually the Republican Faction’s stronghold, and the Exile Council was hidden inside. But from the conversation Langie had with the Gatekeeper, it seemed Langie was a student at this school?
“Come in.”
Langie turned and gestured to Anna as he entered. She quickly followed, whispering.
“Weren’t we going to our Council?”
“Be quiet.”
Since it was lunchtime, most students were in the Dining Hall, so the courtyard was quiet. Langie passed through a Gallery Corridor thick with greenery and headed toward the dormitory. He climbed to the second floor, stopped before a certain door, and instead of knocking, took out a key and unlocked it.
The room was empty. But it was such a luxurious room that Anna hesitated and couldn’t sit down immediately. Langie ignored the sofa and sat on a hard, long chair, stretching his legs.
“Rest here.”
“Is this your room?”
Langie shook his head.
“The owner will be here soon.”
“But where is the Exile Council?”
At that moment, the sound of a key turning in the lock echoed through the room. The door swung open, and a slender student—neither clearly male nor female—stepped inside. Upon catching sight of them, the student cried out.
“Oh, you’re back!”
The student strode forward with long steps and exchanged two cheek kisses with Langie, who had risen from his seat. Then the student turned toward Anna.
“Hello? I’m Yenie. Since you came with Langie, you must be one of us. It’s wonderful to meet you.”
Langie spoke.
“This is Anna Eisenelmo, a former student of Giscardo’s. I’m thinking of securing her a position at the School.”
Anna’s expression went blank with astonishment.
“But I was supposed to go to the Exile Council?”
“Had I brought you to Division 2, you wouldn’t have seen daylight for at least six months.”
Anna’s eyes widened.
“What are you talking about?”
Langie settled back into his chair, resting his elbows on his knees, interlacing his fingers, and propping his chin on them.
“Miss Eisenelmo, I hope you understand that I chose to protect you at the crossroads. You committed an act you should not have, but perhaps that very act protected Giscardo instead. So I, though I may come to regret it, have decided to protect you. First, let me explain: when they say ‘the fairy is watching,’ it means there are spies circling about, trying to extract information.”
Children of Rune – Winterer
Author: Jeon Min-hee
Publisher: 14 Months Publishing
The copyright to this book belongs to the author and 14 Months Publishing.
To reuse all or part of the contents of this book, written consent from both parties is required.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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