Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 185

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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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“Then let’s leave this place to Bruno and go meet Sung King and the starving child.”
Apet let out a dry cough and rose from his chair, then walked ahead of me with his hands clasped behind his back at a leisurely pace. I deliberated for a moment before boarding the Neftis Family carriage bound for the Imperial Palace. I thought this way, Father wouldn’t feel wronged when he woke up later.
He would be absolutely delighted that I specifically chose the Neftis carriage over the Zibenstein one. As for Father’s return journey, whether he walked or hitched a ride on the Zibenstein carriage was his own concern. Though I doubted Bruno would offer him one. Father would be content even walking home, precisely because I had taken the Neftis Family carriage.

Inside the carriage, I pressed Apet relentlessly about his relationship with Sung King. There was something distinctly fragrant about a failed romance in the air. Hearing about other people’s romantic failures was almost as entertaining as gossip.
“It’s not a story a young lady should hear. It was wartime, and life was terribly harsh back then.”
“I’ll be the judge of what’s entertaining.”
So come on, tell me already. I’m waiting.
I clasped my hands together eagerly and waited for the tale of failed love with the heart of a young girl. When Apet asked if he could smoke a cigarette as payment for the story, I even lit it for him with a lighter.
“Well, that would’ve been about forty years ago, I’d say?”
The old man began by mentioning it was before Bruno Kenin had even proven his worth to the House of Diligence, then opened the window and exhaled smoke into the air.
It was before the Crowell Empire had grown into the overwhelming superpower it is now. During an era when small-scale wars between kingdoms were frequent, Apet had rescued a starving child who was dying on the battlefield.
Picking up people on a battlefield was as dangerous as picking them up on a rainy day. Especially if the dynamic was that of a mentor and protégé—or rather, the reverse—history was bound to unfold. I listened with keen interest while chewing on jerky I’d obtained from our family’s coachman.
“But that child was so clever. Teach them one thing and they’d understand two. Teach them three and they’d grasp five. It was like a Fibonacci sequence.”
Don’t make math jokes. I’m not laughing.
Apet smiled warmly at the memory of Sung King’s childhood, and like a parent boasting about their child, he spoke of the starving child’s cleverness and their natural talent as a priest.
I sensed where this was going. This was definitely a reverse mentor-protégé dynamic. The narrative flow made it clear.
“So I became known as a saint myself. Since Sungkuk Kingdom had a connection, I decided to raise the child there. Sent them to the Priest Academy, helped them find employment, and all that.”
He mentioned that the pipe he was smoking was a gift from young Sung King when they received their first salary, and the old man spoke of it with quiet pride. And I felt that familiar tingle again. This was it. The “I am your teacher and you are my student” category. The bold, younger lover who’d been raised like gold and jade, now wanting to consummate that bond on the first night.
“So I thought, now that the child can stand on their own two feet, maybe I should move on. I didn’t want an old man clinging to a young person with a bright future ahead, ruining their path.”
“Oh my.”
He’d uttered that phrase that always makes the eyes of younger lovers turn desperate. I clapped my hands together like adding encouragement and urged him to continue. It was a common story, but the common ones were always the most entertaining. Classics are eternal.
“But the child said they’d feel lonely if I left suddenly, so they asked me to wait just one year.”
“So you spent that year planning how to keep the old man around.”
“How did you know that?”
“I would’ve done the same.”
Apet clicked his tongue, saying young people these days were frightening, then continued the story. He decided to stay in Sungkuk Kingdom for one more year for the child’s sake, but during that time, young Sung King rose rapidly through the ranks to become a high priest, then became the regional director of the Eastern Region of Sungkuk Kingdom and took control of all the priests there.
Everyone Apet met was under young Sung King’s command, and everything he ate and wore was controlled by young Sung King. At first, Apet lived without inconvenience, but trouble erupted when he tried to leave the designated area to go to the western part of Sungkuk Kingdom.
When Apet tried to leave his assigned territory, merchants, guards, and all the local residents came out to block his path.
“In all my years, I’ve never felt such chills.”
“I understand that feeling. I once cursed the owner of an amusement park and had all the employees turn to stare at me.”
“You haven’t even lived that long, yet your life is already such a mess. Why is that?”
“I wonder.”
I’m genuinely curious myself.
I laughed without feeling, and Apet patted my shoulder to comfort me. He said that good days would come eventually, offering warm words that made my eyes well up with tears.
“Anyway, that’s when I truly understood. Ah, I’ve been under surveillance this whole time.”
“So that’s why you hid yourself in Zibenstein?”
“Yes, I’ve helped many people coming and going. I’m acquainted with the House of Charity among those seven families.”
Saving one life while recruiting talent—a worthwhile exchange.
The revelation that Apet was actually an old man was shocking, but otherwise nothing differed from the original work, which put me at ease. Apet was a skilled healer, couldn’t bear to see others suffer, and was the type to sacrifice herself rather than let someone get hurt.
That made her behavior predictable. Whenever someone was in pain, Apet would inevitably appear.
“Do you think Sung King didn’t anticipate this situation?”
“What do you mean?”
“If I were her, I’d use the very situation of Seian entering an unjust marriage and searching for who might become the Demon King as bait to lure you out.”
“….”
Apet didn’t understand at first, but her complexion quickly turned ashen.
Suppose she came here to approach eternal life, to meet the one destined to become the Demon King. In that process, Seian would inevitably be sacrificed. And this business about eternal life was supposedly a secret Apet had only whispered to Sung King, whom she’d raised like a precious jewel.
So what would Apet do, given her nature? She’d undoubtedly appear to prevent any victim like Seian from suffering, and to scold Sung King not to obsess over eternal life.
At least, that’s how I’d use it. All those obsessed fools went through that phase.
“But still, even so, a young man’s future is at stake.”
“They do it. All those obsessed fools do it.”
Look at me—I was so crazed I was ready to slaughter everyone in Sungkuk Kingdom and run off with Seian. I told you I was prepared to sacrifice innocent people, yet I never actually went through with it, Apet laughed.
She still wanted to believe in people. No matter how many times she was betrayed, she’d keep believing. If I’d chosen Apet as my favorite and written a novel about her, the first tribute I’d send the author wouldn’t be delicious snacks—it would be an empty box.
“Oh my, it’s almost time. I’m getting nervous.”
Using my face to bypass the Imperial Palace’s main gate and heading toward the Separate Palace, Apet trembled with tension, her legs shaking. Thinking that provoking Sung King might make her reveal her true intentions faster, I extended my hand to Apet.
“Would you like to hold my hand?”
“You don’t look it, but you have such a kind heart, young lady.”
“But I’m quite pretty to look at, aren’t I?”
“No, you look rather cold.”
The aesthetic sense of the elderly—I resisted the urge to flick the old man’s forehead and informed the Separate Palace attendant that Duke Neftis had arrived. The attendant said he’d tell Sung King’s party that the young lady of House Neftis was requesting an audience, then left. Not long after, he returned saying Sung King didn’t wish to meet and I should leave.
I shouted loudly enough to echo throughout the entire Separate Palace.
“I have Apet with me! If you don’t come out within ten seconds, I’m leaving! Ten!”
“My, you’re quite unreasonable, young lady.”
As I counted down—ten, nine, eight—my throat grew hoarse, and just as I was about to say “two, one, done!” and leave, a tremendous crash erupted from the Separate Palace’s gate. Sung King emerged through the half-destroyed door, her clothes torn and blood trickling from her head as if she’d tumbled down the stairs.
“Old man! Apet, old man, how long has it been!”
Sung King’s eyes glistened with tears, and watching her, Apet smiled faintly. Yes, those two were definitely in love.
“You’ve aged quite a bit, little one.”
“You’re the one who hasn’t aged, old man! How haven’t you grown even a bit since then!”
As they moved to embrace, I gripped Apet’s hand firmly. I couldn’t simply hand over my hostage so easily.
When I pulled the old man behind me, Sung King’s expression turned vicious in an instant. She interrogated me relentlessly about how I knew Apet, but naturally, I had no intention of answering.
“There’s nothing to know. If you really want to find out, take your hands off Seian.”
“Now, young lady of House Neftis, such matters should be discussed at a formal meeting.”
“Then you’ll spend your whole life never knowing where Apet went, you fool.”
While provoking her, I hugged Apet and playfully pinched his chubby cheeks, and the crazed younger Sung King let out a furious roar, tearing at the Separate Palace’s gate. She was absolutely livid. Yes, those two were definitely in love. How delightful.
“Old man! What were you doing wandering around outside Sungkuk Kingdom all this time! Do you know how hard I searched!”
“Apet ran away because she was afraid of you. You’re just like a common obsessed younger woman.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Fearing the woman would snatch Apet from me at any moment, I summoned Free Freezing and erected an ice wall. When I made it clear that if she came any closer, Apet’s life would not be guaranteed, the woman clenched her fists and glared at me with burning intensity.
“This is an international incident, Your Highness. Release our citizen at once!”
“She is not your citizen. Apet belongs to Zibenstein. She is an Imperial subject.”

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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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