For the heart - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18

Nina stood glaring at the letter with its distinct presence.

Casian didn’t take his eyes off her face.

Finding the very faint emotions that showed on Nina’s utterly impassive face had become quite entertaining lately.

She must have surely noticed that this letter was no ordinary correspondence, that it contained content related to Nortanica where they would soon march.

If he ordered her to hand it over, she would have no choice but to comply obediently, yet she just stood there silently glaring at the letter.

It seemed she didn’t want to ask that annoyingly cunning hostage prince to show it to her in any way.

‘Like a prideful six-year-old child.’

Casian watched her gaze fixed on the letter for a moment, then swallowed his smile.

Those blue eyes focused on the letter didn’t feel cold as usual, but simply clear.

It was something even he found hard to understand.

In the end, he was the first to surrender to that silence.

He placed the letter he had been holding between his index and middle fingers onto both hands and held it out to Nina.

Only then did Nina take the letter and silently read through its contents.

As her eyes grew wider and wider, Casian’s lips curved upward as if he had expected this reaction.

“How…? How are you exchanging correspondence with Nortanica’s Margrave?”

“There was a connection worth having. He said he would regard me as his own son, though I never knew he truly meant it.”

It was one day when they were trying to cross Nortanica’s border.

As usual, Casian and his attendant Emil were ambushed by assassins sent by the Empress and were severely injured, when they received help from the Margrave.

Unlike him, the frail Emil was mentally exhausted from the constant threats on his life.

Recognizing this, the Margrave kindly offered to let them stay at his house until they could recover both body and mind.

He learned that the reason the Margrave had shown such kindness to him and Emil, who were foreigners, was because he too had a young son of just that age.

And that his only son was facing death from a serious illness.

“If I had been even a few days later, he would have died. He was a very stoic man, but he burst into tears the moment he saw his healthy son.”

It was merely repaying a debt of gratitude with gratitude, yet he said he would think of Casian as his own son.

Time passed, and when news reached him that Montregger had fallen to Arsed and that he had gone to Arsed as a hostage, the Margrave sent him greetings through that expensive teleport letter.

It was a very dangerous act, as Nortanica’s Margrave sending a letter to Arsed’s hostage could provide justification for invasion if discovered, but he had taken that risk.

“Two more teleport letters came after that. This is the last letter that arrived yesterday.”

Rumors that Arsed was already preparing to conquer Nortanica were spreading far and wide.

The Margrave guarding the border had inquired about the situation, and Casian had informed him that Nortanica would fall this time.

“As you know, Nortanica’s internal division is already serious. I carefully spoke to the Margrave about what it truly means to be a guardian at this moment. He seemed to have long harbored doubts about the meaningless sacrifices occurring at the border. The border will open of its own accord, not by force.”

Nina stared up at him blankly at his words.

While she had expected crossing the border to be the fiercest part rather than conquering the royal palace, he had managed to open the border with just a few letters.

“How about it? I think this is worth more than a dedicated healer.”

Casian spread his already broad shoulders even wider, showing a proud expression.

“If we can really cross the border without fighting as you say, the conquest will become much easier.”

“The Margrave will have already conveyed the message to nobles who share his views. So even conquering the royal palace might not be too difficult. Of course, we must prepare thoroughly.”

It was an obvious statement.

More than half of the information being exchanged was fake, and deceptive intelligence ran rampant.

However, there were parts that aligned with the information she had gathered, so Nina thought it was worth believing to some extent.

When Nina nodded slightly with her usual expression, Casian said:

“I thought this was good news.”

“What?”

“The probability of Your Highness not stepping down from the commander position has increased greatly. I thought you’d be happy about that.”

“I am happy.”

Nina answered briefly with the same expression. It was her honest feeling.

The tall Casian bent his waist slightly to look more closely at Nina’s face.

Just as Nina was about to step back, he grinned and said:

“When you’re happy, you’re supposed to smile.”

Thud.

Nina roughly handed the teleport letter she was holding to Casian’s chest and turned around.

“Ugh. You’re strong.”

She hadn’t even hit him that hard.

Even at the sound of his exaggerated groaning, Nina didn’t look back and walked toward the Satellite Palace.

Lillien must have fallen for that sweetly curved eye-smile. Not knowing that tremendous ambition for power was hidden in those seductive red eyes.

Even knowing his true nature, she had almost been captivated by that harmless and refreshing smile for a moment.

‘I need to keep my wits about me. Casian—everything that man does is for the sole purpose of becoming a consort.’

* * *

The day before departure.

“Commander, I’ve gathered the healers to be selected.”

As they headed to the prison where the runaway healers were kept, about twenty healers were lined up outside the building.

All the healers to be drafted for war were men, and Nina’s gaze went to the small-framed young healer standing at the very end.

Nina immediately recognized the boy with his much shorter height than adult men, skinny frame, and brown short hair.

‘That’s the boy who was dragged out when Baraguz attacked.’

She already knew that the number of runaway healers was steadily increasing.

In Arsed, where healers’ freedom was thoroughly controlled, escape was something even adults attempted at the risk of their lives.

But a boy who seemed barely twelve years old.

It was unprecedented, so even the supervisors seemed unsure how to handle him and had apparently just imprisoned him for now.

When the boy, who had been keeping his head down, sneakily lifted it and made eye contact with Nina, he quickly bowed his head deeply again.

In that moment, Nina saw bruises that were far too distinct on the boy’s face.

Thud, thud.

The black leather boots wrapped around Nina’s calves headed toward the boy.

“Lift your head.”

“C-Captain! The thing is, this young one just wouldn’t listen…!”

The Prison Warden, who had been watching restlessly, came running over in haste.

Nina reached out her hand toward the boy who was still keeping his head down, then stopped. And commanded again.

“I said lift your head.”

When the boy lifted his head at Nina’s second command, a face that was even more of a mess than when seen from afar was revealed.

His eyelids were beyond blue-black, with purple spreading across them, and the corner of his lips was torn as well.

Though he was still a young Healer, he should have had self-healing abilities. Yet seeing his condition like this meant he had been beaten almost daily.

Seeing the boy’s trembling eyes, Nina asked in a flat voice.

“Who did this to you.”

“…”

When the boy didn’t answer immediately, Nina turned her gaze from him to the adult Healers standing in a row, but none of them looked this way.

“No matter how much of a runaway Healer you may be, Healers have the right to be protected until they receive the nation’s call. As the Princess of Arsed and Captain of the Knighthood, I will protect you. So tell me who did this.”

The Young Healer bit his lower lip tightly, then released it and turned his head to look at someone.

It was the Prison Warden, who couldn’t come any closer and stood at a distance, not knowing what to do.

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