For the heart - Chapter 29

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

Chapter 29

 

* * *

 

That evening.

 

“Your Highness. Do you have no appetite? Shall I bring you something else?”

 

“No. I’m just… thinking about something.”

 

Seeing Tila’s worried face, Nina finally picked up the pace with her meal.

 

‘I have no idea why he wants to go into Maryeonso.’

 

Casian’s earlier words about climbing over Maryeonso’s walls tonight had been stuck in Nina’s mind ever since she returned to the Satellite Palace.

 

The low-rise building visible from the outside was just for show. She knew it actually consisted of deep underground levels, but Nina had never been inside.

 

Probably no one had ever been inside.

 

‘Kushis would be in there too.’

 

Nina’s thoughts extended to Kushis, who had been captured alive yesterday.

 

Like Baraguz, it would be used as a war weapon, so it would still be alive.

 

“Haah…”

 

Nina put down the fork she was holding and let out a deep sigh.

 

“Anyway, please wish me luck. I’ll be the first to climb over those walls of Maryeonso. If I return safely, I’ll tell you everything I see inside.”

 

He knew there was a possibility he might not return safely.

 

‘This is really bothering me…’

 

* * *

 

Nina, having changed into dark-colored clothes, quietly left the Satellite Palace so as not to wake the sleeping Tila.

 

Even as she walked down the quiet and dark path, she couldn’t clearly define why she was ultimately heading toward Casian.

 

‘If Casian dies now, it would be a loss for me too. Once continental unification is achieved, the alliance I made with him might become even more crucial for me.’

 

That was the best reason she could come up with.

 

It was true that his death would be regrettable in many ways.

 

But no matter how she thought about it, going inside Maryeonso was insane.

 

“Huh!”

 

Nina, who was gauging a position to hide near Maryeonso, was suddenly pulled into the darkness by a force that yanked her.

 

A subtle cedar scent wafted from nearby.

 

Casian’s grinning face came into view through her eyes that had already adjusted to the darkness.

 

Quite close by, Casian whispered softly.

 

“You’re not planning to go in with me, are you?”

 

“…I’ve been curious about what they do to the monsters for a while now.”

 

“So you’re saying you didn’t come because you were worried about me.”

 

“Not at all.”

 

Nina stepped back from Casian and looked toward Maryeonso.

 

“He hasn’t come out yet, right? Desmorak.”

 

“No.”

 

The two, standing against Maryeonso’s wall, silently watched one spot.

 

Nina felt a strange tension. It was a different kind of tension from wielding a sword on the battlefield.

 

No matter how high Maryeonso’s walls were, they weren’t impossible to climb if one tried, and even if Kushis went berserk, she could handle it with the sword she brought.

 

Nevertheless, this strange tension was probably because this was something that violated what she had naturally thought she should never break, what she had complied with.

 

She, who had lived a life devoted to Arsed according to divine oracle, was now trying to secretly enter Maryeonso in violation of imperial orders and national law.

 

This was the first time in her life she felt this way, so she didn’t know what to call it.

 

“If we’re caught sneaking in, it’ll be hard to keep our lives.”

 

“When you put it that way, it sounds even more interesting.”

 

Perhaps this feeling was what they called excitement.

 

Casian, standing beside Nina, asked in a low, quiet voice.

 

“But you weren’t afraid of monsters, were you?”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“You seemed quite tense when you faced Baraguz.”

 

How did he notice that?

 

Ever since what happened with Baraguz when she was six, Baraguz had left serious psychological aftereffects on Nina.

 

But she had never, not once, shown it to anyone.

 

The fact that the recurring nightmares of that day, the vivid memories in those nightmares, still tormented her was something only she knew.

 

Nina turned her head to stare directly at Casian.

 

His face showed no intention of teasing or testing her.

 

Rather, his expression was serious, as if he had asked out of genuine concern for her wanting to enter Maryeonso where captured monsters would be.

 

“…Only Baraguz.”

 

In the end, Nina told the truth and turned her head back to its original position.

 

Casian silently watched Nina’s profile.

 

She had firmly denied being afraid of monsters, yet readily revealed her inner thoughts – she definitely had no talent for deceiving others.

 

She couldn’t be unaware that fearing and being afraid of something could become a weakness when dealing with others.

 

‘Does she… trust me a little now?’

 

He was confident that he was probably the only person who knew she was afraid of Baraguz, at least the only one who had heard such words from her own mouth.

 

For some reason, without realizing it, one corner of his lips curved upward.

 

And then.

 

Creak―

 

Seeing Desmorak emerge from opening the iron door of Maryeonso, both simultaneously held their breath and pressed their backs tightly against the wall.

 

The heavy iron door made a closing sound, and he moved away from Maryeonso.

 

It seemed he didn’t bother to lock the door.

 

Once Desmorak had completely disappeared, Nina tried to approach the iron door of Maryeonso first.

 

Firmly, Casian grabbed Nina’s wrist and held her back.

 

“Are you really going to go in?”

 

“Yes. That’s why we came here.”

 

“…Then stay absolutely, absolutely behind me and don’t act on your own.”

 

Really now, who was giving orders to whom.

 

Casian looked at her with a firm expression as if he wouldn’t let go of her wrist until he heard an answer, which was absurd.

 

But since there was no need to waste more time here, Nina just nodded once.

 

“The iron door is too loud, so I’m thinking we’ll safely climb over the wall as originally planned. Will that be alright?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Only then did Casian release Nina’s wrist, move far from the wall, then charge at the wall again.

 

“…?!”

 

Nina’s eyes widened at the sight of him kicking off the ground and instantly leaping over the high wall.

 

She had confirmed his agility in Nortanica, but she hadn’t known he could jump over Maryeonso’s high wall in one bound.

 

When Nina followed by climbing over the wall and jumping down inside, Casian caught her lightly.

 

“You didn’t need to catch me.”

 

“Shh.”

 

Casian gently set Nina down on the ground, then grabbed her wrist again and quietly found and opened a door.

 

Nina looked down at her wrist caught in his large hand.

 

‘Usually I’m the one who takes the lead in facing threats….’

 

This man was leading her as if it were nothing. It was a strange feeling.

 

Click.

 

The door leading into Maryeonso wasn’t locked, just like the outer iron door.

 

This was Desmorak’s way of subtly showing off that while he didn’t lock the door, no one could enter carelessly.

 

Indeed, since it was located underground, light wouldn’t leak out so you couldn’t tell if anyone was inside, and no one wanted to enter that place where he cast spells on captured monsters while experimenting on them.

 

Only after descending the long spiral staircase for quite a while did Desmorak’s world reveal itself.

 

“Ah….”

 

Nina and Casian both gasped simultaneously upon entering.

 

They had thought it wouldn’t be small since it was a place for researching giant monsters, but the scale of what had been dug underground was more enormous than expected.

 

It was a space as if a massive temple had been moved there entirely.

 

The ceiling was dizzyingly high, and circular pillars carved with bizarre figures supported that ceiling.

 

Under the dim lighting, the shadows of the pillars rippled as if crawling across the floor.

 

The bookshelves and display cases on the wide walls were filled with old magic books and unidentifiable spell tools.

 

And also very luxurious items that seemed unrelated to spells.

 

“It seems he’s openly taking bribes.”

 

Casian immediately realized how those luxurious items had gotten there.

 

He was known as one of those with tremendous power in Arsed, but who would have thought it was to this extent.

 

“A monster research facility and his own massive treasure vault.”

 

Nina also looked around with an astounded expression, surveying those things.

 

As she approached the area with the most torches lit, she heard the weak breathing sound of a beast: ‘Grrrr….’

 

‘It’s like a theater stage or something.’

 

A knee-high platform was installed on one side of the spacious area, with devices that gave off an ominous aura attached to it.

 

“So this is Kushis.”

 

Casian frowned upon seeing the monster with its limbs bound by thick iron chains.

 

Kushis, lying on its side as if collapsed, should have sensed their presence but was just drooling.

 

It seemed to have been tied up in this state continuously since entering Maryeonso.

 

“It doesn’t particularly… seem to be under a spell….”

 

Nina recalled Baraguz that she had seen before. Those eyes that had turned a murky grayish-white.

 

But Kushis’s fierce eyes remained the same.

 

It just looked weak as if it had been starved for a long time.

 

“Don’t get too close.”

 

“Okay.”

 

While Nina examined Kushis, Casian went to Desmorak’s desk and rummaged through various things.

 

What he wanted to look for seemed to be something that might be on the desk.

 

Clank―!

 

But then, the sound of the iron door opening came from above, followed by the sound of someone’s footsteps coming down.

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