I Am the 5-Year-Old Spy Who Kidnapped the Villain - Chapter 168

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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 168】

“Ugh.”

Aebin’s head jerked back as his collar was roughly grabbed.

“…I wondered where that bastard Sedric got his temper from, turns out it came from his mother.”

Aebin, who had been making light jokes to ease the atmosphere, stiffened his rising smile the moment his eyes met Ariena’s.

“That bastard isn’t the type to die so easily, Aebin.”

Ariena wasn’t her usual calm self.

As if she had lost her reason, sparks seemed to crackle and fly from her darkly sunken blue eyes.

“After how I raised that kid.”

“…Haha. So, you want to ask how he died?”

Aebin carefully pushed away the white hands gripping his shirt as he spoke.

“While I was confronting the guy protecting Aisha and the prince, Duke Callipus came, and I ran away. But that bastard drank a suicide potion.”

“…”

“If I had known that would happen, I would have grabbed that guy’s neck and moved together. I didn’t know he’d drink the potion.”

“…He killed himself, on his own.”

“Yes.”

“…”

Aebin quietly watched Ariena standing there blankly for a long while, then suddenly asked.

“I thought you wouldn’t bleed a drop even if stabbed… Ariena, are you sad right now?”

An even heavier silence followed.

‘Sad? Am I sad?’

At the joke-like question, the strength began to drain from her stunned jaw.

The end of a spy is death.

Originally, the end of all humans is death.

If you’re going to die anyway, wouldn’t it be glorious to sacrifice your life for the kingdom and family you were born into?

But to call the death of someone who couldn’t even do that—

‘Sad.’

Finally calming down, Ariena pushed Aebin away and stood up from her seat.

“I’m angry. According to what you’re saying now, not only did we fail the mission to kidnap the princess, but it also means they found out that it was a Doctia spy who impersonated the count and kidnapped her, right?”

“That hits deep.”

The news of Aebin’s return to the kingdom would have been reported long ago.

Since he was summoned by teleportation magic, a signal must have gone out.

As she regained her composure, other problems came pouring in.

Ariena looked down at Aebin and spoke coldly.

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, get out quickly. His Majesty the King will summon us soon.”

“Ah, yes ma’am.”

As Aebin limped out of the storage room, silence settled in.

She stared endlessly at the only window with sunlight.

There was no reason.

The fact that the guy she had naturally expected to return was dead still didn’t feel real.

Honestly, even now it felt like if she opened his door, Sedric with his stoic face would ask what was wrong.

But Sedric was dead.

Like other spies who had often died while carrying out missions.

“…”

Opening the storage door and walking down the corridor, a royal maid approached her as if the timing was perfect.

“His Majesty the King is calling for you…”

But Ariena just passed by, and the maid trailed off while following her.

“Where are you going?”

“…I’ll just drink some water quickly and see him right away.”

“What? Ah, yes!”

The maid stammered at the unexpected answer.

Normally, if it was the king’s command, one should run immediately, whether for water or anything else.

But Ariena silently walked on despite the maid’s gaze and entered the kitchen.

In that empty place, when she turned on the water, cool and cold steam covered her face.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she lifted her eyelids after some time had passed.

‘Can’t I call you mother anymore? Why?’

The red eyes of an innocent young boy seemed to overlap with her blue eyes beyond the water’s surface.

‘This child has the exact same eye color as me. You said I can’t call you mother, but at least this child I could call my little sister…’

Splash—!

‘Stop.’

Ice-cold water covered the useless thoughts.

Having regained her composure and arrived at the king’s audience chamber, Aebin, who was standing stiffly before the king, grinned when he saw her.

“Oh, Ariena’s eyes are a bit red. Did you cry?”

To be able to say such nonsense even in the king’s presence.

Completely ignoring Aebin, Ariena approached the king and bowed her head.

“Did you call for me, Your Majesty?”

“Yes. I heard from Aebin. Sedric died in the process of carrying out the mission?”

“That’s correct.”

“How unfortunate. When the Pose Duke’s family was functioning properly, I didn’t see him often, but still, I had taken interest in him as someone with Crosht family blood… How about taking a little rest?”

“I’m fine. I think it’s an honor for a spy to die while carrying out a mission.”

Ariena, who was politely declining, glanced inconspicuously at Aebin.

‘That guy, surely he didn’t mention that Sedric betrayed us before he died?’

With his usual personality, he would have excitedly told everything and more.

He was truly an unpredictable child.

The king smiled with satisfaction at her words.

“If that’s how you think, then since the situation is what it is, please continue to help us going forward. Since kidnapping Princess Aisha failed, the Frozen Kingdom will probably react soon. Things will turn unfavorable for us.”

The 104th King of the Kingdom of Doctia, Burley Artis.

For the past several decades, he had such high trust in the duke that he delegated everything related to the Frozen Kingdom to Pose Duke.

But after the Pose Duke incident that shook both kingdoms, he officially allowed the duke’s execution and brought down the ducal house to avoid war with the Frozen Kingdom.

He had cut off one tail for the bigger picture.

It was a fairly good method, but the nobles who followed him thought differently.

The nobles who saw the end of Pose Duke, who had sacrificed for the king, turned their backs, thinking their own end might be the same.

Endless war.

King Burey’s ambition to establish an empire seemed to end like a hellish painting.

However.

“Put an article in the kingdom newspaper. The title should be, hmm. I don’t have much sense, but something like this would be fine.”

King Burey had somehow endured ten years with his characteristic cleverness and cunning.

How did he endure?

He scribbled something on paper with the quill pen on his desk and handed it to Ariena.

Ariena received the paper.

[The Crosht family of the Frozen Kingdom kills their blood relative after 20 years of reunion… for the reason of being from Doctia.]

Exactly like this.

King Burey smiled warmly and calmly explained the reason for war.

“The way to gather nobles in civil war to the royal court is to create an external enemy. The war isn’t over yet. The royal authority that was damaged because of Pose Duke will be regained through external war.”

Ariena, looking at the memo, fell into thought for a moment.

Dead Sedric had been resurrected again by King Burey, whether he wanted it or not.

When this article spreads through Doctia’s social circles, Sedric’s name will be on the nobles’ lips for months.

“…”

Suddenly she had this thought.

It seemed like Sedric had burned completely to ashes, yet King Burey found even those ashes precious and was trying to add more firewood somehow.

“Understood.”

Ariena, who answered a beat late, crumpled the memo and put it in her pants pocket.

King Burey, who didn’t see this, continued speaking.

“By the way, what about the message from the Frozen Kingdom?”

“Here it is.”

“Good. The writing seems long, so could you summarize and explain it?”

Ariena nodded.

“According to the message from the infiltrated ‘Sheep,’ it’s about Prince Kail who was recently adopted as a direct heir into the House of Shulets.”

“Yes.”

“The Frozen Kingdom officially announced him as a new ability user, but ‘Sheep’s’ opinion differs.”

King Burey’s eyebrows twitched as he raised his gaze.

It meant to explain what that implied.

“There’s a scripture that people don’t read much these days, and according to this scripture, there’s an existence called ‘Maein’ – one who commands monsters, speaks human language, and has half monster and half human appearance mixed together.”

“Maein?”

“Yes. In the scripture, they’re described as ‘lesser gods,’ but…”

“So basically, it means a bastard mixed with monster blood.”

Whether noble or commoner, monsters were generally objects of hatred.

So much so that many citizens of the Doctia Empire secretly admired the Croste Ducal Family, who had the power to defeat monsters.

“Yes. ‘Sheep’s’ opinion is the same. It seems we could use this scripture to disrupt the Frozen Kingdom’s royal court, but unfortunately, the scripture says ‘Maein’ are already extinct.”

“Then we just need to revive them.”

“…Pardon?”

“Scriptures can be manipulated, and as for a way to determine whether that bastard is a Maein or not…”

The smiling king wiggled his finger.

“Aebin.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Use your poison ability to create a berserker potion. There’s someone I’d like to test it on.”

The king’s lips, which had been forming a faint curve, rose as if they would tear apart.

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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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