I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 219

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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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Side Story Episode 5

Even though I said this, Helios didn’t raise his head.

I became even more anxious.

It felt like going back to when Helios had confined me, yet didn’t search for or chase after me even when I escaped.

Frustration, stuffiness, even impatience.

‘Should I forcibly grab him and make him listen?’

I endured.

I admit it. What I learned in prison was how to subdue someone through violence.

I know very well now that I shouldn’t use this on Helios.

I firmly suppressed the sinister thoughts and violence, the selfishness that surged up like instinct.

I wanted to respect Helios’s consistency and cherish him, even if it meant suppressing and discarding what was like my very nature.

Because humans break too easily.

Helios must never become like that.

And because I know all too well now that I’m the person who could most easily break him in this world.

“Baby. Sorry, this Master is lacking and crude, so I don’t understand unless you tell me.”

“…Don’t say such things.”

I carefully brought my hand to Helios’s cheek. When I gently caressed it as if handling fragile crafts, Helios leaned his cheek into it.

“Don’t speak words that belittle yourself. I won’t forgive it even if it’s you saying them.”

Helios, who slightly raised his head, glared at me with teary eyes filled with resentment.

Relief that he was finally looking at me, and anxiety that I still didn’t know the reason crossed over each other.

‘I can’t let him run away like this.’

I pressed my lips tightly together.

…Should I kidnap him first, confine him, and then have a conversation?

Then he’d have nowhere to escape to.

“From the looks of it, you seem to be thinking of threatening me to get an answer.”

“…I wasn’t.”

“Don’t I know Master?”

Helios, whose speech had become curt, chuckled. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant laugh.

“But I have no intention of telling you easily.”

His sulky attitude was similar to long ago when he was dissatisfied with sudden attacks or training I had conducted.

“But if you really tie me up or lock me somewhere, I’ll definitely keep my mouth…”

“Keep your mouth?”

“Shut.”

…Damn.

Isn’t that too scary?

To me, who already had many emotions I couldn’t understand without explanation, a silent Helios felt terrifyingly threatening.

I grabbed Helios’s collar with one hand while running my other hand over my face.

“Why are you grabbing my collar?”

“Just wait. I’m thinking about it right now… and holding back.”

“…”

I let out a breath.

“So that means I shouldn’t act badly. Now I understand well.”

I soon let go of Helios.

“Fine, I guess I can’t do things the way I did in Niflheim. So when will you tell me?”

I learned from my time with Helios that I shouldn’t just apologize recklessly from the start.

Helios lightly grabbed his collar where the button had fallen off and smiled languidly.

…I felt a bit of foreboding.

“Well, I’ll take some time first and think about it.”

That twisted smile was truly so pretty and lovely, yet somehow it couldn’t help but look wicked.

* * *

“Hmm, so to summarize… you’re saying you ran away?”

The next day.

I was sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

Anyone could tell that my displeasure could be felt in the Kia in the air.

People were sitting here and there on sofas in front and back with a round table in the center.

Among them, it was Ged who spoke first.

Ged’s hair had grown quite a bit by now, but he still had a military-like feeling.

I think I heard he was contemplating whether to return to the military or not, but after deliberation, he threw himself into the Alpheion Knights instead of the army.

I heard that since he’s the strongest among the Alpheion Knights, he’ll probably take the captain position as time passes.

By the way, this information is the result of desperately trying to recall something to stop thinking about Helios for a bit.

“Ran away?”

“I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable. But well, there’s no other way to express it… hahaha!”

“It’s not exactly wrong, is it? Or is there a reason why Mint would come looking for us?”

“I cautiously agree…”

“Haha, Boss is still the same.”

I crossed my arms.

Currently in this room were Helios’s colleagues – Ged, Haira, and Seth.

But not only them, there was one more familiar face. One that I never particularly thought I’d see here.

“Why is that person sitting over there?”

The person I pointed to was Brett. He had climbed the Tower with Helios’s group in Niflheim Prison and shared life and death with them.

But he was a guy who had infiltrated while already brainwashed by Hades, and ultimately betrayed them.

The guy with narrow eyes was grinning slyly and annoyingly.

“Wasn’t he dealt with for betraying us?”

My question was valid.

He was also a face I hadn’t seen at Helios Manor.

“Haha, I was forgiven through time~!”

“I’m just giving you all some advice—be careful. Someone who betrays once will do it again, right?”

As I casually threw out those words, expressions of agreement flashed across the party’s faces.

“Huh, no way? I’m not gonna do it again~!”

Only Brett looked flustered.

“Right, let the traitor dance or drink tea, whatever. Anyway, now that we’ve heard the whole story, could you give us an answer?”

Helios really did keep his distance for a full day.

What was funny was that even though we shared the same bed at night, he didn’t try to cling to me or pounce on me like usual.

‘Should I be grateful for his separation anxiety?’

So I was in a state where strange satisfaction and dissatisfaction coexisted.

Anyway, it seemed like he wanted me to figure out the reason myself.

Shouldn’t I cheat a little?

I thought shamelessly.

The party, having heard the whole situation, looked at each other. Brett was the first to tentatively raise his hand.

“Isn’t Boss Duke Alpeion? Hmm, then he probably has to worry about external appearances too, so maybe that’s part of it? I heard he’s already in a power struggle with the Imperial Palace~”

I thought it was ridiculous, but on the other hand, it was understandable.

The Alpeion Ducal House and the Imperial Palace were indeed engaged in a power struggle. And Helios was excessively wary of Hades.

‘Was it for show to that bastard Hades?’

Thinking about it this way, it seemed somewhat convincing…

“Um, maybe it’s just Boss’s preference?”

Seth cautiously offered his opinion.

“Boss usually accommodates Boss—I mean, Mint’s preferences when he’s with you… Maybe he wanted the wedding to match his own preferences, I think…”

“Oh… that makes sense? Seth, 20 points.”

“Huh, Boss. What do those points mean?”

“Whoever gets the highest score, I’ll help them with anything. Even a wish?”

Then the party’s eyes changed.

More precisely, everyone except Haira.

“Uhaha, Boss—I mean, Mint? I answered too~”

“You get 5 points. Lack of creativity.”

“That’s too harsh!”

“Boss, I’m throwing my support behind Seth’s opinion!”

“Oh my, trying to ride on someone else’s coattails—Ged also gets 5 points.”

“Why do I get the same score as the person who actually gave an opinion?!”

Whether Brett complained or not, Seth, who was currently in the lead, raised his hand high.

Looking back on it later, what I overlooked at that time was that except for Haira, the party members here were also prisoners who had been quite steeped in prison life.

Unlike Haira, whose mental fortitude was so strong that mental abilities were her specialty, the rest of the party who had rapidly climbed the Tower following Helios seemed quite influenced by prison-style destruction of common sense and reckless thinking.

In the end, it was a conversation between people whose common sense had collapsed.

For example, the conversation continued like this:

“Boss—I mean, Mint! I have a new opinion! I heard he worked really hard choosing your dress, and maybe this is also… Boss’s preference?!”

“Huh, Boss had those kinds of preferences? Ooh, if that’s the case…”

I tilted my head.

“That’s your preference? Then you should wear it yourself, shouldn’t you?”

The room fell silent at my words.

I looked at my party and said shamelessly.

“Ah, I know at least this much common sense. You can’t wear it. Obviously.”

Haira made a coldly indifferent expression.

“Oh yes, I’m so relieved that you know that.”

“Haira, I’ll give you 3 points for common sense.”

“Ha, I don’t need it?”

After that, among the three men who were shouting noisily and throwing around opinions wildly, Haira, who had been quietly sitting, shook her head disapprovingly.

Her voice reached my ears.

“If you gather only idiots for a meeting, naturally only idiotic opinions will come out…”

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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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