I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 156

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

Chapter 156

When I’d asked Zena Chaser in Belodia what it felt like to ride the Wolf Tribe, her answer had been a firm “never again.”
“Jeffrey-!!”
If riding the Wild Dog Tribe had felt like becoming an arrow cutting through the air, the Wolf Tribe was a cannonball.
A massive force propelling me forward at breathtaking speed.
‘Incredibly fast!’
We’d departed from the Imperial Palace at dusk, passed through the outer walls surrounding the Imperial Capital by carriage, and met the Wolf Tribe in a nearby forest.
After incapacitating the knights of the Trabel Estate there, I was now riding the Wolf Tribe toward the port city where Belesa was.
“What?! What did you say?!”
“I haven’t said anything yet-!!”
“No one’s following us?! Right! I told you so!!”
“Jeffrey!! I can’t hear you-!!”
The roar of the wind was so deafening that even conversation with Jeffrey, who rode alongside me on another Wolf Tribe, was nearly impossible.
The two crimson wolves carrying us howled with exhilaration.
The relatives’ people who had followed our suspicious departure from the Imperial Palace had long since vanished from sight.
“Berry.”
Pushing past the wind that scraped against my ears, Theon’s voice came through clearly. The wind spirit was conveying his words to me.
“Come inside my cloak.”
Theon sat behind me, his left arm wrapped around my waist while his right hand gripped the rope securing the Wolf Tribe’s body.
Theon extended his left arm further around my waist. My upper body, firmly anchored by his arm, tilted slightly backward.
“If you press your body against mine, you’ll experience less wind resistance.”
Theon’s cloak enveloped my body. As a result, I found myself completely pressed against him.
“Are you cold?”
“…No.”
Thanks to the cloth pouch filled with heat stones tucked inside my coat, my body wasn’t cold, but there was nothing I could do about the icy wind striking my face.
“Not cold at all.”
Once I entered Theon’s cloak, the relentless wind ceased. We could converse without raising our voices.
“Theon, can you hear me well too?”
“Yes. I’ve created a protective barrier with wind. The range is narrow, so we can’t go any further ahead than this, Berry.”
“Any further than now?”
“Ahhhhh-! Too fast-!!”
Jeffrey’s cry came from beside us. Unlike Jeffrey, who seemed to be racing through a tempest, Theon’s embrace was peaceful.
This gave me space to think about our plan. Fortunately, this time my reason had triumphed over emotion. I needed to uncover the truth about Father’s death. With time pressing, my mind was entirely focused on Belesa.
“Theon, when do you think we’ll arrive?”
“At this speed, tomorrow morning.”
“We’ll be able to meet her, won’t we?”
“Yes.”
“You’re riding all night?”
“If you get sleepy, rest, Berry. I’ll keep you steady until we arrive.”
Sleep was the last thing I’d feel, but I’d brought along plenty of fatigue-relief medicine just in case.
“I won’t sleep. More importantly, Theon, I’m sorry. The Crown Prince’s enthronement ceremony is right around the corner.”
“It’s fine.”
“We won’t be late for the ceremony, will we?”
The question carried a hint of anxiety. If saving Father was my life’s goal, then becoming Crown Prince was Theon’s. Separate from our engagement announcement, the enthronement ceremony meant everything to him.
“Berry.”
Theon spoke.
“I won’t let you lose anything you should have.”
“Anything I should have?”
“The support of the Igselona Royal Family.”
I held my breath at his words. It was the first time I’d heard him say this.
“Anyone who harms you or your mentor will become an enemy of the Igselona Royal Family.”
There was no wavering in Theon’s voice. The words flowed without hesitation, as if he were voicing something he’d thought through and decided upon for a long time.
“No one from the Trabel Estate will ever touch Quartz again.”

***

Borbi, a port city in the Heishal Empire.
The pleasure cruise scheduled to depart for the Edencia Kingdom had finished its preparations early that dawn and was waiting for Belesa’s party to arrive.
‘Thirty minutes until departure…!’
Lucian Alexis, a diplomat of the Edencia Kingdom, had been riding toward the mansion where the First Princess was staying since early morning.
His grip tightened on the reins. He had to ride faster.
“Captain, she’s still here!”
Tory poked his head out from Lucian’s pocket with a sharp cry.
The gates stood wide open for the departing carriage. As Lucian’s horse shot through like an arrow, knights drew their swords and formed an escort around the carriage.
“Make way! I have something to tell the Princess!”
Lucian shouted. The knights recognized his face, but the atmosphere felt off.
Seeing the hesitant knights with their blades drawn, Lucian, growing impatient, cried out again.
“I said move!”
“Please state your business first…!”
Click.
The carriage window was opened by a maid. Belesa’s voice came from within.
“How noisy. Let him through.”
The knight standing near the carriage lowered his sword and signaled to his superior.
As the knights stepped back, Lucian rushed toward the carriage on horseback.
Stopping his horse before the window, Lucian pulled a newspaper from his pocket and held it up to Belesa.
“Your Highness, have you seen the Knight?”

———-
[EXCLUSIVE] Igselona Royal Family, Engagement Announcement with Trabel Estate?
———-

Despite the understated headline, the article’s contents were shocking.
A report stating that the Emperor and Berry Quartz Trabel of the Trabel Estate would announce their engagement at tomorrow evening’s year-end celebration.
“I’ve seen it.”
Belesa replied. Her tone was that of someone who’d learned of another’s affairs through a newspaper.
Lucian Alexis clenched his teeth.
“It’s Berry.”
My own heart was crumbling like this—surely Belesa shouldn’t respond so indifferently.
“….”
“Did you hear me? Berry. That’s her name.”
Belesa said nothing. The maid accompanying them in the carriage restrained Lucian Alexis, sensing his tone had become almost accusatory toward the princess.
“Lord Lucian Alexis. Please refrain from such disrespect toward Her Highness.”
“Step aside. I need an answer from the princess.”
Lucian Alexis was a man of gentle temperament. It was almost strange that the First Princess’s closest confidant possessed such warmth and kindness toward others.
When such a person grew angry, it was terrifying. Lucian Alexis was clearly furious.
Confronted with this unfamiliar side of him, the maid who’d spoken so boldly faltered and glanced nervously at Belesa seated across from her.
“Your Highness.”
Lucian Alexis called to Belesa again. After a brief sigh, she opened her mouth.
“I don’t understand what answer you’re seeking.”
“Delay your departure. Send a letter to the Imperial Palace and travel to the Imperial Capital.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because you must.”
You’ve done nothing for Berry all this time.
Lucian Alexis swallowed the rest. It was a relationship that could never be revealed to anyone. He had to be mindful of the ears surrounding them.
“Your Highness must do this.”
Lucian Alexis spoke to Belesa, suppressing everything he truly wanted to say.
All those years when he could do nothing for his niece, and now, when he still could do nothing.
Overwhelming regret caused his eyes to redden.
Belesa spoke to Lucian Alexis in that state.
“Well. Even if we turned the carriage around right now, it would take two days to reach the Imperial Palace.”
“….”
“I don’t see what right I have, as a foreign princess, to send letters concerning the affairs of the Igselona Royal Family.”
“That’s——”
“Don’t act like a child. Lucian Alexis.”
“Your Highness…!”
“I’ve already repaid my debt.”
Belesa gestured to her maid. Whatever Lucian Alexis said next was drowned out by the sound of the carriage window closing, never reaching Belesa’s ears.
“Depart.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Maid conveyed Belesa’s command through the small window leading to the coachman’s seat.
As the carriage began to move, Belesa gripped the newspaper she’d been reading.
It was something that hadn’t caught Lucian’s eye moments before.
“The Emperor has no conscience whatsoever.”
Belesa muttered under her breath.

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