I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 234
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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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#234
“I understand. I’ll consider that matter and discuss it again with the nobles.”
…He’s giving in so easily?
While it was fortunate, I was somewhat bewildered by Duke Giltian’s uncharacteristic behavior.
I couldn’t help but think there was something behind it.
If so, what could it be?
What could make him talk as if Leilah’s child was completely excluded from the succession struggle?
…Could it be?
“Move aside.”
At the thought that suddenly crossed his mind, Hes hurriedly rushed out of the room.
He was about to head straight to the meeting place when Duke Giltian chased after him and grabbed Hes’s arm.
“Where are you going, Your Highness?”
“You know I have an appointment, don’t you?”
“Even if you go now, no one will be there.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Hes’s face contorted with anger.
He grabbed Duke Giltian’s arm in return and shouted.
“Don’t tell me you did something to Count Aster?”
“…Count Aster will be safe.”
The answer that came after a half-beat pause was meaningful.
At the same time, Hes realized.
That Duke Giltian had done something to the baby in Leilah’s belly.
That his suspicions had been correct!
His mind went blank as if he’d been struck hard on the back of the head.
Into his completely emptied thoughts, black ink dropped and drew pitch-black letters.
He had to save Leilah, and his nephew.
Whoosh—
“Your Highness?”
Duke Giltian was rarely surprised as Hes’s body turned into water droplets from his feet and disappeared, and he tried to grab him.
But catching Hes, who had scattered into thousands of water droplets in the air, was impossible with human hands.
Originally, Hes didn’t have the ability to travel using water like Kalian.
But now, with the single determination to save Leilah and his nephew, he had awakened this ability.
The first thing Hes discovered upon arriving at the Western Forest in an instant was Esramel collapsed on the ground.
“Sister!”
Though they weren’t particularly close siblings, she was still his only sister.
Moreover, since there was blood all around Esramel, Hes cried out in alarm and ran to her.
“Sister! Pull yourself together, sister!”
While checking Esramel’s condition. Fortunately, she had no injuries.
Then whose blood was this?
And why was no one here except Esramel?
Where was Leilah? Where had she gone?
“Mmm.”
As Hes looked around in confusion, Esramel regained consciousness and he looked at her again.
“Sister!”
“Hes…?”
“What happened here? Where is Count Aster?”
Surely the blood on the ground wasn’t Leilah’s blood.
Surely Duke Giltian hadn’t already made his move.
At the sudden thought, Hes’s face turned deathly pale.
“Sister! Please tell me!”
Hes shouted even more urgently at Esramel.
“Where is Count Aster! Is she, is she safe?!”
As he was pressing Esramel, who couldn’t quite regain her senses, someone grabbed his shoulder from behind.
“…!”
Hes was startled and turned around.
And.
“Ah…”
Hes’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s as he confirmed who had grabbed his shoulder.
* * *
Where is this place?
I looked around. I could see faint water mist, dense vegetation, and a large lake.
Why am I in a place like this?
And barefoot at that.
“…Ah.”
As my hazy mind cleared as if the water mist had seeped in, I recalled what had happened before I lost consciousness.
The Duchess had been struck by paralyzing poison, and the guard who was supposed to protect us had instead pointed his sword at us.
The moment I saw the sword covered in blood, my only thought was that I had to protect the child somehow.
So as I clutched my belly and curled up, a blue light burst forth from inside the forest.
I was momentarily blinded by the brilliant light and stood there dazed, then when I came to my senses again, I was here.
“What on earth was that light…”
“It was light meant to call you to this place.”
“…!”
Suddenly hearing an unfamiliar man’s voice, I turned around in shock.
I could see a man sitting on a rock shrouded in water mist, with bright blue hair as vivid as Prince Hes’s.
The man’s eyes were also blue, and his clothes were generally blue as well.
When our eyes met, an indescribable energy overwhelmed my body. My legs froze and wouldn’t move at all.
“You’re carelessly handling the life I bothered to save.”
He saved my life?
That can’t be. He’s a man I’m seeing for the first time today, so when exactly…
“…Are you by any chance that hunter I met back then?”
“Ho, you recognize me even though my appearance has completely changed?”
It was an affirmation. I had wondered, but that man really was the hunter I had met back then.
“You weren’t an ordinary human.”
“Why are you asking when you already know?”
That’s right. Just by looking, the man didn’t seem like an ordinary human.
The man’s identity was probably…
“Blue Dragon… Right?”
The man just chuckled, but it was answer enough.
To think I would actually see the Blue Dragon that protects the Empire.
It felt like a dream. It wasn’t actually a dream, was it?
To check, I pinched my cheek. I definitely felt a sharp pain.
It really wasn’t a dream.
“I’m warning you not to handle that life carelessly.”
“…!”
I had only blinked once, but the man was standing right in front of me.
When did he come?
I tried to step back in surprise, but my legs were still frozen so I couldn’t.
“There’s a baby inside that belly.”
The man continued, pointing at my stomach.
“Until you safely give birth to that child, make sure to cherish your life.”
“…Did you protect me because of this child?”
“Of course? What else do you think I would protect someone I have no connection to for?”
Right. He has no reason to protect me.
“Is this child that precious to you?”
“Precious, yes. That child is a descendant of a child I held dear.”
“Then what about His Majesty, Kalian?”
The man frowned and looked at me.
For a moment, a terrifying pressure dominated my entire body, making it hard to breathe, but I couldn’t stop speaking.
“Kalian is also a descendant of the child you held dear.”
If it’s him, if it’s this man, he should be able to save Kalian.
“Please save him.”
After wandering in deep darkness where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, I finally encountered a light of salvation.
I absolutely couldn’t let this light slip away. With the single-minded determination that I had to grasp it, I clung to the man.
“Please, save Kalian.”
I didn’t hesitate to kneel. In this moment, I was proud of my legs that moved.
“I’m begging you like this. Please…”
“Why should I do that?”
An indifferent voice rang in my ears. My mouth froze at his even colder gaze.
“Why should I save Kalian?”
“Because Kalian is also a descendant of the child you held dear, just like this child!”
“Though they share the same blood, they’re different.”
Different?
In what way?
“And if that were the reason, I should have saved all the half-brothers that Kalian killed before.”
When he said that, I had nothing left to say.
It was clear that he had no intention of saving Kalian, but I couldn’t give up.
“Please show your magnanimity just once more.”
Because only he could save Kalian.
I firmly grasped his arm and pleaded.
“Please, save Kalian.”
The man who had been quietly looking down at me sighed deeply as if he had no choice.
“Fine. If you plead like that, I’ll help.”
“Really?”
“But what will you give me in return?”
“I’ll do anything I can.”
“Even if I ask for that child?”
“…!”
My mouth froze again at the unexpected demand.
“What’s wrong?”
His blue eyes curved pleasantly.
“Weren’t you going to do anything?”
Of course I had intended to. Even if he asked for my life, I was prepared to gladly offer it, but not the child.
Because this child was as precious as Kalian.
Being asked to choose between the two was too cruel for me.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
The man tapped my cheek and urged me.
“Hurry up and choose one between the child and Kalian.”
I felt like I had become an idiot. Nothing came to mind, and I couldn’t say anything.
I could only cry like a fool. A sense of powerlessness swept through my entire body, bringing deep self-loathing.
Why can’t I do anything?
“Of course.”
Suddenly, a coat was placed over my shoulders. When I turned around, I saw a familiar face.
“There’s nothing an ordinary person like Mother could do against such an old dragon.”
“Child…?”
Why is my child here?
I confirmed earlier that this wasn’t a dream, so why.
Wondering if this was also the man’s power, I looked up at him.
The man was looking at my child with a furrowed brow.
His aura was somewhat menacing, making me slightly worried about what he might do to the child.
“You don’t know when to butt in and when not to.”
“I didn’t want to butt in either, but Grandfather is playing too harsh a prank.”
“Why am I your grandfather?”
“Should I call you Ancestor instead?”
When the child retorted without backing down, the man let out a hollow laugh as if incredulous.
“Get up.”
Led by the child’s hand, I stood up.
The child smoothed out my wrinkled clothes and gently brushed away the hair that had fallen over my face.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you like this, so I’d like to talk more, but someone came to pick up Mother, so I can’t.”
Someone came to pick me up?
“Over there.”
The child smiled and pointed somewhere.
Looking in that direction, I saw someone bathed in warm sunlight.
At first I couldn’t see their face due to the backlighting, but as they gradually approached me, their face became visible.
“Ah…”
From the moment I confirmed their face, I couldn’t just stand still.
“Your Majesty!”
How could I just stand still? The thing I had longed for so much had come to pass.
I ran to him in quick steps and embraced him.
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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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