I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 72

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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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#72

He said we were escaping, but instead of heading to the exit, we kept going deeper inside.

I couldn’t understand Kalian’s actions, but I silently followed him, believing there must be a reason for everything.

The place where Kalian stopped after running for a while was in front of a large iron gate.

Beyond the iron gate was pitch black and hard to see, but from the sound of water, it seemed to be a waterway.

Kalian opened the door. There was no particular locking mechanism, so it opened easily.

“The current is rough.”

Kalian said after checking inside the iron gate.

Even without checking and just listening to the sound of water, I could guess the current was rough.

More than that, what are we doing here?

We shouldn’t be doing this – we need to quickly find a way to escape.

“Kalian, the mercenaries will come rushing in soon.”

“I know.”

Kalian smiled as he turned to look at me.

“Well then, shall we go?”

Go now?

Where to?

Don’t tell me… through there?

“Are we going outside through the waterway?”

Kalian looked at me puzzledly as if wondering what the problem was and answered.

“So?”

I felt my mind go dizzy for a moment.

I thought he might know of a secret passage leading outside, but it wasn’t that – it was the waterway.

It was truly extraordinary. It was far beyond common sense.

“Aren’t you going?”

At Kalian’s urging, I answered in dismay.

“I, I can’t swim.”

“I can.”

“Going through the waterway is dangerous…”

“Leilah.”

Kalian smiled beautifully and extended his hand toward me.

“Don’t tell me you don’t trust me?”

“…”

I did trust him, but this was a different case.

However, as his assistant, I couldn’t bring myself to say such an impious word as “no.”

But I was too scared to jump into the waterway, so I couldn’t readily take his hand.

“They escaped that way!”

“Hurry up!”

Someone’s voice could be heard from beyond the hallway. The sound wasn’t very far. They seemed to have chased us nearby.

“Leilah, quickly.”

Kalian waved his hand urgently.

Blue Dragon.

Please have mercy on your people.

I desperately called upon the Blue Dragon, the guardian deity of the Empire, as I took Kalian’s outstretched hand.

Kalian pulled that hand and wrapped his arm around my waist.

And then.

Splash!

He jumped into the water while holding me.

The water wrapping around my skin was terribly cold.

I covered my mouth and nose tightly with both hands and leaned against Kalian’s broad chest.

Kalian was still holding me tightly.

No matter how good at swimming he was, it would be difficult to do it while holding someone.

I suddenly became afraid that we might die like this.

When my breath gradually became stifled and my body cried out for air.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Kalian’s gentle voice penetrated my ears.

He wouldn’t be speaking underwater, so that means…

I opened my eyes wide.

Then I saw castle walls made of pure white marble.

They were familiar castle walls.

Could this place be…

“Is this the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes.”

That’s impossible. We came from there to the Imperial Palace?

In just the few dozen seconds I held my breath?

I stood there dazed, just blinking at this logically impossible event.

Kalian let go of me and stepped back a few paces.

When I unconsciously turned to look at him, I finally noticed that Kalian’s clothes weren’t wet at all.

Not just his clothes. His hair and skin were also completely dry.

It was quite different from me, who looked like a drowned rat.

We fell into the water together, so why was only he perfectly fine?

When I stared at his face in puzzlement, Kalian smiled mischievously and touched his face.

“Am I that handsome?”

Handsome?

Of course it wasn’t wrong, but it was absurd hearing it directly from his mouth.

It’s good to know yourself well, but… isn’t it embarrassing to say such things about yourself?

When I stared at him, Kalian cleared his throat lightly.

“More than that, you’re quite wet.”

And he flicked his index finger toward me.

Then my clothes and my hair became completely dry without a drop of moisture.

My goodness, what is this?

I touched my completely dry cheeks and clothes in amazement.

“You can use magic too?”

“Only magic related to water.”

Kalian answered while lying down completely, using his arm as a pillow.

“You’re also a citizen of the Empire, so you should know. That the imperial family inherited the blood of the Blue Dragon.”

Of course I knew, but…

“I thought it was just a legend.”

“A legend? When there’s evidence like this.”

Kalian smiled and pointed to his blue hair.

That’s true. I acknowledged his words. It’s an unusual hair color, but I guess I’ve become numb to it from seeing it often.

“Then coming to the Imperial Palace through the waterway was also Your Majesty’s ability?”

“Yes. I can go anywhere that’s connected by water.”

Ah, so that’s why he said we’d escape using the waterway.

“That’s amazing!”

It was sincere, not empty words. These were things ordinary people could never do.

When I expressed that feeling honestly, Kalian looked at me with a slightly bewildered expression.

Why is he looking at me like that? Did I speak too honestly?

“Your Majesty?”

When I called out in confusion, Kalian let out a short exclamation and straightened his upper body.

“It’s nothing. More than that, I’m sorry. It’s your rare day off, but I ended up interfering.”

“Not at all. Thanks to you, I got to see many interesting things.”

I had also witnessed some rather heartbreaking scenes, but I didn’t mention that.

It seemed like it would be better for both him and me not to bring it up.

I also didn’t ask about him buying poison.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t curious. I just felt it would be presumptuous to ask that far.

It also seemed like he wouldn’t answer even if I asked.

“Then, may I take my leave now?”

Kalian pondered for a moment before answering.

“Stay a little longer.”

Those weren’t words that should come from someone who had just apologized for interfering with my vacation.

So I looked at him with some confusion, but for some reason Kalian seemed even more flustered.

Kalian pressed his forehead, then rubbed his face dry.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh and stood up from his seat.

His face looked full of worries.

Well, he always has many things to worry about, so naturally he would be troubled…

Oh, could it be because of the proposal I submitted through Baron Delrond?

It was quite possible. Since I was on vacation, he couldn’t bring himself to ask me directly, and was probably suffering alone in silence.

Then as his subject, I should ask first.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

At my answer, Kalian’s expression brightened instantly.

“If there were any lacking parts in the proposal I submitted through Baron Delrond, please tell me without reservation.”

That was brief – at my additional words, Kalian frowned deeply again and turned his head away.

Was this… not it?

“Forget it. What questions on a day off. Go home now.”

Wondering what it could be then, I suddenly thought that maybe I had turned him into a tyrannical boss.

Of course, he was the one who held me back first.

I hadn’t intended it that way.

But it could have looked that way to other people.

Then it would be better to just go back.

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

I offered my farewell greeting and withdrew.

* * *

After Leilah left, Kalian, now alone, rubbed his face dry and let out a big sigh.

He had held Leilah back for a moment because he was reluctant to let her go like this.

So he unconsciously held her back, then was startled and hesitated.

He smiled when she said she would stay.

…But his mood soured again when he realized it was because of the documents.

‘Why did my mood turn bad?’

There was no reason to feel bad.

Rather, shouldn’t he be happy that she was working diligently?

His mind was confused by emotions he couldn’t understand.

Kalian was holding his head and staring at the ground, lost in thought for a while, when he sensed someone’s presence and looked up.

Then he saw Leilah, who had returned for some reason.

Perhaps because she had been running, Leilah’s hair was slightly disheveled.

Through it, the brilliant summer sunlight scattered dazzlingly.

Kalian looked at Leilah, half-frozen in place.

“Your Majesty.”

A moisture-laden breeze swept past the dry, rustling grass blades.

“Now that I think about it, I left my parasol with the mercenary who was guarding the black market.”

A small dimple showed beside her sheepishly raised lips.

…Her dimple is pretty.

The thought of wanting to touch it crossed with the thought that he shouldn’t.

But in the end, the thought that won was wanting to touch it.

“Your Majesty?”

Belatedly realizing that he had brought his hand to her cheek, Kalian was quite shocked internally but withdrew his hand nonchalantly on the outside.

“Something was stuck there.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Having no way of knowing what Kalian was thinking, Leilah smiled innocently and offered her thanks.

Kalian, feeling guilty for no reason, turned his head away and answered.

“If it’s about the parasol, I’ll buy you a new one.”

Leilah waved her hands in confusion.

“That’s not what I meant. I was just worried it might cause problems later…”

“They can’t figure out who we are from just a parasol.”

“I see.”

Only then did Leilah seem relieved as she patted her chest.

“Then I’ll really be going now.”

Leilah bowed politely again and withdrew.

Kalian barely stopped himself from unconsciously calling out to her.

His gaze remained fixed on Leilah.

Her hair swaying with each step looked as soft as silk.

…It actually was soft too.

Kalian looked down at his own hand, tracing that sensation.

Then Leilah calling him “honey” echoed in his ears like a hallucination.

Leilah’s expression from that time floated around in his head.

Her jet-black eyes looking at him not knowing what to do, and her cheeks that had turned a peachy red when she called him honey.

And even her small, adorable lips that had shyly said she liked him.

He felt strange. It was like the feeling of stepping into forbidden territory that he should never enter.

As if poison he had kept in his chest had broken and seeped into his skin, the area around his heart stung.

“Is it really a poison problem?”

Kalian checked the medicine bottles in his chest. Fortunately, all the bottles were intact.

Then what on earth was this? This feeling.

The wrinkles between Kalian’s brows deepened.

He continued to ponder, but in the end, he returned to the palace without finding any answers.

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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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