Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 57

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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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57. Encounter (5)

“Of course, to kill you.”

“Stay away from the Princess!”

At Richard’s statement, Ralph, who had been anxiously held back by Olive and Ying, moved again. Olive and Ying held onto the young knight who didn’t value his life with all their strength.

“Duke Oren. I would like to have a conversation.”

Count Randy spoke up to draw Richard’s attention and signaled to Serena with his eyes. It was a signal to get away from the potential murderer immediately.

Ying left Ralph to Olive and stealthily reached for her dagger. Olive also grabbed her dagger while pretending to restrain Ralph.

Serena thought differently. If Richard made up his mind, she would die whether she ran or not. If she was destined to die anyway, she needed to extract as much information as possible.

At the same time, a seed of anxiety sprouted.

‘What if he also regresses like me? If I die by his hand, won’t I be unable to regress? That’s the cliché.’

But she had already died several times, so she wasn’t afraid. This time, it wasn’t acting—she could really ask calmly.

“So? Are you going to kill me now that we’ve met?”

“No.”

Richard’s answer was utterly bland. The companions who had been wary of when Richard might kill Serena glared even more fiercely.

“You said you were searching around to kill me, so why aren’t you killing me?”

“There’s no need for that now.”

“Need?”

“This is a labyrinth, isn’t it? Serena, you’ve entered the labyrinth.”

“You mean since the labyrinth is dangerous and I could die at any time, there’s no need to kill me with your own hands?”

So he wasn’t a kinslaying murderer who wanted to personally kill his cousin?

Richard didn’t answer the question and approached to gently stroke Serena’s head.

“I told you there’s dung on it.”

“Serena, poor thing.”

“Could you not pity me arbitrarily?”

Even though Serena refused, Richard pitied his cousin more than a dog starving to death on the street.

This was exactly why Serena hated Richard stroking her head.

It wasn’t simply cherishing his cousin, but eyes that seemed to truly pity her. A touch that seemed to comfort something weak, young, and pitiful.

‘Who’s pitying whom.’

He was pitying Serena, who was enjoying a happy princess life despite losing her parents and siblings all at once in an earthquake?

“Hey, Richard.”

Serena again swatted away her cousin’s hand that had landed on her head. Richard curled his fingers as if disappointed.

“Stop the useless talk and let’s make progress in our conversation. I heard someone died at the royal palace.”

She thought she wasn’t surprised at all and wasn’t sad at all, but when she actually spoke it aloud, her throat choked up. Serena forced her voice out.

“Did you do that?”

Since Richard had roamed the royal palace with a sword, claiming he would kill Serena, he was the top candidate for being a kinslayer. Instead of answering Serena’s question, Richard said something else entirely.

“Are you planning to conquer the labyrinth? Cheer up. Good things will happen when you reach the final floor.”

“What?”

“It would be interesting to bet on who reaches it first.”

“Sword Master! If you’re going to conquer the labyrinth, let’s go together! Our party has bread trees, fountains, and campfires, plus the continent’s greatest beauty and an alchemist too! Since you’re cousins, let’s get along!”

After going on about the Sword Master all along, Olive shouted as soon as she heard Richard’s words. Richard completely ignored Olive and only looked at Serena.

“If it gets too difficult, just stay put. I will definitely save you.”

“What on earth are you talking about? I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying.”

“I’m saying it’s fine to wait obediently in the place with bread trees, fountains, and campfires until I conquer the labyrinth.”

Richard frowned slightly.

“I’m a bit envious, you know? I think it’s fortunate since I don’t want to see you starving to death repeatedly, but I can’t help feeling envious and jealous. I was really hungry, you see.”

‘He knows after all.’

Richard knew that even if Serena died, she would regress again.

She couldn’t let him go like this. Even if she had to provoke him and die, she needed to extract more information.

Whether he noticed Serena’s change of heart or it was simple whim, Richard lightly stamped his foot and moved to another peak.

Serena became like a dog that lost the chicken it was chasing and barked frantically.

“Hey! Don’t go!”

“Seraph is over there!”

Richard pointed to one peak, then leaped between cliffs lighter than a labyrinth deer and disappeared into the cave with stairs that the party had been aiming for.

‘What the hell…’

Someone grabbed Serena, who had become like a dog that lost its chicken and was staring blankly in the direction Richard had disappeared.

“It’s dangerous if you go too far out.”

Serena had moved close enough to the cliff edge that it would be dangerous to stay dazed. Count Randy led Serena toward the cave.

Serena moved as Count Randy guided her, trying to untangle her thoughts that were twisted like yarn a cat had played with.

When Serena entered the cave and sat down, the party gathered around the princess.

“Um… I know I shouldn’t be curious about other people’s family affairs, but… I need just a tiny bit of explanation, you know?”

“If he’s Duke Oren, he’s a prince and your cousin, isn’t he, Princess? Why would he try to kill you…”

“Sir Ralph, Olive. You’re both being rude. Don’t take excessive interest in royal family affairs.”

“No, Count. I need to explain about Richard.”

“Right. We need to know about the Sword Master’s identity! It’s not just anyone, but a Sword Master, you know!”

“I didn’t know Duke Oren was a Sword Master…”

Just as magic and alchemy were connected to gods, in this world warriors also grew by receiving divine protection.

Even without specifically believing in and following a main god, related deities would see their efforts and talent and help them grow, and the pinnacle of that was Sword Master.

Sword Master was every knight’s dream. Only two had appeared in human history, and today a third Sword Master had revealed his existence.

Ralph seemed amazed that he would see a Sword Master in his lifetime, unable to hide his excitement and emotion.

“…Since he said my brother is here, let’s talk while we go.”

“Right! You know!”

It might be a lie, but since they heard Seraph was there, they had to go check. Anyway, they couldn’t go anywhere else until the bridge destroyed by the labyrinth deer was repaired.

Where should she start explaining? Serena became aware of her parched mouth and moistened her throat.

“The strange human who just appeared is Grand Duke Richard Oren Huaim. My cousin. The eldest son of my late uncle, the former Crown Prince. The whole story begins in the year I was born.”

That’s right. All the tragedy of the Huji royal family began just before Serena was born, at a large-scale tomb visit to truly commemorate the thousandth year of the kingdom’s founding.

“His Majesty King Harold II of Huji, my grandfather, was blessed with many children. He had five sons and three daughters. To commemorate the thousandth year of the kingdom’s founding, His Majesty planned a large-scale tomb visit, taking all the royals to a mausoleum hidden in the mountain range. From direct descendants of the royal family to distant relatives with diluted blood. Everyone with Huaim recorded in their family tree participated in the tomb visit. Except for my parents.”

“Why were the Princess’s parents excluded? Was it because your mother was resting while pregnant with you?”

“No. My father, Crown Prince Kipan, is a severe drug addict. His Majesty was disappointed that father couldn’t quit drugs and deliberately excluded father and mother from the family outing.”

Being excluded from a tomb visit that even distant relatives attended was tantamount to a declaration of severance.

The ultimatum that they wouldn’t even provide royal stipends if he didn’t get his act together became the secret plan that protected the youngest son’s family from sudden disaster.

“An earthquake occurred and a landslide buried the royal procession. Aftershocks continued and heavy rain poured down, so no one dared to attempt a rescue. When the rescue team finally arrived, there was only one survivor: His Majesty Harold II. He survived alone thanks to a magical artifact passed down to Huji kings for generations.”

This was Huji’s tragedy that created the new custom across all continental nations of not gathering ruling family heirs all at once.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, as they say.

The Huaim family, which had ruled the Kingdom of Huji for a thousand years, faced the crisis of their lineage ending overnight. The youngest son, who had been cut off from the family and couldn’t participate in the family outing, became the sole survivor.

He was a rotten egg, but there was no one else to continue the line. Still, they say position makes the person—wouldn’t he come to his senses if he became crown prince? Harold II had no choice but to crown Serena’s father as crown prince.

“His Majesty agonized a lot, but my birth was decisive. Even if father is a drug addict, my brother or I could inherit the kingdom.”

Since Huji’s succession prioritized sons, when her brother was born, Serena was pushed back in the succession order. She didn’t want to receive imperial education anyway, so it worked out well.

“Wait! If they all died, then who is this Richard or Orange Duke or whatever?”

“Didn’t I say? Richard is the eldest son of my late uncle. We thought he was dead, but he suddenly returned six years ago.”

“It’s already strange that a young prince survived when all the adults died in that chaos, but to believe someone who had no news all that time and suddenly returned as an adult…”

Olive spoke as if she couldn’t understand, then closed her mouth when she saw Serena pointing to her right eye with her index finger. The orange eyes that were very rarely born even in the Huji royal family. Did they need more proof?

“The orange eyes and the sword Richard was carrying. That’s a treasured sword passed down only to heirs in the Huaim family for generations. My late uncle gave it to Richard early for his 12th birthday. When Richard returned alive, His Majesty was overjoyed and gave Richard the title of Duke Oren. It’s the title traditionally given to crown princes of the Kingdom of Huji. Father never received it.”

“That means…”

“Right. Richard is the legitimate heir to the throne. Many people think so. At least they think it’s better than having a drug addict or an addict’s son become king.”

A crown prince who couldn’t quit drugs even after becoming heir, and a crown princess who wasn’t mentally sound and even tried to harm her own children. Two children born between them.

Compared to that, a legitimate heir who grew up properly and confidently, though no one knows what happened during his missing years.

Huji’s nobles were divided into the Richard faction and the Seraph faction. All nobles who had been close to the deceased crown prince belonged to the former.

Most nobles supporting the latter weren’t truly for Seraph but greedy ones who preferred a king easy to manipulate. There were decent people who believed in and expected Seraph’s growth, but they were a minority.

“I never knew Richard was a Sword Master. If I had known, even the few remaining Crown Prince faction members would have all switched to the Duke Oren faction.”

“That’s not true. There are many people who support and cheer for Lady Serena and Lord Seraph.”

“Honestly, I also thought Richard was more suited for the throne than father or Seraph. But then.”

Suddenly a labyrinth was created that swallowed Heuji City, and one family member was said to have been killed by another family member. She had thought it was just a simple succession struggle or a dysfunctional crime fitting for a dysfunctional family, but meeting Richard had shattered all her assumptions.

Richard seemed to have ulterior motives beyond the throne.

‘A Sword Master and a labyrinth. How are things unfolding?’

Even just conquering the labyrinth normally would be headache-inducing, but now a strange relative was added to the mix? What would happen if Richard conquered the labyrinth first?

Serena pressed her forehead as her head ached, then quickly pulled her hand away when she realized it was where the poop had fallen.

“I think that’s enough explanation. Let’s hurry and find Seraph.”

“Ugh, a real Sword Master appeared but we can’t travel together.”

Olive, who had jokingly talked about Sword Masters, seemed disappointed that she couldn’t travel with one and let her shoulders droop. Still, she had enough sense not to suggest trying to convince him to join them.

“What did Duke Oren mean by what he said?”

Ralph, still unable to calm his excited and thrilled heart, pondered Richard’s words before asking the question.

“Which words do you mean?”

“About how something good would happen if we reach the last floor of the labyrinth.”

Olive answered as if it were obvious.

“It would be that we can escape, right?”

Being able to leave this damn labyrinth would indeed be a good thing.

But it didn’t seem like Richard would call something that trivial a ‘good thing.’

“A wish.”

Ying, who had kept her mouth shut the whole time, suddenly spoke.

“What? Why a wish?”

“If you reach the last floor of the labyrinth, the god will grant your wish.”

When Ying spoke in a long sentence, Serena unconsciously leaned in to listen.

“This is the first I’m hearing of this. What are you talking about?”

If Olive was hearing this for the first time, then it wasn’t a rumor circulating among labyrinth explorers. Ying remained silent for a moment, then stared into the cave’s darkness with her black eyes.

“In the past, when labyrinths were first discovered, such rumors circulated. That if you conquered a labyrinth and reached the last floor, the god would grant your wish.”

“That’s complete nonsense. If that were true, wouldn’t there be quite a few people who had their wishes granted?”

When thinking of labyrinths, one might first think of high-grade, difficult-to-conquer places like Messa Labyrinth, but there were many labyrinths on the continent that had been completely conquered.

Even Vieta’s Labyrinth, which was a joke among labyrinth industry people, had been perfectly conquered.

If what Ying said was true, then the wishes of those who conquered those labyrinths should have been granted, but no such rumors had circulated.

“There are none.”

“Right? There aren’t any, right? What nonsense about wishes.”

“No one has reached the last floor.”

“Is that what the darkness whispered to you?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I see. I think I understand.”

Olive nodded with a serious expression and gestured to the group.

“Let’s end this conversation here! Let’s hurry and go find the prince!”

‘I’ll have to ask about this later.’

Ying was a true servant of the god of darkness, certified by the Minotaur God. Since it was something a god had said, it wouldn’t be nonsense.

Nothing was being resolved while incidents kept occurring. Tangled balls of unsolved thread continued to pile up in Serena’s mind.

The princess’s inner thoughts had become as complexly twisted as the labyrinth’s paths.

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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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