LADAD Chapter 21

Ivan and Amelia spent the night entangled like beasts in heat, over and over again.

On the first day, they embraced each other so intensely that they only fell asleep from exhaustion when the sun was beginning to rise.

And when they opened their eyes, they would spend time nestled in his embrace once more. Three days was such a painfully short time. She didn't want to be apart from Ivan's side for even a moment.

"......"

Ivan was now sleeping soundly, and Amelia couldn't fall asleep for the same reason. Because this was the end. Before dawn broke, Ivan would have to leave this room.

And his face would become one she could never see again. So that she could remember him for a long time, she wanted to capture Ivan's image in her eyes.

"I won't ask again. You won't regret this, will you?"

Amelia gently stroked Ivan's face with her hand, recalling the last chance he had given her. The body that had struggled to pull away then, as if she could still retreat.

"I don't regret it. This is the end."

And herself, who had kicked away the chance he offered with such defiance.

In truth, though she had acted without a second thought, she had feared she might come to regret it. She had been anxious about herself for so boldly rejecting the opportunity Ivan had given her.

"That's a relief."

But fortunately, even until the last day, no feeling of regret arose. Even though her body ached and creaked as if it wasn't her own from experiencing something for the first time in her life.

"...What is?"

That's when it happened. A voice, low from just waking up, brought Amelia back to consciousness.

"Did I wake you?"

Amelia hurriedly pulled away the hand that had been caressing Ivan's face. She felt embarrassed and sorry, thinking she had disturbed his peaceful sleep for no reason.

"No. I had to get up anyway."

Ivan answered, roughly running his hand through his disheveled hair. He too seemed to be aware that today was the last of the three days.

"I can't be dragged away while sleeping as if I've lost my senses."

"Why can't you do that?"

"There's something I forgot to say."

Something forgotten? Amelia tilted her head like a puppy trying to understand its master's words. Ivan curved one corner of his mouth at an angle and slipped his hands beneath Amelia's waist.

"What, what are you doing!"

Ivan's two hands, having slipped in with mischievous intent, grasped both sides of Amelia's waist. Then he effortlessly lifted her body, settling her atop his own. Ivan's solid chest pressed against Amelia's palms. Even though they had touched this skin countless times before, she felt bashful as their bare flesh made contact.

"Congratulations on becoming an adult."

She was trying hard to suppress her body's instinctive trembling when it happened. A low voice completely captivated Amelia's mind.

Amelia slowly lifted her gaze from Ivan's chest and collarbone area. Ivan wasn't wearing a particularly more affectionate expression, nor did he look helplessly endeared by his partner. It was just his usual face with one faint smile.

"...Thank you."

Amelia answered with a smile. And she released the tension that had been awkwardly stiffening her body.

Their upper bodies touched warmly. So this was what sharing body heat meant.

Thinking this, she rested her head against Ivan's nape. A large hand came to gently stroke her exposed shoulder.

But the dreamlike time didn't last long. Amelia heard sharp knocking that pierced through the canopy draped around the bed. It was the depths of night with only pale moonlight streaming down. A night when everyone's movements were restricted, and the very time when Ivan had to be cast out in silence.

"It seems time to go."

Amelia moved to sit beside Ivan's body. Ivan began putting on his clothes one by one without saying anything. Amelia also put her nightgown over her body.

"Let me do it."

And the moment Ivan lifted the cloth from the floor to cover his head, she reached out to do it for him. Ivan readily passed over what he held in his hands. And he bowed his head slightly so Amelia could drape the cloth over it. Throughout this, Amelia didn't weep. But the instant his face was completely concealed, tears spilled forth beyond her control.

"I hope there's already a child."

Because the man before her had accepted even death itself. In truth, if Ivan had truly wanted to live, he should have departed this bedchamber long ago. While they might not realize now that he possessed golden hair and green eyes, they would discover the truth the moment this cloth was lifted or when he was sent back to the place where the black-haired man should have been.

Ivan wasn't a fool, so he must have known this much. However, Ivan had stayed here.

Amelia quietly pressed her forehead against his. And she whispered with sincerity. Her voice didn't tremble, so it would be hard to notice she was crying. That fact alone was fortunate. She didn't want the last image of herself that Ivan remembered to be a face crying miserably from being unable to overcome her emotions.

"So that I can keep remembering you."

Ivan gave no reply. But in not refuting those words, he offered his answer in their place. He too appeared to wish that his child had found its place within Amelia's womb. Then Amelia would not have to endure nights with another against her will and bear an unwanted child.

"Come in."

Amelia straightened her leaning body and roughly wiped her wet face with her hand. And she commanded those waiting outside to enter. Immediately the door opened and a man entered.

"...Take care."

Ivan, with his hands bound, was led across the bedroom threshold by another's hands. And as the door closed, he completely disappeared from view.

He vanished completely like that.

"Ugh..."

Only then did Amelia burst into tears, burying her face in her palms. The sense of loss from having the most precious thing stolen entirely pierced deep into her heart.

"Congratulations on becoming an adult."

Amelia recalled the smile that had graced his face as he congratulated her on becoming an adult. That effortless expression had utterly captured all of Amelia's heart.

Those tranquil, whispered congratulations. But the celebration of her coming of age and the tenderness of shared warmth were things Amelia had experienced for the very first time.

"......"

Amelia, who had been shedding tears endlessly, suddenly lifted her head. And like someone who had received a revelation, she moved toward the window. Under the dim moonlight, she could see Ivan's retreating figure being dragged away.

"I love you..."

Her heart tumbled out beyond her control. In truth, she had wanted to confess her genuine feelings to Ivan as well. But she believed she must bear it in silence, for emotions she could not answer for were nothing but poison.

I love you. I love you. You are the salvation of my life.

The feelings she couldn't convey ached.

Ivan blinked. With a sack or something pulled over his head and his hands bound, being carried like a corpse, it was difficult to grasp his location. From the sound of water, he could only guess there might be a river or lake nearby.

"Who goes there!"

Suddenly the cart stopped. Ivan keenly opened his ears.

"What's that loaded there?"

Someone asked the mercenary who had been dragging Ivan. It was a tone that seemed confident in knowing that despite wearing the armor of a holy knight, he wasn't a real holy knight.

Indeed, the man Ivan had seized by the scruff of the neck to infiltrate the temple was also a mercenary from some backwater countryside. He was from such a godforsaken place that no one could tell where he'd been procured, and it was evident he had been passed through at least two or three intermediaries to conceal his employer's identity.

And what of those corridors that had been utterly deserted at that hour, as though everyone had been given leave. The temple workers were kept from witnessing the man's comings and goings, and it appeared all the mercenaries were disposed of after a single use.

"Just straw."

"I can see human feet, though?"

The mercenary, who had been making excuses with the straw covering Ivan's body, couldn't answer.

"Whether I'm carting off people or hauling straw, what concern is it of yours to start trouble?"

He could only respond to them illogically. His mindset was that if it was dirty, they'd avoid it.

"There's someone we're looking for. Just in case."

"Stop talking nonsense and get out of the way!"

The surroundings became chaotic. There were sounds of bodies colliding and quarreling irritably at high volume.

"Remove that straw right now!"

"These bastards...!"

Someone swept away the straw that had been covering Ivan's body. At the same time, the mercenary lunged at them desperately. And seizing Ivan by the scruff, he hurled him over the bridge that barely reached his waist. It all unfolded in a flash.

Ivan plummeted straight down beneath the bridge. With a splash, his body disappeared under the water. But Ivan offered no resistance nor flailed about in alarm.

"Your Majesty!"

Because he knew someone would jump into the water after him to save him.

"Why on earth did you..."

As they emerged from the water, the rope that had bound his arms had already been cut free, liberating his body. Ivan used his freed hands to cast away the cloth that had been covering his head.

"Why were you so reckless, Your Majesty?"

"I didn't die, did I?"

The face revealed beneath the pale moonlight was so utterly calm it was enough to turn Rodan's stomach inside out. Rodan muttered with a weary expression, as though he lacked even the strength to complain. After receiving Ivan's message from a carrier bird at the very moment they were meant to meet following the sacred maiden's extraction, he had spent the entire day consumed by unease.

"The one who escaped?"

"We failed to catch him, but he's being pursued."

Ivan launched into what he wished to discuss first, as though the time Rodan had spent fretting and agonizing meant nothing to him. He showed no inclination to properly explain the purpose behind his actions.

Were he not the Emperor, Rodan would have spat curses in his face, calling him a wretched bastard. Rodan gnashed his teeth internally.

"Bring him in no matter what it takes. He's one of the seeds that will sprout in the hearts of those who impersonated God's representatives."

"When you speak of seeds..."

Ivan stood up, brushing himself off. And he put on the robe Rodan handed him, covering his wet body.

"One is that escaped man himself."

"......"

"The other is in someone's belly."

Rodan frowned, not knowing what nonsense Ivan was spouting this time.

"Well, there might not be one."

Ivan added with good humor, paying no mind to Rodan's reaction. And he turned with ease and began to walk. His blonde hair, damp with moisture, gleamed a pale blue in the moonlight. Like the razor-sharp edge of a sword that had cut down a man in a single strike.

"See him escorted."

Rodan exhaled deeply and ordered Ivan's guard knights. The guards swiftly fell in behind him. Damned bastard though he might be, the master they served remained their master. Rodan too began following in their wake.