SALP Chapter 17

Vigo continued with an indifferent expression.

"Still, there were a few times I nearly died."

He interlaced his two gloved hands and tightened them to fit snugly.

"Will you pray for me to return safely? Like the old days."

Ugh. Bringing up old memories to soften her heart...

"It'd be a problem for you if I don't come back."

He smiled faintly, watching her flushing face from the corner of his eye.

"You don't want that? If I disappeared, Derek Gebimonde would come chasing after you immediately and carry you off."

"Do you find other people's misfortunes entertaining?"

Even as she flared up in anger as if she'd never softened at all, he showed no sign of remorse.

"It's entertaining. How could it not be, thinking about the reward that bastard would offer me while trembling?"

Chattering away while smiling so lightly like that. Is he serious? No, isn't it also a problem to call something like that a joke?

He provoked her to his heart's content, then left the room without even saying goodbye. In an instant, he moved off the carpeted area, and the heavy thud, thud of his combat boots grated annoyingly on her ears as they struck the wooden floor.

Though all that had disappeared was a man dressed in dreary clothes spouting dreary words, the room somehow felt even gloomier.

Lanthe flopped onto the bed and glared at the empty air.

What meaning did you have in bringing me here, angel?

I don't understand anything. Nothing at all...

She didn't feel like she'd experienced a miracle because she was some great being. After that one inexplicable incident at the lake in Newbella, only an extremely ordinary daily life had continued. An ordinary life as an orphan who'd lost everything, feeling betrayed by a childhood friend who'd appeared as something like a turncoat.

Was it true that she could revive Raphlang? Even if it were, what meaning would there be in reviving the old kingdom? If revival meant the miraculous resurrection of the kingdom's lost people, it would only be horrifying. Or if it meant recovering the prosperous kingdom's relics from that era, that too would only become grounds for conflict.

'You think there's anyone in power who hasn't killed someone's parents once or twice?'

What kind of world was paradise in the first place?

At least as long as the humans living on this land were the type who thought like Vigo, paradise would crumble before even lasting a day after being born.

If only the Raphlishians hadn't been massacred that day, she might at least have dreamed of someday having even a small territory where they could live together...

Lanthe pulled the blanket over herself and fell asleep again while lying face down.

In her dream, she reunited with the lost Vigo and earnestly tried to talk to him. But he couldn't understand her words well.

"Who are you?"

He didn't even recognize her at all.

"It's me! It's Lanthe!"

"Lanthe?"

He looked at her with an expressionless face.

"Ah. Were you the girl next door who liked me?"

"This is ridiculous..."

"Then?"

Without even recognizing her, he kept touching her face and hair and kept trying to make her lie down next to him. He seemed to have become a very indecent adult.

"W-we were best friends. You always came over to my house to play. We ate together and rode sleds together."

"Did we?"

Frustrated, she pounded her chest with her fist, but he only twisted his lips and smiled like a mean person.

"Sorry. I seem to have gotten amnesia."

"What's that? If you forgot me, then go away."

"Come here. Sleep next to me. Hmm?"

Despite her refusal, he stubbornly made her lie down next to him, then let out a satisfied sigh like a well-fed beast.

Lanthe squirmed in his embrace, grinding her teeth.

"Hurry up and remember me, you fool. Think carefully."

"Mm."

Then Vigo stared into the distance, lost in thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Ah. I remember."

"Really?"

She bolted upright with joy, and he smiled gently at her.

"Lanthe Entridhal."

His thick arm wrapped around her waist.

"The girl next door I liked..."

Whoosh, heat rose to her cheeks.

"Ha."

Suddenly feeling hot, she exhaled a heated breath and opened her eyes.

A deep green color shimmered, making her think for a moment she was in a forest, but she soon realized it was actually the canopy draped behind the bed.

Vigo's bed. And she was alone.

"Sleeping in late makes me have strange dreams..."

She sat up, cooling her burning cheeks with the back of her hand.

What an indecent dream.

She felt unsettled about lying in bed for no good reason until the sun had fully risen. She wanted to shed the habits from her time living in Newbella as quickly as possible. I need to eat quickly and think about whether there's anything I can do.

When Lanthe hurriedly changed clothes and came outside, a black shadow approached.

"Will you not eat in your room?"

Jet-black hair, jet-black eyes.

It was Warner.

"Ah, yes... Where did Sir Rix go?"

Recalling the rather shocking scene from yesterday when she'd first seen him, Lanthe spoke in a slightly tense voice.

"I'm scheduled to take over while Rix rests. I apologize for not informing you in advance."

Warner used a dry, polite tone. His gaze, feeling neither goodwill nor hostility, gave a similar impression to the cold expression Vigo sometimes wore.

Not quite a demon, but enough atmosphere to recall the source of the fear Raphlishians held toward Penmark people.

But this person is Vigo's subordinate...

"I look forward to working with you, Sir Warner. And I'm more comfortable eating in the dining room."

A subordinate who seems to be high-ranking among subordinates.

Lanthe carefully offered her greeting and walked toward the dining room. Though only the footsteps monitoring her for a few days had changed, it felt awkward.

"Lanthe sis!"

As she reached the stairs, a welcome voice came from below.

"Where are you going? I just finished eating and was on my way to see you. Hello, Sir Warner too!"

"Welcome, Nina."

"Can I take our Lanthe sis with me?"

Though they saw each other every day, Nina giggled and clung to Lanthe's waist, saying she was happy. Even for her, Warner seemed to be a more difficult person than Rix—her attitude was quite demure compared to when she'd just act cute and say 'of course I can, right?'

When Lanthe looked back at Warner as if seeking permission, he nodded.

"As you wish. The lord hasn't given any specific instructions regarding Lady Lanthe's schedule."

"Yay!"

Nina swung her arms enthusiastically. Lanthe smiled and gently adjusted the ribbon on her loosened hair tie.

"I'm going to eat now, will you wait?"

"I'll come too! The meat pie is really delicious today. I have to eat more!"

For now, the major problems Lanthe wanted to solve had been narrowed down to about three.

First. If the angel of Eründel had helped her because she was royalty of Raphlang, was there a way to receive help or communicate in the future?

Second. Would it be alright to confess Derek's plans and her secret to Vigo?

Third. How could she go to Floretta and live an ordinary life?

As for finding other people who'd escaped from Roas, she could only attempt that after solving at least one of the above problems, so she had no choice but to postpone it.

First, the key to the first problem was getting help from someone who knew about Raphlang well. Unless a miraculous divine revelation descended from the heavens.

But could there be anyone more knowledgeable about it than Derek and Fiarelle, who were plotting the absurd plan of reviving Raphlang? Looking at it coldly, she could only draw a pessimistic conclusion. Even Fiarelle, who claimed to have tracked Raphlang's survivors for ten years, could only speculate about 'the angel of Eründel.' She hadn't even foreseen that Lanthe would escape through the lake.

Regarding the second problem, getting help from others was entirely impossible. Lanthe had to judge for herself what kind of person Vigo was. If informing him of Derek's plans made him abandon his intention to send her to Derek, that would be the best outcome.

However, if he showed no particular aversion to Derek's behavior as he had until now, it would likely just increase the scale of ransom negotiations while things proceeded as before. Moreover, if Lanthe herself became treated as 'the key to reviving Raphlang,' an even more arduous future might unfold.

The third was the path closest to the future Lanthe had first dreamed of in Newbella. Going to Floretta. But it required enormous expenses. It would take a long time to save up. The problem was whether that money was an amount she could earn through labor before winter passed, and whether Vigo would interfere.

"Ugh, I'm so full!"

The most realistic option would still be the third—going to Floretta. If only she could fly from here to Floretta in an instant, like when she came from Newbella to Hermea...

"I ate two more. Should I get more pie? It's nutty and savory and spicy and delicious, right?"

The more deeply she thought, the more her doubts grew that there wasn't a single realistic solution. Should she just leave her life to others' intentions and hope for luck...?

"What would you do, Nina?"

Lanthe asked gloomily while chewing and swallowing the meat pie dripping with juice.

"If I were you, I'd eat more!"

"Right. Let's eat more..."

At innocent Nina's answer, Lanthe busily worked her fork again.

That's right. The top priority in a dining room is to eat, isn't it?

"We even skipped dinner yesterday!"

"That's because we ate too much lunch at the square yesterday."

"Still, let's eat lots!"

"Okay. Just one more."

Receiving the last pie with gratitude and biting into it, she returned to idle thoughts.

'I'm so lost. I don't know where to start or how to go about any of this.'