Volume 2 Chapter 102 Quest： Sun Fantasy, Part IV
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”That’s not something you should say out loud. Christy, instead of words that make people lose hope, try offering some encouragement.”
”Can’t read the room, can she?”
”…I’m sorry…”
She shrank back suddenly.
Rufna slumped her shoulders and thought, “This is no good.”
Kian asked quietly.
”Come on, choose. What do you want to do, Christy?”
”What do I want to do? There’s only the worst ending no matter what I choose. There’s no choice to be made… I don’t even know what to do.”
The black-haired witch said this with a voice tinged with tears.
She seemed utterly lost.
(…It can’t be helped)
She was a genius who graduated at the top of the royal academy, but in reality, she was just an ordinary girl more than ten years younger than Kian.
Moreover, having been raised in a greenhouse, it seemed unlikely she had ever made a life-altering choice in such a tense situation before.
It’s unreasonable to demand an immediate answer.
There’s still time until dawn, and she should be given a little more time to think.
Kian nodded once and turned his back.
While Christy was thinking, he should prepare to be able to act in any way necessary.
He should start by confirming the layout of the mansion──.
As he was about to leave the room, a pained voice called out from behind.
”…Kian…”
”Your Excellency. Have you awakened?”
He turned around.
Maribel had sat up.
Christy hurriedly crawled over to support her, but before she could, Rufna placed a hand on the young princess’s back.
Rufna’s touch caused Maribel’s body to heat up in an instant.
Her coloring improved somewhat, but it was clear that the energy that had been infused was quickly dissipating from her body.
”Your Excellency, I have been negotiating with Oswald”
”I’ve been listening… I’m fine. I understand the situation.”
”If you have the strength, would you like to speak with them yourself?”
”…Even if I go, it would just be exchanging criticisms of political policies with Oswald. I can’t negotiate with him in earnest. If Oswald is a lion, then I must look like nothing more than a newborn puppy to him.”
”────”
It seems she won’t show herself in front of Oswald after all, having worn herself out.
Kian also thought it would be better to stop.
If she gets close enough to Oswald, he’ll try to snatch Maribel by force.
From Oswald’s perspective, once he has Maribel, he can simply keep launching the sun’s magic sword from a distance and turn Owl and the Main Castle’s barrier into ashes.
Excuses for one’s own side can be made later.
He could even say, “I acted rashly with the princess’s consent; everyone, I apologize for destroying the Main Castle,” and no one could say anything to that.
There’s no reason not to.
Kian gave Maribel a respectful look.
”There are 3 paths. What will you do?”
”Manon, what do you think we should do?”
”Christy… what would you like to do? I… do not wish to surrender.”
”…We might get killed if we fight?”
”I will not be killed. Everyone else will be the ones to die.”
”…”
Christy’s eyes widened as Maribel’s sweat-stained face crumpled.
”That’s why I’m asking. I’m already deciding within myself. But if I do, everyone but me will die if it fails… I’m not strong enough to bear that responsibility.”
”Then, should we run?”
”We can’t run.”
Maribel shook her head.
”Even if we try to escape, Main Castle is completely surrounded, and all the strongholds within the fortress have been seized. We will surely have to face both Oswald and Aisha at the same time somewhere. Even if Kian and the others manage to buy us some time to escape, we won’t be able to protect ourselves and live afterward. We also don’t have enough money for that. …Christy, you have a place to return to in your homeland, but as for me, I will either die somewhere in the wild or be blinded and collared before being sold off to a rich man.”
”If, if you come with me to my father, he might accept Manon.”
Christy suggests something that was already clear to everyone.
Maribel shakes her head gently with a faint smile.
”If we are going to fight Oswald, we should aim for the highest return in a situation with better odds. I believe the optimal solution is to lure him into this Main Castle and neutralize him.”
”Well, considering victory, we should not engage in a retreat battle in this disadvantageous position outside the castle. It’s nothing short of reckless to deal with Oswald while surrounded by troops and trying to help you all escape.”
”That’s right. …Kian, I want freedom. I no longer want to be a cute little bird just chirping in someone’s hands.”
Maribel separates from Rufna’s arms and shakily rises to her feet.
She brushes off Christy’s insistence to stop and walks over here.
”I don’t want to die. I can’t die. I am the last of the Danofen. I have my personal ideals, but more importantly, I have inherited something from my father and grandfather. I absolutely cannot end it here…!”
”……”
”Please fight for me. I have nothing to offer right now, but if you bet on my future, I will repay this kindness many times over. …So please, help me. …I beg you.”
Maribel was crying.
But she was not just shedding tears like a child.
There was a light of determination in her eyes.
It’s just a feeling.
If he rejected her request here, he thought she might leave a petition for Oswald to spare Christy and Liam before taking her own life.
He had no intention of running or surrendering.
If he were defeated and captured, he would take his own life to stain Oswald’s name and bring him down with him────.
What truly mattered was protecting the dignity of the Danofen family head, even more than his own life.
Being humiliated was not an option.
Isn’t that what she was thinking?
’Audacious’
’Glasses’ muttered in disgust.
’Do you think that if you cling, a hand will be extended to you? You are a woman of low spirit.’
But Kian saw something different in her figure from his own 15 years ago.
Isn’t Maribel a flower that blooms strongly and beautifully even in the mud?
He had intended to help from the very beginning.
He strongly felt that he couldn’t bear to see this newly blossomed, fragile flower wither away so miserably.
”────I cannot grant Your Excellency’s request.”
”…uh…”
”Hey, are you sure about this, Master?”
Pressing Rufna’s eyebrows together, Kian hold back his hand and continue speaking.
”Your Excellency Maribel”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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