Promise Keeper (5)
“…how did you get here, Judy?”
When the accident stopped at her appearance, I asked blankly.
“…how did you find me?”
My frozen body gradually melted in Judy’s warmth. The heat rises to the face and a part of the heart warms.
Judy said still hugging me.
“…it was you, so I found it. It’s you…Kaden.”
Her words were not enough to clear my confusion. I didn’t even know where to start.
Among the many, many, Judy.
As I was still confused, Judy slowly unraveled and explained.
“…Now the Naita Forest where you disappeared is being searched by the Freister soldiers.”
I couldn’t help but be surprised because it was the story I had hidden in the tree the day before.
“Whether it was Sir Lawrence…who was… Anyway.”
She wiped away the tears that kept flowing. Due to the psychological intimacy of the situation, I didn’t just watch her wipe away her tears.
He slowly raised his hand and wiped away her tears. As my fingers begin to wipe her tears away, Judy stops wiping her tears away on her own. He left his tears only in my hands.
“…but Sir Lawrence couldn’t find you… no matter how in the woods…if you were alive, I’d have heard of it…it’s strange not being able to find you for such a long time.”
“…..”
“Actually… Sir Lawrence seems to have accepted that you are no longer of this world. How do you think you lived in the yard where the body came out…”
“dead body?”
Judy nods her head. Tears welled up in her eyes at the word corpse.
“There is a cremated corpse holding your sword. Everyone thought it was you.”
“…how did things go so quickly?”
I was purely surprised. I thought no one would even know that I had been attacked. As a commoner, I wonder who is paying attention to the information flying around so quickly.
“…I didn’t believe it. I thought you couldn’t be dead That’s right… you promised to come back…”
“…..”
I couldn’t look up at Judy, who believed that word like a rock. Without Judy… I wouldn’t know how things would turn out.
Judy grabbed my cheek and lifted it up.
“Don’t be sorry, Kayden. You were alive… aren’t you…?”
She had a sad expression on her face, as if she was genuinely grateful for it.
“…Anyway, so I started looking for the next forest. I thought you wouldn’t be in Naita Forest. After walking around like that… Rush didn’t listen and started running…”
“Rush?”
She nodded.
I watched Rush relax behind Judy, shaking her head.
Judy continued.
“At the same time, we also found traces of the bandits…. they moved fast as if they were chasing something…. we rushed after them…”
I was really lucky, I thought. Rush certainly had a quirky side, but I didn’t know it would shine in this kind of situation.
There must have been more explanations that Judy could not yet explain. After many stories to be heard later, I struggled to get up.
Judy lent me a shoulder and made me stand up.
“…Judy, let’s finish the rest of the story later, and run away for now. The chase is not over yet.”
“….I don’t get it. Why are the thieves chasing you so far?…Kayden, they weren’t thieves, were they?”
I nodded.
“It was the Payne family. Shalon Payne, remember?”
“…Shalon Payne…? What made you leave the academy…?”
“….okay. It seems that they attacked me when they heard that I had become a commoner.”
“…Pain…Kaden…this…”
“War?”
Judy nodded hard. But I shook my head to the contrary.
“….no. I’m not a fryer. Where is the power… Now the only place I can lean on is the Hectors, and I can’t start a war as soon as I go.”
As I continued, I got on the rush first. There was no more strength in the thigh with the sword, so I had to get help from Judy.
On the other hand, Judy picked up the injured day and jumped onto Rush. She hugged me from behind and fixed herself on the horse.
Before any of us can hit the reins first, the rush starts running at a decent pace.
To a line where Judy wouldn’t fall off the horse without being a burden to me who was injured.
As Rush began to run steadily, Judy continued the previously unfinished conversation.
“…even though it’s been like this, you’re saying you can’t start a war…?”
“…War should be avoided. People die.”
“It was you who almost died. Even if you suffer like this, if you stay still, you will be ignored… I know I am a fool.”
“A war that only I can cause—”
“-I want it too.”
At that moment, Judy vomited out a voice full of anger.
“…this war, I want it too.”
I knew without asking any more that the feelings of hatred were directed at someone.
I was relieved just by that. A strange thing happened that made me feel… better seeing her angry.
“…Thank you just for the words.”
“…and Kaden. I thought about it, but this war will happen anyway.”
“why?”
“…don’t you know the twins’ condition?”
My heart is pounding at her words. I didn’t know why. are twins
Rumors that I’m dead aren’t true anymore. What is their state, so Judy will mention them even at this moment?
“…Kayden. You know, you’ve seen Rush, but I’ve been to Pryster’s estate. I saw Asena there…”
She hugged me tighter. Then, after hesitating for a while, he mumbled in a barely audible voice.
“……It was sad.”
“……”
“…don’t get me wrong. It’s not a word with a different meaning. What to do with you… It’s not like that. If you’re thinking of leaving your brothers, do as you please. I am just speaking my mind.”
“…..”
“…just…because that Asena is so broken…”
“…it’s broken.”
It wasn’t a good word to hear in a situation where my body was pushed to its limits. There is no one who will not be saddened to hear the news that his brother is broken.
“……still. It’ll be better when you hear that I’m alive.”
“…..I don’t know. I don’t know..”
.
.
.
.
.
Whether we were lucky or they gave up, we didn’t see any more of Payne’s soldiers.
There was a change in the scenery that I had not seen while running away. The types of trees changed, and the smells of the trees changed.
In the distance, we began to hear the popular chucks moving through the bushes.
When they got close enough to be aware of each other, Judy exclaimed.
“My friend! I’m looking for Sir Lawrence, so please guide me!”
And as soon as the soldiers saw my face in the rush, startled shouts began to fill the forest.
“Kayden!!”
“Sa… he’s alive!!”
“Call Sir Lawrence!!”
“lawmaker..! Call the senator!”
Soon, we were able to run to Lawrence on horseback in one month, by the soldiers leading us in one direction like a living creature.
Lawrence, noticing our commotion, saw me from afar and ran to me with a wild horse.
“Kayden!!”
He pulled his horse closer to Rush, reached out and grabbed my shoulder.
“Lawrence. Nice to see you here.”
“You are alive..!”
The old man’s eyes began to turn red, but he did not shed any tears.
“…you’re alive…you’re alive…”
He was very happy to see his disciple appear, so he couldn’t bring up any other words and just repeated those words.
“Too strong, Lawrence. shoulder pain. Relax your arms.”
“…Yeah…as expected…I can’t just be beaten by a thief. Kaden-sama’s ending was barely futile.”
“They were Payne’s soldiers, Sir Lawrence.”
Judy, who sat behind me, corrected him.
“….Yes?”
“It wasn’t the time of robbers, it was the soldiers of Payne.”
“…are you talking about that pain? ‘Pryster’s Dagger’, House Payne?”
“yes.”
And at her words, Lawrence’s eyes changed in an instant. A clear trace of anger enveloped him, whether the knight’s violent blood he had been hiding began to seep into it, or whether he remembered a hypothesis he had carved out as a vassal of Freister.
But soon he took control of his emotions. Then he looks up at me and asks as if it’s natural.
“…War, isn’t it?”
When they heard the news that the Payne family was behind it, everyone took the word out. Of course, if I had been a Priest, I wouldn’t have refuted that statement.
But what they are forgetting is that I am no longer a Priest. It wasn’t a fact that could easily change just because I was attacked.
I was also worried about the blood of my family that would flow because of me, who was only from a commoner. In particular, I had been training with Pryster’s soldiers by mixing swords, so it was difficult for one of them to die because of me.
I opened my mouth to deny Lawrence, but others intervened. The soldiers overheard our conversation.
“War of course, Sir Lawrence!”
“Let’s sweep it away!”
“You must not touch us!”
“Let’s go as promised!”
The atmosphere heated up with no time to stop. Lawrence also looked at me with a more softened expression, whether he was satisfied with the reaction of his soldiers.
In my mind, I wanted to ride on this atmosphere. Until just a few seconds ago, I was hesitant because I didn’t want to spill their blood, but my blood boils when I say that I will take my revenge first.
But in the end, he cooled the atmosphere and pointed out the truth.
“…no war, Lawrence. It seems like I keep forgetting it, but I am no longer a Priest.”
“……”
As if everyone had taken their breath away from my words, it became so quiet that I could hear the birdsong of the forest.
“…and now that I know that I have lived, farewell. I can’t return to the estate. My destination hasn’t changed. We must go to Hexter’s estate.”
“No.”
At my words, Lawrence cut them off with a single knife saying no.
“…..What?”
“No, Kayden. I can’t go anywhere else now.”
“…..What are you talking about.”
“…a lot has changed. You must die.”
“…I have to go, Lawrence. You also let me go once.”
Instead of answering, Lawrence rolled up Rush’s reins.
The soldiers also surrounded us and blocked the way.
“…Lawrence?”
“…You keep saying that I’m not a Priest, so if I forcefully take Kaden-sama, there will be no problem, right?”
“……”
“…and remember? I’ve said it many times… that a knight should always serve his master.”
“…remember.”
“…I sent Kaden-sama last time, but not twice. This time I have to serve the Duke. now…..! The Duke or Kirsi-sama…and you don’t know the condition of Mrs. Liana…? You don’t know what news I received in the letter.”
“……grandmother….?”
I wasn’t surprised that Judy had something to say about the twins, but when I talked about my grandmother’s condition, my heart sank again.
“…you have to go back. Even if you are thinking of leaving, please stop by at the estate. You can’t leave like this. How do I get to Hexter’s estate? If that was the case with Payne’s soldiers, they would turn their eyes on now and look for Cayden-sama. What about those wounds? ….Stop being stubborn. If not, I will take you by force.”
“……”
Lawrence bit my lip and shook me as if I was troubled.
“Why did you change like this? If it was a problem between Asena-sama and Kirsi-sama, the person who did anything…! Why are you thinking about this natural thing that you have to go back to! Because now the two of you know that Kaden-sama has passed away!! That heart-”
“-okay.”
I finally stopped talking to Lawrence. I thought about it for a long time… Actually, the moment he caught me, the decision had already been made.
I was swaying like a candle in the wind, and in the end, only a small push on my back was enough to change my decision.
I thought you’d be gone for a long time. I wanted to leave.
I nodded.
“…Okay, I’ll be back.”
When I spoke to Lawrence, the power was finally released from his hand holding the reins.
He speaks again with a softened expression.
“…you made a good choice.”
…..Actually I found out. The reason why I was so reluctant to go back and why I persisted and persisted.
Because the natural thing to push away my younger siblings was too difficult for me. Even when I first left, I clenched my teeth enough to make my jaw ache.
Behind Asena’s desperate pleas and curses. Leaving Kirsi to cry without saying a word. She shook her head and left, even to her grandmother, who was willing to accept any choice.
…If I go there again, will I be able to find that power again, just like the last time?
I wasn’t sure.
