Chapter 23

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 23

AIN could only idly stand around and do nothing. Nasette sat on the edge of the bed where Tita slept and sipped his alcohol as he watched her sleep. When Luca declared he was bringing Tita with him to the prison, Ain vaguely thought, I knew it.

Luca hated the idea of putting Yuki in danger from the start. Even when they went to Fol, he would have gotten someone to take her place had she not been exposed as his Master in such detail.

Most people would normally hate the idea of having a young girl tag along with them everywhere, but Ain’s master was not normal. If he were honest about it, he thought Luca changed a little from the Luca he knew in the past.

Luca interacted as the real him—not the facade he put on for others—with those who knew him since childhood, while everyone else were nothing more than tools in his eyes.

Since they were young, female spies and the like approached Luca. The way Luca dealt with those spies was a punishment vicious enough it traumatized Ain. That was the kind of man Luca was.

And yet he is carefree and open with Yuki. Aside from her strange eye color, Yuki was an ordinary child. At one time Ain suspected she was a Witch or a spy, but soon learned that was a needless fear.

Or maybe it’s because she’s ordinary. She appears happy. At the very least, she must have been raised by a loving and happy family. She doesn’t know how to doubt others. Whenever she comes across something she doesn’t know she tilts her head with curiosity, and enthusiastically tries to learn more. She got attached to me after I taught her about our world, and has since asked me questions every chance she gets.

Ain didn’t think it would be possible for someone like Yuki to be raised in a land impoverished by a never-ending war. Nasette’s sudden movement made Ain aware he was absently lost in his thoughts.

Nasette gently moved Tita’s hair out of her face after she rolled over in bed. Tita, who had been sobbing several hours earlier, was peacefully sleeping now. Nasette had procured a sleeping poultice to ease Tita into sleep. Ain wasn’t able to do anything for his childhood friend after seeing her for the first time in years. He couldn’t do anything for her as she uttered, “Prince Lucat,” through trembling lips.

There was nothing he could do, and it’s not like he hadn’t tried. The spy they hired was killed, the person they bribed ran away; they tried every conceivable plan, but each time it was obstructed by some unknown means. Their last-ditch suicidal attempt tomorrow morning may very well be a trap too. In fact, Ain expected it was; someone was working in the background to manipulate events.

“It will spell the true end for Rvydom if we don’t save Sir Dante,” Luca said. Luca was trying to split the continent back into three self-sufficient countries.

“We have no other option but to go through with this plan, even knowing it’s a trap,” Luca declared what should have been an agonizing fact for him with his usual lack of expression. With how well he knew Ain, he surely said it that way to give him peace of mind.

“We’ve caused you a lot of problems too…” Nasette’s quiet utterance echoed through the deathly silent room. He was looking at Ain now.

“What is the matter with you all of a sudden?”

Nasette forced a sad smile, his large body shrinking dejectedly. “Nah, just that we’re putting you in danger for our dad’s sake too…”

“What are you saying? Geez.”

Ain knew they went through a lot to keep him out of harm’s way. He felt nothing but gratitude toward Luca and Nasette’s protectiveness of him.

“We’re doing something terrible to the little lady too,” Nasette said gazing into the distance. Ain knew exactly what he was thinking about.

“But I am glad.” Ain wasn’t being sarcastic—he was genuinely glad. His precious childhood friend, and Nasette’s beloved little sister, didn’t have to go to a dangerous place she might not come back from.

“…Yeah. I can never be grateful enough to the little lady,” Nasette commented, hanging his head in shame.

Ain and Nasette had committed a terrible crime. In order to protect their dear Tita, they were offering up a still innocent girl brimming with happiness to take her place. Their guilt was further evidenced by the fact neither of them objected when Yuki offered to go instead. They were overcome with fear when Luca declared he was taking Tita, yet they almost cheered internally at Yuki’s offer.

Don’t object. Don’t say anything. Don’t fight it, Ain told Tita in his heart. But Tita fought with tears streaming down her face not to let Yuki go. The other two didn’t even try—they hoped Luca would agree. That was their crime. In return for their crime, they received an angelic smile and an indescribably heavy air.

Ain sat on the opposite side of Nasette and peered at Tita’s sleeping face. “I truly am glad.” His whisper reached only his accomplice’s ears.

***

HOW many times has he held my hand like this? His hand was the first thing I touched in this world.

Luca’s face was always unreadable, so Yuki never knew what he was thinking, but he always offered her his hand and never hesitated to take hold of hers. She looked up at him wondering whether he knew holding her hand was enough to ease her worries—to make her think things would turn out okay. The icy hand gripping hers was sweating. But he firmly held her hand in his, not once letting go since he took hold of it.

They entered a tower called, ‘The Prison’. The top floors of the tower were used as a workshop, while the dungeon housed the main prison. Their bags were searched at the entrance of the tower. They were only allowed to carry in the jute bag containing food. All Yuki had on her was the jute bag and the Knight’s Token stashed in her breast pocket.

When Yuki asked what the Knight’s Token was supposed to be used for, Luca told her, “Someone impersonating Sir Dante might show up instead,” and forced her to hold onto Ann’s ring, as she was Dante’s master. The ring could identify the real Dante, so Yuki wore the ring on a chain wrapped around her wrist like a bracelet.

A soldier holding a torch silently descended the staircase in front of them. Yuki and Luca followed him down. Yuki tripped over her feet as she hastened to keep up with the only source of light. The hand firmly gripping hers reliably kept her from falling over her trembling feet. Their footsteps were the only noise in the dim and quiet staircase.

Yuki was very calm—terribly calm despite completely breaking down last night and not getting a wink of sleep. The tips of her fingers were freezing from lack of sleep, but the chilliness of the hand holding hers actually felt good. She had enough composure to think calmly about her situation.

Maybe I lack a sense of what real danger is? Or maybe it’s all because Luca is with me. Perhaps I don’t sense any danger because of how reliable his hand is?

She stole a peek at his handsome visage illuminated by the torchlight. He looked at her when he sensed her eyes on him. She panicked on the inside and averted her gaze. Her pulse sped up and her face warmed. Luca squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

***

A guard stood lookout at the bottom of the stairs. Before the soldier guiding them could even finish his statement of, “This is the place,” Luca swiftly whacked him on the back of the neck, knocking him out before assaulting the lookout. He strangled the guard before he could scream. A muffled groan escaped the guard’s lips as he lost consciousness. Luca exhaled lightly before looking around the dungeon.

“Luca?”

“Hmm?”

Yuki looked up at him and then down at the unconscious soldiers wondering whether they would get back up. “If you were just going to knock the guards out, why did you need me or Tita to come with you?”

“Every other time Nasette and I scouted the prison, there were anywhere from twenty to forty guards. There has been a serious reduction in security since we arrived.”

Yuki’s heart thudded with worry, “Doesn’t that mean they know what we’re planning to do?”

“Yes.” Luca answered before he unlocked the gate and headed deeper into the prison. Yuki hesitated for barely a second before following suit and peering around the prison.

“Wow…” she said. The prison was one of the biggest spaces she had seen so far. The room was broken into several wide hallways lined with separate prison cells going as far as the eye could see. There were no windows; only the eerie glow of torchlight breaking the shadows around the iron bars. Yuki doubted they could easily find Dante in a place like this.

“Yuki, take out the Knight’s Token,” Luca promptly ordered.

“Ah, okay,” Yuki nodded, pulling the Knight’s Token from underneath her clothes. She took the ring off her bracelet and hung it from the chain. Luca sprinted in the direction the ring pointed. She chased after him, a restless feeling nudging at the back of her mind.

The prisoners called out to Luca as he ran down one of the hallways checking prison cells on the left and right side. The prisoners’ voices were a mixture of moans, jeers, and screams. Their voices echoed after them through the dungeon, further arousing Yuki’s anxiety. She ran at full speed to keep up with Luca, when he suddenly stopped in front of her.

“Sir Dante…” Luca muttered.

Yuki peered into the prison cell where a thin man in the prime of his life sat in a stupor, leaning against the stone wall behind him. His distant gaze locked onto Luca. Within seconds his eyes widened with shock.

“Luca…” His tone of voice seemed to ask why he was here. Luca briskly set about getting him out of the cell.

“We can talk about it later. We will be discovered soon enough. Let’s get out of here now,” Luca said, opening the cell with a key. “Can you move?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dante responded. He didn’t look fine to Yuki, but they couldn’t do anything about that right now. Aware of the situation, Dante nodded firmly.

“Yuki, are you okay—” Luca looked over his shoulder at her and froze. He was staring at her chest.

What’s wrong? Yuki looked down at her chest. Something was sticking out and pushing her clothes up.

“What is this?” She quickly pulled the collar of her clothes open and peered down. A ring floated on a chain around her neck. “…Uh?”

She tried pulling it out from underneath her clothes, but it continued to float in the air, pointing to the cell opposite of Dante’s. Yuki was further surprised when she saw the elderly man inside the cell—the ring on his right middle finger was glowing brightly.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Yuki asked. The elderly man’s cheeks were painfully sunken. Even in the dim torchlight she could tell he was emaciated yet he had a sharp look in his eyes, which frightened her.

“You…” the elderly man murmured.

“Huh? What?” Yuki tried to approach his cell, but Luca grabbed her shoulder.

“Luca…”

“You…what’s going on with your ring?” Luca asked.

“Something’s going on with it?” Yuki repeated, confused.

This necklace is—

“This is the only thing I brought with me from there. Use it if you’re ever in any trouble. Never let it leave your side. Treat it like it’s a part of your body.”

How nostalgic. Yuki remembered what her father told her what seemed like years ago. The memory warmed her. No matter how old she was, her father always wanted to protect and hug her. His gentle, calm violet eyes were always with her.

“Papa’s…it’s my father’s,” Yuki said.

The elderly man grabbed the iron bars and screamed, “Lord Cahn!” His voice echoed through the vast dungeon hall. Yuki flinched. “Aaaaah! Lord Cahn! I knew you were still alive! Your servant Galian has waited many weary days. Long have I waited—it has felt like an eternity since I first waited for this day to come!”

The elderly man almost seemed like a madman as he shook the cell bars. Scared, Yuki gripped Luca’s sleeve.

“Galian?” Luca frowned. Yuki looked up at Luca wondering whether he knew the man. All she saw was Luca’s purely handsome face that showed no signs of what he was thinking.

“…Luca, can you bring him with us too?” Dante asked. He appeared greatly weakened, but his voice was firm and clear. “I realize I am asking for a lot. But he is Sir Galian.”

Luca humbly nodded. Yuki didn’t know who the elderly man was, but she had an inkling he was connected to her father, Kaito. She stared at the emaciated old man.