How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

❖ ❖ ❖

The flagship of Hezekia completely sank.

The flames that had burned the sea for a long time finally subsided gradually. In the place where the thick smoke had passed, only the blackened wreckage of the vessel, debris floating on the water’s surface, and unrecognizable fragments remained. Before long, even the small, lingering embers that remained until the end were scattered away by a long wind.

Left alone at sea, the survivors of Hezekia’s second vessel stared at the sight without a word. No one could bring themselves to open their mouths. A heavy sense of loss and a hollow feeling of defeat weighed down upon the deck.

“There appear to be no more survivors.”

The navigator, who had finished the search, climbed up from the lifeboat and barely reported in an exhausted voice. They had swept through the sea as if combing it thoroughly, but the number of rescued personnel was not many. It was just as the captain, who dropped his head, was about to issue a turnabout order.

Someone let out a shout that sounded like a scream from the edge of the deck.

“Something is floating up over there!”

Everyone’s gaze shifted in one direction.

A piece of wreckage that appeared from the location where the flagship had been was drifting toward them. It was a fragment of the deck with its severed edge exposed pitch black. And the hand gripping that fragment twitched.

“It- It is a person… It looks like a survivor!”

The figure slowly began to reveal itself.

A torn piece of a uniform floated above the water’s surface. Before long, the man’s body was revealed beyond the waves. A thick piece of debris was impaled in the back of the person whose entire body was limp and almost completely submerged in the water. Those who were watching all caught their breath in a single instant.

“His Excellency the Grand Duke…?”

A quiet silence swept across the deck.

The captain, who came to his senses first, shouted as the veins bulged in his neck.

“Hurry, rescue His Excellency at once!”

The lifeboat was quickly lowered into the sea. The crew members hurriedly rowed toward the man. When the seawater bobbed lightly, they finally succeeded in pulling the man up onto the boat.

“It… It is indeed His Excellency…”

The crew member who checked his face murmured with a trembling voice. Subsequently, he checked Tristan’s pulse, whipped his body around toward the vessel, and shouted.

“The pulse, the pulse is beating!”

He was barely holding onto life. His body, which had been submerged in the sea for a long time, was as cold as ice, and his blood-stained eyelashes did not budge. At this rate, his pulse was bound to stop before long. While Tristan was being moved to the vessel, the captain raised his voice with an anxious face.

“Hoist the sails immediately. No, go call the ship’s doctor first! We set sail the moment we move His Excellency to the admiral’s cabin.”

“Are we setting a course for Hezekia, Captain?”

“…No, he will not be able to endure that way. We will go to the nearest port.”

“But Captain, that place is…”

The nearby port, which could be reached in half a day, was a small fishing port located between Port Belforte and Hezekia. It was within the sphere of influence where Everett’s forces reached, but they had to make sure Tristan could rest in stability even a moment sooner.

The captain gritted his teeth and instructed in a low voice.

“Lower the flag. We will slip into the port under the cover of night. Have the advance team go in first by boat to secure a safe lodging.”

They could not reveal themselves until Tristan recovered his body. If Everett’s side learned that the Grand Duke had survived, assassins would descend immediately. For now, everyone had to hold their breath and conceal their presence.

❖ ❖ ❖

He did not know how long he had been trapped. It was an abyss where nothing could be seen and no sound could be heard.

A heavy pain occasionally rushed in like waves, blanketing his entire body. However, before long, his senses crumbled like dust, fluttered, grew hazy, and vanished. The pain gradually grew faint. A near-perfect silence weighed down upon and devoured Tristan. At some point, he no longer even felt the realization that he was alive.

Yet, at the edge of the deep darkness, a small cluster of light suddenly formed. It felt like a piece of a faded dream, and also like a warmth lost a long time ago. The dim afterimage gradually grew distinct. Before long, it broke through the dense obscurity and gradually burrowed into Tristan.

A laughter that rippled out like waves resonated in his ears. A warm touch tickled his rough, solid skin. The man tilted his head toward Tristan and smiled as softly as grass.