How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending - Chapter 69.2
The reason our fleet had been driven out of Ashurana became clear. The pirates had likely used foreign prisoners as laborers from time to time. Beyond this red-haired man, there were probably many prisoners from the Rubyere Empire or Hezekia.
One of the knights who had gathered murmured in astonishment.
“To think they dragged Rubyere people all the way out here. These pirates must have remarkable seafaring skills.”
“Perhaps they were passed along through multiple pirate groups to reach this place.”
Sir Johannes, his face stern, replied quietly. He seemed quietly troubled to encounter a prisoner presumed to be from Hezekia in this place.
I gazed at the man lying like a corpse beneath the pile of rags and spoke.
“No. Someone must have deliberately sold them to the East Continent slave markets. Didn’t the pirates just say they often raided such markets to replenish labor?”
“Y-yes… that might well be true, but……”
My tone left no doubt, and Sir Johannes looked somewhat surprised. Yet I was certain it was the truth.
“Now, come on. Wake up. Can you open your eyes?”
Carefully rousing him, the man’s fingers twitched. His emaciated body slowly moved, as if waking from exhaustion. The pile of rags slipped sideways as he shifted. Using his thin arms for support, he pushed himself up and slowly lifted a face covered in bloodied wounds.
“……!”
In that instant, Tristan’s composure shattered. He staggered backward as if struck by lightning—a look I had never seen before.
“Your Highness, wh-why…… hhh?”
Shock spread instantly to the surrounding knights. A deathly silence fell over the cave. The man struggled to lift his swollen eyelids and looked around. When his gaze landed on Tristan, it froze.
“……L-lord Tristan……?”
His rough, chapped lips trembled. His hoarse, cracked voice poured out.
“Lord Tristan…? Am I… finally dead? To see you here… hh… hhh…”
He looked as though witnessing an impossible vision. Tears fell onto his bark-like cracked face. Tristan, staring at him in disbelief, sank to his knees. His trembling hand gently cupped the man’s cheek.
“Walter……? Is it truly Walter Lieber?”
“Y-yes… Walter, Lord Tristan… Your Highness…”
“How could you have survived here…? We all thought you were gone, Walter……”
Tristan’s eyes and the man’s gaze held a tangle of shock, joy, and anguish. I silently stepped back and watched. Tristan’s usually steadfast shoulders trembled faintly.
Then, a blue, translucent interface appeared in midair, signaling the completion of the event.
[Related Event (3/3) ☆Unexpected Reunion: The Lost Ones☆ Completed] Key Individual Discovered: Walter Lieber ※Special Notes: Only son of Wilhelm Lieber, steward of the Grand Duke’s household Previously framed for the deaths of the Crown Prince couple years ago by the 2nd Prince Everett, forcibly summoned to the royal court, then declared “missing,” among Hezekian retainers Secretly sold into slavery, forced into long-term labor on pirate islands, fell ill, then imprisoned in an underground cave facility Walter, the only childhood friend and companion of Grand Duke Tristan, has been rescued! Additional Individuals Found: 8 ※Special Notes: Hezekian retainers who disappeared alongside Walter Lieber All confirmed alive within the cave facility Extremely weak, requiring urgent medical treatment and evacuation Mission Outcome: Partial confirmation of manipulations behind the Crown Prince couple’s deaths and the Hezekian internal rebellion incident
Rescuing Walter and the other Hezekian retainers was the system’s final quest.
With the successive related events successfully completed, unlike prior event completions, a bitter and heavy feeling settled deep in my chest.
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