Wrong Genre! - Chapter 19.1
“Hurry, hurry. Hurry and go…!”
Rueg quickly let go of the child who had been clinging to his chest. Even that small action made his whole body ache as if it were about to fall apart. At the very least, it felt like his leg was broken.
“…I-I’ll come back quickly!”
The child, though staggering, cried out urgently and disappeared into the bushes. Thanks to how tightly Rueg had held him, it seemed like there wouldn’t be any problem with the child escaping.
Seeing the child get away safely, Rueg instinctively looked back.
“You rat bastard…”
Mason’s voice, filled with murderous intent, immediately rang out. Rueg shuddered in a wave of terror.
Trying to get away from Mason, who was approaching, Rueg crawled across the ground and muttered,
“S-S-S…Save me. Please save me…”
At that faint, barely audible plea, Mason scoffed.
“No one’s coming here.”
“……”
“If anyone was going to come, you wouldn’t have gotten smuggled out of the palace in the first place.”
With a sneer, Mason drew his sword and moved closer.
Rueg, trembling in fear, bit his lip and glared at him as he tried to get away.
He was scared.
No matter what he tried, there was no way a battered body like his could fight back.
But he couldn’t just do nothing. He had to buy even a little time for someone to come rescue him.
Just then, a face flashed through Rueg’s mind.
‘…I don’t want to give up.’
Unlike when he’d shut himself away in the mansion, he really liked being with others, even if he was scolded every day now.
Even if he got caught up in incidents that had nothing to do with him, he wanted to face them head-on, not cower in fear.
He wanted to see Felix hand him documents with a sigh in his voice.
He wanted to hear Yuri’s voice, which sometimes sounded cold but was always concerned about him.
Rueg’s golden eyes flashed as he clenched his fist.
Even if just for a moment.
Even someone as weak as he was, if he could create a single miracle, if he could knock Mason down and make an opening to escape.
“…I’m going to make it back alive.”
As Rueg’s eyes shone fiercely like a raptor’s, white motes of light began to gather around his clenched fist.
Rueg, barely able to steady himself, looked at Mason and shouted.
“Come on!”
* * *
“Then let’s handle that matter that way.”
“Yes. I’ll kill them all and contact you again.”
The woman spoke such murderous words as if it were nothing, tying up her long hair in a single knot.
“Oh, right.”
The blonde woman who had been about to leave the room looked back at Felix.
A woman with a face just like Rueg’s.
It was Versha Verdic.
“Rueg’s doing alright, isn’t he? It’s about time he fell ill again.”
At her offhand question, Felix’s expression twisted. Both Rueg and Versha spoke as if it were perfectly normal for him to have a raging fever.
“…Is he always this sick?”
“It happens around this time every year. When winter comes, the Blessing scattered across the land diminishes, so there’s less strength to protect Rueg’s body.”
“……”
“If he looks sick, please share some Blessing with him from time to time. I can’t because I’m not strong enough, but Your Highness can.”
The gentle tone tinged with bitterness made Felix’s eyes widen slightly. But Versha quickly turned back to him, as if she’d never spoken that way.
“But don’t you dare bully my baby brother.”
This time, her voice was sharp as a knife, and Felix let out a dry breath. Her golden eyes glinted fiercely, as if to say she’d tear out his throat if he tried.
“You sure look at your superior with a lot of disrespect.”
“It’s not like this is the first or second time. Nothing new.”
Without showing any courtesy toward the Crown Prince, Versha waved her hand as if to say she was leaving.
After she left, Felix let out a chuckle.
“They may look alike, but how can they be so different?”
Clicking his tongue, Felix slowly rose from his seat.
This time, he’d chosen work for Rueg that he thought he could handle well. He wondered whether Rueg would be proud after finishing, or perhaps a little shy.
No, what he was really curious about was what Rueg was doing right now.
But when Felix returned to his office, anticipation in his heart, his expression turned to stone.
“…Verdic?”
The office door wasn’t properly closed. In front of it, a beige shawl had fallen.
And the floor was smeared with blood.
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