Chapter 550 – 550. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
550. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
“The Duke has ordered your disposal.”
The butler, blindly loyal to the Philtania family, approached me.
“…Do you assassinate people with keychains these days?”
Copan inserted a key into my handcuffs. The shackles fell from my wrists. Just that alone felt refreshing.
“I’m not an idiot either. If I kill you, the Lady will torture me to death. The Duke must know that too. He’s giving the order knowing full well. To make me take responsibility for raising you.”
Copan then inserted a key into my leg irons.
“So, you’re saying I’m going to die because of me. I’m sorry. But is it okay to go against the family’s orders like this? You always told me that the family’s orders should be prioritized over life.”
“That’s for you guys, not for me. I don’t want to die. The reason I’m loyal to the Philtania family is because of the money and status.”
“You’re materialistic.”
“That’s how people are.”
The leg irons fell off. I stood up and shook my wrists and ankles. My body felt light, considering I had been locked up for a month. It wasn’t the ordinary body of a commoner.
“What are you planning to do now?”
“I have to run away. I’ve been preparing since you were dragged into the dungeon a month ago. The Duke is a cold man. I thought he would hold me responsible for raising you.”
“I don’t know why you came to save me. You could have just left me and run away.”
“You’re the best butler I’ve ever raised. Better than any other butler. If you die here, all the time I invested in you will be wasted. That would be a shame.”
Copan then made a suggestion.
“Let’s run away together. You could do well in any job, not just as a butler.”
“Thank you for saving me, but I have a master to serve.”
Copan chuckled as if he expected that answer.
“You’re the best butler after all. I guess we have to part ways here. Don’t die, since I went through the trouble of saving you.”
“Yes. Please live well, Copan.”
“……That was supposed to be a blessing. Why does it sound so unlucky?”
Copan left. He was unlucky, but he was capable, so he would do well wherever he went. Well, if he wasn’t capable, he wouldn’t have become a butler of the Philtania family in the first place.
Having escaped the dungeon, I headed to Yuria’s room. I knew the Philtania Castle perfectly, so avoiding the guards was easy.
I entered the balcony and tapped on the window.
She, in her pajamas, slightly opened the curtains. Seeing me, she looked a little surprised, then opened the window.
“Eugene. How did you escape?”
“Copan helped me.”
I briefly explained what happened in the dungeon.
She frowned and nodded.
“Mother was determined to dispose of you….”
And from now on, the Duchess would openly try to kill me.
“Eugene. Why did you come to find me? You could have lived safely if you had run away with Copan.”
“Lady. Didn’t I tell you? That I love you.”
I reflexively tried to hug Yuria but stopped. My body wasn’t clean right now. I hadn’t been tortured, but I had been stuck in the dungeon for a month. Even with the help of the torture guy, I had only been able to wash a few times.
But Yuria hugged me first and kissed me.
“Lady. Let’s run away.”
The purpose of this world isn’t war. It’s not politics either. It’s love.
The title of this world is ‘The Philtania Lady and the Butler.’ It’s a title that reeks of romance. In other words, what I have to do is achieve love according to the romance.
“I will make you happy, no matter what. Let’s leave together.”
“…….”
Yuria stared at me. Her eyes trembled.
I knew.
That our situations were completely different. All I had was this life. On the other hand, Yuria had everything.
Her position as a Lady.
It was too much to give up for love alone.
“……Okay. Let’s leave together. I’ll be happy wherever I go, as long as I’m with Eugene.”
She began to prepare to leave. She changed into clothes that were easy to move in and packed money and belongings. I quickly helped her, making a plan in my head.
The Philtania Duchy was as vast as its power. Even if we traveled by carriage without stopping, it would take at least five days to leave the Duchy.
‘I should go west. The road is rough, so it will be hard to track us, and it’s close to the border. Once we cross the border, we can breathe a sigh of relief.’
I was regretting that I couldn’t use a space-movement scroll when there was a knock on the door. Yuria grabbed my shoulder and pointed under the bed. I immediately crawled under the bed.
Yuria opened the door. Because of the bed, I couldn’t see who had come.
“Lady. Are you sleeping?”
It was a woman’s voice.
“…I was getting ready to sleep. Even if I were sleeping, you would have come in anyway.”
“I couldn’t help it, as it was the Duke’s order. Please forgive me.”
She left.
I got up from under the bed.
“Was that a maid?”
“Yes. She’s the exclusive maid who was assigned to me after Eugene was imprisoned. She’s originally my mother’s maid. She was assigned to watch me rather than serve me. She’ll probably come back around 3 AM to check if I’m sleeping well.”
“You’ve been living an uncomfortable life too, Lady.”
“Not as much as Eugene.”
Having packed all the necessary items, she hugged me. I carefully held her and went out onto the balcony.
“Eugene. It looks like we’ll be going through some hardships for a while.”
“This is nothing.”
Yuria and I escaped the castle.
The pursuers were on our tail within hours. They were more persistent and capable than expected. It was hard to shake them off completely.
「Advice: Move to the left.」
「Advice: Erase your tracks.」
「Advice: Disguise yourselves as other people and steal horses to escape.」
The advice that hadn’t shown any messages when I was in the dungeon was now helping me. Thanks to it, we were able to escape steadily.
On the third day.
We infiltrated a city. We had been running non-stop, so we needed rest. I was fine, but Yuria seemed unable to use her original power, so she definitely needed rest.
We headed to the Temple of Love. If we went to other temples or inns, there was a high chance we would be reported. But the Temple of Love was famous for fully supporting couples in love.
Even if they couldn’t help us, they would at least let us rest for half a day.
And the priest of the Temple of Love smiled at us.
“I won’t ask who you are. Rest as much as you need. May the blessings of love be upon you.”
They had noticed us but still allowed us to stay.
Yuria dozed off in the assigned room and soon fell asleep. She must have been very tired, even if she didn’t say it.
‘Should I take a nap too?’
「Advice: Go outside the temple.」
‘Do I really have to go out now?’
「Advice: Go outside the temple.」
‘…Fine. I understand.’
I moved as the advice directed. It led me to a place with a lot of people. It wasn’t trying to send me to the pursuers, was it? Maybe I had to get caught here to move on to the next chapter.
‘The end of this story might not be a happy ending. Maybe it’ll end with me dying. Realistically, that’s the most likely possibility.’
「Advice: Go into the alleyway on the right.」
I went into the alleyway.
I found an old woman wearing a dark black robe like me. She was sitting on a mat in an alleyway where no one came. She didn’t look like a beggar at all.
“Hehehe…. An interesting guest has come.”
“I’m not a guest. You’re not selling anything, are you?”
“Is there a rule that I have to sell things? I have the ability to help you.”
“That’s quite an amazing ability.”
I squatted down in front of the old woman. She was an unreliable old woman, but the advice had led me here. There was a high chance she had some special ability.
“Grandma. Please help me. I really feel like I need to borrow a cat’s paw.”
“Hehe. I’m a bit expensive.”
“I have quite a lot of money. I can’t give you all of it… but if you help me properly, I’ll give you half.”
I held out my money pouch. The reward money I received from the academy and the money I had saved up until now. It was all my money. Even if I gave half, I would have enough money left to settle down in a decent city.
“Hehehe. You’re generous. I’ll definitely have to help you. It’s a prepayment, so give me half first.”
The old woman took out a bowl from her bosom as if she had been waiting for it. A worn-out bowl with cracks on the surface. A perfect empty bowl for begging.
“Ah. I feel like I’m really being scammed.”
I poured half of my entire fortune into the old bowl. The shiny gold coins filled the bowl.
“Hehehe. Finally, the owner of this has appeared. Well, you know how to use it without me telling you, right?”
“…What, weren’t you going to help me with magic or something?”
“I am a magician, but what you need isn’t magic.”
“……Do you have some kind of omnipotent power here? Like turning imagination into reality?”
“If I had such an ability, would I give it to you? It’s just an ordinary object.”
“I feel uneasy. Was it something you used, old woman?”
“Hey! It’s a brand new item that was just made! You don’t know how great this thing is. If you have this, you can skip three steps!”
“I’m quite disappointed considering it’s half of my entire fortune…. Well, thank you.”
“Hehe. If you hadn’t given me half of your fortune, I wouldn’t have given you this either. Your lack of greed has brought you luck.”
“What would have happened if I had given you my entire fortune?”
“I would have given you that as well.”
“I knew I was being scammed…. Tsk. She’s gone.”
I stood up as well.
“……If you were going to give me this, it didn’t have to be that old woman.”
I grumbled softly, looking at the object in my palm.
「Advice: Return to the Temple of Love and do what you have to do.」
•••
I forcibly woke up the sleeping Yuria. It wasn’t good to postpone things like this. You had to do it when you could. If you messed things up by doing it slowly, you wouldn’t be able to sleep out of frustration.
I led Yuria to the temple’s chapel.
The chapel of the Temple of Love wasn’t just a place for praying to the Goddess of Love. It was also a place frequently used for commoners’ weddings.
“Eugene. What’s this important thing? Is it related to the pursuers?”
“No. It’s something I really wanted to give to you, Yuria.”
I took her left hand and took out the object I bought from the old woman for half of my entire fortune.
It was a ring.
“That’s….”
Yuria’s eyes widened in surprise. I tried to put the ring on her ring finger myself, but she clenched her left hand. I could feel her body trembling.
“I, I can’t accept it.”
Tears welled up in Yuria’s eyes. She looked anxious, as if she was afraid of something. It was a face and reaction I had never seen before.
“Why? Was the love you said a lie?”
“There isn’t a single lie in those words! I… I deceived you, Master. Actually, I recognized you the moment I first saw you. I also had all my memories of you. I knew that if you failed, if you died, we would go back to the beginning! Above all… it’s because of me that you got caught up in this world! Because I wanted love with you…!”
“I know. I noticed it halfway and experimented a little. You had a hard time eating the food and black tea I made.”
I realized that she hadn’t lost her memories and was acting during the academy days.
I served Yuria the cookies I received from Mary during tea time without telling her. In the setting, if I had made them, they should have been the best-tasting cookies. But since I didn’t make them, they weren’t the best, and Yuria praised them as being very delicious as usual. If she had been swallowed by the setting like the others, she wouldn’t have felt anything strange.
I had been suspicious of Yuria since then, and after secretly conducting a few tests, I realized that she was just acting.
“It wasn’t bad being manipulated by you. I’ve been using you too much all this time.”
“Master….”
I unfolded each of her left fingers, one by one. And I put a small, elegant ring with a silver band and a small blue gem on her ring finger.
“I love you, Yuria.”
“Ugh….”
Clear, transparent tears streamed down her cheeks.
