Chapter 201 – Chapter 5: Rose Sabel – 6
Uncle Joseph’s strong and sturdy body is full of torn wounds, as if a child had scribbled on it at will. His skin was stained red as if he had just soaked in a bathtub full of his blood.
However… He said he stayed silent until it got to this point. It can be seen from the outside that he was subjected to very harsh torture. In the end, he didn’t even say a word.
A firm determination not to reveal any information the rebels want, even if it means dying. Was this the extent of his uncle’s loyalty to the royal family?
“Ritz… Cluck- Cluck! “Are you hurt anywhere?”
But his lips opened very easily as soon as he met me.
The person who put me in this situation is standing right in front of me.
There was not a single curse mixed with resentment.
Rather, he worries about me with a soft and warm voice.
I removed my clenched teeth and barely answered.
“I’m fine.”
“… Really? Really… Is it okay?”
I couldn’t lie anymore to that question that seemed like I already knew everything.
I sighed.
Then he got down on one knee in front of his uncle and answered.
“No, uncle. Actually… It’s not okay.”
Haha… Shit. Phew-.”
The bound criminal rolled back his blood-soaked face, looked at the dark ceiling, and took a deep breath.
“Ritz. I don’t know how this happened… I feel like it’s all my fault. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not my uncle’s fault.”
“If only I had told you everything from the beginning… At least it wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
I guess so.
If only we knew that Tia inherited royal blood. I must have protected Tia through my authority as the village chief. Tia wouldn’t have grown tired of being harassed by the villagers. Just until the war is over, until Uncle Joseph comes back. Because I would have continued to stay by his side.
But that didn’t happen.
What difference will it make if my uncle regrets it now?
No matter how much you say it’s your fault, in the end, lost time never goes back to the past.
Conversation is meaningless.
I didn’t come all this way to listen to my uncle’s meaningless complaints.
A secret passage inside the royal palace. I’m here to find out.
Swoosh-.
She rolled up her sleeves and stretched out her hands.
Now, when this right-hand touches my uncle’s body, I will enter the memory illusion.
All you have to do is find the ‘secret passage’ he saw in the illusion.
That time when he slowly moved his fingertips towards the last button.
“… “Posaoji?”
Right in front of my uncle’s face.
My hand stopped.
“What you are aiming for… “Posao?”
He looked up at me and said.
“If you came all the way to Deseo, joined hands with the rebels, and captured me… Isn’t there only one place for that hatred to be directed at, Posao? Cough-cluck-! Huh.”
“…”
Haha… I guess I was right. Okay… Ritz. I was shocked too. I finally found Tia… When she found out that the child was already married to Po Sao, and that she was even pregnant with his child… She thought it was a terrible nightmare. “I couldn’t believe it was real.”
A calm voice continued.
“Of course I thought it was Posao’s doing. The village chief once told me this. He is very evil in nature, so stay away from him. “I don’t know what he did, but maybe Posao deceived and tamed the innocent Tia.”
“… If so, I wish I knew it all. Why didn’t he kill Posao on the spot?”
“Ritz. “How could I?”
Her uncle asked back with a vain look on his face.
“That child… He was living happily. But if I were to cut off the head of my beloved husband and say that he should become king… Will I really understand it?”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
He clenched his fists.
“Tia was just deceived… What… ? Tia was ‘happy’?! Her uncle… How can you say that?”
“Haha… Ritz. No matter how many battlefields I have been to, I still feel like a coward. I am… I didn’t want the existence of ‘Joseph’ to be a disaster for Tia. The true owner of this country… I didn’t want to curse this country. So… “I decided to keep Posao alive.”
No words came out.
I respected Uncle Joseph second only to my father.
A smart, strong, and knowledgeable person.
Even when I argued with my father about opening the village, I thought Uncle Joseph was half right.
Even if there are some differences of opinion. Just like my father, I thought he was a person who truly cared for this village and cared about the village people.
But Uncle Joseph was not born in Brisden.
Okay. This man is nothing more than a wandering mercenary.
‘Minion of the royal family’.
He was just a wanderer looking for the prince he served.
I have learned a lot from following my uncle since I was young. To my uncle, it seemed like there was nothing special about me.
Because he only thought of Tia, the prince’s blood relative. Because I only thought about the continuation of the royal family.
He kneeled before Posao so easily.
“… Uncle was wrong. “Posao will definitely be a disaster for this country.”
It’s foolish.
When I was young, I thought Uncle Joseph was a really smart person.
Now it seems so foolish that we can laugh at its insignificance.
“He made me a cripple who couldn’t wake up, tricked Tia into giving up on me who wasn’t dead yet, and molested me as he pleased! “Do you really want a country with someone like that as the king?!”
He was silent for a moment and then lowered his head.
“I’m not sure if something dangerous will happen.”
“Therefore…”
“But I can’t call that a problem yet.”
“Yes?”
My uncle spat out a lump of red blood.
“Right. As you said, Posao is that kind of guy. He is evil, cunning and mean. He’s already done what he did to you, so he’s a guy who’s done enough to dishonor this country. But… “That’s something Queen Tia should worry about, not us.”
Knowing everything.
Knowing what kind of person Posao is.
I couldn’t understand him because he didn’t do anything.
“In short, Posao is behaving well now. He kept his mouth shut, and nothing has happened until now.”
“Now… Are you supporting Posao?”
“Does it sound like that? Haha… Then think of it that way.”
Uncle Joseph spoke with unwavering eyes.
“However, the country would not have been much different. From the standpoint of protecting this country, what Posao did to Ritz. That Ritz is alive. All of that… “It would be better for Tia not to know than for her to know.”
“…”
It would be better to just leave Tia without knowing.
Let’s talk about that?
“No. That can never happen. I am… Even if it means dying, I will definitely get revenge on that guy who ruined my life.”
“Plural… What kind of revenge are you going to take?”
“Killing Posao and getting her Tia back.”
“Okay. “What next?”
Then?
Was there a ‘next’?
I never thought about it.
“After that, I will take Tia and go far away.”
Haha… That sounds like a dream. Then you will become an enemy of Deseo, who assassinated the king and kidnapped the queen. This country will do everything it can to find you and kill you. That’s… “Is this really what you thought?”
“Rather than living as a coward like my uncle, I would rather become a fugitive who has achieved revenge.”
“Then what about Tia?”
Joseph said with his eyes closed.
“For Tia, before and after meeting you. Which one is the happier life? You killed her own husband and ran away frantically from the soldiers… “Can I love you more than Posao?”
“…”
“Ritz. Tia is not your booty or anything. She said the child was just a delicate woman. She is not a princess waiting for a hero to save her, she is just an ordinary girl who is anxious about survival and trembles at the unknown future. That’s why I didn’t pull out the knife, and she got down on her knees out of respect for that little life.”
Sigh!
Without realizing it, my hands were holding onto my uncle’s collar.
That strong and sturdy body swayed with the swing of my arms.
I’m shaking. My teeth are grinding.
With the anger that makes my blood boil, it feels like my grip on the collar will break.
“So. To put up with being stupid like you? “Don’t even get revenge on the guy who took everything from me?!”
“… No matter what I say, it won’t be of any use.”
There was a fishy smell of blood coming from my uncle’s mouth.
“I know, Ritz. He is a smart, cautious and stubborn kid. Like the village chief… If you put your mind to it, you did it anyway. I have no intention of stopping you. In the end, you will go that way. … But. I’m so worried about you. You are heading towards your own death. There is no light or salvation at the end of this road. “Only death awaits.”
She couldn’t do it because her uncle’s hands were tied.
It was a warm voice, as if it was gently touching my face.
“I want you guys…” Marie, Tia, Ritz, Ruev. Love everyone I truly thought of him as a child born from my heart. So my beloved children… I want to see everyone survive and live happily.”
“Right now, I’m a living corpse that can’t even die. “Uncle, don’t you have any intention of finding my happiness?”
“… If only you could be happy. “I will do whatever I can now.”
“Secret passage.”
A surprisingly cold voice came out of my mouth.
“The passage inside the palace that is said to lead to the queen’s quarters. “Say it.”
My uncle sighed deeply.
Like the breath of a father who has to send his child to war. It was deep and empty.
And soothed my torn lips.
“… Basement of the royal palace. It’s there. In the middle of the corridor leading to the medical center, there is a portrait of the previous king, Raikne. There is a spiral staircase behind it, so go up it.”
It was an incredibly easy and simple explanation.
For a moment, I had a suspicion that it might be a lie. No, Uncle Joseph was not that type of person.
In the first place, he never lied even once.
Also, for now, he was telling the truth for me.
Why… There is no need to grab his uncle and force him to read his memories.
“I understand.”
That’s it.
I got what I needed, so I didn’t have to see my uncle anymore.
If we stay here for too long, the meaningless arguments will just continue.
The best mercy I could do was to leave quickly and let him rest for a moment.
I turned my back and held the door to the torture room.
“Ritz.”
Suddenly, Uncle Joseph caught me.
“… Do you think the rebels are helping you?”
I turned my head.
His face could not be seen properly as it was obscured by the faint shadow of candlelight.
Haha… Secret passage… “Now I understand.”
“What do you mean?”
A smile appeared on my uncle’s lips.
“I’ve been thinking about why the rebels bother to keep you… It seems like they are trying to use you as ‘bait’.”
Bait?
“Rebels are people who want the overthrow of this country. Do you think those guys will rejoice that Posao is dead? No. There is no benefit at all. Your goal is to kill Posao, but the rebels’ goal is to kill the queen. Only when the ‘queen’ who symbolizes the new dynasty dies can the rebellion begin.”
“What are you talking about now…”
“They will throw you into the royal castle and report you. They say the assassin is in the ‘Red Tower’. While the Royal Guard searches the castle to find you, the queen will take refuge outside the castle. What the rebels are aiming for… It is ‘that time.'”
The word ‘that time’ that my uncle said with force hit my head hard.
I am the bait.
I didn’t think about it.
Klaus only helped me with my plan to infiltrate the castle to kill Posao.
However…
“Are you trying to separate people?”
“Haha… Why me? From the beginning, I never thought about getting to this point and surviving on my own. It’s just an experience. Cluck, cluck! “Consider this advice from a man who has lived longer than you and dealt with these scum longer than you.”
“…”
“Whoa.”
Uncle Joseph leaned his head back, as if it pained him to speak anymore.
“Survive. Ritz.”
I didn’t think anything of it.
What to do. What to do.
It was clearly clear until now. I thought he was definitely following a straight path.
I couldn’t see what was ahead, as if I was covered in fog.
If what my uncle said is true.
I am… What should I do?
In front of the calm I haven’t had in a long time.
There was only one answer that came to mind.
Zech.
Trembling fingertips rested on Uncle Joseph’s shoulder.
