Chapter 13 – Baron Leon (1)

Belis had returned to his territory but lived every day out of fear.

As the purge continued, it was difficult for him to even sleep.

He had attempted to go to the capital to try and change the situation, yet the royal palace did not allow this to happen.

They had instructed him to not move about and calmly stay within his land.

“There’s definitely a reason why. What exactly is the reason?”

Belis placed his hand on his chin as he paced back on forth in the oval office.

He was unable to stay seated as he was too nervous.

He was so stressed out that he appeared to be showing early signs of balding.

“They had caught all the nobles that helped the second prince, yet why are they leaving me alone? Why?”

Belis mumbled as he cleared his dry throat.

At the time of the siblings’ escape to the Great Forest, the last place they were chased to was Baron Leon’s territory.

He was also the one that gave the instructions to chase them up to there, and although they were far away, he had even locked eyes with the Crown Prince and princess.

Yet rather than getting rid of him immediately, they instead imposed short-sighted measures.

They did not take further steps after this.

“There’s definitely got to be a reason….”

Although the nobles that sided with the second prince felt envious of his situation, Belis felt like he was going to go crazy.

He would feel much better if they just killed him quickly and took his land away, but they did not do that.

They just left him be as he was.

“They haven’t given any further instructions, nor are they allowing me to use any form of communication…..”

Belis’ eyes nervously shook.

As he was instructed to just stay still and not do anything, rather than feeling stifled, he felt as if the blood in his body was drying up.

It felt like he was already given the death penalty but had yet to be executed.

The only thing that came out from his mouth was a sigh.

“Father, it’s me.”

“…….Come in.”

Hearing the voice of his only sign from the other side of the door, Belis replied back with a weak voice.

Shortly after, the door opened, and Carlton stepped in with a pale face.

“Have you heard anything from the Royal Palace yet?”

“It’s still the same.”

“Hoooo.”

Carlton released a long sigh.

It was a sigh that was filled with the same feelings as his father.

“Have you heard anything else from the surrounding territories?”

“Everyone is busy taking it easy right now. Even the magic communication seems to have a hard time connecting, and when it does go through, there’s an immediate disconnection.”

“Kuhum!”

Belis clenched his teeth.

Although they weren’t super close, they didn’t have a bad relationship with the other nobles.

Yet as the situation turned out the way it had; everyone turned their backs on him, and he felt betrayed.

“I really wish they would at least give us a reason as to why they’re acting like this. It’s not like they want to kill us off by drying us up to death.”

“How do you think I feel right now.”

“…….I’m sorry.”

Although Carlton was running around as the small lord, he couldn’t compare to how Belis felt as he was the lord of the land.

Nevertheless, the situation was as such.

“They’re definitely after something, but I don’t know what they’re after. And it’s not like I can do any foreign activities right now……”

“Either way, isn’t the result already out.”

“Hooo! That’s true.”

A sigh came out from Belis’ mouth once again.

Although he didn’t know why they were leaving him alive, the result was obvious.

Just looking at the actions coming from the Royal Palace, it was obvious there was no chance for Baron Leon to receive mercy.

“How do you feel about us seeking asylum?”

“To where? Arhan?”

“Even with that meager number of people, the Crown Princess and princess were able to get through the Great Forest. You think we won’t be able to get through it ourselves?”

“MMmm!!”

“I’m also against the desert to the south as they’re made up of numerous tribes and they would never be happy to see us, so let’s cut through the Great Forest and head to Teron.”

Carlton spoke without reserve as if he had been planning this for a while.

Instead of sitting here and waiting for the day they die, he felt it would rather be better to just seek asylum.

Although Baron Leon was poor, they were still nobles.

If they took all their wealth and people with them to the new land, they would still be able to retain their title.

“Teron you say.”

“It’ll be hard to gain a territory immediately, but I think it’s better than dying. We can just start from the beginning.”

Although honor was important, it wasn’t as important as keeping one’s life.

Especially for a Baron, who wasn’t even on the level of a Count.

As a Baron was on the lowest level among nobles, Carlton felt it was easier to just through away any lingering regret.

“The fact that you’re even bringing it up to me means you’ve already prepared things to a certain extent?”

“Yes, I secretly hired some hunters to act as our guide. If we use the outer part of the Great Forest, it should be possible to get Teron without hitting heavy losses. We won’t be able to completely avoid all the monsters, but they’re confident they would be able to get us through with the least amount of contact with monsters.”

“Pursuers may come after us.”

“Our family knows more about the Great Forest than anyone else in Paulstein. Furthermore, aren’t they giving us plenty of time right now? We must take advantage of the Royal Palaces’ complacency.”

Belis’ eyes glowed with intensity.