“A woman’s story.”
“Huh?”
Iroel was lost. He slapped himself on the head to ensure his ears were working correctly. The guy wants to talk about women during this urgent situation where demons could attack any minute?
“What are you doing? Come on.” Rufus walked towards his makeshift tent and beckoned to Iroel.
“…Oh, my…” Iroel scratched the back of his head and accepted the uncomfortable invitation. But as soon as Iroel entered the tent, Rufus blocked the passage.
“What’s the matter? Why are you blocking the door? What are you going to do to me?” Iroel’s bewildered voice came from inside the dimly lit tent.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.” Once Rufus ignited the lamp with magic, the tent’s interior came into view.
“Sit down.” Rufus pointed to the tent’s centre. There was a small wooden box used as a temporary table.
What a shabby place.
A musty smell emanated from the tent’s cloth, wet with rain. There was mould growing on the ceiling. And a rattling sound could be heard from somewhere.
Iroel, who had an odd gaze on Rufus, quickly settled down.
“Do you drink?”
“Huh?”
“I shouldn’t have asked. You were one who would die for alcohol.”
When Rufus left the Inferna estate with his little luggage, he didn’t forget to prepare a few bottles. He sneaked out some of his grandmother’s favourite drinks in a hurry.
Iroel’s eyes were wide open when he saw the sparkling wine bottle in the dim tent.
“Hey, you managed to bring liquor inside the unit!”
“Because I’m a platoon leader.”
Of course, he got caught during the inspection. The royal knights in charge of checking the belongings bitterly shouted: “Are you, the platoon leader, heading for the battlefield or planning on going out to have a leisure drink?”
Instead of making excuses, Rufus offered the rest of the bottles to the knights. All that’s left is this bottle of alcohol.
“Oh, what did you bring? Is it strong?” Iroel frowned when he tasted the drink Rufus poured him. “What kind of alcohol is this? Miraculously, it doesn’t have any taste!”
“It’s a famous drink in the Inferna territory.”
“Inferna territory? What’s that?”
“It’s a territory ruled by my family.”
“You’re only a baron, but you have a fief? It turns out you are from an old-established family.”
“Yes. So unlike other families, we don’t produce illegitimate offspring that make fun of others below the beltline.”
Rufus poured another drink into Iroel’s glass. Iroel, who was drinking with both hands, frowned.
“Don’t keep mentioning illegitimate, illegitimate. You’re making the already tasteless flavour even worse.”
“But you’re an illegitimate son, aren’t you?”
Iroel was the son of Viscount Eustace, who had spent the night with an unknown woman.
If Rufus remembered correctly, Iroel lived with his mother until he was seven. After that, Iroel’s mother left her son to Viscount Eustace and disappeared.
Although he became a member of Eustace’s manor, Iroel was always an outcast. To the Eustace’s, Iroel was a thorn in their eye.
Therefore, when the demon subjugation took place, the Eustace family thought it was a good chance, so he sent Iroel right away. They hoped that Iroel would die on the battlefield.
Just like how the king wanted Rufus dead.
“You’re right. I’m an illegitimate child, but don’t talk like that. My mother gets sad when she hears it.” Iroel chuckled as he gulped down Rufus’s drink.
A rattling sound was heard from somewhere. It was a rat passing by.
“Of course, in the eyes of the commander, I may look like the product of an affair, but my mother loves me. Of course, the adversary was trash.”
“…”
As Rufus stared at the smirking and drinking Iroel, an unprecedented urge to kill arose. That guy had also talked about his mother in Rufus’ past life. Like Iroel, Rufus has no parents, so they spoke, and he sympathised.
But he didn’t expect to be betrayed like that. When he thought of the hardships he had to endure because of Iroel, it felt like his blood was welling up to flow backwards.
“So, I guess you didn’t call me to talk about a real woman.” Iroel, who took the bottle from Rufus’s hand, put it directly into his mouth. “Why did you call me? Get to the point before I get drunk.”
“I have a woman I love.”
Pffft.
Iroel spewed out the alcohol he was drinking.
“What did you say?”
“There’s a woman I love.”
“What, did you really call me here to talk about women?”
“Yes.”
Iroel shook his head. He scrutinised Rufus like a disgusting bug.
“You don’t even look hairy down there, but you already have a woman…”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, I’m just a little jealous. So, who is it? Is she your fiancee?”
“I asked her to marry me, but I didn’t hear the answer.”
“You have a big liver.1 If you propose before going to war, you’ll die on the battlefield with a high probability…”
Iroel, lifting the bottle, realised that Rufus had not drunk from it yet.
“Oh, I was drinking it all. Do you want some leftovers?”
“Do you think I’ll drink your saliva?”
“You’re cold-hearted. We’re going to eat together and sleep together.”
Iroel checked the alcohol left in the bottle and continued the consumption.
“So, is she pretty?”
“Who?”
“The platoon leader’s lover.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a quick answer. How pretty?”
“That’s none of your business.” Rufus turned cold. “You know, I can only go back to her when the war is over.”
“That’s right.” Iroel wiped the alcohol off his mouth with his sleeve.
Rufus gave him a cursory glance and continued: “At this rate, we don’t know how many years the suppression war will last.”
“Of course, the demons are powerful.”
“And I can’t afford to wait for those years to pass.”
“I guess so. Because your pretty girlfriend is tired of waiting, she might turn to another man, so you’re scared.”
“No, I’m not afraid of that.” Rufus, who was resting his chin, frowned. “The problem is her master will start hitting her soon. I’m worried that she will be hurt while I’m away.”
Master? Iroel put down his drinking bottle. “Hey, where the hell is your girlfriend and what is she doing?”
“Working in the palace of Princess Sordid.”
“Then the Princess’s secretary?”
“No, maid.”
“Wow, that’s really fun. All of a sudden, the wine tastes sweet.” Iroel, who exclaimed, began chewing beef jerky from his pocket as a snack. “So you’re dating the princess’ maid?”
“We’re not dating yet.”
“Huh? I heard you proposed? Do young people these days propose before they even date?”
“It happened somehow.” Roughly muttering, Rufus looked at his pocket watch. It’s been about 10 minutes since Iroel started drinking. The medicine was about to take effect.
Rufus turned to Iroel. “Then let’s talk about your woman from now on.”
“Me? Great, I have many stories to tell. Do you want to hear the story of me sleeping with a girl and almost being killed by boiling water?”
“No, aside from that, let’s talk about your mother.”
Pause. Iroel’s hand, which held the bottle, unnaturally hardened.
“Why talk about my mother here?”
“Because your mother is a great person.”
“My mother is dead,” Iroel said sarcastically with a helpless tone.
“My mother entrusted me to Viscount Eustice when I was seven years old before she died.”
That’s a well-known story, but the reality was different. Iroel’s mother was not dead.
Because…
“Witch Orth.” Rufus clenched his chin and looked at Iroel over the table. “A witch who serves the Demon King. Wasn’t that your mother?”
…witches don’t die.
As long as the Demon King is alive, the witch doesn’t die. It was an immutable law.
[(◍＞◡＜◍)♡ Visit me @ www.millenniumsnow.com ♡]
Bang!
The bottle rolled over in the distance. The temporary wooden table collapsed.
“Who are you?!” Iroel aimed his dagger at Rufus, trembling. “How do you know my mother? Tell me the truth right now. If you don’t, I’ll kill you! Come on!” The sharp tip of the dagger stabbed Rufus in the skin.
“Who’s going to kill whom?” Rufus fixated on Iroel with a cold stare.
The memory of being betrayed by Iroel in his previous life came to mind.
Iroel’s mother was a witch who served the Demon King, Audisus. As a child, Iroel, who grew up among demons, knew: When the devil dies, the witch who made a blood pledge with him also dies. Iroel wanted to save his mother, so he leaked all the information about the subjugation army to her.
The result was disastrous.
The Great King Audisus escaped the siege as if he were playing tricks on the human race. The demon subjugation army played in the palm of his hand. In addition to that, it completely neutralised the main firepower of humans.
In the first place, Iroel was primarily responsible for the prolonged three-year war against the demon tribe. So Rufus immediately struck Iroel’s neck as soon as he realised that he had had ties with the demons. Ridiculing himself, who once considered Iroel as a close friend.
“Your hands are shaking.” Rufus looked at Iroel’s hand holding the dagger.
“Isn’t it hard to hold a dagger? It must be difficult to even stand properly.”
“You son of a…” Feeling his body stiffen, Iroel glared at Rufus fiercely.
In the next second, the dagger fell to the floor. With a thump, Iroel’s body dropped like a rotten old tree.
“Ugh… what did I drink?”
“Carosis.”
“Crazy bastard…”
Isn’t carosis a poison that slowly hardens people’s blood and kills them?
Iroel, who lay helplessly on the floor, gasped for his breath and clenched his teeth tightly.
He was in agony. Every organ in his body stiffened one by one.
But even though he wanted to die right away, he couldn’t. There were still several hours left for the drug to completely take over his body.
“His Majesty the King… Did he send you to kill me?”
“No, the king is not that smart.” Rufus sat down in front of Iroel. “And I said it from the beginning. I will not kill you.”
Rufus showed the antidote to Iroel’s face. It was then that Iroel recalled the words of Rufus as he entered the tent.
“What do you want?” With a grimace on his face, Iroel took a deep breath. He didn’t want to admit it, but Rufus was in control of all negotiations. Rufus won’t hand over that antidote until he gets what he wants.
Rufus glanced at Iroel with indifferent eyes. “Actually, I have nothing to say to you.”
“Damn it, then what!”
“Tell your mother to come out.”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Iroel opened his eyes wide. “My mother abandoned me to Viscount Eustace. I have no connection with my mother. I’m a human being. I am not a demon!”
“Then you are of no use. Go to hell.”
“You bastard… You said you wouldn’t kill me!”
“That’s on the premise that you’ll listen to me.” Rufus carelessly rolled the antidote in his hand.
“And it doesn’t matter if you die. I can say that you went against my instructions and died by my sword. The Viscount of Eustace will love it when he finally gets rid of the illegitimate son.”
“You son of a bitch…”
“If you have the strength to swear, why don’t you appeal to your mother? Or should I do it myself?” Rufus turned to the corner of the tent.
“Witch Orth, if you want to save your son, show yourself.”
A mouse was standing at the end of Rufus’ gaze. It was that thing that squeaked and rattled all this time. An ordinary grey-coloured mouse that inhabited the outskirts. The only flaw was that inside that mouse was a witch.
The mouse slowly trotted towards Rufus. Seeing the animal, Iroel closed his eyes tightly and bowed his head. “No, mother…”
The appearance of the mouse standing in front of Rufus’ feet shone red. Its body fell apart like powder, forming back into a large shape. Then a woman appeared in front of Rufus.
“I am the witch Orth you have been looking for.”
Previous < Table of Content > Next
Bad news:
This month, May 2022, I thought I would die… ((유∀유|||))
So many things happened. Beginning of the month, I brought my phone to change the batteries, but they broke it, and I had to send it for repair. The whole month was stressful… very stressful… my mother hurt her feet and I had to do all the things she couldn’t. And at the end of the month, I lost my keys, and they are still not back. It is a huge hassle (and I have to change a few locks)! ಥ‿ಥ
Good news:
Have you seen the page? I got professional help and added ads and improved the page, hoping the site could pay for itself xD My hope is to not have to pay for running the page! So, not asking you to click on the ads; just allowlist/white-list me if you use an ad-block (and accept my cookies 🍪)!
(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
PWETTY PWEASE! (,,◕ ⋏ ◕,,) LOL *cringe*
I will try to post regularly to earn a few cents if I can xD I really like translating and writing in general. I will also start editing my own stories later and upload them here, so take a look if you would like to! It’s a stress reliever for me so I will write anyway. (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)
Taking this chance, I would like to thank everyone who came here to read and leave their comments! If you came here by chance, you can use NovelUpdates to leave a review or keep track of future updates! I would like to thank all the previous reviewers! You make we want to translate even more!
♡♡ As always, I love you all ♡♡ (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄) ♡♡
Sorry to hear all your trouble but so greatfull you continue translating this novel
Really hope will become regular.
I accepted your cookies 😉
Thank you so much for your kindness!
Take a few more cookies on the way xD
🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🙈
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧♡