Chapter 230 (1/2)
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Chapter 230 – The Status of the a.s.sailants
In the border of Ludancia was a town where a group of ten armed men stayed. Citizens didn't pay any attention to them mostly because of their few numbers, and it was clear that Ludancia's ruler herself ordered these troops to be stationed there.
The group's leader was on edge. Enraged after receiving news of the Fedor gang's failure, he slammed his fist on the table.
「This is why I didn't want to hire a bunch of thugs to do the job.」
His subordinates stood in attention, unmoving. Their leader, Larks Lordgrad Ludancia, had the same family name as Luka, but he was merely adopted, and as such he was treated rather poorly.
Believing that only he could protect himself, he devoted his time to training in the ways of the sword, eventually getting himself the position of a commanding officer.
「Now that?」
The man gazed outside the snowy, fogged up window. He couldn't contain his anger, but he also knew that he had no other option but to fulfill the task at hand. Larks recalled the time he received the mission—eliminating Luka.
「Larks, you do feel indebted to me for adopting you, right?」
「Of course. I have not once forgotten my debt of grat.i.tude towards the Lordgrad family for taking me in. Every month when I go to church to pray, I express my grat.i.tude—」
「I don't really care about that. I just need you to show me how sincere you are.」
The woman, wearing heavy make-up to appear young, smirked. In his mind, Larks referred to her as a monster.
A s.h.i.+ver went down his spine. For a moment, he thought he'd be asked to offer his body as an outlet for her s.e.xual desires. But he knew Ludancia's representative preferred young men, and she kept about a dozen of them around like pets.
Larks was a muscular man in his late twenties with short blue hair. Had he not trained in swordsmans.h.i.+p, he would've probably gained a reputation in high society as a womanizer. Unfortunately, he had solid build, and scars marred his face.
Part of him also wanted to train hard so he'd become someone completely opposite of what Luka's mother preferred in men and escape from her clutches.
「Kill Luka.」
Oh, that. Larks felt relieved. At the same time, he realized his end would be coming soon as well.
The man knew how she worked behind the scenes ever since winter, trying to sabotage the upcoming ma.s.s wedding. But since Rumania itself supported the event, aiming to profit off of it, Ludancia couldn't say anything to cancel it.
Normally, Kirihal would disagree with the proposal, but not only did Queen Marquedo, Kirihal's representative, expressed her support, she also taunted Ludancia's haters, saying “Do you want to join forces with Ludancia to overturn the decision?”, therefore silencing them. It was a clever move.
Of course, this wasn't Marquedo's idea, but the Prime Minister's—the Queen's brains, Zofira van Houtens.
「Why now? We finally have the means to destroy Kirihal soon…」Ludancia's representative muttered.
You idiot, Larks thought. This isn't the time to be fighting among ourselves. The whole continent is in a state of chaos.
Even if he thought of her as a fool, she was still Ludancia's representative. She finally arrived at a conclusion: if she can't stop the wedding, then she just has to kill Luka. If the princess was killed, Larks would be sentenced to death for ruining an important event that the Alliance worked hard to push. If he failed to kill Luka, her mother would not excuse his blunder. Either way, death would come knocking at his door soon.
If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well test how strong I've become, Larks told himself. Fortunately, Jarazack had plenty of warriors, Alexei included. I'm sure they're not known as a nation that excelled in martial arts for nothing. They would be the perfect opponent in his last fight ever.
「Understood.」Larks nodded with grim determination.
「Come on. Cheer up. You're ruining your looks. Don't worry about a thing. I heard there's this group of bandits called the Fedor gang in Jarazack. Hire them for the job.」
「Pardon?」