Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 89

A merciless chill fell over my body, and I blinked a few times then looked down at Alois.

For a while, Alois sucked in a deep breath, then he grinned and looked up at me.

“I was foolish this time.”

“…”

“I was too bold thinking you could handle everything, Lady Emilone. Dark magic, of all things…”

Alois spoke with a tone of self-reproach. I reached out and brushed my hand over his cheek, shaking off the lingering filth clinging to his body.

As I watched the energy slither away like a snake, I noticed a leaf near his hand and blew it away.

“I didn’t expect this either. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

Honestly, I was a little, no…I was very uncomfortable. To think it was dark magic…

“I never thought someone would be wielding a power that defies the divine…”

That was the real issue. From the start, I knew that place was anything but ordinary but if dark magic was involved, that changes everything.

“For people with power like that to just be drawing blood…No matter how much I think about it, that doesn’t make sense…”

I noticed Alois biting his lip, muttering something under his breath.

I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward, trampling on the leaves next to where Alois was sitting.

“You, you’re hiding something from me.”

“…”

He shut his mouth like he was considering something, and I suddenly felt a rush of displeasure. I reached out and grabbed his face heavily.

“I’m asking questions now. I can’t afford to be tolerant any longer and overlook what you’re hiding.”

Clearly, that place was not just a site for extracting blood and selling it. Thinking back on it, the whole thing was strange.

“Alois, tell me exactly what kind of place that is.”

When I released my grip, he let out a short sigh and called my name.

“Lady Emilone.”

“That is an order.”

His slightly parted red lips shut tightly again.

I stuck to my guns and stared at Alois, but he hesitated and still didn’t answer.

“Alois.”

I called him again. This time, I wasn’t going to just let it slide.

“In the kingdom of Vermont, you told me you made a promise with your father…that was your excuse. But now? Why are you hiding things about this country from me this time?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“What I’m asking for is not an apology.”

Alois stood up without saying a word. In the blink of an eye, our heights reversed, and he was looking down at me with an awkward look on his face, then he opened his mouth.

“I didn’t tell you because…frankly, I don’t really know myself.”

“…What don’t you know?”

“Where the blood they extract from nobles is actually going.”

“Well, obviously, it’s being stored in preparation for war, or for nobles who might get injured—.”

As I was talking, my brain went ‘wait’. No matter how you put it, there were too many things off about that place.

When Alois told me about it, I took his words as fact and glossed things over.

Not only were they drawing blood from the countless nobles that used that den as their playground, but they were also exploiting commoners to draw blood? They needed that much blood…? For what?

Even for a country preparing for war, it didn’t make sense to need that much blood.

“They store an enormous amount of blood. But only half of it is ever circulated. I don’t know where the other half is going.”

“If you don’t know then…who does?”

Alois shook his head back and forth. If he was saying he didn’t know, then he really had no idea.

“They provide nobles with a playground to let loose, delicious food, and even a pleasant location.”

All that money must have come from the selling and circulating of blood. Since noble blood would undoubtedly sell for a high price, it wouldn’t have been difficult to set up something of this scale.

“And for nobles who’ve lose all their money, they tell them that they will receive money of equivalent value if they give up a little of their blood.”

Blood was precious, but for those whose judgment was clouded and absorbed by gambling, it wasn’t a big issue to give a little blood. After all, it wasn’t even life threatening.

“The question is…what are they doing with the blood if they’re not selling it after they get it.”

“…I can’t fathom where this is going at all.”

“Yes, I can’t predict where it is going either. I have been trying to figure it out for the past few years, but I’ve come up with nothing.”

Since dark magic was involved, it wasn’t all that surprising.

Seeing Alois biting his lip as he explained that he couldn’t uncover the truth for years, I stretched out my hand.

“Calm down. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

I touched his lips, wanting him to relax and Alois let out a sigh, his hot breath falling over my fingers.

Alois slowly covered my hand and opened his mouth.

“…Meeting you, Lady Emilone, has been my greatest fortune.”

I should be the one saying that.

“Why, Alois. I’m afraid that should be my line.”

“No, it is me that is lucky. Frankly, I intended to marry the princess who became the new ruler of Vermont and put her on the throne.”

I frowned.

“But thanks to your power, I was able to save the Kingdom of Vermont without taking her hand. And…the same thing applies here.”

He guided my hand to his lips, exhaling against my skin.

“It’s because Lady Emilone is here that things can be resolved.”

He subtly implied he wanted me to resolve this. I withdrew my hand from his lips and burst into laughter.

“That doesn’t sound like something you should say considering you brought me here.”

“Haha, well…you’re not wrong.”

Alois lowered his eyes and stepped closer, but I took a step back. Alois kept stepping closer and closer like a hunter and I raised a hand to stop him.

“Alright, how exactly do you want me to solve this?”

“What do you mean?”

He was close enough that his face could almost touch my raised hand. Our eyes met and his red eyes peered into me.

“Do you want me to go ‘I am the Saintess’ and hunt down those dabbling in dark magic?”

“Of course not. I spent years trying to catch them and failed. Furthermore, there is the Heretical Faction. They’re an organization that can even threaten Your Holiness.”

He took my wrist and pulled down my hand which was causing a gap between us.

“If we rush in recklessly, we’ll be the ones who get hurt.”

“Hmm…then what do you want from me?”

“Good question…”

Alois slowly lowered his head, and I stayed still, not moving away. His languid breath brushed over my lips.

“I’ll answer that after we get down this mountain.”

“So you’ll consider it after we get down?”

He let out a laugh as if to say I guessed right.

His warm breath fell on me, and I looked away from his lips, only to meet his red eyes that were curved with amusement.

In the end, I had no choice but to wave a white flag.^[1]

* * *

“It’s tough going down a mountain, isn’t it?”

Alois asked, and I glared at him, wondering if he was joking right now.

I was already getting pissed off with this dress, yet he had the audacity to say that when he was the one who made me wear this?

“If I could, I’d rip this dress off and strut in my underwear.”

They called it underwear but to me, it just looked like a white dress.

Just as I was complaining in annoyance, a tree branch scraped against my foot.

“…Do you want to wear my shoes?” Alois asked.

I shouldn’t have taken my shoes off earlier…I thought even if I was barefoot, the path should be safe since it was just leaves but it was much rougher than I expected.

The temple’s back mountain was always well-maintained, so I was always fine…!

“What will you wear then?”

“Good point. Then I’ll just keep wearing them.”

If the person before me was the crown prince or the Duke, I would just ask them to piggyback me.

But Alois looked like he would fly away if you hit him and he reminded me of that delicate Sage Helio who was always buried in books, so it kind of pricked my conscience to ask him.

He had already carried me a few times already but having him carry me down this mountain…honestly, it sounded dangerous.

“Are you really putting those back on?”

Even though I thought that, when I saw him putting his half-removed shoes back onto his feet, a grumbling remark left my lips before I could stop it.

Alois adjusted his shoes properly and his lips curled as if to say, ‘what are you talking about?’.

“Then should I take them off and walk down this mountain barefoot and get scraped?”

“Weren’t you saying you’d take them off earlier?”

I didn’t actually want to take them, but his playful words made me retort with a slight pout.

“I changed my mind. Going down this dangerous mountain barefoot would be ridiculous.”

I gave him a glare, because he knew very well that I was barefoot right now. Seeing that, the mischievous look on Alois’ face deepened.

“Besides, if I was barefoot, I wouldn’t be able to carry Your Holiness like this.”

The moment his eyes met mine, I felt myself drawn into his gaze and the next moment, my body was lifted like a sack.

Flustered, I bent my leg and stuck his chest with my knee, causing Alois to groan.

“Your Holiness…if you don’t want me to carry you…shall I give you my shoes and have you carry me instead?”

His chest must have hurt quite a bit because his grip around my waist grew tight, and I replied.

“At that point…I might as well steal your shoes and walk down myself.”

At my response, Alois heaved a little.

“And usually, people don’t carry ‘me’ like a sack.”

“I was just joking around, don’t worry so much.”

With that, he effortlessly spun me around and held me in a princess carry.

If I knew this would happen, I would have just asked for a piggyback from the start.

“I had no intention of carrying Your Holiness, the one called the gift of God so rudely.”

I had to look up at him since I was nested in a princess-carry.

“…Alois, no one has ever carried the ‘Gift of God’ like this.”

“Yes, yes, Your Holiness. Please bear with it this once.”

He drew out his words with a teasing smile.

And so, I descended the mountain, carried in Alois’ arms. Surprisingly, the path wasn’t as rough as I expected.

Or more precisely, Alois was deliberately choosing the smoothest paths to take.

“…You’re good at navigating mountains?”

“I was abandoned in the mountains as a child, so I learned.”

He replied as he jumped down a slightly steep incline. My body jolted and I couldn’t hide my bewilderment as I asked.

“Abandoned?”

“It’s natural for people to be wary of those with talent. Even family is no exception.”

“…”

“It was my eldest brother who left me in the mountains.”

He spoke like he was boasting about being a talented younger brother, but hearing that he was abandoned was uncomfortable to hear.

Furrowing my brows, I urged him to explain further. Instead of answering, Alois pressed a light kiss against my forehead.

“I mean, this is from when I was six. At that age, I could speak eight languages, including my native tongue, the imperial language, Nevercio, and Herthea.”

“…At six?”

“Yes, and around that time, I was also highly praised by scholars for deciphering the secrets of an ancient structure said to have been built 2000 years ago.”

I swallowed hard.

If he was capable of such things at that age, then Alois’ status should have been infinitely higher, especially when combined with the wealth of the Eseah Kingdom.

Translator’s Corner:

^[1] To wave a white flag is to surrender.

T/N: I have a question. Would y’all prefer if I used “surrender” instead here? I thought it was funny to imagine Emi waving a flag, so I left the imagery in. Let me know what you think.

T/N 2: The country ‘Hercea’ will now be translated as ‘Herthea’. I missed the ‘th’ sound on my first go.

*.*.*

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