Crimson Karma (Jinhongui Karma) - Chapter 9

Raw provider: Tsalispark

Translator: Rhyme

Editor: Nush

“For now continue to keep an eye on her. It would be better if she really lost her memories due to the mana explosion… and if by any chance she shows any strange behaviour report to me immediately.”

After saluting those who were present, Zeke went out of the tent.

There wasn’t much change in the situation of the confrontation between the Imperial army and the Rebel army. If there was any change, then it would be in the Karina palace where the Emperor stayed. Mainly because of Queen Melania being pregnant with the Dragon seed again.

“Here people are fighting with death, shedding their blood and there, those people are spending hot spring nights.”

Mikhail as always with a sullen look, was expressing his repugnance towards the Emperor without any hesitation.

“Isn’t it a good thing to spread the royal branches?”

“Do you really think like that?”

Mikhail glared and raised his voice, as if he heard something profane in the words of Tasel who spoke with a deep sigh. But Tasel without being concerned with Mikhail’s bad attitude continued with a broad smile, “It will get more reassuring with more spares.” The smile on his face faded away.

“Oh, come on. For whose welfare are you fighting for? Why don’t we just wreck up all of it!”

It was only at this time Tasel warned Mikhail for raising his voice.

“Watch your words. Even if it is a battlefield there are many ears . I don’t want to lose you in vain.”

Mikhail went out of the tent mumbling that he was going to get some fresh air.

Mikhail was frustrated with his master.

As he saw it, his Prince Tasel was the most suitable candidate for the position of Crown Prince, way more than the First Prince Caylen or the Third Prince Euricardeon.

From the very beginning the First Prince Caylen was considered as the most suitable candidate for the Crown Prince position and held a large number of people to his own support as well. He also received proper education from a very young age. His nature was similar to his father, grumpy. As soon as he was moved down from the Crown Prince’s position, the protest it brought made things clearer.

And the Third Prince Euricardeon was not even worthy to be mentioned. It was true that he was young but weak in nature. Euricardeon was yet to get out of his mother’s skirt.

It was unknown how long the current king could hold on. Still according to Mikhail’s calculations he could continue for only ten more years. But from the look of things, it was quite clear that even after ten years the Third Prince Euricardeon would not be capable of upholding the responsibilities of a king.  It was obvious that they would be hit with a hard plate.

Contrasting to them, Tasel was similar to his mother Queen Elena, gentle and wise. But if the situation turned serious, he would be similar to the younger Alterion, bold and determined. The Prince was a successor of the good qualities of his parents. So he couldn’t understand why the Prince with such a good qualification was not willing to engulf anything.

‘Is he afraid of being envied by others, if he did better? Huh.’

In order to calm the fire in his heart, he went to the hills at the rear of the garrison.

As he climbed up the hill, some rocks were protruding outwards. When one ascended with the help of the rocks towards the summit and looked down, it gave a feeling of one’s heart being hollowed out.

He was busy climbing the small mountain through the thick bushes.

Mikhail felt a subtle presence of another person around him. He moved towards that presence. He was sure that the person was not an enemy since that location wasn’t of any use, but he didn’t know whether it was a soldier or a civilian. He reduced his body movements and without any sound he subtly moved towards the presence.

Mikhail’s eyes widened when he saw the person.

Because the presence he felt was that of the heroine of the Mist Forest explosion, Dame Kasia.

She was in the middle of doing hand push ups with only light clothes on. It seemed like it had been a while since she started. Her forehead was dripping with sweat. Even the clothes she wore got completely soaked in sweat.

Pant, pant… Ninety-nine! Hundred! Pant, pant…

It was unknown which set this hundred belonged to. After counting till hundred she flopped onto the ground in an exhausted state.

She sat with her knees bent upwards. Her upper body expanded and relaxed as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. After some time she opened her mouth to speak.

“Is it your hobby to peek at others ?”

Mikhail was shocked to be found by Kasia. He moved his body and went up to her.

“Uh! Lord Zeke, I Salute You! I didn’t know it was Lord Zeke.”

Seeing Mikhail, Kasia stood up in attention instantly.

“Hey… It hasn’t been long since your body recovered. Isn’t it very straining?”

“No, Sir. I want to recover faster. I was just working out lightly to recover my body strength.”

“Of all the places, why here? There is a training field in our barracks.”

“… so you are Lord Mikhail.”

Mikhail’s eyes opened wide. He felt that he was always being surprised by Kasia.

“How did you find out?”

“The way you speak is entirely different. The way you walk is also different. I apologize for not recognizing you sooner.”

Mikhail and Zeke always dressed similarly so it was difficult for others to tell them apart. It was akin to impossible for some. There were moments when they even had the enemy line confused which they utilized when working under Tasel’s unit.

The soldiers who mingled with them for long could only barely distinguish them. So Mikhail felt quite surprised when she told them apart even though she hadn’t known either of them for that long.

Looking at her silently who seemed to emit heat from her sweat soaked body, he felt a pressure from her as if the whole mountain was her playground. Mikhail, who had never been interested in others, was intrigued about the soldier in front of him – a natural fighter with a hard working mentality.

“Follow me. I will take you to a good place.”

Mikhail walked ahead. Kasia was taken aback for a moment. As if being in friendly terms with the Commander was not a big deal, she followed him from behind.

Mikhail walked with big strides. Kasia followed him in climbing up the mountain. As they went up, the number of trees they came across became lesser and there were some boulders protruding out. They were different from the rock embedded upwards in the trail of the mountain.

While standing atop of a boulder, the barracks of their camp were visible with a look. The sky was growing red with the setting sun. And at this time of the year, the sky darkened very quickly.

The sky slowly revealed the breathtaking view of exceptionally luminous stars. The bonfires lit in between the tents were dancing with the rhythm of wind. She also felt engrossed in the smell of the savoury soup. The scenery in front of her was too beautiful to describe as a war zone.

“How’s it? Awesome right? Haaaa…..”

Mikhail shrugged his shoulder like he was showing jewels he was proud of and took a deep breath.

“Is there anything bothering you?”

Kasia who was admiring the scenery below asked Mikhail when she heard him take a deep breath, for courtesy’s sake.

Scratching his head Mikhail talked about the situation in the military as if he was waiting for her to ask.

“It is frustrating. Can it be not? The country is in a threat of being split, but our boss, His Highness, the Prince is fighting as someone nearing his death, without ambitions or results. In truth don’t you also think that it would have been better for our Prince to be the Emperor?”

Mikhail was talking with suppressed rage as his chest expanded and relaxed. But as soon as he saw the emotionless and rage-less eyes of Kasia he realized something.

“Yes, right. You are said to have your  memories lost.”

“I am sorry.”

“What is there to be sorry for? It’s not like you wanted to lose your memories.”

Kasia looked up at him with a harmless expression.

Putting together what she heard from Lunaen, Krone and the things gossiped by the soldiers and knights and now adding what Mikhail said, the country seemed to be going through a difficult situation.

Though she couldn’t understand the thought process of the person known as the Emperor, he didn’t seem to have any determination to win. Plus, the First Prince was adamant in his pursuit for the Empire even if it meant its ruin.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army Tasel, was fighting a nonchalant war while others just watched, as they saw the kingdom they wanted. As a person who participated in countless wars in her previous life, Kasia was doubtful towards the situation of this war.

If the character of the Emperor was like what others said, he would not be happy to see his second son becoming a hero by ending the war. As a person who came and spent more than a month in this place, she understood that most of the nobles of the country knew about the truth of the war.

So it all came down to a single result.

‘The Emperor has decided to harm his second son. And the Commander-in-Chief also knows this truth.’

It would not matter whether he wins or fails, it would be a problem both ways. If he was to win, then it was highly probable to falsely accuse him of being covetous towards the throne. After witnessing the means used by the First Prince, it wouldn’t be difficult to cut off the Second Prince’s head with such charges.

And if he were to fail, he would either die at the hands of his enemies or be sentenced to death to take responsibility for the defeat. It was very dangerous to make any careless action considering the situation.

‘The Emperor seems to be holding something up his sleeves. If the war was lost, then before sentencing the Second Prince to death, the Emperor would need to protect his and the Crown Prince’s life first… What is he really after? No, the more important question is why does he want to get rid of  the Second Prince so much?ʼ

Kasia thought hard about it, but the information she had was not enough to come to any specific conclusion. In other words, it was also possible for the Emperor to be insane.

“Now let’s go down and eat. It seems you exercised for quite a long time. Are you not hungry?”

As Mikhail mentioned about going down the mountain while facing her, Kasia readied without any hitch.

When climbing down Kasia walked  ahead of Mikhail. Seeing the figure walking in front of him, Mikhail inwardly felt admiration towards Kasia. There wasn’t any superfluous-ness in her posture.

‘Can be considered as almost perfect…’

Watching her from behind, he had several thoughts in his mind, but she only answered his questions in quick replies.

‘Should I test her?’

Mikhail revealed a sly smile. When they reached a place with less boulders, he tried to stab the tree branch he held as a walking stick directly at the middle of her back.

At the moment of his attack, Kasia ducked and turned her body towards the other side of the mountain path. She grabbed Mikhail’s head from behind and stuck a sharp object to his neck.

He wondered if she picked up something from the mountain path. A sharp and crooked small tree branch was held in her hand. Though all of this happened in a short breath of time, Kasia, who used a considerable amount of energy in that short moment was breathing calmly.

“Isn’t this great?”

The smile on Mikhail’s face completely faded. His face expressed an empty pleasure.

“……”

Kasia who held onto Mikhail’s neck loosened her hands. She was aware that this was a prank. He was a knight, if someone as great as Mikhail really wished to kill her, even if she was Kasia with her current state she would be in danger.

“.…As per my understanding, even before the Mist Forest incident there wasn’t any female Knight with this kind of amazing movements.”

Said Mikhail who experienced the first hand power of the throat grab.

“What exactly happened to you?’

The eyes that looked directly at Kasia glowed with an intolerable curiosity and excitement.

“I am also curious about it. I tried to understand it from the moment I could move a finger lying on the bed, but I couldn’t get any answer. Anyway I can’t do anything about my current situation.”

Kasia threw the small twisted tree branch she had held in her hand. She then proceeded to walk in front of Mikhail as if nothing happened.