Regina Lena – To the Unforgiven - Chapter 32

“Celeste is the name of a king.”

 

The boy priest said in a nervous voice.

 

“He was the king who lived at the edge of the continent in ancient times.”

 

Clavis was interested in the unexpected words and asked.

 

“What kind of king was he?”

 

“He was a king who once ruled a great city.”

 

Clavis’ head tilted at the vain answer, so Angie added in a hurry.

 

“Ah, so in ancient times there was a king for every castle, and several castles were clustered around a river. There were big castles and small castles, uh, of course, big castles was the standard at the time.”

 

“Was he a king with the largest castle among them?”

 

“Ah, yes.”

 

At Clavis’ help, Angie nodded his head.

 

So Clavis nodded and smiled, implying him to say more.

 

Angie, who was allowed to speak, swallowed with his dry throat. The sharp gazes of the dukes were burdensome.

 

So he couldn’t open his mouth, but made eye contact with Rena, who was sitting among the dukes.

 

‘Ah…’

 

Angie was enveloped in a strange feeling again.

 

His heart was pounding as if being hit by the wind from a high place. The tremors stopped, and although he didn’t know why, his heart was relieved.

 

So the boy spoke in a calmer voice.

 

 

“King Celeste ruled over a great city and took possession of the nearby fertile land and hunting grounds. He was a foolish conqueror who threatened neighboring castles by force and eventually turned other kings into enemies.”

 

He was a king who monopolized his prey by leading his army. As a result, his castle grew richer and richer, but the plundered abundance could not last forever.

 

Human were certainly afraid of spears and the army, but not as much as hunger. The neighboring castles, reaching their limit, eventually rose up and united.

 

“A coalition was formed and besieged the castle of King Celeste. The King closed the gates and waited for the allied forces to retreat, but the forces declared that they would not back down until the King lay down his head.”

 

The resentment of those whose tables were taken away was fierce.

 

They wanted revenge on the King, and the King trembled in fear and locked the gates tighter.

 

“The siege lasted more than half a year, and the castle ran out of provision from prolonged isolation, so the hungry people demanded surrender to the King.”

 

“That.”

 

Clavis smiled suddenly. The smile he held with his brows narrowed seemed to mock something.

 

When Angie was perplexed by the sharpness, Clavis spoke again with a stern face, as if nothing had happened before.

 

“Continue.”

 

“Ah, yes. Umm, eventually, the people tried to bring the King down themselves. However, the King had a full-term wife, and the King asked the people to wait until the child was born.”

 

At that moment, Clavis narrowed his eyes as if he had noticed something.

 

“A few days later, the King’s child was born…”

 

“The King handed the throne to the infant.”

 

Clavis continued speaking naturally. Angie looked at him in surprise, and Clavis added.

 

“I remember hearing it. It’s a very old story, but you managed to know.”

 

What the boy priest recited was an ancient history in a province far from the Empire. So, it was an old story that few people in the Empire knew, even Clavis had almost forgotten.

 

Clavis continued, following the memories Angie had awakened.

 

“Therefore, the throne was succeeded, and Celeste, who became the late king, handed over the child who had not yet opened his eyes to the people. He gave the people and his enemies the ‘king’, just as they wished.”

 

“Yes, that’s right. King Celeste had his own seal engraved on the newborn baby…”

 

Angie, who had been explaining calmly, abruptly stopped speaking.

 

The boy blinked his eyes as he was trying to figure out something, and then muttered in bewilderment.

 

“He handed the ring with the seal to the child. At that time, the king’s token was a seal ring.”

 

“How fun.”

 

Just yesterday, what Rena brought with her as the heart of the king was a seal ring.

 

So Clavis laughed as if the story was amusing. The other dukes had similar expressions on their faces.

 

“So what happened?”

 

“The hungry people took the baby. Then they crawled and threw the baby out of the wall…”

 

Angie finished his speech in a gloomy voice.

 

What the enemy wanted was a king’s neck. And the baby who got a seal right after birth was the king of the castle.

 

The conditions have been met.

 

Those who had lost their senses rushed to the walls with the baby, hoping for mercy from their enemies.

 

And the baby, who needed mercy more than anyone else, cried loudly as if he knew his fate.

 

But people didn’t listen to it. They only hoped to be freed from the famine, and swallowed the first cry of the little king.

 

“When the baby king fell, the allied forces finally retreated.”

 

Whether it was to accept surrender or to avoid ominousness could not be done.

 

But one thing was clear. The King survived by exchanging his own life for the life of his child. Was it only the King, or the people of that city as well? It was not enough to be cursed forever.

 

“It is said that King Celeste was spared his life, but was branded a coward and was eventually killed at the hands of his brother.”

 

“So, that’s the name of the King Who Swallowed the First Cry?”

 

Clavis looked back at Rena and asked.

 

The story progressed faster than Rena had expected. However, Rena answered calmly, hiding her true feelings.

 

“I don’t know much about that history, but it is true that I have heard of that name.”

 

“So?”

 

“So I followed the words of the dead. I thought the words the dead mumbled could be the key.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“When I sang ‘Celeste’ in front of the castle, a road was created and a different world appeared. Then at that place was the King Who Swallowed the First Cry.”

 

Rena finished her words in a calm voice, and a strange smile formed on Clavis’ face.

 

“Really?”

 

Clavis leaned towards Rena and muttered.

 

She heard a sound by chance, and just in case she followed it, then the impregnable castle was opened.

 

It was an absurd claim. If it’s a lie, it’s reckless, and if it’s real, it’s absurd.

 

“Are you sure? Her Majesty hates lies.”

 

“If you doubt it, you can check it yourself.”

 

“How can I confirm a castle that doesn’t exist anymore?”

 

Clavis asked silently. Then the Southern Duke, who was watching, intervened.

 

“My representative must not be an idiot, would she be telling lies in a place like this?”

 

“You’re siding with her.”

 

Clavis grinned at the Southern Duke. Then he turned to the other side of the round table.

 

“What do the North and the East think?”

 

“We’ll find out for ourselves on the next expedition.”

 

When Clavis asked for his opinion, the Eastern Duke said with an annoyed face, as if it was an argument over a useless thing, which was annoying.

 

The Northern Duke, on the other hand, was silent. He did not agree with this statement. His purple eyes were boiling with silent rage.

 

When there was no disagreement, Clavis also resigned willingly. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously in the first place.

 

Rena’s argument was absurd, but the castle was conquered anyway. Besides, there was no way to confirm the authenticity, so the dukes had no choice but to accept it.

 

“The story is going to be interesting. If Sir Rena’s claim is true,

Is it safe to say that the King Who Swallowed the First Cry is King Celeste?”

 

Clavis asked, looking back at the round table. But no one answered. Everyone was busy contemplating their own speculation.

 

“Well, he just had to do that much and ignored God.”

 

Clavis mocked with narrowed eyes.

 

They said that those who went crazy with hunger and sacrificed an innocent baby would starve forever in the Tomb. In exchange for ignoring the baby’s first cry, they reacted desperately to every sound.

 

As the circumstances matched, there was an atmosphere of reluctantly agreeing. All was as Rena intended.

 

What Rena said was true anyway. A castle closed on all sides inside the Tomb, and the way to enter it is to call out the real name of the castle owner.

 

Rena was the only one who knew about this, so she was able to come back alive from the expedition.

 

‘Father doesn’t know much about it.’

 

Rena swallowed a bitter smile as she recalled the face of the Marquis she saw yesterday.

 

When he returned from the expedition, the Marquis looked at Rena as if he had seen a ghost. He seemed to ask why the fair faced young woman was still alive.

 

This is the answer.

 

Rena was neither a monster nor an immortal. The reason Rena came back alive was because she knew how to enter the castle of the dead.

 

It was also above the castle of the dead that the Marquis stabbed Rena with poison. So when Rena fell, she called Celeste’s name, and she was dragged into the castle and escaped danger.

 

This was what happened at the end of the expedition, but Rena did not reveal it all. She couldn’t.

 

So she decided to shed only the fact that ‘if one calls the King’s real name they can enter the castle’ to the dukes.

 

Fortunately, the story went smoothly. However, it was unexpected for Rena that Celeste’s identity was immediately revealed.

 

“I thought the scholars in the Imperial Palace would suffer for a few days.”

 

She didn’t know there would be someone here who was familiar with ancient history. And that person just had to be Angie Ruber.

 

Rena looked at the boy priest who resembled her, hiding her feelings as much as possible.

 

Meanwhile, Clavis continued.

 

“The kings of the dead are kings abandoned by heaven, and to enter their castle, you need to know the king’s name. Then, what you will do in the future will be decided naturally.”

 

Clavis slowly put his fingers up.

 

“One is to find out the names of the kings, and the other is to defeat the kings whose names have already been revealed.”

 

The kings whose names have been revealed. It was the story of the Emperor’s great-grandfather, Hiems Gracia, the ‘King of Burning and Scorching’.

 

“It’s plausible, since Hiems Grasha was certainly a king the heavens would forsake.”

 

Hiems Gracia would be my direct ancestor, Clavis said without hesitation.

 

And the dukes remembered the atrocities committed by Hiems Gracia 200 years ago. He was the king who burned and killed innocent people of the kingdom with the pretext of a plague.

 

The King Who Swallowed the First Cry abandoned his newborn baby, and the King of Burning and Scorching literally burned everything.

 

Their jaws were shut tight.

 

“I have no choice but to admit it.”

 

In an atmosphere where everyone was convinced, Clavis smiled broadly at Rena.

 

“I pay tribute to Sir Rena for unraveling the secrets of the tomb, as expected, you were the correct answer.”

 

.

.

.

 

When the meeting was over, Eura was the first to turn his back on the round table.

 

While the Southern Duke was relieving the failure of the North, Clavis approached Rena and whispered to her.

 

“It was impressive, Sir Rena.”

 

He approached amiably as usual, then lowered his voice and added.

 

“But you’re not good at making stories.”

 

The dukes weren’t fools either. However, there was a significant part of Rena’s remarks, so they just ignored the minor issues.

 

Rena knew that too. But they acted according to each other’s needs, so why did he have to come and argue like this?

 

Rena smiled brightly at the subtle provocation.

 

“Be careful. I have enough other talents.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“Do I have to tell you?”

 

Rena changed her gaze and looked at him once. Then she coldly passed by Clavis, who had narrowed their distance.

 

Clavis smiled and bit his lip at Rena’s brutality.

 

He looked at Rena’s back like a child who had tasted sweetness, then noticed that there was another person watching the lady.

 

The clever boy priest, Angie Ruber, was hesitating toward Rena from a distance.

 

Angie was curious. Who the hell is that person? Why does she use the same name as his dead older sister, and why does she resemble the older sister in his memory?

 

And why didn’t his father say anything?

 

Angie, who was hesitant, followed Rena resolutely.

 

He wanted to talk to her at least. He wanted to ask if it was really her. So he followed Rena with a slow pace, but an unexpected person blocked his way.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Your Highness…”

 

“Is there anyone out there to whom you can speak carelessly?”

 

Clavis, who had stopped Angie, spoke amiably.

 

“Young Marquis has to be careful no matter how young you are.”

 

At Clavis’ warning, Angie froze. It was disconcerting, but it wasn’t wrong. The dukes and their representatives were people who could not be called carelessly.

 

Angie was forced to follow Rena’s back as she left the conference room with only his eyes.

 

As before, a strange agitation passed through his chest.

 

But Angie, who was still young, did not realize that it was longing.

 

***

 

The meeting ended safely. Rena left the conference room, satisfied with the meeting going more smoothly than she had planned.

 

But when Rena had just come out into the hallway, she unexpectedly met with Lynn.

 

The Southern Duke, who had gone one step ahead, was still in front of the door. However, whether he was waiting for Rena or not, he looked surprised when he saw Lynn with Rena.

 

The two suddenly met and looked at each other. Each of them had something to say, but there were many eyes observing.

 

So they didn’t say anything and just stared at each other for a while.

 

“Take your eyes off.”

 

Suddenly, a sharp voice was heard.

 

“How dare you stare with such cheap eyes?”

 

It was the voice of the Southern Duke, full of contempt.