Chapter 98 – Piling Up.

After sparring with Pavel, Logi was walking down the hallway. He didn’t mind continuing to train on the gymnasium, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t read his mood either. So he moved away, but there was nothing to do, so he just walked around. If he had kids to play with, he would have gotten along, but he couldn’t make friends here. If there were children in the upper ranks, I would have played with them, but unfortunately, there are no children my age left in this castle.

However, he was not reluctant to play with the children of this castle, so he wandered around here, unable to do anything. Everything felt empty and meaningless. He doesn’t know what to live for. He wanted to become a knight, but it was to live, not because he particularly longed for it. He didn’t even know why he was walking or why he was living. Then he heard familiar voices in front of him.

“Why is your dad so interested in Belka?”
“I’ll tell you about that soon.”

Usher grumbles and Medea smiles bitterly as if she can’t help it.

“Come to think of it, I’m also very familiar with Belka for the first time. Did you guys live in this city?”
“It can’t be. We’ve been here for about a week now.”

From Lyudmila, a dwarf with impressive white and black hair, to Belka, who quietly accompanies them. Four people who had become friends before I knew it were walking from opposite sides of the hallway, chatting loudly. Logi stopped walking and looked at them and Belka endlessly. If I could be even a little closer to that girl, I wouldn’t have any spare time. She seems to notice him. Usher sees him and crumples her face. Because of this, Medea and Ludmilla looked at him as if they recognized him.

At first glance, Rogi seems to have run into the golden ones as well, but the girl doesn’t even react and she walks past him with them. He seemed indifferent as if he didn’t even know he was there, and a little bit of forgotten pain pierced her chest. Even if I wanted to accept it casually, I looked back because I wanted to put it in my eyes even a little more, but I could only see the girl and their back, leaving only a red tail as a trace.

My heart hurts. As if a terrible emptiness had crept into his chest and made a hole in it, Rogi collapsed after their figures finally disappeared. The girl was heartless and never looked back at him. Logi seemed to know why he gave his all in the fight against Pavel more than necessary. Because he was another self.

“He was Usher’s sparring opponent, right?”
“I don’t know, such a guy.”

They were on their way to wait in front of her office in her Aeolus after her Belka had taken her to Aeolus as she was being called. It didn’t take long to know what they were talking about, but Usher couldn’t figure out why he was interested in Belka. But the reason was that Mediah seemed to know her, so she followed her. At that time, Usher’s feelings were incomprehensible because he ran into Rogi.

“Why is he suddenly like this?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know much about Usher, except that Usher is a losing opponent every time in Dalian.”
“You’re saying that you’re looking at your opponent like this?”

Medea and Ludmilla looked strangely at Usher, who looked particularly uncomfortable after meeting Rogi.

“Do you know anything else?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to say much.”

No matter how you look at it, Ludmilla whispered in Belka’s ear at Usher’s strange appearance, which was strange to see with a simple desire to compete, but it was her refusal to return.

“No matter how you look at it, it looks like there’s something there, right?”
“Do you think so?”

They knew what had happened between them, but they decided not to ask. Because there were things I didn’t want to tell anyone. And finally, the place I arrived at was in front of a certain room.

“Why is this? Isn’t it someone else’s room?”

Usher, who followed Medea, looked at the door and asked. It seemed like a room that wasn’t too different from other rooms, except that the lock on the door was pretty flashy.

“Don’t be too impatient, just wait a moment.”

Medea took one of her keys from her bosom, inserted it into the lock on her door, and turned it. Then the lock opened with a click.

“Isn’t this your room?”
“Once you get in, you’ll know.”

Usher wondered if it might be a storeroom for valuables as she opened the door with her calmness. But didn’t she say that Aiolos taught her why she cares about Belka? I couldn’t understand why this room had anything to do with it. At least until I looked at the scenery in the room. It was full of paintings of a single person, accessories that seemed to have been used by someone, and old, dusty furniture.

As if someone was constantly visiting and cleaning this place, there was not a speck of dust on the jewelry, and the furniture looked clean, but it couldn’t hide the old traces. It was as if time had stopped here. But the first thing that caught Usher’s eyes was.

“Could all this be Belka?”

It was the image of a red girl filling the room. When I couldn’t understand when I could draw so many pictures in the span of a week. Medea denied his words.

“This is not Belka.”
“…I remembered. It’s been a long time since I haven’t seen them, so I was a little confused. Belka and Mea’s mothers look so alike.”

Usher was taken aback by Lyudmila’s words.

“Then this.”
“Yes, all of my mother’s portraits and things.”

Hearing Medea’s words, she looked closely at the portraits once more. At first, I was mistaken because they were so similar, but now I see that the eyes are different. Belka’s eyes were golden, but her portrait had amethyst-like purple eyes like Mediah’s. Looking for differences in more detail, if Belka stayed in the realm of a girl, it would be more appropriate to call her a woman in the portrait with a slight difference.

But that was also the story of the biggest portrait. Besides that, various figures were drawn in large and small pictures. Some pictures show a slightly younger figure sitting at a tea table and drinking tea, while others show a picture reading a book. Some pictures of her playing with someone looked just like Belka, except for the different eye colors. Looking at the pictures one by one, it seemed that he was getting younger and younger.

Usher wondered how Belka felt. Thinking she did, she glanced at the girl, but she just stared at the pictures, which looked exactly the same as herself except for a part of her, with a golden light that she didn’t know what she was thinking.

“But I’ve never seen this guy in the castle…”

He noticed Lyudmila, who was talking thoughtlessly, then crossed her arms and hissed so loudly that her whistle rang out. So she belatedly shut her mouth, but Mediah’s expression darkened as if she had already heard him.

“My mother died a long time ago.”

Medea carefully ran her hand over one of her portraits, which bore an infinite resemblance to her girl. Even though she is already storing it in glass and a frame, she is careful not to scratch it if she touches it incorrectly, but it was a loving touch as if she were treating her real mother.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Despite Lyudmilla’s pitiful glance, Usher had nothing to say. It was definitely his fault.

“Huh, no. I’ve been prepared since I showed you this place anyway. And it’s not Usher’s fault that my mother died, right?”

She soon stopped looking at the portraits and looked back at them.

“I was seeing the image of her mother in Belka. That’s why I ended up fooling around with Belka.”

Usher felt that Medea was not strange even if she thought so. Just looking at this picture, the girl and her mother looked exactly the same except for the eyes.

“So I think my father is just like me.”

He looked at the portrait again. She is a woman who resembles Belka so much. It was hard to believe that she had died so long ago. The woman in the picture was overflowing with life. She wondered what would happen to her if she had to go through the same thing as Aeolus. Feeling that her legs would give way just by imagining it, Usher managed to keep his balance.

“But Belka is Belka and Mother is her mother.”

Seeing Medea struggling to smile was so pitiful that Usher had to feel the guilt of inflating her size even more. It was when they were staring at the portrait of a woman that filled the room like that.

“Mea, did something like this ever happen here?”

When Lyudmila wondered if she had found anything, their eyes turned to her. Following her gaze, I came to the end of the bed, between the mat and the support. There, the tip of a piece of paper was sticking out.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this…”

Medea was not sure and blurted out her words, but she carefully pulled out the paper that was sandwiched between the beds. The paper that was taken out was tattered and yellowed as if it had been in this room for years. When Mediah carefully unfolds the paper to prevent it from tearing, what comes out.

“””Map?”””

Their words overlapped. Because it was a map for anyone to see.

“This looks like a map of the territory, doesn’t it?”
“It looks like it was sold in the market because it doesn’t show the details, but if you look at the overall appearance, it’s clear.”

Lyudmilla also agreed with Medea’s words. But Usher couldn’t understand her words.

“How can you be sure this is a map here? No details are given.”
“Only Aeolus-nim and his aides are holding maps that even recorded the details of the territory. If they have anything like that other than them, it’s a death penalty.”
“Only with something like that?”
“It’s not just that. It’s very important.”

Usher had to agree with her words that it was only a matter of time before he was attacked if he did something wrong and fell into the hands of a hostile territory.

“But why is there a map in a place like this?”
“I’m not sure about that either. Judging from the condition of the paper, it looks like it’s been here for a long time. I’ve never had anything like this before.”

Suddenly, Mediah’s words stopped. For some reason, Lyudmila tried to check the map.

“Are you here? Miss. Lyudmila was with you.”
“Heath.”

Hiss opened the door and came in, breaking up.

“Ugh, why is uncle here?”
“Ludmilla, your father is looking for you.”

Lyudmila’s expression hardened at his words. Maybe you have a bad relationship with your father? It seemed he hated going to see her family. Medea took her hand.

“Come with me. Ryuda.”
“But.”
“You promised, right? If Ryuda has to get scolded, I’ll get scolded.”
“…Thank you.”

Watching them, Usher asked sneakily.

“If that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter if we follow, right?”

At his words, Medea and Ludmilla looked at him as if they were surprised. Noticing that the girl behind him also nodded, they accepted with a smile. However, as they thought, neither Ludmila nor them were scolded.

“Hey! Lady Mediah! Didn’t my ugly daughter bother you?”
“It’s a lung. I think it’s fortunate that I met Ryuda again.”

Following Heath’s guidance, Usher and the girls arrive at the guest room where Lyudmila’s father is. When only they came in, she put on a solemn expression, but when Medea entered her room, she changed to a warm-hearted and flattering man, as if she had never been there before. From what she says, it’s clear that she is Lyudmila’s father. Usher was appalled that people could change so quickly. His flattery had gone on for so long that Belka was resting on his shoulder.

“Is your father really like that?”

She nodded her head when Usher asked with her displeased look, as she didn’t hesitate to say something that seemed to demean her even her own daughter.

“It’s nothing new. It’s always been like that.”
“I think I know a little bit why you hate your dad.”

Lyudmila just sighed at his words.

“Stop! I’m not here to listen to your flattery! And Lyuda is my friend. Stop talking down to my friend!”

Perhaps, if Medea hadn’t said anything in anger at the end, they would have been held longer.