I Refuse This Life, Your Highness! - Chapter 94

What was inside wasn’t gray bone ash or fragments of bone but rather several small, red stones. They had a subtle luster and were lightly covered in dust, resembling unrefined gemstones. Despite knowing I shouldn’t touch them, I unconsciously reached out.

“Father, no matter what you say, I am a Lamia.”

Startled, I nearly dropped the urn. The moment I touched one of the stones, a voice seemed to echo in my ears. I quickly looked over at Sir Leon.

“Did you hear that too?”

“Pardon?”

He immediately adopted a wary stance.

“The voice just now… It said, ‘No matter what, I am a Lamia.'”

Sir Leon’s expression shifted strangely, and he shook his head.

“No, I didn’t hear anything. My apologies.”

Was it only audible to me? Hesitating for a moment, I reached out and touched the stone again. The voice resounded once more.

“No, you are the heir of imperial magic. Whether you’re a Lamia or not doesn’t change that fact.”

“How long can I hide the fact that I’m a Lamia?”

“Are you saying being a Lamia is a problem?”

“Of course it is. No one welcomes a Lamia. If I… were to inherit the throne as you wish, who would let it stand?”

Wait, could this possibly be… the conversation between the First Prince and the late Emperor? I gripped the red stone tightly. Sir Leon looked at me in shock, but I couldn’t spare the attention.

“I am neither your son nor daughter. I am a Lamia—a monster no one acknowledges.”

This was from a time when perceptions of Lamias were far worse than they are now. From what I know, the late Emperor never made any effort to improve their treatment. Yet he wanted the First Prince to ascend the throne. He wanted to make an exception for his own son. The First Prince, aware of this, was now speaking vehemently, and I could feel his emotions vividly.

“Lamias are witches, monsters, and belong nowhere. Everyone finds them unsettling. Look at Ludius—look at the way he sees me, his own brother…”

“Ludius is something I will handle. He is not fit to be Emperor.”

“That’s not the point…”

Ludius—that was the Emperor’s name. The First Prince, voice trembling with emotion, sank to his knees. It was almost laughable. The Emperor, whom the First Prince loathed so much, was the reason Lamias were even treated as humans now.

When I was born and growing up, discrimination against Lamias was severe. They were almost seen as monsters born among humans. Their ability to bear children despite being male was seen as eerie and repulsive.

To men, Lamias were convenient substitutes, less than human. To women, they were unsettling beings that defied explanation. If there had been more Lamias, or if they had natural counterparts, the story might have been different. But the Lamia trait emerged spontaneously one day, and the world instinctively rejected such an anomalous existence.

I now understood why Lyol wanted me to find the remains. Beyond his will, he must have wanted me to see the memories of his mother and the First Prince.

Though I hardly needed to see this, having lived through much of it myself.

“Lyol, stay here and don’t come out. I’ll come back for you soon.”

“Mother.”

I saw a young Lyol. The First Prince stroked the child’s flushed cheek a few times, adjusted the foliage to conceal him, and walked away. The hem of his long robe was stained green from the grass.

As he walked through the forest, the First Prince’s feelings mirrored my own when I faced death. It wasn’t a long walk. Lyol must have been able to witness everything that unfolded. Inside the forest, the Emperor was waiting—a much younger version of him, perhaps not even twenty, though he was already well-built.

“It’s been a while, Brother.”

“Filthy bastard.”

“Haha, filthier than a Lamia?”

“…”

“You wretched, depraved Lamia, how dare you.”

“…”

“Make me come all the way out here?”

After a brief struggle, a sharp, cold pain hit his abdomen. The Emperor had stabbed the First Prince with a sword. The familiar power that had flowed through his body like blood now seeped out from the wound. Blood dripped from the First Prince’s lips.

“Lamia is… a link.”

That thought flashed through the First Prince’s mind as powerlessness enveloped him. He didn’t want to die, not like this. The sensation of wanting to cling to life overwhelmed him again, just as it had in countless past lives. But the First Prince’s body collapsed. His final memory was the Emperor dropping a burning piece of paper onto him.

“Even now, you won’t come out? My dear nephew has quite the resilience,” the Emperor sneered.

The First Prince felt a surge of fear. Even as his consciousness faded, he was terrified his brother would harm his son. He wanted to stop him, but everything was abruptly cut off, as death always is.

“…”

“Your Highness, are you all right? You look pale,” Sir Leon said as he approached me.

“When I touched the remains, I saw the First Prince’s memories.”

“Such a thing… But, is this truly a relic? It looks more like ruby ore to me.”

As Sir Leon remarked, the First Prince’s remains didn’t resemble bones unless someone explicitly said so.

And it seemed Lyol was wrong in thinking the Emperor didn’t know about his existence. Though my connection was severed, it appeared the Emperor simply lost interest and left.

“Looks like we’re on the right track. Let’s hurry.”

I closed the lid of the urn and placed it back into the box. Sir Leon, now in human form, walked beside me. After walking for about three hours along the forest path, we spotted a bustling group of people with carriages, carts, and various belongings. Sir Leon hid me behind a tree and cautiously approached them.

Standing near the continuation of the forest path was a woman with her hair tied high in a stern, no-nonsense manner. Her face looked familiar. It was Ino Silei, the deputy leader of the Rubes Merchant Guild, whom Lyol often praised as “competent.” After exchanging a few words with her, Sir Leon returned to me.

“We can ride in their carriage. I’ll handle the communication, but please pull your hood down low, Your Grace. Use this to cover the box and hold it close.”

As he spoke, Sir Leon removed his cloak and handed it to me. Following his instructions, I pulled my hood down to cover my face and wrapped the box in the cloak, holding it tightly. Meanwhile, Sir Leon transformed into a cat and walked beside me with ease, keeping pace.

The deputy leader glanced at me from a distance, gave me a brief nod, and then shouted at the group, “If you don’t find it soon, you’ll all be sleeping on the streets tonight!”

As we got closer, I saw that the merchant group was frantically searching for something. People were bustling around, opening and closing things repeatedly. Their commotion allowed Sir Leon and me to climb into the carriage without drawing attention. Once I was seated, someone shouted from behind us.

“I found it, Deputy Leader!”

“Where on earth did you leave your brains? How can merchants lose track of their goods? Useless idiots!”

The deputy leader scolded them for a while longer before climbing into the carriage. The two-person carriage was quite cramped, forcing Sir Leon to stay in his cat form. The long procession began moving, and the carriage we were in followed the cart ahead. After glancing out the window, the deputy leader closed the shutters on both sides and settled into her seat, finally looking relieved.

“Pardon my poor manners, Your Grace. I am Ino Silei, deputy leader of the Rubes Merchant Guild. This is our second meeting, correct?”

In the two-person carriage, there was no room to kneel, even if she’d wanted to. Not that I would have allowed it. Ino tilted her head slightly and winked as she said, “Second meeting, correct?”

For some reason, she seemed quite similar to the guild leader.

“The guild leader has been absent for a long time. Is everything running smoothly?”

“Smoothly? Without that nagging man around, everything’s been wonderful! Between you and me, I plan to take over the guild. If he doesn’t return, everything will fall into place beautifully.”

“…”

“Meowk.”

Sir Leon made a strange sound, bobbing his round head. It sounded like laughter. The fact that she said this in front of me likely meant she had no real intention of taking over. Any worries I had about her being dismissed from the guild seemed unnecessary. The trust between her and Lyol appeared strong.

“It seems you’ve safely recovered the lost item.”

“Yes, it’s right in front of me now.”

“Ah…”

“If we’d truly lost it, the first thing I’d do is string up the culprit by their ankles from a tree. Hahaha!”

What a silly question I’d asked. The whole “missing item” scenario had been staged to divert attention when we boarded the carriage. Since no one noticed us, the operation was a success.

“I’m sure the carriage is quite uncomfortable, but please bear with it for a little longer.”

“It’s fine. I’m the one imposing on you.”

“Your words are too kind. I’d like to make the journey more comfortable for you, but this is my personal carriage. If I leave, it might raise unnecessary suspicion.”

“I told you, it’s fine.”

Relieved, the deputy leader nodded and began focusing on her ledger. She seemed perfectly at ease. It was surprising, considering how uncomfortable the carriage actually was. The seats were hard, and the backrest was so flat that I couldn’t relax at all. I envied Sir Leon, who was sprawled out on the floor in his cat form.

Because the merchant group carried a lot of goods and people, their pace was slow. They also stopped frequently to rest the horses and inspect delicate items. A trip that would normally take less than a day stretched to nearly two, including camping overnight. Though I tried not to show it, I was utterly exhausted from the uncomfortable journey.

Finally, the ducal castle came into view in the distance.

“Ho, so they took the remains, did they?”

The Emperor, holding a wine glass, chuckled lightly. The laughter grew louder until he eventually set the glass down carelessly and burst into hearty laughter.

“That foolish creature actually believed that nonsense.”

Likely knowledge whispered to him by that Lamia, the First Prince. How laughable.

The Emperor’s laughter echoed for a long while after that.

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