Chapter 122:
Chapter 122:
* * *
After finishing the story once, Sarah, who smiled to the end and saw the elders off, sat on the sofa, unable to hide her tiredness. Then she looked at Ethan and asked him.
"Will Benjamin and Claude-nim be able to get along and come back?"
"I don't know. Wouldn't it depend on what Benjamin did?"
"Although Benjamin hates everyone else, he is kind to small children, especially boys. So would it be okay?"
"That's unusual."
He was kind to boys. Ethan stopped trying to imagine Benjamin being kind to someone. He had no idea at all.
"The kid was a boy soldier. He was forcibly taken to the battlefield in an orphanage."
"Such thing."
Boy soldier.
That word alone made Ethan narrow his eyebrows. It was banned in the Crombell Empire, but it happened frequently in other countries.
"Usually, in such cases, they follow the mercenaries and survive, but to the mercenaries, the child soldiers were the only object of anger in the battlefield where their lives came and went, and they were also playthings."
"And it's a battlefield where mercenaries are allowed to do whatever they do to the boys...... so it makes sense."
The Empire had battlefields, large and small, from which Benjamin survived. Many things must have happened before the child who had a hard time holding even a single dagger properly grew up to become a vicious mercenary that made the mercenaries tremble. In the middle of such a battlefield, Sarah found Benjamin, who instinctively expressed his hidden talent ahead of his death.
"Right. So when Benjamin sees boys his age then he tends to be a little kinder."
Was it because he think of himself from then? Even Benjamin, who had no mercy in his hands, showed patience in front of children of his age, enduring it twice and three times.
"There are mercenaries in the capital right now. I heard that everyone hired a lot of mercenaries because of what happened in Alton Estate."
"You're right. Since there were not one or two nobles who had to go to the Alton Estate, the number of knights must have been insufficient."
"I'm worried......"
Sarah, who knew Benjamin hated mercenaries terribly, looked out the window with anxiety.
"I'm sure they're doing well. They have Claude."
"That's right, because Claude-nim is there, so it'll be fine, right?"
Sarah laughed in a low voice, somehow funny that little Claude made her feel reassured. Then she leaned her back on the sofa and blinked slowly.
"......"
Ethan noticed something in Sarah's face and asked, narrowing his eyebrows.
"Are you all right, Sarah?"
"Sure. I'm just a little tired."
Sarah rubbed her stiff shoulders with her hands and tilted her head back and forth to stretch. She would be very busy from now on. She was once required to attend the Empress's tea party, and then to an audience with the Emperor. And she would be off to Alton Estate right away. All in all, it was not an easy task.
"Everything is really not easy."
"I know you don't feel good."
"......"
"Since he was a disciple whom you once trusted, you also felt a sense of responsibility for this work."
Sarah sighed quietly and nodded at Ethan's words, which seemed to have penetrated her heart.
"I was too focused on my work. I didn't know that that child was being eaten by the darkness by my side."
When she realized that the world was flowing like the 'Flower of Darkness', she was out of her mind. Without reason, she only devoted herself to studying Ambrosia's power and tried her best to turn the world right, which was twisted by her somehow. But she was so crazy about it that she didn't notice that the disciple who helped her in the closest place was twisted.
"Since when? Since when did Oliven......"
When did he start developing the power of black magic with the intention of betraying her? The thought of it made Sarah's heart hard and heavy like a stone.
"Sarah."
Ethan called out her name in a low voice and raised a hand to cover her eyes. His big, warm hand covered her vision, and her eyes slowly closed. Cozy darkness came and his warmth enveloped her.
"No matter how much you think about the things that have already passed, only regrets remain. What matters now is what to do next."
"......"
"Sarah is doing a good job, and you will do more in the future."
"Duke-nim."
"So for now, close your eyes. You put too many things in your head today."
Ethan smiled slightly as he felt Sarah's trembling eyelashes in the palm of his hand. And he returned the words that Sarah had just said to him.
"I hope you don't have anything in your head except for Ambrosia and Claude. Because I'm kind of jealous."
"......!"
Sarah's eyes lit up in Ethan's palm at the words that flowed like a joke.
"Get some sleep, Sarah."
With a voice full of laughter, Ethan carefully applied force to his palm and pressed it softly. She thought as she lay down on the couch as if she was going to follow his hand.
'I tried to seduce Duke-nim, but I'll be the only one who'll be seduced at this rate.'
Unable to overcome her resentment, Sarah clenched her skirt with both fists and bit her lip.
"Such thing."
Ethan laughed quietly because she looked like Claude, who was distraught because he didn't want to sleep.
* * *
In the end, Sarah, who returned to her room with a lot of temptation from Ethan, lay on her bed and covered herself with blankets.
"Duke-nim is so mean."
Ethan Ambrosia was too generous and caring for Sarah. It was crazy good, but it was also crazy bad for the heart.
"If you're not going to like me, then don't seduce me."
Sarah kicked the blanket with her feet in anger. Ethan Ambrosia was such a sinful man. If he behaved like this, there would be no woman who wouldn't fall for him.
'I wish I could have a word with Duke Ambrosia-nim.'
'Of course, Duke-nim is not the one who would coldly reject a Lady's request for dance with a very aristocratic manner.'
'But with a polite but sober voice, you won't want more than that.'
'It makes me suffer from the urge to take a step inside the line. It's better than not being able to speak at all.'
Sarah clenched her teeth as she recalled the comments about Ethan, who had warmed the Lady's heart even before she went into seclusion. At that time, she didn't care about Sarah Millen's life or Park Hyeyeon's life, because there were so many things to do as the Great Elder of the magic tower. Now that she was swayed by Ethan Ambrosia, the memories of the old society came to her mind.
"If he was handsome in my eyes, he would be handsome in other people's eyes, too!"
Sarah clenched her fists as she thought of the countless ladies who were aiming for Ethan Ambrosia.
"Still, I have an advantage."
She controlled herself, thinking of the Alton Estate that she would go alone with Ethan in the future. Just the thought of spending time with Ethan made Sarah's heart flutter. It was just a pity that she wouldn't see Claude for a few days.
"Alton Estate......"
Sarah calmed her excitement as she recalled the veil that had been built in the Alton Estate. 'Flower of Darkness' had already changed a lot. Claude did not fall into his self-loathing, did not despair, and was able to smile pretty. Ethan Ambrosia also did not go crazy alone, unlike in the 'future'. However, she began to feel that something was subtly out of alignment.
'Why did I write such a diary with Park Hyeyeon's body in the notebook?'
The text was written with mana as if it were a gift to her. There, Park Hyeyeon was talking about 'Flowers of Darkness' and 'future'.
"I guess I'll have to pour the blood one more time."
The only time she was able to return to Korea was when she lost consciousness after pouring out a lot of blood. If she gave her body that much shock, she would know what she had done with Park Hyeyeon's body again this time.