Story 67. From Hell to Another Hell (5)

Chapter 115

Eriez said to me, “I had a feeling that you might come this way… There aren’t many who know this path leading to the west, but I was aware of this for quite some time now.”

“…”

“Juya… Let’s go home together. Your highness, you too. We must return.”

Eriez announced coolly as if nothing was wrong. He acted like he was taking back an unruly student who ran away.

I couldn’t be cruel to him; I didn’t know what to say to him, so I just asked, “So… You are unhurt…?”

“Of course, I am. All the other soldiers who were with me are safe too. There was a moment when all of us became confused suddenly like we woke up from a nightmare, but as soon as we left that place, we felt better. All we need is some rest, and we will recover fully.”

Thank god, no one died. I was sure that Prince Camille would have never ordered the soldiers from our own home to be murdered. What I saw must have been a dream or a hallucination. I felt relieved since this meant that the prince wasn’t responsible for those many deaths.

However, when I turned to the prince, I saw that he was glaring at Eriez angrily as if he wanted to kill my friend. Prince Camille said to him, “Please don’t get in our way, Iztal Eriez.”

“Your highness, I understand how you care for my friend, but Iztal Juya must take responsibility for what he did…”

“You call yourself Juya’s friend, yet you are willing to cause him even more pain? He was being abused and laughed at by everyone around us. Can you even imagine what it must have felt like, Iztal Eriez? All Juya did was care for me, yet he had to go through so much…!”

There was a massive elephant in the room, and we couldn’t ignore it. Eriez, my friend who I trusted, bowed respectfully and replied, “Please rethink your decision, your highness. You, Juya, please… I am begging you. You need to change your mind. Make the right decision.”

“Stop talking, Iztal Eriez!”

The prince yelled at Eriez, who turned towards me and continued, “We have lost so many of our brothers in Minurd, Juya… You know this. Our home is but a small place, so I understand how you must want to escape this place since everyone hates you and misunderstood what happened… However, what happened so far is in our past now. If we can explain and convince one person at a time… Some people would listen to us. I just know it.”

“…”

“I will do my best to make this happen, Juya, so please don’t abandon Minurd. This is your home, right? If you leave this place, where would you go? Where do you think you can belong? If you abandon your responsibility here, what kind of life do you think you can have?”

This was precisely the problem.

For quite a while now, I forgot what Minurd meant as my home and what my life purpose is. Even if things happened like Eriez claimed and I regained my honor and reputation somehow, what would be the point? Why would I want to make such an effort for this?

For what?

“Eri…”

If I told him the truth about how I really felt, this kind man would become very sad. There was a good chance he wouldn’t understand me at all. I was sure he must have witnessed the strange things in the underground place too, so I wondered what he thought about it. How did he feel about me being healed completely? On the surface, he didn’t act like he was curious about it.

This was the kind of man Eriez was. He believed in the old rules and logic. His trust in the system was absolute. Once he believed something, he would refuse to change his mind no matter what. This was why he still wanted to help me. In his mind, I was always the best of the Innocent Ones, which meant that no matter how low I got in my life, he continued to believe in me.

The prince agreed with Eriez on this matter, but he wanted a different life for me.

“Iztal Eriez, I won’t say much. Just let Juya go. If you try to restrain us and force us to return, you will have the blood of this woman on your hand. The Innocent Ones are not supposed to get women’s blood on themselves, right? You don’t want to be cursed… Do you?”

This was supposed to be our biggest weapon, but unfortunately, it wouldn’t work on my friend. Eriez, who believed in many things, was not superstitious. He grinned bitterly and replied, “No worries, your highness. Why don’t we all go back together? That girl over there… I can carry her on my back if you want. It doesn’t look like she is feeling well.”

Prince Camille said, “Iztal Eriez, why don’t you just take me with you? That should be enough to satisfy my brother, right? Please let Juya go! If you do, I will return without a fight. We will return this odalisque to the harem, and I will return to my room immediately… But if you refuse my offer…”

The prince left Fatima on the floor and drew his sword as he added, “I have no choice but to fight you.”

I gasped in shock, “Camille! Your highness! You shouldn’t have to do this for the likes of me…” I stared in disbelief, but Eriez remained calm. He took out his own sword and sighed.

“What do you mean you have no choice, your highness. What are you going to do?”

Since Eriez was his teacher, they must have sparred many times before. Eriez was clearly bigger than the prince. I was sure Prince Camille would lose helplessly, but he looked determined. He gritted his teeth, ready to fight for me, a man he claimed he didn’t even love.

“Kkk… I guess I should thank you, Iztal Eriez, for training me to become stronger. I am ashamed to say that I have never won against you, but if it’s two against one, perhaps we have a chance. What do you think? Iztal Eriez, do you think you can defeat both of us and force us to return to Minurd?”

Eriez asked, “And what do you think will happen if you don’t return? Will you slay me here right now? If you do, like you did to Ramish, do you think the warrior will forgive you again like before?”

“… If I end up killing you here, Iztal Eriez, I will flee with Juya. We will go to Hwen together!”

Eriez and I gasped in shock, “Your highness!”