North x Northwest

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Lil was about to tell him to hang her instead, but her hand was suddenly grabbed by the man beside her. As anticipated, Lil paused at the surprising sensation and Ed didn’t miss the gab.

“You’re getting very passionate, Sagastar. Were you expecting me to just sit back and let this happen?”

“It’s not like that, Sir. But I have my own doubts…”

The doubts were clearly directed at Lil.

‘Judging from the fact that Ed had asked Sagastar to bring the captain, and that Cesar had suddenly pretended to be the captain in addition to being the ship owner, Sagastar is probably almost certain that the captain was actually me. And he’s now trying to draw it out from me…’

Lil quickly changed her mind.

‘Whoever he might think I am, I only need to emphasise to him that he could be at risk to keep him in check.’

“Even if you’re not so motivated anymore after this conversation, the case needs to be handled by principle, so don’t get any funny ideas.”

“Yes, Sir, I understand…”

Sagastar adjusted his expression and lowered his head.

“Thank you for agreeing to do me this favour, Commodore. I will send the Viscount’s guarantees by today, and I apologise for our slight altercation just now.”

“No, my lady. It’s me who made a lot of mistakes. I’m ashamed that I raised my voice against a lady.”

Instead of consoling the Commodore, Lil drove her premeditated stake into him.

“I’ll do my best to keep my brother and His Majesty from finding out about this.”

‘Sagastar can never reveal this to anyone anyway. That’s because no one else but him pierced the stomach of ‘Liloa Obernyu’. All he can do now is wish that I had been a nobody or that he hadn’t been the one involved in this incident… The longer this goes on, the more dangerous it becomes for him.’

Lil extended the back of her hand to him, appearing to be an accomplice.

“Thank you for your mercy, my lady.”

“Like you said, mercy and forgiveness are beautiful virtues. There are times when my delicate emotions prove to be useful.”

Sagastar, who was about to press his lips on the back of Lil’s hand, paused for a moment, debating whether to raise his head or not, but eventually…

“…Yes.”

He kissed her hand and decided to step down. However, just before he was about to get up, he hesitated once again and then looked at Lil.

“My lady, I have one last thing to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

He agonised for a moment, then looked straight at Lil and spoke.

“No matter how much Sir Edgar denies it, I definitely believe that an attempted murder occurred on that ship.”

“Sagastar, stop now…”

But because Lil held up her hand to stop Ed, Sagastar nodded his head at her and then continued with his words.

“This is an incident I can’t possibly tolerate. When Sir Edgar was found, he was as good as dead. His blood had been drained to the limit, and in addition to the wounds covering his entire body, he was suffering from severe hypothermia… This scene is still fresh in my mind… His skin, torn by wounds and exposed to the water’s temperature over an extended period of time, didn’t look to belong to a human at all. After learning about his condition… I wasn’t sure whether I should be relieved that Sir Edgar was even still alive. The navy surgeon predicted that even if he awoke, the aftereffects would be severe. He also stated that he couldn’t guarantee that his brain would work properly…”

“…”

“My lady, you must’ve been unaware of it.”

“Sagastar. Don’t take wild guesses. This is getting more and more difficult to tolerate.”

However, Sagastar continued to speak while looking only at Lil.

“Shortly afterwards he found my lady on the verge of death, bleeding heavily… What did Sir Edgar, a doctor himself, do?*”

“…”

Lil couldn’t take her eyes off his red eyes.

“Looking at you two, I felt like my blood was drying up, too. I’ve committed a great sin to my lady, but I’m also very sorry for Sir Edgar. I wanted to tell you this, that’s why I tried to visit Sir Edgar’s residence several times.”

“…”

Sagastar finally stood up and picked up his hat.

“I shall take my leave now. I hope you’ll accept and enjoy my gifts. And I apologise once again for my rudeness earlier.”

Sagastar cast a glance at the gift. He too was trying to drive a stake into Lil. His eyes that were directed towards the gifts brought out a mix of a burning desire to massacre the Southerners as well as tears for his respected admiral. The sight left Lil breathless in a way that even after Sagastar completely exited the bar, she was still rendered speechless.

Then, out of nowhere, Lil gasped for air at the realisation of how messed up things had become.

‘Where on earth did I think I was headed when I steered the ship? And where should I’ve started turning the bow? When my trust towards Ed shattered? When I borrowed sailors from Jarles and Valtano? When I agreed with Cesar to leave for the principality? When I failed to stop Cesar from retiring my crew? When I was taken by the remnants of the Western Pirates? When we docked at Amiaeng? Where on earth…’

Ed abruptly cut off her wandering mind.

“You can’t turn back time. You know that.”

Lil mulled over what to say to him.

‘I’m sorry? You went through a lot? …I thought I had managed to get away from him, but I’m lingering in apology and regret once again…’

“You almost died because of the Bell Rock. Anyone would’ve been enraged after enduring such a situation. I bet you would’ve wanted to tear the entire crew to death. And I can’t blame you, I would probably have thought the same if I had been in your shoes… Contrary to what the Commodore believes in and despite you getting to that point yourself, you turned a blind eye in the end…”

“…”

Ed didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving the narrow seat beside her, even though the seat across from them was now empty. Meanwhile, Lil thought it was ironic that she was sitting next to him and they were both facing the same direction.

“So, you don’t have to sit here like this. I don’t blame you anymore.”

“It’s said that the bundle that the God of Fate has created is too complicated for humans to comprehend… No one wanted this to happen, but it somehow has become so twisted and intertwined anyway.”

“…”

“I want to unravel the present rather than the already tangled past…”

“…”

Lil touched her forehead tiredly.

‘It’s much more advantageous to keep Ed by my side in preparation of the jailbreak. It might be possible on my own, but I don’t know how many more days or even months it will take. If I miss the timing, the trial will be held soon.’

Lil was a pragmatic person, who held no intention of competing with her pride over the lives of her crew.

‘If one would strip away all the noble things in the world, only survival was left at the bottom. Survival is as shameful and miserable as being naked… I don’t have the time to be concerned about losing face…’

“Besides, this isn’t something I would do just because you loathe me and I’m trying to get back on your good side, this is something I would also do if you didn’t hate me and I had nothing to gain from it.”

“…”

Lil hoped that Ed would help her, but only after telling her to lick his shoes. She hoped he’d intimidate her and force her to repay him. But he never made any such demands. contemporary romance

‘He does favour after favour for me of his own accord… like when he helped me free the mermaid.’

Lil looked at Ed’s face. He felt her gaze and similarly turned his head towards her.

“I promise you that I won’t bother you like I did last night.”

‘Although his complexion is gloomy, Ed isn’t showing any signs of tears or pleas.’

Lil picked up the hat that she had left on the table.

‘In any case, we can’t discuss prison escape over a blueprint in a restaurant. I don’t want to go to the mansion either, so that only leaves us with my own accommodation.’

Lil spoke after pressing down her hat.

“Follow me.”

***

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Reference:

“Shortly afterwards he found my lady on the verge of death, bleeding heavily… What did Sir Edgar, a doctor himself, do?” = Sagastar is referring to the blood transfusion. That even being in such a serious condition himself, Ed still made the choice to perform the transfusion using his own blood.

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END OF VOLUME 6

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TN:

Hi guys!

With chapter 225 we wrap up Volume 6! The secrets are finally out of the bag, huh? And how?!

Just like with the previous Volumes, we’ll post a recap chapter to refresh your memory before diving into Volume 7 on Monday. We expect to post the recap on Sunday, so stay tuned!

For now, we like to express our gratitude toward you readers, for following us and enjoying the novel as much as we do!

Happy reading and see you in Vol.7! 🙂

Pru and Formidable

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If you’re enjoying the story, please rate us on Novel Updates, we highly appreciate it. Love, P&F

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