[TVL] 71 – Urgency

Arc 8

It was midnight when even the air seemed to be sleeping. Still, he was awake.

Still, he was awake. Every night, Luciano copulated with the sleeping Alana. It was not mere lust. Only when a child was born could she be protected by it.

It was no longer enough to say, “Maybe she has a baby in her belly”. Alana was a hated enemy for Serrat. She was the Queen of Armenia who killed his family. He thought she had done a foolish thing. Why did she bring all the Serratians into the castle? Even if Luciano’s mind changed, the hearts of his subordinates would not be freed. The resentment would never disappear. He tried several times to get rid of his men. However, no one could leave. In reality, the castle was an isolated island. It was a cage containing those who aimed at Alana. He had a strong sense of crisis because he sensed something disturbing his aides Frian and Leandro.

They had all lost someone dear to them. Just three days ago, Serrat’s men had come to assassinate Alana, but they had a strong desire to kill her. A few of them could be dealt with, but it would be impossible for Luciano to protect her if they came in large numbers.

He hoped that Alana would inform him of danger, but she never did.

Even when Serrat’s men sneaked in, she didn’t scream; she just sat in her chair and waited for death to come. If Luciano had not noticed, she would have been dead by now. She was even more vulnerable than he had imagined, partly because she wanted to die. Even without the assassin’s help, she would starve to death on her own without food if the person who served as her hand disappeared. There was no telling when she would be lost. He could only assume that Alana was choosing to act in a way that was meant to shorten her lifespan.

Looking at her, he felt a sense of helplessness, wondering why she did not value life. Luciano wanted to scold Alana, but he could not. -Because he was the assassin who had initially plotted to kill her.

That was frustrating. He cupped Alana’s sweaty cheek and kissed her on the mouth. He had made his eternal vow, but what good would it do to keep her alive?

She would just leave him, leave him with a curse.

Damn it, hurry up and conceive. Please.

Luciano had gone through bloody and unbearable hell before because he could not protect his precious family. But this time, he was determined to protect them by any means necessary.

“Benito, can you hear me? Come out.” Luciano kicked at the gold-smithed bookcase.

“This is where that agent disappeared before.”

As expected, he was lurking, and soon the mechanism clicked.

Benito appeared. “Hey, bro, are you kidding me? Please don’t do this. I am not your shadow, and I don’t need you to call me. My master is the Queen. I’m not going to talk to you.”

Luciano spoke, ignoring him and pressed his sword against Benito.

“Entrust me. I want to see your power. Seriously.”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. A sword, what are you thinking?”

”Shut up. Follow me if you don’t want to lose one of your arms. Feel free to kill me.”

Suddenly, a metallic sound echoed in Alana’s room.

It was because Benito, who was angry, slashed at Luciano. But Luciano fought him off with one hand. He shifted his body just in time to avoid the sword’s edge and caught Benito’s blade with his own.

“You’re f**king strong when you’re angsty. Do you know how many times I’ve almost died? Sh*t.”

”Benito, stop it.”

“What the f**k! You’re a f**king genius at getting on my nerves!”

“I have a question for you. How many anti-queen assassins have you buried in the past month?”

“Oh? Eight.”

“You were carefree with the Queen.”

Luciano had buried three of Serrat’s assassins and two from the anti-queen faction.

“I’m sure you can handle the anti-queen faction on your own, even if the Serrat ones are difficult.

“So what?”

Luciano pondered as Benito stomped on the floor in frustration. Benito’s cooperation was essential to carrying out the plan. And there was one more person who could help.

“I’ll take some time off. Protect Alana at the risk of your life.”

“That’s why I don’t want to be ordered by you! I’ve decided to protect without your interjection.”

Luciano left Alana’s room without answering.

The next destination was a nearby room. As soon as he hit the door, the other party responded.