TVIQ 02

Chapter: 02

Immediately after hearing the news from the messenger, Aine moved day and night without rest.

The rain turned the roads into mud, and even the officers who had accompanied her fell behind along the way, but Aine had no time to care.

All her attention was focused on one place.

I thought it had to be a lie.

At first, Aine couldn’t believe it. More precisely, she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

Only a few days ago, she had received a letter from Lacey.

She had written that she was looking forward to the day they would meet again. She had even said that if that day came, she had a surprise to tell Aine.

And yet that very woman had suddenly died.

In the safest place in the Kingdom of Orion.

On her way there, Aine had wondered if perhaps it was a lie meant to surprise her.

Both Matthias and Lacey were experts when it came to pranks, after all.

“The commander has arrived!”

“Commander, it’s terrible. His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen…!”

“It is an unprecedented tragedy. To lose both of them at the same time, so suddenly, overnight…”

But that had only been wishful thinking.

There was no one there who should have emerged with a bright smile and said it was all a joke.

Instead, there were only two coffins before her.

Two pale men and women lay asleep among the pure white flowers.

A gloomy atmosphere, nobles she didn’t even want to look at, and rain falling from the sky.

[SYSTEM: Additional Quest for Returning to the Original World Failed]

[The quest has been automatically marked as failed due to the death of Lacey Flamingo.]

[Preparing the next quest.]

[Quest Status: Failed]

[Failure Penalty: error!]

Only after seeing Lacey sleeping with such a peaceful expression was Aine forced to accept reality.

She saw the word “error” written after the failure notification.

It was strange.

Why was she still alive?

She had failed to kill Lacey.

But she couldn’t think straight right now.

“The Grand Duke wishes to see you.”

While Aine stood there in a daze, someone approached her.

When she turned her head to check, she recognized the person.

Linus, the Grand Duke’s chief aide.

They weren’t on good terms with each other either.

If she had retained even a shred of rationality, she would have simply walked away or ignored him.

But right now, she was far from rational.

“Lead the way.”

Grand Duke Vinet Orion was Matthias’s younger brother and a prince of this country.

He was also one of the men who admired Lacey.

Since Lacey’s final choice had been Matthias, Vinet had been nothing more than the second male lead, but he had never been able to give up his love for her.

Vinet hated Aine for trying to harm Lacey.

Aine, meanwhile, was disgusted by Vinet’s insistence that he loved a married woman and could never forget her.

Since they mutually hated and loathed each other, whenever they met, they were too busy snarling at one another.

“That disgusting face of yours hasn’t changed at all.”

“I hoped you’d die on the battlefield, but you’re as persistent as a cockroach.”

When Aine arrived at the drawing room, she was met with eyes filled with disgust rather than a welcome.

Without realizing it, Aine almost laughed.

It was strangely comforting to see the one thing in this place that hadn’t changed.

“How did the two of them die?”

Looking into those fiercely gleaming blue eyes, Aine asked.

Even though she had arrived, no one had told her how the two had met their end.

“The Empire bribed the chief chamberlain. He put poison in their food. We tried everything we could to save them, but they both succumbed to the Empire’s poison.”

“What happened to the chamberlain?”

“As you’d expect from those vicious imperial bastards, we tried to capture him, but he killed himself before we could.”

“So that’s what happened.”

The moment Aine learned how the two had died, she intended to return straight to the battlefield.

She planned to carry out bloody vengeance against the Imperials who had accomplished what even she had failed to do.

“The war is nearing its end. I’ll take care of the rest, so why don’t you stop and get some rest?”

That was when Vinet’s voice reached her.

Aine frowned.

“Is that an order from the next king?”

Matthias had no heir.

Unless something unexpected happened, Vinet, the man standing before her, was certain to become the next king.

“Just quietly do as I say. Don’t go back to the battlefield in that sorry state of yours and make some mistake.”

But Vinet let out a mocking laugh.

“I still don’t understand Lacey. Why she insisted on calling something as ugly as you her friend until the very end, and why she went out of her way to keep you alive.”

Aine wanted to draw the sword at her waist immediately, but suddenly, the door to the drawing room opened.

“Get out. You’re interrupting us.”

Until that moment, Aine had assumed it was merely a servant who had come to pour tea.

But instead of retreating, the small footsteps gradually drew closer.

Aine turned her head to see who it was, and her expression stiffened.

A child stood right in front of her.

“That child…”

“I-I am Wilhelm Aine Orion.”

A very young child with a face almost identical to Lacey’s.

“P-please save me!”

[SYSTEM: Emergency Quest Activated]

[The quest will be revealed after acceptance. Accept within 8 hours.]

[If accepted, the quest will proceed. If rejected, your soul will be destroyed.]

[Success Reward: ???]

[Failure Penalty: Death]

[Would you like to proceed with the quest? Y / N]

Vinet hurried toward the tearful child pleading for help, but Aine’s hand moved faster.

“I want to know exactly what happened here.”

Aine grabbed Wilhelm’s hand and glared sharply at Vinet.

She wanted an explanation for what was happening.

But the moment her gaze fell on Wilhelm again, her thoughts changed.

The child’s shoulders were trembling as though he was terrified of this place.

“I’ll be taking this child with me.”

“Give me that child! Aine Kleine!!”

A furious voice came from behind her, but Vinet did not dare approach when Aine drew the sword from her waist.

“The moment you lay a hand on me, I’ll consider it a challenge to my authority.”

With a chilling gaze, she warned him before leading Wilhelm away.

But Aine’s mind was still a mess.

Who was this child who claimed to be royalty?

What exactly had been behind Vinet’s attitude just now?

And what was that new quest window that had appeared at the end?

“Ugh.”

“Commander!”

“Quickly, call the military physician!”

She had reached her limit.

Aine finally lost consciousness near her quarters.

“Commander! Please wake up!”

“I specifically told you to keep a close eye on him! How could you let things get this far simply because you couldn’t even keep track of one child?!”

Vinet, left behind in the drawing room, was furious.

Wilhelm’s unexpected intrusion had completely thrown his plans into disarray.

Vinet had intended to somehow resolve the situation, but everything had gone wrong when Aine declared that she would take the child with her.

He ordered the Royal Guard to retrieve the child, but none of them dared approach Aine.

As Vinet paced back and forth anxiously, Linus curled the corners of his lips into a smile.

“It seems there are still people we failed to eliminate.”

Vinet shot him a sharp glare at those words, but Linus remained completely composed.

“Still, perhaps this has worked out for the best. Those who might cause trouble at any moment are currently locked away in the underground prison, so please don’t be too angry.”

Vinet was still dissatisfied despite Linus’s words.

He frowned and clicked his tongue.

They had only realized it too late, but there had been a secret passage in Wilhelm’s room. He had used it to evade the Royal Guard and eventually make his way to the drawing room.

“Has that woman still not woken up?”

“No, it would seem not.”

“A woman that weak is the commander of the kingdom’s First Army? How laughable.”

Vinet had intended to chase after Aine and demand that she return the child, but unfortunately, he was told that she had fallen asleep as soon as she entered her room.

“According to those close to her, she stayed up all night preparing for the final battle.”

“That woman hates me, Linus. The moment she learns of the prince’s existence, she’ll oppose me.”

They had intended to deal with everything as quietly and discreetly as possible, but Wilhelm’s intrusion had ruined those plans.

Fearing that everything would fall apart, Vinet bit his lip anxiously.

“Don’t worry. Surely even the commander will understand what we tell her.”

Linus answered confidently, but Vinet’s face remained pale.

“Do you really think she’ll feel that way even after learning the whole truth?”

“As you know, the royal palace is already under our people’s control.”

With a sinister smile, Linus remained confident.

“Even if she learns the whole story, there is nothing she can change, is there? After all, the prince’s life is practically on a timer.”