I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 70

I marveled at their incredible sense of direction—or rather, their incredible lack of one—and pointed my index finger behind me.

“If you go this way, you’ll find the exit. Shall we go together?”

“Ooh! Sounds good!”

“That sounds good, you know!”

Who could possibly believe that these two were Transcendents when they smiled so innocently and nodded?

‘Come to think of it, I don’t think they were at the banquet yesterday.’

As I walked down the corridor with them, I casually asked,

“Were you two at the banquet yesterday? I don’t think I saw you there.”

“Hmm! Nope!”

Eishu answered confidently.

“Actually, I thought today was the first day of the Hall of Rest!”

“Eishu said today was the first day, so I came, but it wasn’t.”

“Aha… That’s impressive.”

What an astonishing answer.

When I awkwardly smiled and nodded, Eishu proudly grinned back at me.

Hey. That “impressive” wasn’t exactly a compliment.

“We need to hurry. If I stay here any longer, my heart will suffer too much, you know.”

At Kora’s forceful insistence, we quickened our pace a little. Thanks to that, we hurried out of the corridor and arrived at a pentagonal-shaped lobby.

“Oh! We finally made it out! Thanks, Cilia.”

I gave the delighted Eishu and Kora a casual nod before slowly beginning to move away from them.

It was because I could see people who had recognized them as Transcendents glancing our way.

“Hey? Where are you going? Let’s go together, Cilia!”

“Let’s go together, you know! Don’t abandon us!”

I had no idea why they were following me, but there was no way I could shake off the two of them when they clung to me so persistently.

‘Ugh. How annoying.’

I tried to move away from them without hiding even a hint of annoyance on my face, but they clung to me as if I were their only lifeline.

“We always get lost when the two of us go somewhere together.”

That’s your problem.

In the end, I gave up and headed toward my destination with the two of them trailing behind me like fish poop.

There was an event here that I had been curious about.

‘A minstrel!’

Actually, after how exhausting the first day had been, I had considered taking it easy on the second day. But after looking at the events on the schedule Cedric had given me, I changed my mind.

‘I want Axion to hear a minstrel’s song.’

As someone who had been a heavy reader of romance-fantasy novels in my younger days, I had always been curious about the minstrels I had only ever seen in books.

I heard that a very famous minstrel from the Empire was coming, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.

Besides, I wanted to spend such a wonderful opportunity with Axion.

“Is it this way…?”

With my two little pieces of fish poop trailing behind me, I hurried along and entered a space where a large crowd had gathered.

Unlike the lecture hall where the doomsday prophet had been preaching earlier, this room had a much cozier atmosphere.

I quickly plopped myself down on one of the single-person sofas arranged at reasonable intervals.

“That person over there must be the minstrel. But are you two all right? I brought you along without even asking.”

Since I had dragged them here without asking their opinions, I turned around to look for them.

“Excuse me?”

But the two of them seemed not to hear me. They were moving their mouths toward each other.

It looked as though they were talking, but no sound reached me.

‘Huh?’

Feeling something strange, I looked around.

The other nobles sitting on the sofas were the same.

They were moving their mouths and exchanging words, but I couldn’t hear a single voice.

Not only voices, but even the footsteps of people passing beside me had disappeared.

Just as I realized something was wrong and was about to stand up with Axion, it happened.

—This song is the story of a cursed man…

A mysterious voice came from ahead.

At the same time, a beautiful melody filled the air.

I hugged Axion tightly and spun around.

Someone clad in a black robe was standing on a small stage, playing a harp.

‘A minstrel…?’

This had to be the very minstrel I had been curious about.

But why couldn’t I hear anyone else’s voice?

I looked around, but no one seemed to be looking at him.

“Whoa?”

“Axion?”

Thankfully, Axion seemed able to see him.

“What on earth…?”

I blinked as I stared at the minstrel before me.

It was as though Axion and I were the only ones who could see him. The others didn’t seem to be aware of his presence at all.

While I hugged Axion tightly and looked around, the minstrel quietly hummed as he played the harp.

Chrrr.

—That was when it all began…

The minstrel’s song began.

—He fell in love with a woman he met by chance.

The two were beautiful lovers.

So beautiful that even God grew jealous.

Ah, sadly, he ended up losing her.

The mysterious voice was as warm as cherry blossoms in spring, but the story itself was unbearably gloomy.

Before I knew it, I had become absorbed in his song. I slowly lowered myself back into my seat and listened intently to the minstrel.

—The devil made him an offer.

Make a contract with me.

Hand this world over to Ruben!

And in return, I’ll let you meet her again!

Ooh…

The minstrel spoke as though he were acting in a play, then suddenly stopped playing the harp.

I froze at the familiar name he had uttered.

Ruben?

If it was Ruben…

I looked down at Axion.

The child was staring blankly at the minstrel as if he were under a spell.

‘Is he talking about the Ruben who grows by feeding on misfortune?’

The minstrel sang as though he were recounting an event from long ago.

Could this be some kind of legend passed down through word of mouth?

I listened closely to the voice that followed.

—He loved her so much that he accepted.

But the man who made a contract with the devil…

was cursed.

A man who made a contract with the devil for the sake of one woman.

As expected, I thought, romance must be a popular subject for songs like this, as I glanced around.

The song seemed to be approaching its climax, but still, none of the others were looking this way.

Kora and Eishu also seemed to be staring at each other and muttering something.

‘Hmm?’

Then, for some reason, I suddenly felt as though my eyes met Eishu’s.

I raised my hand and waved it in front of Eishu, but the minstrel’s voice continued.

—Ah, the curse placed upon him was so terrible.

Ah, he forgot her.

Ah, he completely forgot her.

The minstrel continued playing the harp and slightly lifted his head.

His chin and lips, which had been hidden beneath his hood, were revealed.

His lips were a deep red, as though they had been painted with bright red lipstick.

His lips curved into a smile as they opened.

“Ah. He forgot her.”

Huh…?

That sounded like it had come from right beside me, rather than from far away.

Just as I was startled and reached up to touch my ear—

Crash!

Along with the sound of something shattering, all the noise around me suddenly burst into my ears.

“Ugh…!”

I hurriedly tried to cover my ears because of the sudden barrage of sounds, but first I checked Axion’s condition.

‘Axion. Axion, are you all right?’

“Uung…?”

Thankfully, Axion didn’t seem to be overwhelmed by the noise the way I was.

Only after I was reassured did I realize how badly my ears hurt.

I frowned and tried to cover both ears when someone suddenly grabbed me firmly by the shoulders.

What? Who is it?

“Hey! What’s wrong with you?”

Ah, my ears hurt.

“What’s wrong with you? I’ve been telling you something strange is happening here.”

Eishu was holding onto me with an urgent expression.

Was this what he and Kora had been discussing so seriously just moments ago?

I could only stare at him in bewilderment, and Kora, who had remained silent until then, cut in.

“I told you something was strange, you know. The space warped just now, you know.”

“Why are you only telling me that now?”

“I told you, you know? You kept talking about something else.”

“You specialize in space, so how can you just casually mention something like that?”

“Is that my fault, you know?”

For some reason, the two of them began arguing with me caught between them.

I lowered the hands that had been covering my ears and waved them toward the two.

“Stop, stop. So what happened? Why were you acting like that just now? Didn’t you see the minstrel?”

“What? A minstrel?”

Eishu looked at me as though I were saying something strange. Then he furrowed his brow and asked,

“What minstrel? Don’t you know there’s chaos going on here right now?”

“What? What chaos? No, there was a minstrel right over there just a moment ago…”

“The Imperial Knights have taken over this place.”

“…What?”

Why were the Imperial Knights suddenly here?