I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 71

Only then did I look around.

Just as Eishu had said, knights bearing the Imperial seal were heavily armed and guarding the entrance to the room.

They hadn’t been there earlier.

As I blinked at the suddenly appearing knights, Eishu sighed and said,

“What were you listening to earlier? They just came rushing in and said that rebels had infiltrated the Hall of Rest.”

“Whaaat…?”

When did those people even appear?

There had only been a minstrel here.

Kora, who had been listening to Eishu and me with a slightly serious expression, joined the conversation.

“I told you something was strange, you know. The space warped earlier, and it seemed like Cilia got caught up in it.”

“Caught up in it?”

“That’s what happened, you know.”

The space warped, and I got caught up in it?

Was she talking about that moment when I couldn’t hear any of the surrounding sounds, but could hear only the minstrel’s voice?

“For now, since things are what they are, we should leave, you know. The Hall of Rest has been closed immediately because of the rebels.”

“Closed…?”

“Yeah. And apparently, the nobles who came here have to remain in the Imperial Palace for as long as they were originally scheduled to stay.”

Eishu wiped the tip of his nose as he spoke.

Following the Imperial Knights’ instructions, the nobles were leaving with anxious expressions and heading toward their assigned rooms.

“Why does everyone look so anxious?”

At my question, Eishu scratched his head.

“Because it looks like they’re all going to be confined to their rooms until the rebels are found.”

“What…?”

What was he talking about?

As I opened my eyes wide, Eishu subtly looked away.

Why were they suddenly talking about confinement? Did this make any sense?

Leticia…! How could you do this to me…!

I clutched my chest, feeling betrayed by Leticia, the only female friend I thought I had.

‘Ugh.’

Fine, Leticia was one thing, but what about these two?

I narrowed my eyes into triangles and glared at them.

“You two are Transcendents, aren’t you? If you knew this was going to happen, you could have at least given me a warning.”

I didn’t think there was any way they could have been unaware.

But—

“We didn’t know either. This was the Emperor’s unilateral order.”

“…!”

I couldn’t help being shocked by Eishu’s words.

Scarlett…

A unilateral decision by Leticia?

Weren’t the Transcendents and the Imperial Family always on the same side?

Why had she suddenly excluded them?

As though she had read my question, Kora parted her lips.

“Maybe she thinks there could be a traitor among the Transcendents, you know.”

“……”

At Kora’s offhand remark, Eishu pressed his lips together.

“Her Majesty couldn’t possibly do that. There must be some circumstances we don’t know about.”

When Eishu said that as though he couldn’t believe it, Kora scoffed.

“Or maybe she told Morocanil and Dazar while leaving only us out.”

Where had her usual vacant expression gone?

Kora’s face was cold.

Her narrowed eyes held a chilly glint, and her slightly twisted lips carried a mocking smile.

At her words, Eishu’s shoulders visibly drooped.

“Maybe…”

Judging by their reactions, it seemed there was something going on even among the Transcendents.

‘Come to think of it, these two aren’t people who remember their past lives.’

Dazar and Morocanil were the ones who remembered their past lives.

Several questions flooded my mind at once, but this wasn’t the time to leisurely think about them.

For now, I had to follow the Imperial Knights back to my room.

That is, if I didn’t want to be accused of being a rebel.

 

***

 

At the very top of the towering Imperial Palace, on a pointed spire that seemed impossible for anyone to reach, someone was standing.

“This is something else… They’re really causing this much trouble?”

The man with neatly slicked-back black hair clicked his tongue as his golden eyes gleamed.

Reflected in his eyes were the Imperial Knights running in formation and the frightened nobles heading toward their rooms.

“How are they planning to deal with the nobles’ resentment?”

Dazar loosened the collar button of his shirt as though he were frustrated.

With his rough gesture, the shirt button popped off and rolled across the rooftop.

“I don’t understand why Scarlett suddenly became so aggressive.”

Even if ‘they’ had become more active than before…

Has someone been influencing her?

It didn’t seem like a particularly wise decision in the current situation.

He muttered bitterly to himself before suddenly narrowing his eyes and glancing behind him.

Toward the spire directly behind him, not far away.

“What? Where did you go by yourself?”

Someone who hadn’t been there moments ago was now standing there as naturally as though he had always existed in that spot.

It was the minstrel Cilia had encountered moments earlier.

At Dazar’s question, he answered expressionlessly.

“I went out to look around.”

“I told you not to go anywhere without my permission.”

Despite Dazar’s growling words, the minstrel’s expression didn’t change.

“Birds are naturally curious, you know. Didn’t you notice how they’re always flying around here and there?”

Dazar raised his eyebrows in displeasure.

“I told you not to appear or go anywhere alone unless it has something to do with her.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that part? You said I wasn’t even allowed to talk.”

“Fine. Don’t talk, either.”

As Dazar’s gaze turned menacing, the minstrel shrugged and casually waved his hand.

His body gradually became smaller, transforming into a red bird.

“I have no freedom. No freedom at all. Things were better when I was Ruben.”

“…You.”

At Dazar’s growling voice, the bird immediately closed its beak.

Back when he was Ruben?

What could that possibly mean?

Despite having said something that would make anyone who overheard it gasp in horror, Dazar didn’t react at all.

He looked as though he already knew.

“By the way, I saw that woman on my way here.”

“What? Who?”

“Who else? The woman you live with. Is it really okay to leave her alone in a place filled with so many of the Followers?”

“……”

Dazar froze at the bird’s complaining words.

Cilia.

Come to think of it, where was she right now?

He bit his lip impatiently.

This wasn’t the time to be engaged in a battle of nerves with this guy.

He needed to find her and…

‘No, no. What am I thinking? That woman will be perfectly fine even in a situation like this.’

Even without his help, she would surely protect Ruben just fine.

There was absolutely no reason for him to worry.

Then why couldn’t he keep still?

Dazar muttered,

“Damn it. If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just left her behind.”

Dazar irritably ran a hand through his hair before lightly jumping off the spire.

“This is troublesome.”

After muttering those words, his figure disappeared in an instant.

Left alone, the red bird pecked lightly at the ground with its beak.

“He tells me not to speak or go anywhere unless it’s related to her. What a hopeless contractor.”

The bird lightly flapped its wings and took flight.

“He really is an idiot. That’s why I’m opening my beak like this and deliberately leaving my post. Even though I’m already giving him all these clues, he still doesn’t realize it. He doesn’t know how grateful he should be. At this rate, he’s going to lose her to that guy.”

The bird clicked its tongue sympathetically, then suddenly added as though reconsidering,

“No, that’s not it. Watching this guy suffer is entertaining in its own way, too. He can figure it out himself.”

Hee-hee-hee.

The red bird giggled and flew away.

 

***

 

Together with Eishu and Kora, I followed the knights and moved elsewhere.

“But aren’t you two Transcendents? Is it really okay for you to move around with me like this?”

As I followed the knights’ directions and shuffled along, the thought suddenly occurred to me.

Eishu and Kora were Transcendents.

‘Even if Eishu isn’t a duke, he should at least be from a long-established count’s family.’

Cilia herself had no interest whatsoever in high society, so she didn’t know exactly which families Eishu and Kora belonged to.

But thanks to having read the original story, I knew that Eishu was roughly from a count’s family.

Transcendents were born into their respective families generation after generation, after all.

“I’m not Dazar. If this is an order from His Majesty the Emperor, there’s nothing I can do but follow it.”

Eishu muttered in a slightly dejected voice.

He seemed quite upset that the Emperor hadn’t informed him of this beforehand.

His shoulders had been drooping ever since.

‘At this rate, his shoulders are going to droop all the way to the floor.’

As I stared at Eishu’s slumped shoulders, I glanced at Kora, who had been quiet for some time.

She had her usual vacant expression, but somehow, she was too quiet.

Was she also unhappy about this situation?

Just then, her lips suddenly parted.

“What did you see earlier, Cilia?”

“What?”

Her eyes flashed.