I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 98
The story of Sarubia, a saintess
Before the break of dawn, the time for the morning star to rise had arrived.
Rufus began to put on the coat hanging behind the chair.
“Mmm… where are you going?”
Sarubia, who had been sleeping in bed, rubbed her eyes. Rufus kissed her forehead.
“Keep sleeping. I’ll be back from the borderlands.”
“Oh right, the borderlands.”
Sarubia sat up abruptly.
“I want to go with you.”
“That’s not happening. Just sleep.”
Rufus picked up Sarubia as she approached him and laid her back down on the bed.
“Don’t treat me like a child. I’ll be an adult the day after tomorrow, you know? And I’m definitely going too.”
Sarubia protested, her face barely visible beneath the covers.
“It’s not that I’m treating you like a child. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m worried about you too. What if you can’t find Prince Tarek in the borderlands?”
“I will find him.”
“But what if Prince Tarek is already…!”
Sarubia began to say something but sighed and closed her mouth.
“No matter what I say, you won’t let me go, will you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s petty.”
“Sorry.”
Rufus stroked Sarubia’s hair.
“I’ll return as quickly as I can.”
“Okay.”
Sarubia pouted but nodded obediently. Rufus was relieved, thinking he had finally convinced Sarubia.
He didn’t want to take Sarubia to the borderlands. As much as he wanted to be with her, there were places he didn’t want her to go.
“When I return, let’s head straight to the Inferna estate. Prepare to move while I’m gone.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you.”
Rufus thought he had completely quelled Sarubia’s stubbornness. But that was just the man’s wishful thinking.
With a flutter, a sparrow arrived.
“Let’s go.”
It was Iruel, who had come to fetch Rufus as promised after three hours.
“Take care, Rufus, and you too, Sir Roroel.”
Sarubia, leaning against the window, bid them farewell.
Roroel… Rufus thought he had misheard it earlier.
Even in her previous life, she liked to make nicknames out of names. It seems she’s started calling him that already. Rufus couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment that it wasn’t him who started it.
“I…”
“Yes?”
“Iruel is called Roroel, but what about me?”
Sarubia chuckled softly.
“Lord Rufus is just Lord Rufus, aren’t you?”
“…”
“See you soon, Lord Rufus.”
“…Right, see you soon.”
Even then, Rufus hadn’t realized it.
His ‘soon’ and her ‘soon’ were on completely different timelines.
“What did you two do?”
The sparrow, perched atop the butterfly on his head, sneakily asked.
“Mind your own business.”
As the servant quarters grew distant, the butterfly replied sullenly. However, Iruel’s curiosity relentlessly followed.
“In the dead of night, what could a healthy man and woman have possibly done together? Really makes one wonder. Did you two sleep together?”
“No.”
“You slept together, didn’t you?”
“We did not.”
“Don’t lie. I saw Miss Sarubia’s neck earlier, covered in kiss marks. You two must have really gone at it.”
“Shut your mouth.”
Annoyed, Rufus hit Iruel on the head. But since he had been transformed into a butterfly, his efforts were practically ineffective.
The sparrow laughed out loud.
“Go ahead, hit me all day. See if it hurts!”
“Oh yeah? How about I blind you then.”
The butterfly descended onto the sparrow’s nose, and its wing powder touched the sparrow’s eyes.
“Aaah! You crazy lieutenant!”
The sparrow flapped away, trying to escape the butterfly.
“Stop acting like a child! It’s annoying!”
The butterfly mockingly fluttered ahead, leading the way.
After bickering all the way back to the palace, the two entered the room through a window that had been left open.
“Let’s meet at the borderlands then.”
Iruel, having returned to his human form, brushed his hair back and spoke.
“I’ll make a stop at the Eustice Viscounty and then head to the borderlands. Is that alright?”
“Why are you going to the Eustice Viscounty?”
Wasn’t Iruel not on good terms with his father? Why bother stopping there?
“To cause a bit of chaos.”
“What are you planning?”
Rufus frowned upon hearing Iruel’s response.
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’ll time my arrival at the borderlands to match with your schedule, Lieutenant.”
“Do as you like.”
Rufus glanced at the clock. It was almost time to depart. Following the royal decree, Rufus had to head to the borderlands to find Prince Tarek.
He wouldn’t be going alone, of course. Concerned for his son’s safety, the king not only dispatched Rufus to the borderlands but also assigned several of the kingdom’s finest royal knights to accompany him.
Half an hour later, ready to leave, Rufus exited the palace.
“You’ve arrived.”
The royal knights waiting in front of the palace greeted Rufus respectfully.
Rufus mounted the horse prepared for him.
“We depart immediately.”
“Yes.”
The dawn air was chilly. The cold made Rufus grip the reins tightly.
Rufus and his party turned their horses toward the city’s main gate.
Seeing Rufus sent back to the borderlands just one day after his return, the people of the palace clicked their tongues. Some even cast sympathetic looks his way.
Sensing these gazes, one of the royal knights cautiously approached Rufus.
“Lord Rufus, if I may be so bold… Is it really alright to head to the borderlands immediately after arriving in the capital?”
“It is the king’s command. How can I, who lives by His Majesty’s grace, disobey?”
“Indeed, your words are just.”
“And Prince Tarek must still be alive. Therefore, we must hurry to find His Highness.”
