Raising the Princess to Overcome Death Chapter 53

[ Lena has gotten married! Congratulations. ]

Leo never managed to find his sister. Fleeing from Orville, he was pursued by the marquis’ knights. To escape those chasing him on horseback, Leo sometimes threw himself into mud, and sometimes charmed village women with his good looks to receive their help.

Ironically, what aided him in his predicament was the {War} event.

In the capital city of Orville in the Bellita Kingdom, various supplies were being sent to the northern battlefield. When Leo hid near these supply routes, his pursuers’ efforts were delayed.

Throughout history, every army has prioritized securing its supply lines. For the thousands of soldiers, it was more crucial to eat and have weapons to fight with than to drive out the enemy in front of them.

The Bellita Kingdom’s army was no different, with its generals focusing all their attention on the supply lines at the rear.

The marquis' pursuit team dared not approach the supply routes, fearing the army’s wrath, and Leo took advantage of this to escape.

After shaking off his pursuers, Leo found refuge in the mountains near the battlefield.

It was dangerous near the war zone, but Leo knew the war’s progress. The Astin Kingdom’s army wouldn’t be able to cross the distant river, at least not until winter passed.

Even so, life wasn’t easy, and Leo spent his days busily. When heavy snow trapped him in his shelter, he thought of Lena.

Did she escape well? Was she okay in this cold weather? Had she been captured by the marquis?

Unable to bear the worry, anxiety, regret, and self-reproach, he set out to find his sister before winter ended.

Before that, Leo searched for a parasitic plant called ‘Defare.’

This plant latched onto small animals like mice and magpies, surprisingly leaving the hosts unfazed. Animals with Defare often acted as leaders, suggesting a mutually beneficial relationship.

Leo killed a small animal and tore off the Defare.

Inside the animal’s body were bulb-like nodules, and when he pressed them with his nails, a black liquid oozed out.

This liquid needed to be applied to his eyes.

The {Backstreet Rules} information revealed Defare’s usefulness.

Criminals often used Defare juice to change their eye color and hide their identities.

He knew the side effects too.

Burning pain in the eyes and vision loss. Leo was willing to endure these side effects.

He had to find his sister, who wouldn’t feel any pain from this.

He feared that if he was caught again with these golden eyes, he would never find his sister.

Taking a deep breath, he applied the Defare juice to his eyes like eyedrops. Despite his determination, his hands trembled, and his blinking eyes hindered him.

After several attempts, the juice fell into his eyes.

Leo screamed in pain and rolled on the ground, feeling as if his eyes were about to burst into flames.

Two days later, when the pain subsided, he pried open his eyelids, now stuck together with bloody tears.

His vision was blurred.

All three Leos had excellent vision, recognizing from dozens of meters away whether Lena Ainar wore her clothes backward, if she was about to bite into spoiled food, or what prank Lena of Demos Village was planning.

But now, everything was foggy.

He had to squint to see the branch in front of him, and the scattered leaves on the ground merged into a single mass.

When he finally looked at his reflection in the water, his eyes had turned a dull, withered leaf color, with specks of grey mixed into the once-golden hue.

The change wasn’t just in color. Small, round bubbles seemed to float in his eyes, like the Defare nodules had transferred to his eyeballs.

But he didn’t care about the appearance of his eyes. He only worried that his impaired vision might hinder his search for his sister.

Finally prepared, Leo set out on his journey.

The Bellita Kingdom dominated the central continent. He didn't need to head west, as that was the marquis’ territory. Lena wouldn’t have gone that way.

He also ruled out most of the eastern lands.

Those areas were controlled by royalists and centrists like Count Peter, where the marquis’ influence was strong.

Having mentally erased half of the Bellita Kingdom, Leo wandered through the northern and southern regions.

Squinting to see a bit further, his tangled hair a mess, he visited city after city, village after village.

During his travels, he overheard in a tavern the order the marquis had spread nationwide.

- Capture anyone with golden eyes.

Good thing he used Defare. ─ He thought, realizing Lena must be outside the Bellita Kingdom.

The absence of an ending meant Lena hadn’t been captured by the marquis.

But with her bright golden eyes, she would’ve had to leave the country to avoid the marquis’ order.

Lena is abroad.

And then...

He sat there, frozen, with a mug of beer in front of him, lost in the vastness of the continent. He couldn’t move, overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of it all.

Six kingdoms surrounded the Bellita Kingdom... where had his sister fled?

Leo clutched his head, sinking into despair. The thought of never finding his sister sapped his will, and he drowned his sorrows in alcohol. The tavern owner beamed.

A few days later, waking up hungover, he sent away the prostitute sleeping next to him, sat heavily on the disheveled bed, and pondered before setting out again.

He wouldn’t go to the Holy Kingdom to the west or the Aisel Kingdom to the east, nor to the Astin Kingdom to the north.

It seemed unlikely that Lena would have crossed the western or eastern lands influenced by the marquis.

Nor would she have gone to the war-torn Astin Kingdom.

That left the Aster Kingdom, Orun Kingdom, and Conrad Kingdom in the south...

He felt Lena must have gone south.

Perhaps it was because he had come from the north and didn’t want to backtrack, driven by a sense of wasted effort.

Even so, the odds weren’t bad, with one kingdom in the north and two in the south.

Ignoring the disappointed tavern owner, Leo hurriedly resumed his journey.

He funded his travels... by killing people.

[ Achievement: Ten Mercenaries - You are stronger when facing mercenaries. ]

It had already been half a year while traversing vertically through the Kingdom of Bellita. There was no more time to waste. He couldn't afford to make a living idly, so when he ran out of money, he plundered merchant caravans.

The method of ambushing a caravan was simple. Just wait by the water's edge.

Since the horses pulling the carriages needed to cool off and drink water frequently, caravans rarely bypassed the water's edge.

Bandits knew this as well, so ambitious and visionary ones sometimes guarded the water.

However, it was the mercenaries' job to prevent such things in advance, so if a caravan saw bandits gathering by the water, they would divert the carriages away.

Leo had no such worries.

He would guard the water alone and approach the stopped caravan to threaten them. Sometimes, he had to kill a few mercenaries in the process, but he didn't care.

Fortunately, killing mercenaries didn't count as [civilian murder].

Maybe it was because the mercenaries carried weapons too. Whatever the reason, if you wield a weapon, you must be prepared to face the consequences.

Thus, Leo descended southward through the Kingdom of Bellita and faced a moment of decision.

Had Lena gone to the Kingdom of Orun? Or the Kingdom of Conrad?

After some deliberation, he headed southwest, toward the Kingdom of Orun.

The reason was that Prince Eric de Yeriel, who was chasing the siblings, was in the southeastern Kingdom of Conrad, making it burdensome to search for Lena there.

With the retired knight's insignia handed by Katrina, he easily crossed the border and began searching the kingdom thoroughly again.

Wandering around the Kingdom of Orun in rags, he also stopped by the village of Demos.

He obtained good information there.

The Lena and Leo of the childhood friend scenario were real people.

They had repeated exactly the actions Leo took in the last scenario, with Lena leaving the village with a priest heading to the cathedral, and Leo on the run after committing murder.

Confirming that both the betrothal and childhood friend scenarios were progressing simultaneously, Leo stayed in the village of Demos for a few days to rest.

But the village of Demos wasn't the same as before.

First, there was no longer a bakery in Demos village. Aunt Hans, who ran the bakery, had fallen ill after losing her only son.

And Leo’s father, the hunter, had also disappeared. He left his house in the village and went into the mountains, never to return.

The villagers looked at Leo suspiciously as he asked various questions. Although part of it was the locals’ reluctance to outsiders, the atmosphere of the village had clearly changed.

From the trivial act of locking the gates of each house to the elders sitting in separate groups... What on earth had happened to this once warm-hearted village?

Leo left the village, troubled. While wandering around the Kingdom of Orun, the ending came.

[Lena has gotten married! Congratulations.]

[Thank you for playing Raising Lena.]

[Lena de Yeriel]

[Final Occupation: Unemployed]

[Spouse: Santian Rauno]

[Leo de Yeriel]

[Final Occupation: Traveler]

[Spouse: Single]

[Beggar Siblings Ending: Eternal Separation]

- Born in the Royal Castle, Lena had an unhappy childhood. Led by the hands of people, she was hidden with Leo in the wide fields... (snipped) ...Fleeing from Orville, Lena arrived in the Kingdom of Aisel. With significantly impaired vision, she couldn’t find a job but accepted the proposal of the diligent Santian Rauno. She gave birth to two sons. -

- Born in the Royal Castle, Leo had an unhappy childhood. Led by the hands of people, he was hidden with Lena in the wide fields... (snipped) ...Leo, who shook off the pursuit, scoured the Kingdom of Bellita, the Kingdom of Orun, and the Kingdom of Conrad to find Lena, but was eventually captured in the Kingdom of Conrad and secretly executed. -

Sitting by a campfire with a caravan, Leo felt the surroundings turn black and calmly accepted the ending.

He had seen this coming.

The journey to find his sister had dragged on endlessly, and during that time, he could only hope for Lena's happiness.

As a devout follower of the Cross Church, Leo read the text and offered a prayer of gratitude.

Santian Rauno, that snot-nosed kid, seemed to have treated her well.

And in Lena’s wedding photo, she smiled brightly at the guests but furrowed her brow, seemingly searching for someone. Her eyes, just like Leo's, were the color of dry leaves.

I’m here...

Leo, in tears, reached out to his sister, only to realize he had become a floating sphere and accepted his fate.

He was now to disappear.

Leo had resented Minseo’s spirit all this time but now let that go too. After all, he wasn’t the one to make his sister happy.

Leaving the message ‘Please take care of Lena’ in his heart, he scattered like mist, leaving Minseo engulfed in guilt.

‘......’

This failure left no room for excuses.

Minseo had had some excuse in previous repeated failures. Since he was fused with Leo’s spirit, he couldn’t act as he wished, and had blamed Leo for it.

[Achievement: First Death - The speed at which the player synchronizes with Leo slows down.]

This time, it was indeed his mistake. Although Leo wasn’t absent, Minseo could somewhat impose his will.

At the beginning of the scenario, he was impressed by the cautious actions of Joseph Rauno, the family boss, but greedily attempted to enter the Marquis’ house. Tempted by the idea of being adopted, he didn’t consider the consequences.

Who would have known that Marquis Benar Tatian would be such a monster...

‘But I tried my best...’

Still, he had excuses. For almost two years during the beggar siblings’ scenario, he hardly rested.

From morning to night, he worked for the Rauno family, gathering information from merchants late into the night.

Then he would go to his sister, talk to her, and put her to sleep, waking her up in the morning to eat together.

This was his daily routine.

After meeting the Marquis, he meticulously researched how to speak to him, practicing his lines repeatedly while riding in the carriage.

Honestly, if he had worked this hard in reality, he could have passed the Foreign Service Exam, he muttered, but then fell silent at Lena’s words that came to mind.

- ...So that’s why you took me. To show me to that man.

‘I exploited Lena’s appearance.’

Faced with this unchanging fault, Minseo felt infinitely small.

Lena getting married alone in a distant land after losing her brother was entirely his fault.

‘Lena, I’m sorry. I...’

Then, the text pushed him forward.

[You have not cleared Lena Raising.]

[Leo, you desperately searched for Lena for the rest of your life. As a result, you gain the {Tracking} skill.]

[It begins again.]

The intro video of breaking through the clouds in the clear sky unfolded once more. Watching the cool and dynamic viewpoint, Minseo felt comforted.

Let’s try again.

It’s not over yet.

We’re making progress, even if only a little.

Though it’s painful, repeating this might one day lead to a happy ending. For all of us.

Resolving this, Minseo’s gaze passed through the village of Demos toward the forest edge.

He saw Lena in the distance.

It was Lena from the familiar and cherished childhood friend scenario. And Minseo became Leo again...

“Leo! Are you listening to me?”

Lena asked, looking back, but he couldn’t answer.

Leo, who had turned pale and colorless.

His eyes were fixed downward to the right, unable to move.

[Achievement: ‘10th’ Leo - The speed at which the player synchronizes with Leo slightly increases.]

[10/20]

The number 10/20 appeared small but ominously at the bottom right of his vision, refusing to disappear.

This game had a limit on the number of attempts.