Enoch took them to the outskirts then left with Lysander and the other wizards.
This was at Rosa’s command and request.
It was obvious that there would be many incidents as they made their way from the outskirts to the palace.
Rosa decided to take the on the countless accusations and eggs that would be thrown at her and her father.
Enoch would be furious and come forward to help her in that situation.
That's why she told him to go in advance.
"They say that when something is gone, that’s when you think about it...….”
‘It’s funny that Enoch hasn’t even disappeared for very long, and he’s already popped into my mind.’
But that didn't last long.
As they got closer to the palace, more and more people appeared, and there was no time to think about anything else.
As soon as they saw Rosa and Caligo, they showed the same reaction.
They were all amazed.
"Oh! that man!”
"Wait! Isn't that that man with the Duke also the Duke?"
"The dead Duke Estella…"
Everyone began to whisper and let their imagination run wild based on what they ‘d seen.
Things like they’d colluded from the beginning or that she’d hidden her father.
In modern terms, this was a huge brain teaser.
Rosa didn't feel very pleasant, but she was satisfied that it was now known that her father was alive.
Not long after that...….
As the story spread far and wide, reporters and even people from the capital came out to see them.
Some were, predictably, throwing tomatoes or eggs, or other things of the sort.
"Die liars!”
"They are the offspring of evil!”
It was strange.
Even though the caged carriage was compact, strangely, only small things managed to reach Rosa from time to time.
In contrast, in the carriage in front of her, Caligo was in ruins.
"Oh, is it Enoch…?"
Before leaving, she saw Enoch holding onto the carriage and muttering something.
It was clear what Enoch was doing.
For a moment, the corners of her mouth were about to creep up in a way that was inappropriate for the situation.
She quickly got her feelings under control.
"Halt!”
In front of the gate of the Imperial Palace, the guards approached them, with spears in formation.
They pulled up near them; the carriage with Caligo stopped next to her’s.
"The Emperor...….”
They were the first proper words she’d heard since she was captured.
"I held back from going to catch you myself despite my hatred, if it wasn’t for the Tower pretending to cooperate in capturing you...….”
[t/n: I believe Theodore is saying that, since the Tower was “cooperating” to “chase” Rosa and Caligo, he couldn’t go after him himself. Basically, he was trusting Rosa to handle this.]
Perhaps, it was only when Caligo arrived there that it finally dawned on him.
That his decades-long plans had ended in vain.
And at the hands of his own child.
***
Theodore ran in a hurry.
As if he could not hear the voice of Marquis Marigold or of Duke Snow trying to catch him.
Thus, he ran, forgetting the majesty or dignity of the emperor.
"Your, Your Majesty?"
He continued to rush down the stairs of a dark dungeon far from the Emperor’s castle.
Two corridors appeared.
For the first time, Theodore stopped running.
Then, for a moment, he caught his breath and looked around.
Soldiers were lined up in rows on both sides of the hallway, waiting in perfect order, as if Rosenta and Caligo had been locked up separately.
[t/n: I believe Rosa is now in female form but, this chapter is written from Theodore’s PoV, and he still calls her Rosenta.]
"Which cell is the elder Duke Estella locked in?"
At Theodore’s question, one of the soldiers guarding the middle passage shouted urgently.
"He’s being held in the last room on the left!”
"Good work.”
He was mindful of his image in front of the soldiers, but he still gave off the air of being chased.
A cold sweat dripped down his disheveled blonde hair.
He couldn't tell if it was from running, tension, or anger.
Squeak.
When he opened the door to the room on the far left, a stale smell hit him.
Theodore covered his nose with one arm, then went inside with his torch.
Then, he looked at him.
"Caligo...….”
It was Caligo, who looked completely fine, not a hair different from before, without a single scratch.
Theodore grew even angrier.
With rough movements, he grabbed Caligo by the collar and pushed him against the wall.
His golden eyes, which had just been shining like the sun, grew full of red veins.
"You! My father!”
But it didn't last long.
He realized something was strange, he let go of Caligo's collar and took a step back.
Then, Theodore could see Caligo more clearly.
Caligo was like a doll.
He’d always been a snake, so emotional changes were rare, but something was wrong.
"Why are you so still?"
He’d thought Caligo would rebel against him, whether that be by using his abilities or something else, but he was doing nothing.
He seemed to have given up.
"Why don't you say anything…!”
Caligo opened his mouth for the first time.
He cut off Theodore's cries with a very fishy smile.
"You're in luck.”
Gradually he came up to Theodore, grabbing him by the wrist.
Caligo's fingernails were almost all ripped off, his lips completely bruised without any normal spots.
"If I hadn't brought in that child, you, the last of the royal family, would be dead by my hand.”
Even the few remaining fingernails that were left broke one by one at the slightest squeeze.
Drops of blood were dripping.
Still, Caligo's mouth was contorting like a man who felt no pain.
"We’re trying to reclaim our original position, but what’s so great about a bunch of liars that she would take their side? Even to the point of taking away her father’s power.”
Things had somehow changed.
Theodore was very angry when he first visited.
But, at some point, Caligo had started screaming as if he had lost everything, and with all his might.
"You and the Holy Land are the traitors who ruined everything! Not us!”
With his screams, Theodore's body shook violently, caught by Caligo.
Theodore pushed Caligo.
Perhaps because of his low stamina, Caligo was easily pushed back.
Stumbling, he flopped on the dirty floor.
Then he cried.
Rather than transparent tears, bright red blood tears dripped on the floor.
Even at the bizarre scene, Theodore unknowingly frowned and retreated.
Drip, drip.
Just in time, a knock was heard, followed by Otis Marigold's voice from outside.
"Your Majesty, the nobles are gathering in a hurry. You must prepare...….”
"Yes; let’s head out.”
Theodore's spirit returned, as if he had regained his reason after seeing Caligo lose his.
Only then did he become rational.
There wouldn’t be any rational conversation at this rate.
It would only ruin their minds as they vented each other's one-sided anger.
Theodore turned.
Then, as soon as he opened the door and took a step outside, Caligo's cries came from behind once again.
"Do you think this is it! Those who seek glory from the lost past will keep appearing! This isn’t it! This isn’t it! I am but the beginning!”
Squeak.
The cold barred door closed behind Theodore's back.
With special magic in place, due to the nature of the prison, his cries could no longer be heard.
But the words Caligo had just spat out kept repeating in his head.
***
A damp, yet filthy smell.
Furthermore, the darkest underground prison could not have been clean. Every time she moved, not to mention dust, rusty pieces stuck to her body.
"I never get used to this putrid smell, no matter how many hours pass. No, how many hours have passed, I wonder?”
‘....…I feel uncomfortable.’
There was a separate detention space for the rich and the powerful, but there was no official way to give a comfortable holing location to those caught after fleeing.
One lone torch.
Relying on the light that swirled from there, she rose from the dusty floor.
"Ugh."
The heavy shackles on her ankles impeded her movement.
Every time she moved forward, she was weighed down even harder by her ankles.
Eventually, she sank back down.
The unpleasant things smeared not only on her pants, but also on her hands that had touched the floor.
Caligo popped into her mind.
"He must be a mess.”
She could bear it one way or another.
She was born in the lower class and had survived doing various things since she was a child.
But he was different.
He had locked people up, but he'd never been locked up in a place like this before.
She knew it without needing to check.
While she wasn’t a troublemaker by nature, she knew how to cause trouble.
"...…How long do I have to wait?"
Beyond the gleaming torch, she stared intently in the direction of the door.
Perhaps Elef Snow, who brought us in, was being held by other aristocrats, including Theodore.
‘You'll take my side, but you'll be busy persuading them when it comes to talking about my father, Caligo.’
"Hmm, when will he come?"
Maybe it was because she was alone in an underground, dark basement where she couldn’t even measure time.
It was impossible to know how much time had passed.
It felt like hours had passed, but in reality, it could have been only a few minutes.
"I have no choice but to wait, thinking about something else.”
She sat near the bars, closing her eyes or watching the flickering flame of the torch.
She spent time alone in the darkness like that, and naturally, various thoughts came to mind.
Funnily enough, many of those thoughts were in relation to Enoch.
There was an unknown emptiness.
"It feels empty…….”
She couldn’t help but think of Enoch, even here, in this place of constant sweaty tension.
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped her mouth.
But she quickly managed her expression and stared ahead.
Step, step.
From beyond the door of the underground prison where she was trapped, she heard the footsteps of a stranger.
The sound got closer.
And soon, the door began to open with a very rough, grotesque fricative sound.
Squeak.
Someone entered the dungeon following that painful sound.
As soon as she saw his face, she couldn't figure out how to control her facial expression.
With an awkward smile, she said,
"Your Majesty."