Episode 144

In this incident, the Emperor’s army moved directly. 

The Retro Wave and Dom Industries would eventually be cornered and captured in the end, thrown into the Emperor’s trap.

That’s how the seeds of rebellion would be crushed and trampled on. The Emperor was not an easy opponent.

Yes, the Lepti Empire would most likely remain unscathed, as always. But… what about Rose?

Before finding Rose, who knows what might have happened to her? No, she may have already been injured. At the thought of that, Jasper was overwhelmed with a sense of dread.

Rose was a civilian with no direct involvement in this whole affair. She should have had nothing to do with the Retro Wave or Edwin’s politics.

But why should Rose be hurt? Jasper couldn’t help but remember Rose’s slender arms, fragile enough to break with just one hand.

He wanted to protect her. To keep the dirty and corrupt away from her. And he had thought he had nearly succeeded.

‘I was so conceited.’

The current situation felt entirely like his responsibility. 

He needed to find Rose as soon as possible. However, the Emperor’s guard was more focused on the Retro Wave gathering than Rose Bell.

Edwin was wanted by the guard for leaking classified information and identity forgery. If Edwin was here, they could arrest him immediately based on the Emperor’s orders.

Even if they couldn’t capture Edwin, they had plans to expose the truth about Edwin to the Retro Wave, ruining their gathering. The plan had already been laid out.

The kidnapping of Rose Bell was a secondary issue for the personal guard, and they couldn’t allocate many personnel to find her. It was quite unusual for the Emperor’s guard to move for the rescue of a civilian.

Cooperation with outsiders was extremely rare from the outset. They were all individuals who operated in the shadows. Jasper was the only one included in this mission by imperial decree.

But Jasper couldn’t accept the current situation. Even if they turned the entire city of Brittel and the capital upside down with all the forces they had, it wouldn’t be enough. 

He had come to realize the importance of power, right under the Emperor, at the pinnacle of authority.

To protect someone, strength was necessary. He had to grow up and out of his immaturity. He wanted to stand at the very top of power under the Emperor. Jasper had been distant from any power ambitions until now, but his mindset had changed.

However, without Rose Bell in that future where he held power, it would be meaningless. Jasper mounted his horse and set out to find Rose himself.

‘No one in the Brittel city saw Edwin.’

For the past few days, the Emperor had released people for surveillance, but they couldn’t find Edwin’s whereabouts. Only Dom Industries employees were going back and forth to the research lab.

‘He must have another hideout.’

Most likely, nothing had come out of that place until now. If there was a hideout, it was likely to be on the outskirts of Brittel.

Jasper decided to investigate the outskirts with two members of the personal guard. Another member of the guard volunteered to search for Rose within the city of Brittel.

They checked one property after another on the sparsely populated outskirts of Brittel. But aside from the commoners who lived modestly in the areas far from the city center, they didn’t see anyone else.

‘I need to find her… I need to find her quickly…’

Jasper was in such a hurry that he didn’t even wear gloves. His hands were scraped because he held the reins too tightly, and his jaw hurt from clenching it so hard.

As time passed and the surroundings grew darker, Jasper felt like his heart and all his organs were plummeting towards the ground. 

Initially, he felt anger and self-blame, and now it was despair and fear. What if they never found Rose? Just the thought of it pushed him to the brink.

He had never been this scared before. Jasper had lived without fear, and the world had generally favored him. But now, he was terrified. 

Losing Rose meant that his whole world would crumble.

When he was about a third of the way through the marked outskirts on the map, a loud explosion echoed in the distance. Jasper came to an urgent halt.

‘That’s the sound of an explosion.’

It didn’t seem like a close-range explosion. He turned his horse towards the direction of the sound and rushed towards it. As he got closer to the source of the sound, he faintly heard the sound of gunfire.

Jasper’s hand holding the reins was trembling. 

‘A bomb… exploded.’

Gunfire was something you could often see in the city, but bomb explosions were rare unless you were on a battlefield. The fact that the sound carried to such a distant location suggested that the explosion was quite powerful.

After that, Jasper’s memory went blank for a few minutes. It seemed like he continued to spur his horse forward.

A bomb had exploded. Jasper wasn’t sure who set it off, but there was no reason to believe it was a good sign.

Theo had said that Dom Industries took Rose to create new explosives. Explosives. Bombs. Rose Bell. Research. These words fragmented and swirled around Jasper’s mind.

The worst-case scenario came to mind. Rose, somehow caught in the explosion…

After the bomb went off, several pieces of debris… on top of Rose’s fragile body…

Jasper’s breathing became extremely rapid as if he were in a panic. His eyes were bloodshot, and his whole body felt like it was losing sensation.

From across the way, the sound of car engines and gunfire could be heard. He took out a flashlight to illuminate the road ahead. In the distance, a car approached through the darkness.

And unmistakably, there was bright red hair.

‘Rose.’

Rose was alive. She was being chased by those closely following the car, and they even had guns.

Jasper quickly pulled out his rifle without hesitation. He controlled the recoil with his lower body strength and fired from atop his horse.

First, he needed to swiftly subdue those pursuing Rose. Just a short while ago, Jasper was locked in fear, but now his eyes were steady.

There were six of them. Just from their shooting and recoil control, it was clear who had rushed ahead of them were professionals.

Dealing with them was a piece of cake. Then he could quickly check on Rose’s condition…

That’s when it happened. 

Thump! A loud crash sounded from behind as a car collided with something. 

Jasper, who was in the middle of subduing the mercenaries, suddenly went cold.

* * *

Around that time, Edwin was nervously pacing back and forth. 

He was waiting for the young men handpicked by the Dom Industries’ CEO.

The initial plan was to hold a meeting at the coffee house where the Retro Wave often gathered. They had hastily changed the location because of the explosion that had occurred just minutes earlier.

A mercenary had rushed over and conveyed unexpected news.

“There was a bomb explosion at the hideout.”

“What’s that sound? Why was there a bomb there?”

“I’m not sure… but the report says that the girl escaped…”

Edwin’s grip on his cane nearly faltered. He had no idea how the seemingly powerless girl had managed to escape.

“The explosion was quite substantial, and it seems that the authorities have been informed.”

Following the CEO’s suggestion to avoid gathering in the city, they quickly changed the meeting location and rented an entire inn on the outskirts of Brittel.

To investigate the cause of the explosion, police officers were swarming various places in the city. Edwin believed it wasn’t the right time to take action.

After he received endorsements and stirred up public opinion, the Emperor wouldn’t be able to harm him easily. But it wasn’t the time for that now. Edwin clenched his lips anxiously and asked the CEO.

“When are they all arriving?”

“They should be here soon. We instructed them to move separately to avoid drawing attention.”

Edwin pressed his throbbing forehead with his fingertips. The CEO spoke calmly as if reprimanding Edwin.

“We need to secure the endorsements firmly. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

Edwin responded dryly while frowning. He didn’t appreciate the CEO’s condescending attitude, assuming that his age and wealth made him seem insignificant.

All the people attending the meeting today had been carefully selected by the CEO in advance. 

They were individuals who were particularly loyal to the philosophical principles upheld by the Retro Wave and held grievances against the current Emperor. They were willing to jump into the fight for power if they could secure legitimacy. 

Of course, Edwin needed to appear as a suitable heir to the illustrious royal family, but…

‘Oh, my head hurts.’

In reality, Edwin wasn’t entirely confident in his ability to win over these people. 

He had memorized the speech the CEO had written for him, but he was worried about whether he could deliver it convincingly in front of others. 

Frankly, he didn’t have a deep understanding of the philosophical ideas loudly proclaimed by the Retro Wave, and it was a headache for him. What he wanted was simply to survive the current Emperor and wield power freely.

Amid his already complicated thoughts, the news of Rose Bell’s escape only heightened his sensitivity. He needed to focus on preparing his speech, but thoughts about Rose kept creeping into his mind.

The fact that she had casually escaped after setting off a bomb made him feel ignored and infuriated, even by an insignificant and fragile commoner girl.