Webtoon 30

⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️This story contains content which some readers may find distressing. This includes references to incest, sexual assault, and violence. Continue at your own discretion.

## Chapter 30

**Chapter 30** of the Webtoon was published on Ridibooks in South-Korea. See here for a full overview of all media related to this chapter.

## Synopsis

This chapter is shown from Johannes' point of view.

## Summary

The chapter begins with John confronting Anette, after being hit by her dagger. "I still remember the day Anette finally spoke to me after 5 years of silence. The look in her eyes. She despised me. But I didn't mind. Even if she hated me. I-"

The next scene shows a flashback to happier times in their childhood. Giovinetta wakes a young John from another one of his weird dreams, before she invites him to go out into the sun. "To me, Anette was like the sun. Her every gesture, smile and expression was radiant. She was the only being beautiful enough to admire." The servants greet the twins, and the knights remark that "it's amazing how much they look alike [as] it's rare for fraternal twins to be so identical. Like discovering two precious jewels in the same place."

An ajumma invites Anette over for a moment, so she tells John to wait for her outside. "Since we shared a womb, it was only natural that we were special to one another. No, probably even earlier than that… I loved Giovinetta." A vassal offers to escort the young lord outside, where they come across a scene of lepers being chased away. "They are lepers, my lord. They are born thus as punishment for the sins of a previous life. Their skin is like that because they went through the fires of hell before being reborn." John asks if it's right to stone them, when they're already being punished with a hard life. "But why not? They're disgusting."

"I didn't know why it was so scary when the retainer called the sinners disgusting. Maybe deep down, even at a young age, I had known that being in love with my own sibling was unforgiveable."

He sits down in the shade of a tree, when Anette greets him by dropping three ice cubes down his shirt as a prank. She then offers him the sweetened ice that the servants had given her to share. She plonks onto his lap while complaining about the heat.

* Then sit somewhere else. You'll feel hotter if we stick so close.
* I do feel hot, but I want to stay close right now.
* Why do you always say the nicest things?
* Then you'd better cherish me, Johannes! I expect it for a lifetime, so no weaseling out of it later!
* *(Ah… Those words became my life's curse. Anette.)*

"When Anette left for Indridson, I was in such turmoil that I could not think. The battlefield was the best place to forget her."

Some soldiers discuss a rumor that the duke had to hire five more weapon bearers, since his previous one's had collapsed from exhaustion. Another one claims they always run out of spear when the duke charges into enemy lines, and that it's not enough even with twenty wagons of spears just for him. They finally erupt into cheer, as they drink to the splendid sun of Valdemar. "With every strike, the duke piles the corpses of Tristan's forces like a mountain on the western plain! I bet no other war had so many dead in such a short time! For the great Johannes Valdemar! The shining sun of Valdemar!"

In his tent, John is cleaning up the blood and grime from the battle field. He informs a servant that he will be having dinner after reporting to his father. "So you've captured Milo's heir. … You look terrible. Did you return from the battlefield or self-flagellation? It's been a year since we secured funds for the war… We can finally end it for good. We're returning to Gustave."

"Fine. I'll return to that sham of a home. It means nothing to me now…"

## Trivia

* John says he doesn't remember what it was about though.
* Above the bed in John's tent, there's a banner of a black dragon wrapped around a blacker cross, with the sun shining ahead on a clear sky. This is a recurring motif.

## Gallery

Lepers asking for alms are hit with stonesTwins eating sweet iceWar campThe splendid sun of Valdemar strikes down his opponentJohan's tentReporting to father