After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

She actually got caught fairly easily, which was why she felt so heavy—had she been a little smarter, maybe she could've warned the Golds by now!

What would happen to them now? If that plan succeeded, she would not be able to live with herself!

At the time, she had to sneak and use the Beast Carts. The fastest way would've been the Mercenary Hall but she was an honorary member of her own town's mercenary team, the Veroughn Mercenary Team.

The people there could also easily report her appearance and stop her, so she had no choice but to choose different avenues.

Sadly, she was no Beast Tamer nor was she a Beast driver. Even when she managed to steal the whistle, as soon as it encountered another beast cart, she could just lose control.

And that was precisely what happened.

She was caught by her father's strongest guards and she was thrown in house arrest since then.

After another hour of moping around, the door creaked open. She lifted her head, only to see that it was her maid, Vivi, bringing in some food. She also had a high-level guard behind her to make sure Veronica didn't escape during this opening.

Vivi was holding another tray filled with food for the second meal of the day. She saw the untouched tray from the previous meal and she sighed.

"Milady, please eat," she said, gently placing the tray next to the crouching woman.

Veronica did not lift her head, staying still and on the floor. "Didn't I tell you guys? I will not eat until you let me go!"

They refused to listen to her, so she had no choice but go on a hunger strike.

Finally, her parents couldn't handle it and went to talk to her. Her mother kneeled next to her, pleading. "Please eat, my daughter. You haven't eaten anything in days…"

"The Golds helped us out so much… we can't do this to them!"

"Daughter, it's more complicated than that— this is more than just our conscience," her father said. "We have tens of thousands of lives depending on us."

"Father, Mother! I'm so young and I have a long life to live. I can't handle living the rest of that in guilt," she told them, tone certain. "I can't! I will die if I stay in this house!"

Her parents looked at her with glazed eyes, but they remained firm. "I can't let you cause trouble for the entire territory. Please understand."

Unexpectedly, Veronica took out a knife and—before anyone could react—she cut her beautiful pink hair.

The hair she had been taking care of meticulously for as far as anyone could remember.

"What—"

"I can dye it, too!" she said, voice cracking, cutting more and more of her hair until it was cut haphazardly just below her ears. "I can make sure nothing traces back to Hubble!"

The couple looked at each other with deep-furrowed faces. Similarly, Veronica also looked at them.

For the first time in weeks, Veronica looked at her parents and saw the changes in them.

It seemed like they aged a decade.

This was also weighing down heavily on them.

Of course, it did; she knew her parents were rare good people. It was why she loved them so much, and it was also why the shock and disappointment hit her so badly.

Thinking of this, her anger calmed a bit, though her decision remained. "Please. I'll be careful… let me do this."

The two people looked down in deep thought, but they were showing no signs of budging so far. Veronica's heart fell.

It was around this time that a voice sounded from the stairs, and they could hear the hurried steps upwards. "Veronica!" the man yelled, and they turned to him.

It was a handsome young man with darker pink hair. He was pale and a little unkempt, obviously arriving here in a rush.

The people in the room had varying levels of surprise on their faces.

"Brother!" she yelled, finally standing up. However, she had been sitting down on the floor for so long that her legs died a bit. She fell down, caught just in time by her father and brother, taking an arm each.

"Brother… wu…" she sobbed, pulling her arms away from her father, and just hugged the newcomer.

This was Vaughn, the heir of the lordship of Hobble Town. He was a few years older than she was, and was also one of the main reasons her life was so easy. The Town had such a reliable heir, why would they need to find her an advantageous marriage she might not like?

About a week before she was grounded, her parents sent him to 'learn' in Holt City. He stayed with some distant relatives there from her mother's side of the family.

However, their relatives were barely even considered nobles there—just merchants. After all, it was ridiculously difficult to gain a noble title in a City like Holt.

She had always wondered why they sent him so far away. Now, she knew they simply did not want him involved in this either.

He sighed and patted his sister's head, lifting his chin to look at his parents. "What's going on?"

Philon didn't answer immediately and stared at his only son. "First of all, what are you doing back home?"

They did not want him involved in the betrayal. None of it was his fault and he didn't need that burden. That sin should've ended in their generation, but alas—the child went home in the end, and now both children had become involved.

Vaughn sighed. "A friend of mine mentioned something seemed brewing in these parts. I was worried, so…"

This friend happened to be none other than Jonathan, who sent him a post about some suspicious circumstances.

It turned out to be true, and he was glad he listened to him. He took days of traveling—even by Mercenary Hall—to get back, and he was glad he wasn't too late. Or at least he hoped he wasn't.

Anyway, he heard that his sister was sick as soon as he returned. Naturally, he ran to check on her, only to see her threatening their parents!

Her kind and sweet little sister—never in a thousand years would he imagine she'd be capable of something like this!!

"So… is anyone going to tell me what the Orgroi is going on?"

At this, the couple looked at each other and sighed heavily. At this, they had no choice but to take them to the study and explain the circumstances.

"We… also didn't want to do this—believe us," Philon said. "But for the Town's survival, we had to do so."

Apparently, Lord Bleumrick threatened to stop Hubble's supplies if they refused. Although they had a lot of restaurants, no territory was truly self-sufficient in Xeno when it came to other products—at least not until the Terrans, arrived.

Many villages would be fine with a limited variety of resources, but the lifestyle requirements of bigger territories were much higher.

It was more than just the need to maintain lifestyles and luxury.

Rather, if they couldn't maintain it, then a lot of strongmen would leave Hubble Town—causing it to become vulnerable to various wars and beast tides.

How could he, a Lord, risk his entire territory for a guilty conscience?