Mibar rose from his chair with difficulty, supported by his attendant. No matter how many layers of clothes he wore, his neck was pressed uncomfortably, but his expression showed a sense of liberation. When Sisou fidgeted like a dog that needed to pee, Karen pressed down on his knee. Calm down.
“Where is the prince? Lord Evernight.”
He was a man who always smiled with his eyes, so one wouldn’t know, but when Mibar became serious, he was a man with sharp, thin eyes like a snake.
“Sir Mibar, that is….”
When Riario opened his mouth, trying not to show his fluster, Evernight stopped him.
“As I said before, he went out to the common villages for healing volunteer work.”
“Does the prince have such ability? As far as I know… he was not a person who particularly stood out during his time as a prince.”
Mibar was vaguely talking about the fact that Anya was a half-wit. Raniel Crom scoffed from the side.
‘They’re testing whether the prince is really a mage.’
Riario muttered inwardly toward Evernight. Evernight knew that much. But that was a card to be discarded anyway. A card that would naturally be revealed over time. If it was something like that in the first place, it wouldn’t be bad to use it now to buy time. Evernight answered with a crooked smile.
“My partner is a mage.”
Raniel Crom’s lips hardened stiffly. Mibar was still unreadable.
“As you know, the people of Tildyen despise the imperial family.”
“How rude!”
That’s enough, Sir Crom. At Mibar’s gesture, Raniel Crom stepped back. He hadn’t objected out of loyalty to the Emperor in the first place. Raniel just wanted to get on Evernight’s nerves. While staying at Tildyen Rock, he had constantly gotten on Evernight’s nerves, but each time he got no results, which irritated him immensely.
‘Stupid muscled bastard.’
Evernight inwardly mocked him and faced Mibar.
“So my partner, who is ‘imperial family,’ is trying to win the favor of Tildyen’s people with magic. Isn’t this an important time for public sentiment?”
The more monster activity was detected throughout the empire, the more public sentiment stirred. The more that happened, the people wanted powerful knights or capable mages who could protect them directly, rather than the imperial family who did nothing but play around in the pure white Eos Castle.
“It’s surprising that his magic is that remarkable.”
“My partner is merely an assistant.”
This was enough. This was as far as the cards he would show. If he were a ‘capable’ mage, there was a possibility it could escalate into another problem. If that happened, they would treat this incident as a separate matter and try to interfere again.
Those three-inch tongue bastards who played politics were always like that.
“But how is it that he still hasn’t returned?”
Mibar made a pitiful face full of worry. Yesterday, Sabelli had sent word through a messenger owl that everything would soon be over. He added that if Anya couldn’t return by noon today, they should leave without delay. There wasn’t a single line about Anya’s life or death.
Did he live or die? Somehow Evernight was certain Anya hadn’t died. Perhaps that’s why he was dragging out time like this.
‘Anya….’
Evernight recalled his young partner. A body emaciated from not even getting gruel, an always gloomy face, insecure gestures that excessively watched others’ moods. But from some point on, the boy had gradually changed. He didn’t know what stimulated the boy, but his partner….
‘He’s still just a greenhorn anyway.’
He distorted his brow and quickly erased Anya from his mind.
Evernight despised subordinates whose heads were full of pretense, betting their lives on youthful pride alone. Especially if the transaction partner was part of the ruling class holding their lifeline, they should avoid even looking in that direction. But most were stupid enough not to even know who their transaction partner was. In the end, such bastards would beg to be given just one more chance, but it was already too late.
His foolish partner was still a child in that respect. He vaguely guessed what made the child so desperate, but Evernight considered such things to be youthful, good only in appearance, a hollow cause.
‘I’m also stupid for allowing such a thing.’
Evernight let out a self-deprecating laugh.
He had to admit it by now. He… more than anything, every time he saw that child, he thought of the nameless wanderer from Redcoast who struggled like a worm to survive.
‘Perhaps it would be better to quietly isolate him at this point.’
As days went by, Anya dug deeper into fragments of his unhappy, curse-like life.
He didn’t need chess pieces that gnawed at their master’s nerves. With himself as the last… he just wanted to quickly finish all the burdens given to him and depart for the eternal resting place of death. That was the one and only wish Evernight had harbored throughout his life.
“Your Grace the Duke, it’s Gregos.”
‘Just in time.’
Evernight had told Gregos to visit the audience chamber when the appointed time came. And he had commanded him to say that an urgent message had come from Sabelli.
“Come in.”
Gregos opened the door and entered. The stiff butler’s face showed no particular expression. He generally didn’t carelessly look into the eyes of those of high status. Sisou couldn’t bear it and jumped up from his seat.
“What is it?”
Mibar smiled slightly at the unexpected person’s appearance. The unexpectedly unfolding development seemed to stimulate his interest. On the other hand, Raniel Crom let out a displeased cough.
“A message has come from Scholar Sabelli.”
Gregos presented a silver tray to Evernight. On it was a rolled-up parchment. It was tightly rolled as if sent urgently, but procedures like wax sealing had been omitted.
“Didn’t you say the prince went down to the common villages with Scholar Sabelli?”
Everyone’s eyes focused on the parchment. Gregos’s expression was solemn as always, but now it fueled unnecessary imagination.
‘In the end… is this how it will be.’
Riario swallowed a silent sigh and lowered his head. Evernight calmly read the parchment.
“What does it say? If something happened to the prince, you have a duty to inform me, my lord.”
For that, Mibar showed more of a spy’s face pulling back the curtain to obtain hidden clues than a loyal subject worried about the prince. Everyone was waiting for Evernight to open his mouth.
“…Oh my.”
At the short sigh, Sisou bit his lip.
“It seems they unluckily encountered bandits on the mountain path returning.”
If that happened, Anya would be forever trapped in Tildyen Rock and become a nameless lady of the house.
‘The prince… liked riding horses so much….’
Even ignorant Sisou clearly knew how miserable life would become if the freedom once tasted was taken away.
“Hmm, really? Then does that mean the prince… is dead?”
Wrinkles formed on Mibar’s taut brow. If not that….
“…Are you perhaps now asking me to postpone the departure to Maneregia?”
It was an audacious move for Tildyen bastards. But doing this much meant there was some ulterior motive. Mibar narrowed his eyes thinly as if grasping the hidden intention. It was entertaining enough, but he didn’t particularly like having such mental battles with Northerners.
“How could that be? I’m the type to keep my word once I say it.”
Evernight laughed. He openly criticized the imperial family that changed its words now after forcing a troublesome burden on him. Evernight rose from his seat and looked toward the window. The sun had passed the center of the black flag fluttering roughly in the north wind and was already subtly tilting westward.
“Then what are you saying now….”
Over Raniel’s irritable tone, the sound of guards running noisily could be heard.
“Injured person!”
“It’s Scholar Sabelli and Lady Anya!”
“Quickly bring a stretcher!”
Evernight stood with his back to the sunlight pouring through the round window.
“Luckily they escaped. The condition isn’t good, but they’ll arrive on time.”
Evernight gestured with his chin toward Mibar’s pocket watch.
“That’s what it said. Is it on time? Us lowly Tildyen people don’t have watches yet.”
* * *
“Prince!”
Footsteps filled the main hall. Anya, who had just exited the forest and arrived at the inner courtyard of Tildyen Rock’s main castle, was surrounded by guards. Sisou pushed through the guards and ran to embrace Anya tightly. Karen, who followed behind, scolded him asking what he thought he was doing in front of Lord Evernight, but it didn’t seem to reach Sisou’s ears.
“Ugh, Si-Sir Sisou!”
Anya flailed his arms with a flustered face. Sabelli smacked Sisou’s head.
“The boy is injured. Don’t touch him as the wound might worsen.”
Sisou swept up his disheveled blond hair with tears welling up. Come to think of it, Anya’s appearance was a complete mess.
“Are you alright? Scholar Sabelli’s training… Ah!”
Karen pressed down hard on Sisou’s foot. Only then did Sisou quickly change his words with an ‘oops’ face.
“I… I heard you encountered bandits. You’re not seriously injured anywhere, right?”
Sisou grabbed Anya and examined his whole body thoroughly. Anya was truly a mess, his shoes and clothes in tatters as if he’d met a storm. Not only that. His face was grimy, and his fine hair was tangled here and there with dry leaves.
“We’ve done urgent treatment, but he needs sufficient rest.”
Sabelli gestured for the guards to step back. As he said, Anya looked precarious as if he would collapse at any moment.
“There’s no more time to wait. If you’re going to rest, do it in the carriage.”
“Lo-Lord Evernight…!”
The guards stepped aside on both sides. Evernight, and behind him Mibar and Raniel, walked over in order. Anya looked at him as if entranced. He didn’t know why, but as soon as he saw Evernight, he felt like tears would come.
Seeing him, only then did the relief that he had done it wash over him.
“I’ve… I’ve returned.”
Anya said in a choked voice, swallowing back tears. At the same time, the characters engraved in a circle on his wrist stung as if burning.
《It was him. It was him.》
The Dragcals whispered in Anya’s mind.
