“I believe this is an uncharacteristic choice for you, Kilius-nim.”
In the room where the fireplace blazed, Kiss’s hand, which had been smoothly writing across the parchment, stopped. Kiss looked at Rascal, who was openly displaying his discomfort, and smiled pleasantly. Rascal Bermus, a knight of the Paladin Order, was a man who held the second greatest influence within the Order after Kiss. He was also one of the few people that Kiss, who didn’t trust others easily, had faith in.
“In what way?”
“In that you’re being unnecessarily harsh.”
“Are you worried about keeping Ash locked up there?”
“No, what I’m concerned about isn’t Sir Ash’s well-being. It’s yours, Kilius-nim.”
At Rascal’s serious expression, Kiss’s face also turned serious. Kiss, who had been tapping the tip of the pen as if pondering something, muttered in a dry voice.
“If something happens to Ash, my position would certainly become difficult. For some reason, Lord Lucius cherishes that child to a suspicious degree.”
An unforgettable memory flashed through Kiss’s mind. On the day of the funeral for his family, who had all been murdered overnight, Lucius, who had come to pay his respects, whispered in a voice tinged with regret.
<Don’t covet anything, Kiss-nim. Don’t try to learn anything either, and live like a shadow of the imperial family. If you make the current Empress your enemy…>
Eyes with vertically slit pupils and a threatening voice like a snake flicking its tongue. The meaning of Lucius’s hand gripping his shoulder painfully tight was clear. It was precisely this:
<You’ll become the next prey.>
It was a predator’s blatant warning.
The moment Concubine Lilia, who had been growing her power with the Emperor’s favor behind her, died, the Emperor, who had been suffering from a long illness, lost consciousness and collapsed. As a result, the Empress, who became the final decision-maker of the imperial family, grew stronger in power. This was why the assassination of the concubine, which should have been investigated according to proper procedure, was swept under the rug.
‘I could have endured that much. I had no interest in becoming Emperor in the first place.’
Since childhood, only one question had existed in Kiss’s mind. Why do people live so desperately? If everything ends when you die, when you disappear anyway. What’s waiting at the end of this tedious time that makes them keep expecting a better life? The emotion he felt watching his mother dolling herself up every day to receive the Emperor’s favor was terrible helplessness and ennui.
For a person who didn’t even know what the sensation of dreaming felt like, even the desire to become Emperor was a luxury. The pen tip, which had been neatly writing out sentences, stopped in midair.
‘Considering Lucius’s current position in the imperial family, if I don’t eliminate him, isolating the Empress will certainly be difficult as well.’
In the bloody power struggle, Lucius quickly sided with the Empress and created fake evidence that the deceased Lilia had been plotting treason. It was to strip young Kiss of his right to imperial succession by branding Lilia a traitor.
Kiss, who had his succession rights stripped in this way, was given two choices. Either live as a hollow prince by pleasing the Empress, or be killed along with his mother.
The pen tip that had stopped in midair began writing sentences again. It was a letter congratulating the Empress on her upcoming birthday. Rascal, who had been brushing back his golden hair, sighed and muttered.
“If you know that, then why……”
“It’s unfair.”
“……”
“That only I should lose someone precious.”
At the chilling answer, Rascal’s face turned white. Rascal, who had been hesitating, asked a question.
“……Then are you saying you’ll eliminate Sir Ash for revenge?”
A silence of a clearly different nature from before flooded over them again. Kiss, who had been looking at Rascal expressionlessly, smiled faintly as if nothing had happened.
“It’s a joke. That child has no guilt.”
“When you say such things, Kilius-nim, they don’t sound like jokes, so please be careful.”
“No, perhaps he might really meet Deus and die. But……”
“……”
“Still, I feel like I don’t really care.”
Kiss remembered. Ash’s pitiful and innocent eyes that tried to contain all of him. Whenever he faced those beautiful pupils similar to the color of a lake, there was only one emotion he felt.
It was intense revulsion.
“Even now, I’ll go and bring Sir Ash back.”
At Kiss’s words, Rascal, who had been restless, turned his body as if he would rush out immediately. Kiss grabbed Rascal’s wrist and shook his head.
“Don’t worry, Rascal. Ash is timid, you see. He probably won’t even make it all the way down those stairs before giving up.”
“……”
“I heard he also has claustrophobia, so at most he’ll just be shivering all night in that cold underground stairway. Waiting for when I’ll come to rescue him.”
Kiss smiled slightly as if amused. He recalled deliberately urging noble children to bully Ash when they were young. He repeatedly pushed Ash into predicaments on purpose, then rescued him from those situations. Because what Kiss wanted wasn’t for Ash to die.
Kiss wished for Ash’s soul to be shattered to pieces. He wished for him to become a complete invalid who couldn’t do anything without someone’s help, a worthless idiot.
Just as his own mother had become due to Lucius’s schemes. If he made Ash like that, cut off Lucius’s head, and annihilated the Serpent family, this tedious journey of revenge would finally be over.
The wall-mounted candlesticks lined up on the wall emitted a gloomy light. Ash’s face telling him he was busy today so please go back flickered like a flame. Kiss, who had clenched his fist tightly once, loosened his hand again. And he muttered in a voice devoid of emotion.
“I want that child to clearly understand through this opportunity that he’s not in a position to refuse me.”
* * *
Inside the cave was damp and cold. Perhaps because I had bled too much from my torn leg, drowsiness kept washing over me. The fact that I had run until I was out of breath to survive was also a problem. Perhaps because the terror of survival was so intense, I had momentarily forgotten the fact that Ash was a terminally ill patient with a weak constitution. The moment I coughed up blood, it splattered onto my palm. In the worst situation, I clenched my fist and steeled my resolve.
‘Think. How can I escape this situation?’
My stamina was depleted, and with my injured leg, running was impossible. Even if I briefly diverted Deus’s attention elsewhere, at this body’s current speed, I’d be caught immediately. While I was burning brain cells to escape this crisis, the crazy tiger that had been pacing in front of the gap sat down and settled in completely. With even the only entrance for escape blocked off, the situation felt even more hopeless.
‘Is Deus currently in a state where conversation is completely impossible?’
The moment I unconsciously raised my head, I flinched. Fiercely shining golden eyes were glaring at me through the gap. After swallowing dry saliva at those blazing eyes that seemed like they’d make me wet myself just from meeting them, I tried speaking in the Ancient Language that Deus supposedly was the only language he knew, just in case.
「Deus, don’t you want to get out of here?」
Was it my imagination? I somehow felt like Deus understood what I was saying. Because Deus, who until just now would charge at me to the death even at the sound of breathing, was strangely quiet.
The tragic Crown Prince who had been abandoned by the Empress from birth, treated as a monster his entire life, and imprisoned here. Kiss at least had happiness to lose, but Deus probably didn’t even know what happiness was in the first place.
「Don’t you want to feel the sunlight, meet people…… and feel the seasons change?」
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t afraid. But I had to survive. I didn’t want to die futilely like Lee Jaeyeon, who had worked himself to death his whole life and died from illness. To do that, I had to make Deus my ally. I slowly extended my trembling hand through the gap. Deus was still staring at me intently.
「I want to do that. I want to live. To do that, I need to make you my ally.」
Seeing my hand gradually approaching, Deus bared his teeth and growled. It was a reaction like a stray cat wary of human hands. Calming my pounding heart, I slowly placed my hand on Deus’s snout. Along with the feeling of soft fur, hot warmth was transmitted beneath my palm.
‘I touched him!’
Indescribable joy filled my heart. Of course, if I tried to pet him, my hand would obviously be cut off immediately, so I had merely placed my hand on his snout. But even that simple contact made me feel as if I had become closer to Deus. Barely suppressing the urge to shout, I lightly tapped his snout.
「Good boy, good.」
Just as I was marveling at Deus’s reaction of growling but not pulling away, I saw a stalactite that had been hanging from the ceiling falling to the floor. The moment I thought “Oh no,” a loud crash echoed through the cave.
CRASH!
Startled by the loud noise, Deus howled savagely as if he had never let me near. I could visibly see the wariness I had worked so hard to break down becoming sharp again.
‘Damn it, he was just about to let his guard down!’
Just as I was frowning in disappointment, a mysterious black fog surrounded both Deus and me.
