# Chapter 72
Kadilen lowered his body and silently drew his sword. The moonlight reflected on the blade illuminated the dark leaves. He approached cautiously like a predator before a hunt. When he finally reached the source of the presence, Kadilen unhesitatingly aimed his sword at the intruder’s neck. Even in the all-consuming darkness, his blade precisely touched the intruder’s artery.
“Who are you? Identify yourself.”
Then the ensuing scream simultaneously startled both me and Kadilen.
The terrified scream was too fragile to belong to someone who had suspiciously infiltrated the temple late at night. Kadilen flipped his blade and turned the person around.
“Yunlin…?”
An unexpected name came from his lips. I emerged from behind the tree where I had been hiding and approached her as she sobbed. Yunlin was tearfully touching her neck. Until just a moment ago, it was a spot that could have been horrifically severed with a single gesture from Kadilen.
“I-I’m sorry. I just thought it dangerous…”
Kadilen awkwardly explained the situation to her shocked face. While comforting her, I asked if anyone had entered the temple. Though Yunlin’s face still hadn’t recovered from fear, she composed herself and explained what had happened.
“A guest has arrived.”
“I haven’t heard of any guest, who is it?”
“Someone Your Majesty knows.”
Kadilen’s eyebrows rose at this unexpected news. Yunlin caught her breath.
“It’s Ruffel. Do you remember him?”
“What…? How could he have come here?”
“He came to see me. Having heard the news of Your Majesty’s ascension, albeit late, he came seeking hope.”
Yunlin’s eyes faintly shone. Kadilen was silent for a moment. Not understanding their conversation at all, I stood blankly, waiting for their inexplicable emotions to subside. Eventually, noticing me standing there with a puzzled expression, Kadilen smiled slightly.
“Could you explain to me as well?”
“Of course.”
Here’s what happened. If you crossed the sea surrounding the five nations continent unified by Zendal, you would reach a small island that looked completely different from here. I knew of the island’s existence because there was always an old-fashioned map design at the beginning of the novel. Although it didn’t play a particularly significant role in the story’s progression, it was occasionally mentioned in the characters’ dialogue.
‘To do such a thing, even the people of Pamel Island would laugh.’
‘At this rate, the kingdom will become as uncivilized as Pamel Island.’
An island with little presence, but universally dismissed by the kingdom’s people. Everyone alike despised the island and naturally placed it beneath the kingdom’s feet. Their claims weren’t entirely without reason. The island was inhabited by criminals who had fled, unable to adapt to the five nations.
Those who gathered to avoid punishment formed a complete lawless zone and named the island ‘Pamel’ after their leader. It wasn’t a prosperous place. The reason the five nations merely despised Pamel Island without particularly checking it was because it was literally a barren land without any resources. It was an island where food, fabric, and even wood for building houses were always scarce and insignificant, but for its residents, it was like a cozy nest. They felt a strange bond with each other and had protected the island for a very long time. The island, filled half with vicious criminals and half with people falsely accused, had been enduring with a peculiar survival method until now.
Even in the period when Kadilen wandered with a group of deserters, there were occasionally people who left the group to cross the sea. Kadilen’s master had no choice but to respect their decisions. Even though crossing the sea was almost risking one’s life. They were fully aware of how their lives would change based on their decisions. Even if they reached the island suffering from dehydration, there was still a possibility of starving to death. Nevertheless, the reason they made such a choice was because they no longer wanted to live begging as shadows of the kingdom.
Ruffel was one of them. Although he was close with Yunlin, he was ultimately someone who couldn’t endure a life without freedom.
Kadilen’s expression sank with complexity.
“Why didn’t you tell me Ruffel was coming beforehand?”
“I withheld it briefly because I didn’t know how you would feel. I’m sorry. I hope you won’t interpret the intentions of the people there based on his return. Ruffel came back because he knows Your Majesty, not because he has other intentions.”
Yunlin earnestly spoke and bowed her head. Kadilen stared at her for a while, then slowly walked toward the guest room. Setting aside the difficult issue, he was going to meet his master’s old comrade first. The last thread of memory Kadilen could grasp. Knowing how he must feel, I quietly stepped back. To give them space. I could see Yunlin following Kadilen’s retreating figure with concern.
* * *
Kadilen remained silent for a long time after returning. He didn’t seem to notice my gaze fixed on his tightly closed lips. The sky was dominated by a desaturated blue color before dawn, meaning we had stayed up almost all night. But Kadilen forgot his fatigue and was lost in thought.
“You seem troubled.”
Only then did Kadilen turn to look at me. A faint smile formed on his lips.
“Do I?”
“Share some of your burden with me.”
When I took his hand with sincerity, Kadilen let out a low sigh.
“His return is joyful news. It’s fortunate that Yunlin no longer has to live in loneliness. They spent their very early childhood together. Although it was a short time, they were each other’s only treasure for those who had nothing.”
Yunlin couldn’t have expected him to return. It was indeed a happy occasion, as Kadilen said, for someone thought to have left forever to risk their life to return.
“But Your Majesty cannot simply be happy.”
“…”
“Is it because of the island people?”
To be unreservedly happy, there were complicated issues intertwined with this decision. Regardless of Ruffel’s intentions, a resident of Pamel Island returning to the kingdom had significant implications. It was something unheard of until now. Zendal’s punishment principles were strict, and those who left, unable to take responsibility for their lives here, would inevitably face a harsh fate the moment they set foot on kingdom soil.
Yet Ruffel returned because Kadilen had become king, so he needed to find a way to resolve this situation from his position as king. It would be troublesome for the kingdom’s citizens if many people returned for the same reason. Kadilen had to consider: would he meet them with terrible punishment as before, or welcome them back to their homeland?
“There’s no way I can help. Too many political agreements would be needed. If only they were all falsely accused… But there are truly harmful people there. People who don’t hesitate to hurt others for personal gain.”
Just imagining it briefly shook terrifying scenes through my mind. I shuddered.
“I wonder how people who reached that place have survived until now.”
“They didn’t survive.”
“What?”
Kadilen smiled sadly.
“The weak died at the hands of the strong. Most were killed before they could even set foot on the island. If Ruffel hadn’t once been a soldier, he couldn’t have returned like this either.”
“…”
Should I call it fortunate? But it was too horrific for that.
Since Kadilen ascended to the throne to prevent such harm, the issue of Pamel Island was inevitably important to him. I racked my brain trying to come up with an appropriate idea, but couldn’t think of a suitable solution. To me in this state, Kadilen whispered with a tired face.
“Still, there’s good news.”
“Good news?”
He stroked my head. His still-careful touch gently ran through my hair.
“Perhaps we can use this.”
* * *
As soon as we returned to the palace, Kadilen sought out Wimu. While they discussed land documents, I headed to Devan’s room. I wanted to rush straight to Jiman and shout that there was one more way to save Rio, but there was something to resolve first.
The path down to the dark underground passage was as quiet as always. This place always felt about 3 degrees colder than other places in the palace. Following the sunless corridor led to Devan’s space hidden behind a massive door. His room with windows that wouldn’t let light through even when wide open, wrapped in layers of thick curtains.
“Ludin! You’re back.”
I approached, waving to Devan who was getting up with a welcoming face. I wanted to immediately tell him about Kadilen’s plan and hear about the information obtained from visiting Arzel’s castle, but my knees buckled after just a few steps.
“Huk.”
It was a pain I had forgotten. The intervals had been getting shorter since removing Kadilen’s bead. Devan hastily caught me as I collapsed, and sat down with me, his face instantly turning pale. His fear was more obvious than before.
“Breathe. It’s okay. Just a little more…”
He stroked my back with trembling hands. While trying to regulate my breathing to match his weak gestures, I couldn’t calm my spinning head. I frantically searched my pockets, but couldn’t find the medicine Jiman had put there. Only then did I remember my bag left in Kadilen’s office. Devan’s hand tightened as he noticed my dismay. Sensing the abnormality in my uncontrollably rapid breathing, he covered my mouth. My heaving chest gradually calmed as I tried to inhale oxygen blocked by his large hand.
“You left your medicine behind? Are you crazy?”
“Haa… I didn’t think of it…”
Each word scratched my throat, causing my lungs to sting, but it was bearable. I gave up trying to move my limp limbs and eventually lay flat on the floor. Since I was already practically one with the floor, there was no need to worry about getting my clothes dirty.
Looking at Devan examining me worriedly with his ashen face, I somehow felt like laughing. Seeing someone who had just been breathing erratically now grinning, Devan frowned even more. This time, he seemed to be wondering if I had really gone mad.
“I should call Jiman.”
“No. Don’t go. I’m just amazed.”
“What’s amazing?”
“That I’m in so much pain, but I’m not worried.”
The pain created by the malicious poison always clawed at my mind too. Like feeling the end approaching with a tearing alarm repeatedly shouting. I had said I wanted to leave this place peacefully, but in reality, I had never had hope, submitting to it. Maybe this was my punishment for trying to change fate, the price for falling here. That’s what I had thought.
But now, even while collapsed on the floor, I could raise the corners of my mouth. I could have hope, and I could know the affection of people who cared about me. So I couldn’t help but laugh.
“The illness is the same, but my heart is different. I find some composure even when you make that face.”
Devan’s expression changed slightly at my muttering.
He stared silently at my face, which looked unbelievably bright. Just as I was beginning to wonder if I should now be amazed at Devan, who had frozen like a stone, he quietly opened his mouth.
“Did something happen with Kadilen?”
