# Chapter 99
Eden, who arrived at dinner time, declined the meal and called both of them to start a meeting.
“I’ve completed the restoration of the magic tool. It’s not perfect, but the robot witnessed multiple instances of corruption. If the Noon Gazette rejects my proposal, I plan to pressure them by showing this and making the same proposal to other newspapers.”
I hope I won’t need to use it, Eden added quietly.
“And about Rite and Arden’s objective. I think we should hurry.”
“Should we set a date?”
Eden nodded at Rite’s words, but Arden remained unmoved.
“There’s a record of Arden entering Rosmunt, but no record of leaving. So they’ll focus on investigating Rosmunt for a while. And forces are still divided between Rosmunt and Winterishe.”
“We should strike as soon as possible then.”
“That’s right.”
There were no hiccups in the conversation between Eden and Rite. When Arden suddenly spoke up, both turned their attention to him.
“It’s too hasty. We need more preparation. It’s already problematic to enter the palace, but we have no contingency plans for what happens after we get in.”
Arden looked back and forth between Rite and Eden, expressing his opposition. This had been a common conversation pattern since arriving in Moran.
“That’s what we need to prepare from now on. I’m not suggesting we enter the palace right away either.”
“Even if the forces are scattered… you know. The knights aren’t just an impressive-looking group, they’ve been through several wars, how could Rite…”
Arden trailed off. Reading countless adventure stories at home didn’t give one heroic strength. Just imagining Rite standing among knights who had traversed battlefields made Arden’s mind go completely blank.
What happened in Rosmunt was enough for Arden. He couldn’t do anything even when he clearly saw Rite in danger. It felt like his reason had evaporated and his heart was collapsing. He didn’t want to see Rite standing under those lights, but he couldn’t look away either.
Recalling Rite leaning on him after everything was over, his heart raced again. The relief and ecstasy of holding Rite safely in his arms after nearly going mad with anxiety that he might lose him was indescribable. But Arden didn’t want to experience those emotions twice. Never, never again did he want to go through that.
Eden took out a notebook and pen from his jacket pocket.
“Let’s take this step by step. Let’s say this is the palace, this large building in the center is the main hall, the west wing is the Noah Wing, and the east building is the Artalis Wing. We can narrow down the entrances to three places: the main gate of the main hall, the back door of the Noah Wing, and the Sunrise Gate in the Artalis Wing.”
Eden drew a rectangle representing the main hall and two buildings like wings on either side of the main hall. Then, to indicate the doors, he drew one circle at the very front of the main hall, one at the back of the west wing, and one on the left side of the east wing.
“These are all doors that many people pass through.”
“It’s best to blend in. I think the west back door has the most potential.”
Eden drew a star at that location. Arden looked at Eden with his head tilted askew, as if he didn’t understand why.
“The Foundation Festival is coming soon. Various tribute goods will be entering the palace.”
“So you want to put Rite in a carriage with those tribute goods?”
“First, I’ll put him in my carriage. Then Rite-ssi can switch to a cargo carriage that has already passed inspection during the change of guards.”
“How do you know when the guards change?”
As Arden remembered, the knights’ schedule didn’t run simply. All schedules, including shift changes, were arranged irregularly. If the guard changed at 3 o’clock today, it didn’t mean it would change at 3 o’clock tomorrow. The daily changing timetable was so difficult that even knights had trouble adapting.
The shift change times were considered internal confidential information and not accessible to outsiders.
“I know.”
With his answer, Eden scribbled something. 1:10 PM. Eden was confident.
“Does the knights’ schedule get shared with engineers these days?”
“No, that’s not it, but… it’s information from someone reliable, so don’t worry.”
“…May I ask who?”
Eden’s previously confident face suddenly showed signs of embarrassment. But he soon willingly opened his mouth to answer.
“I heard it from the Knight Commander.”
“Who is the current commander?”
“Seirios…”
“…What?”
Arden was surprised, not because Seirios was the commander. That was expected.
Ruthless, cruel, cold-blooded, lacking a knight’s honor – if he had been born in the old days, he would have been the Reincarnation of Noah’s Sword. These were all words that described Seirios.
“Why would that person give such information to Eden?”
Eden couldn’t easily speak up. It seemed difficult for him to say right away. It didn’t matter much to Rite, who interrupted Eden’s turn.
“So we have a way to get into the palace. That’s all we need.”
“It’s not that simple. Do you know how many people are in the palace and how many eyes are watching?”
“I’m confident.”
When Rite spoke, Arden sighed. To be honest, he had a vague hope that Rite would give up. He thought that if Rite saw that huge palace with his own eyes, he might change his mind out of fear.
“That person wouldn’t have sent me without thought. Surely they sent me because they believed I could do it.”
“That person?”
Eden looked curious, but neither Rite nor Arden answered. Eden awkwardly cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“By the way, I’m saying this now… it must not be easy for someone born in Kamalon to live in the Winter Forest. I’m glad you look healthy.”
“You get used to the cold and it becomes bearable. Eden looks healthy too.”
Arden remembered that Eden looked much better now than the last time he’d seen him. He had thought all palaces were like that. Everyone walking around with dark expressions, making him believe it was naturally such a harsh place. But Eden’s face now was clearly different from back then.
Should he say that the anxiety had disappeared? It might not be the right thing to say to someone facing a big task, but for the first time, Arden saw relaxation in Eden.
“How are your ears?”
Eden asked, tapping his earlobe. It was a light question, but the two listening couldn’t take it lightly. Arden noticed the amber eyes directed at him but didn’t turn his head, pretending not to notice.
“The same as ever.”
Throughout the conversation that followed, Arden never turned his head once.
* * *
After dinner, Rite didn’t go to his own room but followed Arden. Arden sensed someone following him but didn’t look back. He also had things he wanted to discuss with Rite alone.
“Your ears, that…”
When Arden turned around to close the door, Rite immediately reached for his ear. Arden reflexively moved away. It wasn’t really intentional. It was just one of the habits formed from long experience.
“…Why are you avoiding me?”
“No, I was just surprised…”
Arden finished closing the door. He made eye contact with a beast carved in relief on the massive door. After taking a deep breath and turning around, he met Rite’s gaze.
“What is that?”
“…”
“What is it that prompted a question about how your ears are?”
Words wouldn’t come out. Speaking wasn’t particularly difficult. He knew, of course, that Rite wouldn’t make an issue of his ears, whatever they were like. He hadn’t been ashamed of his body since he was seven years old. Yet he couldn’t open his mouth because of Rite’s expression.
“I thought you were sensitive about your ears.”
“…”
“Tell me what it is.”
It was hard to understand why he had such an expression. Was it really that sorrowful? It wasn’t something to look so betrayed about. Arden’s gaze slowly traced Rite’s face.
“…I don’t hear well. It’s not that I can’t hear at all, and with a hearing aid, there’s no problem.”
“Since when?”
“Probably congenital. I don’t know exactly what caused it because I don’t have parents.”
“So from the beginning…”
Rite inhaled sharply and bowed his head deeply. Thinking he might be crying, Arden’s body froze. Rite roughly rubbed his face with his left palm and then jerked his head up. Fortunately, there was no moisture visible on his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Did I need to?”
“What?”
“It’s something you didn’t need to know.”
It wasn’t something that required anyone’s help, and it was natural to Arden. He couldn’t understand why not mentioning it was so hurtful.
“It’s always like this with Arden.”
“What now?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? Why do I know so little about Arden? When Arden knows everything about me. You even know things that I don’t know about myself!”
At the thunderous shout, Arden frowned. Seeing this, Rite stopped talking. But that didn’t mean his anger had subsided, as he took several deep, rough breaths.
“…That’s natural. I’ve raised you since before you could walk.”
“If it was going to be like this, you should have left me with someone else.”
“…What did you say?”
Arden needed to use quite a lot of concentration to fully understand what he had just heard. It wasn’t like trying to understand a complex sentence where an entire page consisted of a single sentence, yet that short, simple statement tore through his mind.
“That’s right. You say we can’t be together because you raised me.”
“…”
“If I have to feel this powerless, then rather…”
Rite started to continue but sighed. Words that weren’t sincere didn’t come out easily.
“What kind of relationship do I need to be in to know everything about Arden? Am I still not enough? Is it because I’m still not human?”
“Is that… something you should say to my face?”
“Does Jack know? That Arden’s hearing isn’t good?”
“How would he know?”
Arden’s voice was also tinged with intense emotion. He knew Rite was saying these things to hurt him. Nevertheless, he was angry.
