The healer who had placed two fingers on Anya’s wrist soon channeled mana into him. His brow furrowed once, then the light slowly faded away. After that, he ordered his assistant to step outside for a moment.
“Congratulations, my lord.”
Left alone, the healer bowed his head and reported to Evernight with a joyful expression.
“His Highness the Imperial Prince is with child.”
The cold blue gaze slowly shifted from Anya to the healer.
“However… due to the severity of his injuries, the fetal heartbeat is very weak. There is a possibility of miscarriage, but if he rests from now on, it should be sufficient…”
The healer, who had glanced up at the intense gaze piercing the top of his head, gradually lost the smile from his lips. The emotion that flickered across the face of the man he thought would be delighted was deep dismay.
“…Don’t tell anyone.”
“……”
“The moment this fact spreads within the Imperial Palace, I will somehow twist and kill your neck. Even if His Majesty the Emperor tries to stop me. You know well enough that such a thing wouldn’t be difficult for me.”
When the healer trembled and couldn’t give any response, Evernight commanded in a slightly hoarse voice.
“If you understand, nod your head.”
The healer bowed his head slightly and replied obediently, “Yes, yes….” having been thoroughly frightened.
“Go out and call Riario.”
When he coldly dismissed him, the healer hurriedly bowed as if he had been waiting for it and slipped out of the tent.
Evernight turned back toward Anya with an expression that dropped coldness. He let out a hollow laugh as he touched the small, limp hand.
“A child…”
The palm, calloused here and there, was covered in blood and had no strength in it at all. Still, the skin he touched had risen slightly in temperature unlike before, and he could feel the warmth of life.
Outside the tent, the moon was rising again. From the moment he was born, forcibly crawling out after killing his mother, that damned moon had always illuminated Evernight from that spot.
As if threatening to plunge his life back into the gutter if he dared harbor foolish thoughts, it constantly reminded him, carving an indelible mark into him.
“Commander, it’s me. His Majesty the Emperor says he will soon convene an emergency council.”
Um, His Highness the Imperial Prince is all right, isn’t he? Riario’s presence could be heard from outside the tent. Evernight rose from his body, emerging from thoughts soaked in a sense of defeat. It was when his fingers touching Anya’s palm were about to pull away.
“…Don’t, don’t go.”
A small murmur was heard. Anya grasped Evernight’s index finger and exhaled with wheezing breaths. The muscles in Evernight’s back jerked and contracted greatly for a moment, then slowly returned when he realized it was sleep talk.
“Please… don’t abandon me.”
Anya curled up his body and desperately rubbed his face against Evernight’s palm. Like an abandoned baby bird craving warmth.
What kind of dream was he having to cry so sorrowfully? Evernight’s palm became soaked through. Anya was crying while suffering from a fever.
Evernight approached Anya and wiped away the tears flowing down the young face. Fortunately, it seemed his consciousness had returned.
“……”
At that moment, Anya’s two eyes slowly opened. The two colors that could not mix became entangled together, if only for a moment. As his pale eyelashes blinked, tears fell pitter-patter.
‘Is this also a dream?’
The man’s face, visible through his blurred vision, somehow looked more broken down than usual.
A dream… then it should be okay. Anya buried his face in the warm touch and mustered the courage to open his mouth. With his head sizzling from the high fever, Anya was completely unaware of what words he was spewing out.
“E… vernight-gyeong… I’m also… a person of Tildyen now, right….”
His palm itched madly. Every time his fever-drunk lips parted and exhaled breath, it was as if it were contagious—heat stretched from his fingertips to his heart, and eventually his chest ached.
Evernight’s opposite hand slowly rose. He murmured as he closed the eyes of his partner who had regained consciousness but still seemed to be wandering through nightmares.
“…At least I’ll make sure you don’t feel guilt about the child. I’ll willingly carry that to hell with me.”
* * *
This hunting festival ended as the most chaotic and unsettling festival in history due to the appearance of magical beasts. Two or three out of ten getting injured at hunting festivals had always been common, but it was rare for an imperial duke or imperial prince to be harmed. No, it had never happened before.
The reconnaissance team sent by the Emperor found the magical beast’s corpse in the forest where the flames had spread, and Bluoa’s words were proven true before everyone’s eyes.
And at the same time, rumors of the half-wit Imperial Prince who had slain the magical beast began to spread rapidly within the Imperial Palace. The Emperor proclaimed a gag order, but he could not easily suppress the human instinct that loves rumors.
“A council meeting as soon as we return.”
The Emperor summoned the dukes to the council as soon as he had sorted out the situation on site. Evernight strode toward the conference room. Behind him, Riario followed with a face full of dissatisfaction. Sisou decided to remain at the detached palace to guard Anya.
When he opened the large latch and entered, several people were already there. Riario shuddered slightly at the suffocating conference room scenery no matter when he came. The conference room was as lavish as befitted the reputation of Eos Castle. On the floor lay a large red carpet from the Gobi Desert that cost several dozen gold coins despite being just a floor covering, and on top of it was placed a long, sturdy bronze-colored table with each corner decorated in gold.
On each wall hung tapestries embroidered with the crests symbolizing the families of each territory in order, and at the very head of the table, the Emperor’s seat was placed one step higher than the other council seats.
“Is His Highness the Imperial Prince all right?”
Bluoa, whose face and entire body were wrapped in bandages like patched-up rags, approached and spoke.
Riario glanced at Evernight’s mood. Among the council members, the one he was most wary of was not the Emperor but probably this Duke Bluoa Shonda, Riario intuitively realized.
“I would like to visit him.”
“Do you have the right to say such things?”
Evernight replied in a polite but cold tone.
“Then do you think you have the right to say such things, gyeong? When we met in the forest at that time, you left so coldly, and now you’re acting like a husband…”
Bluoa shrugged one shoulder as he spoke. Riario let out a short sigh inwardly. Bluoa Shonda was properly scratching at Evernight’s nerves. He could clearly see the jaw muscles of his superior, who had been in a deathly mood for days, grinding audibly.
“Bluoa. Stop it now. His Majesty the Emperor will arrive soon.”
Fortunately, a savior appeared at the right time. Canon Montrose led Bluoa and dragged him to a corner. A quiet argument went back and forth between them, then Bluoa sat down heavily in one of the council seats with a deep sigh.
“Gyeong, it’s good to see you.”
Rohan Ramus approached Evernight as if he had been waiting and offered greetings.
“I was truly unable to stop admiring gyeong’s hunting skills at the last hunting festival.”
The aged lord of Forerium was a man far removed from hunting. He was someone who enjoyed showing off his eloquence by conversing with people rather than enjoying hunting.
“Wasn’t His Highness Imperial Prince Anya’s hunting skill even more excellent than Duke Evernight’s?”
Just then, someone shorter than the council seat chairs waddled over. He thought he was speaking quietly, but perhaps due to the high ceiling, his particularly raspy voice rang loudly through the conference room.
“My goodness. Gyeong Usolin, you need to acquire the art of conversation.”
Rohan clicked his tongue with an expression of dismay. Usolin pulled out the chair at the very end and jumped up to sit on it with his short legs.
“Haha, that’s what you were curious about from the start, yet you pretend. When would we get to the main point if we exchange greetings in every detail and engage in pleasantries?”
“You don’t know the true taste of tightening conversation. Impatient dwarves can’t be helped.”
“Don’t bring up race!”
Whether angered, Usolin struck the table, and the table lurched greatly as if it would collapse.
There was once a glorious time when many families existed among the dwarf race as well. They advanced civilization with lofty pride and excellent ironworking skills, but now that too had all become a thing of the past.
When all dwarf families were massacred for some reason, only Usolin’s family survived in exchange for pledging loyalty to the Claist Imperial Family. Therefore, he was most sensitive to racial hatred arguments that hinted at his ancestors’ mistakes.
“His Majesty the Emperor enters.”
Just then, the chamberlain gently announced the Emperor’s entrance, and all fighting came to an end. The Emperor walked into the conference room with his usual somewhat leisurely gait.
The Emperor’s pale eyes, which had been slowly surveying the conference room, stopped at Evernight.
“Is Anya all right?”
“…Yes.”
“That’s fortunate. I’m amazed that the child slew the magical beast.”
The Emperor laughed loudly as he settled deeply into his chair.
“Your Majesty, the reason you summoned the council today… surely it’s not because of that magical beast?”
Hakseos slowly raised his hand and asked timidly. A wave of tension circulated.
“I sent a reconnaissance team to secure the magical beast’s corpse and put it in the underground dungeon. Are there any who are curious? I’ll personally let you see it.”
“…Hasn’t Gyeong Evernight already seen them countless times?”
Bluoa muttered in a slightly sulky voice.
“Ah, yes. Gyeong has been seeing them persistently for four years. Looking at you, I wanted to ask. Why magical beasts have appeared all the way here in Maneregia.”
Then, when the Emperor made a light gesture, the chamberlain brought dozens of scrolls.
“These are messages the provincial lords have recently sent me.”
The Emperor touched the scrolls with somewhat irritable gestures. The gazes of the dukes who were carefully reading the contents of the weakly unfurled scrolls went back and forth quietly, yet very closely.
“Ghoul packs are being frequently spotted in various places in the south, excluding the northern territory.”
