Anya opened his eyes in the pitch-black dawn before the sun had even risen. His back was drenched in cold sweat. The boy shook his head, which felt like it would split, then was startled by the man’s breath he felt right next to him and pressed himself against the wall.
The bed at the inn where they’d been staying for several days wasn’t very wide. He absolutely had no complaints about the poor conditions. If he were alone, he would have been grateful even for this. It was just the fact that he wasn’t alone that made things very difficult for Anya.
Whenever he felt Evernight’s breath and skin in his sleep, Anya had no choice but to press himself flat against the wall like a turtle’s shell and curl up his body to sleep. He had to check several times whether the creaking sound of the old bed might wake Evernight.
“It’s annoying, so just stay still.”
It was the same for Evernight. Every time Anya flinched, he quietly warned him with his eyes closed. This sleeping arrangement had continued since they came to Northernmost. That’s why Anya was always awake with his eyes open from early dawn.
“……”
Today was the same.
‘I guess it was too much for you after all.’
His husband’s last words that he heard while losing consciousness last night were more than enough to plunge Anya’s mood into the abyss. Anya clenched his teeth and lifted the blanket as quietly as possible, half raising his body. When he looked to the side, Evernight was sleeping while making small breathing sounds. But in reality, he often wasn’t actually asleep. If he made even the slightest sound, it seemed like those piercing blue eyes would look at him and demand where he was going.
But somehow, unlike a few days ago, Evernight seemed to be truly fallen into a deep sleep.
Perhaps God was helping him. Anya pressed his back firmly against the wall and slowly moved his bottom toward the edge of the bed. When he finally succeeded in placing his feet on the cold stone floor, his tense face brightened noticeably.
“Mmm…”
Just then, a groan was heard close by. For a moment his heart nearly stopped, but he endured it well. Anya’s head turned stiffly to check on Evernight. Evernight was lying there groaning like a pale corpse. It was very unfamiliar and strange… but on the other hand, it gave him a sense of déjà vu. Through the gap in the curtains, he could see the full moon that hadn’t yet disappeared.
‘The master dislikes anyone entering the room without permission. Especially… on nights when the full moon rises.’
Could it be related to the full moon?
Anya decided to stop thinking for now. Right now, getting out of the room came first. Anya focused all his nerves and carefully placed his feet on the floor. He lifted his heels and gathered his coat and boots while holding his breath as much as possible.
‘Sir Evernight, I will definitely restore it.’
In the pitch-black darkness before dawn, his brown hair was illuminated palely by moonlight.
‘…But restore what?’
The fact that he had dismantled the magic tool to save the man near the Wall kept trying to disappear to the far side of his memory. It seemed like something was wrong with him. They said the 3rd Claicer prince killed 10 servants right when he came of age and couldn’t remember anything. Anya used the empty orb as a memory anchor, holding and rolling it in his hand whenever his memory broke off.
Damn it, what an utterly stupid bastard.
The boy cursed himself freely just as his siblings had done. He was different from his siblings. No, he had to be different. He had to restore everything to prove it.
Anya’s knees buckled as soon as he exited the inn. He consciously clutched the empty orb in his hand. Some kind of heavy responsibility and intense will made his body, which seemed ready to collapse at any moment, move. Even though it was midwinter, Anya roughly wiped away the sweat dripping down and soon disappeared into the darkness.
Anya ran for a long while without even properly putting on his clothes and in bare feet. When he’d put some distance between them, he put on his boots at the entrance of an alley and donned his wool robe. His body, already in mental tatters, was already experiencing muscle pain as if someone had beaten him.
However, without resting, he immediately searched his memory and went to find the gap in the Wall. The wind was ominous. Good lord, the massive vortex was much closer. They said the magic tools could block the Snowstorm, but could they really stop such a massive and terrifying natural disaster? Anya was seized with fear.
What if the magic tool he destroyed not only attracted monsters but also failed to stop the Snowstorm? Anya walked so fast he was almost running without even properly wearing his robe. Before he knew it, his footprints were messily stamped all over the thickly piled snow path.
“H-Here it is.”
The gap in the Wall was still there. The man said he would report it to the village chief as he left and have it fixed, but the gap was still wide open. Because he’d broken the edges of the gap with a hammer, stone fragments were scattered on the ground. Perhaps because of the snow that had accumulated in the meantime, you couldn’t tell unless you looked carefully.
Anya let out a small sigh. That man must have been afraid of future trouble and not reported anything to the village chief.
Anya took out the orb from his pocket. The inside of the orb was empty. He immediately reached out to transfer the magical power flowing through the land of Northernmost, but the orb remained unmoved. Anya grew anxious. His long hair kept blowing in the wind, which was bothersome, so he held it with one hand while gathering magical power with the other. A gray light quickly gathered but wasn’t sucked into the orb.
Dozens of attempts all ended in failure. Anya decided to abandon the orb he had. Instead, he decided to sneak into the storage where Karen had organized things and steal another orb from the wooden box. He knew it was an unforgivable theft, but he wanted to undo his mistake.
“Wh-What do I do…”
The storage was securely locked with a thick padlock. Anya was dumbfounded and unconsciously let out a sigh. Suddenly, he saw a broken piece of the Wall’s stone at the edge of his vision. Anya picked up a relatively large stone fragment and struck the padlock. Each time he swung the fragment with all his might, his palm hurt as if it would tear. But his heart was urgent, and he had no time to care about such things. The pounding sound continued for quite a while.
Finally, the padlock broke and rolled on the ground. Anya hurriedly entered the storage and rummaged through the wooden boxes. Fortunately, there were orbs remaining. Anya immediately transferred magical power to a new orb.
“Phew, thank goodness.”
The orbs must have been single-use after all. Anya looked with satisfaction at the new orb dyed gray, then immediately inserted the orb into the empty space in the Wall’s magic tool. A bright light leaked from the magic circle before it was submerged in darkness again. After finishing everything, Anya realized his palms were covered in blood. But such wounds didn’t matter at all.
Only then did the boy return the way he came with a relieved heart.
* * *
“Your hand… what happened to it?”
Riario, who had been picking at his porridge more than eating it, suddenly noticed the prince’s hand clumsily gripping a spoon.
“W-Well… I t-trained at dawn.”
Anya tried his best to pull up the corners of his mouth to hide his lie.
“What? Why would you train so hard even coming here…”
Riario stared at Anya’s eyes as if he had more to say. Anya hurriedly lowered his eyes and buried his nose in his stew bowl.
“I-I’m also a Tildyen k-knight now.”
Saying so, he glanced at Evernight to gauge his reaction.
“A Tildyen knight?”
Commander, what is this about? Riario and Karen looked at Evernight as if seeking an explanation. He answered half-heartedly as if annoyed.
“He killed Rips Mohan. He’s just taking that position.”
But still… even though you’re the mistress of Tildyen, how could such a dangerous position… When they objected thus, Evernight snorted.
“I w-wanted it and a-asked for it myself. Sirs.”
Anya said while scratching his cheek. Anya’s expression as he said this was brighter than anyone’s, so Riario tried to argue about whether he knew what a terrible profession a Tildyen knight, a Dark Lion, was, but he forcibly kept his mouth shut. Karen shouted a welcome to joining the knight order, but it looked quite awkward. The meal ended quickly in silence.
“Commander, as we said yesterday, Master Mage and I will inspect the Wall’s magic tools.”
Karen said while loading the rolled-up baggage onto the saddle. Anya felt deeply relieved that he had secretly taken care of the work at dawn.
“Take the messenger owl. I have a bad feeling. An ominous and disgusting smell is resonating somewhere.”
Evernight mounted his black warhorse and cast a distant gaze at the Beriela Mountain Range.
“Karen, you check the protective magic tools once more. Now that that damned thing has arrived right in front of us, this is most urgent.”
The Snowstorm was quietly approaching the Northernmost wall step by step every hour. It was now clearly identifiable even with the naked eye. Due to the snowfall, the Wall resembled the sacred white walls of Maneregia’s imperial palace.
“I’ll install the remaining defensive magic tools. Then who will inspect the defensive magic tools we already installed…”
There were two types of magic tools they needed to install. Both magic tools were to protect Tildyen—one was a protective magic tool newly developed by Riario to block the Snowstorm, and the other was a defensive magic tool built even more solidly on top of the existing ancient magic circles to prevent wicked things from crossing over.
“I-I’ll do it!”
Anya quickly raised his hand. He was so quick and earnest that Karen, who was beside him, barely held back laughter that almost burst out.
