Chapter 43
Family was supposed to make him feel at ease, but to him, the King was always uncomfortable.
He did not have royal blood, yet he had to take medicine to prove he had the ability of the royal family. He was tired of it. He hated always being anxious.
Soon, the sound of the door closing echoed. Poedin dropped onto the long chair.
“It would be better to kill the one who stabbed me in the back during that time.”
He gave a short laugh and looked forward to the bloodshed ahead.
He already had too much stress built up. This time, he planned to get rid of it properly.
Meanwhile, when the Queen heard this news, she could not hold back her anger and rushed to the Prince’s palace. As soon as she arrived at his room, she shouted,
“What is this? You’re not going to Sesril?”
Poedin was lying down lazily. He frowned.
“You heard it clearly. Why did you come all the way here to confirm it?”
The Queen walked toward him, her heels clicking sharply.
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m not.”
“Then you’re saying you won’t attend Sesril?”
“I’ve skipped it many times before.”
“This time is different! The princess will be there, and it’s your place as well. And you’re skipping it?”
“What does that matter? That princess is nothing more than your doll, Mother.”
In an instant, her hand struck his cheek sharply. His face turned to the side. The Queen’s eyes shook.
“H-how can you say that?”
The Prince gave a short laugh and looked at her.
“Mother. I can handle my own matters now. You don’t need to struggle because of me.”
“If I don’t struggle, my magic stone mines will all be taken, and the power you have will be taken too. And you say I don’t need to try?”
“Then you should have told me everything before doing it. Am I just a fool who must follow whatever you say? Am I your doll?”
The Queen could not answer. Shock spread across her face.
“I endured a lot. I trusted you and followed you all this time, but you always excluded me and only informed me after making decisions. I don’t want to live being controlled like that anymore.”
“Controlled? It was all for you. Do you know how much I—”
“Did I ever ask for that? Maybe you just wanted the power you gained by using me.”
“H-how can you say such a thing…?”
“I don’t even want to take that kind of medicine. I don’t even have the King’s blood in me from the beginning—”
Before he could finish, the Queen collapsed.
The Prince looked tired and called a servant.
“Take her to a physician.”
The servant quickly carried the Queen away. Poedin stood up and changed into his battle clothes.
He did not want to stay any longer in this annoying royal palace.
It was a night when the Berok were crying loudly. I stared at the ceiling of the bed, then got up.
I had been lying down all day and only eating what they brought me. My body felt restless.
I was not even sick anymore, yet they said I had to stay like this for another week.
‘How am I supposed to endure that?’
I tried moving around in the room and even touched my sword, but for some reason I wanted to breathe cold air. I even missed the cold wind of Setos, which I used to hate.
I had never stayed in bed this long before. Even when I was badly injured during my mercenary life, I healed in one day and went back to work.
I had never caught a simple cold, nor any epidemic disease others suffered from.
I sighed and looked outside the window. At least I could watch people walking in the hallway.
Then I saw Herkel hurriedly enter Calyx’s room. I looked at the clock. It was midnight.
‘What is happening this late?’
Did they find the scammer? That thought made me even more curious. Also, Calyx saved my life, but I never said thank you. I wanted to say it.
Of course, Calyx never thanked me before either, but there was no need for me to act like him.
Without Calyx, I would already be dead.
‘I should thank him.’
It was the right thing to do.
I looked outside through the window. Two soldiers were guarding the door.
I started thinking. How could I move the two soldiers away? I was sick, and if I needed something—
Then a good idea came to me. I ran to the door and turned the handle. It did not open. It was locked from outside. I had no choice but to knock hard.
When my hand started hurting, the door opened slightly.
“What is it?”
“I’m very thirsty. Could you bring me some water?”
One soldier nodded.
“I’ll bring it right away.”
I spoke to the other soldier.
“Shouldn’t you check that he doesn’t poison it?”
“What? Rotni is not that kind of person.”
“I never thought I’d be betrayed by someone like that either. You never know in this world. Shouldn’t you go together and check?”
“But then no one will guard this place—”
Before he finished, I quickly said,
“It’s fine. Just lock the door from outside like before.”
The soldier hesitated. I saw his unsure face and added,
“If I drink poison and die, do you think the Duke will stay quiet?”
I remembered how Calyx personally cared for me. Herkel knew it too, so the rumor must have spread already.
After thinking for a moment, the soldier grabbed the door handle.
“Then we’ll be back soon.”
He locked the door and left. I ran to the window and watched. After checking the door several times, the soldier ran in the opposite direction.
I immediately searched my pockets. During my mercenary life, I always carried many small items. I should have a pin to open a lock.
After searching a few times, I found a thin pin. I quickly put it into the keyhole. I listened carefully as I moved it, feeling like a thief.
After turning it a few times and focusing on the sound, I heard a small metallic click. Slowly, I turned it again.
With a soft sound, the door slid open.
Holding the handle, I looked around. Only cold wind was blowing. It felt refreshing to breathe the outside air, though it was getting chilly.
I quickly went back, put on a cloak, and came out again. Calyx’s room was right next to mine. Carefully, I grabbed the handle and opened the door.
20 minutes earlier, Calyx looked down at his arm. Blue veins were rising as if they would burst at any moment. It was wrapped with a thin bandage, but that was only temporary.
Even in this dangerous condition, his eyes did not waver.
He still could not believe that he saved Lerit and guarded her room like that. Even Herkel looked at him like he was seeing him for the first time.
When he thought about it, his eyes shook slightly. A strange feeling buried deep inside him began to rise.
‘Damn it.’
Even after taking medicine, that power rose on its own. No matter how much he took, it was the same. In her room, he had taken enough medicine to stay calm, but now his blood felt like it was boiling.
He had decided to watch and wait for her to betray him. But a ridiculous situation happened.
Someone tried to kill her. Without his permission.
Just thinking about it made his blood boil. Her life belonged to him. It had been like that since the King killed Solfein.
No matter how he thought about it, he should not return that necklace. It might have made her more dangerous.
Then there was a knock. Soon, Herkel entered.
“Your Grace, the one who tried to kill Lady Lerit has just died.”
“Did he kill himself?”
“Yes. It seems he was trained to do so.”
“What about Rotas?”
“Rotas says Prod is likely nearby.”
“Nearby?”
“Yes. He handled everything for the Prince. Since the plan failed, he might be near the border of the Lukru Kingdom and try to escape there.”
The Prince was not someone who would stay quiet. He had never shown himself directly before, but this time was different. He was involved now.
“Fool.”
Calyx smiled faintly. If Prod escaped near the royal palace, the royal knights would notice. But this place was no different. Everything around here was under his watch.
“Strengthen inspections at the northern border and search the houses near the Lukru Kingdom’s northern border. Capture someone like Prod no matter what.”
Herkel nodded. After hesitating, he asked,
“What about Rotas?”
“Deal with him. He tried to kill Lerit.”
Herkel nodded lightly.
“By the way, what about Chires’s tomb? Lady Lerit discovered something amazing. Shouldn’t we at least build a memorial hall?”
Herkel’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Setos is filled with Berok anyway. If we clean this area and build a memorial, many tourists will come. Won’t it become more prosperous? Even the neighboring kingdom was desperate to find Chires’s tomb.”
Calyx knew that too. The Lukru Kingdom had sent many delegations to search for Chires’s tomb.
Even though they knew it was around this area, they were still digging near their border just in case.
Of course, they had found nothing so far.
“We’ll think about the memorial after everything is finished.”
“That’s true. Lady Lerit is still not in good condition, and she went through something like that.”
Herkel stopped speaking. Even he knew that many matters were still unfinished.
