Chapter : 19
Chap
Swish—
“Huh… ugh! Wh-what?!”
The man’s eyes shot open.
“What do you mean, what? It’s the princess.”
Angela, who had just thrown the bucket aside, gently placed the artifact she had prepared onto the assassin’s knees.
“R-really, Angela the P-princess? Wait, this artifact… what’s with this bomb thing?!”
The assassin struggled, looking around for a way out, but the ropes made movement difficult.
Angela smiled, clearly pleased.
“You’ve got the artifact, and you’ve got the bomb. It’s an explosive artifact. You see this magic stone in my hand?”
“?!”
“Even if I put just a little of my magic into it, it’ll explode immediately.”
“W-what?! Crazy… so the princess is actually a psycho mage!”
Angela giggled.
Velix, who was watching, frowned.
“Reminds me of my past self. I feel a bit sympathetic, I must admit.”
“Sympathy? No way. Anyone who comes to kill innocent baby salamanders deserves this. You’ve survived only because you’ve reformed.”
“…Thank you for sparing me.”
“Now, let’s stop the small talk.”
She rolled the magic stone in her hand with a showy gesture, her voice turning colder.
“Who sent you? Why? What’s their purpose? Tell me just these three things, and I won’t set off the bomb.”
The assassin took a rough breath and sighed.
“If I’d spill it because of threats, why would I even be an assassin?”
“Do you know when a person dies in the most painful way?”
“I don’t know… as long as they die, it’s over…”
“When they burn slowly.”
Angela continued, serene yet deadly.
“The explosive artifact I gave you is actually weak. A small flare will leap out and burn your pants along your thighs. The fire will crawl upward, greedily devouring the air like it’s thirsty, inch by inch.”
“…….”
“Yes, you’ll be in pain for a long time, but you won’t scream for long.”
“A-Alright, stop…”
“In the end, you’ll be ashes… along with the tree behind you…”
“L-Lydia’s king sent me! He said to check if you and the baby dragon are really alive! Not to capture, just to check secretly!!”
Finally, the assassin confessed.
Angela’s eyes narrowed as she rolled the magic stone in her hand like a pebble.
“So it was your father’s doing. Didn’t he say anything else?”
“He didn’t exactly explain the meaning, but he said they’d send in real personnel for the fifth time.”
“This assassin is the fifth one.”
“Tch. This is getting troublesome. My father’s methods are predictable. If the assassin returns to the palace, he’ll report on the forest. If he doesn’t return, it means someone stronger than the assassin is in the forest.”
“No way…”
“Yes.”
Angela’s jaw hardened.
“It seems we’ve fallen into a trap.”
Velix silently watched her.
A heavy silence settled over the Shadow Forest.
Clatter—
The carriage shook roughly over a mound of dirt.
Inside, the boy curled up, unmoving.
Blond hair spilled over the seat.
White hands folded neatly on top.
Eyes closed as if asleep, the boy looked like a porcelain doll.
Outside the window, the knights’ conversation drifted in.
“They said to capture the dragon. Even if it’s just a hatchling, isn’t it dangerous?”
“That’s why they sent us, right? The Third Knights, who don’t matter even if they die… aah! Captain! Why are you hitting us?”
“We’ll come back alive. Families are waiting—why would we die?”
Clatter—
The carriage jolted again. The boy’s eyelids slowly lifted, but not due to the ride’s discomfort.
It was the conversation outside that caught his attention.
“Still, we could go faster without the carriage… why are we taking the prince?”
“He’s not a prince, he’s illegitimate.”
“Honestly, his bloodline may shine, but the king… even uses black magic on him…”
“Everyone, shut your mouths. The prince can hear you.”
The boy sensed the knights’ eyes scanning inside the carriage through the closed windows.
He tugged the blanket over himself, neither hiding completely nor looking at them.
Even reacting felt like too much effort.
Everything would end once he reached the forest.
His empty, glassy gaze fixed on the carriage ceiling.
In this blurry world, the only thing visible was King Drishe.
More precisely, only the wrinkled lips that moved when the king had made his promises.
“You are a living jewel, Chase. Your magic flows so abundantly, you’ll look like a jewel that dragons adore. So go to the Shadow Forest and bring back the dragon.”
“If you bring back only the dragon, I’ll exclude you from all future experiments.”
In the Shadow Forest.
If he could just meet the dragon there…
“Captain… but…”
It was then.
“We’re supposed to rescue the princess, right? But the princess… is Angela?”
“There is only one princess of the Lydia Kingdom. Naturally.”
“Isn’t it a bit awkward to meet her?”
“…Damn it, the water’s spilled. We can only think of our families.”
Angela was the only legitimate princess of Lydia Kingdom, very different from half-blood Chase.
Naturally, the knights had to be cautious around her.
Even the Third Knights were originally…
“Prince, it’s lunch time. Will you eat?”
Chase’s wandering thoughts shattered with the sound of the carriage sliding open.
A knight had opened the window and offered jerky and pumpkin soup.
It looked appetizing if you were hungry.
But in the blue eyes with a tinge of malice, the food looked like a dead rat.
The boy didn’t answer, turning his head away.
“Please rest.”
The knight bowed politely, as if expecting this, and closed the window.
A week later, the Third Knights arrived at Shedoum Village.
“An orphanage and a security post? I heard this was a rural backwater, but it has everything?”
The unexpectedly neat appearance surprised the knights.
“Rumor had it the Delton family abandoned this place because monster hunting was a hassle. Looks like that’s not true.”
Chase got off the carriage, listening to the knights’ conversation.
But his first impression wasn’t the good security nor the rural charm.
“Warm fire melts the cold~ melts the flu, even thaws frozen meat~”
“……”
“The baby salamander melts the cold, melts the flu, kind little friend baby salamander~.”
Right. Strange song.
Strange children singing a strange song.
“Salamander… where’s the dragon?”
The boy quietly walked toward the children while the knights talked with the village guards.
After the fifth assassin appeared.
The tower went into full alert mode.
The daily horn rabbit hunt increased from once to twice a day, and explosive artifacts were placed on trees throughout the forest.
Angela’s travel bag overflowed with magic stones.
Not satisfied, she even dried meat into jerky in case she couldn’t cook.
Velix was just as busy.
While Angela covered the forest entrance to the tower with artifacts, he prepared escape routes deep in the forest.
During these explorations, he often fought creatures like snow beasts or wolfware, but always returned with the enormous corpse of a defeated monster.
It wasn’t only the adults who were busy.
Rian was also busy.
Usually, he followed Angela, preparing important books and items.
He also cooked or tended the garden when Angela was too occupied.
And what about Lulu?
What was the baby dragon doing?
“Hmm… what’s Lulu doing?”
Lulu was curious about that too.
“Um… Lulu, you…”
Angela, moving busily, stopped suddenly.
Thump-thump.
Lulu, waiting for this moment, clenched tiny fists.
“Me?”
These days, Lulu just lazed around after the horn rabbit hunts.
Last time, he had accidentally burned a book while organizing with Rian… it was during Jewel’s nap, so he couldn’t control his flame.
‘But now, Lulu finally has a new mission…!’
Excited, Lulu shot a sparkling beam toward his sister.
Angela’s eyes, deep in thought, finally lit up.
“Agent Lulu! You’ve been doing so well that I’ll grant you special leave!”
“Yesss-! Understood…”
Lulu stopped just as he was about to salute.
