Chapter 45
A drop of water fell with a plop from a stalactite hanging from the cave ceiling. The drop landed on Eluana’s forehead. She frowned at the cold, damp sensation as her eyes slowly opened.
“Are you awake?”
As her vision brightened, a blurry silhouette of a man came into view.
“Dad…?”
“You sound like my dad,” he said.
Startled, Eluana quickly sat up and looked at him closely.
She recognized the unrealistically handsome features and ocean-blue eyes. The only difference was that those eyes, which used to be like dead fish, now looked vividly alive.
“…Kazar?”
Only after saying the name reflexively did she remember he was a prince. When she covered her mouth with her hand, Kazar muttered,
“Call me whatever you want. I’m the one who taught you my name.”
“Okay.”
Usually, she would have declined once or twice with something like “How could I dare?” but she recognized him immediately. In many ways, he was a strange being.
Eluana glanced around nervously and put her hand in her pocket. Of the three metal balls, only one remained. She clenched the last metal ball in her hand and asked,
“Were you the one who took me and ran away?”
Kazar shrugged his shoulders and answered,
“I saved you from becoming a meal for a monster.”
“A monster? Why would a monster suddenly appear?”
The people she saw when she regained consciousness were definitely assassins. Why would a monster suddenly show up? Besides, monsters in Aden were unheard of.
‘Is he lying?’
Eluana’s eyes widened. Humans ruled this continent now. Sometimes monsters attacked people who ventured into the monster forest, but monsters rarely came down into inhabited areas. Aden was on the western side of the empire, far from the monster forest in the northeast.
“Well… who knows.”
Eluana could feel his wariness, but Kazar left the explanation vague.
He couldn’t properly explain. The connection between the empress or the Marquis of Pegimul family and the monsters was only a recently formed hypothesis. The problem was, everyone believed it was impossible for humans to control monsters — that was common knowledge.
Yet somehow, that impossible thing had happened.
Eluana grimaced as she tried to recall memories. As soon as she thought of Ron, her head began to throb as if splitting apart.
“Ugh…”
Unable to bear the pain, she grabbed her head with both hands. Kazar explained,
“You saw an illusion of Ron Vita, right? It’s a monster that lures you with illusions and swallows you whole.”
If she had been tricked by her dad’s illusion…
“Louis, what about Louis?!”
A bad feeling ran down her spine. Her pulse raced, and the pounding in her head worsened.
“He’s fine. At least he was when I checked. The monster’s target was you anyway.”
“My target?”
Eluana quickly moistened her dry lips with her tongue. If she was the target, it meant Louis was safe. Plus, she had sent the Spes Knights to be with Louis.
‘Louis will be fine.’
Finally calming herself, Eluana looked around.
They were in a cave. There was only one such cave in Aden, located inside the northern forest a little away from the lake shore. It was quite far from Ron’s grave.
“If I’m the target, then who was being aimed at?”
“Probably the empress or the Marquis of Pegimul family. They wouldn’t leave such a big matter to Regis. Of course, that’s just suspicion. No evidence.”
Kazar answered calmly as he wiped the blood off his sword.
Then Eluana realized her dress was stained. Since it was black, it wasn’t very noticeable, but drops had fallen from the hem to the cave floor and were definitely blood.
Since she wasn’t injured, and since Kazar calmly cleaned his sword, it wasn’t their blood.
Was it the assassins’ blood?
She thought she’d had enough of blood at the grave attack, yet her heart started pounding again. Swallowing nervously, Eluana asked suspiciously,
“Why are you still in Aden? What happened to the others? You were with soldiers.”
“The soldiers were all hypnotized like you and lost consciousness. While my friend was fighting the monster, I ran away with only you. You were the target, so the others should be fine.”
That meant…
“You abandoned your friend to fight the monster and ran away?”
“Something like that.”
Kazar’s casual tone suggested his friend was capable, but it still sounded harsh.
“Is your friend okay?”
“He’s strong enough not to die from a monster like that. You’d better worry about us instead.”
“Why?”
“We didn’t get rid of all the assassins. They ran away and are hiding. The assassins are looking for us outside. Don’t you feel it?”
Eluana held her breath, watching outside the cave. But she felt nothing.
“I don’t know.”
It was a bit creepy to hear that, but maybe it was just her imagination. She wished she could detect killing intent.
Kazar put the sword back into its sheath after cleaning it and asked if she could still do her share now that she was awake.
“How much have you trained your alchemy skill?”
“Moving metal balls? I can move them about a hand’s width.”
She had once hit someone on the head with a metal ball while trying to get a ring, but that was an exception. She didn’t think she could do it again.
Kazar sighed quietly, disappointed.
“That’s no help.”
Looking at her tired face, Eluana noticed blood spreading from his left arm.
“Are you hurt?”
“That’s not my blood.”
“Oh… okay.”
Her heart pounded louder. Seeing her tense up, Kazar softened his voice.
“If we hold on a bit longer, the Spes Knights will find us. I hope they arrive before the assassins.”
Eluana thought of the knights, including Sing and Alex. They had gone to pick up Louis. Would they be okay? Even if nothing happened, they’d be worried because she disappeared.
Putting her hand in her pocket, Eluana clenched the metal ball tightly and spoke.
“You still haven’t answered.”
“What?”
Depending on the answer, Eluana would decide whether to run away from Kazar or stay with him. She looked into Kazar’s deep blue eyes and asked,
“Why were you in Aden?”
A water drop fell from the stalactite onto the cave floor with a plop, echoing sharply. Tension rose.
Kazar sighed exaggeratedly, breaking the tension in the cave. After all, since facing Raplanfia, hiding anything was pointless.
“I did a background check on you.”
“What?”
Eluana’s eyes widened.
Kazar said ‘background check’ lightly, meeting her shaking gaze. It was like a storm in a dense forest.
“I found it strange. There’s no way the Duke of Spes would cherish you just because you have alchemy skills.”
“The duke cherished me?”
Doubt spread across Eluana’s face. She knew he tried to treat her well, but cherished? Not really.
Seeing her disbelief, Kazar chuckled.
“Which surprises you more, that I did a background check or that the duke cherishes you?”
“Both.”
Eluana replied sulkily.
“You don’t know?”
“What?”
“The part where you complained to His Majesty about being hit by Regis. All business related to the Marquis of Pegimul family got shut down. All travel permits were canceled, so now the Pegimul family’s guilds can’t enter the Spes Duke’s territory. Since they bought a lot of food from Spes Duke, it must be a huge loss.”
Eluana felt a strange flutter in her chest.
“…I didn’t know.”
“No bold nobles will openly touch you from now on. Only insignificant ones without info networks might try.”
Trading with the Spes Duke family being cut off meant food shortages. Eluana swallowed hard, and Kazar added,
“Oh, and the crown prince ceremony for Regis got canceled. Not postponed — canceled. The duke pressured His Majesty, saying Regis lacks qualifications.”
“That’s kind of good.”
Though it was disappointing that was all.
It had long been tradition to give the title ‘Crown Prince’ to the first prince to pass the dragon’s trial. It was a safeguard for when the emperor died before other princes passed the trial. This tradition remained unchallenged because imperial law forbade the emperor from taking a crown princess until the empress bore a son.
Breaking this tradition and leaving Regis as prince carried political weight.
“Well, whatever.”
Kazar answered casually, trying to change the subject. But Eluana couldn’t let it pass lightly.
How much did Kazar know?
“You did a background check because it was strange and saved me?”
“I didn’t save you. I saved Cantio.”
Kazar said casually that he had figured out Eluana was Cantio. The air in the cave tightened; she could feel it on her skin.
“If you don’t believe me, believe that you are Cantio. As long as you are Cantio, I won’t let you die.”
As Cantio.
“Are you afraid a natural disaster will happen?”
“If a disaster comes, ordinary people suffer. They lose family, homes. Sometimes they lose everything they’ve built.”
Kazar’s gaze was firm.
Her mother Stella had told her the most important thing when looking at a man was his eyes. You could act for a situation, but the intense look in the blink of an eye never lies.
Eluana clenched the metal ball tightly.
“I’ll cooperate. Being found out as Cantio is a separate problem, but for now, my life comes first.”
Considering Kazar’s position, negotiation was possible. Maybe even threats. Safety was the priority now. Eluana’s eyes blazed brightly.
Kazar found that look cute. He always did. Despite having no power, her struggles to survive caught his attention.
“By keeping your secret, I’ll count it as repaying your life debt.”
Doubt appeared on Eluana’s face.
Wasn’t her life debt already repaid by saving her from the monster? And by helping her escape the assassins? Now he said he’d keep her secret too?
This was too kind.
“Isn’t that life debt too expensive?”
“If it’s a burden, you can pay me back later. By the way, do you know where this cave leads?”
“I heard it connects deeper into the northern forest. It’ll be farther from the village. Dad told me never to go.”
Kazar watched the darkness inside the cave and said,
“I guess we have to disobey your dad.”
