TOPWL 231
“Is this… a dream?”
“I also hoped it was a dream when I saw you pinned under that pig.”
Even at his poignant joke, Yudit couldn’t laugh. Instead, he ran to him, hugging him. It was a reunion he hadn’t had even once in his dreams.
“My, my.”
Khalid lifted Yudit into his embrace. His unique scent, reminiscent of a winter forest, was palpable. Though slightly more feral, it was but unmistakably Khalid’s.
Khalid embraced Yudit and sat him down on the window. Their eyes met at the same level. Still unsure whether this was real, Yudit cupped Khalid’s cheeks, gently rubbing as he asked,
“What happened?”
“Thanks to a romantic fool, things worked out quite well.”
At the vague answer, Yudit tilted his head.
“Romantic fool?”
“Yes. Apparently there’s one in the Gotha Kingdom too.”
Just then, the lord, who they thought had fainted, flinched. Thinking he might have woken up, Yudit tensed, but that wasn’t the case. Khalid struck the back of his neck again to knock him fully unconscious, then continued speaking.
The Gotha Kingdom was divided between two factions, one for the first prince and one for the second. The first prince, born of the queen, held legitimacy but suffered from the hereditary madness that plagued the royal line, leaving him unfit to rule. The second prince, born of a concubine, had grown up among commoners and returned to the kingdom a few years ago, now actively building his own faction.
As for how a prince could have been raised among commoners, it was because Gotha was an unusual kingdom where concubines were allowed to leave the palace. The second prince’s mother had been preparing to do so, but before her departure, she spent one last night with the king out of lingering attachment.
That single night left her pregnant, and she secretly gave birth to a child. Not wanting to be dragged into palace power struggles, she raised the boy among the common folk. The king knew all of this, but he chose to turn a blind eye.
When the first prince’s madness, born of incest, worsened, the king visited the boy being raised as a commoner. Seeing how much the child resembled him, along with his intelligence, the king was impressed. He decided to sponsor him and even assigned a tutor.
When the queen later discovered this, she flew into a rage and declared war on the king. The king, overwhelmed by pressure from both inside and outside the court, eventually collapsed. Rumors said the queen had poisoned him, but no one dared to speak of it overtly.
The queen demanded the throne be passed to her son, the first prince, but even as he lay bedridden, the king refused. He knew that if the young second prince became king, he would soon be assassinated. The king clung to life, waiting for the right moment.
With the king’s power waning, corruption spread among the nobles, and at the top of that rotten structure stood the first prince. He suffered from a delusion that the voices in his head were divine commands. He used it to justify atrocities, burning villages, killing children, believing it all sacred.
As fear spread through the kingdom, the more clear-headed scholars and nobles naturally gathered around the second prince. They began quietly organizing to place him on the throne. But before that could happen, war broke out.
The first prince, who reveled in blood and slaughter, wanted to fight until every last citizen was dead. The second prince argued that a kingdom needed its people to exist at all, and pushed for negotiations with a trustworthy leader from the Empire. Naturally, his counsel was ignored.
“If they’d chosen diplomacy, the Gotha Kingdom might have gained instead of lost.”
“Perhaps.”
Though losing sovereignty was tragic, negotiation could have limited the period of colonial rule. Since the imperial succession tournament pitted princes against one another, Gotha might have gained great advantage without spilling any blood. It is a shame.
“So who’s this romantic fool?”
“The second prince, Darham.”
At Yudit’s question, Khalid smiled. During the battle the first prince had insisted on fighting in, declaring that even if everyone died the kingdom must stand, his army was annihilated. The prince barely escaped with his life thanks to his guards’ sacrifice. Traumatized by his first true encounter with war and death, he locked himself in the palace and hadn’t come out since.
Meanwhile, the second prince, who had opposed the war, unexpectedly rose in influence, gaining the people’s support. Perhaps thinking him fit to rule, the dying king summoned Darham to his side, but the prince instead chose to leave for Calmor after learning that the one he loved had been imprisoned in a lord’s manor.
“The one imprisoned… don’t tell me you mean Billian?”
“You knew?”
“I met her earlier in the dungeon. I came here to rescue her too.”
Khalid looked at Yudit for a moment at those words. Then he wrapped Yudit in his cloak, covering him completely, and he sighed.
“I can’t exactly say that was wise. That was dangerously reckless.”
“…Thank you for saving me.”
Knowing his own fault, Yudit spoke in a small voice. Khalid tightened the cloak around him. Then, all of a sudden, his gaze dropped to Yudit’s abdomen. A troubled look flashed across his gaze.
“It seems we have a lot to talk about.”
“Yes…”
“But first, we should deal with what’s right in front of us.”
“How?”
The two of them silently looked down at the unconscious lord sprawled on the floor. He remained completely motionless.
***
“Hey.”
The guard, who had been dozing off, was startled awake at someone’s voice.
“What?”
A soldier was standing there, staring at him. Had there been a guy like that in the garrison? They changed people so often that there was barely time to memorize faces. The guard grumbled to himself.
“Lord’s orders. Bring everyone from the prison, every member of that traveling troupe, and Billian too.”
“The men too?”
“The one he just brought in has quite the temper, apparently. The lord says he wants to humiliate him in front of everyone.”
“Ah, right.”
The guard yawned, seeming used to this sort of summons, and led the way.
“But that was fast this time. I guess the new one was pretty tight.”
The guard’s snickering stopped when he suddenly felt a surge of killing intent behind him. He turned his head. The soldier was still smiling pleasantly.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
The guard turned back and continued walking, but for some reason cold sweat slid down his spine. The door opened, he took a lantern and descended the stairs, the soldier’s shadow stretching ahead of him. The shadow was too graceful, too refined. Suspicious. If someone like that had joined the garrison, he’d have noticed. Holding the hilt of his sword, the guard anxiously thought that maybe he shouldn’t be turning his back.
“Hey, what was the code for today again?”
“Code?”
“Yes. Something about Colin, I think. I can’t remember.”
“I can’t quite recall either.”
“Really? It is strange that both of us forgot. Though I guess it’s not strange at all.”
The guard muttered as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Since there wasn’t a code in the first place—!”
The moment he drew his sword, something hit him on the back of the head with a scabbard. His vision blurred as he stared at the soldier, who hadn’t even unsheathed his own blade. Was there another accomplice? The soldier’s black eyes glowed blue as he spoke.
“You could’ve saved yourself some trouble and just handed over the keys. Anyway, goodbye.”
“You bas—”
Thud.
The guard collapsed before finishing his curse. From the darkness, a handsome man emerged and snatched the keyring from the guard’s back pocket. It was the second prince of the Kingdom of Gotha, Darham.
“I thought you said you’d already taken care of it.”
“The guard with the keys went for a smoke.”
“Then finish quickly. We need to get back.”
“I know. I’ll get Billian out right away.”
The shift in tone between his sentences was stark. Speaking softly, Darham slid the key into the lock.
“I’m fine. Take your time.”
“Who are you?”
Edmond asked curiously. Bagon alternately looked at Khalid and Edmon, briefly debating whether to answer vaguely or just hit him in the back of the head. At that moment, Khalid spoke in the imperial tongue.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
“My apologies for meeting again under such circumstances.”
The smooth imperial speech that flowed from them made Billian’s eyes widen in surprise.
“You… you’re from the Empire?”
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!