REFDL 89

“Everyone has minor injuries!”

“No casualties confirmed!”

“It’s… it’s a miracle!”

The knights’ thunderous report was broadcast through the emperor’s loudspeaker, making it all the more compelling.

“Behold! Julan’s blessing will stay with our Firmus forever!”

Grrr!!

Yuram roared again.

Then the Pensiltas responded. They stretched out their necks and cried out in unison, as if singing.

The citizens were completely entranced. The feeling of being in a legendary, historical scene inspired them.

“Whoaaa!”

“Wow! Wow!”

“It’s a miracle! A miracle!”

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Kremlis!!”

And Kaelus saw the blood gushing from Yuram’s body like a waterfall every time he roared.

His chest felt so tight it felt like it was going to burst. Maybe it already had.

Kaelus opened his mouth to try to persuade Yuram not to overdo it, but he closed it again. He realized Yuram wouldn’t listen even if he spoke.

‘Ah.’

He barely stopped himself from scratching his neck. He thought he endured well, but he didn’t.

His wrists were already bleeding.

“…!”

It was a familiar wound he definitely inflicted on himself, but couldn’t remember.

Kaelus stared at the tattoos on his body, as if he were seeing something unfamiliar.

The scars that always came from hatred for dragons now appeared because of a boiling affection for one of them.

How great and surprising this was.

Kaelus held his trembling hands together and looked up. The red-gold scales shone brilliantly in the backlight.

“…”

His dark gray eyes wavered. He gathered every bit of his patience to stop himself from running closer to Yuram. At that moment, something entered his expanded field of vision through his heightened senses.

A few people sat near the fountain. They were very close to Tortan. Kaelus’ eyes widened upon seeing their faces. It felt as if his remaining blood drained down to his feet.

It was Odan. He had lost his mask and scarf in the chaos, and he supported the unconscious Derrick alongside Mirim.

Then the Emperor’s gaze, which slowly scanned the surroundings, stopped on the boy. It felt as if time stopped too the moment he saw him.

Kaelus groaned inwardly.

‘Valita…!’

Now that he realized the Fourth Prince’s goal for causing this disaster, it was too late to do anything.

Wow!

Aaaah!

“…”

“…”

Everything seemed so clear.

Blonde hair fluttered even in the dusty wind, and deep blue eyes that look like the sky cut into a circle.

Two people who shared a strange resemblance stared at each other with the same expression.

The Emperor trembled. The shaking began in his fists and spread through his whole body. His breathing became ragged. Soon, he covered his mouth as if he felt nauseous. Yet, his gaze remained fixed on Odan.

On the other hand, Odan blinked in dismay. He barely managed to hold back his gaze from turning toward Kaelus, but the Emperor likely knew already.

Not many people dared to insult the Emperor this way in the ​Read on​capital, the heart of Firmus. Among them, only one person had this much ability to act, as far as he knew.

Amidst the endless cheers, a storm approached silently.

***

The Fourth Prince had disappeared.

They caught some members of the delegation that accompanied him, but their confused reactions suggested they knew nothing about this.

“I’m sorry. There’s no trace anywhere.”

“We’re doing our best to continue the search, but… it looks like it’ll be hard to catch him.”

“Why?”

“…Well.”

“Traces of magic were found at the spot where the Fourth Prince is thought to have disappeared.”

Odan intervened without thinking.

The reporting knight stepped back and bowed with a look of relief.

Odan tapped a spot on the capital’s map spread wide on the table with his fingertips. It was a secluded alley a few blocks away from the square’s fountain.

“It was also a trace mixed with ancient dark magic. It was so faint that I couldn’t be sure, but Lord Yuram confirmed it.”

[That was definitely demonic energy!]

The shrunken Yuram nodded inside the basket. Bandages tightly wrapped his fist-sized body, and bloodstains spread here and there. Kaelus watched Yuram with a somber face and then spoke to Tortan.

“I think he’ll secretly cross the forest and return home. I’ll continue the pursuit just in case. …But for now, Yuram needs to rest.”

“I agree with that, Duke.”

The emperor’s eyes were sharp as blades. His smiling face was filled with murderous intent.

“When you’re done with the Kremlis, come to my office. We need to talk.”

“……Yes. I’ll go right away.”

***

Crack!

Tortan’s reaction was exactly what Kaelus expected.

A fist struck his jaw. Though not a knight, Tortan had learned the basics of swordsmanship. He possessed a certain amount of strength, and considering his education was only a formality, he was quite skilled at using the sword.

Thud!

Because of that, his punches weren’t light. They weren’t enough to shake his head, but they couldn’t be ignored.

‘I’d be fine if I used mana.’

That was impossible. The cheek of the knight with the strongest and toughest body in Firmus swelled up. The inside of his mouth was torn and ripped, blood flowing from between his lips. After more than ten blows, Tortan straightened up.

This was very lenient if one considered the matter. Kaelus straightened his posture and put his hands behind his back as if nothing happened. Only Tortan and Kaelus were in the office.

Tortan naturally took out a handkerchief and roughly wiped his hand, which was stained with his own blood from his scraped knuckles and the blood from Kaelus’s mouth.

“You brought him from the Forest Village?”

“…”

“Then it’s been almost a year. A year. A year. Ha!”

He threw the dirty silk handkerchief toward Kaelus. The powerless piece of cloth didn’t reach him and fluttered to the floor. Kaelus looked down at the bloody handkerchief that fell right in front of his feet.

Tortan sat down in his chair and held his forehead. He leaned his head back and panted for a long time because he couldn’t control his emotions.

That’s why he held his tongue. He knew better than anyone that he was the emperor. His lofty pride couldn’t tolerate being seen as irrational.

It was different from doing ‘things unbecoming of an Emperor’ or ‘near-eccentric acts.’ At least those were things Tortan did with reason and will.

“Anyone involved in treason is sentenced without a trial. The sinner Odan will be exiled to Berta Island. I also forbid him from leaving the island for the rest of his life for any reason.”

“Your Majesty!”

“I’m not finished yet.”

“Tortan!”

“The commander of the 1st Division of the Dragon Knights, Kaelus Irelion, who dared to defy the Emperor, is hereby ordered to have his salary cut for six months and to serve a one-month suspension.”

Tortan looked at Kaelus with bloodshot eyes. His gaze was hot like heated iron.

The man who had been staring at the blazing object closed his eyes.

“Tortan. He could be your son.”

The emperor pretended not to hear. He remained silent, but instead, he seemed to be consumed by an even greater rage.

He should stop. Kaelus went against the whispers of intuition and instinct for the first time.

“As you know, my intuition is accurate.”

Tortan’s fingertips, which he held tight enough to stop the bleeding, trembled.

“I… think that child is your son.”

It was a lie.

His own senses were silent about the child’s identity.

The child looked like the Second Prince, but he subconsciously prayed that the child was Tortan’s.

“Nonsense!”

Bang!

Tortan slammed his fist against desk. Cracks appeared in the thick wood, and Tortan’s fist split open and bled.

Kaelus couldn’t say anything.

“Don’t I know that bastard? With that snake-like nature, how could he have kept Erdion alive!”

The thunderous voice struck Kaelus like a whip.

Erdion. He was Tortan’s legitimate son whose body wasn’t even found after the civil war ended.

Tortan never spoke his son’s name since he became Emperor. And Kaelus was the boy’s godfather.

Kaelus ripped open the front of his shirt. He roughly rolled up his sleeves, popping the cufflinks open.

He fully exposed the tattoos on his wrists and neck, which were like shameful secrets.

“I know him well too. At least as well as you do.”

“…”

If Tortan lost his most precious thing back then, Kaelus lost everything.