says Kalyan.
The only time I donât mind the smell of blood is when Iâm eating steak.
A smell that anyone other than a driver cannot smell. Some people with weak stomachs who eat thoroughly cooked meat because they find the smell of blood coming from non-human meat disgusting, may not sympathize with this, but Kalyan did.
And that Calian was trying hard to suppress the feeling of wanting to show his teeth as he looked at the person standing in front of him.
The smell of blood is enough to make you dizzy.
The smell of blood that had already stopped coming from his arm. A puddle of blood formed at the edge of the rooftop, a long blood trail extending to the rooftop railing, blood drops scattered everywhere, and the smell of Aelaâs blood on Calianâs body.
The same thing was coming out of the guy standing in front of me. Light, dark, old, not so old. Aside from the blood flowing from the hand holding Ailaâs hairpin, the smell of blood was so strong that it was hard to even guess how many people there were. A smell that cannot be erased even by magic.
âThis is Kalyan.â
Thatâs why I held on to my leash tightly.
As soon as I saw the smile on that face, I felt like I was going to rush at him, sink my claws in, and bite the back of my neck. Because of the smell of blood.
Rashid, the guy who was looking at Kalian, opened his mouth in a relaxed tone.
âI canât believe someone touched the princeâs things. Could it be that there was something that belonged to the prince here?â
Tuk.
Instead of answering, Calianâs toes tapped the floor once. Because there was no need to say the same thing again.
âI see. But Iâ¦â
Instead of answering, Rashid opened his mouth again to hear the voice and unfolded what he was holding in his left hand. A series of slow voices, as if they had not stood still in the slightest, flowed out one after another.
âI only saw one bird, my prince.â
The hairpin is all blood red.
I knew long ago that it wasnât Aelaâs blood. It was blood flowing from a wound on that guyâs palm.
The injured side is the left hand. The scabbard hangs on the left.
âRight-handed.â
If I had grabbed Ailaâs sword with my left hand in a hurry, Aila would have destroyed all of the guyâs fingers. In any other situation, if Aila had been able to wound that guyâs hand, she would have cut off his head instead of just cutting off his palm. So, that is a wound caused by catching Ailaâs dagger.
It may not be as strong as Dmirea, but Calian knows best how strong Aela is.
A scar on the left hand of the guy who made Aila like that. Itâs a wound that could have been easily struck, but was created by holding on to it. A wound that wonât interfere with a fight but can be a good excuse.
âA wound intentionally created.â
It was a wound with the same intention as the one contained in the bandage that had been wrapped around Calianâs hand just a moment ago. Because blackmail doesnât necessarily require someone elseâs blood.
Calian, who checked the guyâs face without any distraction from his green eyes, smiled brightly.
âDid you see a bird on such a dark night?â
âYes. I saw a bird on such a dark night, probably because it was dark and lost. It was unfamiliar to me, so I stopped for a moment, but to my surprise, I saw the prince. Should I call this an unexpected coincidence or⦠â
Kalian looked at Rashid for a moment as he nodded in agreement, then lowered his gaze and looked at the hairpin. And Rashid continued without saying anything.
âShould I say it was a predestined relationship?â
âThatâs right. Itâs a predestined fate. Thatâs true, Prince. Isnât it amazing that it feels like a predestined fate?â
âI guess it was interesting enough to capture the Baronâs thoughts.â
âYes, it is.â
The wind blew.
Kalyanâs hair, which seems to have been made of the most valuable silk in the world, woven one by one, sways in the wind and falls down. It was very different from Rashidâs brown hair, which was meticulously shaped and not at all disheveled.
Calian, who was looking at the flawless outfit, opened his mouth quietly.
âBut I⦠I didnât bite the bird.â
âYes. You asked about the princeâs things.â
The guy took a step closer.
âSo I answered that I met a bird.â
There was no sound of feet hitting the floor.
Instead, there was a scent.
There was a terrible flower scent.
* * *
Two knights, one wizard.
Arsene looked at the three of them who came at once, as if they had met together and looked like he had a headache.
Arsene quietly raised his head and assessed the situation.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Alan has been away since morning. I said I would go to Libern. For some reason, Needlen, who had volunteered to help, left work in the morning. And another deputy commander who shared the office ran out of the palace.
âAstrisha.â
Five letters.
By saying just five letters.
I didnât know what that meant, there was a lot of work to do, and I wasnât really interested in what he wanted to say in short words, so I just nodded, but it was only now that I realized that he was probably talking about going to Astricia Street.
what. Since the job was done well, it didnât matter whether Plants went to Astrisha, Banensha, or crossed the Senyu River.
âVice Commander Hertz, there was heavy drinking on Naeransha Street. Judging by the report that a mana wave was detected, it appears that a magic bullet exploded. But now, Vice Commander Plantz, no. His Majesty the Crown Prince and the Third Prince are outside the palace.â
In this situation, it was a bit of a problem that Crown Prince Plantz was outside instead of Vice Commander Plantz. It became a problem to the point where Balkan, rather than the capitalâs guards, had to show interest and take action directly.
Arsene, who was looking at the three division commanders except Needlen, opened his mouth.
âWhat did your highness say?â
âI havenât reported it yet.â
âwhy?â
âThe commander is not here, but if your Majesty finds out about the situation, wonât you take action in Elazarâs direction?â
Elazar was the name of the newly changed Kingâs Guard.
Last year, Lemain disbanded the royal guard knights, Karen and Raon, who had been influenced by Briesen. And Planz selected those who were completely in his hands among the knights of the two knights and had them join Balkan.
There was no need to worry about the insufficient number of knights. This is because Count Aizen Eifrin, who leads the alliance of knight families that follow Calian, continues to train knights and send them to Siegfried, and among them, those who are good, are selected by Demirea to be sent to Balkan.
In any case, Lemain, who united the Knights and Wizards into one Balkan, changed the name of the Kingâs Guard âCaeraâ.
At that time, a knight belonging to Kaera handed Plantz a poison pouch, which led to Calian going to Evan and using the sword himself. Therefore, Lemain eliminated all of the knights belonging to Caera who were suspected of being connected to Brisen. However, since it was naturally impossible to disband the Kingâs Guard itself, the work was completed by changing the entire management system, including its name.
In this way, the knights in the palace were completely overturned and the kingâs position was solidified, but despite this, there was one thing that did not change. These are Lemainâs new breasts, which look like cows.
âWhen something goes wrong with the Crown Prince or the princes, he always tried to send Elazar away first, but today there is no corps commander to stop him. So I havenât been able to report it to you yet.â
Calian drinks poison, Plantz is stabbed, and Calian almost dies by accident. In the meantime, Randel thinks it might be worth it to bring Tensilâs Holy Knight into the palace, so Plantz dies and comes back to life. In any case, because he had troublesome sons, Lemaine tried to solve the problem by sending Ellazar first whenever something happened. Even though they knew full well that they were an order of knights that existed only for the king, so they should not act carelessly.
However, when Calian and Plants secretly ran away again, an accident occurred where the magic bullet exploded. Wouldnât it be clear that nine times out of ten such accidents would have involved Calian, and the remaining one would have been a mistake made by an unknown, crazy wizard. Thatâs something so obvious that you donât even have to use your brain to predict it.
So what will Lemain do without Alan to stop him? They will send Elazar along with Vulcan. It would be nice if he didnât say he would go and see it in person.
âEven if I hide it, theyâll hear it anyway.â
âYes. The intelligence officer will soon inform Your Majesty of the details. Perhaps you have already heard.â
âOkay, I understand.â
An accident suspected to be a magic bullet explosion occurred outside the royal palace.
It was at this time that Calian and Plants left the palace.
LeMaine still doesnât know about the accident, and Alan is not there.
Arsene, who finished organizing the situation, opened his mouth. He then gave instructions to Raz, the division commander of the Balkan Knights, and Paleton, one of the division commanders of the Damian Wizards.
âThree knights and twenty wizards. Two of twenty-three each. A total of forty-six people will be sent out. Send half to Naeran and the other half to Astrisha to check the scene. If you see the crown prince and the prince, arrest them immediately⦠bring them in. .â
âYes. What should I do if a fight breaks out?â
âIf there is a fight where the prince is not present, you will put it down on your own. If there is a fight where the prince is present, do not try to stop it or get hurt, but take control of the scene and wait. I will report this to your majesty and follow you towards Naerangsha.â
âAll right.â
After giving a short answer, the three division commanders left the office.
The bright blue eyes that had been looking at their backs calmly, as if nothing was a big deal, turned sharp as soon as the door closed.
âBut Iâm free these days. Sir Brigitte took over the intelligence work. Thanks to you, I have time to play with Coco.â
âThen, President of the Association. âIs Sir Bridget the only one doing the information gathering now?â
âwhat. âDidnât you hear from Prince Calian?â
âWhy would our prince tell me what he is doing with the president of the association? âHe doesnât talk to me unless itâs something I need to be involved in.â
âOh yeah. I guess so. Anyway, thatâs right. Sir Brigitte is currently in charge of Kyrisâs internal intelligence work alone.â
âIs this possible alone?â
âuh. The Association is still in charge of Tensil-related information, and the Prince has not specifically asked us to look into it further within Kairis. So I think itâs okay for Sir Bridget to move alone for now. I see that they recently started investigating Gray Briesen, and they told me to talk to them if I need more people.â
I was thinking about the conversation I had with Euria yesterday and the magic bullet.
Magic bullets are not very common items. Although it has strong killing power, it is prone to heavy drinking and is extremely expensive. Rather than use it to harm someone and get caught right away, it is better to use that money to buy poison or hire a wizard from the back world to deal with it quietly. Therefore, there were very few people who used magic bullets.
And Arsene knew only one person who, knowing full well that it was an effective weapon, noisy or not, had set out to do a job that was even quite dangerous, while earning enough pay to not care whether it was expensive or not.
âYou shouldnât have an accident with our prince in these timesâ¦â
In addition, the person who would turn around when Aila did something wrong also knew very well how much he needed to be cautious right now.
âItâs a big deal.â
Arsene stood up.
Then, after using clean magic to clean up his outfit, he roughly adjusted his clothes and quickly walked towards Arpia Palace, where Lemain would be.
* * *
Kalian said:
Since ancient times, the best perfume is a fruity scent.
The sweet scent of peach that makes you feel good, the refreshing tangerine scent, the coconut scent that soothes your mind, and the ever-refreshing lime scent. Why do they leave all the good scents behind and do that?
Kalian, who almost immediately showed his displeasure at the strong scent of flowers wafting through the wind, looked at Rashid again.
âThe prince said he was someone who couldnât resist being curious, but⦠Strangely enough, I too am very curious. Because of this, no other memories come to mind when I am surprised to see something amazing. So, if the prince can tell me how I came across a bird on such a dark night, then I will look back on my memories.â I
wonder if the grape-colored dress came to mind because of its scent or because of the stench that could not be covered by the scent.
â About who touched what was the princeâs.â
The tip of Calianâs finger toward the floor drew a long curve.
âThereâs a snake. Thereâs another one.â
Kalyan looked satisfied as he felt the scent of my old father and me coming from the new friend he met today. How can there be only one snake in the world? It was truly amazing and nice to meet another snake so close. On the other hand, I felt disgusted.
âIf I said I knew, they would wonder how I knew. If I say I donât know, the Baron wonât be able to remember either⦠So how should I answer this?â
âAre you worried, Prince?â
âI am worried, Baron.â
âWould it be difficult for you to regard this as a pleasant worry? âIf itâs not a night like this, you never know when weâll meet again.â
Calian nodded as if that was correct and closed his eyes slightly. Then, he took a deep breath, as if he had been momentarily intoxicated by a familiar yet unfamiliar strong scent. After resting and exhaling, I opened my eyes.
âAnyway. There is one thing I would like to tell the Baron. Is it okay if I talk to you?â
âYes. Itâs okay.â
âIâm a human. Itâs not a bird.â
Calianâs finger pointed at Aelaâs hairpin once again.
âIt seems like what the Baron picked up was a birdâs feather. âIâm telling you that itâs not that visible to my eyes.â
âAh. Is that so?â
âThatâs right.â
âI really made a big mistake. Iâm sorry.â
âItâs okay. There was someone else who saw it like that. Iâm used to it.â
Kalian took a step closer
and quietly picked up the hairpin in Rashidâs hand.
âThere it was again. It would be right to say that.â
âWas there?â
âThere was.â
A harmless smile spread across Rashidâs face.
It was the same.
It was truly a strange, joyful, and disgusting feeling.
He was turning the hairpin in his hand around and examining it. Calian spoke again.
âIn any case, it will be difficult to appease the Baronâs curiosity today. Because itâs difficult to find an answer. I think Iâll have to put my curiosity aside for a while.â
âItâs a shame, Prince.â
âI hope you donât feel too sorry. Because my regrets will be just as big.â
âStill, I hope that one day we can exchange answers. Is that okay?â
âWell. How do you think?â
Kalian raised his head.
Rashid looked at Kalian.
âIn any case, it seems the Baron was satisfied with meeting my person. I wonât get this back.â
Kalian slowly moved his hand. Then, he placed the hairpin that had belonged to Ayla back on Rashidâs left hand, then grabbed his hand and squeezed it into his fist. He picked it up because he liked it, so he held it as if telling him not to miss it
. I pressed the hand that was holding it tightly so that I could carve the broken hairpin with the broken beads into the deep wound caused by Ailaâs dagger. âI already decided to buy a new one, so it has already become an unowned item.
â
It dripped, as if it were an answer to Kalianâs words.
The blood that had stopped in Rashidâs hand flowed again. Kalyan smiled, as if he didnât care that his hand got wet with the blood as well. A smile filled with a harmless, fragrant
smile
. âIt looked like I made it.â
Rashid glanced at his hand without changing his expression and raised his head. Then he smiled like a child who found a more interesting game. He smiled with a flawless and innocent face. âI considered it a gift and thanked it
. â¦â¦â¦â
âHow many times do I have to tell you before you understand what Iâm saying?â
But like this.
Rashid was interrupted by a sound coming from the bottom of the building.
âBut, Little Duke. There was a report that there was a suspicious explosion here and that we should investigate immediately.â â
Itâs okay to say it was an order from the Marquis of Briesen. Iâve already guessed it.â
â⦠Thatâs not true, Duke.â
âDidnât you say that you would come out of the Balkans and meet them in person to hand them over? Itâs not against the rules and procedures, so itâs hard to understand why theyâre going to arrest this person.â They were
so focused on each other that they didnât notice, and a commotion broke out.
The reason Aila came here was to chase after Gray. Isnât that right? Gray must have confirmed that there was an explosion here. There must
have been enough murmurs to know what happened even if you just stood there for a moment. Who knows who is lying down now? Who saved him? Where did he get up? Itâs not hard to know who went. Whose son might be involved in this?
Isnât there a simple way to get Kalyan to step down from this position without killing Rashid? Just send someone to arrest Ayla and cause an even bigger commotion. Thatâs
why Gray summoned the capital guards.
Not knowing that this would mean nothing more than a slight disruption to the conversation between Calian and Rashid, he threatened to
arrest Demirea and Ayla, who were standing in front of Ayla. Kalian, who confirmed their confrontation, looked at Rashid. His words were half sincere and half ridiculing.
âI thought the Marquis cared about you. I guess I wasnât wrong.â
I donât know if that generosity was really affection.
Rashid smiled and nodded at what was said without this afterword.
âYes. I guess the Marquis was very worried about me. Itâs unfortunate, but I think it would be better to promise next time, Prince.â
âI think we should do that.â
âAnd I will not forget and keep the gift you gave me. Until next time.â
âUnderstood.â
We were both going to leave anyway.
Thanks to Gray, we only had less time to say a word or two, so there was nothing to regret.
So Rashid bowed deeply and showed his respect with an expression that showed no regrets. . Kalian also nodded lightly. After that, he used his magic power to wipe away all the blood around him, leaving behind only the blood that had flowed from Rashidâs hand. After organizing the surroundings, Kalian tried to go down using the back of the building
. I turned around.
ââ¦â¦Ah.â
And then I saw
a group of knights and wizards coming towards this place from afar. A person driving a horse in front of them under a magic lantern that was brightly lit so that people wouldnât be startled by the sudden appearance of an army. Anyway, I didnât listen to my brotherâs words. The face of a person eating a meal.
I looked at Planz.
The green eyes that found the same thing moved slowly.
I looked at my cousin who was approaching from afar.
âAh. I never thought Iâd see you like thisâ¦â
He seemed to have forgotten the pain that was radiating from his tight grip.
âIsnât this truly a great coincidence!â
A joyful voice filled with small admiration came to Calianâs ears. The terrible scent of flowers. The smell of perfume filled with perfume spread along with it.