Chapter 97

The Knights of the White Night, who noticed Haqab’s hot gaze, exchanged glances. Haqab approached with his arms wide open. But instead of Rosaline, he embraced Raymond, who suddenly appeared in front of him. The men’s hard chest muscles were in contact with each other. Both Haqab and Raymond frowned.

“Long time no see, Your Highness! I can’t help but rejoice at this welcome!”

Raymond gave him a big hug. Haqab patted Raymond with a very disappointed look and kissed him on the cheek. Raymond also kissed Haqab on the cheek. At this point, the word ‘inhale’ was probably a little closer.

When Haqab was about to go to Rosaline, her senior knight colleagues came forward and exchanged greetings on her behalf. After the fifth one, after receiving a rough and long kiss from Pardict and his shaggy beard, Haqab finally raised the white flag.

After the weaponless battle was over, the men wiped their mouths and cheeks with displeased faces. Ricardis watched the dirty dogfight with his mouth covered. He hadn’t wanted to witness it. It was good to have Haqab, who rarely showed his dissatisfaction, frown for a while. But the confrontation had made even the viewers feel depressed.

Haqab looked back at Rosaline several times and continued to express regret, but he had to give up because there were still ten knights left.

A maid soon informed them that the reception room was ready to serve the guests.

Rosaline entered the reception room and looked around quickly. She checked the escorts who had come in beforehand, the nobles who visited with Haqab, the servants who came from Balta and objects that did not breathe, even the walls, ceilings and floors that make up the space. The Knights of the White Night watched closely as Rosaline looked around. They were poised to pop out immediately if she frowned or said a word.

In the blink of an eye, Rosaline finished her judgment. She sent a hand signal to the knights behind her.

[No problem.]

The knights exchanged glances. There were doubts in the twinkling eyes.

Rosaline’s [Abnormal] signal contained a wider range of information than she truly meant. The knights took it as not only did she detect superficial threats such as a sharp dagger that could be seen with naked eyes, but also deeper and deadlier “Fragment” and the energy of artificial mage unit.

‘He even brought those with him? What kind of guts does Haqab have?’

As Ricardis sat down, Haqab followed and sat across from him.

“How was your journey?”

“I saw a beautiful land where the land is green, the sky is clear, and the fruits are lush.”

Haqab smiled brightly.

The only thing growing on the desolate continent was the smell of a rotting corpse. Parents sold their children for two loaves of bread, and even animals could not live in a dead village. It must’ve felt like a return home when the country of Illavenia, which held the glory of God, was on its road to doomsday.

“Ah, I immediately thought I was in Illavenia.”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

Ricardis lowered his eyes and picked up the cup. He was anticipating what the Balta delegation had seen on their journey. ‘What a beautiful land.’ That was not an appreciation.

Ricardis strangely misinterpreted when those words came out of Haqab’s mouth, even though he knew it was just a polite opening conversation. He wanted to argue, “What happened to your eyes?”, but he had never done such a childish thing before, even when he’d been 10 years old. He just had to stop thinking.

Ricardis sniffed the familiar aroma of black tea and escaped his thoughts. Aligarte of Lienta. He smiled bitterly. ‘Maybe such a coincidence is a joke from God.’

Considering that Rosaline was quiet, there would be no ‘Fragment’ in the current tea, but it was inevitable that it felt strange. Haqab looked at Ricardis with a strange look.

“Ah, excuse me. Before the guests, even. I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“I wonder what made you laugh. I’m just sad that I’m not the reason for that smile.”

‘Ah… How annoying is this man.’ Ricardis hid his emotion and smiled.

“There was a time when I almost drank the ‘Fragment’ of the Black Moon, and that was the same kind of tea as this one.”

“Oh, it wasn’t such a fun memory.”

“Is that so?”

Ricardis smiled haha and changed the atmosphere that had stood for a while. The Knights of White Night straightened their bodies even more. Even though it was a boring conversation time, no one let their guard down. There was no way that the members who survived all kinds of dangers could not read the sharp and fierce atmosphere in the current conversation.

“When I heard that the delegation was attacked on the way back, ah.”

Haqab rubbed his chest. Several rings glistened from the man’s hand.

“It felt like my heart stopped.”

‘How nice it would have been if it had really stopped’. Ricardis looked at him with icy eyes.

“I am so glad that you seem safe, Prince.”

“Thanks for your concern. We have returned safely.”

“Where is my virtue? I heard-”

Haqab’s eyes turned to Ricardis’s back. Ricardis didn’t look back, but he was sure that Rosaline was within his reach. Haqab opened his mouth, making eye contact with Rosaline.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“There was a great performance. I’d like to hear it directly from her, if you don’t mind.”

Ricardis smiled brighter than ever.

“Haha, she’s my escort right now. She must not leave her seat recklessly.”

“But I’m only here for a while…”

“Hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to talk about it in the future.”

Haqab said hmm’ed and wiped his chin at Ricardis’ attitude of cutting off nonsense.

“That’s so depressing. Well, then maybe next time.”

His answer sounded very light, but his gaze was persistent and his desire heavy.

When Ricardis looked into his eyes, he was surrounded by an unknown chill. It occurred to him that perhaps the reason Haqab set foot in Illavenia was because of Rosaline’s presence.

The country of Idelavhim, Illavenia.

The land of Crean Tidanion, Balta.

He didn’t think deeply of it as a matter of course. To those who would even pathologically create mages, what is Rosaline? To a country called Balta that created artificial mages with crystals of magic that have been forcibly refined, what is Rosaline? To Haqab, who discovered Rosaline’s identity as… someone who had destroyed those human weapons with her own hand…

What if Haqab’s purpose was entirely limited to Rosaline? It’d put him in trouble. It seemed to him that it would make him feel better to hear Haqab say that he had come to assassinate the emperor. In this perilous place, the heir of a nation set foot only for Rosaline to the extent of putting down his own safety and everything?

As the thoughts overlapped, he began to feel how heavy the weight of Haqab’s desire was.

***

After parting with Haqab, Ricardis came to see Ganje, the 3rd Princess of Balta. She stayed in a small annex a little far from the castle where Haqab stayed. Copper-skinned warriors stood guard, walking around with sharp eyes. They were so many of them that it looked safer than Haqab’s place.

The maid, who saw Ricardis’s party arriving, entered the room. The door opened right away.

‘I hope to see you again soon.’

He remembered the greeting they had exchanged after a brief meeting. And even her last words.

‘Till then, take care, Prince.’

It was a conventional greeting, but it was meaningful because it was something he had heard from a high-ranking person in Balta. It sounded like, ‘My brother Haqab is going to attack you on the way home, so you must be careful’. However, due to the previous words, ‘I hope to see you again soon’, it was also interpreted as ‘Let’s survive well and meet again’.

It was too short a time to get to know one person. Also, information about the 3rd Princess Ganje was very limited, so it was difficult to infer her thoughts.

The 3rd Princess Ganje, 21 years old. She was not the type to enjoy banquets and mainly lived in the palace. That’s it. End of story.

Balta already had a strong successor. Haqab Hwi Livita. Under the stronger, more ruthless successor than his predecessors, all the remaining children of Hiksala Adon were suffocated. That was why information about Ganje and other children was unknown because nobody needed to know.

Haqab’s conspicuous brothers used to have accidents without fail. There were many princes and princesses, but only a few left because the survival rate until adulthood was terrible. One of the few royalties left was the 3rd Princess Ganje. One thing that set her apart from the many Haqab’s siblings was that she was Haqab’s biological sister.

The door opened. Ricardis followed the handmaiden’s guidance and entered her room.

“Princess Ganje.”

“Oh, His Highness Ricardis. You’re here.”

Ganje seemed to have heard the news that he had reached this castle in advance. Light refreshments were already on the table. She stood up and slowly approached Ricardis. The scent of the room and her eyes made Ganje look even more languid.

Chuik. She kissed Ricardis on the cheek and was smiling.

“It’s been so long. You’re still beautiful. Which moonlight can shine more than this.”

‘I’m sure I’ve heard something similar before…’ Ricardis was deeply skeptical. He’d thought the brother and sister were not much alike, but when they opened their mouths, they really resembled each other. Ricardis returned a greeting to the princess’ cheek.

At the sight of the two sharing a light kiss, Rosaline stiffened for a moment and pressed her mouth. I feel strangely… unwell.