#51
There’s no presence. And at the same time, he’s sensitive to others’ presence.
‘The problem is that’s not something only seen in abused beasts.’
Right, in fact, all of that could also belong to someone trained.
‘He might not have simply received shadow training.’
If he had been raised as a spy rather than an assassin, many things seen in Ersen would fit perfectly.
He was quiet, quick-witted, and sometimes read the surrounding air first to a noticeable degree.
And today, he had truly entered the ‘center’ to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if he threw his body to create some picture.
That center wasn’t created by chance—it reeked of planning.
Marcus was familiar with such smells.
Rather, what truly surprised him was his friends’ reactions.
The hand lowering the glass paused momentarily.
Though his expression didn’t change, the tension in his fingertips was subtly revealed.
‘They all seem so unlike themselves, being so kind.’
Those words could be a mischievous joke thrown out as usual, but now he didn’t voice them.
Marcus quietly clicked his tongue.
Even trying not to care, each of their reactions stood out in his mind.
The sight of them quickly trusting someone who was the enemy’s child, perhaps even a beast who had joined hands with the enemy, just because they felt a little sorry for him and were bound by contract.
That wasn’t innocence but dangerous emotion.
Because it meant those who should make the most refined judgments of anyone in the imperial family had begun to allow their hearts.
Trust wasn’t a simple emotion.
It was intangible magic that influenced actions and decisions.
‘I need to get my head straight too.’
He swallowed a deep sigh and muttered like that to himself.
And as if making a promise to himself with those words, he pressed his forehead once with his finger.
Marcus repeatedly thought while erasing the lingering image of Ersen from the ball that kept rising.
That scene was circling in his head like a play.
The ballroom where lights poured down, music flowing, the scene of dancing hand in hand.
The being that shone uniquely clearly within it.
The fact that his appearance, dressed up for attending the ball, was several times more beautiful than expected was a fact that didn’t need thinking!
And he was annoyed that such an absurd thought had come to mind first.
But he couldn’t deny it.
Shining eyes, the angle of light touching his skin, and even the texture of clothing that fell softly—he definitely possessed ‘intended beauty.’
‘The real problem to worry about is… ha… Theodore.’
Lowering his head momentarily, he thought that.
The Crown Prince was definitely unexpected.
He wasn’t someone who would reveal emotions so easily.
Crown Prince Theodore seemed to genuinely converse with Ersen more than anyone else throughout the ball.
That wasn’t refined like a staged performance.
It was truly natural, sometimes like brothers, sometimes like friends—really, so comfortably.
Exchanging jokes, exchanging glances, sometimes even lightly hitting each other’s shoulders.
That scene remained long in Marcus’s eyes.
Because even the light gesture of hitting shoulders looked too familiar.
Having no hesitation about each other’s distance meant they had already become emotionally close.
‘Acting my ass, that guy always secretly envied nobles with brothers. He definitely fell for it completely.’
Those words were serious.
Theodore had always envied familial bonds of being together with someone.
Though he called such things ‘useless affection’ in words, he was always weak to such things.
Really absurd, but that’s how it looked!
Marcus squeezed his eyes shut.
The feeling that the situation was flowing in a direction he truly couldn’t understand.
And Skyle.
His thoughts smoothly shifted.
The quiet and sharp Archduke Rodias.
Someone more sensitive and restrained than anyone.
His reaction was even more unfamiliar.
Really, it was unexpected.
He didn’t know he would react almost collapsing like that.
The moment Ersen collapsed at the ballroom, the energy that burst from Skyle’s body was enough to make even Marcus flinch.
That energy wasn’t rational action.
Not control of the body, but instinctive reaction.
That sharp atmosphere, the uncontrolled waves of mana. Even the half-demons passing by him stepped back.
That was already a reaction separate from his position as Archduke.
Momentary impulse, unconscious emotional rupture.
It was something instinctive, and seemed like suppressed emotions had burst out.
And Marcus didn’t dare want to imagine what the ‘prototype’ of such emotion was.
‘That’s why it’s a problem.’
Quietly turning his head, he muttered that inwardly.
The core of the problem was exactly there.
Because it was truly unlike Skyle.
He always calculated everything.
He was a human who even inhaled at calculated intervals.
At that moment, an absurd thought crossed his mind.
Marcus rubbed his forehead with his hand.
An absurd imagination that wouldn’t disappear clung to his mind like a leech.
‘Could it be that Kyle likes that arrogant Your Highness?’
That was an absolutely unimaginable combination.
That couldn’t be.
He immediately shook his head.
While thinking logically that it wasn’t so, the very fact that such imagination had occurred…
But the fact that such thoughts had occurred made Marcus perplexed.
Though he tried to consciously maintain an expressionless face, the slightly furrowed eyebrows couldn’t be hidden by himself.
“This really won’t do.”
Words that fell like a sigh between his lips.
Rather than words directed at someone, it sounded like self-reflection.
Half-demons are no good for this reason…
He tilted his glass again and smiled with twisted lips.
It was a bitter smile. Really, in many meanings.
He thought with a bitter smile.
‘The moment I try to give a little space, the situation becomes strange.’
Marcus slightly raised his chin, then narrowed his brow.
Memories from just before flowed past like glimpses.
Ersen’s gaze, laughter, speech, and even the moment he coughed up blood—afterimages still remained stickily.
Without knowing, his fingertips searched around his waist.
Residual heat remained so long it was confusing where traces ended and where expectations began.
He admits that Marcus’s own personal impressions of Ersen had nearly approached favorability. But that was all.
He very slowly, forcibly pulled up the corners of his mouth.
Favorability was just temporary emotion.
Nothing beyond that should be given meaning.
Especially after knowing who he was.
Most important to him were the people of the Naha family and his friends.
That was an unchanging standard.
He knew exactly what kind of person he should protect, where he should place his loyalty and live.
Family and long friendship. He had never doubted those.
‘If it becomes more bothersome than this, what would be good to do?’
He repeated that sentence several times inwardly.
He felt the time to make a decision was gradually approaching.
At that moment, some familiar clothing brushed the edge of his vision.
While continuing somewhat malicious thoughts toward Ersen, he turned his head following the familiar clothing and quite alien energy.
His body reacted first.
The presence itself was delicately different.
The smell approaching through the air, and silence that was far too alien.
Half-demons.
Marcus slightly frowned.
They possessed an energy that strangely created resonance.
Even without words, without giving glances, beings with somehow thick ‘presence.’
They had arrived at precisely the right timing just before, as if they had calculated it.
It was too precise to be coincidence.
And exquisitely unpleasant.
Right before Prince Ersen ate poison and collapsed.
It didn’t take much time to twist up the corners of his mouth.
That timing was a moment that couldn’t reasonably be considered coincidence.
‘Come to think of it, those guys were there.’
The reason he had forgotten momentarily was because the surrounding situation had been too noisy until now.
But these were absolutely targets that shouldn’t be missed.
Marcus hid his suspicious feelings toward his close friends and smiled broadly.
Though it looked like an eye-smile, awkwardness he couldn’t speak of was mixed within.
While making expressions, he quietly lowered his breathing.
And he began approaching the group of half-demons who were looking around the ballroom in the chaotic atmosphere as soon as they arrived.
His steps were slow but continued in a straight line.
Piercing through between people, he didn’t hide his own presence.
For now, thinking to solve this side first.
He would have to face them later anyway.
If so, now would be better.
Now, while the confusion hadn’t yet subsided, making eye contact would be effective.
“What business brings such heavy-bottomed dignitaries all the way here?”
The tone was light, but the voice was low.
The hand he waved held movement closer to mockery than cheerfulness.
When Marcus waved his hand casually while speaking, the half-demon high-ranking official standing in front sharply frowned.
Some of the group also couldn’t hide their faces hardening.
Their gazes all turned toward Marcus in unison, and the air sank strangely.
The ballroom was still subtly chaotic.
People were still looking for someone, and some were quietly repeating the name of the prince who had just exited.
But no one could easily approach the group of half-demons.
Meanwhile, the half-demons who appeared after Ersen’s incident were definitely drawing attention.
They stood still as if intentionally, and rather amplified the threat by saying nothing at all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
