#104
Skyle remained still for a moment, then approached closer to check the dry area around his eyes. His eyes gleamed strangely.
‘I thought he might cry today.’
The Prince doesn’t cry when having nightmares.
Even when trembling, shrinking, or breaking into cold sweats, when overcome with emotion he just presses his lips tightly shut. He only quietly swallows his breath as if enduring something.
“An old nightmare.”
If so, how old might it be?
If he asked, would he get an answer?
When awake, he doesn’t even seem to remember having nightmares.
“He really isn’t easy.”
He sat on the edge of the bed with Ersen behind him and slowly handled his remaining work.
About two weeks remained until the Prince’s succession rights ceremony.
Since the half-demons had performed an acceleration ritual, calculating the time to deal with related matters, it would be five days at most.
The Prince said he would nullify Sercil’s curse every other day, so during that time Skyle thought he could take care of the Prince while simultaneously monitoring and dealing with Eris and the half-demons.
Ersen’s tightly suppressed groans could be heard again.
It didn’t seem to be because his sleeping place had changed. It appeared to be an old nightmare, but it also didn’t seem like something that happened every day. He hadn’t been like this when resting in the Crown Prince’s side chamber last time. Then was it simply a matter of feeling secure?
‘If it’s not that either, the problem becomes complicated.’
Skyle chuckled.
He’d have to observe for a few more days, but if the Prince’s nightmare was because of this place… that is, because it was Skyle’s quarters, then the target of the nightmare would narrow down to Skyle himself.
As far as he remembered, he had never done anything to the Prince that would give him such nightmares.
“We seemed to have exchanged quite pleasant words with each other.”
When he spoke to him, his breathing calmed as if he had heard.
It wasn’t a bad feeling to have him respond even in his sleep. However, becoming the source of nightmares was unpleasant.
Chirp chirp.
A small golden bird that appeared from somewhere in the air placed a white letter on the bed beside him and disappeared. After Skyle finished his work including several command documents, he opened the letter.
It was correspondence related to major and minor family affairs.
After leaving several replies in the letter with magic and preparing to send it, he paused.
Preparations to welcome the Prince… it would be better to handle personally if possible.
After thinking, he added to the letter that he would prepare to welcome the Prince but would come to check in four days.
Then he looked at the Prince with calm eyes and gently brushed his forehead.
At that very moment.
“Huk.”
Skyle felt his heart expand frighteningly.
No, all the blood vessels in his body were surging. Ominously, as if he would explode while still alive.
‘What is this.’
He first moved several steps away from Prince Ersen.
Then he exited the room through the window and barely managed to move to the Rodias estate by circulating minimal magic power.
“Master?”
The butler who had just confirmed the Archduke’s instructions welcomed his master. He had just started tidying the room to welcome the Prince – had he come to check?
However, the moment the butler saw his master’s condition, he knew that wasn’t the case.
“Nancy! Nancy! Get Baron!”
“Elrond!”
The personal physician summoned by head maid Nancy arrived before being called and examined his master.
“There’s no major physical problem at the moment.”
“You. Don’t tell me that means.”
“It’s a curse.”
To be precise, it was the symptoms of ‘that curse’ that young Skyle, who survived alone, had often suffered from.
“Damn it, why now all of a sudden!”
Regarding curses, they had no other methods either.
They wouldn’t accept anything related to curse removal because it might fall into the hands of half-demons. People, magic, even objects.
The highest-grade curse placed on the four of them was a nasty thing that could have unknown side effects if someone unrelated carelessly interfered with it, so ultimately that was the correct response. However.
In the end, as always, there was no method other than their master overcoming it himself.
The loyal servants’ faces turned pale.
“…He’ll be fine. As far as I know, there was no one who could handle curses like our lord.”
Yes, it was because there was no one born with pure enough magic power and qualifications to do it, but considering the aftereffects and dangers of curse removal, suppressing the curse with one’s own power like this was the best option.
Skyle Rodias was more familiar with this than anyone.
Even at that young age, their master had gotten up with a clean face in less than 10 hours.
However, it was a full half day before Skyle woke up in front of his subordinates who surrounded him with dark faces.
Skyle opened his eyes with a clear face as if he had never been in pain. And only after finishing preparations to return did he speak to his subordinates.
“The preparations?”
“…Pardon?”
“Preparations to welcome His Highness.”
The butler and other servants answered faithfully despite their bewilderment.
“We removed all furniture from the best guest room and selected new furniture. We finished cleaning today.”
“No. It would be better to use the room next to mine.”
“…!”
Everyone bowed their heads with startled eyes.
Skyle left the estate without saying more.
* * *
Theodore looked at the Lindea lordship castle visible in the distance.
Even though sky blue was that family’s symbol, who would have thought the lordship castle would be sky blue too.
“Did they use coloring magic on the entire castle?”
His accompanying attendant asked in a voice mixed with admiration and bewilderment.
“It’s not even the imperial palace, so there wouldn’t be a reason to go that far.”
“It’s probably not coloring but some other reason.”
Lord Lindea was among the frugal nobles. He wouldn’t have spent money frivolously.
“Maybe it became sky blue because of magic that had to be carved directly into the stone.”
“Is there such magic?”
The attendant tilted his head while nodding. Anyway, that was where they would have to stay for a while. If it had become colored for some other reason as his master said, it couldn’t be a bad reason for security.
The attendant glanced at his master. It was a habitual action. His master looked more comfortable than ever recently. So much so that he could tell that all the days he had previously judged as ‘his condition is good today’ while serving him had merely been relatively stable days, never truly good ones.
‘He told me not to worry.’
After what happened to the High Priest… when he was despairing thinking there was no hope left, somehow his master only looked refreshed. So when he asked, he was told he would be informed later.
‘He hasn’t told me the reason yet, but it seems he’s become somewhat free from the curse’s influence.’
Actually, it wasn’t that there was nothing he could guess as the reason.
He was just deliberately ignoring it because it was ‘that’ cursed 2nd Prince.
‘…Surely he’s not blocking the existing curse with another curse… right?’
That was all he could think of, so he was a bit anxious.
But he trusted his master. He wasn’t someone who would use up future lifespan for immediate stability.
‘Then what could it be? Why is that strange 2nd Prince staying in the Crown Prince’s palace anyway?’
If it was something he couldn’t share even with his closest subordinate, there was only one possibility. Either because half-demons might be listening somewhere, or because it was top secret related to half-demons that only the person involved should know.
‘I’m still anxious about it. But if it’s something that helps His Highness, I could even accept the 2nd Prince’s grandfather.’
If he had said it directly, he would have gotten the absurd response of “Isn’t the 2nd Prince’s grandfather my grandfather?” – an answer based on the unconscious assumption that considered half-demons and himself as brothers – but fortunately he was an attendant who didn’t speak carelessly, so such a shocking situation didn’t occur.
The attendant made a complicated expression, then said to his master with a “Well, whatever’s good is good!” attitude.
“What should I say if the Count asks about the Lindea territory situation?”
“You’re asking that now?”
“I thought Your Highness would speak about it, but you said you’d assess the situation upon arrival.”
At the attendant’s roundabout way of saying he’d been left to handle it alone, Theodore let out a deflated laugh.
“Say he’s sick.”
“What? Can we get away with such an insincere answer?”
“He’ll let it pass.”
Because their situation was urgent, and there was a high possibility he knew what was happening to his son right now.
The attendant nodded glumly.
It had taken three days to reach Lindea territory while gathering rumors and assessing the situation. From the Count’s perspective, it was actually a timeframe where reinforcements had arrived sooner than expected, but he was anxious because he was concerned about the current situation at the imperial palace.
Sercil would probably know about his territory’s situation by now, and because of that, he might attempt something reckless. If so, there was a possibility Ersen would get involved, and if he did get involved, it would become possible to catch the half-demons’ weakness through Sercil, but there was a risk of losing Ersen.
‘I received word that there seemed to be a change of heart.’
But that was something uncertain.
When family matters were conveyed, his mind might change again.
Ersen was… actually not someone loyal enough to keep faith with. In his opinion, it wouldn’t be strange if Sercil handed Ersen over to the half-demons at any time.
‘Kyle seemed unconcerned, but he’s also in an unstable state right now.’
Early manifestation of acceleration symptoms.
Skyle’s manifestation symptoms had begun appearing as illness contrary to expectations, Marcus had curse chains targeting his heart that were becoming visible to the eye, and Sercil kept facing life-threatening situations due to some phenomenon where fairy transformation or whatever power he’d never even thought about clashed with the curse.
‘What the hell is that.’
Because of this, contrary to the plan, they decided to have Ersen simultaneously lift the curses of Sercil, Marcus, and Skyle little by little as a countermeasure.
Recalling the news delivered through Skyle’s golden bird this morning, Theodore couldn’t prevent his face from contorting.
“…Damn it.”
Ersen Mayer.
…What exactly do you want to do?
Why do you keep.
“…Sh-should I add some details to make it sound better?”
Why do you keep moving as if you want to die?
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll take responsibility and make good excuses.”
With the attendant’s resolute but trembling voice as the end, Theodore’s horse began to pick up speed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
