Luce glanced at the blood on his fingers, then offered Mikhail a faint smile. Mikhail, wearing a blank expression, met the dragon’s gaze and casually rubbed the spot on his cheek where Luce’s fingers had brushed against him.
Capturing them, really?
Despite the smile, Luce scoffed inwardly. Showing up reeking of blood and shamelessly claiming they were captured? That was bold.
“Some blood splattered.”
So they either killed all five, or the targets took their own lives before being captured.
The dragon looked at Mikhail as if humoring a child putting on airs in front of an adult. For a royal, he certainly had a knack for navigating situations.
Just then, a knight who had retrieved all the arrows bowed his head toward Mikhail and reported,
“I’ll request magical analysis, and I’ll inform you if anything unusual comes up.”
“Alright.”
“Yes, then once the area is secured again, we’ll set off. I’m sorry for the sudden stop—it must’ve been inconvenient. We’ll get going as quickly as p– pardon, we’ll resume shortly…”
The knight, having completed his report to Mikhail, turned to address the prince’s companion—only to suddenly freeze in place.
That was the first time he’d looked directly into the face of the youngest prince’s traveling companion.
“Yes.”
Luce, completely unfazed by the reaction, offered a polite nod and a faint smile. It wasn’t uncommon for humans to stop breathing when they locked eyes with a dragon.
However, the reason the knight was stunned wasn’t simply because of the man’s stunningly handsome face. No—well, to be precise, it was because of his face, but not in the way one might expect. The burly, rugged knight tilted his head slightly, his expression one of someone slowly dredging up a memory.
“Hmmm…?”
He’d long served as a royal guard and had accompanied the youngest prince on numerous occasions.
The knight’s brows furrowed slightly as his gaze locked with the man sitting nonchalantly on the sofa. His sharp instincts—honed through years of dealing with all kinds of people—kicked in.
A certain portrait flashed through his mind. Yes, the man sitting there with that indifferent look was a perfect match for the student he’d once searched for at the Hildeke Cliffs—Adrian Heather.
“Could you be, perhaps…”
Just as the knight was about to ask, “Are you by any chance, Adrian Heather?”—
“You’ve done well.”
Mikhail’s arm shot out, blocking the knight’s view. With a cold voice, Mikhail continued. There was no benefit to letting this information spread.
“If more people help with the cleanup, we can get moving faster. You may leave now.”
“…Yes, of course.”
It was a clear order to disembark.
The knight turned briskly and exited the carriage, burying his lingering doubts deep within. Never overstep a royal’s will—that was the mindset of a knight serving the palace.
As soon as the knight was gone, Mikhail let out a small sigh and sank onto the sofa. Fellen Deeps’ sword, securely fastened at his hip, clinked softly with the motion.
What the prince had just pulled off outside wasn’t something a typical academy student would do. The assailants, once their location had been discovered, immediately activated suicide spell circles engraved inside their mouths. Though the escort knights had tried to hold him back, Mikhail had insisted on identifying each of the attackers himself. That was likely when the blood had splashed on his cheek.
Luce turned to Mikhail and asked,
“If five of them attacked at once, then there must be an organization behind this… You seem oddly calm. Do you have an idea who it might be?”
Mikhail’s sharp, catlike eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Luce.
“It’s nothing serious. Attacks like this are fairly common in these outlying regions.”
“Is that so?”
“You’re surprisingly interested in human affairs.”
His tone was polite, but the meaning beneath was clear—mind your own business.
Luce understood instantly, quirking up one corner of his lips. Mikhail silently watched the dragon’s smirking expression from across the seat, then spoke again.
“And…”
Just as the escort knight had recognized the dragon’s appearance moments ago, the closer they got to Mount Hildeke, the more likely it was that people would recognize Adrian Heather from his portrait. Up until now, the knights had maintained enough distance in their escort duties that they hadn’t been able to closely examine who exactly the prince was traveling with. That had been a small stroke of luck.
But letting that happen again would be problematic. Even so, calling off the search for Adrian Heather and collecting all the portraits was out of the question.
Only one option remained. After a brief pause, Mikhail spoke again.
“In the next village, we should stop by a clothing shop. There’s no benefit in letting people know who’s traveling with us… You should wear a robe.”
“A robe? Ugh, those are such a hassle. But if you’re the one planning to wear it, then I don’t care.”
Mikhail’s eyebrow twitched at the dragon’s childish response.
What he had just suggested wasn’t something that could be brushed off over mere discomfort. And… with clenched teeth and rising irritation, Mikhail snapped,
“Why would I wear the robe?”
Luce caught the frustration flaring across Mikhail’s face and shrugged.
“The one who’s worried about how humans look at him is the one who should be wearing it. For the record, I couldn’t care less.”
“…”
Mikhail remained silent at the dragon’s brazenness, then resumed with a more serious tone.
“To clarify, the search for Adrian Heather—who looks exactly like you—is still active. If you walk around in public with that face, you’re just asking for trouble.”
“…Search?”
“There are even wanted posters with his portrait posted all over the nearby villages.”
“Hah… so they actually put up posters, huh.”
So they’re convinced he’s disappeared for good.
Reclining comfortably against the sofa, Luce cast a sideways glance at Mikhail, who was now gazing out the carriage window, lost in thought. He was clearly thinking about Adrian Heather—dead, or rather, from his perspective, missing after falling from a cliff.
What is he looking at like that? Luce subtly scanned the area outside in the direction Mikhail was facing, but aside from the coachman, the only presences within range of the carriage were the two of them. Mikhail had clearly grown somber the moment Adrian Heather was brought up. Though he tried to act unaffected by turning away, Luce’s dragon eyes saw through it all.
He looked genuinely pitiful. But, unfortunately, Luce had no intention of rekindling a game that had already ended.
“Alright. If that’s the case, then there’s no need to stop at a clothing shop.”
Mikhail looked surprised at how easily Luce agreed. But from Luce’s perspective, it was rather convenient that Mikhail already knew who he really was. That meant he didn’t have to hide when using magic. Playing the role of a powerless commoner was always annoying—having to pretend he couldn’t use magic.
Although, that did make things more amusing sometimes.
Shhh— Tiny shimmering specks of mana began to swirl around Luce’s golden eyes.
The motes gathered together, slowly forming a piece of black cloth from the crown of his golden-blond hair. From there, golden flecks of mana slid gracefully down his head, jaw, and shoulders—like golden thread weaving a robe from darkness itself. The black fabric enveloped his arms and back completely, and once it finished, it gently settled down from where it had hovered in the air.
Mikhail couldn’t take his eyes off Luce during the entire process of casting the spell.
The soft currents of mana still flowed through Luce’s golden irises, looking like melted gold and gemstones shifting in fluid form.
It was strange. Adrian had never been able to use mana at all… Yet from time to time—rarely, but unmistakably—his eyes would flicker just like that, glowing faintly.
“What? Is black too dark for you?”
Luce ran his palm along the smooth texture of the robe as he asked. Mikhail was staring so intently without saying a word—it was obvious something was on his mind again.
“No. That’s perfect.”
The robe was pitch black.
It wouldn’t completely hide his tall stature or lean build, of course. But covering his face would be enough to make this journey significantly easier.
Still, to accept the suggestion so quickly—was there some ulterior motive? Mikhail frowned slightly, unaware that the dragon had simply taken pity on someone searching for a friend so earnestly he’d resorted to plastering villages with posters.
“Alright. Then we’ll go with that.”
Luce didn’t add anything else after that.
