RGS Volume 3 Part 17

Melmond stood up abruptly, grabbing Abel’s shoulders, and shook him.

“D-Don’t tell me, something happened, did you?!”

“What happened?”

Abel, on the contrary, asked with a confused face, and Melmond lowered his voice, hesitating.

“No, I mean. I thought it might have been uncomfortable, ahem, since the both of you slept in a narrow bed.”

“Oh, it was uncomfortable. Ah, it was really uncomfortable to the point where I could hardly breathe.”

Abel, as if waiting, expressed his frustration, and the butler nodded as if he had experienced the same thing.

“That’s right. That happens when two adult men sleep in a narrow bed.”

“Yeah, it was really tight. I was almost half-crushed and it was hard to breathe.”

The butler consoled Abel for his trouble, but Melmond fixated on the word “crushed.” He asked Abel with suspicion in his voice.

“Crushed? And nothing else happened?”

“Nothing else?”

Both the butler and Abel looked at Melmond with puzzled eyes. Faced by the innocent gazes of the two, Melmond could only cough in vain.

“Ahem, I mean, did, did any of your important parts touch?”

“Yes, they did.”

“What?!”

Did it really happen? Melmond’s face froze in astonishment, but the butler and Abel continued their conversation as if it were nothing special.

“Since the bed was narrow, your important parts must have touched, right, young master?”

“Yes. It was quite awkward. But with the bed being so small, what could we do?”

“Exactly. When the bed is narrow, it’s inevitable.”

“Haha, so I was really flustered, but I managed to endure it well. But the Commander-in-Chief really is big.”

Abel raised his thumb all the way up and exclaimed in admiration, and the butler chimed in, saying that he somehow expected that. Melmond became confused by the conversation between the two.

Are their reactions normal? Am I so corrupt that I can only imagine things in a different way?

One thing was certain. Now was not the time to praise the Commander-in-Chief’s large pen1s. However, that naive guy was someone who would even claim that the reason he cried wasn’t because of the Commander-in-Chief’s large pen1s but because the bed was too narrow.

Frustrated, Melmond decided to leave the cabin to check on Karas. But something caught his eye. When Abel removed his hand from his shoulder, his clothes shifted, revealing small red marks.

Moreover, it looked as if…

“Huh? Abel, you have something on your shoulder.”

When Melmond pointed to his shoulder, Abel turned his head and finally saw his own shoulder. There were already several small wounds with traces of blood. It looked as if he had been bitten by something.

Melmond could immediately tell that it was human bite marks.

Was it the emperor?

As he widened his eyes in shock again, screams erupted from both Abel and the butler at the same time.

“Ahh! Looks like I got bitten by a bug!”

“Ugh! There are so many bugs here!”

Melmond silently watched the two and quietly went outside without saying anything. He suddenly felt lonely.

On the deck of the ship, many people had gathered to escape the stuffy cabins and bask in the sunlight. There, Karas was waiting for the real Commander of the 1st Battalion who had just disappeared, intending to gather information about the fake one.

However, since it was something Melmond had no interest in, he felt uneasy as he wanted to quickly go back to the room and talk to Abel more.

As he leaned against the railing, ready to turn back as he counted from one to ten, he overheard a conversation nearby. Three men, carrying a large baggage next to them, appeared to be merchants. They were going back to their hometown after a long time, and they were deeply engrossed in tales of their hometown. Among them, the youngest man’s worries caught Karas’ attention.

“Wow, I didn’t recognize her for so long. How could I have known that she was the older sister I used to like when we were kids? And yet, I just acted all cocky to her without knowing. Haah.”

As the young man sighed, the middle-aged man with a beard shook his head sympathetically.

“That’s not just being cocky. Don’t you know how sensitive women are about appearances? Plus, first impressions are crucial! You’ve probably been marked as a hopeless guy in her eyes now.”

“Really? Ah, I’m dead.”

As the young man became discouraged, another middle-aged man nodded in agreement with the bearded man’s words.

“Yeah, first impressions are important. I also had a hard time getting married because I was a bit blunt when I first met my wife. She still occasionally mentions how upset she was back then. It’s tough if the first impression is bad. Well, she won’t feel any affection for you, that’s for sure, unless you’re lucky.”

“Really?”

“Well, yeah… huh?”

The middle-aged man nodded his head in response to the sudden question and turned his body in surprise.

There was a tall young man standing there, whom he had never seen before. Moreover, his expressionless face seemed imposing as he looked down at them, causing the middle-aged man to step back involuntarily. The others were also startled and looked up at him, but he ignored their stiff reactions and asked him.

“Is that so?”

Although he used informal language out of the blue, there was an inexplicable force in the way he spoke that made it hard for them to argue back easily. The middle-aged man nodded his head awkwardly.

“W-well, yeah. It’s hard to continue if the first impression is bad.”

“Why?”

“…Because the first impression is bad?”

The middle-aged man, perplexed, answered while squinting his eyes to get a better look at the young man above him. He was standing with the sun behind him, so his face wasn’t clearly visible. Still, it could be seen that he was around twenty years old. At that moment, the man with the beard signaled for the young man to sit down.

“Hey there. Have you ever made a bad first impression on someone? Sit down and let’s talk.”

After persuading him a few more times, the young man slowly sat down. Up close, he had a rather handsome face, but there was a cold and sharp impression to his appearance that overshadowed his good looks.

It was perhaps because of this that the bearded man prompted himself to gather his courage and talk to him. Despite his appearance, the young man seemed genuinely innocent, considering how he was worried about how he might appear to someone he liked.

“Hahah, your gaze is quite fierce, young man. So, was it because of that, perhaps, that you made a bad impression on someone you like?”

The young man seemed to be thinking for a moment and shook his head.

“No. It’s because of something else.”

“What did you do when you first met?”

“I tried to kill them.” [T/N: Karas said this without revealing Abel’s pronouns. The whole conversation, Abel would be referred to as “them/they”]

Although the deck was clearly bathed in warm sunlight, the three of them felt a chill for a moment.

“You really tried to kill them?”

Nod. A short explanation followed along with a gentle nod of his head.

“Repeatedly.”

The three of them simultaneously flinched and moved their buttocks back. However, the young man, who had momentarily been lost in thought with his narrowed eyes, recalled another bad first impression.

“When they collapsed from thirst, I deliberately didn’t give them any water.”

It wasn’t just a first impression problem at this level. If they didn’t become enemies, that would have been even stranger. But there was more to come.

“Still, they brought duck eggs and gave it to me, but I smashed it.”

Are you a devil?!

All three of them screamed internally at once. Not only did he try to kill them and not give them water deliberately when they were thirsty, but he also smashed the duck eggs they brought.

One of them couldn’t stand it anymore and asked, just in case.

“Surely, you didn’t try to kill them again after that, did you?”

“I did. I pushed them into a trap.”

“……”

“So, they got shot with an arrow and barely survived.”

Winter had come around the three people. This was not a light relationship advice session, but a situation where they should call the army and report it. However, unlike the frozen ones who couldn’t say anything, the conclusion drawn by the young man was infinitely light.

“That was all.”

What do you mean, “that’s all”?

Though the three of them were once again of one mind, their opponent was not someone to be easily intimidated.

“How can I make up for it?”

It was impossible even after a thousand years. It would be fortunate if they didn’t take revenge throughout the generations. However, the three people couldn’t honestly answer. Somehow, the gray eyes that made their bodies cold swept over the three people again and murmured.

“A way?”

Hm. The middle-aged man who involuntarily shivered swallowed hard and forced himself to speak.

“W-Well, the way is, um, to give a good impression in the future. But, ah, you shouldn’t put pressure on them, so you should get used to giving a good impression, um, something like that. Just stay around without saying anything. So, what’s important is, um, to be in their sight and wait for them to come to you first, um, that kind of feeling.”

He quickly looked at the person next to him for help, and the bearded man added.

“Y-Yes. You have to make the other person get used to your g-good impression. F-For example… if you listen well, um, they will like it.”

He remembered the nagging of his wife who always told him to listen to her and added quickly, and then the young man’s head tilted slightly to the side. His seemingly bored and relaxed expression felt even more terrifying, so he hurriedly added.

“A-And they like it if you give them gifts! Yes, gifts. It’s the best way to gain favor by giving them something they like.”

“That’s right. Gifts always work. And the bigger, the better.”

Fortunately, it seemed that he liked this method. The young man lowered his gaze and murmured.

“…Wait, and give big gifts.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Melmond had come out onto the deck to find Karas, but instead, he found himself facing the 1st Battalion Commander looking at one spot.

“What are you doing here?”

Then he pointed to a spot on the deck with his eyes. Melmond turned his gaze to that spot and found Karas. Surprisingly, he was talking to shabby-looking merchants. Melmond was taken aback by the unexpected sight and asked the 1st Battalion Commander.

“Do you know them?”

“No.”

The 1st Battalion Commander shook his head and answered in a low voice.

“They seem to be carrying out the real purpose of this journey.”

“The real purpose?”

Melmond asked in confusion, and the 1st Battalion Commander turned his head to him.

“Mr. Melmond, why do you think he is heading to the palace alone disguised as a Commander-in-Chief?”

“I have no idea. Do you know something?”

“Yes,” the 1st Battalion Commander nodded again. He expressed his thoughts in a small but firm voice.

“He wanted to see the country with his own eyes. After finally becoming the ruler of the continent, there was a six-year gap in his rule, so naturally, he must have been curious. He wanted to see how things had changed over those past six years, and how the King’s Heart was affecting the kingdom from the ground up.”

“Such a deep meaning!”

Melmond was moved. He had never thought of that. Karas seemed to have no interest other than war. But he was indeed the emperor. He wanted to personally examine the country he would rule from the ground up. Talking to those merchants who travel to various places seemed to be the best way to do that.

Indeed, anyone would nod in agreement with the 1st Battalion Commander’s speculation. Melmond’s heart, which confirmed the truth, throbbed with excitement.

He had grown up so well. He was not just a King of Slaughter.

To think he had doubted whether Karas had strange thoughts towards Abel.

It was just that there were a lot of bugs, and the bed was narrow!

₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊

₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊

₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊

T/N: Look, our Karas is getting so cute OMG. Let’s pray for our future Abel… I just hope he could take Karas’ ahem well T-T