RGS Volume 1 Part 16

As Ashler watched them disappear, he recalled the incident he had been summoned for by the Captain of the Guards yesterday.

“There haven’t been any significant changes with the prince, right?”

Ashler answered gruffly, suppressing the urge to frown.

“Isn’t there a lot of change? The prince’s room is no longer a devil’s lair, and there are no longer any incidents of animal blood staining his hands. He doesn’t harm people either.”

“But you still say he doesn’t speak? He doesn’t do anything other than read books. He still attacks anyone who touches him if the Regas is not around. I don’t see much difference compared to before.”

“That may be true, but…”

“They probably think the same way up there. Since there are no visible results.”

Although he had no intention of defending Abel, Ashler felt upset by the Captain of the Royal Guard’s words. He wanted to tell him how significant it was that the prince had changed so much. The prince was starting to feel more like a person now. Only those who saw him up close would know. Gradually, he began to hope that Abel could make the prince even more human-like. However, the Captain of the Royal Guard’s next words shattered that hope.

“There are only two days left of the promised month. If the new Regas doesn’t show any other achievements within these two days, he will be driven out.”

Driven out? Ashler looked at the Captain of the Royal Guards in surprise.

“Has a decision been made from above? Is Abel going to be driven out?”

“Yes. It seems they think there will be no further progress. Why, did you have any affection for him?”

The Captain of the Royal Guards added with a hint of amusement.

“It’s a shame that he hasn’t accomplished as much as we hoped, but if there is no progress, it’s better to end it quickly. You don’t need to waste any more time either.”

Was it really a waste of time? At some point, Ashler couldn’t move, with the tip of his sword pressed against the ground. Honestly, this job wasn’t good even now. There was no one who would enjoy waiting at the entrance of the forest from morning till evening without doing anything.

Moreover, the Captain of the Royal Guards didn’t achieve his desired result. It might have been unrealistic from the start to expect Abel to open the prince’s heart and, as a bonus, to catch the prince’s eyes. But leaving all that aside, he just wanted to stay a little longer. To be precise, he wanted to stay by Abel’s side, who was next to the prince.

There doesn’t seem to be any noticeable change in the prince, but it was strange how he stopped attacking Abel and, at one moment, reached out to hold hands first. When the prince emerged from the forest with a beetle tightly grasped in his hand, he realized that the beetle was still alive, and he couldn’t help but smile.

When he came out of the forest, being chased by wild boars and bears while being embraced by Abel, he looked up from Abel’s shoulder and showed curiosity. He fought with a few soldiers against a large bear, defeated it, and turned his head to meet the prince’s eyes.

No, their eyes must have met. His eyes were not visible as they were covered by his hair. However, that gaze felt like a child marveling at something, prompting him to smile once again. Although the prince did not stand out, he was undoubtedly changing little by little. Ashler barely realized that this uncomfortable feeling was actually a sense of pity. Perhaps he had developed some affection. If that’s the case, it might be better to just part ways and end it here.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

In the morning, Nanny entered the library with a smile, but when he saw Melmond, he couldn’t help but suppress his laughter. Even though he didn’t typically have much to do, he wasn’t just sitting there blankly staring into space like this.

“Melmond?”

As he called out to him and approached, Melmond turned his vacant eyes towards him.

“…You came.”

“Why are you like this? You should be happy that tomorrow Ashler and Abel will be free.”

Nanny enthusiastically talked about how he believed his team would win in the swordsmanship competition. But Melmond, who would usually scold him for being noisy, was in a daze for some reason.

“So if our team wins this time, I’ll make a big contribution. Or Melmond, you can contribute money to our team.”

“….”

“Melmond? Melmond!”

After calling him several times, Melmond finally turned his eyes and said, “Huh?”

“Are you worried? Tomorrow, Abel will also leave the palace, so there’s nothing to worry about anymore. You should be happy.”

“That’s true.”

Melmond muttered as he lowered his eyes. He remembered last night. It had been a month since he had visited Abel. He hadn’t gone even when Abel was constantly getting hurt because of the prince, or when the bear and wild boar caused a commotion.

But he couldn’t help but go and meet Abel when there were only a few days left until the promised date. Are you going to end it like this? He asked straightforwardly, but Abel just scratched his head and laughed.

That frustrating guy, does he think everything will work out as it should? Melmond sighed.

But then, the smiling guy murmured quietly. ‘I want to stay.’ His voice was so calm that Melmond just looked at him quietly. And then, he finally realized why Abel’s smile seemed sad.

“I know that I’m causing you worry, Melmond, but I want to stay by the prince’s side a little longer.”

Melmond finally realized that what was important to Abel was not the limited time. It seemed like his decision was whether he should continue to stay or leave. Is there a way to achieve noticeable results in the remaining two days? Surprised, he asked, but Abel only gave a vague smile.

However, his smile was enough. It was clear that there was some kind of solution for it. However, it seemed that Abel himself did not like that method. After a short conversation, Melmond continued to ponder over yesterday’s events until this time.

It was indeed a question how Abel would suddenly change the prince, but rather, it felt like Abel himself had turned into a big question mark. As if he had never known him all this time.

“Money… I’ll bet too.”

When Melmond finally spoke after a long time, Nanny nodded his head in agreement.

“Haha, really? If only Ashler comes out, our team will be invincible, and we will definitely make several times the amount of money you bet….”

“No, I’m on the opposite side. Who is the other candidate for victory?”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

The forest was very large. Even though Abel had been traveling with the prince for a few weeks, it seemed like they hadn’t seen half of it. It was difficult to go further because they had to return when the sun set, but they didn’t go far because they could get everything they needed nearby.

On this day, they walked around diligently, not far from the entrance. Then, they spread out and took out their lunch boxes at the entrance of the field. Moreover, the weather was good, and the sky was unusually blue. Thick cumulus clouds moved slowly and decorated the sky, and the cool breeze of early summer cooled down the slightly hot sunlight.

Abel emptied the lunch box with the prince and then lay down on his back. Then, he exclaimed loudly while looking at the sky.

“Wow- Your Highness, look up there. The sky is really beautiful, isn’t it?”

At Abel’s words, the prince slowly lay down and looked up at the sky. Abel approached the prince and pointed at a cloud with his finger.

“Haha, that cloud looks like a duck’s face. The side is a long beak, and the back is a round head. Right? It looks similar, doesn’t it?”

The prince didn’t say anything, but Abel pointed at other clouds with his finger and mentioned similar things.

“That one looks like a frog, and oh, that one… Hahaha- it looks like the mushroom that my master liked the most. Your Highness, do you like mushrooms? They’re good for your health and taste very delicious.”

For a moment, the conversation veered off track, and Abel told the prince stories about his master. Climbing cliffs to train, learning how to chase animals, hiding by the water’s edge in the early morning to catch ducks, and so on. Comforting words flowed from Abel’s mouth as if he were telling an old story. Among the fairly long content, he also mentioned the things his master had done on how to build his courage.

“My master used to say that a Regas should not be afraid of anything. Thanks to that, I kept hiding the only thing that scares me, but one day I was caught. And then my master…”

Abel’s eyes sank as he paused for a moment and stared at the sky. Unlike his cheerful voice, he hesitated and remained silent for a while, causing the prince to turn his head in confusion. Then, as if to say “when did that happen,” Abel straightened his upper body with his elbow and smiled.

“He made me get into a wooden box and put a few of the things I fear the most in there with me! Hahaha― I was really scared. I’ve never been so scared in my life, I just opened my mouth and fainted. I wonder if the prince would be scared too? It’s true. Haha, by now you must be curious about what it is, right?”

The prince’s expression remained unchanged, but Abel trembled as if urging him, saying he was going crazy with curiosity.

“Ahaha— I’ll tell you the scariest thing in the world. Don’t be startled, Your Highness. Well, you don’t have to be afraid that it’ll appear either. In my homeland, I used to see those creatures often, but they don’t appear here. That’s why my master had to travel far to catch them. Hmm, now I’ll tell you what it is. It’s incredibly terrifying, you see, it’s the wolf spider…”

Thud.

Just as he finished speaking, a wolf spider fell from the sky. And it landed directly on Abel’s face. A giant spider, about the size of an adult’s palm, covered his face completely. The prince was not surprised by its appearance, but soon showed a reaction.

Thud.

Abel collapsed and fainted. The prince looked at the fallen Abel for a moment and then stood up. Swaying. The small hand grabbed Abel’s body and pushed, but the lifeless-like body showed no response. The child’s eyes showed confusion for the first time.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Although there was still one more day left, Ashler felt that today was the last day. Tomorrow, Abel would say goodbye to the prince and pack his things, so there would be no time to enter the forest. Guarding in front of this place became tiresome, and today was the last day.

Ashler didn’t think that wild animals or swarms of bees would appear until the last day, but he stared intently, piercing through the fog just in case. He stopped his usual swordsmanship practice and behind him, like a statue, the other soldiers were standing further away than usual.

The fear of the swarm still lingered, prompting them to hide behind the fence erected to ward off the wild animal’s attacks. And as always, when the wait grew long, they chatted amongst themselves, loosening their guard. So, no one noticed the entrance of the silent forest where Abel’s scream echoed.

Only Ashler was guarding the front, and he heard a sound. It was not the scream he had been expecting, but rather the sound of small footsteps. It had a different feeling from Abel’s usual heavy footsteps. Ashler became curious and took a step forward, gripping his sword.

Thud, thud, thud.

It was running fast, but it was small and light…

“!”

Ashler froze as he looked at the person who appeared through the mist. His small body was gasping for breath. Why was the prince alone? Ashler was about to call out to the prince in surprise, but before he could, the prince grabbed his hand tightly. And then, he started pulling him in the direction he had come from, without any explanation. Ashler, taken aback, took a step and opened his mouth to ask a question.

“Your Highness, what is happening?”

But instead of an answer, the small hand pulled Ashler even harder. Even though the child’s strength was not enough to stop him, Ashler couldn’t help but be dragged along.

“Your Highness, where is Abel? Why are you alone…?”

The question he wanted to ask, about why he had come in such a dangerous way alone, couldn’t come out as he opened his eyes. In front of him is a spread a dense forest. The tall trees seemed to reach the sky and made him hold his breath. A world covered in green.

As Ashler realized that this was the forest that had not been visible through the mist, he could only look down at the small hand that held his. Ah, right. It was said that those who inherited the power of the dragon could enter the forest if they were guided. Ashler realized that this statement was true and swallowed his saliva.

It felt as if he had stepped into a sacred place of great magic where he should not have entered. And with that, he looked at the prince with different eyes.

The prince was now running with his mouth open, breathing heavily.