RGS Volume 1 Part 23

Ashler bowed his head politely and quietly asked Abel.

“Can you walk?”

Abel nodded and weakly smiled, grabbing Ashler’s hand.

“Hold on tight.”

The forest they entered was even quieter than before. The heavy air seemed to reflect the prince’s mood inside. Ashler followed Abel, who was staggering, but he wanted to stop and ask him many things.

Why did he suddenly fall ill?

Is he completely fine now?

And what did he mean by “Please stay by the prince’s side no matter what happens” before?

However, Abel was walking urgently as if he had to find the prince as soon as possible, so he couldn’t stop to ask him.

From his rough breathing and expression, anyone could tell that he was only thinking about the prince. And it seemed like he knew where the prince was, as he headed in one direction from the moment they entered the forest. The forest had no paths as no one had entered for a long time, but Abel easily maneuvered through the trees like it was his own house.

Soon, a familiar terrain appeared before Ashler’s eyes. An open field. Abel stopped at the edge of the forest and looked around with his eyes. It didn’t take long for his gaze to settle on one spot, and Ashler pulled his hand.

“Please go.”

As if telling him to let go of his hand, confusion appeared in Abel’s eyes.

“But if I let go of your hand, you’ll be trapped in the fog.”

“It’s okay.”

Ashler, who had answered softly, soon felt embarrassed and made an excuse.

“I’d rather be in the fog than to hold a man’s hand tightly.”

Abel finally smiled and slightly bowed his head.

“Thank you. I’ll be right back.”

“You don’t have to come right away.”

“……”

“There’s still plenty of time left. Stay here and make use of the remaining time.”

Ashler finished speaking and let go of Abel’s hand. He immediately turned his gaze to the misty fog, but Abel couldn’t take his eyes off him. However, Ashler soon turned his body and walked away in the opposite direction from the prince.

The summer grass grows quickly. The grass that had grown a few inches taller since he first arrived here brushed against Abel’s knees. In the thickets of grass that seemed to tickle a passerby’s legs, it felt as if fairies whispered and watched humans passing by. This place was truly magical. Abel stopped walking, leaving some distance between himself and the protagonist of this magical place.

The prince sat at his usual dining spot, staring blankly at the table in front of him. Unlike the previous morning when Able had arrived late and he had rushed to hug him, this time there was no sign of joy on the prince’s impassive face as he looked at Abe. Even though it had been four days since they last saw each other, there was no hint of excitement from the prince. Abel slowly bent his legs and took a seat, locking eyes with the prince.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry for being late. Did you wait long?”

“……”

Softly asking, the prince showed no reaction. Abel deliberately smiled broadly, clasped his hands together, and apologized again.

“I’m really sorry, Your Highness. It’s all my fault. I kept sleeping while you were waiting… Haha, maybe I’ve been cursed by a frog or something. Frogs dig burrows in the ground and sleep for months when winter comes. I guess I thought it was winter. Hehehe―”

He laughed and apologized for his mistake, but the prince still didn’t move. Finally, Abel’s laughter turned awkward. He scratched his head for a moment, then slowly straightened his bent knee and complained with a pout.

“Then I should go to you, Your Highness… Oh, I feel dizzy―”

Not only did he shout loudly, but he also deliberately waved his arms and tried to stand up with exaggerated movements, but ended up plopping back down. Then, the prince opened his eyes wide in surprise and slowly stood up from his seat. Abel, confirming with his own eyes that the prince had stood up, spread his exaggerated moves again.

“Oops, I don’t have the strength to go to you, Your Highness. Euhuhu.”

Even though it sounded like the words of a crazy person, the clumsy crying sound that came out was very effective to the prince.

Thud.

The child quickly ran to Abel and placed his hand on Abel’s fallen body.

“Eppel.”  [T/N: Sorry to disrupt everyone. Notice how the prince can pronounce ‘Abel’ but still chooses to call him ‘Eppel’ when they’re alone? This is just so cute~]

When the prince’s name came out very softly from his mouth, Abel opened his eyes wide and smiled.

“Ta-da! Prince, were you surprised? Uh-hahaha, I’m fine. I’m really okay!”

Rising to his feet, Abel lifted the prince and hugged him tightly with both arms around his neck. And the prince kept burying his face in Abel’s chest and rubbing against it. Abel patted the prince’s back and took something out of his chest. Then, he said to the prince who was clinging to him and not wanting to let go.

“Prince, this is a gift of my apology. Would you please accept it?”

Then, the prince finally let go a little, but he held onto Abel’s clothes tightly with his hand. Abel handed a wooden badge to the prince. It had been a long time, with black handprints and a slightly split end. Still, the dragon carved on the wood was still clear. A hole was drilled in one side of the wooden badge, and a thin leather strap was tied to it.

“Prince, this is an item given to me by my master. It’s something that only the masters of our Regas clan give to each other and pass through our lineage, so it’s very important to me. It’s as important as my life.”

When Abel handed it over, the prince accepted it with his small hand. Since Abel emphasized that it was as important as his life, the prince became interested and held it, flipping it over and over. Abel pointed to the engraved dragon with his finger, waiting for the prince to fully look at it.

“Don’t be surprised. The person who first established this country made it himself.”

Of course, Abel didn’t believe it when his master said that. It was probably a story that had been passed down for a long time and exaggerated. However, the important thing was that it was the only memento he received from his master. Abel untied the leather strap and hung the pendant around the prince’s neck.

“From now on, think of this as me. You must never lose this. So, even if it’s because of this, I will stay by the prince’s side. If you have this… I will definitely come to find you, Prince.”

The prince touched the wooden pendant with both hands and asked.

“Eppel, where are you going?”

“…No.”

Abel shook his head and smiled. But a faint apology came out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for leaving you alone.”

Muttering to himself, Abel looked out at the field. He kept apologizing several times while keeping the prince on his knees until the sunset.

I’m sorry.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Melmond is always stuck in the library, so there is no one else to deliver the news. Nanny, with a sense of duty, went to find Melmond, who had not yet left the palace. He was still in the library, but he didn’t look like his usual self.

Nanny was able to find him in a corner of the bookshelf. However, he was lying on the floor and books were scattered all around him.

“Oh! M-Melmond!”

He must have been hit by the books that fell while organizing them! Nanny quickly ran to Melmond with a worried expression. Melmond opened his eyes at the loud noise.

“Hmm… Huh?”

“Are you okay? Do you know who I am? What is my name?!”

“Ugh, it’s noisy.”

“Ugh? You’ve hurt your head!”

Nanny added with pity.

“Oh no! If you hurt your head, you must have forgotten about the money we bet on our team!”

“Shut up. Even if I have a headache, I haven’t forgotten where I placed my bet.”

“Tsk.”

Nanny looked around in a daze, glaring at him for betting on the rival team. Not only were the books scattered on the floor, but there was also a crumpled paper and a pen next to Melmond, as if hastily written.

“What is this?”

Nanny reached out curiously, but Melmond quickly grabbed the paper.

“It’s nothing!”

Surprised by his excessive reaction, Nanny was about to ask more, but Melmond quickly coughed and changed the subject, asking why he had come here.

Nanny, who quickly remembered his purpose, excitedly spoke.

“Abel has woken up and went into the forest where the prince is. The prince is amazing, quoting Marquis Norhox’s words that he will give anything he wants…”

“Abel woke up?”

Melmond suddenly stood up from his seat as if only that sentence had entered his ears.

“Is he awake now?”

And before Nanny could explain the whole situation, he ran out with the paper in his hand. Nanny stared blankly, watching his back disappear like the wind. Melmond’s expression as he left was as serious as if he were going to war.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

“The young lad is already making moves.”

The voice as clear as the day added irritably.

“He hasn’t been dealing with people or speaking for long, but he’s staring and speaking at me as if he’s in a bad mood.”

Norhox looked back at Truyde gritting his lips as if he was truly annoyed.

“There is a need to instill fear. Arrogant habits should be corrected when young so that we don’t suffer later. Before going back to the forest, we must definitely tame him.”

Truyde simply turned his eyes to the attendant, seemingly annoyed by Norhox’s words. He had already heard that Norhox had tried to appease the prince but ended up being tricked by him. Moreover, Abel, who went to the forest to find him, appeared with the prince just before the sunset, which worsened Norhox’s mood. Honestly, Norhox’s mood didn’t matter, but his words needed to be remembered. If the prince freely roamed the forest without fear, there would be a problem.

“There is indeed a need to revive his sense of fear.”

The attendant murmured, and the attendant reminded him of one more problem.

“There is also an issue with Abel. I wonder how arrogant the prince is to think that he is the only one to follow. Even though Marquis Norhox is waiting outside, he doesn’t come out of the forest for a long time. If the prince goes to find Abel like that again, we will have to give him the antidote and call him back. Isn’t dealing with him more urgent…?”

“Hmph, that bear-like guy can be killed right away. What’s the problem?!”

When Norhox shouted, the attendant lowered his head. However, Truyde opposed and stood up.

“No, it’s not time yet. Abel’s death should be used as a bigger impact when the prince is more isolated. That way, it will be easier for us to control him.”

His eyes lit up as if he had come up with an interesting idea.

“We just need to find a good way to make the prince afraid and drop Abel. Attendant, release him.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

It was late when Abel returned to the room because he was checking if the prince was lying on the bed. However, there was an unexpected guest waiting in his room.

“Check if there is anyone outside the door.”

Melmond, who was wandering around anxiously, instructed as soon as Abel appeared. Abel was surprised by his presence, but soon looked outside and entered the room. Then, as if waiting, Melmond grabbed his arm and pulled him to sit in a chair.

“Melmond, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

When Abel asked, Melmond took out a paper from his pocket instead of answering. The writing on the paper, which filled the entire page, was so crooked that it was difficult to read because it was written hastily, so Abel had to focus his eyes to read it.

“What is this?”

“The record you asked for. But I haven’t finished transcribing it yet.”

Abel was surprised and opened his eyes wide, and Melmond lowered his voice, warning him.

“I did transcribe it, but I don’t want to believe it’s true. It’s too terrible.”

“May I read it?”

Of course, he should say that, but Melmond couldn’t easily nod his head. Suddenly, he had doubts. Even if it was true, there was no way to do anything about it. This guy, who was now weak, would only make his heart feel heavier if he found out.

While hesitating, Abel quietly pulled the paper in front of him and slowly read the difficult handwriting. The main content was about how the faction referred to as ‘them’ continued to maintain power within the king’s inner circle. The author was the person just before Melmond, and it was a compilation of records from the librarians who observed several generations of the royal family.

[…Therefore, they seem to thoroughly follow methods that have proven effective through generations of experience. Their ultimate goal is to manipulate the king. The first step to achieve this is to give the king a severe mental shock when he is young, making him weak.

The main method of shocking is usually using the queen, who is the prince’s mother. They isolate her after making sure she doesn’t receive attention from her husband, and manipulate the king to abuse her. Then, the queen comes to see him as a terrifying existence due to her hatred towards the king.

When the queen gives birth to a child, they start using a black potion on her. The potion makes a person abnormal, violent, and addictive, forcing them to follow the orders of the person who gives them the medicine. The only thing allowed for the queen is to continuously abuse the young prince who will become the future king.

Because of this, the prince hates women and sees them as beings of fear and contempt. The reason he cherishes Regas, who is a man, seems to be because of this. The reason they reject the queen, women, is because the queen who gave birth to the prince is in a position where she can easily seize power later on, making her the King’s competitor. As an example, when King XX took the throne, the former queen, who was his mother, tried to seize power and remove the King’s Heart…]

T/N: This is so shocking. Ahh, I didn’t expect these are the reasons why the prince and the King hate women. The poor prince T-T Be sure to ready your tissues for the next chaps T-T