RGS Volume 1 Part 4

“Yes, the entire kingdom is said to burn and disappear in the dream. It is said that a dragon would breathe fire and burn everything. My master seems to think that the dragon is the current prince. That’s why Mr. Melmond came this time, to convey the words of my master to the royal family, right?”

“……”

“I will also ask you to convey it. Please.”

Abel bowed his head. Melmond looked at him with a bewildered expression. Was he innocent or just a fool?

“Do you believe your master’s words?”

“Yes.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. Actually, I heard you talking outside earlier. Do you not trust me, Mr. Melmond?”

“It’s not a matter of trust or not! But who would believe what someone says based on a dream……”

Melmond, who had been getting emotional and raised his voice, calmed his breath and furrowed his brow.

“You don’t have the ability of foresight like your master, and yet you insist on it based on a dream. Who would believe you?”

“But it’s not just once.”

When Melmond asked again, Abel’s eyes filled with worry.

“He have the same dream every day. It’s been a month already.”

“……”

“The dream is becoming more and more vivid and clear. Every time a dragon flies through the sky with gray eyes, a big fire breaks out, and people are trapped in a sea of flames and burned to death. And…”

Melmond interrupted him as he hesitated to continue speaking.

“And?”

“Among those people, he saw you too, Melmond. You were holding the hand of a pregnant woman and a boy who looked about ten years old.”

Melmond felt a strange chill down his spine and couldn’t respond for a moment. However, he soon dismissed it as nonsense and let out a hollow laugh.

“Well, it seems like your master needs care. I got married early, but we don’t have any children. But a ten-year-old child?”

“I don’t know either. But according to the master, the child looks just like Melmond, and Melmond called the child ‘Roy.'”

This time, he couldn’t open his mouth. The name ‘Roy’ was a name they had decided to give their child a long time ago. It was a name only the two of them knew, but as time passed and they didn’t have a child, they buried it in their memories. How did he know? Was it just a coincidence? While Melmond remained silent, he brought up one more thing as if he had remembered something.

“And you said the palace is the first place to burn, and you added something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“Well, that.”

Abel hesitated for a moment and looked up into the air.

“There are people in the palace who was drinking a black potion while burning, and they were laughing as if they couldn’t feel any pain.”

A chill ran down Melmond’s spine. People who laugh while their bodies burn. It was nothing more than a crazy dream of a sick person. He tried to ignore it by giving himself reasons, but the chill on his body didn’t go away.

“Wow, I’m hearing all sorts of things. It seems your master is really ill.”

Melmond stood up coldly, pretending it was nothing. If he continued talking with Abel, he might start believing in the dream too. As Melmond stood up, Abel immediately followed suit.

“It’s dark, so you might trip. Let me guide you.”

With that, Abel stepped forward first. Melmond felt a little better seeing Abel’s large figure moving quickly. Despite his appearance, he really is kind. His master must have chosen his disciples well in that aspect…

Swoosh!

“Ah!”

The one who said he would guide him slipped and rolled down the steep path. Hearing the screams echoing in the darkness, Melmond remembered Abel’s weakness his master had mentioned.

‘He’s kind. He works hard. He’s also very persistent. Even animals seem to like Abel and find it easy to teach him. But he is very sloppy.’

If he’s sloppy twice, he’ll break his neck. Melmond raised his head and opened his eyes wide, determined not to also fall, and took a step forward.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

“This is already the 30th person. 30 Regas’ who couldn’t withstand the prince for a year and ran away!”

A strong voice echoed through the inner chamber deep in the Prince’s Palace.

The prince still does not speak and is said to bathe in blood every day. He has lost his mind. It is clear that he is insane.

No one objected when they said that an eight-year-old child had gone mad. The bright light in the room revealed the expressions of the five people sitting around the large table. Most of them looked puzzled with furrowed brows, and soon voices of dissatisfaction erupted from several people.

“If they had restrained the queen from the beginning, we wouldn’t have had this problem. Look at what that woman has done. It’s strange that the prince isn’t going crazy.”

“Why bring up that issue now? The queen was a necessary presence. We need to think about the future.”

“How can we discuss the future when the prince is like that? We can’t handle a mad king who doesn’t say a word and just kills people every day, no matter who they are!”

The voices grew louder as they shouted at each other. Eventually, someone pounded on the desk to get their attention.

“Everyone, please be quiet! Let’s hear Truyde’s opinion.”

Fortunately, it had an effect. Everyone turned their gaze to Truyde, who seemed lost in thought.

“Yes, please say something. Isn’t Duke Truyde partly responsible for the situation having reached this point? Why did it affect the queen so excessively when there had never been any issues before……”

“Marquis Norhox.”

Truyde slowly raised his eyes and opened his mouth. Norhox, who had stood up and was about to speak after seeing his face, swallowed his words. Although the young Duke had a kind smile on his face, he couldn’t casually confront him. In the King’s Heart, everyone was in an equal position regardless of their status.

“If you want to know the problem, Marquis Norhox, I am willing to personally investigate.”

“Ah, no, it’s not like that……”

“If it’s not like that, then please sit down.”

With a commanding and firm voice, Norhox’s face stiffened for a moment. However, he couldn’t ignore the power of the Trude family, even though they were of the same royal blood. Moreover, he was even more difficult to deal with than the previous Duke. As Norhox quieted down, the person who had initially asked Truyde a question spoke again.

“What do you think the problem is?”

“There must be a problem with the Regas raised by the Norhox family.”

“Duke Truyde!”

Norhox stood up again, fuming with anger. Truyde looked up at him with gentle eyes.

“Ah, I misspoke. It’s not the Regas, but the eyes of the Marquis who selects the Regas that are the problem.”

“How long has our family been doing this? Now those words are an insult to my family!”

“That’s why it’s a problem.”

Truyde firmly interrupted the other person’s words.

“Every time a new king takes the throne, a Regas always receives the same education and training regime, so it’s not effective.”

There was silence as everyone agreed. After a while, someone asked what should be done, and Truyde reluctantly gave an answer. It was not a welcome answer to the gloomy Norhox.

“We need to find a new Regas. Completely different from now.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Melmond, who returned home after seeing the sick Weidel, had no intention of going to the palace. He still had a few more days of vacation, and there was no need to hurry back to work because no one cared if he was gone. But unexpected news awaited him at home. When Melmond came, his wife ran up to him and hugged him with a smile on her face.

“Honey, I’m pregnant! We’re having a baby. Our long-awaited ‘Roy’ is going to be born!”

Melmond could only stand there dumbfounded while his wife hugged him with tears of joy. But Abel’s voice occupied his mind.

‘People are trapped and burned to death in a sea of flames. And in the midst of those people, Master saw Melmond holding the hands of his pregnant wife and a boy who looked about ten years old.’

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Hunting only as much as necessary. That was what the teacher always emphasized, but in times like this, his hesitation was gone. Abel alternated between the deer caught in the trap and the rabbit tied to his waist that he had already hunted. With two rabbits, there was enough food and he could buy what he needed with the skin. Still, it was a waste.

Thud!

The startled deer looked at Abel and shook its body with one foot caught in the trap.

“Calm down. I’ll let you go, so don’t worry.”

Whispering softly and stepping forward, surprisingly, the deer that had been thrashing about stopped moving. But fear filled its eyes as it looked up at the human approaching it. Abel smiled and gently stroked it again.

“I’ll release the trap. Two rabbits were caught today.”

The deer couldn’t understand the explanation, but it stared intently as Abel knelt in front of it. The fear gradually subsided in its black eyes. And Abel, as if accustomed to such things, casually released the deer from the trap. It was always like this. The animals were not afraid of him.

Every time animals approached him without caution, Abel found it fascinating, but Abel didn’t know why. It was just a normal thing for him since he was young. As soon as Abel released the trap, the deer jumped to the side. The skin on the leg caught in the trap was peeled off and blood formed, but the deer quickly hopped and hid its body between the trees. Then, it stared at Abel again.

“Go quickly.”

Abel waved a few times, and the deer finally made a rustling sound and disappeared deep into the forest. He stood there for a moment, wondering if the deer had gone well, and then turned his body. Since the work ended earlier than expected, he decided to take his master outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Thinking about it, his heart raced and he started running like a deer fleeing. His master suffered greatly after that and he had nightmares every day and his body was not the same as before. He spoke less, no longer scolded him, and did not even train him to become a Regas.

He couldn’t hide his anxious heart, even though he thought he might be worried because of the dream. It was because of the fear that the worst situation, facing death soon, might happen. Wiedel was his only family and he was like a parent to him. So, even if he said something absurd like having a premonition, he wanted to believe that his master was telling the truth.

As soon as he went down and felt the cold wind, he thought he would feel better. However, when Abel arrived at the lodging, Wiedel was already outside. With a flushed face, Abel handed his luggage.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

‘I have to go to the palace.’

Melmond, who had been thinking for a few days, went to see Truyde, the leader of another Regas faction and the closest confidant of the king. Of course, considering his position, he didn’t have high expectations of being able to meet him right away just because he made a promise. But unexpectedly, the guide immediately led him to Duke Truyde.

Tick tock, tick tock.

The sound of footsteps that resonated loudly on the marble floor only increased Melmond’s regret. Am I doing something unnecessary? Surely I will only be laughed at, right? Should I turn back like this? When the restlessness reached its peak, the door to the destination opened.

“Come in.”

Melmond barely regained his composure at the voice of the guide and took trembling steps forward. Where should he start? How should he phrase his words? As Melmond bowed his head and tried to organize his jumbled thoughts, a soothing voice reached his ears.

“What is a librarian doing here?”

Melmond finally realized that there was another guest in the room when he heard a familiar voice in his ear.

“….Hello, sir.”

To make a living, Melmond suppressed his temperament and pride and worked in the palace, but he would occasionally get angry. Most of the time, it was when he encountered this new attendant. He was a person who lived close to the King’s Heart rather than the court. The revelations he heard were mostly about whom the king would sleep with.

Of course, there would be no such revelation. However, because he did everything for the king’s pleasure, he had gained the king’s trust to some extent. Due to such a sycophantic nature, those who did not benefit from him often looked down on and ignored. Melmond, too, was ignored, and referred to as a “librarian”.

“I have something important to tell Your Highness.”

Melmond, with a stern expression, looked at Truyde, who was standing up from his seat. He responded with a kind smile and added an explanation to the attendant.

“That’s right. I have something important to discuss with His Highness. Does the attendant have anything else to say to me?”

The young duke in his twenties was one of the key figures leading the country, no matter how young he was. The attendant looked at Melmond once with a friendly expression, bowed his head, and stepped back. Only after confirming that the door was completely closed did Truyde speak.

“Now that no one is here, can you speak?”