RGS Volume 2 Part 1

Abel is dead.

Melmond, who was released from prison a few days ago, heard the news and he headed to the library expressionlessly. When Abel borrowed clothes from him, he tied Melmond tightly with a rope, pretending he did not help purposely but due to a threat. Still, Melmond couldn’t avoid the punishment.

Perhaps because of that incident, he’ll soon be kicked out of the library as well. However, now this matter didn’t bother him at all. It was as if his heart was paralyzed; neither Abel’s death nor being expelled from the library moved him. And not long after he returned to the library, the expected notice for his leave arrived. The person who personally came to deliver the news was none other than the esteemed attendant.

“This library will soon close its doors. Once that happens, there won’t be a place for useless fellows like you. I’d like to kick you out right away, but I’ll give you three days to tidy up before leaving. Clear out within that time and depart. Do you understand?”

Melmond simply glanced at the attendant’s command without any other reaction. He silently tidied up his workspace. The attendant, feeling provoked by being ignored, raised his voice.

“No, why don’t you answer? Can’t you hear me?! You were never meant to have a place here, you worthless person. You can’t even be grateful for staying in the palace for a while, let alone your expression, what’s with that?”

However, Melmond still didn’t give him a second glance, as if asking where the dog was barking. The attendant’s face quickly turned red.

Thud, thud, thud.

He approached Melmond with heavy footsteps and roughly swept the desk Melmond was organizing with his hand.

Thud.

Several books and dozens of sheets of paper flew and fell to the floor. Melmond turned his gaze to the fallen items and stooped down and began to pick them up. The attendant glared at him with narrowed eyes and harshly spat out.

“Luckily, that guy Abel caught the prince’s attention and acted all high and mighty. Well, no matter what, I know how shoddy the place you belong to is. Your sect’s master sees the future in his dreams? Ha! Where did you hear such a ridiculous thing? A gray-eyed dragon burning down the royal palace….”

Suddenly, Melmond stopped moving and slowly straightened his back. The attendant had to stop talking. Standing up, Melmond glared at him as if he was going to kill him.

“What, what is it?”

“How did you know?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Gray eyes. I never mentioned that the eyes of the dragon burning down the palace were gray.”

The attendant’s face showed a startled and confused expression, but he soon composed himself and responded.

“Hm, yes, it must have been Abel who told it if it wasn’t you.”

“He didn’t say anything either.”

“……”

“Alright… I see. Where did you hear it from?”

As a chilling coldness settled in Melmond’s eyes, the attendant staggered back in surprise. Then, he immediately shouted loudly.

“What do you know?!”

However, Melmond remained silent as he glared at him. Apart from him and Abel, there was only one person who could disclose the contents of the dream about the gray-eyed dragon The owner of the dream, Wiedel.

In Melmond’s mind, he recalled the day when Wiedel died and someone invaded his house. Was his death their doing? His breath caught. He should have been more suspicious. He should have been more cautious of the King’s Heart.

If he had, he could have saved Abel.

However, Melmond just gritted his teeth and bent down again, and started picking up the papers from the floor. Getting angry wouldn’t change anything. Melmond had other more important things to do.

The attendant, frustrated by Melmond’s lack of response, shouted for a moment before storming off in irritation.

Slam!

As the door closed, Melmond stopped tidying the desk and picked up a pen and paper. Then, he walked over to the bookshelf and took out a book. It was the part where he had stopped transcribing the records.

Melmond silently began to transcribe the remaining records onto the paper. Unexpectedly, a guest came to the library while he had been engrossed in the records for three days without going home. Melmond greeted her while he was finishing up the last part. The person who kneeled on the floor and started crying was the maid he occasionally encountered when he went to see Abel.

“I-I’m sorry. It’s my fault… It’s because of me that he’s gone. I… I poisoned him.”

With tears streaming down her face, the maid, Serene, confessed her story to Melmond as if she were atoning. Although her words were incoherent, he could understand who killed Abel. Melmond listened to the story with a heavy expression and interrupted her at a certain point.

“Did you say it was a black potion?”

“Yes. Abel handed me a black potion and asked if this was the poison I put in his food.”

Serene looked up with swollen eyes and noticed Melmond’s expression change in a frightening way. He was looking down at the stack of papers next to him with a stern gaze.

“Is there something wrong?”

“You said you work in the kitchen, right? Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Yes,” Serene replied in surprise, and Melmond looked up with darkened eyes.

“Later, the record keeper or another key figure in the court will try to put the black potion in the prince’s meal. If you can get it then, bring me a little of the drugged food. It would be even better if you can obtain the potion yourself.”

Melmond lowered his voice and explained the situation to her. He added that the King’s Heart was trying to make the prince like how the current king is. The last part of the record was floating through his mind.

[With this, our task has become clear. We need to kill the king and, furthermore, create an antidote to the black potion that will ruin the kingdom. I managed to obtain the poisoned meal through difficulty in experimentation. As a result, I have found some helpful herbs and left them here. However, this is not perfect. It only prevents the condition from worsening. Due to the experiment with the poison in my body, I will soon die. But I believe that the one who will come after me will complete the antidote.]

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

It had been a week since the prince refused to eat his meals.

Well, he did eat. Fruits.

Strangely, the prince only ate fruits. Although they had to give him fruits since he refused cooked meals, he couldn’t continue to survive on fruits alone.

However, the prince, who couldn’t see what was in front of him, would reach out and knock over the plates and bowls whenever he smelled the food. As a result, the prince’s hands bore several marks from the hot food. Worried yet considering that he would eat when he got hungry, the King’s Heart even cut off the supply of fruits.

And when the prince had starved for about two days, they brought him food again. They thought he would eat by now, but surprisingly, the prince continued to refuse the food.

When the confused palace servants didn’t know what to do, someone entered the prince’s room. It was someone who had never set foot in this place before. He commanded those who were surprised to see him.

“Everyone get out.”

Everyone quickly bowed their heads and left the room.

Because the one who gave the order was the king, whom no one could resist.

As people disappeared, he chuckled at the mess on the floor, finding amusement in the dropped food.

“I see you’ve been using your brain hard, but as long as you’re in the palace, you’ll have to comply with their wishes.”

The king’s words were directed at the prince who had bandaged eyes. However, the prince remained unresponsive like a doll. The king silently observed the prince for a moment before walking towards the floor littered with broken plates.

“If you favor someone, that person will die, and if there’s a place you fancy, it will burn. If you refuse to eat…”

The king bent down and picked up a broken plate.

“They will shove the food into your mouth.”

The king finished speaking and slowly approached the prince. The prince was sitting behind the table, which was a mess with food scattered all over it. The king tilted his head to the side, chuckled softly, and then suddenly lifted the table and flipped it over.

Crash!!

With a loud noise, the table rolled on the floor. However, along with the noise, the door behind them swung open and someone rushed in. Without permission, the person who boldly sat in front of the prince, blocking the king, committed a grave offense, almost as serious as obstructing the queen. Yet, Ashler, with a grim expression, faced the kind and bowed his head.

“You dare block my way. Don’t you know that means your death?”

When the king asked coldly, Ashler knelt down on the spot.

“Your Majesty, please show mercy. The prince has already severely injured both of his eyes. It had not even been long since he got up from his seat.. So please show mercy…”

“So you’re telling me not to hit him?”

“…”

“Haha, interesting. Very interesting. Hahaha―”

The king started laughing, shaking his shoulders as if he found it truly amusing. Ashler glanced at him with fearful eyes but quickly looked away. Perhaps he would end up dead because of this. The Captain of the Royal Guard would surely give him a severe punishment for obstructing the king. However, the moment a ‘crash’ was heard from the prince’s room, he couldn’t help but move.

Abel’s death had changed something within him. As he fled into the woods, carrying the prince and remembering the face that used to smile while holding the prince in the forest, everything he was doing now seemed insignificant. At that moment, he simply wanted to protect the prince. So, he waited for the order to be dragged out of the king’s mouth. But what he heard was different.

“Close the door.”

“Pardon?”

Surprised, he raised his head and the king pointed behind him.

“I said close the door.”

Ashler finally realized that the door he had entered was slightly ajar. But why this command? He couldn’t move immediately due to his confusion, but when he met the king’s vacant eyes, he snapped back to his senses and ran to close the door and returned.

In the meantime, the king was silently staring at the prince. Ashler couldn’t dare to interrupt his gaze, so this time he stood quietly beside him. After a long silence, the king turned his gaze to Ashler.

“Do you like the countryside?”

At the unexpected question, Ashler was once again taken aback and answered hesitantly.

“Yes. I grew up in the countryside.”

“Then you should go.”

What could this mean? Instead of killing, is he trying to exile him to the countryside? Ashler pondered various possibilities, but the king turned to look back at the prince again. Even though the prince had his eyes covered with a bandage, he must have heard everything with his ears, yet there was no reaction. Even when the king started saying strange things.

“5 years. No, maybe 6 years. That’s the time I can buy for you. Whether you live or die, it’s all up to you.”

After saying those words, the king took a step back and brought the broken plate he held in his hand to his face. Before Ashler could stop him, the king inflicted a wound on his own face with the broken plate. The red blood trickled down the King’s cheek where the edge of the plate had passed. Yet, a smile appeared on the king’s face.

“If I may offer one piece of advice, it would be best to keep that bandage wrapped around for a while.“

Thud.

The king dropped the plate and took another step back, suddenly making a loud noise towards the direction of the door.

“Look! Is there anyone there?!”

As soon as someone entered the room, the king pointed at the prince and gave an order.

“The prince has dared to threaten me and inflict wounds upon me. Seal off this room to prevent the prince from escaping, and quickly summon the attendants. Right now!”

At the meeting convened by the king, the attendants could not hide their confusion. This was the first meeting called by him since ascending the throne. Furthermore, the agenda was about punishing the one who had injured him, claiming it was necessary.

“This is a wicked plot to harm this kingdom by ignoring me, the king.”

The attendants exchanged bewildered glances. On the king’s face, there were deliberately untreated wounds to reveal evidence.

“Your Majesty. But isn’t it the prince who caused harm to Your Majesty…?”

“So, isn’t that even more of a problem? It means he is aiming for my throne.”

Even though the prince was blind and only eight years old, what could a child like that plot for, but the king’s expression was filled with irritation as if a riot had just broken out.

Although he neglected his duties as a king and spent his days playing with his Regas, the attendants knew him well. Occasionally, when he came out on his own, no one could stop him. However, most of those stubbornness were trivial matters that didn’t need attention. But if it was about the prince, it was a different problem.

“Your Majesty, the prince is still young. With a generous heart…”

“Watch as my throne is taken away with a generous heart? What nonsense.”

The king, who cut off the conversation with a sharp word, looked at his attendants with dull eyes and commanded.

“Exile the prince.”