RGS Volume 2 Part 4

“Melmond, wha-what’s happening to me? Why have I changed like this?

It was a voice filled with confusion, but Melmond was also clueless about the answer. It was just an absurd guess that he seemed to have been reborn after a long time. But even that couldn’t be said because of the advice he had heard from the butler, having heard it countless times.

‘Do you know? Our young master has a weak heart. Just a little surprise can make him faint! He’s already died and come back to life once, so if he goes back because of you, will you take responsibility? No? If not, please think carefully before you speak I beg you.’

How many thoughts does it take to stop being surprised? Abel who had just woken up was already sufficiently shocked, his voice trembling.

“What really happened? And on top of that, 12 years have passed… I was surprised when I saw Roy at Melmond’s house for the first time and he looked exactly like the Roy I saw in my dream, but I didn’t know that time had passed. By the way, Melmond.”

Abel, who was talking to himself incoherently, called him seriously. Melmond glanced at the beautiful blond boy who was looking at him and quickly averted his gaze, his face turning red for no reason, and answered with a dry cough.

“Ahem, why do you ask?”

“The prince is, of course, still a-alive, right?”

The question of whether he was alive was mixed with a trembling voice. Melmond nodded his head, realizing how fearful this question was to Abel.

“Of course.”

“Haha! I, I knew it. The day I took the prince to the forest, His Majesty also must have also come to the forest and found the prince for me. Ah, I’m really relieved. I thought His Majesty would come straight to the Spring of Prayer to find me and the prince. I know it’s a bit late to say this now, but actually, His Majesty told me about that place. Hehe.”

It wasn’t His Majesty who found you and the prince. It was the King’s Heart that burned down the Dragon Forest.

He couldn’t possibly tell the truth. Aside from the fact that Abel’s new body was weak, he couldn’t just let him know. Melmond swallowed a low sigh and asked softly.

“Did you go to the forest believing that His Majesty would come?”

Then Abel scratched his head and smiled awkwardly. It was an action that a completely different person was doing, but it was clearly Abel.

“The only person who can enter the forest is His Majesty. So, I thought if he came and saw the prince, well, because he’s still his parent, he might somehow be drawn to help us. Of course, there was also the fact that there was nowhere else to run.”

“I see.”

Muttering his response, Melmond thought of the late king. Ultimately, he was truly a parent who had helped his son.

“Mr. Melmond.”

“Yes?”

“Has the prince been well since then? How is he now? Is he doing well?”

“……”

“Why, why don’t you answer?”

However, he was just thinking and choosing his words carefully. Melmond glanced at him and replied briefly.

“He’s doing well. He’s well, for now.”

“Oh! For now, does that mean he wasn’t doing well before? Or maybe he won’t be doing well in the future… Ugh!”

Abel suddenly clenched his chest with his hand. Melmond was startled and quickly changed the subject.

“Ah, no! Of course, he will continue to do well in the future. Haha, he has become the highest person in the country, so of course he’ll be fine.”

“The highest… person in the country…?”

Abel slowly pondered Melmond’s words as if he didn’t understand them. Then his eyes widened.

“He has ascended to the throne!”

Melmond nodded silently.

“That’s good. It really is.”

Abel breathed a sigh of relief and whispered softly, his voice trembling.

“He survived. That little child fortunately survived… Haha, I knew the prince would be strong.”

Melmond left him alone for a moment, as Abel’s green eyes were moist and glistening. Abel’s words were so accurate. He indeed survived. If it weren’t for this word, how would he express it himself?

Six years of exile.

After ascending to the throne, he voluntarily went back to the place where the stench of blood was emanating, for another six years. Twelve years was truly a long time. As Melmond recalled the past, he suddenly turned his head at the feeling of someone’s gaze. Abel was staring at him with his hardened eyes.

“Please tell me everything. Even if he has ascended to the throne, the King’s Heart will still try to control the prince to hold onto power, won’t they? And the black potion… Could it be that His Highness become addicted to the black potion?”

Instead of answering, Melmond stared at Abel for a moment and asked.

“Are you that worried about the prince?”

Abel blinked his eyes as if asking why he would ask such a question.

“Of course. It’s because I believed in the dream and chose death as it was, leaving the prince alone. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. Instead of believing in such dreams, I should have followed Melmond’s advice and somehow stayed by the prince’s side, even if it meant running away. So, I regret it.”

“I see. So that’s why you came back.”

“What?”

Abel was surprised and asked again, and Melmond faintly smiled.

“Perhaps the Gods sent you back because they were annoyed by your worrying for His Highness.”

“…….”

“To cut to the chase, His Highness is not addicted to the black potion.”

As Abel was about to speak, Melmond stopped him with his hand and calmly continued.

“But that doesn’t mean you can relax. The King’s Heart has bought off all sorts of people, so no matter how careful he is, he will eventually end up drinking the black potion unless he personally gathers the ingredients and cooks it himself. Unless he does that, there’s no way around it.”

“But you said he’s not addicted….”

“Yes. He’s not addicted. But it’s only to that extent. There may not be symptoms of addiction, severe hallucinations, or mental abnormalities, but he seems a bit dazed. Well, I’ll explain it later. Still, even with just this, we can deceive the King’s Heart, so it’s fortunate.”

Abel still didn’t understand what he was saying and just blinked his eyes. But Melmond cautiously asked about something else that was more urgent.

“Is your heart okay?”

“Yes.”

Abel nodded and pressed his chest with his hand.

“I’m a little nervous, but I think I’m okay. Oh, but…”

Abel tilted his head to the side and mumbled.

“To come back to life with such a weak body. Sigh.”

Deep disappointment could be felt in Abel’s deep sigh. Melmond barely held back the urge to push the mirror again. He had come back to life like a fairy, so even if he had to dedicate all his wealth to the gods, it wouldn’t be enough. But soon he realized that it might be enough. Having a weak heart could be a really big problem.

Meanwhile, Abel kept flipping back his long, flowing hair and examining it with his hand. Melman’s gaze involuntarily shifted to his hand holding the golden hair. It sparkled like real gold, thin and beautiful like a spider’s web…

“Melmond, do you have scissors? I need to cut my hair. It’s so messy.”

Are you trying to commit a sin against the gods?!

He barely managed to stop himself from shouting out and asked.

“Do you really need to cut it? Can’t you just tie it up? Hmm.”

Saying this made him feel like he was opposing Abel’s new appearance for no reason, so he added a cough to cover it up.

However, Abel responded with a smile, without any hesitation.

“If my hair is long, it will be bothersome to wash it.”

“Let me tie it up for you!”

“….”

“Hmm, hmm, do you need scissors?”

While Abel fearlessly cut his long and beautiful hair without hesitation, Melmond turned his head away. He couldn’t bear to watch and instead clenched his chest with his hand, but the problem was elsewhere. When Abel dropped the last strand of hair on the floor, a knock came at the door and the butler appeared.

“Young master, I have secured an inn nearby. It’s getting late, so you should stay there…”

Thud-

The mirror that had been in the butler’s hand fell to the floor. However, even though it was a precious silver mirror that fell, the stunned butler was too shocked to notice. His gaze, devoid of soul, had not expected the hair to fall from Abel, who had cut it. The butler was startled by the shock, and the oblivious Abel smiled first and spoke.

“Hello. Even if you don’t believe me, I’m actually not the person you’ve been waiting for. I’m not the young master you know…”

“No, it’s not possible.”

“What?”

“Th-That can’t be.”

The butler’s voice was tinged with sobs, and thick tears began to fall from his eyes. Abel was finally taken aback and didn’t know what to do, so he reached out his hand.

“A-Are you okay?”

“You can’t do that! Cutting, cutting your hair! How could you… How could you cut the precious hair that the young master cherished and was so proud of!”

Abel looked blankly at the person on the ground whose cry had turned into a scream. His long blonde hair, which he had cut without any thought, was piled up on the floor. And he murmured, “I’m sorry,” as he bowed his head. However, even with the apology, the butler’s sobbing did not cease.

“Uhuhuh, y-you cut your hair. How could you? That hair was meticulously maintained! It was nourished with 17 different oils and ground tropical seeds, boiled for 48 hours, then squeezed tightly into dense cloth produced only in the south, then aged for a month with a hair nutrient applied with a gentle stroke, maintaining its shimmering brilliance… Uhuhuhuh.”

The butler sobbed like a child, wiping tears with the back of his hand. He seemed to cry out of injustice for the hard work put into making the hair nutrient they only heard about now. While Melmond looked down on him, Abel, with a solemn expression, carefully gathered the hair from the floor. After meticulously scanning the ground several times to not miss a single strand, he finally rose from his spot. Then, he formally bowed his head to the butler.

“I’m truly sorry. I was thoughtless.”

“Uhuhuh, don’t say that! Bowing and apologizing to others isn’t like the young master!”

Abel inadvertently made the butler cry even more. After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his gaze and then turned to Melmond.

“Can you help me a little?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. What should I help with?”

Melmond quickly asked, feeling flustered by the situation. Abel murmured as he looked down at the blonde hair in his hands.

“I wanted to say hello properly.”

As Melmond backed away a bit after digging a hole, Abel stepped forward. Carefully, he placed the hair he had been holding tightly in both hands into the hole. The day had already darkened, and with only a few torches, no matter how beautiful the blonde hair was, it couldn’t be seen properly. However, Abel meticulously arranged the hair, as if it were something precious, one by one. While Abel neatly placed the hair for a long time, Melmond and the butler with a blank expression just watched. Abel was truly greeting properly.

“I’m sorry. I borrowed the body of someone who had passed away without permission. I don’t know what happened, but just a little… I’ll only use it for a little while, please. There is someone I really want to see. I want to see that person happy. I would be really grateful if you could let me see them until then.”

Bow. Abel bowed his head towards the hair and stood up from his seat. And he smiled softly at the butler.

“I’m sorry for cutting his hair carelessly. So please stop crying now…”

The words “Stop crying” had been uttered, but the butler couldn’t stem the torrent of tears streaming down his cheeks. Abel looked at the still uncovered hair and then back at him with bewildered eyes.

“Oh! Could it be that you don’t like this? Should I not bury it in the ground?”

At that, the butler held back his sobs and lowered his head with a crumpled face. It took a while before he opened his mouth.

“Well, if you greet him like that…… Ugh, it’s like our young master has really passed away. Sniffle.”

The butler turned his head, biting his lip and unable to hide his tears as his shoulders shook uncontrollably. Abel scratched his head awkwardly, while Melmond kept silent with a heavy heart. The butler thought his young master must be truly dead and felt sorry for him, but Melmond felt the opposite.

This situation felt like a confirmation that Abel had truly come back to life, making him want to dance.

How miraculous is this?

12 years have passed, and now, with only a few moments left from the point seen in Wiedel’s dreams.