RGS Volume 4 Part 3

Ashler arrived a day earlier near the capital, where he had promised to meet Karas. However, without even a moment’s rest, he called his aides and the commanders, and within a minute, the 2nd Battalion Commander and the Captain of the Royal Guards rushed into Ashler’s barracks. They, too, shared the same concerns.

As they moved to the capital, they heard the same rumor several times. It was a rumor that the emperor and the 1st Battalion Commander were killing people and burning villages wherever they went. Of course, Karas and Kin would never do such things.

It was obvious that the King’s Heart was afraid that the emperor’s popularity would soar. However, without Karas, they couldn’t move the soldiers recklessly to catch them. Karas must have heard the rumors too, yet there had been no contact from him, which made them even more anxious. After a few days, they began to worry that something might have happened to him, and the others felt the same.

“We need to find him.”

When the Captain of the Royal Guards strongly insisted, Ashler nodded.

“He should have been here already. It’s strange that he’s late without any reason.”

Ashler agreed, and Roster frowned as if he didn’t understand.

“Strange? Are you suggesting that something might have happened to His Majesty? Could it be because of the group impersonating His Majesty and Commander Kin?”

“It’s possible they encountered them.”

“But why would the King’s Heart do such a thing? Even if it lowers His Majesty’s reputation, it’s only temporary. Even if bad rumors spread, it’s not something that would be enough to dethrone him from the throne.”

“But it’s better than increasing His Majesty’s popularity among the people, isn’t it?”

The Captain of the Royal Guards replied, but Roster shook his head.

“It’s not that they don’t know that. It’s just that it’s too troublesome of a method. Why go as far as causing actual incidents? If their goal was just bad rumors, they could have spread them by word of mouth. Don’t you think so too, Ashler?”

It’s indeed a troublesome method.

Ashler turned his eyes away from Roster and fell into thought for a moment. It was a bit of an excessive ploy just to spread rumors. It felt unsettling, as if there was something more to it.

“You never know. It could be a scheme to spread the fakes and eliminate His Majesty.”

After instructing Roster to guard the camp, Ashler turned to the Captain of the Royal Guards.

“You’re coming with me to search for His Majesty right now.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖           

As the party held at Norhox’s mansion deepened, the atmosphere became more intense. The inside was as bright as daylight, and men and women wearing various masks looked at each other without knowing each other’s status. Of course, as Norhox, who educated the Regas’, was the host, those he brought for entertainment were clinging to the guests, rubbing their lower bodies against them.

In particular, in the specially prepared room, Truyde, who did not wear a mask, was leisurely served by a blond man with his pen1s in his mouth. His youthful face and half-opened green eyes made him look almost like a boy. Aside from this man, there were still several more blond, green-eyed men that Norhox had prepared for Truyde, waiting outside.

The remaining night was long, and there was no one who dared to disturb Truyde’s amusement.

However, he had just finished ejaculating deep into the first man’s throat. After kicking the breathless man who momentarily fainted, he called for the next one. But it wasn’t a blond man with green eyes who entered through the open door.

It was Marquis Yan, whose hair had turned white though it was once another color. He walked slowly and stood in front of Truyde, as if he didn’t care that Truyde was sitting with his ge1tals exposed. Tryude looked up at him with curiosity, as it had been a while since he saw him at a party.

“It’s nice to see you here, Marquis Yan. It’s good to see you still in good health.”

Tryude asked, without bothering to cover himself with his clothes.

“If you have any desired playthings, shall I call them for you?”

The Marquis was furious at his audacious behavior.

“What is this you are doing, when the emperor has brought his army right up to your doorstep?”

“Can’t you see? It’s a party to share the joy of the arrival of our country’s ruler.”

“Joy? The emperor’s massive army is about to occupy the palace we believed to be our own territory, and you’re carelessly spouting such nonsense.”

Even with the Marquis’s reproach, Truyde responded with a languid smile, as if mocking him.

“Don’t worry too much about the emperor’s army. They won’t occupy the palace as you fear. At least for the past six years, the King’s Heart has ruled over the country, and the law is its foundation. Even the Emperor cannot ignore that.”

The Marquis couldn’t help but frown at Truyde’s unrealistic words as if he was talking about a utopia.

By what means do you intend to stop it?

However, he couldn’t hear a detailed explanation as Truyde sneered in a slow voice.

“But are you so scared that you had to come out at a time when you should be sleeping?”

“Be careful with your words.”

“Be careful with my words? Did you expect to receive thanks for disturbing someone else’s enjoyable time?”

The Marquis widened his eyes in disbelief and glared at Truyde’s suddenly changed tone.

“What kind of rudeness is this?”

“It’s nothing compared to the audacity of you interrupting me.”

Along with his changed tone, Truyde’s gaze also shifted. The eyes that always smiled gently now looked up at the other person sharply.

“Tell me. Did you muster the courage to come here after conspiring with the fallen Duncan?”

“How do you know about that?”

As the Marquis’ voice trembled with anger, Truyde twisted his lips as if it were amusing.

“I don’t answer boring questions. Use your head, old man.”

Next is the Marquis.

Duncan’s warning, which he delivered in his miserable state, filled the Marquis’ mind. He had believed he was still in power, but it seemed that was just his own delusion. Truyde already considered him an old, powerless scarecrow.

Moreover, Truyde’s confident attitude suggested he knew not only about meeting Duncan but also what was discussed that day.

Duncan’s whereabouts had been unknown since then—was that Truyde’s doing?

Suppressing his rising anger, the Marquis opened his mouth as if testing the waters.

“You don’t seem to be afraid of me. What if I uncover the secret of your prized poison you’re so proud of?”

Then, with a snort, Truyde’s lips curled up.

“Impressive. You brought that up first. What if my only weapon is exposed?”

He knows something after all.

The Marquis gritted his teeth and attacked him.

“Your weapon is not as impressive as you think, is it? The fact that the emperor acts separately from his army also means he’s free from your fancy poison. You know that don’t you? He might be immune to the poison.”

“So what?”

Truyde asked indifferently and concluded.

“Even so, it’ll end once he comes in the palace. While the descendant of the dragon can’t be killed by any poison, the black potion is different. Just wait for a month. Within that time, you’ll see the emperor’s corpse.”

The Marquis deliberately mocked his confidence deciding he’d finished it all in one month.

“Are you saying that you will personally feed the emperor the poison for a month?”

“Yes.”

Truyde easily agreed and smirked.

“How did you know? I really plan to personally feed him the black potion. I intend to make him eat in front of me. Every single day, without fail, the emperor and the King’s hearts will sit at the same table. So, you too, as a King’s heart, should obediently participate in the emperor’s meals for a month.”

When the sharp remark, which he thought was a joke, ended, the Marquis furrowed his brow again, forgetting his anger.

Eating together for a month?

The emperor will know that this is openly feeding him poison. How can he make him sit at the table? He had doubts, but he couldn’t ask. This time, Truyde demanded an answer from the Marquis.

“Now, the poison I’m so proud of will be put to good use like this, but when are you going to show the world your own family’s secrets?”

When the Marquis remained silent, Truyde let out a mocking laugh.

“Ah, that’s right. No matter how powerful the magic that knows all the pasts, you can’t use it.”

“……”

“Unless you’re a Regas.”

Truyde shook with laughter, his shoulders trembling. The Marquis, who stood still like a statue as if surprised, provoked his laughter even more.

“Our household has known that for a long time. Do you know why we killed the king’s Regas early? It’s not just to control the king, but also to prevent your family from having time to uncover our secrets. Your family, always watching from the sidelines like fools, has enjoyed power for free. Now it’s time to take it back.”

Although Truyde’s voice grew sharper, oddly enough, the Marquis’ face returned to its usual calm. Instead of yelling out in anger and humiliation, he looked like someone who still had a final move left. Sensing this, Truyde gradually stopped laughing. At that moment, the Marquis looked into the space as if recalling old memories and began to speak.

“You’re right. Unless it’s a Regas, we can never use the things passed down in our family. That’s why my ancestors tried to make themselves or someone in the family a Regas.”

Truyde’s eyes showed a puzzled look as if hearing this for the first time.

“No one in your family has ever become a Regas.”

“Yes. That’s right. No matter how hard we tried to catch the king’s attention, it didn’t work. We can’t count how many times we secretly put someone from our family into the Norhox family as Regas. The interesting thing is that we all failed, however, the king succeeded.”

“What does that mean?”

“Everyone in our family who tried to become the king’s Regas ended up loving the king, without exception.”

This seemingly absurd tale flowed easily from the Marquis’ mouth. Because of that, Truyde had an expression of disbelief, but the Marquis continued nonchalantly.

“After countless repetitions, we finally understood. This is a curse. As a punishment for daring to steal the king’s belongings and secrets, we can never use those things ourselves.”

The Marquis paused for a moment and asked Truyde a question. It continued with a casual tone.

“Well, isn’t your household the same?”

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It seemed like he had fallen asleep for a moment. Abel woke up from his light sleep because the corners of his mouth were ticklish.  Before he opened his eyes, he first twitched his lips, and he could clearly feel something that touched him move away. And then, something came into his blurry vision that had just opened. It was someone’s hand.

Huh? A hand?

Abel didn’t lift his head but barely moved his eyes to watch the retreating hand. It had long fingers, protruding joints, and calloused skin.

Blink, blink.

He looked at the still hand and then turned his eyes again, this time, Abel’s gaze shifted upwards to see its owner. The campfire was still faintly burning, providing enough light to make out the face of the person sitting in front of him.

“Commander-in-Chief.”

Abel called him with a smile as if it were a habit. He stopped his hand in the air, surprised that Abel had woken up, and then lowered his arm. Abel looking at his moving hands realized what he had woken up to and stood up, innocently asking Karas.

“Did you touch my lips?”

Karas seemed to freeze, but Abel didn’t notice as he rubbed his eyes. Instead, he swallowed a yawn and then suddenly remembered something, startling himself.

“Oops! Did I drool?!”

He quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, but nothing wet came off.

Could it be that the Commander-in-Chief wiped it off himself?

He had a fearful doubt, but once again, there was no answer. Finally, he looked at Karas and met his sunken gray eyes.

Abel held his breath this time. He was immediately captivated by those gray eyes he had looked into without thinking. It was strange. Abel had to accept his gaze without preparation as if he had been caught in an unexpected trap. Human eyes are fascinating. They don’t speak like mouths, nor do they express like hands, yet sometimes they convey much even more.

Even if it was a mere imagination of the viewer, the power to cause that imagination was undeniable. Feeling breathless, Abel repeated to himself that it was his own imagination, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of him. His gray eyes, appearing darker in the dim light, seemed to be calling out to him. Unbelievable as it was, it felt as though he heard Karas whispering his name in his mind.

Abel.

Startled, his real name jolted him like a hammer hitting his insides.

Thud.

Abel took a step back and turned his head. Why did he have such a ridiculous imagination? He couldn’t have known his real name and called him.

“Um, well.”

Abel looked around deliberately, flustered by his gaze still staring at him, trying to find words to avoid it.

“Where did the Battalion Commander go?”

Fortunately, his mouth asked a suitable question, despite his flustered mind.

Perhaps Karas was also preoccupied with this question?

He glanced at the forest before muttering.

“Out for fun.”

“I see, out for f—”

Wait? Out for fun?

Abel suddenly remembered it was the middle of the night and turned his head toward the forest Karas was looking at.

Out for fun in the forest at night? Why on earth?

Abel was about to ask when Karas started walking toward the forest. Abel, curious, tried to follow, but Karas stopped him.

“Stay.”

“Where are you going?”

“For fun.”

Even the usually gentle Abel wanted to ask. Does he think I’m an idiot?

“Um, then should I come along to have fun too?”

However, Karas immediately stopped him with his hand. And as if touching his cheek, he lightly brushed against it before pulling away. But in that brief contact, his thumb touched Abel’s lips as if wiping them. It was a fleeting touch, but his touch felt even more vivid than when he woke up from sleep earlier.

Perhaps due to the awkwardness, Abel unconsciously licked his lips. However, soon he regretted it. Karas stared at that movement openly. A blush filled with embarrassment swept over Abel. When he finally moved his foot back which had been moving forward, Karas gestured with his eyes to the opposite direction he was going.

“Kin will be here soon.”

After speaking, he walked into the dark forest without hesitation. Like a cat, he made no sound with his footsteps and vanished like a ghost.  It was only after he couldn’t see him anymore that Abel realized something was strange.

What’s going on? Why did he go into the forest?

Abel stood there for a while, not knowing what to do. His heart wanted to follow him right away, but his weak body didn’t give him the courage. He didn’t want to be a hindrance when he had no abilities. However, the dark forest was dangerous. He didn’t know if even Karas would be able to handle it if he encountered enemies and were attacked.

In the end, unable to bear it, he tried to follow the direction Karas disappeared, but someone called out to him from behind.

“Where are you going?”

When he turned his head, Kin was walking towards him from where Karas had mentioned. His clothes and sword were covered in blood.