RGS Volume 4 Part 9

T/N: Hi everyone, I notice some of you may have come from the manhwa. I suggest you guys read Volume 1 as well, it’s not necessary but having been reading the manhwa too, there are some parts that they have cut off. Enjoy reading^^

His pulse was weak. His breathing was barely audible unless one listened very closely. His skin was pale and cold as snow. His faint breath he barely clung to seemed ready to cease at any moment. Karas, as if believing that Abel would stay alive as long as he held him in his arms, did not let go of his tightly clasped arms. He kicked open the door of the second doctor’s house he had found.

Bang!

The door shattered like a piece of paper, sending a cloud of dust into the room. Startled by the loud noise, the startled people inside rushed out, but they quickly realized the broken door was the least of their concerns.

Click, clack.

The tall man with a young-looking man in his arms slowly scanned the gathered people. His gaze stopped precisely on the doctor. The doctor stiffened and held his breath, his hands beginning to tremble. It wasn’t just because the sudden intruder was wielding a blood-soaked sword in one hand.

No, he didn’t even notice that the sword was pointed at him. A creepy feeling took over his body as if all his blood was draining away. It had been like that since he saw the other person’s eyes. The man with snake-like eyes gave an indifferent command.

“Save him.”

                                                                         ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖            

It was not easy for Norhox to suppress his desire to live. Managing the Regas’ had been a sanctuary exclusive to his family for a long time. They would select candidates from among many, train them for months or years, and now they were told to hand over the results to someone else. And to that filthy, vulgar war profiteer, no less.

“The Regas to be presented to His Majesty for the first time will be those with blond hair and green eyes. I trust Norhox has selected them well, but I would like to see them in advance.”

The war profiteer was already spouting nonsense with eyes gleaming with madness.

Did he think he was some kind of supervisor?  

How dare he speak arrogantly without having a proper knowledge about this matter.

Although he had already tortured him hundreds of times in his mind, Norhox reluctantly took a step back.

Since Truyde was trying to restrain him, Norhox had to conceal his true intentions as much as possible. He had no choice but to endure until he could join hands with Marquis Yan and uncover Truyde’s secrets. However, he couldn’t just stand by and watch the war profiteer take his Regas’ like a fool. If he could show that only he could properly utilize Regas, the war profiteer would withdraw on his own.

“If you want to see it in advance, then do so. However, there won’t be enough time to see them all. I plan to depart soon, as per the duke’s orders. Wouldn’t you want to leave quickly too? You’ll be able to see the faces of your comrades who fought together.”

At the mention of the word ‘comrades’, the war profiteer’s face instantly turned pale. Norhox didn’t miss the way he averted his eyes. Well, he would be reluctant to meet them. His comrades would never imagine that the war profiteer had betrayed the emperor to side with the King’s Heart. Though Norhox wanted to savor his discomfort longer, he soon grew irritated by the war profiteer’s voice as he changed the subject.

“Thank you. Since you’ve been so considerate, why don’t you show me the Regas’ as well? I only plan to familiarize myself with their faces, so it won’t take long.”

“That’s your opinion. Once you see them all in person, your intention to simply familiarize their faces will vanish.”

Norhox shot him a cold gaze without hiding his mockery.

“How about properly seeing at least one person as a representative? After all, you can only truly understand the value of a Regas by confirming it with your own body.”

At the mention of confirming with his own body, the war profiteer’s eyes gleamed with expected greed.

“Th-then I will confirm one person first.”                    

Seeing his breath quickening so excited just at the thought of it, Norhox turned his back on him. Such a fool was not worth worrying about.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

                                             

It was late in the afternoon, with the sky dyed red when Ashler’s men finally found traces of Karas. The doctor’s corpse cleanly beheaded, and several others who were killed just for being with him. It was a gruesome scene. The second and third bodies discovered were the same.

“What about the other doctors?”

Ashler asked one of his soldiers while looking down at the blood-soaked floor. The soldier who went to check the whereabouts of the surrounding doctors gave Ashler an unsatisfactory answer.

“It seems like these are all of them in this area. The closest place here if we leave is the capital.”

“What about the herbalists?”

“There are a few, but when I checked, they didn’t go to them.”

The capital. Did the Emperor perhaps go there?

But strangely, Ahsler’s gaze turned to the mountain in the opposite direction, covered in dense forest. The dark green mountain was visible beyond his eyes. Although the thick fog that had been lingering in the morning had long since cleared, the forest filled with large trees seemed more like a shield blocking any human approaching.

“Should we send someone to the capital?”

In response to the soldier’s question, Ashler finally nodded after a long time and tore his gaze away from the mountain and gave several instructions.

If by any chance Karas caused trouble in the palace and his true identity was revealed, it would not be good. The King’s Heart had already caused problems by posing a fake emperor and blaming it towards the real emperor.

Rumors of a bloodthirsty emperor had already spread in the capital, causing anxiety to grow in the people. If Karas’ real massacre became known, even the acts of the fake would also be attributed to him. It was already bad enough that the emperor, who had led a six-year war to victory, should have been welcomed back with cheers, he was also now missing following these evil rumors.

While Ashler should have been focused on the pressing issues, his thoughts were distracted by another matter. His mind kept wandering to a scene from the past, much like how his eyes kept straying to the distant forest. Long ago, there had been a similar incident. The prince, who never moved of his own will, had emerged from the fog, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

The young child led Ashler through the forest, breathing heavily. It seemed that the strength of the child who pulled him with that force remained in his fingertips. Though his expression remained doll-like, with those eerie yellow snake eyes, his actions had shown clear signs of panic and fear. It was evident how surprised and scared he was.

Although Karas was no longer a child, Ashler couldn’t shake the feeling that it was similar to that time. The prince’s small hand, which had killed these people in an instant, seemed like it was desperately trying to save Abel, scared not knowing what to do. The figure of Karas, now covered in blood and holding Abel, kept overlapping with the image of that small boy leading him. Even if everyone else turned their backs and only saw the emperor’s cruelty.

“Captain Ashler, there’s someone alive.”                

In response to the urgent voice of one of the soldiers, Ashler woke up from his thoughts and moved his steps. As he said, a man lying on the floor was faintly opening his eyes. However, his injuries were severe, and he had lost so much blood that his open eyes seemed ready to close again. Ashler grabbed his shoulder and asked in a hurry.

“What the hell happened?”

The man’s eyes, which looked like he was soon about to lose his life, managed to weakly respond to Ashler’s question.

“He said that the man he brought was about to die, that he couldn’t be saved…”

Couldn’t be saved?

The sound of his heart sinking echoed in Ashler’s ears.

“What do you mean, couldn’t be saved? Was he in such bad condition?”

However, this time he couldn’t get an answer from the man. He was muttering words as if he had lost his senses.

“…No.”

Ashler wanted to ask what he meant by “no,” however, he couldn’t bring himself to speak. The dying man’s eyes filled with terror as he muttered his final words.

“Not… human… those eyes…”

Thud.

The man’s head slumped completely, and his breathing was no longer heard. Ashler slowly stood up and turned back to the forest visible through his eyes. The once-red sky was quickly being overtaken by darkness, but the forest he had seen moments ago was still visible. As Ashler took a step towards that direction, a firm voice came from beside him.

“I will also go to the palace.”

“Sir Kin.”

Kin, who had arrived unnoticed, glanced around briefly as he approached Ashler and added.

“We must find His Majesty before anyone else does. If we go with too many people, it could attract attention, so you should stay at the camp.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Sir Ashler. If you wander around all day here and get caught by the King’s Heart, everything could be revealed.”

Kin frowned and tried to stop him, but a resolute answer came from Ashler’s mouth again.

“I’m not going. Of course, the same goes for you, Sir Kin.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t you understand we need to find His Majesty immediately?”

Kin deliberately lowered his voice, perhaps conscious of the soldiers around. However, Ashler uttered another incomprehensible word.

“What we need to do right now is to save Young Master Lil.”

“We need to find His Majesty first to find him as well.”

Realizing something, Kin, who had been speaking hastily, stared at Ashler silently.

“You know where His Majesty has gone.”

Pehaps.

Ashler muttered to himself and recalled one more memory. The first time the prince spoke to people was when he brought the collapsed Abel to the palace. He deliberately showed his eyes to prevent people from getting close to the sick Abel.

He didn’t want people to approach his precious Abel. That was the beginning, and it would be the same now. To a place where no one can approach them, he will head there. Ashler briefly glanced at the surroundings which had become completely dark, and without revealing his inner thoughts, he held out his hand.

“I will handle that matter. So now, please hand it over to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“The medicine. The brown bottle.”

“……”

“With that medicine, Young Master Lil might survive.”

“……”

“Sir Kin.”

Ashler called out to him and took a step closer. He asked quietly, trying to find the truth in Kin’s eyes.

“Why do you wish for Abel to die?”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

‘Keep an eye on the Regas’, without ever taking your eyes off them. If there’s any Regas that catches the emperor’s attention, you must bring that person out of the camp at night, no matter what. Do you understand?’

What on earth is Norhox up to?

Erei, the Regas with green eyes and blond hair, was now in a bad mood. The plan to catch Norhox and take a share from him had fallen through because he went bankrupt too quickly.

Fortunately, Norhox managed to barely maintain his dignity by going under Truyde, however, he had no room to give Erei the mansion and numerous treasures he had promised before. Even if he tried to seduce Truyde now, it would be difficult as he had already been rejected.

Fearing he had wasted his youth in the Regas Palace and would be suddenly driven out, thus, he was doing whatever Norhox’s order him to do for now.

Even so, it was unpleasant to suck the war profiteer in the carriage. He felt especially repulsed just by looking at his greasy eyes.

“Ugh! Haa, good, suck harder. Hah!”

The warm breath, as disgusting as his smelly gen1tals, seemed to fall on his head. Although he wanted to push the war profiteer away and leave this place immediately, he endured the disgusting gen1tal in his mouth because of Norhox’s promise.

‘If you find the emperor’s real Regas, I can make Truyde kneel before me. But before that, I must eliminate the war profiteer who tries to overstep my territory. Do you understand? Do whatever it takes to win his favor. Make him seek you out even in the emperor’s camp at night. If you do as I say, I will give you one of Truyde’s territories later. You will live like an Emperor there.’

To live like an Emperor.

Just hearing those words made his heart swell with excitement. Moreover, Norhox’s voice was filled with confidence that he could make Truyde kneel before him. He didn’t quite understand what it meant to find the emperor’s real Regas, however, he could also see that Norhox had some big plan in mind.

Since Erei had no one else to rely on but Norhox, it didn’t matter if he joined in overthrowing Truyde. If the emperor’s taste had indeed shifted to blond hair and green eyes, then Erei stood a chance to gain even more by becoming the emperor’s Regas.

He didn’t know who are the Regas’ that would be meeting the emperor, but surely they were all inferior to him. Norhox had told him to observe them carefully, but there was no way any of them could win the emperor’s favor over him. Now, all that was left was to make sure the war profiteer fell for him.

Rattle—

As the carriage came to a sudden stop, at the same time, the war profiteer climaxed in Erei’s mouth. It seemed they had arrived at the inn where they would stay for the night, as the sounds of busy activity could be heard outside the carriage.

The night was still long. Erei was confident he could make the war profiteer his slave before they reached the emperor’s camp the next day. He licked his cum-stained lips with his red tongue and looked up at him with a provocative gaze.

“We can continue in the room.”

As he opened his eyes and smiled seductively, rough breathing could be heard from the war profiteer.

“Yes, let’s continue. But I need to fill my stomach first.”

What?

Erei frowned involuntarily. He had expected the war profiteer to rush to the room immediately, but instead, he was asking for food first.

This pig of a man.

However, despite Erei’s disdainful gaze, the war profiteer, seemingly unable to resist his hunger, pulled out some salted, dried meat from his clothes and started chewing.

Even though he now had enough money to buy whatever he wanted, he couldn’t let go of old habits. Carrying such food in his pocket was a vulgar habit typical of the poor people, yet he seemed completely unbothered by it.

Dirty pig.

As Erei cursed him inwardly, the war profiteer, in a show of generosity, pulled out another piece of the filthy meat and handed it to him.

“You should eat too.”

Erei barely restrained himself from shaking his head and put the meat into his mouth.

“Let’s finish this quickly and go to the room.”

He forced a smile while tasting the salty flavor of the poor people’s food in his mouth.