RGS Volume 5 Part 12

What they had planned came out of Karas’ mouth so easily that it seemed absurd. Thus, they were more bewildered than happy.

Why?

They exchanged puzzled glances, but no one knew the reason. Norhox, unable to bear it any longer, asked Karas as if to confirm.

“Are you serious, Your Majesty? If you dine with us, the King’s Heart, it would be an honor for us.”

You know you will die, don’t you?

The unsaid truth was evident in his sharp eyes. Having witnessed Karas’s power firsthand, Norhox was more wary than the others. However, he still firmly believed in the black potion. If they could dine together, they could directly add the potion to his food and keep him under watch. If that were the case, he would be nothing.

“If that is what Your Majesty desires, we will naturally stay by your side.”

“Stay? I only need you for a month.”

Karas spoke, looking each of them in the eyes one by one as if to confirm.

“For the next month, you must be seated here at this time every day.”

A month. It was precisely the period they wanted.

Why on earth was Karas voluntarily giving them exactly what they wanted?

“Response?”

As Karas pressed them for a response, they hesitantly agreed. Only Truyde remained silent, but Karas noticed and stared at him.

“If you’re scared, quit.”

“No, Your Majesty.”

Truyde slightly bowed his head and didn’t miss the hands of the war profiteer’s hand under the table. The latter was trembling even more than before.

Does that guy know something?

Outwardly, everything seemed to be going their way, however, their unease also grew stronger.

“Your Majesty, now let us proceed with the meal…”

“Before that.”

Interrupting in a bored tone, Karas pulled something out from his pocket and tossed it onto the table.

Thud. Clatter—

A small bottle, about the thickness of two fingers, rolled across the table and stopped in one place. The bottle came to a halt right in front of the member of the King’s Heart who managed the temple. With all eyes on him, he looked around at the others in distress, silently signaling for someone else to pick it up. However, the tense atmosphere caused everyone to ignore him. Moreover, Karas pressured him.

“Take it. It’s my gift.”

Alternately glancing between Karas and the small bottle, the person in charge of the temple cautiously picked up the bottle,

“Your Majesty, what is this?”

“Open it.”

He looked around at the others, swallowed nervously, and then opened the bottle. A strong scent, overpowering the smell of the food, filled the room. He cautiously brought it close to his nose and sniffed to check. In a curious voice, he asked, unaware of Norhox’s face turning pale.

“Isn’t this fragrance oil?”

Unfortunately, he never received an answer. As soon as he asked, a sudden flame burst from his hand, as if waiting for that moment. The bright red flames, which started from the hand holding the fragrance oil, quickly engulfed him.

Crash―! Clatter!

The chair fell, and the table shook, causing plates to fall to the floor with a loud noise. However, those who had stepped back in shock at the flames did not notice the mess on the floor.

“Ahhh!”

A red flame, like a living snake, crawled into the open mouth of the King’s Heart member who was screaming. The screams soon died down. Yet, he continued to flail his limbs and roll around on the carpet. No one could approach to help him. The strange thing was that the flames did not spread anywhere else.

It only consumed that one person, and eventually burned him completely black. As the acrid smell of burning flesh filled the room, the shocked members of the King’s Heart could not take their eyes off him. At that moment, a voice they believed to be slurred from drug intoxication reached clearly in their ears.

“I will give you another gift in a week.”

When the remaining four turned to look at him, Karas, one by one, cast his gaze upon them, speaking slowly.

“And then another week, and another week after that. Four times in total until the last week. I will give it to you here. The next person to receive it will be…”

Everyone held their breath at the end of his slurred words. However, the answer that came out of Karas’ mouth was too simple.

“You decide for yourselves.”

Now, no one was fooled by his seemingly nonchalant tone. They knew well what impact the method he had revealed would have on them.

What if someone really had to die in this spot a week from now?

How, how on earth could they choose something like that?

Norhox, whose power had weakened after losing his wealth, gritted his teeth and glanced at the others.

This is ridiculous.

He needed to stop this immediately. However, the internal warning he felt crumbled like dust at Karas’ next words. His voice sounded so terrifying that no one could dare mock it.

“You have no choice. I participated in your game as you wished, so if there is anyone who wants to run away like a coward, I will end the game right here.”

Karas’ gray eyes returned to their original snake-like appearance as he revealed a smile.

“Exciting, isn’t it? Will I die first with your gift, or will you all perish with mine?”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Marquis Yan returned late at night. All the servants were asleep, but those in the knights’ quarters close to the mansion could hear the sound of the Marquis’ large carriage. Abel jumped up from his seat and approached the window. There was nothing to see through the window, but he still craned his neck to try and catch a glimpse of the Marquis.

He wanted to gauge the situation at the palace by observing the Marquis’ condition.

He must have met Karas, how did it go?

Soon, the sound of the carriage that had been rumbling through the darkness faded and silence flowed once again.  Still, unable to let go of his curiosity, he leaned against the window for a long time.

The chilly night air crept into his skin. Although he felt a slight shiver from within, he did not feel cold. He focused on the sounds and continued to peer into the dark night, but he was interrupted from behind.

“It’s cold.”

Startled by the abrupt remark, Abel quickly closed the window.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

Instead of answering, the Commander of the Royal Guards sat up in bed, running his hand through his hair.

“Quite the opposite. I’ve been trying to fall asleep.”

“I see, I was disturbing you. I’ll be quiet now.”

Abel quickly bowed his head as if he was truly  sorry and went back to his seat. As he tiptoed to avoid making noise, the Commander of the Royal Guards stared at him and asked.

“Who are you really?”

“Pardon?”

“You opened the window because of the sound of the Marquis’ carriage. Even though you say you’re helping Sir Kin, you’re worrying too much. For a mere servant.”

Abel, who was about to sit halfway down on his mat on the floor, let out an awkward laugh.

“Haha, well, I need to do my best, so I end up worrying. Don’t you also want to quickly find it and get back to the palace, Sir Tom, er, Commander of the Royal Guards?”

“That’s true. By the way, what’s your name?”

“My name is Lil…”

“Lil?”

The Commander of the Royal Guards raised his eyebrows as if he had heard the name somewhere. Seeing that, Abel quickly added.

“…lie. My name is Lylie.”

“Lylie? Huh, what kind of guy has a name like that?”

The Commander of the Royal Guards’ mocking face suddenly darkened. As if reminded of his own real name, his face lost its color, but he quickly changed the subject.

“So, Lylie, how long have you known Sir Kin?”

As if wanting to hear an explanation that he hadn’t heard from Kin, he moved to the end of the bed and sat down.

“Did Sir Kin instruct you what to do next? Now that we’re hiding here, I mean.”

Since he had never received any instructions, there was nothing to say. However, the Commander of the Royal Guards stared at Abel with a sleepy gaze as if he wanted to be rewarded for the sleep he had lost.

“After hearing the humiliating order that I should follow every decision you make here, I need to hear an explanation. Speak.”

“Well, I’ve been serving Sir Kin for about a month. And as for future plans…”

“Plans?”

“Just do well?”

“…Are you kidding me?”

“No! I’m not kidding.”

“Then why aren’t you telling me?”

Because there are no plans.

However, the Commander of the Royal Guards’ face had already distorted, trying to guess the reason.

“D*mn it, you’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

Thud.

Abel, who indeed had something to hide, felt his heart sink.

“Pardon? Hi-hiding? No, there’s nothing like that.”

To the Commander of the Royal Guards, he looked like someone who had lived hiding something his whole life. And the Commander of the Royal Guards’ sharp instinct that appeared for the second time in his life, did not believe him. He stood up abruptly as if he was getting angry.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

His voice, dark with anger, seemed ready to force Abel to reveal his true identity. Was he going to accuse him of being the supposedly dead Regas? Panic-stricken, Abel reached out his hands to stop him, but he shouted out the frustration he had been holding in.

“Sir Kin told you not to tell me, didn’t he?! It’s another case of me being left out again, isn’t it?!”

His sharp instinct had missed the mark once again. Moreover, he seemed to recall all the injustices he’d suffered from his comrades, as his eyes began to glisten with tears.

“Ugh, even in the unit, they always left me out and gossiped among themselves. They never told me anything about His Majesty, and I was always the last to know. D*mn it, I’m also a commander too, but they always bully me.”

“……”

“Even this time, even this time they didn’t let me use the alias I’d thought of for years and made me use ‘Tom’ instead, *sob, sob*.”

It turned out that the root of his sorrow was the name Tom. Once he started crying, he swallowed down his sobs with his mouth tightly as if he could not hold back the sadness that had once flowed away. He stood there for a long time, hiccupping as he held back his tears. Abel, feeling awkward, hesitantly approached and patted his trembling shoulder.

Pat, pat.

However, this affectionate action only triggered the Commander of the Royal Guards’ suppressed grief. Abel just wanted to tell him that ‘Tom’ was okay, but suddenly, the Commander turned and pulled Abel into an embrace, burying his face in Abel’s shoulder and sobbing loudly.

“*Sob*, I hate Tom! *Sob*, I hate Tom. I want to be Garasu, *sob*—”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Marquis Yan, who dismissed all the servants and was left alone in the room, sat in a chair and looked at the flickering candle. He felt like drinking a strong liquor that he hadn’t tasted for a long time to forget his current miserable feeling. The condition offered by the 20-year-old emperor and the black corpse struggling in the fire couldn’t be erased from his mind.

Honestly, if he weren’t part of the King’s Heart, he would have been happy as a loyal subject.

How bold and cunning to stake himself in such a daring gamble?

He might have been proud to serve such an impressive emperor. If only he weren’t part of the King’s Heart.

At first glance, Karas’ game could be seen as a game he threw out in a momentary impulse. They had successfully insulted his pride and forced him to drink the black potion thanks to it.

But then why did he feel like Karas was the winner?

He knew it was because of the impact of that burning corpse.

It had an absurdly fatal impact on the King’s Heart. What he had casually thrown was not a light arrow. It was a golden lump thrown at the adults who ignored and looked down on their opponent like a child and disregarded him. The adults, who were already ready to tear each other apart out of greed, would obviously become even more childishly greedy than Karas at the sight of that gold.

That gold of greed, if handled well, meant they could kill all their competitors and end up possessing the entire country. That’s why, even knowing it was a dangerous game, no one could refuse. And the thought of uniting against one common enemy was also shattered by Karas’ proposal once again.

This time, they knew no matter how good the glue, it couldn’t put them back together. Because no one said the emperor’s game was dangerous and that they needed to find another way. When they left the prince’s room, the members of the King’s Heart only exchanged wary glances without saying a word.

From his perspective, it seemed Truyde was pleased to accept the emperor’s proposal, while Norhox looked anxious, fearing he might be the first victim. The war profiteer, who had suddenly involved himself, just stared at Truyde in fear and looked like he would unconditionally follow his opinion. The funny thing was that even in this state, he could only think about lowly greed for money.

‘What will happen to the temple in the future?’

Since the one managing the temple had died, he seemed to be coveting that position even now. Even Truyde looked at the war profiteer with disgust.

How on earth could anyone know who would take that position in this situation?

 However, the war profiteer, trembling, continued to look at the other three, as if he was hoping for the answer he wanted.

Of course, he must have hoped the temple would fall into his hands, but that was out of the question. The management could be entrusted to a high-ranking priest and sorted out later. Truyde coldly replied on behalf of everyone and turned his eyes away. He didn’t want to see those disgusting, bloodshot eyes any longer. Right now, only the emperor’s proposal was what mattered to him.

On the other hand, Marquis Yan was conflicted. He was torn between fear and greed, making it difficult for him to make a decision. It was clear that if he handle it well, this would be a great opportunity. The temptation was so strong it pushed aside his fear. He looked back at the prince’s palace they had left.

But what if all this was part of the emperor’s scheme?

What if there was another hidden meaning behind risking his own life?

They had already put themselves on the game board. The King’s Heart had become game pieces, each blinded by their own greed. Despite the ominous feeling that they might be dragged around by the emperor, Marquis Yan could not abandon his greed. Tempted by the opportunity to get rid of the useless things around him, he cast his vote for approval.

Norhox did not answer until the very end, but soon, realizing he could not avoid it, he clenched his teeth and nodded. Then there were two things left. Would the emperor die within a month? And who would be chosen as the next victim? This was surprisingly easily resolved.

Truyde asserted that the emperor would definitely die before a week had passed. Even if not, he assured them that the emperor would become powerless, so they should trust him. Everyone looked at Truyde suspiciously, but he persuaded them that this was a great opportunity to get rid of the emperor once and for all, and they all needed to cooperate.

However, the Marquis did not fully believe him. So, he wasn’t too surprised by what happened next. Just as his carriage was leaving the palace, someone chased after him. The one who climbed into his halted carriage was Truyde. He spoke bluntly.

‘The emperor won’t die in a week.’

This statement was his own admission that what he said was a lie. When asked for the reason, Truyde responded with dark eyes.

‘The black potion I gave to Karas today was the same amount I used to kill the former king.’