RGS Volume 5 Part 17

“Do I just have to touch it?”

Seeing the change in his eyes, the Marquis answered indifferently.

“No. You must touch it and call the name of its original owner, the dragon, twice.”

The name of the dragon. Everyone knew it because it was the most used spell in the King’s Heart Temple. Erei first picked up the first object and muttered the dragon’s name quietly in his mouth.

“Adore Anguis, Adore Anguis.”

Erei closed his eyes tightly and waited for any sensation to happen. However, the golden statue in his hand only warmed up with his body temperature and no magic occurred. Erei concealed his disappointment and picked up the next one. And the next, and the next.

It took quite some time for him to test everything and touch them with his hands, but the Marquis just watched silently. With sharp eyes, he carefully observed Erei’s expression. Although he tried to hide it, when he put down the last item, his face showed disappointment. The Marquis swallowed a snicker that was about to come out.

“Tell me, which one is the real treasure?”

As expected, Erei raised his eyes in confusion. The Marquis, giving him no time to think, sharply retorted again.

“Are you saying there was no reaction from any of them?”

“Well, that’s…”

“Answer me! Is that the case or not?”

Startled by the sudden outburst, Erei’s shoulder flinched and looked up with eyes filled with despair.

What should I do?

Should I just choose anything?

But what if I make a mistake?

If things continue like this, who knows what kind of punishment I would receive from Norhox. No, I’ll immediately be shunned by the knight I rely on for the dried meat because of this thirst.

At that moment, Erei remembered the instruction he had given him. To get the meat, he had to do what he was told.

“Pathetic. To think I let a fake like you touch these treasures. Get out of my mansion right now!”

“W-Wait a moment, Marquis.”

Erei hurriedly called out to him and quickly added.

“Yes, it’s true that I didn’t feel anything from these items. However, I did get a strange feeling.”

“If you’re going to spout nonsense…”

“The trees!”

Erei blurted out and continued in a trembling voice.

“For some reason, I have a feeling the treasure is somehow related to the trees.”

It was a statement made without much expectation. He needed to follow the knight’s instructions to receive the dried meat and report how the Marquis reacted. However, the Marquis’s reaction was unexpected. Suddenly, he fell silent and stared at Erei with frightening eyes. In that moment, something flashed in Erei’s mind.

“Marquis, is it possible that the real treasure isn’t among these?”

“Get out.”

“What? But if the real one isn’t here…”

“Leave at once!”

The Marquis shouted, his face red with anger. Erei, startled, left the room but bit his lip as he looked back at the closed door.

What? The knight was right?

A place related to trees?

Where could that be?

And how did the knight know that?

Erei hurried to his room, his mind swirling with various questions. The first thing he did was write a letter to Norhox. In fact, he wanted to leave this place immediately and deliver the news to Norhox himself. He had always drawn attention and admiration with his beautiful appearance, but here he was nothing more than a nuisance.

He didn’t want to stay any longer, but his greed held him back. There must be more to find out. If not from the Marquis, then from that knight. Although he would have to report the Marquis’ reaction to get the dried meat from the knight, it didn’t matter.

If I truly try, I can easily bring down that knight.

Erei reassured himself as he wrote down that the treasure was related to the trees. He deliberately omitted any mention of the knight and made it seem like he had figured everything out on his own.

A day had passed since he last ate the meat, and his hands were already trembling. Then Erei tried to call a servant to send the letter he had finished writing. But when he opened the door, someone approached him as if he had been waiting.

“What’s the matter?”

A knight he had never seen before asked kindly and urged him to go back inside.

“We are currently inspecting inside because of the intruder who entered the mansion yesterday. It is dangerous, so please go inside.”

“No. Call a servant. I need someone to go out right now.”

When Erei shook his head firmly, the knight smiled kindly again.

“The servants are all asleep right now. They have been ordered not to leave their rooms due to security reasons. You will have to wait until tomorrow morning. I don’t know what’s going on, but is there anything I can help you?”

Erei hesitated for a moment but, already feeling anxious and thirsty, didn’t think further.

“Deliver this to Lord Norhox. If you leave right now, you will receive a great favor from Lord Norhox.”

After Erei handed over the letter, the knight looked down at it for a moment and nodded.

“Understood. If I leave now, I should arrive by dawn.”

Erei urged him to leave quickly and went back into his room. The knight confirmed that his door was completely closed before walking down the hallway. Without hesitation, he opened the letter and quickly scanned its contents. After a brief pause, the knight rode his horse as promised and left the dark mansion. However, the place he was headed to was not the Norhox household, but the mansion where Truyde was currently staying.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

There were still many trees that needed to be checked. However, this night, too, Abel couldn’t continue his inspection.  Last night, it was because the Commander of the Royal Guards stopped him, but this time it was because of someone else. Abel couldn’t even get close to his destination and hid behind a tree, staring at a certain place.

It was truly a stroke of luck that he found him. It was also thanks to the bright moonlight that had risen for the first time after several days. As he approached a tree near the mansion, he happened to catch something with his eyes. It was something faint that could easily be overlooked, but Abel stopped walking and focused on it.

The Commander of the Royal Guards, who had followed him, was about to ask what was going on, but Abel put his hand on his mouth. Then he moved his finger and pointed to a spot.

The window on the second floor of the mansion.

The Commander of the Royal Guards didn’t notice anything unusual at first. However, soon he realized that there was someone behind the window.

“It’s the Marquis’ room.”

So the person behind the window is the Marquis?

The Commander of the Royal Guards cautiously tried to get closer to confirm, but it was too dark to see his face. However, one thing was clear. The person was watching the garden, almost as if he was keeping guard. Abel, who had come closer, asked worriedly.

“Did he perhaps find out what I did every night?”

The Commander of the Royal Guards had the same thought for a moment but soon he shook his head. If that were the case, there would be someone out here trying to catch Abel. And the Marquis wouldn’t be standing so openly at the window. So why was the Marquis suddenly being cautious?

Ah, right. There was someone who could have told the Marquis about the trees.

“Wait in your room.”

The Commander of the Royal Guards ordered Abel and then concealed himself in the shadows as he headed towards the mansion. It was clear that Erei had met with the Marquis.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

For two consecutive days, an important guest visited the Marquis’s house. Despite the fact that he would meet him soon at the palace, Truyde purposely stepped into the Marquis’s house. The Marquis, who had spent a sleepless night due to an inexplicable unease, greeted him with sharp nerves.

But perhaps he was too anxious?

As soon as he opened the door, his eyes lit up with caution at the sight of Truyde. Truyde was staring intently at the garden outside the window.

“Now that I see it, it’s truly a beautiful garden.”

Bang!

Instead of responding, the Marquis slammed the door shut and immediately asked.

“What brings you here?”

“To confirm.”

“What?”

“To confirm whether you trust me and not conspiring behind my back.”

The Marquis furrowed his eyebrows, showing his discomfort. However, Truyde smiled, seemingly relaxed.

“What did you discuss with Norhox? Are you planning to join forces with him and take me down?”

Seeing that the Marquis still hadn’t moved from the doorway, Truyde leaned against the windowsill.

“So, it’s true.”

“Well…”

The Marquis gave Truyde an ambiguous answer, just like he did to Norhox. Of course, Truyde understood his intentions this time as well. However, unlike Norhox, who got angry, Truyde just looked at him quietly.

“How can I trust you when you only ask me to believe and follow you just based on your words alone?”

Surprisingly, Truyde nodded his head in agreement.

“You’re right. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust my words alone. Especially given our peculiar relationship.”

The word ‘peculiar’ seemed to carry a hint of amusement. However, before the Marquis could react, Truyde continued in a serious tone.

“Do you know what people in the palace think about the King’s Heart? They’re whispering that we’re fighting amongst ourselves like fools, ignoring the emperor. They’re worried that we’ll end up destroying ourselves. I’ve even heard rumors that some are preparing to side with the emperor. As unpleasant as it is, I think they’re right. We might end up destroying ourselves instead of our real enemy. If we can’t trust each other.”

“……”

“We will use the weak and useless Norhox as a victim. Then the war profiteer. That way, we can buy ourselves two weeks or so. What’ matters right now is not me, but the King’s Heart.”

However, the Marquis still looked at Truyde with a wary eye. Truyde, as if he had anticipated it, suddenly pointed his finger outside the window.

“If you were to hide something, wouldn’t the best place be in the garden? Who would ever imagine that you’d hide a family heirloom out in the open?”

The mention of the ‘garden’ made the Marquis’ heart sink. However, the Marquis tried not to react and casually asked.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Truyde lightly replied and got up from the windowsill and approached the Marquis.

“I’ll give you evidence so that you can trust me.”

“Are you going to tell me the ingredients of the black potion?”

“That’s right.”

The Marquis doubted his own ears at the simple answer. However, Truyde continued with his words.

“It’s an herb that plays an important role in making the black potion.”

Truyde looked out the window again and explained in a light voice.

“In the middle of the forest connected to my mansion, there is our ancestor’s tomb. Our ancestor who first discovered the black potion had his tomb built inside a stone building. Around the area of that building, rare herbs grow that look like weeds.”

“Is that the ingredient for the black potion?”

The Marquis asked in surprise, but Truyde only twisted his lips with an ambiguous answer.

“Who knows. I’ll let you know once we confirm Norhox’s death tomorrow night. Now, do you trust me?”

The Marquis remained silent as if contemplating. Truyde didn’t urge him and calmly waited for his reaction, then asked in passing.

“But am I right?”

“What do you mean?”

“The garden is a good place to hide.”

“Well.”

The Marquis gave the same vague answer for the second time, but Truyde just chuckled and walked towards the door. However, before leaving, he didn’t forget an important warning.

“Oh, and don’t forget. The reason I agreed to join forces with you is because of the object you possess. So, keep the secret to yourself. If you can hold out until tomorrow, you’ll receive an unexpected gift.”

Thud.

The door closed, and the Marquis cast a confused glance out the window. If he decided to trust Truyde, he shouldn’t say anything to Norhox whom he would meet at the palace today. He also shouldn’t leave the object with anyone as a precaution in case he died, just as Norhox had suggested. However, if Norhox brought him something important by tomorrow afternoon, he planned to leave some room for reconsideration.

Who knows? Norhox might even bring the real Regas. There was still one more day until the time to receive the emperor’s gift. There was still time to decide. However, on the night before that day, the Marquis realized that the time for choice was over. In the middle of the night, flames began to erupt throughout the large mansion.

The first to notice the fire were not the people inside the mansion, but Abel and the Commander of the Royal Guards who were awake. They came out a little later in the night to continue the search that had failed the previous day. They were worried that the Marquis might still be awake, but it was meaningless. This time, black smoke blocked their way. Smoke began to rise from various windows of the mansion as if on cue.

“It looks like there’s a fire!”

Abel was startled and tried to run towards the mansion, but the Commander of the Royal Guards quickly grabbed his arm.

“Wait. It’s dangerous over there.”

“But aren’t there people inside? What about all the servants?”

“Someone would have shouted or tried to escape outside by now.”

However, no one came running out. It was only then that Abel realized the seriousness in the Commander of the Royal Guards’ eyes as he stared at the mansion. Black smoke billowed and red flames began to appear, but the mansion remained silent. A chill ran down Abel’s spine.

Were they all dead?

“Who could have done such a thing?”

“The Marquis’ knights planted by Truyde. They probably got rid of anyone who would be a hindrance in advance.”

Abel asked, staring blankly at the Commander of the Royal Guards.

“What about us?”

Why were we still alive?

The Commander of the Royal Guards had a clear answer to this question.