RGS Volume 5 Part 25 : End

He wanted to go back. Norhox wanted to order the carriage to turn around several times. He used to come to the Regas Palace every day to indulge in pleasures, even without the emperor. Now it felt like hell. Each day felt like he was getting closer to death.

Next, it’s me.

The next victim is me.

He couldn’t shake this thought out in his mind.

Without the last shred of pride he had as the King’s Heart, he might have actually hidden away somewhere. But there were too many eyes watching. The nobles, who had flattered the King’s Heart, had changed their attitudes in just two weeks. Their gazes, especially towards Norhox, now carried a hint of ridicule. As if looking at someone doomed to die soon. However, there was nothing he could do.

Moreover, his growing thirst had worsened lately. Norhox chewed on the dried meat that he had badgered his chef at home to prepare. The salty and rancid taste spread in his mouth, but he felt uneasy if he didn’t chew on something. He didn’t even have the time to realize how he had ended up in such a state. Driven by a desperate need to survive, he listened intently to the words of the war profiteer who had come to visit him secretly.

“It only needs to be a few days.”

The war profiteer lowered his voice, emphasizing the few days.

“With just a few days’ grace, we will be able to know Truyde’s true intentions.”

“True intentions?”

Norhox’s voice turned fierce at the mere mention of Truyde’s name. The war profiteer looked around to ensure no one was listening and covered his mouth with his hand.

“Do you truly not know why Truyde suddenly attached a Regas to His Majesty?”

Regas?

Yes, that was truly strange. Suddenly, he was summoned to the Regas Palace and instructed to select people, and then he personally chose and sent them to the emperor. That was certainly odd. At that moment, the war profiteer came up with a plausible reason.

“Truyde has no intention of killing the emperor.”

“What?”

“Otherwise, why would he send a Regas to find someone who will please the emperor? He tells us he plans to kill the emperor, but in reality, he intends to use us as sacrifices to suppress the emperor’s power and then control him with drugs, just like he did with the late king, putting him under his feet. He’s not planning to kill him.”

On hearing this, it really seemed like that. Truyde, known for always scheming behind the scenes, would naturally do such things. Even if he held all the power, it would be futile without the emperor. Since there were no heirs of the emperor yet, even if a fake emperor was later put forward, there would be issues of legitimacy. Thus, keeping the emperor alive and addicted to the black potion worked in Truyde’s favor.

Norhox gritted his teeth and asked the war profiteer.

“What do I need to do?”

“It needs to be confirmed. By secretly stealing the black potion. If Truyde truly intends to kill the emperor, he will do whatever it takes to make more black potion, no matter how difficult it is. However, if he just wants to keep the emperor alive through addiction…”

“He won’t care if it’s missing for a few days. He would probably request the emperor first to temporarily halt the game. Since he isn’t trying to kill him, there is no urgency.”

Norhox clenched his fists and stood up.

“We just need to get rid of the black potion Truyde currently has now.”

The war profiteer, hiding a smile mixed with laughter, feigned a frightened tone as he asked.

“Do you know where it is? I’ve tried to find it but failed.”

“Hmph, just like his father, he’s done the same thing for decades. Every summer, he always keeps a few days’ worth of black potion in a special safe in his room, confident that no one can open it. But that fool. He knows only one thing and not the other.”

“Can you steal it?”

“Steal it? No. There’s no need. Just render it useless. Since it’s still hot outside, the black potion is definitely in there.”

Norhox clenched his fist tight, his eyes gleaming fiercely.

I’ll do exactly what you did to Marquis Yan.

As he left the room, the war profiteer let out a sigh of relief and a trembling smile appeared on his lips.

“Heh, I guess I’ll live a few more days.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

When Truyde arrived at the palace, the first thing he saw was the smoke rising from the Minister’s Palace. The ominous feeling he had felt from a distance turned to rage when he realized that the source of the fire was his own room.

Despite his subordinate’s attempts to stop him, as he rushed into the room that had just been extinguished and reduced to ashes, his confidant ran to one specific place first. Truyde headed to the secret safe, closed with an iron door, installed at the bottom of the wall. The wooden floor had burned, but fortunately, the iron door remained intact despite the flames. There were no signs that anyone had opened it.

“The safe is secure.”

Even though this was good news, Truyde’s expression became even more terrifying. The security of the safe was not what mattered to him. It was the heat. He stored the black potion in the safe because it was easily altered at high temperatures. It was difficult to manage when it was too hot or too cold.

The reason for placing the safe in the basement was to maintain a stable temperature.

But the fire was burning right above it?

What about the inside of the safe?

If this was intentional, the culprit must have known a lot about the black potion. This was an inside job.

“The culprit?”

Truyde’s sharp eyes turned, but the soldier standing nearby shook his head.

“There was no one at the scene when the fire broke out. However…”

The soldier added hesitantly.

“There was a strong smell of fragrance oil nearby.”

Truyde’s eyes narrowed as he thought of a few insiders who could be the culprits.

Fragrance oil? The emperor?

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

That evening’s dinner was similar to the previous day’s. Truyde, seemingly not interested in eating, put his spoon down after eating about a third of his meal. His gaze, constantly monitoring the emperor, remained unchanged, though he occasionally cast suspicious glances at Norhox.

Who could have started the fire?

If it was the emperor, why?

There was only one answer to the second question. If the Emperor had discovered the Marquis’ wooden pendant, it was possible. To provoke him. Truyde decided to take a direct approach for confirmation. When Karas returned, he was astonishingly accommodating to all of his requests and conversations.

“Your Majesty.”

At Truyde’s call, Karas didn’t even lift his eyes, but Truyde continued in a soft voice.

“Do you believe in reincarnation by any chance?”

This time, there was a response. When Karas raised his dull gray eyes, Truyde smiled.

“I believe in it. Especially, I’ve been thinking how wonderful it would be if Your Majesty’s Regas had reincarnated.”

“Go on.”

Karas, showing interest, fully lifted his head to look at Truyde. As Norhox and the war profiteer also turned to him, curious about what he was talking about, Truyde asked lightly.

“If that were the case, wouldn’t Your Majesty leave this place and act as a proper emperor?”

It was an openly mocking remark directed at the emperor. Even for a member of the King’s Heart, it was a bold move. However, Truyde, with sharp eyes, observed Karas’ reaction and continued speaking.

“What do you think, Your Majesty? Do you believe your Regas has reincarnated?”

“Say whatever you want.”

Karas murmured indifferently, and Truyde nodded with a smile in response.

“Yes, what I want to say is that I wish to find Your Majesty’s reincarnated Regas. But it’s not an easy task. Not with the Dragon’s Forest in such a state.”

He deliberately trailed off and glared at Karas coldly.

“I think it is right to identify him by the belongings left behind by Your Majesty’s Regas.”

Norhox and the war profiteer, listening to his words, could only think that Truyde had gone mad.

Reincarnation out of nowhere?

What on earth is he talking about?

However, the emperor showed even more interest in Truyde’s words that followed.

“For example, something like a wooden pendant the size of a palm would be ideal. Your Majesty, you have such an item, don’t you?”

A wooden pendant the size of a palm?

While they were trying to recall where they had heard this as they searched their memories, Karas’ response came.

“Yes.”

For a moment, Truyde’s eyes gleamed sharply, but he quickly covered it with a smiling face.

“In that case, please allow us to use that to find your real Regas. If you give us a few days, we will gather people from all over the country. Those with the blond hair and green eyes that Your Majesty desires. Surely, among them, there will be the reincarnated Regas.”

Reincarnation was just a word he threw out. The idea popped up as he considered the possibility that there might be another Regas for the Emperor. He thought it would be a laughable concept, but the emperor did not laugh. Rather, he readily accepted Truyde’s proposal.

“Fine.”

“Your Majesty, then, first the wooden pendant…”

“Aren’t you eating?”

Karas interrupted Truyde, looking at his bowl as if he found continuing the conversation tiresome. When Truyde glanced at his still mostly full bowl and frowned, Karas gave his response.

“If you gather the people, I’ll tell you where the wooden pendant is.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Ashler thought the situation was taking a strange turn.

Who would have thought Truyde would bring up the wooden pendant?

And reincarnation?

How on earth does he even know about that?

D*mn it.

Now, all he could do was get Abel into the palace before the emperor handed over the wooden pendant to Truyde. Ashler spent each day anxiously, and only four days later was he allowed to open the library.

In the meantime, he thought about sneaking Abel in earlier, but he was too busy preparing for the planned events at Melmond’s house every night. Finally, on the morning when Abel and Melmond’s group entered the palace, Ashler calmed his pounding heart and knocked on Karas’ quarters door.

Bang.

The sound of the door closing behind him and his footsteps echoed loudly in his ears. In fact, he could even hear his own breathing loudly. His nerves were tense because he had no idea how Karas would react to what he was about to say.

“Your Majesty.”

Although he was used to Karas not responding whenever he called him, Ashler swallowed dryly and opened his mouth.

“Please, listen to what I have to say until the end.”

Karas’ hair, which had grown quite long, now slightly passed his shoulders, and his hair completely covered his eyes like when he was a child. However, unlike then, he no longer hid his eyes. When his cold gray eyes turned toward him, Ashler began to speak the words he had prepared.

“Your Majesty, Lord Abel is alive.”

A chill suddenly spread through his entire body. Since taking the black potion, Karas had never instilled such fear with just his gaze, however, it seemed his power remained. No, it felt even stronger. This bone-chilling sensation was something no one wouldn’t understand unless they experienced it themselves.

“…Where is he?”

At Karas’ indifferent question, Ashler gritted his teeth and tried to endure it.

“Please, listen to me first.”

“Where is he?”

Before Ashler knew it, Karas had stood up from his seat and taken a step towards him. The chill that had been running through his body turned into sharp blades, stabbing him from within. It was the first time he had experienced such pain, so Ashler was flustered, however, he didn’t take his eyes off Karas.

“Haa, there is something Your Majesty must promise before meeting Abel. He is someone who barely escaped from the clutches of the King’s Heart. So, please ensure that Abel’s existence remains hidden. More importantly, Abel has… ugh!”

Ashler suddenly bent over, coughing up blood from his mouth. In a situation where his whole body was trembling and it was hard to stand properly, one word pierced his ears.

“Where?”

He thought that if he didn’t answer this time, Karas might really kill him. However, barely lifting his head, Ashler spoke other words first.

“Abel has lost his memory. So, Your Majesty must, please, save him.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖Continues in Regas Volume 6⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆.

　　　.   　　˚　✭　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　　✭　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　.   　　˚　✭　 　　 ✦

OMG I WAS SCREAMING THIS WHOLE TIME ACKKK. I am so freaking excited!!

Good thing we didn’t end up in Blood this Volume T-T

I hope everything will turn out well this time, I don’t want to be disappointed, I miss them so much T-T

See you in Volume 6 everyone<3