CH 12

After he left the campus and entered the forest, he reached an old building. There were cracks in the wall with a lot of ivy growing on it—it was a shame to look at it. There were no people, owls were crying out, and it was dark even in the daytime. And despite the fact that it was a building belonging to the Academy, it was a place where people stopped coming a century ago. It was because of the myth that ghosts came out every night.

But Remburton didn’t care. He opened the creaking door and entered the building. A musty smell of dust wafted in. Remburton slightly furrowed his brows. There was no hesitation in his steps. It was in front of an old, worn-out and torn sofa that stopped the long bridge heading to the right place to go.

And there was a figure lying down on the sofa. The roughly packed school uniform shirt was loose and the sword hilt was sprawled on the floor. His legs slipped off of the sofa armrests and swung in the air. The inside of the building was dark, but there was some light on the sofa. To block the light, Hazard had covered his face with old books as he lay down. Remburton looked at him and sighed.

“Hazard.”

When he removed the old book that was covering Hazard’s face with his rough hands, the face underneath it was revealed. The bright blonde boy, whose hair seemed to be like melted gold, still had his eyes closed. Remburton sat across on the sofa. He didn’t like the dust flying around, nor did he like the laziness of his master.

“Didn’t you say that it would be good to participate in class properly.”

His voice was as cold as frost. Hazard briefly burst into laughter at him. Blue eyes resembling the sky appeared through the drowsy lifted eyelids.

“Remy, I still want to live.”

The words that were uttered were soft. Hazard tossed and turned his body. The tip of his toes lifted up in the air up and down freely.

“You seem to be feeling more uncomfortable these days…”

“…You’re here again?”

“Yes.”

Remburton pressed down on his temples as if in pain. Hazard’s carefree appearance made his head throb even more. Remburton muttered annoyingly at him.

“…as expected, this decision was foolish!”

“Well, I’ve already been doing this for a day or two.”

Then Hazard stretched his body and got up. Hazard sat down facing Remburton, ruffling his messy hair roughly.

“So, what do you think?”

There was only one reason why Remburton came to Hazard today. Hazard remembered the red-haired boy he had met three days ago. A pale complexion, skinny body. Hazard had a slight impression of his eyes through his glasses, but there was nothing special about the boy. Yet Hazard was troubled by what he had said.

‘It was nice to meet you.’

At first glance, it was not a big deal, but strangely, it bothered him. So, he asked his best friend, Remburton, who was relatively free to move around, to find out about the boy.

‘Nathan Norbert.’

Hazard recited the boy’s name, recalling what had happened three days earlier. Hazard and Remburton were also there three days ago.

‘…detailed information is still unavailable, but the Academy News about him was rather easy to get. He’s more well known than I thought.’

‘Yup, I was right to trust you (with this task), Remy.’

‘I’ve been telling you not to call me that, Hazard!’

When he called him ‘Remy’, Remburton became annoyed. Because it was a cute nickname that didn’t suit his cool face. However, Hazard liked the nickname ‘Remy’, so there had been few occasions since elementary school that Remburton was called Remy. Remburton pulled out a newspaper from his arms and threw it in Hazard’s face. It was a rather disrespectful act to the prince, but Hazard took the newspaper seriously.

‘Have you ever heard of the Norbert Barony case?’

‘Ah, I’ve heard it. It was unfortunate.’

The newspaper that Remburton threw was the newspaper that reported the incident at that time. Hazard saw a picture of the ruins of Norbert Barony on the front page of the newspaper. Looking at Hazard like that, Remburton continued.

‘From the point of view, the person you met earlier was definitely Nathan Norbert of Barony Norbert. It wasn’t that difficult to infer the boy by the descriptions you gave. When I checked the place, situation, and access records where he was, he was the only student who entered the school today.’

‘You figured it out sooner than I thought. I thought it would take another day.’

‘If I remember correctly, he was also in the same Swordsmanship Department. I’ve seen him a few times, too.’

‘Nathan Norbert… I think I’ve heard the name before. It was the first time I saw him in person yesterday, but…’

He had heard the name before. The number of students who wanted the Swordsmanship Department was the largest among all departments in the Academy. As a result, the department was divided into several sections, so it was not impossible that the two had never met before. In the meantime, Hazard remembered Nathan because his name was next to his every time grades were announced. If you see the same name dozens of times, you’ll get used to it.

‘Apparently, he suddenly applied for a transfer to the Magic Department today.’

In fact, he was too skinny to be in the Swordsmanship Department. Hazard unknowingly fumbled his fingers and clenched his fists as if imagining the waist he had grabbed yesterday.

‘Remburton, transfer.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah, I’d like you to transfer to the Magic Department.’

Remburton’s future was decided so spontaneously. Of course, he was dissatisfied with why he had to go to the Magic Department, but Hazard could not go himself directly. His life was being targeted for some stupid reason, so the sudden change might provoke those watching him into hastening their plans. Therefore, there were restrictions on what he could do, and Remburton, who was free to act, had no choice but to move instead.

“Do you think there’s a possibility that the kid is connected to the royal family?”

“No, I don’t think so at the moment.”

But Remburton still didn’t understand.

“I don’t understand. Hazard, is there any reason you should care about him? Maybe he just chose to transfer because he had poor grades. I’m sure he has chosen a course that suits him right now. As you can see, he has no talent as a swordsman.”

“Right.”

“Moreover, wasn’t it you who spoke to him first? Do you really think there is a possibility that Nathan Norbert is connected to the royal family? This is too speculative. He’s too well known for that. Everyone knows about the case of Norbert Barony and there are a lot of people watching him curiously. Using him to get to you is a cheap plan.”

“…my older brothers seem to be upset again these days, so I thought they sent me a different gift.” Hazard shrugged his shoulders.

“On the contrary, I’m afraid the fact that I’ve suddenly transferred to the Magic Department may provoke them.”

“They might think that the second son of Marquis Barcella finally turned his back on the Fifth Prince.”

“If that’s the case, then I’ll have no regrets. That way, you have room to breathe a little…”

“Haha! Those guys are stupid, so you never know.”

“The Second Prince is still smarter than the others. I’m sure the news of my transfer has reached his ears already. They’ll probably keep an eye on us for a while. You’d better be careful, Hazard.”

“That’s why I’m hiding here.”

“…wouldn’t you rather be in a place with more people.”

“If there’s blood spilled, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”

Saying that, Hazard’s face looked tired. They were not sending people to kill the youngest brother yet. This warned him that they were trying to slowly cut off his breathing (like a trap). Hazard’s position was the lowest among countless children. Hazard said, as he ran his fingers across the armrests of his sofa lightly, “I don’t want to be king, I’ve told them… What should I do with those people who still act deaf and blind? Hm, Remy?”

“…it must be because they are jealous of Your Highness Elphines (엘피네스 el-fee-ness). You are also her weakness.”

“Ha! My sister is not that weak-hearted. Don’t you know the truth?”

Hazard laughed as if it was ridiculous. The king, who freely rolled down his lower garments, had many children. There were five princes and twelve princesses. They all had different mothers, but Hazard had one sister with the same mother.

“Those idiots still look down on her for being a woman, and they see me as a competitor just because I’m a man, so I’m the one who’s troubled by their surprise gifts every night.”