CH 164

Come on? Who would believe such a thing if you suddenly were told of it? You can’t even be sure of its existence, and how are you so sure that it is a demon or not?

“And how are you supposed to know that, Your Highness?” I asked the Crown Prince.

He became solemn and sighed, “It’s because… I…”

As he was about to say something, the loud and thundering voice of someone could be heard. “YOUR HIGHNESS! ARE YOU SAFE?! Oh god, a wound on such a perfectly handsome face!!”

I was surprised by Sir Arhan’s words and turned to look at the Crown Prince’s face. There was a thin red line on it.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

He said it was nothing, but it was something to me. I felt like rage succumbed to me as I shivered in anger. How dare a nation’s treasure-worthy handsome face be scarred!? Actually, I was angry because the face of someone I liked had gotten even a small cut, and not only because he was handsome. That’s when Sir Arhan said exactly how I felt.

“It is something to me! This is unforgivable! A wound on such a handsome and perfect prince…!” His words seemed a bit overboard for a loyal servant, but all of his guards seemed to agree with him.

“Our precious prince…!”

“This must be avenged!”

“Right! We will not forgive the man behind this!  We will put our lives to avenge it!”

I even felt scared to see these knights acting like they were some sort of cult serving the Crown Prince as their god. I think I should try my best not to talk back to the Crown Prince in front of them from now on.

“Anyway, the attacker must have been killed, right, Your Highness?” Knight Lieutenant Sir Helgen asked.

The Crown Prince shook his head, “No.”

“Pardon? Then-”

At that, the Crown Prince turned vicious at an empty space. It was as if he was glaring at an assassin that attacked him. “He got away.”

The enemy, who hired the assassins to attack me twice, seems to be going after the Crown Prince as well. Then I decided. I should protect this very handsome but ill-mannered… No, a cute man from those assailants who attacked my people.

“Anyway, are we tracking the assailants?”

The loyal knight answered his master right away, “Yes, Your Highness. A group was sent within five minutes, and I’m sure they have caught up to Sir Reyan by now.”

I felt an ominous feeling filling up my head at Rey’s name. That’s when the Crown Prince spoke. “We’ll head in too.”

***

Soon, we were at the center of the woods where Rey had chased after the assassin. There, we found the group that was sent in first, standing dumbfoundedly.

“You there! What are you doing!?”

Those knights, who looked dazed, flinched at Sir Arhan’s loud voice and came back to their senses. It was as if they were mesmerized by something.

Then on the ground, there was a trail of blood. It would be good if it was the attacker’s, but I became afraid that it might be Rey’s. I then shook my head, blaming myself for thinking such foolish thoughts. ‘No way. I always heard all the time how skilled he is!’

My cousin didn’t have a proper background, but his skills as a knight were better than Chelleno, a Central Knight. But why? We were so deep in the woods, but I couldn’t see Rey anywhere. I tried to shake away my bad feeling, but they just kept growing.

“My prince! You must see this!”

The Crown Prince walked quickly over to Sir Sardin, the youngest of the Guards, calling him, and I followed from behind. There was a cut-off snake’s head with something stuck between its fangs. It was an envelope. As the Crown Prince ripped the envelope open, the letter inside revealed itself to the world. As soon as he saw the letter, he handed over the letter to me.