Chapter 41

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

Yes. It was indeed time for Yurik to come.

It wouldn't have made sense for Yurik not to appear when such a commotion had broken out.

But he hadn't wanted to see him alone here right now.

He feigned as much composure as possible and gave a light bow.

"I see you in an unexpected place."

"Yes, yes. There have been many stories about you circulating. I'm glad to confirm your well-being like this."

Judging by his tone, one might think they were in the royal palace's reception room.

His mood twisted as he considered how to respond, but he forgot what he was going to say when he saw the animal standing beside Yurik.

It was a black horse with red eyes.

At first glance, he almost gasped, thinking they had taken his horse during that time.

But his horse was standing perfectly fine beside him, and Yurik's horse was slightly larger.

Why did he feel offended?

Yurik seemed to notice his gaze directed at the black horse and smiled enigmatically.

"A coincidence. Anyone would think we shared one horse."

"It seems you've recently bred a royal bloodline horse."

"No, not at all. If I had, I would have known."

Yurik stroked the bridge of his horse's nose.

"This is a special horse to me."

Yurik's horse was looking at him with blazing scarlet eyes.

More precisely, it seemed to be looking at the horse behind him.

He took a step forward and pushed his horse away.

The horse hesitated, then jumped down the slope and disappeared.

"It's nice that you have a beloved horse."

"Aren't you the same? I was certain. That horse of yours must be equally intelligent? Obedient too."

"Horses are naturally docile creatures. They become gentle if treated well."

Yurik suddenly started laughing.

He seemed genuinely amused, but why he was laughing was a mystery.

After laughing for a while, he wiped away tears that hadn't even fallen with his gloved fingers.

"Fine. Let's say it is. More importantly, why are you here?"

"Well."

"I came personally after receiving a report about anomalies in the east, and here you are. Anyone might misunderstand."

Yurik joked and pointed to the horizon of the eastern wasteland.

"Do you want to declare that Hartmann is always at the center of disturbances? You're truly a troublemaker."

His tone was calm.

But the hidden meaning was not difficult to discern.

The incident in the eastern wasteland was not one that could be simply summarized as a 'disturbance.'

Hartmann had once been falsely accused of attempting to overthrow royal authority.

Yurik wanted to use Hartmann.

Because of this terrible trio of circumstances, he could be dragged in as a prime suspect for the disaster that had befallen the east if he misspoke even a single word.

This was no joke, truly.

"I heard rumors that my attendant had come to the Aisling Merchant Group in the east and was trapped. I had to fulfill my duty as his master."

"Really? Did you find your attendant?"

"Yes. He said he sensed strange signs from the pit. Do you know what this egg is, Your Highness?"

It was a leading question.

In his past life, Yurik had undoubtedly known about this egg.

But the Yurik before him now crossed his arms and admired his mud-covered state.

And smiled faintly.

"No. Not at all."

"...Is that so?"

"But my guess is that it's a sign just before demonic beasts explosively increase. It's a very dangerous situation."

After cleverly disguising the egg created by the star walker, he then advised him.

"If you have no further business in the east, it would be best for you to return."

"I'll do as you suggest."

"Good idea. You must have been startled by various events, yet you show such composure; I can't help but admire you anew."

As he was about to descend the slope, Yurik added from behind.

"Just as if you knew in advance."

He stopped his descending movement.

When he turned his head, Yurik was still standing in the same place.

They glared at each other for a long time. Amidst their intertwined gazes, pale lips opened and closed.

"Have you inherited the revelations of the former Duchess who was your mother?"

Revelations.

How much did Yurik know about revelations?

He clearly didn't grasp the exact facts about revelations.

He probably thought of them merely as omnipotent tools useful for his plans.

However, even without knowing this fact, Yurik would definitely try to draw him in.

"I don't understand what you're saying."

First, a strategy of feigned ignorance.

Yurik's fingers, which had been crossing his arms, began to tap his own arm.

"You... You're quite different from when I first saw you. It feels like I'm looking at the previous Duchess."

"You flatter me."

"And it doesn't seem like this is the first time. I strangely get a sense of déjà vu."

Yurik's eyes lowered.

It was the expression he showed when he was thinking deeply, when he was serious.

Indeed, a villain was a villain. The villain-appropriate buff seemed to be activating.

But he was just a passing extra!

Why did it have to manifest with him as the target!

How could he break through this situation!

"Duke, your presence here now is."

At that moment, something trickled down his lips.

He had been sweating so much internally that he thought this was sweat too.

But when he wiped it thoughtlessly, there was a long blood stain on his dirty hand.

"J-just a moment."

Surprised by the sudden nosebleed, he tried to wipe it off several times, but it only got messier.

Seeing this, Yurik said "Oh." and tried to approach him.

But before he could, a booming voice interrupted.

"Your Grace!"

The horse that hadn't made it up yet kicked fiercely.

The horse he had sent down earlier seemed to have just arrived carrying two people.

One of the people on the horse shouted again.

"Are you injured?"

It was Leandros.

Could they see his face from there?

He inadvertently looked at Yurik.

Yurik stared blankly, then looked down and kindly confirmed.

"It's your Duke's household. Sir Leandros's face looks quite grim."

You can see that from here too?

He pretended to be regretful and said.

"I think I have to go. Was there something you wanted to say?"

"Don't worry about it. We'll meet again soon anyway."

At any rate, he had managed to stop Yurik's words, so the outcome was good.

He moved his heavy body with a groan, and Yurik helped him descend.

Holding his shoulder, Yurik suddenly blurted out something irrelevant.

"You said you came all this way for your attendant?"

"That's right."

"Those two must be quite important to you."

"They're all I have left, so it's natural."

"I suppose so, normally?"

Why was he suddenly like this?

As Yurik's gaze remained fixed on the two people below, he felt increasingly uneasy.

After staying like that for a moment, Yurik finally looked at him and said.

"Don't worry about the situation in the east. The royal palace will handle it. Hartmann has nothing to do with this. I never saw you here. Isn't that right?"

"Your words are most wise."

"Please stay healthy. I'll see you soon, and if you're not healthy, it would pain my heart."

What did he just say?

Before he could ask, Yurik sent him down.

As he instantly descended the slippery slope covered in mud, Leandros, who was waiting, stopped him before he was buried in mud.

Leandros, who had caught his arm, asked.

"Was that the Crown Prince? Surely you weren't fighting to kill him here?"

"What?"

"Your nosebleed won't stop."

"This just happened."

He didn't particularly want to deny it.

After all, if Yurik hadn't tormented him in his past life, he wouldn't have come here and gotten a nosebleed.

Following this miraculous logic, he chose to be ambiguously evasive.

Hearing his answer, Leandros and Arndt glared once at the figure above with fiery gazes.

Seeing the two steadily accumulating stacks of hostility made him feel warm inside.

And so, leaving Yurik behind, they escaped the east.

* * *

After leaving the east, they wavered for a while but decided to return to Hartmann Castle.

Judging by Yurik's attitude, it didn't seem like he would heavily blame them for the incident in the east.

He had firmly stated, "We never saw each other here."

On the way back to the territory, they heard many stories.

The accident in the east was said to be caused by a deluge of demonic beasts.

It was also said that the royal palace would cautiously deploy soldiers and carry out a suppression.

Naturally, the business was halted, and since many involved parties, including Aiden, had died, the royal palace and the academies that had failed to predict this were subjected to massive criticism.

Reportedly, several merchant groups that had invested were releasing a joint statement, but that was unclear.

Since Arndt was so heartbroken about Aiden, they decided to visit Aisling to express condolences once the situation in the east was settled.

He hoped that would improve Arndt's mood somewhat, but it was uncertain.

For the return journey, they chose to take a long detour even if it took twice as long.

Everyone was in poor health and tired.

It seemed they all wanted to enjoy this respite in this manner.

"So after we separated, you went to a gambling den."

"I had no choice while tracking the head butler's whereabouts. I didn't do anything bad there, but Leandros did."

"What did you do?"

"Leandros, tell him directly."

Leandros silently drove the black horse.

Arndt, who was riding a different horse he had acquired to replace the lost one, looked at Leandros intently.

"Sir, did you perhaps gamble with that identity?"

"...I did it because there were circumstances."

"It's fortunate that this is a time when family discipline isn't strict."

Arndt seemed to enjoy just imagining Leandros rolling dice.

"There have been stories about the Licht viscounty for a long time. From the beginning, there was no way rumors wouldn't spread about how they accumulated wealth like that."

"I never thought they'd set up a gambling den in a prayer hall. I remember being surprised when I first read the materials provided by the Information Guild."

"That's quite ordinary! The young children being there were also drawn in with a specific intention, I think."

"Even that?"

Arndt stated firmly.

"Young kids are easier to draw into gambling than older people. They're more impulsive. By doing that, they can make the child incur debt and demand money from the family."

"Wow. That's wicked."

"Even if the debt is paid once, the child doesn't escape the addictive state. They'll secretly return again. It's like a shackle."

"And in this way, they make several families in the west incur debt?"

"That's right."

Arndt's hypothesis was quite plausible.

The Licht family, despite making their eldest son an addict, couldn't let go of operating the gambling den.

He felt that whether it was Korea or here, it was natural to have negative aspects.

Ah, of course, Korea wasn't as extreme as here.

As they shared and discussed all that had happened, they soon entered Hartmann's empty manor.

In the distance, the castle nestled in the mountains was visible.

It was strange how he was already becoming attached to it, despite not having seen it that often.

Would he feel a sense of regret when it was time to leave this novel?

"When we return, I'll prepare a delicious meal for you. I was able to buy freshly baked bread too."

The luggage at the side of Arndt's horse was quite large.

This was due to purchasing a lot of proper food along the way.

It seemed like it would be the first time they would have a proper meal at the castle.

It might not be rice, but that was okay.

Upon returning, they would first have dinner, then clean themselves thoroughly, lie in bed, and plan for the future.

If Baron Arnold came looking for Arndt, they would first declare they had nothing to do with it.

It was better to place the blame on an unknown commoner apothecary.

But for the sake of the deceased Amelia, they needed to find out who Yurik had planted in the baronial family.

And Rotaer Licht. Based on the information he had spilled, they also needed to predict when Yurik would initiate his business in the south after the east.

If asked whether the incident in the east was completed, it didn't seem so.

But the last time he had seen the pit, it had been spewing mud.

There was a possibility that the egg form he had seen this time wasn't what Yurik ultimately desired.

They would have to wait and see what tricks he planned to play in the south.

And, and also...

There was truly a lot to do once they reached the castle.

However, as soon as they crossed the castle gate, such plans were shattered.

What greeted them, just returned from their journey, were dozens of knights and Baron Arnold, whose face was so red with anger that it looked like it might burst.

"You are aware of your crime!!"

Me?

Leandros immediately drew his sword to respond, but the person Baron Arnold was pointing at wasn't him.

At the end of that finger was Arndt.

Trained knights surrounded Arndt at the Baron's angry shout.

Without time to think, he jumped off his horse and threw himself between Arndt and them.

"What is this! Not only do you intrude upon my castle without permission, but you also point swords at my attendant, this is nothing short of disrespect towards the ducal family!"

How many were there?

Could Leandros handle all these knights?

But Baron Arnold was personally present? Could they assault a nobleman?

As he blocked the front, Baron Arnold, with trembling hands tightly clenched, said.

"Duke Hartmann, I too regret that our first meeting after your reinstatement is due to such an unsavory matter. But isn't it also a great dishonor for that villain to receive your protection?"

"Explain so that I can understand. My attendant has never gone against my wishes."

"Very well."

Baron Arnold spoke with his teeth gritted, trying to suppress his anger.

He glared at Arndt with wild eyes.

"Are you aware that your attendant, along with his escort knight, visited our family's townhouse as a courtesy some time ago?"

"I gave permission. So?"

"Your attendant heard about my daughter, Amelia, from the butler guarding our townhouse at that time. And then sent a letter to the butler."

He pulled out a letter envelope from inside his clothing and waved it.

"Here, a handwritten letter. He introduced a commoner apothecary, saying it was for my daughter's recovery."

"I am also aware of this fact. It was one often used by my late parents, so I too permitted the introduction."

"But! Who would have known that the apothecary and your insolent attendant had hatched an evil scheme!"

Baron Arnold exclaimed.

"That the apothecary and attendant together would lure my daughter, who had been ill for a long time, to commit a despicable act!"

"What did you say?"

"This is a confession obtained by arresting and directly interrogating that commoner apothecary. Duke, for the honor of the Hartmann ducal family, please hand over your attendant!"

He had arrested the apothecary?

But the apothecary was him!

Arndt and Leandros also seemed not to understand what was happening.

At that moment, someone walked out from behind Baron Arnold.

"Baron. Calm your excitement. The pitiful Duke doesn't know, so it would be better for me, who has some degree of friendship with him, to explain."

Yurik, the Crown Prince of the kingdom, was in a very neat appearance, unlike when they had seen him in the east.

As soon as he saw him, his fingertips and head grew cold.

"Yurik......"

He smiled at him.

"Didn't I say we'd meet soon? I didn't expect to meet like this again?"

Now he understood.

At the top of the pit in the east, Yurik had changed his mind.

Instead of targeting him, he had aimed at those who circled around him.

The first target was none other than Arndt.