Chapter 136

The eavesdropping ended there.

His nose grew hot, and he could no longer sense Chirpy's presence. Blood dripped onto the stone floor.

'The connection has been broken.'

Kinaine didn't try to reconnect. It was the first time he had connected his senses over such a distance, and it was more difficult to maintain than he had expected.

Still, he had heard everything he needed to.

'To think it was the horned tribe's guardian spirit.'

At first, he thought it was an auditory hallucination. But the more he reflected, the more doubts arose. The hallucination had called out the name of the horned tribe leader specifically, and above all, it was only heard when in contact with Hasan.

So he had tried to confirm it, only to encounter an entirely unexpected being.

"...At least I'm not going insane, which is fortunate."

Kinaine exhaled a tired sigh.

Having heard the story from Prim, he knew how important the guardian spirit was to the horned tribe. Hadn't Prim said she participated in the selection because the guardian spirit's disappearance had caused young horned tribe members to die without reaching adulthood?

Thinking about it that way, discovering the guardian spirit's location could be considered a good thing, but... the problem was that it had ended up in Hasan's hands, of all people.

Even if he explained the situation, Hasan would never give up the guardian spirit's power. With magical beasts rampant outside and Kinaine, whom he thought was dead, having appeared, why would he willingly relinquish a means to protect himself? Rather, he would strengthen his guard against anyone trying to take the guardian spirit away.

Since Hasan wouldn't give it up voluntarily, the only option was to steal it.

'But would Igni or the horned tribe be able to realize the guardian spirit is here?'

With luck, perhaps, but there was no telling how long it would take for them to realize it.

The human realm was full of jewels. Who would know that the red stone Hasan possessed was the guardian spirit? Even he wouldn't have paid attention if he hadn't heard the voice. Even another guardian spirit hadn't seemed to notice.

'Come to think of it, how was I able to hear the guardian spirit's voice?'

According to the guardian spirit, only beings from the spirit realm or dragons should have been able to hear its voice. But why could he?

'I don't know...'

It was a problem with no answer no matter how much he thought about it. Anyway, thanks to that, he had discovered the guardian spirit, which was fortunate.

However, considering that even Chirpy, another spirit beast, could only hear the guardian spirit's voice when in contact with Hasan, there was a high possibility that even if Igni came, she wouldn't be able to find the guardian spirit as things stood.

So the conclusion was.

'I have to do it.'

Kinaine thought naturally.

Comforting a crying child, extending a hand to someone who had fallen, jumping in to save someone drowning... such things were so obvious to Kinaine that there was no need to even consider them.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

'How could you?'

A cold sneer rose from within his mind.

'How can you save others when you can't even save yourself?'

That voice seemed to flow from a deep, dark pit.

Kinaine shivered at the sudden chill.

'You've failed at everything. Surely you're not still basking in past glory, unable to grasp reality.'

'You're a pathetic wretch who can't even die properly now.'

'All you can do now is end your life as soon as possible to free the people of Jinaks.'

In his head, he knew. This was one of the side effects of black magic.

He had used black magic too frequently lately. This power destroyed not only the body but also the mind.

But knowing it intellectually didn't change anything.

In an instant, the chill enveloped his body. It was so cold. He could have jumped into a pit of fire without hesitation if one had been before him.

"Ugh..."

A broken groan escaped his blue lips. Kinaine curled up his trembling body as much as he could.

Though his senses should have been almost numb by now, he couldn't understand why he had to suffer from a cold that seemed to freeze him to the bone.

"...No, the fever is too severe. We need to move him from the prison to somewhere warm!"

He thought he had just closed his eyes and opened them again, but suddenly a voice reached his ears. It was Tiron.

'No, Tiron. I'm not feverish, it's the opposite. I'm cold. So cold.'

Kinaine wanted to tell Tiron, but he wasn't sure if he had spoken properly. It was difficult to say anything with trembling lips and chattering teeth.

Of course, if Kinaine had been in his right mind, he would have known he was experiencing chills due to a high fever, but not now.

A moment later, someone lifted his body. It seemed they were trying to take him out of the prison.

At night, Hasan would send Kinaine back to the underground prison. There was no worse place in the castle, so it had been the best choice.

"Is this even a human body... Too hot..."

"Deserves to die... Divine punishment..."

Various voices reached his ears and then faded.

Normally, he would have been on high alert to catch even the smallest clue, but he was in no state to do so.

Like a thirsty person imagining water, Kinaine, shivering from the cold, unconsciously thought of warmth.

What he imagined wasn't a bonfire, a warm blanket, or a home.

'Helio...'

Kinaine thought of the golden eyes that shone like the sun. Helio smiling at him.

For a very brief moment, the cold stirring in his heart seemed to drain away.

But in the next instant, Helio's appearance began to change. The skin once covered in black scales became white and clean, and the black hair was covered in silver.

A beautiful and mysterious man, as if from a sacred painting, looked at Kinaine. The only thing identical to Helio was the beautiful golden eyes that had captivated Kinaine at first sight.

But the look in his eyes as he gazed at Kinaine...

'What, why aren't you dead yet?'

Ah. Kinaine swallowed a groan.

'Lord Asad, what are you looking at so intently?'

A strange man standing beside Asad asked, crossing his arms.

But who that man was didn't matter.

Kinaine looked at Asad with trembling eyes. Asad was gazing at the strange man with the same affectionate look that Helio had once given him.

His breath caught.

"Convulsions..."

"Put this in his mouth so he doesn't bite his tongue..."

'Lord Asad.'

When the man called again, Asad looked at him with a smiling face, then shifted his gaze to Kinaine with an annoyed expression. The smile from just a moment ago was gone, replaced by an indifferent face.

'He's not someone you need to worry about.'

'But isn't he someone you had a connection with in the past?'

'Connection?'

Asad wore a cold sneer as if the idea was absurd. Kinaine's heart beat abnormally fast.

'For a mere period of not even a year? Maybe if it was a bad connection.'

'...'

'In a few years, I won't even remember if he existed. Don't worry about it.'

Asad put his arm around the strange man's waist and turned away from Kinaine.

'Wait, just a moment.'

Kinaine belatedly reached out toward the departing Asad.

'Just a moment...'

But Asad didn't stop his steps.

Kinaine tried to run to catch him. Without even thinking about what he would say if he caught him.

But his feet wouldn't leave the ground.

Kinaine slowly lowered his head.

Then he saw his own body, nothing but bones.

He had already been a corpse.

Chirp!

It was then that the sudden sound of a bird's cry was heard.

"Gasp!"

Kinaine exhaled urgently.

"Cough, hic, gasp..."

His breathing wouldn't return to normal.

Chirp, chirp?!

As he clutched his throat in agony, he could feel the panicked Chirpy fluttering its small wings anxiously.

Click.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening was heard. Simultaneously, the sound of Chirpy's wings disappeared instantly.

"Oh no."

Hurried footsteps approached, and the person who came helped Kinaine regain his breathing after checking his condition.

"Slowly, exhale."

"Hoo, hic."

"Slowly."

By the time his breathing barely returned to normal, Kinaine's body was drenched in cold sweat.

"How..."

Though his words were broken, Tiron seemed to understand and answered.

"You had a high fever last night. Don't you remember?"

"Not really... Where is this?"

"My room. I'm staying in the palace now."

Kinaine was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected Tiron to put his enemy in his own bed.

As if reading Kinaine's thoughts, Tiron answered coldly.

"If I had left you in that cold pit, you would have died. Then His Majesty wouldn't have left me alone either."

"I see, thank you."

"..."

Tiron didn't immediately respond, perhaps finding it strange that Kinaine had readily expressed gratitude. But when Kinaine tried to get out of bed, Tiron pressed his chest down to make him lie back.

"...Stay in bed today. His Majesty won't be calling for you separately today anyway."

"That can't be."

The reason Hasan had kept him alive was clear. He wanted to watch Kinaine's downfall. For as long as possible.

Given that he didn't have much time left, Hasan would be reluctant to miss even a day. No matter how busy he was, he would want to see Kinaine on all fours with a leash around his neck.

But Tiron was certain.

"Trust me. An extraordinary visitor has come to the castle. One so important that even His Majesty can't move freely."

How extraordinary must this visitor be for the arrogant Hasan to be immobilized?

"I thought it was just a symbol from mythology, never imagined it would actually exist in reality..."

The moment he heard those words, a premonition struck him.

But before Kinaine could open his mouth, Tiron spoke the answer first.

"To think that dragons really exist."