CH 10

Bodies lay neatly in the port. Some had jumped off cliffs and drowned, others had been badly injured from the explosions. It was not uncommon for body parts to be missing. It was difficult to bury them all at once, so the bodies were gathered together for cremation.

A man walked among the bodies, checking for faces. If he saw what he thought was a woman, he’d turn to look. Others wouldn’t even walk near them. He walked around, looking at the bodies of the slaves, one by one.

‘Why are you doing this, why are you searching them yourself? I’m alive, I’m not dead!’

I shouted as hard as I could, but it didn’t seem to reach his ears. People pointed fingers at the black-hooded man, calling him insane, not even knowing his identity. I wanted to punch every single one of them for insulting him like that, for not knowing who he was when they called him a hero of the Empire.

I was angry. And most of all, I was angry at him for looking at the horrific corpses with an expressionless face, even going so far as to double-check each one he saw in case he missed it.

‘Stop looking, I’m alive, stop looking!’

I yelled. He walked from body to body, his face unreadable, for the umpteenth time.

“Huh.”

I opened my eyes. Even though it was a dream, it was so vivid that it made me feel sick to my stomach. I tried to tell myself it was just a dream, but his face kept coming haunting me.

I tried to touch my nose and eyebrows. I bit my lip again, remembering his fingers brushing over me, just out of reach.

I want to give him a happy ending.

The original story would give him a bad ending. But I want to give him the best I can. I want him to be happy, to feel happy.

‘That would have to be connected to the original female lead, right?’

He was supposed to be engaged to the original female lead when the Salt Island explosion happened. During the three years of my journey to this palace, they would have already built a strong bond with each other. For a happy ending, he must marry her and receive everyone’s blessing.

“Cough.”

My chest tingled unnecessarily. I must have been dreaming too vividly. I chewed on the Novenium herb on my bedside table. It was supposed to smell pungent, but I couldn’t smell it because my nose was numb.

⚘

Clank.

Today, I still headed to the hot springs, where there was a statue that bore a striking resemblance to the crown prince. I had once held his face and parted his lips directly in order to chew the herbs myself. In retrospect, I wonder how I could have been so bold. I stared at the statue’s white lips and felt hot.

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, I wiped its face with more force.

“I must have been seeing it wrong.”

“Ah you scared me!”

I looked to the side and saw the crown prince leaning against the door of the hot spring. My body felt hot and then suddenly cold. ‘How long had he been watching me?’

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”

The corners of his mouth lifted loosely. After being used to seeing his expressionless or pained face every day, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of what could only be described as a tiny smile on his face.

The corner of his left eye twitched slightly as he stared at me. The smile vanished like the wind.

He stepped forward and placed the back of his hand on my forehead. It didn’t quite touch, but the coldness of his hand was palpable. The thought of what I’d done to the statue sent chills down my spine.

“You’re not feeling well.”

“What?”

I put my hand to my forehead. It felt hot. I immediately felt a lump in my throat.

“No, I feel fine.”

It didn’t feel too bad. It wasn’t like I’d been whipped, and it wasn’t like I’d been squatting all day. I worked even if I was sick as if I had been hit, but this was nothing.

“Go back inside and get some rest.”

“Oh, you’re here for the hot springs, right?”

He seemed to really enjoy the hot springs. That was good. The interior is scrubbed to a shine every day, so there was no harm in using it right away. But the open-air baths could use some work.

“I’ll have it ready in a moment.”

The open-air bath had a wooden cover on top. This was to keep out the leaves and bugs. The cover was heavy and had to be pushed off little by little. Once it was removed, I had to almost drag it out of the way and move it out of sight.

“Huh?”

I tried to push the cover off, and in one fell swoop, it was tossed aside. I wondered if it was supposed to move so lightly like that.

“Your Highness.”

The corner of his left eye furrows again.

“I thought I told you to go inside and rest.”

“Just wait inside for a moment.”

“Seth.”

“I’ll just clean up these fallen leaves-.”

“It’s an order.”

Up until this point in my possession, the word ‘Order‘ had become a very powerful thing to me, as it meant punishment if I didn’t obey, but strangely, the word didn’t feel as scary or sharp as it had before.

“Okay, I’ll step aside then.”

I turned around with a lingering feeling of regret, and he followed me out the door until I picked up my cleaning supplies and trudged out. I should have been happy to leave early, but the fact that I didn’t finish it perfectly nagged at me.

‘It was clear that I had been enslaved to the bone.’

That day, back at the hostel, I broke out in a fever. I wondered if meeting him had triggered it. It felt like all the tension in my body had been released. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, even though I could feel it. In fact, I think I faked it on purpose because I just wanted to keep sleeping. I woke up briefly in the middle of the night and thought I might have taken a pill, but I wasn’t sure.

“Are you okay?”

I woke up with a start and Eva was next to me.

“How long did I sleep?”

My voice was completely hoarse and I had to cough a few times.

“A day.”

“A day? What about work?”

Eva squinted her eyes very narrowly.

“Work? That’s not what’s important right now.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have woken you.”

Since I couldn’t get up, someone else must have cleaned the hot springs. There was a good chance it was in a mess. I scrambled to my feet, feeling sorry for myself. There was water on the table, so I gulped it down.

“Seth.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really serious right now.”

Eva crossed her arms and kept squinting. She looked like she had something to say.

“So, Seth. Have you seen anyone high up lately?”

“Uh…?”

“I was wondering if it had anything to do with you not waking up right now.”

“No. I’m just running a fever.”

“No?”

“Yeah. I’m usually healthy, but I guess I just got a little relaxed.”

“Relaxed? In here?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s so nice here.”

“Seth, you’re so–”

Eva shook her head. She rubbed her forehead as if her head hurt.

“Do you know what happened while you were sleeping?”

“What happened?”

“A knight came and went.”

“A knight?”

“The Blood Knights, you know, the Knights of the Thorn?”

The Knights of the Thorn, the crown prince’s closest confidants. They were actually more commonly known as the Blood Knights. I don’t know if it’s because they smell like blood when you get close to them, or if it’s because they wear a blood red mark on their hoods, but in the Empire, they were more famous as Blood Knights than Thorns.

“Uh. I know.”

“The knight came and gave me your medicine, to give to you.”

Eva said, breaking off each letter.

“To me?”

“Yes! What the hell is going on?”

“Why did a knight–”

“Who are you asking? How the hell did a knight know you were sick?”

“I don’t know. Which knight is it?”

I’d never had a proper encounter with a knight before. I hadn’t even realized I was sick. ‘Why would he give me medicine?’

‘You’re not feeling well.’

For a moment, I recognized the voice. Even though I said I was fine, there was only one person who put the back of his hand to my forehead.

‘No way.’

“Seth. You do realize where this place is, right? People like us could disappear like mice and birds, and who would care? It’s not like this is a place where you can just relax, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Really. Seth. You have to be extra careful with pretty faces, you idiot. Don’t you really know who you are?”

“Uh… I don’t know…”

Eva sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead.

“Must be an expensive drug. I guess it works.”

She grumbled, but I could see the concern in her eyes, so I smiled wryly.

“Don’t smile. You’re going to be doing all your work today.”

“Yes, I know.”

“What do you know?”

Despite Eva’s scolding, I had a feeling that she wasn’t really going to let me off the hook. After all, a knight had given her the pills. Was it really “Him” who did this? There was no way to tell if it wasn’t him. My fingertips trembled unnecessarily, and I rolled up the quilt without Eva’s knowledge.

⚘

Knock. Knock.

“Captain. It’s Vaslow.”

“Come in.”

In the crown prince’s palace, there was an office for the Captain of the Knights of the Thorns. It had been provided for him by the crown prince himself, but he didn’t really need it. He spent most of the year on the battlefields of Einfork.

“Are your family well?”

“Yes.”

Captain Ricks had just returned from seeing the faces of his family in the capital.

“But what do they look like?”

“Oh, I came straight from the practice hall, after you called for me.”

He brushed off his clothes unnecessarily. He was covered in sweat and dirt from his duel with Arnic.

“You do realize it’s the princess’ death anniversary soon, don’t you?”

“Yes. Isn’t that why we came to the capital?”

“Since you and I have come to serve His Highness, you should know that.”

“Yes Captain!”

“End your business. Let us depart.”¹

“So His highness recognizes me as an entourage after all!”

“No. He said I would take you with me.”

Vaslow’s shoulders sagged for a moment, as if he were dead in the grass. Ricks waved a hand at him to leave without looking.

“Captain.”

“I said get out.”

“I have something to tell you, too.”

Ricks looked at Vaslow with a look that said, “You do?” but the playfulness was already gone, it was replaced by a seriousness that made his face grow serious as well, because when he was serious, it was really important.

“Tell me.”

“The slave was alive.”

“What slave–”

Rick’s face hardened for a moment. Then he sat up, his chair rattling with the impact.

“What? Is it true?”

“Yes. She was found in this crown prince’s palace.”

“What? No, then we must tell His Highness right away–.”

“He knows.”

Ricks stiffened immediately, as if about to make a move. His breathing became ragged again.

“How did you know?”

“I actually went to the slave quarters yesterday, by your highness’ direct order.”

“By an order..”

“He gave me some medicine, to be delivered to a slave named Seth.”

“Hah.”

‘Seth.’

At the sound of the name, Rick’s legs went limp. He sank back into his chair and placed a hand on his forehead. A heavy silence passed between them, the only two who knew the name except for the crown prince, was them.

“Do you know a slave named Seth?”

“Have you never heard of a slave named Seth?”

Just hearing the name ‘Seth‘ sent memories flying back to the past. After the Salt Island explosion, Ricks and Vaslow searched desperately for that slave. They searched for survivors and waited for the wounded to wake up to ask questions. With each passing day, they came to the conclusion that the slave’s chances of survival were quite slim.

“Your Highness!”

‘I spotted a familiar silhouette walking among the corpses. He was expressionless, so I assumed that he finally had a clue about the slave, named Seth’s, whereabouts. I realized I was mistaken when I saw him casually searching through the corpses. His gaze was shaking as he examined each face.’

He double-checked the bodies in case he missed something. Unable to call out loudly for fear of being recognized, he could only watch in awe. Since he doesn’t know what her face looked like, he couldn’t help him.

‘I didn’t even dare to ask what their relationship was, and everything about him seemed desperate. I had served him for many years, but this was the first time I had seen him so alive.’

His eyes never wavered at the sight of his companion’s horrific return. He even pieced together the parts of the body without expression. It was impossible to be numb to such things, no matter how thick-boned you were on the battlefield. Even if you suppressed your joy or happiness, sadness and grief would still show some traces in your eyes. But the general was always the same. Emotionless, and unreadable.

Yet, while looking through the corpses, he was different. No one else could see it, but he could certainly recognize it.

When he couldn’t find her among the bodies, and he’d completely lost her clues. When all conclusions pointed to her death. The crown prince’s words were still unforgettable.

⚘

“…And here she was, in this palace, after all that searching.”

“I’m surprised, too, and I thought I was possessed by a ghost.”

Ricks exhaled heavily, his face pale in that brief moment. What a twist of fate.

“You’re the only one who should know about this.”

“Yes.”

Ricks and Vaslow were silent together, their faces dark, as if they had been transported back to that time in the past.

(T/N: Wow the crown prince did so much for her. Also, don’t you think Seth is such a cinnamon roll? Hahah She’s just cute!)