Chapter 265
Chapter 265
He remained alone in the room and stayed up all night.
Rather than chasing after Yurik and having to endure his tantrums, it was better to be alone.
Besides, he needed time to organize his thoughts.
The place where he had been sealed together with Shub-Niggurath had become part of what was then the far west of the Acheron Empire, now part of the Kingdom of Aquilonia, over time.
But Eibon had left her traces in the capital of the Acheron Empire, unaware of the future when the continent would split in two.
Now the land that possessed the former empire's capital was Asgard, a major force claiming succession rights to the empire.
He didn't even know if he could cross from Aquilonia to Asgard,
And since Aquilonia's current prestige was utterly insignificant, he had no idea what kind of trouble he might encounter if he recklessly crossed over to Asgard.
But he had to go to Asgard. He needed to check what Eibon had left for him. And what had happened to Aphoom-Zhah after her death.
If it were up to his heart, he would rather not go to Cimmeria or Asgard and just sit comfortably in his room calling for Aphoom-Zhah.
But for him to descend using a divided form or whatever, a cold location would be more advantageous for summoning.
He thought if he had known this would happen, he should have made something like an emergency magical power battery filled with blood.
On top of this, Yurik had been the first emperor of the Acheron Empire.
He had known that he was of a similar type to himself, but he hadn't known he would be this serious about entertainment.
Was sweeping through a village in the past also part of a conquest game?
For what purpose had he unified the continent and established something like an empire?
More than that, what had happened to Shambhala beyond the desert that allowed Yurik to come outside?
Perhaps after Shan and Tika left, the Shambhala residents had also left the desert.
Just as the descendants of Theem'dra had come out because they couldn't live in the cold land, the Shambhala people might have left the desert too.
Thinking this far, he felt somewhat sorry for Yurik.
He was the one who had lured away Shan and Tika, and if people had left the desert because of that,
Then he was the cause of Yurik's Shambhala collapsing.
...Ah, was Yurik being cold to him because of this?
He scratched his head, got up from the bed, and spread out the world map that Yurik had left behind.
Anyway, he didn't really understand the reason Yurik had established the empire.
And he couldn't understand at all his intention of appearing again as the 3rd Prince of Aquilonia.
But at least he could easily deduce that Yurik wouldn't be satisfied with just the position of 3rd Prince of a small country located on the frontier.
Asgard, Cimmeria, Aphoom-Zhah, Aquilonia, a frontier small country, the former first emperor and current 3rd Prince who appeared at this time.
Then what should he do from now on?
The answer was already clear.
* * *
-Knock knock.
"Young Master, meal time... huh?"
Cellinne opened the door, then stopped when she saw the bed.
It wasn't because the young man who had taken the role of servant was sitting on the bed instead of the person who should rightfully be there.
Cellinne was overwhelmed by the atmosphere.
He was sitting comfortably with both legs up on the bed.
While his upper body and torso were slightly twisted because he had rested his elbow on the window frame by the bed's wall.
The hair that Cellinne had braided for him early yesterday morning was loose, perhaps from sleeping.
His red hair, which might be as long as hers or even longer, went well past his waist.
Because of this, his slightly bent waist and the hair sliding down like silk were falling onto the bed.
The sunlight was gentle thanks to the clear, bright day.
Flickering red and transparent orange overlapped, and the light seemed to spread even to his skin, which was white enough to wonder where he had been buried.
He turned his head toward the door at the sound of footsteps.
An indifferent expression but gentle eyes.
His unshadowed eyes were light brown, but when light entered, they shone in various golden hues as if they would melt.
His immature appearance that made asking his age seem foolish, and his androgynous feeling, were like a fairy from a painting...
"Aren't you planning to fall into water again soon?"
"What? Are you talking to me?"
"If you want to go play in the water, you must tell me. No one else. Tell me. Only me. Definitely."
"Huh? Huh? I understand...?"
Yesung answered bewilderedly.
But Cellinne was completely satisfied with just that. Her Adonis, the red-haired fairy, was most beautiful in water.
"Where's the Young Master?"
"He went out last night and hasn't come back."
"Really? I came to tell him to have breakfast. Yesung should come down and eat together too. If your stomach is empty, you'll easily vomit when riding the carriage."
"I will. Just let me sit for a bit and get ready."
"Get ready? I'll help! No one does it as well as me! Your hair is long so it's hard to manage, right? I'll tie it up. I want to tie it!"
"Cellinne, weren't you busy? Don't you need to go look for the Young Master?"
Yesung asked, but she ignored him and quickly climbed onto the bed.
His hair was always red and pretty, making it worthwhile to touch.
Of course, her aesthetic self-interest was also somewhat involved.
Cellinne quickly combed through Yesung's tangled hair with her fingers while examining what style to make.
Such long hair was pretty just tied up, but it would be prettier if braided and put up. Ah, would Yesung dislike this because it's too feminine a hairstyle? Then in an androgynous way, taking the hair above the ears like this and tying it down here...
While she hummed and carefully braided his hair with delicate fingertips,
Yesung, who had been quietly letting her handle his hair with his eyes closed, called out.
"Cellinne."
"Yeah?"
"Is Yurik planning to become king?"
Instantly her heart fell with a thud.
She reflexively turned her gaze to the door, but naturally, no one was there.
The door remained quietly closed.
"Th-that can't be. How could that happen when His Majesty the King is well?"
"Then why is Yurik here?"
"That's for inspection as Dardin said..."
"That doesn't make sense. If royalty came out for inspection with changed identities, they wouldn't be traveling around without royal guards or at least trustworthy knights who could claim legitimate affiliation."
"That's because we happened to have connections with His Highness."
"Even if you have separate channels connecting you to Yurik, official business is official business. If he came out with a prince's status, shouldn't there be royal support? But I don't understand why he's traveling around with people he has private relationships with like this."
"I don't know what made you worry about this, but this isn't something for Yesung to be concerned about."
Cellinne's mouth went completely dry.
Her hands tying his hair were already moving half-mechanically.
Yesung answered slowly without looking at her.
"It doesn't make sense that they sent the prince to the border without attaching disguised soldiers. And I don't understand why he came to inspect not the capital outskirts but the countryside like this. At this level, one might misunderstand that he's being treated poorly by the royal family."
"What kind of talk is that? No, His Royal Highness is!"
"It's also strange how Walter and Dardin reacted when they met me. They didn't panic and drove me as an assassin as if they expected it."
"You might have been unpleasant because of those two people's misunderstanding. But-"
"Then were night visitors commonly coming to Yurik? That could have been the case."
Yesung's tone remained peaceful.
His words, which showed no trembling or tension, felt like soliloquy such as 'what should I eat tomorrow?'
Cellinne's fingers fell away from Yesung's hair.
The complexly braided hair dangled down his back.
Yesung, just like moments before when he was looking out the window,
Turned to look at her with an unconcerned face and asked.
"Who would dare send uninvited guests to a prince so frequently? I personally have a few guesses."
"......"
"Either there are very, very many people who dislike Yurik. Or there are few people who dislike him but they have great power. I think it's one of the two."
"......"
"Which do you think it is, Cellinne?"
She couldn't say either.
There were more than enough people who had reasons to eliminate Yurik, or more precisely, Aquilonia's 3rd Prince.
Even the current Queen, who had conceived the royal legitimate bloodline, was one of them.
While the King who had lost his sons was slowly crumbling like an old tree exposed to time,
The grief of losing children had transformed the Queen to be more harsh and cruel.
Therefore, the Queen would never give up unless she saw the 3rd Prince's head with her own eyes.
When Cellinne couldn't say anything, Yesung asked the opposite.
"Or do you not want Yurik to become king? Would you like him to die miserably on the road someday while circling around the kingdom's edges?"
"That's not it!"
"It's not? Then that's settled."
Settled? What was settled?
Before Cellinne could ask that, Yesung firmly grasped her empty hands.
His low body temperature hands were a bit cold and eerie.
They were still pretty hands, but the reason they somehow didn't feel human
Was it because of his strange words and behavior now?
Was it really just because of that?
Something was strange. The fantasy she had felt when entering the room peeled away the pretty shell to show the inside.
Beneath what had shone red, golden, and beautifully, there was a dark underside that she felt she shouldn't see.
Yesung smiled with the face Cellinne liked most.
A smile that put people at ease. But completely different from the expressionlessness of just before.
While feeling relieved, tension was transmitted from her body that had stiffened.
Emotions that couldn't be felt simultaneously overwhelmed her.
He whispered to Cellinne, who couldn't move like a mouse bitten by a snake.
"Include me."
"Wh-where?"
"Among you all. You're people Yurik chose. If Yurik chose to be with you even while being pushed out of the royal family, it's because you're part of Yurik's plan."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I've heard and seen a lot about Yurik. I've experienced some things directly too, but... I can't tell you that much."
What did he experience? He experienced it directly?
Only now did Cellinne notice that he wasn't an ordinary mountain village person.
Yesung soothed her as he looked at her face where faint fear had settled.
"Don't be scared. Don't be afraid either. I came here to help you all. There's no way I'd do anything harmful to Yurik. Though that kid has a bad personality, he was once a kind person."
Yesung knew Yurik.
Perhaps he had known him from much longer ago than she had known Yurik.
Cellinne couldn't possibly explain this illogical thought in human language.
"Cellinne, trust me. ...Will you promise to introduce me to your friends?"
Moreover, she didn't even have the power to refuse Yesung.
So Cellinne just nodded.