Chapter 24: The Flint Secret
’Why the fuck did he say that?’ Hajin thought, staring at the path ahead of them while they walked.
His mind was racing, completely ignoring the noises of the forest around them. He was the only person the Flint family had ever exiled, and they had explicitly stripped away his family name to bury the shame.
As far as the main branch was concerned, he was supposed to be completely dead to them.
’If she goes back to the capital and starts spreading that I used to be a Flint,’ he thought, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder at the princess.
’The main house is going to lose it. If they find out I let the secret of my banishment slip, my head is going to go rolling, even though it was completely Kenny’s fault.’
Didi was walking a few paces behind Juna, her arms crossed tight over her chest. She hadn’t said another word since dropping the question earlier, waiting patiently for him to explain himself.
"Technically, I am not part of the Flint family," he said, finally breaking the silence while keeping his eyes on the road. "Not anymore."
She sped her pace up slightly, coming to walk right beside him so she could look at his face.
"Because you were exiled," she said flatly, looking at his face for a reaction.
"Yes," he said, deciding there was absolutely no point in lying when Kenny had basically screamed it at her. "I was born without talent, so they threw me out to avoid the embarrassment. As far as they are concerned, I am just a commoner now."
She didn’t react with shock or pity. Instead, her eyes narrowed slightly as she processed the information.
"It sounds like Kenny didn’t get the memo," she said, her tone cool. "He seemed very eager to remind you of exactly where you came from."
"Kenny is an idiot from the side branch who talks too much," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Please, do me a favor. Just promise me you won’t tell anyone. If the main house finds out the secret of my banishment slipped, they won’t hesitate to send assassins to silence me permanently to protect their image."
She stopped walking, forcing him to pause and turn around to look at her.
She stared directly back at him, the cold royal expression she wore earlier completely gone, replaced by a deep and genuine sincerity.
"You saved my life twice within the span of two days," she said, her voice entirely steady. "I am not going to throw you to the wolves. Your secret is completely safe with me."
"Thank you," he said, his shoulders visibly dropping in relief.
They started walking down the path again, the silence between them much more comfortable than before.
’But wait,’ she thought, stealing a quick glance at the back of his head as he walked in front of her. ’Kenny said he was thrown out because he had absolutely zero talent.’
She remembered the terrifying pressure of that monster and how it had knocked her completely unconscious without even trying. When she woke up, Gazel was dead, and Hajin had somehow carried her miles away to a safe cave.
’If he is such a failure,’ she thought, her eyes narrowing slightly. ’How did he manage to save me from a monster strong enough to kill Sir Gazel?’
Something was definitely fishy here.
She kept staring at his back while he walked ahead of her. ’I keep feeling a very strange mana coming from him,’ she thought, her eyes shifting over to the beastkin. ’And it is the exact same for her, just who are these two really?’
Up ahead, Juna suddenly sped her pace up, arriving right beside his arm. She leaned close to his shoulder, her ears pressing flat against her head.
"Master," she whispered, keeping her voice low enough that only he could hear. "I keep feeling this strange hatred towards the princess, why is that?"
He looked at her with a confused expression, slowing his pace just a little. ’Is my connection with the system leaking somehow?’ he thought, glancing briefly over his shoulder at Didi.
He knew the system hated the princess because of her bloodline, but he had ignored the prompt. ’Does it affect my summons too?’
He really didn’t know.
"I have absolutely no clue," he whispered back, giving her a small shrug. "Maybe you two knew each other before?"
She let out a quiet scoff, her tail swishing fast behind her.
"Please don’t joke around like that," she muttered, looking away from him with a deep frown.
He kept walking, but his mind completely stalled as the rest of her sentence finally processed in his head.
’Wait... did Juna just call me master?’ he thought, blinking a few times while staring at the side of her face. ’Eh? Am I dreaming right now?’
Ever since he summoned her, she had either ignored him or spoken to him like an annoying roommate, so hearing the title drop so casually caught him completely off guard. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided it was better not to ruin the moment.
A few hours later, the massive walls of the capital finally came into view.
The moment they approached the main road leading to the entrance, a watchman on the wall spotted them. A loud horn blew across the courtyard and in less than a minute later, a squad of heavily armored knights came rushing out of the main gates.
They immediately ran past Hajin and Juna, forming a tight protective circle around Didi while keeping their hands resting near their swords.
A tall man stepped forward from the formation, wearing a golden captain’s insignia on his chest plate. He dropped to one knee right in front of her before quickly standing back up, his eyes scanning the dirt on her clothes.
"Your Highness," the captain said, his voice completely panicked. "What happened to your escort? And who are these people?"
Didi completely froze up.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the words got stuck in her throat. Her mind suddenly dragged her back to the forest, replaying the exact moment Sir Gazel was pierced by the monster. She looked down at her hands, her body trembling slightly while she struggled to form a coherent sentence.
The captain watched her shake, his eyes narrowing rapidly. He looked up, glaring straight at Hajin with sudden, fierce hostility.
’Ah, this idiot is misunderstanding the situation perfectly,’ Hajin thought, letting out a quiet sigh.
"What have you done to Her Highness?" the captain demanded, stepping forward aggressively and reaching out to grab his collar.
Hajin didn’t even blink, simply shifting his weight back and letting the man’s gauntlet swipe completely empty air.
The captain stumbled a little, his eyes widening in surprise before a rough flash of anger crossed his face. He lunged again, bringing his other hand around in a wide grab, but Hajin stepped sideways, flowing right past the knight’s arm as naturally as water.
Juna let out a low growl from beside him, but he immediately raised a hand to stop her from attacking.
"Stand still, you rat!" the captain shouted, his face turning red.
Bright blue mana suddenly flared around the knight’s armor, and three glowing Shards materialized out of thin air, orbiting his right arm in a tight circle. He planted his foot, ready to forcefully restrain him.
"Stop," a voice cut through the courtyard cleanly.
The captain froze mid-step, the mana around him stuttering while he quickly turned his head.
Didi had completely stopped shaking. She stood tall again, her expression wiped perfectly blank while she stared right at him, the air around her boots beginning to frost over rapidly.
"What exactly do you think you are doing to my saviors?" she asked, her voice turning completely cold.