Chapter – 12
I wanted to keep a straight face, but my eyes widened on their own.
“Isn’t this way too different from the original story?”
The novel hadn’t even properly started yet, but the plot was already completely tangled. Kallian was here… and even Shabiyan.
According to the original story, those two should be in the Bahat Imperial Palace right now, not here.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh slipped out because it was so ridiculous. At the same time, two pairs of eyes fixed on me.
What? Why are you staring like that?
“How disappointing.”
Kallian raised one eyebrow.
“You didn’t change your expression at all when I spoke.”
“……”
“But the moment another guy’s name comes up, your face changes instantly?”
It wasn’t a name. I said “the Eighth Prince.”
I wanted to correct him, but Kallian’s eyes were so red that I closed my mouth.
Kallian flicked his finger. The knight beside him quickly bent at the waist.
“Find that child and drag him here.”
Kallian spoke quietly to the knight.
But his gaze stayed locked on me.
“Break his legs if you have to.”
Break his legs?
My brows almost furrowed, but I quickly relaxed them.
Kallian was watching my expression closely.
“Or kill him.”
Kill him?
At that, my expression cracked without thinking.
Catching that moment, Kallian sneered.
“Duke. Eavesdropping on others is rude.”
He tilted his head and spoke casually.
“I didn’t listen on purpose — I just overheard it!”
I have good hearing. I’m a sword master.
And why does he always jump straight to killing people…?
“Your Highness. That is exactly why I cannot become your knight.”
A crack appeared in Kallian’s expression.
“What?”
“A knight must respect and revere his lord. I respect His Majesty the Emperor because of his gentle nature—”
“Hahahaha!”
As if it were completely absurd, Kallian clutched his stomach and laughed.
“Your emperor? Gentle?”
His eyes slowly returned to a deep black.
What’s wrong with our Emperor Resius?
“Either you are truly naive, or your emperor is extremely thorough.”
Resting his chin on his hand, Kallian nodded.
As his head moved, his eyes turned blood-red again.
Do his eyes only turn red when he looks at people? What is this, a traffic light?
“Fine. I’ll try it your way too. Like your emperor.”
Something felt missing from that sentence.
It felt like he had left out,
“I’ll kill people without them knowing.”
“I will give the order again.”
The knight who had been standing quietly stepped closer.
Kallian spoke playfully.
“Don’t kill him.”
There was clearly more hidden in those words.
Don’t kill him — but severe injuries are fine.
“…We’ve delayed long enough. Let us begin the negotiations.”
My mood dropped sharply. Shabiyan must not die.
“If Shabiyan dies, the world ends.”
What if he’s badly injured and suffers lasting damage?
“First, the Hailen Empire’s demands are—”
In the end, I’d be the one cleaning this mess up again.
Another sleepless night. Great.
Then Kallian interrupted.
“Duke. I’m sorry, but there’s been a small mistake on our side, so we cannot conclude the treaty.”
Of course. Shabiyan had escaped — they needed to deal with that first.
“We’ll meet again soon.”
Kallian rubbed his thick eyebrows regretfully and smiled.
“Then we’ll see each other when the time comes.”
Before he could stop me, I bowed properly and left the tent without hesitation.
“Your Grace.”
“The treaty has been postponed.”
I informed our knights and advisors who followed me.
Their faces said, We expected this.
“That’s Bahat’s level for you.”
“I didn’t expect anything anyway!”
Basically: Our duke did nothing wrong — Kallian is the problem.
Meanwhile, the Bahat side listening nearby looked like they were thinking,
Our Crown Prince caused trouble again.
“Shall we return to the castle?”
A knight asked out of habit, assuming I would.
I wanted to, desperately… but—
“There’s someone we need to find. Gather the knights.”
There was still work to do.
If Shabiyan gets badly hurt after being caught by Kallian, I won’t even get the chance to approach him — and the world will end.
He was someone loved by the god of this world. The chosen one.
“He’s small and pale…”
I repeated Shabiyan’s description that I’d heard countless times from Rosalin.
“Thin silver hair like threads, clear blue eyes, skin pale as if he’s never seen sunlight, smooth hands and feet. Find a man like that.”
The knight’s expression turned strange.
Did I sound like a pervert?
“The person we’re looking for is the Eighth Prince of the Bahat Empire. Bring him back carefully.”
The knight nodded in understanding.
Shabiyan’s looks were famous across the continent, after all.
“If Rosalin’s plan goes as intended…”
Shabiyan and I shouldn’t meet here.
We were supposed to meet by the beautiful lake inside the imperial palace — the legendary lake — like fate.
So I wanted to avoid meeting him here, but I felt bad just giving orders and hiding away.
“Let’s just pretend to search.”
With this many Berwen knights, there’s no way he’ll run into me, right?
“Hmm.”
I weighed two choices in my mind.
If this weren’t a military camp on open plains, the view by the walls would’ve been quite peaceful.
If he ran away, he would’ve gone where people were. So—
I turned my gaze to the opposite direction: the desolate desert.
“He wouldn’t go into the desert, right?”
I slowly guided my black horse toward the desert.
***
Long after Luwin left, Kallian covered his eyes with his wrist.
“Your Highness.”
A black mage approached Kallian, who was slumped deeply in his chair, one hand hanging loose.
“You’re here.”
The black mage was one of Kallian’s subordinates. His dark robes dragged across the floor.
“It’s impossible to control.”
When Kallian lowered his arm, his eyes were revealed.
The red haze in his irises slowly faded, returning to pure black.
“Do not try to suppress that power. Your Highness has inherited noble blood.”
Noble… demon blood. Kallian scoffed.
“Only weak humans talk about control. Your Highness can take anything you desire.”
If you become a demon, that is.
The black mage looked at him with pity.
Kallian was rejecting his demon blood and forcibly restraining himself.
The black mage had seen firsthand how powerful Kallian became when he lost control.
“You should be honest with your desires. If you want something, take it — even if you must break or destroy it.”
“…I see. But it’s strange.”
I want him… but I don’t want him broken.
Kallian swallowed those words and only toyed with the letter on his desk.
“Your Highness. Didn’t you feel it?”
“Feel what?”
Kallian’s finger traced over the paper the duke had touched.
“There was demonic energy on the duke.”
Demonic energy.
Kallian himself had such strong demonic power that he couldn’t easily sense it in others.
Was that noble duke a demon like him?
If not—
“Dark magic.”
Dark magic was born from demonic energy.
If the duke wasn’t a demon, then dark magic was placed on him.
“Dark magic? Hahaha.”
No one would dare cast dark magic on a sword master.
And the duke wouldn’t allow someone like that near him.
That meant the duke had deliberately allowed himself to be cursed for some reason.
Covering his face with the letter, Kallian leaned his head back and laughed.
“Haha. Such an interesting man. Don’t you agree?”
Lowering the letter slightly, one red eye gleamed.
“That eye—!”
The black mage widened his eyes.
Kallian’s red eyes were rarely seen — he usually suppressed them.
“The Duke of Berwen.”
The black mage recalled the man who had just left the tent.
Ever since meeting the duke, Kallian’s control had been frighteningly unstable.
At that moment, the black mage realized something.
He had found the one who could make Kallian the true heir of his bloodline.
At the same time.
“My leg is broken.”
Under the burning sun, Shabiyan dragged himself forward, limping.
His feet sank deep into the sand, pushing him to his limit.
He couldn’t even feel the rough, scorching sand against his injured left leg.
He had been hurt when he fell from the wagon.
“Maybe coming this way was a mistake.”
The day he saw the Duke of Berwen’s battle from the cliff — he couldn’t jump down, so he had quietly returned to the camp.
Kallian’s men hadn’t guarded Shabiyan closely for a reason.
There was nowhere to run.
“The Crown Prince has captured the Second Prince and moved camps! We have to move too! Quickly, load the Eighth Prince onto the supply wagon!”
That was when the chance came.
Inside the wagon, Shabiyan opened the door and threw himself out.
And this was the result: being chased through the desert.
“It hurts so much.”
He was in pain, hungry, exhausted, and close to collapsing.
Because of his flashy clothes and noticeable face, he’d thought he should go somewhere deserted.
“But… the desert?”
Would he die of dehydration out here?
Shabiyan looked up at the birds gliding freely in the sky.
At least this was a free death. Maybe that was better.
“There he is!”
A sound that should not exist in the silent desert rang out.
Continental speech mixed with a Bahat accent.
“Catch him! It’s the Eighth Prince!”
They were Kallian’s subordinates.
On horseback, they held hooks used to capture bulls or slaves.
If it went wrong, his neck would snap.
“I don’t want to live like a slave anymore.”
Shabiyan didn’t run or turn away.
A noble-blooded slave.
He refused to live as something controlled by others.
Being captured meant becoming someone’s property.
Shabiyan closed his eyes and lifted his chin.
“Then… let it end.”
Let his neck snap on that hook.
That might be the easiest death.
Better than returning to Kallian.
Better than living a filthy life.
At that moment—
Clang.
A short metallic sound cut through the desert.
Several slashing sounds followed, along with the thick scent of blood.
Thud. Thud.
Then—
“Are you alright?”
Shabiyan opened his eyes.
Under the blazing sun, among fallen men bleeding from torn limbs, stood a black-armored knight.
“That person is…”
Through the heat-warped air, like a mirage—
The Duke of Berwen.
“Ah.”
Clad in black armor that showed no skin, standing with flawless posture, the duke was overwhelming.
Yet the moment Shabiyan saw him, relief washed over him.
He lost consciousness in the duke’s arms.
And—
“Why me of all people?!”
Luwin was completely flustered.
