亚洲欧美中文日韩Aⅴ

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t really care when, how and what happened for you to think that way.”

Lord Ray slowly shifted his gaze from me.

He let out a long breath before remaining silent for a while. Something unbelievable seemed to flash by his face.

‘Does he not have any ambition?’

Being in the position of my patronus could only be an honour for him.

“You don’t have to look at me with that face. Because I don’t need you to understand.”

Lord Ray slowly closed and opened his eyes before staring off into the distance.

“That’s strange. Maybe I’m not speaking to the lord but someone else wearing the lord’s face?”

The wind seemed to be echoing our commotion as it shook the long and wide hem of his clothes.

“Today, you showed me a side of you I didn’t know, lord.”

Holding his finger, I smiled gently. He frowned as if he was unable to shake off my hand. But instead of calling me out, he turned his head away from my arm.

“I was pretty happy tonight.”

“You mean here?”

“Yeah, because of you.”

I had always thought it was natural for me to have been moving by myself but what I wanted to do in the future would not be possible alone. Because I knew if I insisted, I might lose everything again.

“Thank you.”

I was grateful that the garden was dark and it was hard to see here.

“But you look like you have a lot to say, lord.”

His gaze that had been directed straight at something slowly returned to me. I had always thought about it but there had always been a subtle heat behind his gaze. Which made every touch with his hands of his body feel deeper.

He stared at me from the corner of his eyes before dropping slowly.

“Yes, I do have a lot to say.”

He suddenly turned his head away.

“Even if I do, I won’t say it in a place with too many ears.”

Ears? I tilted my head to look at what was behind him. Was he talking about all the people collapsed on the ground? But his expression was so firm, I could not ask him any further.

***

The princess had returned. The wavy blonde hair could be seen from a distance.

Ray stood there with his feet planted on the floor for a long time after she had disappeared through the crack in the door.

The sound of the wind blowing swept across his mind.

Ray slowly turned his head before staring straight ahead of him. The corpses of the fallen men. They looked like they had been stabbed to death but they had actually been poisoned.

And Ray was not the one who brought ‘it’.

“It was weak.”

The man who had immobilised all those men whispered playfully. Ray looked up when he heard the sweet gentle voice.

The owner of the unbelievably sweet voice sat on the tree as he swung his feet.

“You swore an oath on the sword. It was really weak. You’re more bland than I thought you were.”

Dane whispered gently.

“Are you blaming me?”

“How could I?”

His brown hair that had been dyed blue by the moonlight fluttered as the wind blew. His eyes that were revealed from behind his hair were curled gently were a vividly bright red in contrast to the cold light he was illuminated by. His white sleeves that were long and wide fluttered in the breeze making the young beautiful man look like he had wings.

“To be crafty and shrewd are virtues here.”

Dane tilted his head before gently speaking as if he was singing.

“Use your head. Can’t you say anything more than that?”

“…..”

“Now you’ve become Ashley’s knight perfectly. Why don’t you become her guardian as well?”

He had an amused smile on his face as he whispered about how well Ray had taken care of the situation and how he swore the oath earlier.

“That’s not a very nice compliment.”

Over his stiff face, Ray put on a calm expression.

“It looks like I’ve somehow learnt something from a prince after following one around.”

“I’m to be blamed for your behavior today. It wasn’t that weak.”

“Words are not enough to express your character.”

Ray stole a glance at those who were collapsed on the floor. Dane shrugged as if he had not noticed them and continued to pretend as if he did not see them.

“You didn’t kill them so that’s good, isn’t it?”

Knowing what kind of poison the assassin took, Ray shook his head gently. He tried to ponder over what Dane could be possibly thinking for a moment. But it was hard. The 7th Prince was someone whose real face he had never seen before.

Flop.

The area of grass next to him sank. Dane, who dropped from the tree, easily tapped him on the shoulder.

“I have something to show you.”

His hair filled Ray’s vision before the red eyes that appeared below sparkled surprisingly beautifully.

“What is it?”

Ray, for just a moment, thought about how peculiar it was that his eyes did not lose his light in the darkness.

“I found this from one of the assassins.”

The white hem of his comfortable-looking robe fluttered and swayed with his movements before a necklace that was hanging from his neck fell to his chest. The sparkling golden necklace was shaped like a wheel and at first glance it looked like a replica of the sun.

‘Assassins and the people of the conspiracy, the wheels of Rome…’

Noticing Ray’s gaze, Dane caught onto the fluttering item before hiding it under his clothes.

“Do you know what that is?”

Dane picked up something that one of the men brought.

“That.”

It was a thin pendant that was reflecting both green and purple light. It was shaped like a strangely curved finger.

The meaning of this shape was obvious.

“… Isn’t this the ‘Seed of Chaos’?”

Ray knew that it looked like something Ashley was carrying around a little while ago.

“That’s correct.”

“Why is something that symbolises the new worldview of the Templars of Chaos doing here?”

The Seed of Chaos. This was a symbol of their theology which had disturbed the Empire hundreds of years ago and was used to recognise fellow Templars of Chaos.

It was known that only one person could make the key that would give access to the sealed Temple of Death. And after a long time, countless fakes had appeared making it hard to find the real person.

“Well, we can narrow it down to two possibilities.”

With a languid expression, Dane beckoned Ray over. From his spot, his clothes continued to flutter.

“If that is true then that means the [Templars of Chaos] are directly involved in the assassinations. They must have been working hand in hand with the forces attacking Ahsley.”

“What if it’s fake?”

“It’s obvious.”

Dane’s red eyes that were like the sunset curved thinly.

“It would be easy to be overwhelmed with all that is happening in the Empire right now.”

Ray paused before staring at the palely coloured prince.

“They’re creating common enemies before something big happens.”

The future was being drawn in front of Dane’s eyes.

“Women who had been disappearing for the past few years. If the fact that the noble princess is being attacked is to become known, the hatred towards the [Templars of Chaos] will only deepen.”

“Do you mean someone is trying to elicit a collective hatred towards the [Templars of Chaos]?”

“That’s right and who will that benefit?”

Dane smiled by only raising the corners of his mouth.

“It’ll benefit the Emperor. It’s a good excuse to unite the rest of the templars.”

Dane walked straight ahead. Although his movements were not as sharp as Fleon’s, they had a unique elegance to them. His movements were silent without a single sound making him unlike a noble or an imperial.

‘It’s like an assassin’s.’

Ray glanced at the collapsed man. Then, he shook his head slightly. That was not how the prince’s family was like.

“There are times when it strangely looks like you know everything, my prince.”

Dane was predicting a skin-chilling future.

“Is that so? That’s easy to tell. If I were you, I would do that too.”

The young man whispered incredibly gently before curling his eyes softly.

Did that mean that the image of the enemy they were fighting against was becoming clearer in Dane’s mind? Ray tilted his head.

Feeling his gaze, Dane smiled softly.

Under the faint light, his seductive smile which could attract anyone regardless of their gender shone as if he was trying to tempt someone.

“I’m getting tired.”

Dane muttered softly. When he turned around, Ray could see the exhaustion and fatigue piled on his back.

“We don’t have enough bodies to protect our princess. Time too. And manpower.”

“Right.”

“… I don’t want the morning to come.”

Dan muttered off into the distance before raising his head and gesturing at the knight. Ray paused before taking it in. Based from the knight’s experience, it was better to just filter out what Dane had to say.

“… Sometimes I wish I had three bodies.”

There were times in which Dane looked like an old man twice his current age whenever he quietly mumbled. And that was what he looked like now as well. Ray stared into his eyes which contained something unknown stacking into a pile before slowly turning his head.

“It’s terrible just to imagine three of you, my prince.”

Dane smirked.

“Even worse than the three of you?”

Soon after looking more challenged, as if he ran into a difficult problem, and frowning, Dane burst into laughter at the knight’s expression. His clear laugh disappeared into the wind and the rustling of the trees.

The night was filled with moonlight and their surroundings were bright but the path he was walking on was filled with shadows. The place was dark. And then, he became one with the darkness of the garden.

***

My head hurt.

I tossed and turned on my bed before straightening myself up. Before I knew it, the sky was already bright.

It was finally morning when I felt both strangely refreshed and tired.

As the blue light of dawn completely receded, a bell rang to signal the start of the morning. But the usual bell was throbbing in my head.

It felt like the bell was ringing in my head itself. It felt like my nerves were being poked with a needle.

‘It feels like a regular migraine.’

But rather than a headache, it felt more like I had pain radiating from my temple area to my forehead and the corners of my eyes.

“Princess!”

When Hannah came in, I was burying my head into a pillow as I suffered from pain. She ran towards me in surprise.

“Are you in pain?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

I tried to put up with it.

“It’s still early so sleep some more. Yes?”

I noticed a worried expression on her face. Had I been burying my face into her hands for too long? I did feel like I was getting better.

I got up from bed.

I did not think sleeping any more would help with my exhaustion. Perhaps this was a problem with my mentality. Was this not because my fatigue had accumulated over a long time?

After tidying my bed, Hannah told me she was going to prepare breakfast.

“Yeah, today’s…”

I was lying on the sofa before looking through my diary.

T/N:

Woops sorry this was a little late. I was trying to get back to schedule. Thanks for waiting and happy reading~~