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chapter 32
“Ugh… ugh…! Aaaah―!”
The crown prince froze in place, staggering backward and screaming as if his throat were tearing.
Thud!
He tripped over a chair leg and fell clumsily.
‘Insane… disgusting!’
I couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of the severed monster head myself. Even as an adult, I felt a chill. No wonder the crown prince, raised delicately within the palace and unaccustomed to anything gruesome, reacted so violently.
‘Damn it, this wasn’t in the story!’
My teeth gritted at the chaotic turn of events. In the novel, this was supposed to be a romantic scene: the heroine dramatically reunited with Male Lead 4, he asked her to dance, and there was even some purifying magic. His flashy arrival through spatial teleportation was also meant to impress.
But bringing a monster’s severed head to make the crown prince faint? That was never part of the plan. After all, it’s a “romance” fantasy novel.
‘Something went wrong the moment the heroine wasn’t in the banquet hall.’
Even more frustrating, I realized only the crown prince and I were horrified by Male Lead 4’s antics.
“This is a monster I’ve never seen before…”
“Caspian Gorge? Isn’t that a… Gate Wave zone?!”
“Entry should’ve been impossible because of the barrier. How did Your Grace get there…?”
Most nobles, whether awakened or not, weren’t fazed by the severed head at all—they just murmured among themselves.
“Why all the fuss…? Some small gates opened, so I had a little fun while I was there,” Male Lead 4 said, laughing heartily as he glanced at the fallen crown prince. Then, he rummaged through his sack again.
“You haven’t seen anything yet, Your Highness. Take a look at this.”
He pulled out something the size of an ostrich egg. A grayish sphere dripped with sticky fluid, looking as though it were half-melted, wobbling between his fingers as if it might slip away at any moment.
“This is a cyclops’ eyeball. Rare to see one, but the Wave had plenty,” he explained.
“Ugh… ugh…!”
“The lens was supposed to help with growth, so I carefully harvested it alive… but it’s already rotten. Tch.”
With a click of his tongue, the duke tossed it to the floor without hesitation.
Splat―!
It hit the ground with a squelch and squished into a mess. Honestly, that was a relief—if I had gotten a good look, I wouldn’t have slept tonight.
“Finally…”
“Aaaah! Stop, stop―!”
The crown prince screamed in a frenzy as the duke continued digging through his sack.
“Hey! What are you doing without putting that away?!”
“Haha. Now that’s the highlight, yet you want me to clean it up? Uncle is hurt, Your Highness,” Male Lead 4 replied.
“Leon! Garfield!”
Yet for some reason, the crown prince’s attendants standing beside him didn’t move a muscle.
‘…He’s using his abilities.’
I realized immediately when I saw them all trembling stiffly. Male Lead 4, Serge, was using telekinesis to pin them in place.
‘What about the magic stones? They’re supposed to glow when abilities are detected!’
Even the purple stones set in the nearby pillars didn’t glow. That meant…
‘He can control his power so precisely?’
He could manipulate all those people with an almost imperceptible force. The scale of that power was staggering.
“Stop worrying about the ones standing there and look at this, Your Highness,” Serge said with a playful grin, producing something else.
“This is a heart… either of an earth dragon or a giant worm…”
Thankfully, this time it wasn’t a gruesome monster corpse. It looked like a blood-red stone the size of an egg.
“Gasp…”
The crown prince’s tense breaths filled the room. Serge, oblivious, tilted his head and muttered,
“Hmm… what was this good for again?”
“…!”
“Hey, what’s this useful for?”
He rested one foot on the back of the middle-aged man still lying prone.
“Ugh! That… that was just kept as a memento from the first kill…!”
“Oh! So this was mine.”
“…”
“It shines nicely; might be worth something, don’t you think, Your Highness?”
Thwack, thwack!
Serge tossed the earth dragon’s heart up and caught it repeatedly, speaking casually as the crown prince panted like someone being strangled.
“Why… why are you doing this to me, Duke!”
“That’s right. Why would Your Highness treat your most loyal subject like this?”
“W-what did I do…!”
“The purifier was supposed to be in Volner, wasn’t he?”
Thwack―!
Serge held the dark red stone and suddenly wiped the grin off his face, muttering blankly. The crown prince flinched visibly, his shoulders trembling.
“T-that’s…!”
“I crushed the gates and went where you told me. The purifier wasn’t there—only this little guy welcomed me!”
Thud!
Serge stomped firmly on the man’s back.
“Ugh!”
“But this guy… teleported me through the Gate Wave,” he continued.
“P-please! I… I was wrong, please spare me…!”
“The moment I saw the griffin, I realized I’d misunderstood Your Highness’ order!”
The duke’s exaggerated voice alternated with the man’s groans, a grotesque and chilling scene.
“Our lord wishes every night to be held by the purifier, grow quickly, awaken, and ascend the throne…”
“What…!”
“You desired it so much, you even tricked me into Gate Waves to send me, didn’t you? As your only uncle, how could I refuse such a wish?”
“S-shut up, Serge Belnac! Will you stop that mouth of yours!”
The crown prince shouted, his face red as if a weakness had been exposed.
“Isn’t that right?”
Serge shrugged, looking at the nobles around him.
“Hahaha! Indeed! The duke is a true loyalist!”
Some nobles who seemed to side with the duke cheered along. Once the hall quieted, Serge smiled thinly and slowly turned to the crown prince.
“So, do you like my gift, Your Highness?”
“You… you…!”
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll tell the kitchen to make soup twice a day from what I turned into orphans.”
“N-no! Stop it!”
“You should’ve chosen your religion more carefully, Your Highness. A heretic, really… and now your old uncle has to babysit you? Huh?!”
The duke’s face twisted into a terrifying expression, like an avenging messenger from hell.
“…!”
The crown prince shivered violently from the sheer intensity, and then,
“Ah… ahhh…”
He rolled his eyes and collapsed, unconscious.
“Tch… take him back to the palace,” Serge said, finally relaxing and giving a dismissive nod.
The crown prince’s attendants, stiff as statues, were instantly released.
“Your Highness!”
“What is this, Duke!”
“I will report this to His Majesty immediately!”
The attendants scrambled to protect the crown prince, shouting, but he just smirked, ignoring them.
“Do as you please.”
Bang!
At that moment, the banquet hall doors burst open, and knights clad in black armor stormed in.
‘The royal knights wear gold armor. Black… must be Male Lead 4’s personal guards.’
The nobles didn’t react, as if used to it. But the attendants’ faces went pale, and they hurriedly dragged the crown prince out the back door to avoid the black-armored soldiers.
“Master, you’ve returned!”
Serge finally looked at the approaching knights.
“Clear it out.”
He gestured to the monster corpses he had thrown, then lifted his foot off the middle-aged man.
And…
Thwack―!
Before anyone could react, he slammed the man’s neck down.
“Gah!”
The man collapsed lifelessly.
‘No way… did he… kill him?!’
My heart sank. Even if the story had gone differently, I didn’t expect one of the male leads to be this brutal.
I frowned, staring at the motionless man and then at Male Lead 4.
“…!”
At that moment, our eyes met.
