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Chapter 53
“Your Highness the First Prince, it’s Morris. May I come in?”
The day after the ‘Mouth’ of the Lekan Forest opened.
At the break of dawn, when the chilly morning air still hung thickly through the forest, Morris came to the First Prince’s tent.
Euclid silently looked down at Sillaria, who was sleeping soundly in his arms. The relationship that had begun yesterday for purification after she awakened had continued until she tearfully begged him to stop.
While she had lain beneath him, unable to move an inch, he had done exactly as he had long desired—literally licking and devouring her from head to toe.
It was strange.
Why did his body heat up whenever he saw only Sillaria? Whenever he was in front of her, he felt like a dog in heat.
“Your Highness the First Prince?”
Morris’s voice came again from outside the tent. Euclid finally tore his gaze away and rose from the bed.
After pulling the blanket up to cover Sillaria all the way to her neck, he casually threw on a robe and stepped outside the tent.
The moment he saw the First Prince, Morris bowed deeply. Euclid only spoke after putting enough distance between them so their conversation would not disturb Sillaria’s sleep.
“Report.”
“There were a total of thirty-two monster corpses from yesterday’s hunt. We established the base camp over there, beside the oak tree far from the swamp.”
“Well done. What about Arnthelt? Has he arrived at the forest yet?”
“Not yet. I heard he departed by carriage.”
“By carriage?”
Listening to Morris’s report, Euclid let out a scoff. A carriage? Even Sillaria had stepped forward insisting she would ride horseback for this competition.
Yet the precious Second Prince seemed more concerned with preserving his own body even while the Crown Prince position was at stake.
“So he still hasn’t arrived. Then he’ll only get here tomorrow. What a shame. Traveling by carriage alone will waste all his time.”
“By the time he arrives, the monsters in Lekan Forest will already be wiped out.”
“Haven’t they already been wiped out?”
Euclid spoke sharply while surveying the surroundings. Due to the aftermath of the ‘Mouth’ yesterday—and because they had swept through the monsters—there was no sign of monsters anywhere. At this rate, it seemed they could camp a little longer to observe before withdrawing.
“Thirty-two kills. Not a bad score.”
Euclid grinned.
Since monsters had become rare in Lekan Forest, he thought catching even ten would already count as a good result. But then the ‘Mouth’ had conveniently opened, allowing them to reap a far greater gain than expected.
In the past, the opening of a ‘Mouth’ would have been a disaster.
And if it had been a Mouth as large as yesterday’s, Lekan Forest would have become a forest of death.
But things were different now.
Because beside Euclid stood his purifier, Sillaria.
Unlike before, when he had restrained himself out of fear of going berserk, Euclid freely unleashed his holy power. Thanks to the overwhelming holy power he poured out, the ‘Mouth’ vanished with absurd ease, and the monsters were exterminated as well.
It was all thanks to Sillaria.
With warm eyes, Euclid gazed toward the tent where his purifier rested. Seeing his expression, Morris smiled faintly as well.
“She truly is someone deserving of gratitude. How could someone like Miss Sillaria appear before Your Highness?”
“It must be fate.”
Rarely, Euclid revealed the thoughts in his heart to Morris. Until now, he had always been a cold and merciless superior to his adjutants and subordinates, like a perfectly sharpened blade.
But after meeting Sillaria and finding peace, he had begun showing a more human side.
And that only deepened the loyalty of those who followed the prince.
“I will never let Sillaria go.”
Morris blinked as he listened to the prince’s possessive declaration. But he soon returned to a calm expression and bowed his head.
Because he wholeheartedly supported it as well.
As long as Euclid never lost Sillaria, as long as the two remained together, there would be nothing for the First Prince’s people to fear.
Arnthelt twisted his face viciously.
His carriage had been stuck at the entrance of Lekan Forest for two whole hours. The wheels were buried in mud, spinning uselessly in place.
“Push harder! Harder!”
Arnthelt stuck only his head out of the carriage window as he barked orders. His holy knights silently pushed the carriage despite the prince doing nothing but flap his mouth.
The only reason they obeyed Arnthelt’s unreasonable commands without complaint was money. The Empress generously supported the Second Prince’s holy knight order. As a result, knights in financial hardship within the Imperial Palace often joined under the Second Prince.
But no matter how much money was involved, anyone would grow dissatisfied if all they did was manual labor like this.
And if their superior treated them poorly as a person, that dissatisfaction only piled up faster.
“You useless idiots! Are you planning to spend the whole night here?!”
Arnthelt spat out the window.
Fortunately, the spit landed on the ground instead of a person.
If he had actually spat on one of the holy knights, he likely would have been abandoned here together with the carriage.
But Arnthelt, who had never even imagined such a possibility, snorted and sat back down on the carriage sofa.
The moment he planted himself onto the seat, the carriage finally lurched forward. As it began rolling again, he sneered smugly.
“You people only understand after I push you like this.”
“……”
At Arnthelt’s nonsense, Grizel silently rolled her eyes. The knights, who had already removed their helmets and were drenched in sweat, looked at him with open contempt.
Yet Arnthelt paid no attention and continued spewing insults at them.
If they entered Lekan Forest like this and encountered monsters—if a desperate life-or-death crisis struck—
Would the holy knights really save them?
‘Am I really okay going along with this?’
Grizel looked out the window with displeasure written all over her face. Unlike Sillaria, she had been dragged here by force.
The Empress had repeatedly ordered Grizel to stay glued to Arnthelt throughout the competition. Saying she must purify him even if it meant sacrificing her own body, the Empress had forcibly shoved her into the carriage.
Before long, they had entered the forest, and the scenery around them had turned green. The shaking of the carriage rolling along the rough forest road gradually grew more violent.
“Ugh!”
Eventually, the speeding carriage hit a rock and bounced into the air, making Arnthelt retch.
He clamped a hand over his mouth and frantically pounded on the carriage ceiling. The moment the coachman stopped the carriage in response to the prince’s signal, Arnthelt hurriedly jumped outside.
Then he braced himself against a tree and vomited violently.
“This is driving me insane, seriously……”
Grizel looked at the vomiting Arnthelt with utter disdain. Sighing, she stepped out of the carriage as well. Fortunately, unlike their superior, the holy knights at least possessed chivalry, so they escorted her properly as she descended.
“Ugh, my stomach burns.”
By the time Grizel came out, Arnthelt had already emptied his stomach completely. Rubbing his chest, he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. After throwing up everywhere, acting refined now only made him look pathetic.
“We’ll set up base camp here. I’m too tired to go any farther.”
“Your Highness, this area is too close to the swamp. It would be better to go a little deeper into the forest before pitching the tents—”
“Do as I say!”
Arnthelt shouted furiously at Lionello.
At his outburst, all the holy knights who had been resting turned to look at him. Every single one wore an exhausted expression, as though wondering if he was screaming again.
“Understood.”
Lionello lowered his head with a resigned face.
Then he turned and walked over to the holy knights. Though they grumbled at the order Lionello relayed, they soon began unpacking their gear.
Borrowing Arnthelt’s bow, Lionello fired one of his arrows into the sky. The arrow, tied with a blue ribbon, exploded into bright blue fireworks in midair.
Even after officially announcing the Second Prince’s participation, Arnthelt remained completely relaxed. While his subordinates erected the tents, he simply sat atop a pile of luggage.
“It’s already the third day since the competition started. Will this really be okay?”
Grizel cautiously questioned Arnthelt’s leisurely attitude.
The man who had ignored her the entire time glanced sideways at her before speaking.
“What wouldn’t be okay?”
“Considering the time it takes to return, we’ll have to leave for the Imperial Palace tomorrow afternoon. Will it really be possible to hunt enough in just one day…?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. Everything’s proceeding according to plan.”
Arnthelt spoke confidently and grinned.
Grizel looked at him with puzzled eyes.
