Chapter 345

The royal castle engulfed in flames barely settled into a calmed state just a few hours after Yurik and his companions arrived.

The Captain of the Royal Guard, who had been dragged away by a group of impudent rebels, came running and led the panicking knights and soldiers,

And together with the palace people who had evacuated outside, they moved water carts to attempt emergency firefighting.

In that process, Eva, who had entered the castle, rescued people who couldn't escape from inside,

And Cellinne, who had entered with Eva, succeeded in escaping with the 3rd Prince and someone wearing a robe pulled low.

The castle, burned completely up to that high tower, had transformed into something utterly hideous.

However, even in such flames, something would surely change.

First, the Queen Dowager's death was discovered. The Queen Dowager's charred corpse was found in the main castle's spire.

Since the entire main castle had burned, no matter how high up the spire one climbed, death by burning couldn't be avoided.

No one knew the reason why the Queen Dowager had climbed that far up.

Second was the death of the maids, including the head maid who served the Queen Dowager.

Similarly, the corpses emitting acrid smoke told nothing,

But based on being found in the corridor of the third floor, it was interpreted that they had met unfortunate deaths while wandering to find the Queen after the fire broke out.

Besides this, there were people whose lives were in danger from inhaling too much smoke,

And there were also new palace servants who died unable to escape the complex palace.

The one who handled all these processes was none other than the 3rd Prince.

Though he had violated house arrest orders and escaped the royal castle, some change of heart had occurred and he returned.

The 3rd Prince showed no fear even seeing the burning royal castle and jumped into it,

Even directly rescuing unknown palace servants.

Not only that. Those who followed the 3rd Prince also courageously helped in searching for survivors and suppressing the fire.

If they hadn't been there, more people might have been found as corpses.

Or sparks carried by the wind might have burned forests or private houses near the royal castle.

What planted certainty in those who were stirring was the 3rd Prince's close associate, Dardin.

-His Highness the 3rd Prince had no choice but to leave the royal castle upon hearing that suspicion might transfer to us. However, as soon as he heard news of the fire, he chose to return.

-By suspicion, do you mean the suspicion that evil sorcerer was under? But he tried to poison Her Majesty the Queen Dowager!

-That's how it appears on the surface. However, today Her Majesty the Queen Dowager was strangely found not on other floors of the main castle but in that high tower. Even having driven away her maids. Why would that be?

-That is... surely, there weren't people who lured Her Majesty the Queen Dowager there?

-Many people's speculation is that there were. The renowned medical scholar, Primavera Viscountess, daughter of Viscount Primavera, said that Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's cause of death was not burning. And most importantly, there was a dagger that appeared to be a murder weapon beside Her Majesty the Queen Dowager.

-Then this fire is also not unrelated to Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's poisoning incident!

-Judging by how they framed the mage, there must be someone who planned Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's death while simultaneously keeping His Highness the 3rd Prince in check. We must catch the real culprit.

Someone exists.

Someone who crossed dangerous bridges to bring down both the Queen and the 3rd Prince.

When such news spread widely, the nobles were turned upside down. In the midst of this, only Duke of Ophir stepped forward claiming it was not the truth.

-There can't be anyone who harbored wicked thoughts toward Her Majesty the Queen Dowager! They say an evil sorcerer was supposed to be hung on the royal castle's spire. Then wouldn't the sorcerer and Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's death be connected! Unless they produce even that sorcerer's corpse, I will absolutely not let this matter pass!

It was half right and half wrong.

But nobles swayed by Duke of Ophir's claims gathered together again demanding to see even the mage's corpse,

And in the already chaotic situation of handling the injured and dead, they made the 3rd Prince even more troublesome.

Thus, three days after the royal castle's firefighting.

The 3rd Prince officially revealed the 'living' mage.

Due to the main castle's fire, the nobles gathered in the separate palace usually used for hosting banquets held their breath momentarily upon seeing the mage.

-You... how are you!

The mage who entered supported by the 3rd Prince had his face covered with a veil, but the bandaged arms and legs couldn't be hidden.

The burn marks and blisters that spread outside the bandages were disgusting just to look at.

With burned hair he couldn't cut tied down in one bundle, he testified in a precarious state as if he might collapse at any moment.

-At the Mage Tower, the Queen... Queen Dowager sentenced me to death, and afterward people arrived to take me to the main castle. I seem to have lost consciousness right before leaving the Mage Tower.

-You expect us to believe that?!

-Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. Weren't the people gathered here desperately trying to create some connection between me and the Queen Dowager's death?

It was an extremely arrogant and one-sided exchange.

But his small stature, the tired voice coming from behind the veil, and the burn marks all over his body made it hard to believe he had killed the Queen Dowager.

Suppose, giving him the benefit of the doubt a thousand times, he could have started the flames.

And suppose, giving him the benefit of the doubt ten thousand more times, he had deliberately suffered burns to avoid suspicion.

But for what purpose was his entire body so injured,

And for what reason had he come before the nobles who suspected him?

This was an action that could only be taken by someone who was either completely innocent or stupid, unless it was an advanced psychological warfare.

Duke of Ophir gritted his teeth hearing the other nobles murmuring behind him.

What was important now wasn't who the real culprit was.

Duke of Ophir had lost his daughter who had become Queen Dowager, and someone had to pay the price.

But as everyone with a foot in power knew,

In this royal castle, power was more important than truth.

And right now at this moment, only one person carried on the royal bloodline—the 3rd Prince.

The 3rd Prince, who appeared when the Queen Dowager died, naturally seized real power under the pretext of handling the fire.

Moreover, due to what he had shown at the fire scene, he was being talked about among the palace servants.

Then attacking the 3rd Prince would be premature.

Instead, to bring him down...

Duke of Ophir's hatred-filled eyes fixed on the back of the limping figure leaving the separate palace.

* * *

"Ow ow ow ow ow."

"Bear with it a little. The blisters inside burst."

When the bandages wrapped around his legs were removed, several small blisters had burst.

If he had waited a bit longer, he probably could have appeared before the nobles in fairly decent shape.

But Yurik said if he was going to show him, it had to be now, so he went out and came back in this state.

He watched Yurik applying the medicine Eva had left and wrapping bandages.

The 3rd Prince's palace was safe since it was far from the main castle.

After returning, Yurik had brought all the main castle's work to the 3rd Prince's palace,

And Cellinne, Valter, Dardin, and Eva had all settled in the same place as if familiar with it.

However, Cellinne and Valter were cleanly removing debris from dangerous places inside the main castle,

And Eva was busy borrowing other buildings within the royal castle to treat the injured.

Dardin? He was so busy with something he didn't even show his nose.

Thanks to this, the 3rd Prince's palace had few people except for Yurik and him who were holed up there working.

Thanks to this, he could at least do something called recuperation.

[Waaah waaah waaah waaah.]

"My eardrums hurt."

[Believer hateful, came out calling this body. Promise? Didn't keep. Hateful believer. Still hateful. Waaah waaah waaah waaah.]

"I didn't know the Queen would suddenly stab me with a knife in there. It's really true."

The snowman was perched on his face, infinitely generating icicles.

What happened was, Aphoom-Zhah, who couldn't maintain proper form due to the magic resistance spells carved in the Mage Tower, told him.

To come outside and call him.

But having died inside, he couldn't call Aphoom-Zhah,

And since Yurik hugged him in the corridor and wouldn't move, burns developed all over his body.

Then they were extremely busy treating that again. So when he actually thought of Aphoom-Zhah, it was a day after the burns occurred.

When he called and Aphoom-Zhah came out frantically and saw his state, losing his mind was also somewhat funny.

Since then, Aphoom-Zhah stuck close to his face and wouldn't fall off unless it was unavoidable.

And he even cried at every little thing.

Yurik treated his legs while he lay with the snowman on his face and said.

"Good. Stay quiet under the snowman's surveillance."

"He's not surveilling me. I'm indulging Aphoom-Zhah's petulance."

"Sure you are. I'll be right next door, so if anything happens, shout."

"Even with Aphoom-Zhah here?"

"Of course."

A hand stroking his head several times.

After that came the sound of the door quietly closing, and in the quieted room only the sound of Aphoom-Zhah sniffling.

"Aphoom-Zhah."

[Believer apologize? Won't accept. This body, angry. Believer hateful.]

"My legs are hot, could you move there and cool them..."

[Believer trash?]

While leisurely cooling the burn areas while being denounced by the snowman god, a day passed quickly.

In the evening, Cellinne and Valter returned covered in ash, and after the two washed up, Eva and Dardin entered the palace exhausted.

Then everyone would gather in his room with food as if by appointment.

Once a day, dinner eaten all together seemed to have become a habit.

He wanted to tell them to eat more comfortably,

But he wasn't completely unable to understand why they stubbornly gathered.

Watching them eat whether sitting on the floor, at the table, or leaning somewhere became part of his daily routine too.

Ah, and the number had even increased by one from before.

A person named Milo who seemed to have some acquaintance with Eva.

Later, Cellinne quietly whispered that they had taken him hostage when escaping the royal castle,

But when they actually brought him back, they saw Milo's subordinates avoiding Milo.

Cellinne discovered Milo wandering alone and was accompanying him out of pity.

Cellinne had a kind heart too. Ah, or maybe not. Since she had kidnapped an innocent person and made him ostracized, this much was natural.

Anyway, after finishing the fairly noisy and harmonious dinner excluding the dejected Milo,

And receiving greetings from everyone, only Yurik and he remained.

Yurik would bring remaining work to his bedroom and keep him company until he slept.

They shared many stories. That is, more stories than before the fire incident.

He told, as much as he could remember, about his second encounter with Shub-Niggurath and things he experienced while wandering for tens of thousands of years,

And Yurik told him about rebellions that occurred after establishing the Acheron Empire, or ridiculous incidents his subjects caused.

What Yurik told was truthful and vivid as if experienced yesterday.

On the other hand, his memories were weathered and almost like delusions, but Yurik listened to even that with interest.

"But Yesung."

"Mm?"

"Who is the person you think of when you see me?"

"You don't need to worry about it. It's someone not here now."

"Dead?"

"Yeah."

"Long ago?"

"Probably."

Long ago, hundreds of millions of years ago, in a different timeline.

The Yurik here was unrelated to the Yurik of that time. Except for him who remembered that trashy bastard Yurik.

He answered roughly appropriately, but even at his insincere response, he could see Yurik visibly relieved.

"That's fortunate."

"What is?"

"If he's already dead, I can cover it up by treating Yesung better."

"You don't need to go that far. You don't even know if you can or not."

"Let's at least try. It would be rude not to do that and just wait for Yesung to get better."

Ah, now he understood a bit.

The reason he thought this Yurik and that Yurik were different.

This Yurik could change himself for others. Even if it was feelings limited to him,

Someday that change would surely reach people other than him too.

He had once sworn not to save only him. But in the end, he had come to cross time and worlds for Yurik.

In that process, it wasn't that he hadn't resented Yurik. He had even resolved to kill him with his own hands if he showed no promise.

But... now he felt like his efforts were rewarded.

He felt strange because of an emotion he thought he could never feel after falling into this world.

No, it wasn't unpleasant. Rather, he was happy to a bewildering degree.

He watched Yurik check the time, gather his work, tuck him in, and leave.

And recalling his words about wanting to become family, he simultaneously thought of his younger sibling.

If the moment to leave here arrived, would Yurik remain alone?

That bothered him so much he tossed and turned, then pushed his hand under the pillow.

Rustling paper was pulled out.

When he unfolded it, a threat letter written in very elegant handwriting appeared.

[I have your lost item. In two days, at midnight, I will meet you in front of the 3rd Prince's palace annex.]

He looked at it and repeated to himself.

His lost item.

His grimoire. Eibon's grimoire.

The one who had stolen his book was calling him.