Chapter 350

Originally, the Queen Dowager's funeral should have been held first.

However, there was a problem. The Queen Dowager's corpse had currently been revived by wicked magic and was going around massacring people.

They could have dispatched the capital's guards and the Royal Guard to subdue the Queen Dowager's corpse,

But in the current situation where Yurik's power was unstable, showing the Queen Dowager's corpse to the Royal Guard was dangerous.

Moreover, it was impossible for ordinary people to 'kill' it again.

As Aphoom-Zhah, who had dwelt in Yesung's body, had said, it was a being that wouldn't fall even if cut, stabbed, or had its heart ripped out.

In the end, Yurik gave orders to his close associates Cellinne and Valter to chase after the Queen Dowager's corpse and capture it alive.

Since they were people who cared for the 3rd Prince more than anyone, they wouldn't reveal the Queen Dowager's matter,

And since they were people who had received Aphoom-Zhah's protection through Yesung, the probability of them being injured by a mere corpse was also low.

Valter and Cellinne left the royal castle to carry out Yurik's orders, and Dardin deliberately visited Yesung to inform him of the coronation date that only some people knew.

"How is your body, Yesung?"

"So-so."

Of course, he hadn't come just to inform him of the coronation date.

Dardin glanced at Yesung, who wouldn't come out of bed at all. Yesung, visible through the half-drawn curtains, was sprawled out.

According to Yurik's servant who had been assigned to help care for Yesung,

It seemed he had been holed up in his bedroom continuously since the day he went out and returned, not eating or changing clothes.

Since he never called for servants, the servants were constantly anxious, trying to check if he was dead or alive without disturbing him.

Of course, since Yesung had lived longer than the great Eibon, he wouldn't die just from not eating.

Thinking this, Dardin spoke to the area beyond the curtains with a good-natured smile.

"Good news, Yesung. His Highness's coronation has been decided. We just finished the meeting. The prevailing opinion was that it's not good to leave the king's seat vacant for long at times like this."

"I see, that's good."

"Yesung's efforts played a large part in this. Thank you for your hard work in various ways. Thanks to you, His Highness was able to return to the royal castle."

"Yurik would have become king someday even without me."

"Of course that would be so, but you could say that because Yesung was here, what would have taken years to accomplish was achieved in just a few months. We couldn't have dreamed of it without you."

Dardin smiled consciously. The question disguised as good and innocent, and the purpose of today's visit, flowed out.

"Yesung will continue to remain here even after His Highness the 3rd Prince becomes His Majesty the King, won't you?"

He believed in Yesung's naivety. That's why he thought that after a little hesitation, he would hear the answer that he would 'remain.'

However, no answer came back from the one lying on the large bed.

Only after a long time had passed did Yesung's low voice answer.

"I don't know."

"You don't know, what do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said. I'm not testing you, I really don't know. Yurik also said it would be good if I stayed here. At that time, I had that intention too. But now I don't know."

"Do you mean your mind has changed?"

"Probably."

"What's the reason? Is there something bothering you?"

"People."

Yesung's voice became mumbled and muffled.

"I heard what they think of me... I think it would be right for me to leave here."

He knew what people thought of Yesung? Dardin almost burst out laughing upon hearing his answer.

He hadn't realized that Yesung was such a naive person that he would say such weak words. Well, he should have known from when he insisted 'I don't want to kill innocent people' in the middle of the bloody royal castle.

Dardin mocked him while simultaneously pitying him, and consoled him as gently as possible.

"Yesung, such rumors aren't worth paying attention to. They're just sensational rumors spread by people furthest from the truth for their own interest."

"Even so—"

"Moreover, what if Yesung is a mad mage? Do you, who exist here in reality, think of yourself as such a person?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what's shameful about it? Showing yourself to those people who can't say anything in front of you? Is that shameful enough to abandon His Highness the 3rd Prince and us and leave?"

"I'm not abandoning you. I just... I didn't know I would be criticized to this extent."

"The more people there are, the more rumors there are. Among them, maybe only about ten percent of the rumors have any substance."

Dardin got up from his chair and sat on the edge of the bed where Yesung was lying.

"It might be hard to bear people cursing you as a mad mage. But so what? Yesung, you are emerging as the most important person in the royal castle right now. No, you've already become an important person."

"Me?"

"Isn't it natural? His Highness the 3rd Prince has no proper connections with the great nobles because he was traveling outside the royal castle. It's also a time when nobles who had been hostile to him are just turning around. The person such a person trusted, relied on, and followed was the mad mage—that's you."

Dardin could see Yesung's eyes widen slightly.

He was buried in his own actions, severely underestimating the impact he had on his surroundings.

To put it nicely, he was easy to use, and to put it badly, he was tiresome because he acted recklessly without knowing his ripple effects.

"The person who gains His Highness the 3rd Prince's unique trust. At the same time, the great mage who absolutely protects His Highness the 3rd Prince. The terrible one who returns alive even from death. Yesung, you must realize your own value."

"Even so, I wouldn't manipulate Yurik to interfere in national affairs."

"Of course. Because you're not that kind of person. Moreover, His Highness the 3rd Prince won't use you for such purposes either."

"Then why exactly should I remain here?"

"Because your very existence will be of great help to His Highness the 3rd Prince."

Yesung was an object of fear within the royal castle,

And Dardin had no intention of just discarding such a useful tool.

As he had originally demanded of Yesung, he was just utilizing all tools in the right places.

Wielding the being that symbolized fear, quoting his words to create another fear. The young king who newly ascended would become a wise ruler who had a mad mage as backing but wasn't swayed by him.

The darker the shadow, the brighter the light.

Creating such a picture was Dardin's role.

What he was loyal to was Yurik den Aquilonia.

And for his lord, Dardin could make even Yesung, who understood nothing, into a villain.

Dardin carefully placed a book and a bundle of documents he had been carrying close to Yesung.

On the documents placed on top of the red book's cover, words like 'resurrection' and 'longevity' were sporadically written.

"His Highness the 3rd Prince asked me to deliver this to you. What we found immediately was only one of your books that was in the Duke's study. And, I don't know if this will be of comfort, but this is the content of research discovered at Duke of Ophir's house. It appears that besides corpses dug up from cemeteries, several missing persons were also sacrificed for the research."

"......"

"If Duke of Ophir hadn't died that day, more people would have been kidnapped or disappeared without knowing why. It's a very personal impression, but I think it's fortunate that he died."

From Yesung's only blurred face, it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.

Dardin quietly left the bedroom, leaving behind Yesung lost in thought.

The gentle smile he had been wearing until just now had already disappeared. His steps toward the 3rd Prince's study with his coldly hardened face were particularly fast.

By any means necessary,

Dardin had to keep Yesung tied to this country.

* * *

Three days had passed since Dardin delivered the research content from Duke of Ophir's house and left.

Having even forcibly sent away Aphoom-Zhah, he stayed holed up alone in his room and continued thinking.

Duke of Ophir trying to kill him, Aphoom-Zhah reviving the Queen Dowager, and the blood-soaked cemetery at night all felt like events from long ago.

It might be better if he slept, but from some point on, he couldn't fall asleep.

He only watched with open eyes as the room repeatedly darkened and brightened.

Then at dawn, when the morning sky had just brightened,

Finally, when he had begun to grow sick and tired of even such behavior, he barely managed to get up.

His body, which had become stiff from lying in one position for too long, began to creak. It would be troublesome if he collapsed like this. Should he go out for a walk?

Just then, the report from Duke of Ophir's house placed beside his pillow caught his eye. Dardin hadn't returned since that day.

Holding the thick report, he fell into brief contemplation.

He thought, wasn't this important? Was it okay for him to keep it like this?

Seeing that Dardin didn't come to retrieve it, it might not be such an urgent document.

But that didn't mean he wanted to keep it in his room continuously. It felt somewhat defiling.

After hesitating, he eventually took the report and left his bedroom. Thinking he could just hand it over to Yurik appropriately, he went to his study, but

"Mage, His Highness the 3rd Prince has currently gone out. Is it an urgent matter? I'll send someone."

"Ah, it's not that. It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Only a servant remained in front of Yurik's study to inform him of his absence.

He thought, what was this about? The kid who was always working in his study until dawn.

Maybe he was busy because of the coronation. Well, since he had to plan the coronation ceremony himself, he would be very busy.

It seemed like he should return this report directly to Dardin himself.

Thinking this, he headed toward Dardin's bedroom, but.

-Knock knock.

"Dardin? Are you inside?"

"Ah, Mage. Baronet Hessen is currently away."

"Dardin too? Do you know where Dardin went by any chance?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know that much... Recently, he seemed to be frequently in the western guest study. Shall I send someone to check?"

"There's no need to go that far. I can go directly myself. You said the western study?"

It seemed everyone was busy except him.

Feeling slightly guilty, he trudged toward the west,

But after walking for a long time, no study was visible, and after only rooms of unknown purpose continued, he reached a dead end.

"West, you said west."

He looked around, but there was nothing.

There was no way the servant had lied to him.

Wasn't west to the left? No, wait. If he should have gone left, the servant would have just said 'you should go this way' from the beginning.

Was there a separate reason for specifically saying western study? Did he really have to consider actual cardinal directions? No, how could he know where west was among the cardinal directions here without even a compass!

All he knew was Dardin's bedroom, his room, Yurik's study, and personal library!

Having suddenly become lost in the 3rd Prince's palace and wandering around, his mind was very disturbed.

He had finally come outside only to lose his way. Moreover, maybe because this was a corner of the palace,

Strangely, no passing servants were visible, so he had to keep wandering the corridors.

When he was memorizing east-west-south-north east-west-south-north while checking the direction of the rising morning sun for the third time, he felt like he might cry a little.

He thought, he wasn't originally this kind of person!

After wandering like that for a long time, familiar corridor decorations finally began to appear.

Suppressing the urge to shout in celebration inappropriately, he walked along diligently tapping his aching legs.

"...Hey!"

It seemed like a voice was heard from somewhere.

But the sound quickly disappeared. Had he heard wrong? Or had he mistaken some other sound?

He stopped in place for a moment and pinpointed the direction the sound had come from.

It seemed to be right around here. Were there people nearby? He peered at the tightly closed doors and listened to sounds coming from inside by putting his ear to them one by one.

Not here. Ah, not here either.

Just as he was thinking he must have been mistaken and was about to give up.

-Crash!

"Over there!"

He immediately ran toward the sound of something breaking.

When he threw open one of the closed doors, what he saw was:

A wide-open window.

A vase that had fallen from a table.

Eva on the bed with her face turning blue as her neck was being strangled.

An unidentified human straddling her.

When his eyes met with the intruder's, he screamed without thinking of anything.

"Aphoom-Zhah!"

-Hiss!

The water that had been flowing down from the vase and wetting the floor turning into a sharp weapon was instantaneous.

Just before the intruder let go of Eva's neck and ran toward the window,

Blue icicles pinned both his shoulders to the wall.

While he ran to Eva, the intruder, who had become like an insect specimen, managed to stifle his voice and pulled out the icicles embedded in his shoulders.

The red icicles falling to the floor were eerie. Judging by the dagger that popped out from his hand and his glistening eyes, it seemed he had no intention of letting Eva and him live.

When he rushed at him, Eva's medical bag beside him happened to enter his vision.

He thought, Eva, he was really sorry. But this was the only way for both of them to survive.

The moment he grabbed the bag, the man leaped at him with a dagger aimed at him. Without blinking an eye, he swung the heavy bag toward the trajectory where he was falling.

-Thwack!

With a cheerful sound, the man's neck snapped.

Unbelievably, the heavy body flew as it was and crashed into a corner of the room. He was slightly startled by frames falling and ornaments shattering,

But when several footsteps began to be heard through the open door, his heart immediately relaxed.

"What is this commotion—"

The servants and maids who had rushed in froze for a moment.

But they were looking at him, not the intruder.

Why? Was it wrong for him to be here?

Not understanding the reason, as he was examining himself, he realized that something was dripping from the bag he was holding.

The thing that was falling in small circles on the floor.

Ah, so.

They were looking at a mage holding a medical bag covered in blood.

Damn it.