Chapter 226

Acquainted with King Laskar?

The only information I had about him came from a few lines in a novel I’d read long ago.

And after arriving in this world, all I had witnessed were the king’s atrocities.

He built prisons disguised as management facilities to torture and slaughter magical creatures.

He kidnapped a dragon and tortured him for his entire life, then murdered even his father through cowardly means.

To both me and Varen, King Laskar could only ever be a complete villain.

He was undoubtedly the sort of man whose sins couldn’t be washed away even by death.

“...W-What are you....”

And yet despite having judged him so completely in my head, the words refused to come out.

I couldn’t confess that, for one brief moment, I had mistaken King Laskar for Berry.

That I had worried about him.

Even while Varen glared at me with eyes demanding answers, I couldn’t produce a single excuse.

“Nngh....”

At that moment, a weak groan came from beneath the bed.

Despite Varen standing right in front of me, my gaze was dragged helplessly back toward Berius.

He was still curled beneath the bed.

Even though he had positioned himself to avoid the worst of the quake, the headache apparently hurt badly enough that he was clutching at his hair.

The sight made my heart plummet violently.

It was an absurd delusion, but if—

if by some impossible chance—

he truly was Berry reincarnated...

And if he truly suffered from the same illness Berry had...

“Your Majesty! Are you alright?!”

“Damn it, why won’t this open?! Your Majesty!! Answer us! Are you safe?!”

The voices of several men shattered my spiraling thoughts.

Startled, I turned my head toward the bedroom doors.

The tightly sealed doors were shaking violently from repeated impacts.

Apparently Morpha had locked them when we entered, because the royal guards rushing to protect the king couldn’t force them open.

At the voices calling for him, Berius slowly lifted his head.

Perhaps recognizing them as trusted guards, he forced out a strained response toward the door despite his ragged breathing.

“I... am alright... hah....”

Right then, the quake intensified again.

Even so, Berius gathered his courage and crawled out from beneath the bed.

He couldn’t even stand properly.

All he could manage was dragging himself across the floor on trembling limbs, desperately trying to reach the exit.

I could only watch silently.

I couldn’t help the king escape.

And I couldn’t stop him either.

At last, the boy reached the door and stretched a shaking hand toward it with all his remaining strength.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The bedroom doors rattled violently, loud enough to rival my heartbeat.

Before the king could open them himself, the lock suddenly shattered apart with a brutal crack.

A moment later, six royal guards burst into the room through the heavy doors.

Relief flashed briefly across Berius’s face at their arrival—

“Ugh....”

“Kgh....”

—and the instant they entered the bedroom, every single one of them collapsed.

Then the doors they had barely managed to open slammed shut again with a thunderous boom.

No one had touched them.

It was obviously magic.

And officially, there wasn’t supposed to be a single mage inside this room.

Realizing that immediately, Berius froze with his arm still outstretched.

His already pale face drained completely white.

“Hoo... shall we organize the situation first?”

After instantly dealing with the guards, Morpha casually flicked their hand toward the corner of the room.

The attendants huddled there trembling together collapsed unconscious one after another.

The king’s nurse screamed after witnessing the entire scene.

Even while clinging desperately to the violently shaking floor, she shouted toward Berius at the top of her lungs.

“Your Majesty! Run! You must run—!”

But she too lost consciousness with a single glance from Morpha.

Berius could only stare blankly at the collapsing nurse.

Still wearing the appearance of the king’s physician, Morpha crossed the center of the bedroom, long silver hair flowing behind them.

That physician had cared for Berius since birth.

And yet the moment Morpha approached, Berius—still crawling helplessly on the floor—began trembling violently all over.

“U-Ugh... hh....”

His jaw shook so hard his teeth clattered together.

The terrified sounds spilling from him barely resembled proper speech anymore.

Unable to flee as his nurse had told him to, he merely scooted backward little by little across the floor.

Morpha’s sharp gaze settled upon him.

Their utterly emotionless eyes were cold enough to make even the observer shudder.

And at that moment, I felt reason and instinct collide violently inside me.

My head insisted I must not stop Morpha.

But my chest screamed that I should run over there and protect Berius immediately.

Even though I hadn’t managed to say a single word to Varen—

even though an enraged voice was already rising in my throat—

“Enough. Don’t touch the king.”

At some point, Varen had stepped between them.

Morpha halted abruptly, brows knitting together at the unexpected interference.

A strange tension flowed between the two dragons.

The palace still shook violently around us.

People screamed in panic beyond the doors.

And yet the two of them maintained a silence so oppressive it raised goosebumps.

The one who finally broke it was Berius, still trembling behind Varen.

Even in a situation terrifying enough to drive him mad, he displayed judgment befitting a king.

“Y-You people... aren’t Lit...mus... after all....”

Outwardly, Morpha and Varen appeared to be a father and son with similar features.

But their speech and mannerisms revealed a clear hierarchy rather than familial affection.

After only a few exchanges, Berius had already seen through them.

Trembling violently, he continued backing away across the floor.

Despite his fragile appearance, his eyes held remarkable resolve.

“Who... sent you? Erbanon... perhaps. O-Or... Valentir?”

“.......”

“I-I’ve already given you everything... you wanted... so why....”

At the unfamiliar names, both dragons turned their eyes toward the king simultaneously.

As if there were no longer any reason to hide it, faint magic radiated openly from them now.

Simply facing a dragon’s gaze was overwhelming enough to crush most people.

Yet Berius bit down on his lip and refused to look away.

He was young.

But he possessed the dignity of a king.

“Neither Erbanon nor Valentir.”

Answering calmly, Varen approached Berius.

Then he bent down and stared directly into the king’s face.

Blue eyes as deep as the sea searched thoroughly through those impossibly clear brown eyes.

Forced to meet a dragon’s gaze from inches away, Berius began trembling so violently that I genuinely worried he might go into cardiac arrest.

“...As expected. It really is that human.”

Muttering to himself, Varen slowly raised a hand.

As his palm approached, Berius reflexively squeezed one eye shut and hunched his neck inward.

It was a perfectly natural reaction for a human facing someone terrifying.

And yet I sucked in a sharp breath, clapping a hand over my mouth.

“Ah....”

That exact habit.

Berry still used to do that even after dementia stole his memories.

Every time I reached over to pet his head, he would gently squint and tuck his neck in just like that.

I desperately tried convincing myself that I was merely overwhelmed by longing for Berry.

But no matter how much I tried denying it, I was finally forced to face the truth I had been avoiding.

Varen’s fingertip lightly touched Berius’s forehead.

With a small flick, he pushed the king backward.

Berius’s eyes rolled up instantly as he lost consciousness.

“B-Berry... Berry!”

Without realizing it, I cried out the familiar name and lunged forward reflexively.

Just before his body could hit the cold stone floor, I barely managed to catch him in my arms.

Everyone’s attention snapped toward me at once.

Some of the rebel members even began whispering suspiciously about my identity.

If I listened carefully, I could hear every word.

But none of it registered.

“He’s too... too thin....”

The body in my arms felt even worse than it had looked.

He was unbelievably light for an eighteen-year-old boy.

With trembling fingers, I brushed Berius’s cheek.

Even that slight contact sent a sharp electric sensation through me.

His soft cheek still held traces of baby fat.

The texture was completely different from the furry body I had hugged every day in my previous life.

And yet—

the moment I felt his warmth directly,

the moment I breathed in his scent up close—

I knew.

I had always believed I would recognize him instantly no matter what form he was reborn in.

King Laskar truly was Berry.

“...This is going to require an explanation.”

Morpha’s displeased voice drifted down from above me.

They sighed heavily and openly expressed their irritation.

Still unable to tear my eyes away from Berius’s face, I ground my teeth together.

It would have been impossible to explain a sensation I couldn’t even explain to myself.

Instead, Varen answered on my behalf.

“We’re changing the plan. We’re kidnapping King Laskar.”

The statement was utterly shocking coming from such a flat, emotionless voice.

I jerked my head upward in shock.

Even the rebel members silently observing the situation stared at Varen in disbelief.

Morpha, however, showed no visible reaction at all.

They simply looked at him as though inviting him to continue.

Varen shrugged lightly and went on without hesitation.

“The reason we came here was to investigate the magic cast on the king. But neither you nor I can identify it. So we’ll bring him to the Drunkard.”

“.......”

“And...”

Trailing off, Varen looked down at Berius.

Without thinking, I tightened my grip protectively around the thin body in my arms.

Normally, Varen would have lost his mind seeing me hold another man like this.

But he made no move to stop me.

Instead, he merely continued speaking to Morpha in a firm, decisive tone.

“These people kidnapped and tortured a Dravergh. So it’s only fair that Dravergh takes a human king in return, isn’t it?”