'What..."
Karina was shocked when she escaped the Cursed Forest and arrived at the Grand Duke's private residence.
'Why are there so many people?'
The main gate of the Grand Duke's house was always so solemn and quiet that not even an ant could approach. In front of it, a large number of people were waiting for their return.
"There you go!"
"The search party is back!"
When one person shouted, all eyes of those gathered gathered around the group.
"...!"
Karina closed her eyes tightly. She might not have noticed it normally. She was currently being held in Jeremiah's arms.
'If I had known this would happen, I would have walked here even if it meant forcing myself to do so!'
I let out a sigh of regret inside, but it was too late. The people gathered around rushed towards them.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince! Are you safe?"
Those who seemed to have come out of the palace took care of David. When she opened her eyes slightly, she saw other nobles who had gathered after hearing the news. They were probably the ones who had come because they were curious about the situation after hearing the news that a search party had come out of the Cursed Forest. The moment she felt their gazes, Karina closed her eyes again.
"Your Highness!"
The butler and the people of the Grand Duke's household were also waiting for them outside, anxiously. Jen was there, stamping her feet in worry for Karina.
"Your Highness, are you okay?"
"..."
But Karina couldn't answer the call, because she had just decided to pretend to faint.
"I think you've lost your mind!"
When there was no response despite calling several times, Jen urgently looked for the doctor. Jeremiah's expression also hardened.
"Doctor!"
Jeremiah shouted loudly as if telling them to come out immediately.
"Yes! Yes!"
Among the people, a person who looked like a doctor came running in a hurry. However, he was headed not to Karina but to David. Jeremiah's murderous voice stopped the doctor's steps as he was walking in the wrong direction.
"Where are you going? Shouldn't you be looking straight ahead?"
"Yes...? Hah... But I have to check on His Highness the Crown Prince's condition first..."
The doctor, who is from the capital, said so as if it were a given.
"My wife's examination comes first."
Jeremiah cut the doctor off firmly. The senator was sweating profusely and hesitating whether he should really do so, but it was impossible to disobey Jeremiah's menacing gaze. It seemed to be a threat that he would not let him off easy if he did not do as he said.
"Ah... yes."
The doctor quickly began examining Karina, feeling that if he delayed any longer, his lifeline would be cut off.
"Well done, Grand Duke. I think it would be right to look after the weak Grand Duchess before me."
Meanwhile, David came closer to them. Jeremiah spoke to David while the doctor examined Karina.
"His Highness the Crown Prince should go to the palace. There is an imperial doctor there, so you will receive better treatment than at the Grand Duke's residence."
Although he spoke nicely, he was told to get out of the palace because he had no intention of treating him. David naturally understood the meaning behind those words. But...
"I'm going to be staying at the Grand Duke's house today. I'm so tired that I can't possibly go back to the palace."
There was a faint smile on his lips as he said that he couldn't take even one step because it was too hard.
"..."
Jeremiah wanted to refuse, but the circumstances did not allow it.
"The search party is also very tired, so I think I need to ask you a favor. As the Crown Prince, I am making this request formally."
"..."
It was no different from using the imperial power to order things by force. Jeremiah openly showed his discomfort, but he told the butler to prepare a place for David and the search party to stay. However, David's request did not end there.
"I would like the room I am staying in to be not far from the Grand Duchess's room. It would be better for the doctor if the patients were in rooms close to each other."
"..."
"I think the room next door would be better."
Jeremiah's brow furrowed.
"There is no need for that. I will call a separate doctor to His Highness the Crown Prince."
It was a tone of speech that was beyond imagination. The Northern Knights, the Imperial Search Party, and even the people gathered there.
"..."
"..."
They were quietly watching the situation, which was filled with subtle tension as they listened to the conversation between the two. Their meaningful glances were busy going back and forth, but David and Jeremiah were so caught up in a fierce battle of wits that they didn't have the energy to pay attention to that. And Karina, who had her eyes closed and couldn't see their exchange of glances either.
'I don't need any of this, so just get me out of here quickly.'
Her mind was filled with only these thoughts.
***
Night had fallen. The cursed forest had been swept by the knights. A black crowd appeared around the herb garden and the shabby hut. They moved like goblins and scattered as if they were searching the hut and its surroundings.
"Hurry up. We have to erase all traces."
Surprisingly, they were black magicians, emitting a sinister aura. They were also the ones who secretly produced various herbs and drugs deep in the cursed forest.
"Don't leave even a trace. Remember. Not even a single blade of grass should remain."
The man who seemed to be their leader urged his men on.
"It was a place we worked so hard to build... It's such a shame to lose it so meaninglessly."
One of the men said sullenly.
"But there's nothing I can do about it. It's better than having a headache because evidence is discovered."
As he said that, the leader gritted his teeth with an indignant expression.
"Why did they find me?"
Grand Duke Jeremiah Colesberg and Crown Prince David Havelion. The subordinate trembled as he recalled Jeremiah cutting through the monster's body as if cutting paper.
"I knew that the Grand Duke of Colesberg was a great man, but I didn't know that he was this great."
Jeremiah's swordsmanship that swept away the monsters was truly overwhelming. Magicians originally thought that magic was the ultimate wisdom, and considered knights who used swordsmanship to be lowly. However, Jeremiah and his swordsmanship were something transcendent that far surpassed the boundaries of swords and magic.
"The Grand Duke of Colesburg is dangerous. It's not for nothing that my master warned me to be careful. But he's a beast of a man who guards his territory. As long as we don't touch his people first, we'll be safe. Rather, the problem now is..."
The leader looked around the hut and frowned.
"This is Crown Prince David Havelion."
"Yes?"
He tilted his head with an expression of incomprehension.
The leader shook his head.
"I heard that the Crown Prince is so oppressed by the Emperor that he cannot even pray properly."
"Don't judge a book by its cover. Isn't he the seed of that evil Emperor? Don't underestimate him just because he's young. He has a wicked and cunning side, just like the Emperor. In some ways, he's even more dangerous than the Grand Duke of Colesburg."
David's temperament and meticulous nature were sure to become a problem shortly.
"So, thoroughly remove all evidence."
The leader gave a rebuke as if giving a strong order.
"Don't worry. I've already roughly cleaned up the area around the herb garden."
"You can't just do it half-heartedly! Set it on fire. Disguise it as a forest fire and burn everything."
"If you light a fire, the demons will swarm you."
The cursed forest was a den of monsters. Even black magicians were cautious about setting foot in this place. There was no way to know what kind of monsters would appear if a fire was lit in this place.
"There's nothing we can do. We have no choice but to accept a certain amount of damage."
“Haaah.”
The subordinate who had said that it was a waste to waste the herb garden sighed deeply and muttered gruffly.
"If only we had secured the magic stones from the North, we wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble!"
"We should have brought the mine itself where the firestone was buried in the first place"
Another subordinate chimed in, agreeing.
"Isn't that why it turned out like that in the first place, because you entrusted the work to a worthless piece of shit?"
"It was said that the mine belonged to a family called Revals or Nevans."
The men continued their conversation among themselves.
"Stop! What's the use of talking about what's already happened? When I got there, there was nothing left."
The leader shouted at them to stop talking nonsense and get back to what they were doing.
"What should we do about the hut?"
"No difference. Burn them all."
The subordinates were surprised by the leader's decision.
"Yes? But there are valuable materials in the basement of the hut."
"That's right! At least that should be taken care of..."
Despite his subordinates' protests, the leader shook his head mercilessly.
"There's no time. It'll take a lot of time to recover, but just burn it all."
It was when he gave radical Instructions.
"Oh, my. Wouldn't it be a shame to burn something so precious?"
A shadow suddenly appeared behind the leader and spoke in a pitiful voice.
"Who are you!!"
The surprised leader quickly got into a fighting stance and looked out for the black shadow that appeared behind him. The moon that had been hidden by the clouds appeared again. The shadow that appeared in the cold moonlight had shining silver hair and blood-red eyes. Mikhail's face, smiling kindly, looked as beautiful as an angel descending from heaven.
"I said this because I felt like I was hearing a story I already knew."
Mikhail, whose smile had instantly disappeared from his face, added in a gloomy voice.
"That story just now. I need you to elaborate."
An hour ago. The knights, the search party, and the monsters that attacked Mikhail had been mercilessly attacking Mikhail at some point. Even the monsters that attacked the search party joined in and attacked him. To make matters worse, his movement magic wasn't working properly. Every time he tried to use movement magic, it was blocked as if he was being hindered by something.
'I can't help it...'
In the end, Mikhail had no choice but to face all those monsters alone. However, it wasn't easy for him to face all those monsters rushing in all at once. It was even harder when they were not just a few, but a whole bunch.
"These disgusting beasts!"
He thought he had dealt with it to the point of boredom, but it was never-ending. While he was wondering what to do, the elixir he had brought from the magic tower came to his mind.
'Ah! Since holy water is used in making elixirs, it would be a bad match for the monsters that emit polluted magic, right?'
Mikhail took out the elixir he had without hesitation and sprinkled it on the monsters. And as expected.
KEEEEEEEEEE!!!
The monsters that touched the elixir screamed and burned.
'It works.'
Only then did a smile appear on Mikhail's lips. In this way, Mikhail was able to deal with all the monsters. Immediately after, Mikhail went to the place where the last signal from the ring he had given to Karina was detected. However, there was already no one there.
'Is it too late...'
Mikhail gritted his teeth.
'Haa... Because of those monsters...!'
Mikhail's expression crumpled ominously. At that moment, a considerable number of people, rustling and trudging through the bushes, came into his sight.
'Hmm?'
They were wearing deep black robes and looked extremely suspicious at first glance. Mikhail could easily tell who they were from the black magical aura they exuded.
'Those are the warlocks. Why are they here?'
They were guys who hid and planned something all day long. He was sure that they were planning something strange again. Mikhail hid himself and followed them, watching them closely. And as he eavesdropped on their conversation, he realized. The North, magic stone, flame stone, Revals, mine...
'Could it be... that Revals brought children to mine magic stones and that it had something to do with these guys?'
Because of that incident, the orphanage children were kidnapped, and Karina took great risks and hid in the mine. If these guys had a hand in that...
'I can't just let it go. I have to tear it all down.'
Mikhail's eyes glowed coldly.
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