Bellona looked at Deborah, who trailed off as she looked at her dark green hair.
Deborah's sky-blue eyes were demanding an explanation from her.
“This is my real self, Deborah.”
"Yes...?"
Bellona asked, feeling annoyed for some reason at Deborah's dumbfounded question as if she still didn't understand the situation.
“More importantly, why did you come here?”
“Ah. That’s..."
Only then did Deborah remember why she had come there and looked around.
Bellona turned around at Deborah's attitude, which seemed to be a secret.
"Say it."
Deborah, who had been hesitating for a while in the place where only Carsis, Isaac, and Bellona remained, opened her lips.
“I had a dream, I had a dream.”
"Dream?"
Bellona's eyes sparkled with interest at the word dream.
The prophecy of the Oroz family is revealed through dreams.
Unlike other clan powers, this one would appear out of nowhere, regardless of the will of the manifester.
No one could have predicted when and through what dreams they would receive prophecies about the future.
Moreover, if you have a prophetic dream, you must tell it truthfully to someone who is of Clepius' blood.
That was also a limitation on the power of the Oroz family.
Unlike before, a deep smile formed on Bellona's lips.
Then she asked in the same gentle voice as before.
“So, what did you see in your dream?”
Deborah hesitated for a while before looking at Carsis, who was next to her, instead of Bellona.
“The future I saw in my dream...”
And everyone held their breath at Deborah's next words.
Except for one person, Bellona.
Ernest looked at Paulo, who was walking ahead, with a suspicious eye.
It was as if the Duke had known he would come here, and his attitude was very uncomfortable.
< Please follow me for now. I will guide you to the shortcut to the spirit world.>
The only fortunate thing was that the path Paulo guided them through was not a rough mountain path.
'I didn't know there was a road like this.'
After passing through the cave that Paulo had guided them through, they arrived at Gertz in no time, and soon, the village came into view.
Only then did Ernest let out a sigh of relief and slump his shoulders.
It took a long time to cross the village like that.
Cullen approached Ernest, who was looking around.
“Your Highness. But strangely, I don’t see a single villager.”
“...”
Ernest's eyebrows twitched as he looked around at Cullen's words.
From the beginning, he knew that there weren't many people living here due to Duke Gertz's eccentric personality.
The current state of the village is definitely.
'It seems like the person has evaporated.'
Judging from the fact that there were still traces of people living in the empty houses here and there, it seemed that they had not left the territory.
It felt like he left the house to go out for a while.
It was at that time that Ernest was lost in thought, trying to find the cause of his strange feeling.
Someone tugged at Ernest's clothes.
“Oh my, how dare you pull on His Highness the Crown Prince’s clothes.”
Cullen scolded the child who suddenly appeared, but the Prince smiled and said it was okay.
“It’s okay. What’s wrong, kid?”
"This..."
The boy, who was taken aback by Cullen's unexpected shouting, hesitantly handed Ernest a purple flower.
“I, I wanted to tell you this...”
The flower that appeared to have been picked from the forest was a trumpet flower that blooms in summer.
“Thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince, I was able to arrive safely... I was so grateful that I wanted to give you a gift.”
The child, whose cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment, could not even meet Ernest's eyes.
It seems that he thought his gift was too shabby to be given to the Crown Prince.
But contrary to the child's worries, a faint smile appeared on Ernest's face as he accepted the flowers.
Ernest, who had been staring intently at the child who was curled up and holding a flower, bent one knee to get eye level with the child.
“It’s pretty. Thank you so much.”
Then he patted the child's head.
The child, who had only just begun to smile brightly at his affectionate reaction, asked in a loud voice.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince will always protect us?”
In the clear eyes of the child, there was unconditional trust and faith in Ernest.
A part of his heart ached at the sight of such a bright child.
“...Yes. I will protect you no matter what happens.”
So he promised.
As the child said, he will always protect them.
At Ernest's answer, the child smiled brightly and ran into his mother's arms as if he was very happy about something.
Ernest, who was looking at the sight with pleasure, rolled the morning glory the child had handed him in his hand.
The child who gave him this flower wasn't the only one who believed in him at the moment.
There were countless people here who believed only in him.
Let's not be weak.
Let's not break down.
Don't disappoint the expectations of those who only look at you.
Ernest regained his senses, which had been weakened for a while.
Now was the time to look forward.
He will no longer look back on the past with regret and anger.
So he focused his heart on a single wildflower that the child had handed him.
The night the Crown Prince and his entourage arrived in Gertz.
Ernest sat on the bed and looked around to relieve his long-term fatigue.
From ceiling paintings that are only found in powerful families to antique-looking furniture.
It was a room decorated extravagantly, as befitting a Duke's residence.
How long has it been since he last stayed in a room like this?
A bitter smile came to his face at the fact that things he took for granted in the past are now difficult to enjoy.
“You can just turn it back.”
After reorganizing here, it was a matter of starting over again.
It was at that moment that Ernest, who had been constantly repeating to himself like that, was about to turn off the light and go to sleep.
There was a knock on the door, followed by Paulo's voice.
“Your Highness. May I come in for a moment?”
What could be happening at this late hour?
As he allowed the visit with some skepticism, Paulo appeared.
“What’s going on at this hour?”
“There is a place I need you to go with me now.”
“At this time?”
"Yes."
It was already late, close to midnight.
Although he felt a strange sense of unease, Ernest could not refuse Paulo's request to take in not only himself but also other refugees.
"I get it."
Ernest woke up from his slumber and followed Paulo for a while.
The place they arrived at was a huge warehouse located in a remote area of the castle.
“Here...”
“This is my lab.”
"Laboratory...?"
Ernest heard rumors that Duke Paulo is an eccentric. He spends all day in the laboratory doing ridiculous experiments.
That would be the case since it was related to the power of the Philosykos family.
Ernest followed him, trying hard to suppress his inexplicable anxiety.
And the moment Paulo opened the laboratory door, a disgusting smell hit his nose.
'What the heck is that smell?'
He hurriedly covered his nose and mouth with his hands and held his breath.
It was a horrible smell like he had never smelled before.
But Paulo went inside without hesitation as if the smell had nothing to do with him.
“Now, look over there, Your Highness.”
Then, as if to show off to Ernest, he pointed somewhere with his finger.
“What the heck is that...”
There was something strange wriggling where Paulo's fingertips were pointing.
“The people of the territory were short on sacrifices, but thanks to the sacrifices Your Highness brought, we were finally able to succeed.”
“...What? A sacrifice? I’ve never brought anything like a sacrifice...”
Ernest was about to ask, “What are you talking about?” when his words suddenly stopped.
At the same time, he thought about the power of Duke Philosykos.
'The power of wisdom and dexterity.'
His power was the alchemy of raising even the dead.
'No way.'
“Paulo, that sacrifice is...”
“Isn’t this a glorious and valuable sacrifice for His Majesty the Emperor?”
Thud.
At his words, Ernest's heart plummeted to the floor.
Ah, why are ominous feelings never wrong?
He repeated to himself that it was not so, that it was all his own mistake.
But as if ignoring his denial, the thing that had been shaking in front of his eyes gradually began to take the shape of a human being.
Deborah's sky-blue eyes were demanding an explanation from her.
“This is my real self, Deborah.”
"Yes...?"
Bellona asked, feeling annoyed for some reason at Deborah's dumbfounded question as if she still didn't understand the situation.
“More importantly, why did you come here?”
“Ah. That’s..."
Only then did Deborah remember why she had come there and looked around.
Bellona turned around at Deborah's attitude, which seemed to be a secret.
"Say it."
Deborah, who had been hesitating for a while in the place where only Carsis, Isaac, and Bellona remained, opened her lips.
“I had a dream, I had a dream.”
"Dream?"
Bellona's eyes sparkled with interest at the word dream.
The prophecy of the Oroz family is revealed through dreams.
Unlike other clan powers, this one would appear out of nowhere, regardless of the will of the manifester.
No one could have predicted when and through what dreams they would receive prophecies about the future.
Moreover, if you have a prophetic dream, you must tell it truthfully to someone who is of Clepius' blood.
That was also a limitation on the power of the Oroz family.
Unlike before, a deep smile formed on Bellona's lips.
Then she asked in the same gentle voice as before.
“So, what did you see in your dream?”
Deborah hesitated for a while before looking at Carsis, who was next to her, instead of Bellona.
“The future I saw in my dream...”
And everyone held their breath at Deborah's next words.
Except for one person, Bellona.
***
Ernest looked at Paulo, who was walking ahead, with a suspicious eye.
It was as if the Duke had known he would come here, and his attitude was very uncomfortable.
< Please follow me for now. I will guide you to the shortcut to the spirit world.>
The only fortunate thing was that the path Paulo guided them through was not a rough mountain path.
'I didn't know there was a road like this.'
After passing through the cave that Paulo had guided them through, they arrived at Gertz in no time, and soon, the village came into view.
Only then did Ernest let out a sigh of relief and slump his shoulders.
It took a long time to cross the village like that.
Cullen approached Ernest, who was looking around.
“Your Highness. But strangely, I don’t see a single villager.”
“...”
Ernest's eyebrows twitched as he looked around at Cullen's words.
From the beginning, he knew that there weren't many people living here due to Duke Gertz's eccentric personality.
The current state of the village is definitely.
'It seems like the person has evaporated.'
Judging from the fact that there were still traces of people living in the empty houses here and there, it seemed that they had not left the territory.
It felt like he left the house to go out for a while.
It was at that time that Ernest was lost in thought, trying to find the cause of his strange feeling.
Someone tugged at Ernest's clothes.
“Oh my, how dare you pull on His Highness the Crown Prince’s clothes.”
Cullen scolded the child who suddenly appeared, but the Prince smiled and said it was okay.
“It’s okay. What’s wrong, kid?”
"This..."
The boy, who was taken aback by Cullen's unexpected shouting, hesitantly handed Ernest a purple flower.
“I, I wanted to tell you this...”
The flower that appeared to have been picked from the forest was a trumpet flower that blooms in summer.
“Thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince, I was able to arrive safely... I was so grateful that I wanted to give you a gift.”
The child, whose cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment, could not even meet Ernest's eyes.
It seems that he thought his gift was too shabby to be given to the Crown Prince.
But contrary to the child's worries, a faint smile appeared on Ernest's face as he accepted the flowers.
Ernest, who had been staring intently at the child who was curled up and holding a flower, bent one knee to get eye level with the child.
“It’s pretty. Thank you so much.”
Then he patted the child's head.
The child, who had only just begun to smile brightly at his affectionate reaction, asked in a loud voice.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince will always protect us?”
In the clear eyes of the child, there was unconditional trust and faith in Ernest.
A part of his heart ached at the sight of such a bright child.
“...Yes. I will protect you no matter what happens.”
So he promised.
As the child said, he will always protect them.
At Ernest's answer, the child smiled brightly and ran into his mother's arms as if he was very happy about something.
Ernest, who was looking at the sight with pleasure, rolled the morning glory the child had handed him in his hand.
The child who gave him this flower wasn't the only one who believed in him at the moment.
There were countless people here who believed only in him.
Let's not be weak.
Let's not break down.
Don't disappoint the expectations of those who only look at you.
Ernest regained his senses, which had been weakened for a while.
Now was the time to look forward.
He will no longer look back on the past with regret and anger.
So he focused his heart on a single wildflower that the child had handed him.
***
The night the Crown Prince and his entourage arrived in Gertz.
Ernest sat on the bed and looked around to relieve his long-term fatigue.
From ceiling paintings that are only found in powerful families to antique-looking furniture.
It was a room decorated extravagantly, as befitting a Duke's residence.
How long has it been since he last stayed in a room like this?
A bitter smile came to his face at the fact that things he took for granted in the past are now difficult to enjoy.
“You can just turn it back.”
After reorganizing here, it was a matter of starting over again.
It was at that moment that Ernest, who had been constantly repeating to himself like that, was about to turn off the light and go to sleep.
There was a knock on the door, followed by Paulo's voice.
“Your Highness. May I come in for a moment?”
What could be happening at this late hour?
As he allowed the visit with some skepticism, Paulo appeared.
“What’s going on at this hour?”
“There is a place I need you to go with me now.”
“At this time?”
"Yes."
It was already late, close to midnight.
Although he felt a strange sense of unease, Ernest could not refuse Paulo's request to take in not only himself but also other refugees.
"I get it."
Ernest woke up from his slumber and followed Paulo for a while.
The place they arrived at was a huge warehouse located in a remote area of the castle.
“Here...”
“This is my lab.”
"Laboratory...?"
Ernest heard rumors that Duke Paulo is an eccentric. He spends all day in the laboratory doing ridiculous experiments.
That would be the case since it was related to the power of the Philosykos family.
Ernest followed him, trying hard to suppress his inexplicable anxiety.
And the moment Paulo opened the laboratory door, a disgusting smell hit his nose.
'What the heck is that smell?'
He hurriedly covered his nose and mouth with his hands and held his breath.
It was a horrible smell like he had never smelled before.
But Paulo went inside without hesitation as if the smell had nothing to do with him.
“Now, look over there, Your Highness.”
Then, as if to show off to Ernest, he pointed somewhere with his finger.
“What the heck is that...”
There was something strange wriggling where Paulo's fingertips were pointing.
“The people of the territory were short on sacrifices, but thanks to the sacrifices Your Highness brought, we were finally able to succeed.”
“...What? A sacrifice? I’ve never brought anything like a sacrifice...”
Ernest was about to ask, “What are you talking about?” when his words suddenly stopped.
At the same time, he thought about the power of Duke Philosykos.
'The power of wisdom and dexterity.'
His power was the alchemy of raising even the dead.
'No way.'
“Paulo, that sacrifice is...”
“Isn’t this a glorious and valuable sacrifice for His Majesty the Emperor?”
Thud.
At his words, Ernest's heart plummeted to the floor.
Ah, why are ominous feelings never wrong?
He repeated to himself that it was not so, that it was all his own mistake.
But as if ignoring his denial, the thing that had been shaking in front of his eyes gradually began to take the shape of a human being.
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