- Episode 16
Dominic Legenon is a knight of the King. Dominic Legenon is a loyal knight. Dominic Legenon is a knight with much responsibility.
Dominic Legenon is a knight with much to accomplish.
Dominic Legenon is…
"I cannot go with you."
He was a human being. A human being who thought for himself, agonized, made decisions, and acted.
"However, there is a reliable knight."
Adelheid's eyes widened.
Dominic tightened his grip on the sword, closed his eyes for a long time, and then opened them again.
He remembered her from the first time he saw her. He remembered her staring at the door as if wondering when the King would come.
He remembered her, who used to ask about the world in the study.
He remembered her saying thank you for talking to her.
He remembered her rushing out with an anxious expression at the King's visit.
He remembered her sobbing in the study.
He remembered her making excuses. He remembered her saying she had never made excuses to anyone.
He remember.
Why did he remember all of this?
The beliefs, will, and values that sustained him were slowly chipped away.
By a world he did not know. Reason played the game.
However, the deep memories of life that he traced back were all things to which he had given up a corner of his heart.
He ended up becoming buried in those moments, those times, and those memories that he unknowingly gave away.
"I will have a knight accompany you. Assuming that all of that is true. However, you cannot trust them completely. The knight who accompanies you will help you, but she is also your guardian and executioner."
Countless people asked the Slayer of the Millennium.
How did I enter the Mountain of Time? How did I kill the dragon? How was there not a single sacrifice?
Dominic always began by saying, "It's nothing special."
Everyone who heard the story wore the same expression as he said.
'It's not really anything special.'
He was a hero of the times and a beneficiary of blessings.
He qualified and entered the Mountain of Time, and killed the sleeping dragon. That was all.
"I am worthy of entering the mountain. I... I will kill the dragon."
"Now."
"..."
" ...It is okay to open the door now."
Adelheid looked at Dominic with a blank expression for a moment, then laughed listlessly.
Then, opening the door, she took a step back.
Dominic entered the room, which reeked of blood, and saw the horrific scene.
Adelheid's dry voice rang out from behind.
"...The King is dead. Anton knows I stabbed him."
"..."
"Because the dead have no words."
Dominic had anticipated the King's death ever since Adelheid spoke of the blessing of Henburg.
Adelheid's plan was to make it appear that Dominic was the one who assassinated the King.
So she had no choice but to kill the King.
Because Anton knows who stabbed him.
A strong smell of blood wafted in. The bed sheets, splattered with blood, were unusually white. Anton was lying on the bed shirtless, his eyes wide open.
The dagger embedded between the collarbones had not yet been removed.
The blood vessels stuck to the skin had hardened.
Dominic was momentarily stunned and ran one hand over his face.
He felt the blood drain from his face. He had expected it, but witnessing the assassination scene in person left him feeling confused, as if he were lost.
Really, really, is it okay to send the one who killed the king out? Is it okay to help? Is it truly right?
Dominic hesitated and looked back at Adelheid.
Her face was as pale as a corpse, and the smile she always wore like skin was nowhere to be seen.
Adelheid's words didn't seem like a lie. They fit perfectly.
But what if, just what if, those words are false?
If he kills Adelheid, everything returns to normal, and the King comes back to life.
Their gazes crossed in the air. As if she saw hesitation in Dominic's eyes, Adelheid clamped her mouth shut, then trembled and spoke fiercely.
"That scar isn't from my dagger."
"..."
"...Anton would have killed me sooner or later anyway. He said he would kill me. He's always been like that...!"
"I will tie up all the maids."
Dominic strode over and pulled the dagger out from under Anton's neck.
"What happened here must not be known to the outside world. As Your Highness said, if I am truly the King's... of royal blood, I must prove it."
"Are you going to the temple?"
“Anything.”
No outsiders are allowed to enter Mont Palace except for the King and those he permits. It was such a palace from the very beginning.
If the King says not to interrupt his time with the concubine, he will be able to buy at least three or four days.
Anton was unruly and evil. If life were precious, no one would dare hasten the King.
"You will be leaving early tomorrow morning. I will assign a reliable knight, and as soon as the business here is resolved, I will leave."
Dominic paused.
As it was resolved, what could I do? Even if it were resolved optimistically, he could not go to the mountain of time, which was not exactly a short distance away. He had to hold his ground.
According to Adelheid's plan, Dominic will become the King's brother who murdered the King. He will become King.
The King...
"...If Your Highness’s deed fails, it will all be erased; if it succeeds, leave. Anywhere except Genomes. I... After all, I am a knight, and you have assassinated the King. Therefore, I will never help you again from now on."
Does Adelheid know? That he is denying most of the life he has lived.
The act of letting go of the lord's murderer who was loyal as a knight, claiming to be the lord's murderer oneself, and usurping the lord's position.
It is something he never even imagined. It is something he should never have dared to do.
It is beyond acceptable limits. It is an act that destroys all the beliefs and values he has built up until now.
However, for some reason, nothing seemed important. It had become ambiguous.
However, his gaze fell upon the drops of blood scattered across Adelheid's pale cheek. Dominic closed his eyes.
"Please pack only the bare minimum of necessary items."
***
The night passed as if nothing had happened. The dim light of dawn swayed across the ground.
Adelheid, with her hood pulled up, stood in front of the palace gate before the light came in, snapping off flower stems one by one.
Dominic stared blankly at the stem breaking between her fingers.
Adelheid occasionally raised her head to look at the sky over the wall.
The face, without any adornment, was a little pale.
When the time came, Dominic opened the palace gate.
Adelheid stared for a moment through the gap in the open door. Eventually, she walked out.
It was not the slow and elegant gait she usually walked.
It was a step without any hesitation, as if held captive by nothing.
Dominic visited the training camp of the Knights of Legenon.
It was dawn, still half dark. As usual, a knight was running around the training ground.
The tall woman was running when she saw Dominic and stopped abruptly.
"...Captain?"
Heather's face was flushed with half embarrassment and half joy.
Dominic left Adelheid standing and walked over to Heather.
"Wow, are you completely here?"
“Heather. I have a favor to ask. It might be an order. And it might be an order you shouldn’t follow.”
"...I will only follow the Captain's orders, whatever they may be. Give the command."
Heather's answer was exactly what he expected.
She was a commoner orphan who was taken in by Dominic, a young man who recognized her talent, and made her a knight.
To Heather, Dominic was a mentor, family, a hero, and a King.
To her, Dominic's orders are absolute. Perhaps even more so than the King's orders.
“You must escort her to the Mountain of Time. You go with her, Heather.”
"...It would be better not to ask, but I cannot help but ask. Who is that person?"
"She is the consort of the King who was granted Mont Palace."
A moment of silence followed.
Heather opened her mouth in astonishment and stammered a question.
"Why, why is he going to the Mountain of Time? Is it something the King permitted?"
"When you get back, many things will be different."
Adelheid, who had been watching their conversation from a few steps behind, suddenly approached them.
Heather looked at Adelheid with a face that still could not hide her surprise. The King's concubine, surrounded only by rumors. A beautiful woman who had never once left the palace since arriving in Genomes.
“I'm Adelheid. I cannot explain everything right now. But as Captain Legenon said, many things will change. Because they have to change.”
"But the mountain of time is the chosen one."
" I was chosen, and I have to go to the mountain of time. This is all I can tell you right now. Sir, I don't have time."
Heather looked back and forth between Adelheid and Dominic a few times.
Her sun-tanned face was stained with confusion. She blinked rapidly, let out a few sighs, and then slowly nodded her head.
"...Do you know how to ride a horse?"
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