Chapter 131
Dragon Slayer (1)
Adelia wasn’t the only one worried about His Highness these days. His recent behavior had indeed been strange. The prince was constantly moving as if he had a disease that would kill him once he stood still. Yet, he had suddenly stopped all his work and shut himself in his palace.
He didn’t meet with anyone, and he didn’t talk with anyone. He just closed his eyes all day and meditated.
Adelia was concerned about his health, so she made sure to pick out all the foodstuffs that the prince liked and brought them to him at every meal, but he didn’t so much as put a morsel in his mouth.
Four days passed like that.
In the meantime, many people had visited the First Palace, all of them worried about the prince’s sudden lapse into inactivity.
However, the prince still devoted himself to his meditation without even taking note of their visits. Four more days passed.
Adelia visited the prince’s bed at dawn, as was her habit by now, yet this morning she stretched her eyes wide. The prince had closed his eyes and remained unmoving for nearly ten days, yet this morning he had stood from his seat for some reason.
“Your Highness!” Adelia ran to the prince with concern in her eyes as she started pouring out words. She told him that she worried a lot because he had skipped meals, sitting in his room all the time without making the slightest of movements.
The prince just quietly smiled as he heard Adelia talk.
His face was a bit emaciated, but his eyes shone clearer than ever before.
Adelia was relieved, yet her tears were sorrowful. The prince then asked for her help.
She helped him cleanse his face and then helped him get dressed.
Then the prince demanded that she bring him the armor that he used to wear.
Adelia bowed her head, went to fetch it, and helped the prince to put it on.
It had a base of leather, only being partially iron-plated. It was the armor of the northern knights which put mobility above protection.
The prince gave a satisfied laugh and praised Adelia for her hard work. She looked to the floor and then looked back at the prince. While wandering through the empire, the prince’s hair, which he could barely manage before, had grown a lot longer.
She searched through the drawers in the bedchamber and pulled out a comb and a leather strap, and then she arranged the shy prince’s hair with deft and skillful movements.
The prince praised her once more, saying that it felt better.
After being praised so repeatedly, Adelia smiled with a new, wide smile that she had never experienced before. It felt as if all the concern and annoyance that had made her heart sick for nearly ten days had disappeared.
The prince was now dressed in his uniform and armored. He went to stand before the two swords enshrined upon a table. After thinking for a while, he took up one of them.
The sword that the prince held was the royal sword rather than the sword that he always so enjoyed wielding. Adelia’s heart pounded as she saw him hold that sword.
It had been only a while since they had left the bloody empire’s territories, and they now stood within the royal palace, the best-defended place in a capital that was peaceful.
It seemed to Adelia as if the prince was about to head into a battle on his own.
Without knowing why she grabbed the prince’s sleeve. The prince would have usually laughed mischievously and asked her what she was doing. Now he silently ran his hand through her hair and then grasped the hand holding his sleeve, giving it strength. She felt so anxious then.
‘Shhk,’ the prince gently made Adelia release his sleeve.
He then handed Adelia a letter and said that if he was not back by sunset the next day, she had to hand the letter over to a certain old man.
While Adelia stared blankly at him, the prince opened the door and left the room. Moments later, she got up and followed after him, but he had already disappeared.
She asked the knights who guarded the palace if they knew where the prince was. They gave insignificant replies, saying that the prince had gone for a walk and told them that no one was to follow him.
Adelia grasped onto the letter in her hand.
She wanted to open the seal and read its contents at once, but the prince’s order had been absolute. She anxiously clutched onto it and waited for the prince’s return.
However, day turned into night, and His Highness did not come back.
* * *
Carls Ulrich knocked on the door of the bedchamber.
‘Dok dok dok.’
“Your Highness, it’s Carls.”
No matter how many times he knocked and spoke, no answer was heard.
“I’m coming in.”
Carls carefully opened the door. He saw no one lying on the neat bed.
I’ve come on the off chance that he is here, thought Carls.
The prince had gone for a walk the day before and had not returned overnight. The possibility was slim, but Carls still came to check whether the prince had returned to his chambers without the knowledge of the palace knights.
But the prince was not there, after all. The bed was empty.
“What?” Carls frowned as he studied the room. In one corner, by the bed, he saw a crouching shadow. It was a woman who hugged her knees with both hands, her head buried between her arms.
“Sir Adelia?”
She was the prince’s closest friend, Adelia
It seems that she had been crouching there all night, waiting for the prince’s return. Carls softly clucked his tongue. Then the thought came that she might know the prince’s whereabouts, so he quietly approached and asked, “Do you know where His Highness has gone?”
Adelia shook her head, still burying it between her knees.
“Huh, maybe he was bored. Do you know whether he took a horse?”
Carls was not greatly concerned over the prince’s absence. He knew that the prince was a self-sufficient man and would not be in much danger within the kingdom’s borders.
He’s been in the palace for nearly ten days, so he probably went to get some fresh air, Carls thought. If we wait, he will return.
But when the sun set after another day and the moon rose into the center of the night sky, the prince was yet to return. Carls began to worry.
“How far did he walk?”
Carls had meanwhile learned that the sword-elves had gone with the prince, so he wondered if something had come up.
“Well, let me go check again.”
The sun had long since set, and yet the prince’s bed remained Crouching in the same posture as the day before.
Carls sighed and made to leave the room when a deeply subdued voice caught his attention.
“Well, His Highness…”
Adelia had spoken. Carls turned around and saw that Adelia had lifted her head and was looking at him. Her face looked drawn out and tear-filled, and her nose was runny.
“H-He said that if he doesn’t come back after two days, then I had to give this letter to the Marquis of Bielefeld.”
Adelia fully awoke and pulled an envelope from under her arms, showing it to Carls.
Carls stiffened where he stood.
“What does that mean?” he asked with a frown, and Adelia started crying.
“His Highness seemed to be going out to fight someone.”
“Why are you only telling me now?!” Carls shouted as he heard this, unable to control his emotions.
After he had shouted so loudly, he looked at Adelia’s face and shut his mouth. He only then realized that he shouldn’t be shouting at this woman; she was extremely unstable.
“All right, Sir Adelia. Please follow me. We will go to His Majesty the King at once.”
Adelia stood, staggering, still clutching onto the letter left by the prince.
* * *
“Isn’t it possible that he left for Dotrin without giving word?” Siorin Kirgayen speculated. He and the rest of the delegation had been left behind as the prince and his knights rode through day and night. He was now pondering as to the whereabouts of the prince.
“I have already allowed the prince to go to Dotrin. There is no reason for him to leave so suddenly and silently,” the king said, dismissing Siorin’s theory.
“Isn’t he spending time in the entertainment districts of the capital after he had been gone for so long? I heard that he hasn’t shown that kind of behavior in recent years, but in the past, he often went there,” Siorin opined, but Maximilian shook his head.
“I have already sent people to check the entertainment houses in the city. No one said that they had seen him.”
“Huh. Then where did he go?”
Everyone looked to one side of the hall, and their gazes She stumbled back under their collective attention and then brought her hands to her chest, still clutching the envelope.
“She has the answer, but I can’t get it,” the king sighed. They had already tried many times, eager to read the letter. However, the obstinate woman refused even to obey the orders of the king, saying that the prince had instructed her to only hand the letter to the Marquis of Bielefeld.
The king had almost ordered his knights to take it from her by force but then decided against it as the marquis was on his way regardless, and the matter would soon be resolved.
However, because Bielefeld was running late today, the king was getting impatient. As he struggled to hold down his anxiety, he heard the voice of the palace knight guarding the door.
“The Marquis of Bielefeld has arrived.”
Everyone waiting for Bielefeld’s arrival stared at the door. The old man seemed hurried and somewhat disorganized, unlike usual. He strode in and bowed in front of the king.
“I rushed after receiving the order, but my carriage ran late, so I was delayed. I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Okay. Now get the letter.”
After his rushed explanation, the old man bowed his head at the king’s command and then reached his hand out toward Adelia.
“Give it to me.”
When Adelia met the gaze of the marquis, she handed him the letter.
The Marquis immediately removed its seal and then began reading its contents aloud.
“I leave this letter, for I am unsure of what the future holds. My hope is that the marquis will never read these words-“
Bielefeld stopped speaking after hastily reciting that first sentence. His face had become as hard as stone. Bielefeld’s eyes moved quickly as he scanned the contents of the letter. Finally, after having read it, he handed it to Carls. Carls stepped onto the dais and handed the letter to the king.
“What message was given to you when His Highness handed you this letter?” the marquis asked Adelia.
“His Highness was calm, but it seemed as if he had a great battle awaiting him.”
The marquis closed his eyes as he heard those words.
The king had meanwhile read the letter, and it was handed to Maximilian. The king’s face didn’t look much different than Bielefeld’s. Maximilian read the letter with a stern expression.
I leave this letter, for I am unsure of what the future holds. My hope is that the marquis will never read these words if circumstances allow it to be so. Still, this must be done before anything else.
… … …
I have gained the answer to this in my own way. I believe that if I give my best, it will work. But my dear marquis, you know all too well: Our plans in this world do not necessarily work out as we intend.
… … …
In the past, I used to care only about myself. Lately, I have begun to feel a sense of responsibility, in my own way, at least. I have to do a lot of work, so my dear marquis, I will now ask you to do something while I am away.
… … …
Maximilian had become anxious by the fact that his brother, who was always full of confidence, had written such a letter with failure in mind.
He had struggled to suppress his anxiety, so much so that he stopped reading for a moment. The main content was about where and what should be done and what contingencies the marquis had to be attentive to. A request was written to make the proper arrangements.
It was only then that Maximilian understood why the faces of his father and the marquis had become so grave.
It was as if Adrian had left a will, yet it was not truly a will.
I’ll return as soon as possible. No matter how late my return, I will be back, and then our work will start in earnest.
At the end of the letter, Adrian promised that he would make his return, and Maximilian believed it. His brother would definitely come back. Just like when he had appeared upon the defensive line on the Rhinethes with the northern reinforcements, Adrian would keep his promise again.
Carls Ulrich had checked the contents of the letter last and also stated that he believed the prince would make it back safely.
Still, the atmosphere in the hall was not pleasant.
“Sire!”
It was then that an urgent call came from outside the hall.
“Some of the knights who had gone out to search for His Highness have returned!”
“Let them enter!”
The knights who had halted before the open door now entered the hall and went to bow before the king’s dais.
“There were signs of a great fight. The scene is within two hours by horse from the capital!” one of them reported. As the king heard this, he stumbled back and sank onto his throne.
“The earth was scuffed and ripped asunder all over the place, and I swear by God that I have never seen anything of its like.”
On behalf of the king and the marquis, who both seemed drained and out of spirit, Siorin asked the nights to elaborate.
“It’s like… there was something huge,” the knight answered in a trembling voice.
“The sight of the place… It’s like a dragon has passed through there.”
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