Episode 007
“No way…”
“No clothes, fell in the water, and I’m cold… Cough, cough…”
The man turned his head away while holding Estelle in his right arm and let out a loud cough.
Then, placing his free hand on his forehead, he spoke in a fading voice.
“My head feels dizzy, I think I’ve caught a cold… cough, cough!”
“Daddy, are you really cold? Wait a sec. Estelle will give you her clothes.”
Wriggling in the man’s arms, Estelle took off her outerwear and draped it over his shoulders.
But Estelle’s clothes were far too small, and the man’s shoulders were far too broad. So it ended up looking like a coat hung on a hanger.
Noticing this himself, the man returned the clothing to Estelle’s shoulders.
“It’s okay. My daughter’s body is so warm that now I’m fine… cough, cough! Cough!”
“Mom! At this rate, Dad will really catch a cold!”
Estelle and the man looked at me with pitiful expressions.
Though they clearly didn’t resemble each other in appearance, their synchronized actions made them seem like a real father and daughter.
“Mom… If we leave him like this, Dad will catch a cold, suffer from a high fever, develop pneumonia, and then become a fool from too much fever…!”
“Cough, cough! Cough! Ahh, where am I, who am I…?”
Are these two actually a real father-daughter duo? A father-daughter con team?
“Mom, remember the teleportation scroll Estelle gave you earlier? If we use that, we can go home right away.”
“To do that, don’t we need to record our home’s coordinates into the teleportation scroll?”
How in the world did she know our house’s teleportation coordinates—coordinates even I don’t know—and how did she record them?
“Hehe, Estelle is smart, right?”
This went beyond just being smart.
As I sighed, holding my throbbing head, the man, who was gently patting Estelle’s head, suddenly changed his expression.
“…Something feels off.”
“What?”
“I don’t think we should stay here.”
His face was too serious for it to be just an act.
“What do you mean something feels off…?”
“Ah, Dad! Dad! This! The teleportation scroll!”
Estelle rummaged through her bunny bag, shoved a scroll into the man’s hand, and jumped down from his arms.
Then she gathered torn scrolls and empty potion bottles, stuffed them into her bag, and threw the cut leather clothes into the lake.
“Let’s go home, Daddy!”
Estelle grabbed my hand with one hand and the man’s hand with the other.
At the same time, the man bit the end of the scroll he held in one hand and skillfully tore it.
Then, our vision instantly went dark.
***
Moments later, four masked men ran to the now-empty lakeside.
Smelling traces of blood, they began thoroughly searching the area.
Soon, they discovered torn scroll pieces and scraps of clothes that had fallen from the man’s hands.
“They were here just moments ago.”
“Analyze the scroll pieces to determine what magic was used.”
While the subordinates analyzed the scroll pieces and continued the search, the leader of the group scanned the area with sharp eyes.
‘Judging from the red water surface, he definitely drifted here…’
His assessment was accurate.
If he and his men had arrived just a bit earlier, or if Estelle and Luna hadn’t come, he could have finished off the man who was barely hanging on to life.
But Luna and Estelle saved him and left the place.
Unaware of this, the assassins continued searching for the man’s traces.
“There they are!”
“Damn it! Get them!”
They encountered two subordinates who had also been tracking the man’s trail and engaged in combat.
The peaceful scenery with swaying reeds clashed with the piercing clinks of metal, screams, groans, and the scent of blood, all drifting like fog.
Soon after, the ones lying dead were the assassins.
The two men, severely wounded but alive, gasped for breath and shared their last potion as they looked around.
<Where is His Highness the Prince?>
<Let’s search. Since these guys are here, His Highness must be nearby.>
The two men desperately searched the lakeside for their lord.
<This leather piece—It’s definitely part of His Highness’s clothes.>
The large man with bronzed skin handed over the piece of leather, and the slimmer man took it.
<It looks like it was cut with scissors or a sword…>
They had no way of guessing that the leather was cut using tailor scissors from Luna’s sewing kit.
So their reasonable assumption was—
<These bastards must’ve left traces to make it seem like His Highness died here!>
<Then His Highness… is alive?>
<Of course! There’s no way he’s dead. He must be nearby.>
But despite their continued search, they could not find the prince.
Clinging to hope until the end, the two checked the assassins’ bodies.
<Scroll fragments?>
<Wait a moment. I’ll analyze them.>
The assassins had no time to analyze the scrolls, but these men did.
Thanks to that, they confirmed the magic in the scroll was teleportation.
<Could it be these guys’ goal was to kidnap His Highness?>
<But they tried to kill him.>He was right. It couldn’t have been a kidnapping if the traitor they hired stabbed the prince precisely in the left chest. At that moment, the prince’s survival was already uncertain.
Moreover, the two already had a hunch about who was behind the assassination.
Their plot would only be complete if the prince died. They would never let him live.
If the assassins had truly taken the prince away, it was most likely to hide the body and cover up the incident.
So probably, the prince was already…
<Did His Highness… anticipate that he would be murdered here…?>
The red-haired man clutched his chest in despair.
Inside was a will. A few days ago, when they entered the country, the prince entrusted it to him.
<…Torkan. I’m going back to Baltar.>
<What?>
<I’ll report to His Majesty what happened to His Highness.>
The red-haired man, Kuyon, touched his chest with a bitter expression.
The black-haired man, Torkan, looked at him in disbelief and grabbed him by the collar with a large hand.
<His Highness isn’t dead yet!>
<You think so. I’ll think this way.>
At his comrade’s cold words, Torkan’s face turned red with anger.
<Kuyon, have you forgotten His Highness’s grace?>
<Damn it, you think I want to do this?>
Kuyon shouted as he harshly pushed away the hand gripping his collar.
<These bastards used the entire knights’ order to assassinate His Highness. Nobles from both countries colluded to kill a prince. Do you understand how serious this is? Do you!?>
The king of Baltar cherished his only brother. Thanks to that, the prince had survived numerous assassination attempts.
If the king learned that nobles from his own country conspired with those of a neighboring nation to kill his brother—what would happen?
There would be a bloody purge for revenge. Maybe even war.
If the mastermind calculated this far, they would pin the blame for the assassination on another noble and quietly step back.
‘Then stealing His Highness’s body makes sense.’
Otherwise, they might dispose of the body to make him disappear forever.
Either way, as loyal retainers, they couldn’t let that happen.
<I’m going back to tell His Majesty exactly how His Highness died.>
“…”
Torkan lowered his head, seeming to accept Kuyon’s decision.
He still couldn’t believe their lord had died.
But the king had to know what happened in this foreign land.
<I will… stay here and find His Highness.>
