Episode 35
[The Great(?) Escape from the Kingdom]
Illa Abe Aint.
Like the sea she was born beside, she ascended to the throne of the Aint Kingdom at a young age and had ruled as a wise and just sovereign for over twenty years. Born of an island nation, she was the one who had turned Aint into one of the continent’s leading maritime powers.
With its abundant marine resources and open sea routes in all directions, Aint thrived in trade. The kingdom promoted the image that its ships would not break even if they struck a reef, which boosted its shipbuilding industry (though in truth, they would break if they hit one).
Above all, Aint’s navigation skills were so advanced that not only did other kingdoms send their sailors for training, but even imperial fleet commanders would come to learn from them.
With such pride, she was unafraid to speak her mind even before the Emperor of the Empire — yet at this very moment, as Illa activated the communication sphere, her palms were slick with nervous sweat.
“It’s been a long time, Sir Metailor.”
— Yes, it has, Lady Abe. Now that you’ve returned, should I address you as Your Majesty again?
The round orb lit up with the face of a red-haired man she could never forget.
Ron Metailor — also known as the “Red-Haired Devil.”
The continent might now be enjoying peace, but barely ten years ago it had been one vast battlefield. The cause was the ambition of Emperor Kashian, who sought continental unification. Because of this, the Aint Kingdom and the Duchy of Sium, which shared borders with the Empire, were the first to be invaded.
At the time, Sium was still a kingdom. But after the war with the Empire, it was forced to surrender, stripped of its royal status, and demoted to a duchy — retaining only self-governing rights. It had been the kind of war that could topple an entire nation.
Aint had also fought fiercely against the imperial army. Fortunately, since its territory was separated by sea, it could use maritime routes to evade direct confrontation, buying itself time.
Back then, Illa herself, as both queen and supreme commander, had taken part in the war. She was confident. Even if they could not win, they could at least endure. At sea, she believed, the Empire could never defeat the maritime kingdom.
That illusion was shattered the moment she met the devil standing before her.
“You’re calling about the Second Prince, I presume?”
— You’ve already figured out who he is? I didn’t expect you to be so quick…
The devil she saw for the first time in ten years was dressed neatly, almost unrecognizable from the blood-drenched berserker she remembered from the battlefield.
She couldn’t help but think: Was he always like this?
“So, what do you want?”
— Ah, my request is simple. Please send back Ail.
“Was that the Second Prince’s name?”
— Oh, right. Please send back the Second Prince as well.
Oh, right? Did he just forget the Second Prince existed? No way… surely this was part of some elaborate scheme. After all, this was the Ron Metailor.
For a moment she almost let her surprise show, but quickly smoothed over her expression. It had to be a ploy — a deliberate attempt to appear careless and lure her into lowering her guard.
“Even if I put them on a ship, neither of them knows how to sail. What do you suggest?”
— Then just assign them a navigator, of course.
“No navigator wants to go to the Empire. As you know, our relations aren’t exactly warm.”
— Ah, in that case… Hold on. Shen! They say there’s no navigator willing to come. Should we just prepare for a warp instead?
— Captain! I told you not to talk to me during a call! It makes us look bad!
“….”
What the hell are they doing?
Illa frowned at the farcical exchange she was witnessing through the communication sphere.
This really is the Red-Haired Devil, right? Not just someone who looks like him? The same wild madman from the battlefield? Why… why does he look so ridiculous now?
The disconnect between her memory and reality was disorienting.
This must be another act meant to make me drop my guard.
Even if the act was sloppy, it was harder to believe this was his true self — so she decided to treat it as a performance.
Parcel had thrown in a lot of unnecessary details, but to summarize:
Ten years ago, after the continental war ended, Aint’s king traveled to the Empire with his son. Parcel didn’t know exactly why — probably to sign some kind of peace treaty. Since he was in the capital anyway, the king decided to take a little sightseeing tour with his son.
But somewhere along the way, he realized he had let go of his son’s hand.
I found it strange — wouldn’t the king and prince have guards with them? Even if it was an informal outing, there should have been at least a dozen unseen escorts.
Parcel just shrugged and said he didn’t know about that, but added, “Her Majesty is an incredibly skilled knight. If she set her mind to leaving the palace unnoticed, even imperial guards wouldn’t be able to detect her.”
And so, after losing the precious prince, the Queen of Aint scoured the Empire with her entourage — but never found even a trace of him. Worse, she incurred the Emperor’s suspicion and was practically driven back to Aint.
Afterward, she repeatedly asked the Empire for help in finding her son, but was rejected every time.
“That’s odd. Why reject such a good opportunity? With the war over and trade routes open, if the Empire helped find the prince, they’d have Aint in their debt — and could use that to their advantage.”
“Hmm, you’re quite calculating, Ail.”
“I can’t help it. Relations between nations have to be calculated — otherwise the citizens suffer. The wiser the ruler, the more calcul— Wait, sorry, Mishi. Did I just lecture you?”
Seeing Mishi’s bright, jewel-like eyes staring up at me, I immediately apologized. I’d just been talking about cold calculations to someone so precious.
Mishi only smiled gently and said, “Ail is smart as always,” but I still worried that I might have hurt her feelings. Only after she reassured me a hundred times did I manage to return to the topic.
The first question I had after hearing Parcel’s story was why the Empire refused. If they couldn’t find the prince, they could at least pretend to try — Aint would thank them profusely and pay a generous reward. It was a perfect situation to exploit. Rejecting it outright was a foolish move unless there was a clear reason.
Maybe the Empire was behind the kidnapping.
But if someone in the Empire had taken the prince, there would have been ransom demands or other conditions. Since ten years had passed without any sign of him, that explanation didn’t fit.
As I handed Mishi the last piece of fruit, I asked Parcel:
“Then is the current border conflict related to this?”
“It’s not really about territory, so calling it a ‘territorial war’ is a bit off… but yes. Her Majesty sent people to search for the prince, but the Empire kept accusing them of being spies and killed them. So she started sending knights who could protect themselves.”
“And then the Empire saw armed knights crossing the border and overreacted.”
Parcel nodded vigorously — that was exactly it.
Now that I knew the circumstances, I understood why the Queen of Aint had detained us. She likely planned to demand a search for her son in exchange for releasing the Second Prince. For the sake of the imperial family’s reputation, the Emperor or Crown Prince would have to agree.
She might have even guessed at Mishi’s relationship with the Second Prince upon seeing them together — after all, she recognized Ron’s status just from hearing Mishi call him “Sir Ron.”
Either way, Mishi’s safety wasn’t in danger. As long as the two royal families came to an agreement, she would return safely to the Empire.
The problem was me. Hopefully they’d let me tag along as a “buy one, get one free” situation.
Trying to calm my anxiety, I hoped that when Ron said “my people,” I was included in that group. If so, he’d come for me no matter what.
After ending the call, Ron went straight to the Crown Prince’s office in the main palace. Rozen, just about to begin his day, clenched his fists when he heard the captain of the knights had shown up at dawn, demanding to see him.
This insufferable knight…
A vein pulsed on Rozen’s forehead as his golden eyes glared across at Ron.
“If this isn’t urgent, I don’t care if you’re a knight commander — I won’t let it slide…”
“Do you know the story of how the Queen of Aint lost her son?”
“…”
Rozen had been ready to scold him for interrupting, but the moment he processed Ron’s words, his thoughts shifted. The mention of Aint commanded his full attention — after all, there was only one reason Ron would bring it up now.
After thinking it over, Rozen nodded.
“Yes. Ten years ago, they lost the prince here in the Empire. But why bring that up? Does it have something to do with your communication with Aint this morning?”
Rozen already knew Ron had gone to the communications office as soon as the palace gates opened — a serious diplomatic act not taken lightly.
Ron’s eyes lit up.
“Yes. If we help her find her son, she’ll release the Second Prince and Ail.”
“But how are we supposed to find someone who’s been missing for ten years? She wouldn’t be asking if she could find him herself.”
“It’s just… it seems she never even started searching.”
“What do you mean?”
Ron then relayed every word the Queen of Aint had told him, without leaving out a single detail.
