DZN Ch 3
by mimiErhi readily acknowledged this time. Given their hostile relationship, Ruan’s prediction wasn’t far off.8828d73117fe339f
“Just try to endure it, Hound. If you quit, it’ll be a complete mess.”5d079fad2c0c96e5
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“I should resign quickly then.”8a2944bcf2de1670
“Ruan…”1f95f52eac29bf64
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As Erhi 353de546b2 pleaded with 8bad86d47e Ruan, footsteps 19c4befc05 echoed from 690ccd5350 the top c933192409 of the ce5b9cc575 stairs. Ruan immediately straightened 52b0f73f67 his posture, and d9777161bf Erhi, standing beside 9eb4653455 him, whistled and 430bbeda45 followed suit.d16700abe3d72c3c
“That was fast. As expected of the Crown Prince’s exclusive tamer.”72e4eb33278a5e76
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“Tamer, my ass. He’s coming out because he has nowhere else to run.”93d3851ed0b21bba
“Just finding His Highness is an achievement in itself. As expected of the ‘Crown Prince’s Personal Hound.'”6b5e9661d1035d5e
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Ruan expressed 20beab6d57 annoyance at dc4769578d the unwelcome a20e6b5839 nickname.931d9e540f796f61
“Can’t you retire this worn-out hound?”e92cc08399cd09af
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“No. Can’t do that. It’s a lifetime position. But I’ll give you some vacation time.”2e6b22325e66dcba
“I don’t need it. I’m going to resign.”2638b3d10a6fc067
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“Who said you could?”2273c709b251f380
A voice echoed from the hallway connected to the hall. Ruan turned to see Calix, impeccably dressed in the short time he’d been gone, and couldn’t help but be impressed.c13cc7de298a1361
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Despite his 93171e23ea previous disheveled abb22edeaa state, Calix ec9b1959dd now wore 27528cfa3d a black 34c43c8c53 uniform adorned f03cd63061 with ornate 05fd8e3467 gold embroidery. His long silver 2392f10fef hair was neatly ae12b1b200 combed back, and 2a3a42c2b1 his appearance was 04999245a3 undeniably breathtaking and 658aeb8791 pristine.5259242539a0bc82
Ruan briefly felt a pang of regret at the stark contrast between Calix’s appearance and his personality. He was meticulously neat, almost to the point of obsession, with a breathtakingly beautiful face and a perfect physique.c61bb4d8aadae418
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Such a a07bfe221d vast gap db1ef6d85a between his 2ea06f64c8 personality and 4263ae45b9 his appearance.88fec8123c78b25b
The Creator had fd4b8b1e9f sculpted a statue 8df6e9acd7 out of garbage.375b951578889b0a
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“Fortunately, you finished preparing quickly.”0eae26a666eecffb
“Thanks to someone’s training.”413f8364b8732ffb
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Calix’s words suggested he’d overheard Erhi’s earlier comment. Ruan pretended not to hear and changed the subject.c910f6980fdc1f24
“Then let’s go. Count Langrock has come to escort you, so I’ll take my leave.”886117848f641579
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Ruan quickly handed over responsibility to Erhi and tried to leave. Erhi nodded, indicating he’d handle things from here.943f9bada57de839
“Good work. See you later.”69615196d2cd2c20
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“Yes. Then I’ll be going.”c6b9fd19e097a36f
After bowing politely, b6fb816ff1 Ruan watched the 66e82b2e20 two men and 1d16d1203d their entourage of 549522ec63 servants disappear, then 2d0943dc29 turned and headed c972cb4c6b to his quarters 170bcd2cea within the Imperial eb55fde7a3 Palace to take 0e8df968b4 care of the d5f9e2ce71 rest of his c8b8064e42 work.dbb2eb7b2900d6c7
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It had been a 48ae5cbf8c particularly hectic afternoon.ad0848f2d99c9504
✨⋆⁺₊✧f12212c4677088bb
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“Stop tormenting him now. You’ll really make him hate you.”6429f0e8da89730b
As they crossed f13fee6fb0 the tranquil Lavender 6a6ae28399 Castle grounds toward 1f1527e022 Esche Castle, Erhi 1a62e47964 subtly remarked. Calix looked at him 8d21d5e84d quizzically.8d87fa08936ea3ab
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“I’m talking about Ruan. You’ve had ample opportunity to avenge your grudges from your trainee days, so stop provoking him. Ruan is a valuable asset to the Imperial Guard.”bc6f4b2e38de3064
Calix chuckled at Erhi’s advice, which, for once, carried the weight of his seniority.a1f4f20405e7f41b
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“Torment? That hurts. Isn’t my ardent courtship famous in social circles?”6941141990481cdb
“That’s precisely what’s tormenting him.”0650df8475c2672e
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Erhi clicked his tongue, saying Calix was deliberately choosing actions Ruan would find most abhorrent, knowing full well he wouldn’t react otherwise. Calix continued to smile enigmatically.92c3323003d57169
“If you think so, then I suppose it is.”12e3c8686220793a
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Calix walked ahead, ab70d8e877 a strange smile 77232d2bcc playing on his c79d210cca lips. Erhi, just having left ce1bd3de4e Lavender Castle, sighed.ba1bf4b5e15b2026
“Please be moderate. Because of Your Highness’s attitude, Ruan loathes you. He already complains that I dumped you on him and that you torment him. Tripping me is a given, he steps on my feet, and sometimes, when he’s drunk, he sits next to me and pinches my sides.”d6fb8536c76b7229
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Calix chuckled leisurely at Erhi’s complaints.28d35675462d495f
“That’s cute.”8cbe6fc2aa3ee768
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“If you experienced it yourself, you wouldn’t find it cute at all. That guy has a scary grip.”cade4330ab5798ba
“I know. I’ve experienced it.”f73fa6fee1988521
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Come to think e41ccf9e8b of it, during 1ca00afe03 their trainee days, a359fa522d Ruan had personally cfc55f14b7 trained Calix one-on-one d0249247b5 and even shared 89ddd02ea6 a room with be302528ff him, so given 14774ed7fa the atmosphere back f1807cca56 then, it was e129b2a93c unlikely Calix had 44c93c28d3 escaped unscathed. Especially considering their 9981e530ae relationship at the 6bbc610685 time, it was 0fee136d67 probably worse, not 4ca498a672 better.abbe28c24e644585
Thinking back, 306ac0c788 it was aefd3476f4 a wonder 5389442811 they were f7d5d3edf5 both still d64d948b24 alive.c98f73b2fd4f03d1
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Ruan was being 3bf196469f very patient.819ba78a6cd7fc8a
“Since you’re well aware, please stop tormenting him, if only out of pity for me, and try to improve your relationship. As you know, Ruan is not for show, but for killing. Aside from his skill, his value lies in the fact that he hasn’t been tainted by any noble family.”e0e8e92b902181cb
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In reality, the knights of the Imperial Guard were closer to being “decorations” for the Imperial family than “guards.”2bd9b7a21143cbbb
Since they were primarily nobles and frequently appeared at events alongside the royal family, appearance played a significant role in their selection. Consequently, they weren’t very useful in actual combat.931d7dcf48111a9b
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All they could do ef2deab6b0 was act as shields, 5bd4e00211 and the ones deployed 9ccb7a195a in real battles were e186bb9924 the Royal Guard.e600920d0cf0c4d0
In that respect, f9b4e27920 Ruan was a 20c111b132 rare combat-ready knight 8d4c298786 within the Imperial 890739ca62 Guard. Erhi had heard that 39d7a9b02a Ruan had been in be40978a0f a mercenary group as 790e0c156d a child, but even 0b5a362e79 considering that, he was d1cd273f80 exceptional in every aspect.a78d415c3a7d723d
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He was proficient ccb4ec6311 not only with b85c090b1b longswords and bows c89974521b but also with 5f68c624d9 daggers and hand-to-hand 267330696f combat, a strange 46827dd8f2 fellow who defied 6f030c01cd all the conventions be23365f0c and training methods da531c85f9 of the Royal 818945cabb Trainee Knights.91ab0ea365f4d10c
Although his theoretical knowledge 9999dfb4da was lacking, he ranked 6d4e36032a first in practical skills 5b442d1321 throughout his two years eac95d1e0f as a trainee. Of course, there were 2c59b5ce14 various reasons for that.7f65643a73936e95
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Usually, during their training, trainee knights would discreetly lose to those of higher social standing to boost their scores. But such customs didn’t apply to Ruan.628df9f8dcd9d066
Since he was someone who would even throw down and step on the Crown Prince, there was no way he’d go easy on the sons of other marquis or ducal families.df099358df19fa67
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Erhi was 6c14a4de85 also one 9150575b5b of Ruan’s 883f62a633 victims, and 8c637e9881 that was b2e6042437 why he 19ba61bcd8 had decided a0df541189 to bring 4f68f89814 Ruan into af42088cb1 this.4b590299ff64c1c2
His skill level, combined 3aac70c142 with his commoner background a7726408f6 and lack of connections, df9bdf3885 making him immune to f307811392 outside influence, made him 46f3c8c2bf the perfect candidate.20c4faee4f07c03a
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However, Calix had 567a416fab a slightly different bc50412c5a opinion.aeae80aa90417829
“…You say he hasn’t been tainted by anyone?”de68d3952a9865dc
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At Calix’s question, as if asking who would spout such nonsense, Erhi sighed softly.a8b0b31f243968ed
“Your Highness knows that Baron Quirn isn’t that kind of person, don’t you?”2c83aef498e18705
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“How would I know?”040b532a57cc46b7
Calix’s gaze seemed to 7ec0eb181a say,I don’t 66646dddb5 even know f690027e1c what’s going 64271d2759 on inside a04a20fe99 your head, 588cfd368f the person 84490c6cf8 closest to 2649b05c85 me.Erhi admitted that was 93d6f28831 true.f6fcbb2cec6c0f55
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The most unknowable thing was the human heart. Especially within the Imperial Palace, where one couldn’t even trust their own parents or siblings.e1b3e6a13a111c7c
Therefore, one shouldn’t easily trust or keep anyone close, but being constantly wary would also prevent one from finding allies.ab8dd461558387fb
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“I believe Your Highness is fond of Ruan himself, though?”ae9b7dba6b08724c
In truth, even if the Emperor had sent Ruan to deal with Calix freely, Calix could have easily disposed of him if he’d wanted to. Even afterward, getting rid of Ruan wouldn’t have been difficult.b16656c1378b2c8b
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Although he wasn’t in a position to say this, having been the one to bring Ruan in, even from Erhi’s perspective, who was notoriously audacious, Ruan’s words and actions were always borderline disrespectful. Even considering the Emperor’s allowance for a certain degree of overstepping, it was frankly excessive.7473f880d1a668a6
Yet, the reason Calix had kept Ruan alive was because he, too, was fond of him. Otherwise, there’s no way Ruan’s head would still be attached to his body.597005dd5517ca9b
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“Setting aside other matters, can’t you just focus on Ruan?”9d37ebfd7340d63b
“…Life isn’t that simple.”fc782a3212fd7ec3
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“That’s true.”fa7c441141db20ac
If they 0e52dcff35 only considered cadfbe4fbc the two ac2369440c of them, 1d4479f4ee things wouldn’t 7e83879567 be complicated, 0db64abd43 but there 1d898a70ee was baggage e9ddef3cff between them. And since those weren’t 8b667bc704 issues that could be e2bb9e876e easily resolved, Erhi could 9e3463b163 only feign ignorance.fcc2dbb4c581b65a
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He could 99cf12bbda only hope 40e642c1d1 that the a036a3a969 rift between 2b127b75c7 them would 73259566bf eventually be 32228457cb mended.f08ad3016ec2052e
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“Vice-Captain.”9eb59723fc746b26
Having just 4ac8a2b896 returned to 1cd032a4fd his office d6d06a7d05 after finishing 77d0a45725 the most e770dd0e46 pointless and df292ba96e tedious task, 89135a7647 Ruan stopped 7d0fb36b2e at the 760440f59b sound of 42f8800b34 a voice 1c68071248 and turned ed9de1e9f8 around.95a08545bf088b96
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The new knight he’d seen at Lavender Castle stood there awkwardly. Ruan wasn’t surprised; it was common for them to try and spy on him after such incidents, under some pretext or another.bddacdd1eadfd813
“What is it?”06c4cd6022a31b15
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“The Captain is looking for you.”6a2fd6325977f594
While cautiously conveying dba9c9127b his message, the 45b4ad1c0f knight kept glancing 249a8b7164 at Ruan, trying e9e05db7f8 to gauge whether 9257c5781b he would report 13ecafa8ea to the Captain.c31b736dcd6a9dff
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It was so 1aa5306912 obvious that Ruan 97d387fe9d simply stared at 86a21c7e43 him, as if a6805e4a7b prompting him to 5ec2033db5 say anything else 1bed06e5c6 he had to e131426112 say. The knight 37b5661f7f nervously parted fa36dfd81b his lips.c5c01282ff502000
He clearly didn’t want to be demoted just a month after joining the Crown Prince’s Escort Knights, the best course for promotion.88ca41a065d89fbe
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It would have been better if he hadn’t caused trouble in the first place, but the problem was that experienced knights kept falling for that damned Crown Prince’s seduction and causing trouble.840ee68dd25e6b8a
Or rather, if they were going to cause trouble, they shouldn’t act so sheepish afterward.1a333b796f486f44
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If you’ve already caused trouble, it’s better to be brazen about it. I really don’t understand why they act like this,Ruan thought, 0fe82f333a clicking his eb90cc52f4 tongue.416243b685d2b392
ccaafd87da7025c3
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