WMT | Chapter 3

“Duke!”

The royal guard knight was startled. Wiss realized his guess was correct.

But it was strange. The man called Duke Akazel was too young.

It’s not unheard of for a young knight to gain fame, but that’s usually through personal martial prowess. Gaining fame as a commander is a different matter.

Leading a large army requires experience. Where would a young knight gain such war experience?

There’s a reason young knights aren’t given command.

The only exception might be Wiss’s former adjutant. He was a born commander.

The duke looked back at the Summer king.

“I don’t have such a bad taste as to drag a dying patient to the wedding hall… Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your son’s health before proposing marriage to me?”

“Well, that’s…”

Before the flustered king could say anything, the duke gave an order to his guard.

“Call the cleric.”

The guard bowed and left. He was a quick and efficient subordinate who never needed to be told twice.

Wiss looked at his own knight. It was pathetic to feel the difference in national power in such a situation.

“The cleric will be here soon. Please rest.”

The duke, who seemed like he was about to leave, surprisingly spoke to Wiss.

Wiss tried to respond, but blood was flowing from his nose, preventing him from opening his mouth.

The duke frowned at his handsome face and then left.

‘I’ve been underestimated.’

Wiss couldn’t blame the duke. He himself found this body pathetic.

What was this pitiful state?

“Duke! No… my dear, what is happening here?”

The king seemed like he was about to follow the duke but ended up sitting in front of Wiss.

Wiss finally got a good look at the Summer king’s face.

‘What is this?’

It was an appearance that left no doubt he was a descendant of Jeremy. More than anything, the vacant expression was strikingly similar.

“Why is he like this? Didn’t they say he just fainted? Why does he look like he’s dying?”

“He’s not dying; His Highness used magic.”

The king was shocked.

“What? Why would someone suffering from magic poisoning suddenly do something so reckless?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The knight chimed in.

Wiss, who was keeping his head down to prevent the blood from going down his throat, couldn’t help but look up at those words.

‘Magic poisoning?’

“He wasn’t someone who caused trouble, so why is he acting like this… It’s that guy’s fault. From the moment he tried to elope with the innocent prince…”

“Well, wasn’t His Highness not exactly trouble-free?”

The king didn’t listen.

“Surely not! Wiss, you didn’t have any bad thoughts, did you? You weren’t thinking you’d rather die if you couldn’t be with your lover…”

“No.”

Wiss spat out the blood and spoke. The king’s eyes widened.

“More importantly, what do you mean by magic poisoning?”

“You… you have lower magic sensitivity than others. Magic acts as a poison in your body. Isn’t it a hereditary disease passed down in the line of Regent Jeremy? Because of this, Palatine has been nitpicking for over a hundred years, saying ‘Regent Jeremy betrayed King Wiss and usurped the throne, the Summer royal family has lost its cause’…”

“Sigh…”

“…You should know this!”

The king stood up abruptly, convinced that something was seriously wrong with Wiss’s head.

This king was someone who, instead of boosting the morale of the soldiers during wartime, thought of summoning a ghost to protect the kingdom.

So would he be happy to know that Wiss had actually been summoned?

‘No way.’

The king seemed to care quite a bit for his son. Wiss spoke without batting an eye.

“I remember now.”

“Do you?”

The king was skeptical.

The knight tattled.

“His Highness couldn’t even remember his own name.”

‘This bastard.’

“Wiss, what’s your name?”

“…Wissmia.”

Wiss answered reluctantly.

‘Did he expect me to forget after calling me Wiss himself?’

“How old are you?”

Wiss kept his mouth shut. It was information he didn’t know.

“Excuse me.”

Just then, the cleric arrived, halting the conversation. The cleric was about to ask who the patient was but turned pale upon seeing Wiss.

Wiss, with his shirt soaked in blood, looked almost like a dying man.

“Oh my.”

Wiss was slightly nervous. Wasn’t divine power supposed to have healing and exorcising abilities?

If the cleric tried to heal him and ended up exorcising him, it would be quite the laughable situation.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. A white light flashed from the cleric’s hand.

“It’s done. How did your insides get so damaged?”

The cleric asked.

Wiss lowered his hand. The nosebleed that had been flowing stopped. The dead blood that had been refluxing in his throat also ceased its activity.

All that remained was the metallic taste lingering in his mouth.

Wiss wasn’t exorcised and remained in this wretched body.

With the pain that had been churning his insides gone, he felt somewhat better.

Wiss tried to stand but collapsed from dizziness.

It was a pitiful sight.

“…”

The cleric stopped him.

“You shouldn’t get up. Healing doesn’t replenish lost blood. It only healed the wounds and alleviated the body’s rejection reaction. I don’t know what happened. It’s rare for the internal body to be this damaged unless you swallowed poison…”

“You did something similar.”

The knight muttered.

‘You’re fired.’

Wiss glared at the knight.

“I’ll prepare some medicine for you.”

The cleric left with a dark expression, as if he had just treated a patient who attempted suicide.

The Summer king sighed.

“It’s all over.”

“What is?”

“Your marriage. The royal family is finished now. Why did you do it? I was going to show your beautiful self to the duke, but it’s all ruined.”

The king covered his face in despair.

What was this nonsense? Wiss frowned.

“How am I supposed to understand that explanation? What does showing myself to the duke have to do with marriage?”

The king, looking dazed, stared at Wiss.

“My dear, your way of speaking…”

“I must have hit my head and changed my speech habits.”

“Is that possible?”

“Your Majesty came with the duke. The duke wouldn’t have come to see a worthless prince, so you must have proposed to the duke. Why did you do that?”

Wiss leaned against the bed, dizzy. He looked down at the king from a slanted position with one arm draped over the sheets.

He didn’t even think about getting onto the bed. If he stood up now, his legs would give out.

He wanted to understand the situation before he fainted. Did the king have some sort of plan?

The magic Wiss prided himself on was difficult to perform with this body. A body that struggled with detection magic wouldn’t withstand grand magic.

Above all, there was Duke Akazel.

Knights were the natural enemies of wizards. Each one was a tactical weapon, specialized in finding and eliminating wizards deploying spells.

Even if Wiss could perform grand magic, it wouldn’t be completed.

It would be detected and neutralized by the duke before that.

‘Damn Jeremy.’

What kind of disease did he pass down to his descendants?

‘What am I supposed to do with this body?’

But he couldn’t stand by and watch the kingdom fall into the hands of the traitor’s nation.

Especially when the justification for their war was Wiss himself, it was infuriating.

The king spoke in surprise.

“You’re curious about state affairs?”

“…?”

“You must have hit your head in the wrong place! Why did you elope? How could you think of escaping the castle when the enemy was approaching? Falling while trying to climb the wall must be divine punishment!”

“…”

Wiss now understood why the back of his head was throbbing, but he wasn’t happy about it.

‘What kind of idiot was this guy?’

But the important thing wasn’t how much of a fool Prince Wissmia was.

“Did you bring the duke to show him the fool who received divine punishment?”

“No! How could you think that?”

The king stammered and explained.

“The compensation demanded by Palatine is outrageous! It’s clear the new king of Palatine wants to uproot Summer from the continent. The royal family has no more territories or money to offer as compensation, so how can we pay it?”

‘How badly did we lose the war that there’s no more territory left?’

Wiss held back his anger.

It was fortunate the king couldn’t read Wiss’s thoughts.

“There’s nowhere left to raise taxes. Even if we sell the crown, we can’t pay that compensation. There’s only one place we can appeal to.”

“…Is that the duke?”

“Yes! If the duke marries you, surely he wouldn’t oppress his in-laws?”

“But I’m a man.”

Wiss wondered if he had to say it out loud for the king to understand.

“Yes, my dear. You’re a precious male Omega. And you’re the most beautiful Omega in this kingdom! If the duke saw your healthy self, he would have fallen for you at first sight…”

“…”

Wiss felt a chill.

‘Omega?’

He never even suspected that this body might have a trait other than Beta. He had lived his entire life as a Beta.