RGS Vol 7 Part 11

Bang!

For a moment, it felt like the sound of the closing door continued to echo in the corridor. Abel knew he could pass through that door, but he hesitated, unable to move. Even if Truyde’s ancestor couldn’t see him, it felt wrong to interfere with him. Still, he needed to follow Truyde’s ancestor to find out the ingredients of the black potion.

Just as he made up his mind and tried to move, he noticed a familiar object.

“Fine, you take His Majesty. I’ll take this, found on His Majesty’s body.”

The object in the Marquis’ ancestor’s hand was a wooden pendant, similar to the one Abel was holding, but without the cracks. The Marquis’ ancestor placed the wooden pendant on his palm and examined it curiously. The deceased king had held it tightly as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

In an attempt to take it away from him a moment ago, the Marquis’ ancestor had broken the stiffened fingers of the king. He knew that this was a gift that the King’s Regas had given him. The Marquis’s ancestor muttered to the wooden pendant as if speaking to it.

“I once overheard my late master’s words. There was a magical item passed down only to the one destined to be the real Regas. When the Regas died, I was the one to look for it first and found it, but the king mentioned it first. He asked to be buried with it? Hah.”

He tucked the wooden pendant deep into his robe and glanced back at the door, muttering.

“We can’t bury such a precious treasure. I must ensure that the real Regas must come from our family. And with this, I can at least know what that guy is up to.”

With a determined statement, he disappeared. Abel watched him vanish completely at the end of the corridor for a long time before approaching the door. Testing it, he reached out his hand, which passed through the door without resistance. As he pushed his front foot forward a little, his body passed through the door swiftly.

Struggling to adapt to moving faster than walking, Abel wobbled in the air but soon froze in place, stunned by the scene before him. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw. He wobbled in the air, struggling to adapt to moving faster than walking, but soon froze in place, stunned by the scene before him. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw. 

“Kekeke, His Majesty is mine now.”

Truyde’s ancestor laughed, baring his teeth in joy, swallowing something with a gulp. He then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He hugged the blood-soaked body of the late king and spoke.

“Ah, so warm. Is His Majesty entering my body? Give me His Majesty’s power. I’ll destroy the world as His Majesty. I-I will eat all of His Majesty.”

Abel, forgetting that he was floating in mid-air, stepped back in shock. He was unable to think of anything. However, his body wouldn’t move. Instead, the surroundings around him changed like a whirlwind. In a brief moment, the scenery of the rising and setting sun flashed past him several times, and then Truyde’s ancestor appeared before him again.

This was a completely different room. However, the person inside the room was a familiar face. Truyde’s ancestor was sitting limply on the floor, staring at his arm with an eerie look in his eyes. He seemed to have attempted suicide, as he was just about to cut his wrist with a dagger, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the blood flowing from the wound.

Then he did something strange. He pulled the rope to call a servant and told him to drink a drop of his blood. The servant frowned at his command but did as he was told and drank the blood.

Soon, the servant’s body started trembling, and he collapsed, foaming at the mouth. Truyde’s ancestor slowly smiled at the sight. His mouth stretched into a wide, silent grin that lifted the corners completely, revealing his teeth as he whispered.

“Indeed, His Majesty gave me power. Haha, that’s right. I have become a poison made solely from the dragon’s power. Even a king with the same power of a dragon wouldn’t be able to defeat me, right?”

Then he suddenly looked up into the air. In that instant, Abel’s heart sank. Those eyes, filled with joy and madness, were coincidentally looking straight at Abel.

“I can now control the kings with my poison.”

Whish―

With the sound of the wind, Abel’s body, which had been floating in mid-air, fell to the floor.

Thud.

He hit the floor with a small sound, but it wasn’t high enough to cause a significant impact. However, Abel couldn’t get up from his prone position. He barely managed to lift his pale face and waved at the people rushing towards him in surprise.

Don’t come closer.

Why?

As the question arose in the minds of the three people simultaneously, Abel began to vomit out from his empty stomach.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

‘Only our family’s bloodline can suppress the king who inherited the power of the dragon. Only our blood can subdue them and save the world. Be proud of your blood.’

His father’s words, which were instilled every time he ate the rotten meat, were correct. Therefore, he also fed the same meat to his young son, saying the same words.

But why?

The first question, forgotten in the shock, resurfaced in Truyde’s mind.

Why wasn’t Karas poisoned?

“Why?”

At the barely audible question, Karas tilted his expressionless face. Although he understood the underlying meaning of the question, he seemed unwilling to answer it easily.

“Ask something else. Now that your secret has been revealed, there must be something you are more curious about.”

“What I’m curious about… is why you weren’t poisoned. That’s all.”

Truyde’s voice was still barely audible, almost like a whisper. However, as he continued to speak, the fear that had enveloped his body began to subside, and his eyes slowly filled with venom. He had to know how he had neutralized the poison. Only then could he take his final resort, as Karas had mentioned. Even if he were to die, he would drag Karas into the grave with him. However, what came out of Karas’ mouth were already known, useless facts.

“I found a poison similar to the black potion. I ordered the war profiteer to feed it to you.”

He knows. It was something he had already heard from the war profiteer. That idiot Norhox even suspected it was the black potion. What was certain was that the black potion was more toxic, rendering Karas’ poison useless against him.

Where did he get such a low-grade poison to shove at them?

More than this useless explanation, Truyde wanted to know only one thing.

“Cut the crap. You didn’t find an antidote for the black potion, did you? Even Melmond’s medicine isn’t a proper antidote.”

Thanks to the rising venom, his voice did not tremble. Of course, the other person still didn’t pay attention to his words.

“The poison is a small white crystal, so I ordered it to be disguised by mixing it with salt. I then told the war profiteer to poison you with it.”

“I know. That kind of talk is…”

“At first, it was a gift.”

For the first time, Truyde paid attention to Karas’ words.

A gift?

“The war profiteer, disguised as a vulgar nouveau riche wanting to join the King’s Heart, sent you gifts. He was told to fill a room with all sorts of jewels and ornaments.”

Truyde vaguely recalled past events. When he had yet to decide whether to use the war profiteer, the latter had sent him a gift. An enormous amount that could fill a room, as Karas had said.

But what did he do back then?

Before Truyde could recall what happened, Karas spoke up first.

“But Marquis Yan didn’t accept anything at all, while the others greedily accepted everything right away, didn’t they? No, you did accept something. Only the high-quality salt that the war profiteer sent as his symbol.”

That’s right. He had ordered everything else to be returned, keeping only the salt in a jewel-encrusted box. The meaning was simple. While he couldn’t be bought with money, he left the door open for further negotiations.

Wait, salt?

A sudden, inexplicable sense of unease spread through his mind. Indifferent to Truyde’s changing expression, Karas continued in a bored tone.

“Among those who received the salt, two eventually became poisoned and either died or were driven away as beggars before anyone could notice. Norhox wasn’t poisoned, and it’s obvious why. His servant must have taken it. And now, you’re the only one left. Oh, one more thing.”

He paused leisurely as if he remembered something, tilting his head.

“I had never intended to poison you in the first place. That’s why I ordered the gifts meant for you to be sent to where your family was.”

Truyde’s eyes, which had momentarily regained composure, widened again in shock. Karas’ indifferent words pierced Truyde’s ears like a cruel blade.

“Unlike Norhox, your subordinates and servants seemed quite loyal.”

“!”

“The salt, no matter how sparingly used, couldn’t last more than two months. What do you think an addicted person would do once it all ran out?”

Karas turned his eyes sideways. He paused for a moment as if looking at a place beyond the wall, then shifted his gaze back to Truyde. His eyes held a smile.

“I know a woman who, when the effects of the drug wore off, always went after her young son who was the easiest to prey on. She would grab his little head, shove it against a mirror, beat him with a whip, and cut his skin with a knife, taking out all her anger on him. She thought that her husband who wouldn’t pay attention to her was all her son’s fault.”

What came from Karas’ mouth was undoubtedly about the queen. The queen, who was under the influence of the black potion, abused the young prince daily. However, as he listened to those words, someone else came to mind instead of the queen.

‘A letter has arrived from the Duchess.’

‘Um, the Duchess has sent another letter…’

‘There’s been no contact from the Duchess for over a week.’

The voices of the servants who had delivered the messages several times echoed around him from all directions. Cutting through them, Karas’ voice was heard.

“I had originally expected your son to suffer the same fate as me. But thanks to your bloodline, things have gotten even more interesting. What do you think? What if your wife, driven mad by withdrawal symptoms, happens to taste your son’s blood?”

At that moment, Karas’ eyes, which were as narrow as a snake’s, narrowed even further like blades.

“Your wife would find her son delicious and chew him up.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

“Cough, cough, urgh!”

Even though nothing but clear liquid came out, Abel’s vomiting wouldn’t stop. Those who rushed to his side were at a loss as to what to do, unable to help, but Abel just waved his hand and told them to get away from him.

“What on earth happened? You floated into the air and then suddenly fell. And now you suddenly started vomiting,”

Melmond said, his voice laced with panic, and the butler nodded in agreement.

“I definitely saw the young master floating in midair. Nani, you saw it too, right?”

However, Nani was in no condition to answer.

“The dragon… is a mongrel… my hero, the legendary knight… is absurd and shameless…”

Muttering to himself, he looked the most in need of urgent treatment among them. The butler quickly ignored him, realizing he was of no help, and resumed rubbing Abel’s back.

“Oh my, Young Master. Are you alright? You must have been so shocked to have floated in midair.”

When the butler asked, Melmond, who had approached Abel despite his discomfort, nodded.

“That’s right. From our perspective, it just looked like you floated into the air and then fell, but maybe to Abel, huh?”

Melmond, who suddenly stopped talking, opened his eyes wide when he noticed the wooden pendant that had fallen next to Abel. It appeared to have fallen along with him, but that wasn’t the issue. The crack in the original wooden pendant, which had already been there, had widened even more noticeably. It looked like it would soon break in two.

“Ah! Our sect’s most beloved treasure!”

Thud.

His already frail blood pressure couldn’t handle it. Now, the butler was the only one who was still standing, but even he couldn’t help but panic. Abel, staggering, got up and tried to head outside. His face was so pale it was pitiful, and the butler hurriedly grabbed his arm.

“Young Master, where are you going?”

“Duke Truyde must not stay with the prince. The Duke is a dangerous man. He has the black potion…”

“Yes, we all know that.”

The butler spoke as if he didn’t understand, but Abel shook his head vigorously.

“It’s not that, it’s that the Duke is actually the black—”

“Pardon?”

Abel hesitated, starting to speak but then closing his mouth when he saw the puzzled look on the butler’s face.

How could he explain what he had seen?

Not only had such a dreadful event happened in the past, but it was still happening right now. The butler asked again what was wrong, but Abel just turned his vacant gaze outside. He was confused.

Then, did the prince really know about this?

That Truyde had consumed the late king?

“I have to go to the prince.”

Abel staggered again, trying to make his way to the door. The butler caught him to prevent him from falling and tried to dissuade him.

“His Majesty will handle it. He knows all about the black potion, and he hasn’t been poisoned. You don’t need to worry about His Majesty. Moreover, His Majesty has instructed you to stay here, so I think it’s best for you to wait. Otherwise, we’ll get in trouble.”

As the butler anxiously held him back, Abel turned his sunken eyes away.

“But I feel like I need to stop it.”

“Stop Truyde?”

No, Abel shook his head, removing the butler’s hand and moving forward. The butler should have stopped him, but he couldn’t stop Abel as he ran to the front door. Abel’s murmured words echoed in his ears, making it momentarily difficult to understand.

‘No, the prince.’

Stop His Majesty?

Blink, blink.

He doesn’t understand why Abel’s words brought an inexplicable fear to him. Perhaps it was the image of those fierce snake eyes that dominated his thoughts since walking out of the library that morning like an ominous sign.

Flinch.

The butler shivered once and called Nani.

“N-Nani, quickly, follow him!”

Without even explaining the explanation, he followed Abel. However, there was no need to chase Abel further. Abel, who had opened the door, stood still without going out.

“Young Master, if His Majesty is in danger, now is all the more reason not to go…”

The butler’s words trying to stop Abel were cut short. He, like Abel, stood frozen in place before the open door. Nani, who was the third to approach, was no different from the other two.

“Ah, where are you going!”

Nani, who had shouted, also froze with his mouth agape. Although he was indeed in the library, the moment he looked outside, he had to doubt that obvious fact.

“Wh-what’s going on? Why, why is the Dragon’s Forest here?”