RGS Vol 7 part 17

“I told you to wait.”

Speaking dryly, Karas watched as Abel tried to catch his breath, his chest heaving, and then nodded.

“I’m sorry. I tried to wait, but…”

Karas could predict what Abel was going to say.

Help us. Please save the people.

Karas thought Abel would make incomprehensible requests. But there was no reason for him to grant them. Even if it was Abel. Still, because it was Abel, he would have to listen to it all, no matter how boring it was.

But as Abel spoke and then stopped, he suddenly froze in place and looked at Karas with wide-open eyes. The words that burst out in surprise were none that Karas had expected.

“What? Oh! Wow, it’s the prince’s original beautiful eyes!”

In a completely unexpected turn, Abel first expressed joy.

It’s really the prince’s eyes from when he was a child!

He shouted this, his whole face lighting up with a bright smile. It was a pure, unfeigned joy. Although his appearance had changed, it was definitely the same smile as 12 years ago. Just like back then, when everyone else feared and dreaded his eyes, Abel, even in this hell, was the only one who greeted him with a smile rather than fear upon seeing him.

The chains of cruelty and ruthlessness that had tightly bound Karas’ heart snapped in an instant with a single smile. Just like when he first met Abel, who had been the first to free him from those chains.

It was when he was walking through the forest, holding the hand of the little prince who had not yet spoken. In the forest, there was no need to worry about what to do each day. The forest changed every day, even if it was the same place. There was never a moment of boredom in such a place.

However, it worried him that the prince did not understand the importance of life. No matter how many times he taught that all life is precious and should not be taken lightly, if the prince did not truly understand and accept it in his heart, it would just be mere words passing through his mind.

When he was young, his master always let Abel face situations on his own first when teaching him various things. Only after he made mistakes did the master then teach him how to solve them.

‘You can learn the most when you feel the need for something yourself.’

So, Abel changed his approach. Instead of talking about the value of life, he decided to teach the prince about situations where it was necessary to kill an animal. By understanding why one might need to kill, the prince would also learn why it shouldn’t be done unnecessarily.

But what kind of situation would require killing something?

Abel intentionally let the carefully packed lunch from the palace fall into the lake, pretending it was a mistake.

“Oh no! We won’t be able to eat lunch now! But don’t worry, prince! If we work together, it’ll be a piece of cake to hunt an animal for a meal. Haha— I’m embarrassed to say, but my hunting skills are well-known to everyone in the village. Hahaha—”

That day’s hunt ended in failure. They had no choice but to fill their stomachs with fruits and bird eggs, and Abel made a vow to the prince.

“Don’t be disappointed, prince! Tomorrow, you and I will surely catch a plump deer together.”

They couldn’t even catch a rabbit, let alone a deer. After several days of this, Abel, feeling his pride hurt more than the prince’s learning progress, decided to use a different tactic. He vaguely sensed that the forest seemed to be helping the prince. It was showing him the animals that the prince was curious about. So, Abel began to entice the prince’s curiosity with exaggerated descriptions of the deer.

“Deer meat is truly amazing! Of course, that incredible taste is only truly appreciated when you’ve caught the deer yourself, after a hard, sweaty effort. Deers are not only fast but also very sensitive and cautious animals, making them hard to approach. However, since they sense approaching predators by their scent, you can only approach from the opposite direction of the wind. While it’s ideal to drive them into a corner with a group like wolves do, if you’re good with a bow, you can take down a big deer by yourself. Ah, there are some deers that are much bigger than me! They’re truly enormous! And they run so fast! But their meat is absolutely the best. Especially if you grill the hind legs until they’re golden brown, mmm—”

Was it perhaps because he was drooling over his passionate and vivid description?

As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound was heard nearby. Abel quickly turned his gaze.

A deer?

No, it was a pack of wolves. And not just any wolves, but several of enormous size. That day’s hunt ended in failure once again.

Looking into Karas’ yellow eyes brought back memories from a few months ago.

Was it possible that talking about hunting without actually catching anything had only awakened Karas’ hunting instincts?

A sense of guilt rose alongside the memories. Perhaps the biggest issue was that he had died, leaving Karas alone. As he reminisced, Abel, who had been smiling brightly with delight, suddenly felt a wave of guilt and scratched his head.

“I’m sorry. Seeing the prince’s eyes suddenly brought back old memories,”

Paused.

As he spoke, he realized something very important. He had to pretend he still had lost his memories.

But what could he do now?

He had already shown such unrestrained joy at seeing the prince’s eyes.

“Ah! I-I didn’t mean old memories, I mean, I heard people talking about it. Haha. E-Everyone said that the prince used to have very beautiful yellow eyes. So, seeing your eyes turn yellow now, I suddenly remembered what I heard back then. Haha.”

“……”

“I’ve heard so much about it that I unconsciously just… called you prince. If it’s okay, can I continue calling you like this?”

His acting was terrible, but Karas just looked down at him without saying anything.

Abel swallowed nervously, hoping his act had worked, and emphasized again.

“A-Anyway, I still haven’t regained my memory.”

“Mm-hm.”

With a slow response, Abel let out a sigh of relief.

Whew, thank goodness.

“By the way, prince.”

Abel changed the subject and glanced around for a while. Unlike the outside world that was turning into hell, this place was eerily quiet. Then, someone he hadn’t noticed caught his eye. A person with a severe wound on his shoulder, curled up like a ball and trembling. Though his face wasn’t visible, it was obvious at a glance that it was Truyde.

The person he considered the greatest enemy had collapsed so pathetically that he was hardly noticeable, while the one he thought he should help had instead put everyone in danger. Abel turned his eyes away from Truyde and looked back at Karas and smiled awkwardly.

“Actually, I found something the prince had hidden in the forest.”

Abel held out his hand, revealing a wooden pendant. Though it was now barely holding together at the ends, it hadn’t completely split into two.

“There was a hole left where the well used to be in the forest. I found it there. Ah! Of course, I only learned about it from… someone else!”

His acting was so poor that it was almost laughable, but Karas didn’t seem to mind. Rather, what fascinated him was how Abel easily revealed the wooden pendant and the past he had seen through it.

“So, I used this to look into the past to understand why the forest had changed. I wanted to know what power lies within the forest.”

Abel recalled what he had just seen a while ago and explained. That the dragon had sealed something and the purpose of the forest. Among the explanations was what would happen to the power of the forest if it were destroyed. This made it clear to anyone what kind of power Karas now held. Yet Abel took his time, sharing everything he had seen before finally asking Karas.

“Prince, why did you release the sealed power?”

When Karas remained silent, Abel glanced back. Inside the quiet palace, the outside world seemed momentarily forgotten. Out there, people might already be dying. The fiery masses destroying everything in it’s path might be slowly overtaking the world beyond the palace walls.

It was a terrifying reality, almost too overwhelming to bear. As Abel briefly thought about the situation outside, Karas’ slow response came. It was something Abel had once heard from before.

“To get rid of what was in my way.”

Abel froze, just as he was about to turn to Karas.

‘They were in the way, so I removed them.’

His casual words explaining the empty palace had been stuck with him. Now he finally understood why. The reason was so light and simple that it didn’t even evoke fear of cruelty. Karas was merely following his instincts. Ironically, in a world changed over 12 years, Karas might be the only one who remained the most pure.

Abel looked back at Karas and gently grasped his arm with one hand. Unlike before, Karas’ eyes now had a hint of coldness. He was watching Abel closely, wondering how he would respond now that he knew everything. His mind wandered back to his initial expectations.

Would he beg?

Would he plead through tears?

But, as always, Abel first gave a bright smile as if out of habit.

“I see. If it’s in your way, you should get rid of it.”

Pat, pat.

Abel tapped Karas’ arm he was holding and even reassured him. Karas tilted his head to the side in puzzlement at the unexpected reaction.

“Aren’t you going to stop me?”

At Karas’s blunt question, Abel shrugged his shoulders helplessly as if he had no other choice.

“If it’s something the prince truly wants, even if I stop you this time, you’ll probably do it again.”

He could stop him now, however, it would only be a temporary measure. Abel knew that merely stopping Karas wasn’t enough. Pleading with him as the former Abel wouldn’t change the outcome. He had to change what the prince wanted. Instead of removing what was in the way, Karas needed to see the value in keeping them close. He had to show him that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Ah, it’s a shame, though.”

Abel sighed, genuinely seeming disappointed, and shifted his gaze to the air as if recalling something.

“The truth is, once the King’s Heart was destroyed, I wanted to travel with you, Prince. Hehe, I’ve traveled a lot with my master, you know! There are so many places I want to show the prince. There’s a mountain with such breathtaking views you won’t believe your eyes, a river where delicious salmon jump out by themselves, and oh, the sea! You’ve never seen the sea, right? Hahahaha—oh, ahem, actually, I haven’t seen it either. But I hear it’s incredibly vast and magnificent.”

He didn’t forget to give a thumbs-up despite not having seen it himself.

“Prince, they say the sea is a home to fish so big that hundreds of people could eat and still have leftovers! It’s hard to believe, right? Hahahaha—but it’s true. Mmm, and they say the taste is truly out of this world.”

The conclusion was clear: ‘I want to eat it.’

Abel, caught up in his tales of culinary adventures, seemed to forget why he’d started talking in the first place, his eyes lighting up.

“But when it comes to taste, nothing beats the festival! Festival food is the best. During festivals, all sorts of food are skewered and roasted over the fire. Not just calves, rabbits, and pigs, but also birds and frogs, and they all taste incredible. The whole alley fills with delicious smoke! Is that all? No way! The jujube jelly and the jelly made from hackberry fruits are so soft and melts in your mouth. Hehe—and the pies! Each region has different fruits in their pies, so when you go to a festival in a different town, they all taste unique. And speaking of festivals, there’s honey wine! Hahaha—if you drink honey wine with aged sausage, you’ll feel dizzy, and the sounds of the people around you start to buzz. Hehe.”

“……”

“Hehe, everything is really delicious.”

Abel scratched his head and continued to smile, even though Karas remained expressionless.

“When I was a child, I was always afraid of losing my master during festivals, so I held his hand tightly. However, whenever I got distracted by the delicious smell of food or fascinating magic shows, I’d end up letting go of his hand without realizing it. Back then, I was so scared that I couldn’t even cry, but once I found my master, the tears would suddenly pour out. My master somehow always managed to find me right away. He said that even in the huge crowd, I stood out to him. At the time, I didn’t understand what he meant, but now I think I do.”

Abel’s lips twitched into a faint smile as he gazed into the air as if imagining something.

“If I went to a festival with the prince, I feel like I’d be able to find you right away even if we got separated in the crowd. Once I found the prince, I’d make sure to hold your hand tightly so we wouldn’t get separated again. Since it would be your first time, I’d guide you around. For the puppet shows, getting a front seat is crucial, and I’m really good at securing spots. I’d squeeze my butt into the narrow space, hehe, and I’d crouch together with the prince. Ah, of course, but before that, we’d grab as many candy treats as we could hold in both hands and eat them one by one while watching. During the climax of the puppet show, if the protagonist makes a mistake, everyone around would burst into laughter at the same time, ‘Hahaha—’. When everyone laughs together, holding their stomachs at the same time, it strangely becomes contagious, and you end up laughing along with them.”

Blink, blink.

 Abel blinked as if he wanted to immerse himself in his daydream a little longer, then turned his eyes, still filled with joy, to Karas. The countless people who had been making noise in his ears and passing by his body just a moment ago, were merely figments of his imagination and disappeared, returning him to a quiet reality.

A reality where it might just be the two of them forever.