Chapter 89
Battle (1)
Gawain spoke in a cold voice.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
Johan’s sudden change in attitude had caught him considerably off guard.
Johan, who had always treated him favorably, had abruptly turned cold.
He resembled one of the old monsters of the royal capital after casting aside the mask he had been wearing.
Johan slowly began to speak.
“I merely wish to help Your Highness.”
Wariness appeared on Gawain’s face.
“You joined hands with the Count despite knowing the full truth behind the attack on the Third Prince’s palace. You allied yourself with my mortal enemy. And now you claim that you wish to help me? That makes absolutely no sense.”
Johan remained composed.
“Your Highness, as I told you, there are neither eternal enemies nor eternal allies in politics. The Count and I are merely using each other. Our relationship is destined to fall apart eventually.”
Gawain gave a hollow laugh.
“In other words, your claim that you wish to help me is a lie. If I had to guess, you merely wish to use me as political leverage against the Count.”
The Count had once attacked a member of the royal family.
He had committed a horrific act of treason. The moment the truth became public, House Staviana would inevitably fall.
Gawain himself was proof of that crime.
As long as one handled Gawain properly, pressuring the Count would be easy.
The corners of Johan’s lips rose.
“Correct. As expected, Your Highness and I understand each other remarkably well. I need you, and one day, my power will also prove tremendously useful to you. Please join forces with me.”
Gawain replied stiffly,
“I understand why you need me. But what about the reverse? What can you give me?”
“An excellent question. I shall help Your Highness take revenge. Furthermore, I will help you reclaim the throne you lost.”
“The throne I lost? Surely you don’t mean...”
Johan nodded.
“You will become the crown prince once more and eventually reign as king.”
Gawain’s expression filled with bewilderment.
He fell silent for a moment before regaining his composure.
“I have no intention of becoming king. More importantly, what gives you the confidence to make such grandiose claims about helping me take revenge and making me the crown prince? I didn’t realize you were such a braggart.”
Johan’s face settled into calm composure.
He spoke in a low voice.
“Your Highness, do my words truly sound like empty boasts to you?”
An inexplicable force could be felt in Johan’s expression and tone.
“Anyone would think—”
“Look at what I have accomplished. I achieved many things immediately after entering the castle. I protected the barony from the Count, and now I have secured my family’s admission into the Royal Council. I restored a fallen house in less than a year. Do I truly appear to be a mere braggart in Your Highness’s eyes?”
By anyone’s standards, Johan was an exceptional talent.
Despite not yet having reached adulthood, he had already accumulated considerable achievements.
Even a brief conversation with Johan was enough to recognize that there was something extraordinary about him.
Gawain could hardly deny his abilities.
Gawain said,
“Very well. You’re right. You have results to show for yourself, so even I must acknowledge your abilities. But trust is another matter. I cannot trust you. The moment I take your hand, I feel as though you’ll drag me over the edge of a cliff.”
Johan replied,
“If you cannot trust me, then we need only use each other.”
“As you yourself said, relationships like that are destined to fall apart. From my perspective, it is a connection I would rather not begin at all.”
“You are afraid of me. You fear that I will use you and cast you aside.”
Gawain nodded.
“That’s right. People like you are the ones I must be most wary of. You act solely according to your interests.”
Johan clicked his tongue.
“Do you desire only those who are loyal to you? If so, wake from your dream. This world is not a fairy tale. It is overflowing with men like me. If you exclude every one of them, you will accomplish nothing. Forget revenge—you will not even be able to preserve your own life.”
Gawain replied calmly,
“I will take your advice to heart, but I have my own way of doing things. It seems unlikely that we will be able to work together. It was an enjoyable conversation, but I should be leaving now.”
He no longer wished to continue the discussion.
Gawain rose from his seat.
A shadow fell across Johan’s face.
“You will undoubtedly regret leaving now.”
Gawain gave a hollow laugh.
“Why? Are you planning to send assassins after me like the Count did?”
“There will be no need to go to such trouble. Your Highness will soon be executed by the Church.”
Gawain was being corrupted by the Demonic Spear Turavak.
If the Church discovered that fact, Gawain would never survive.
It was only a matter of time before they noticed.
Gawain frowned.
“...Sir Johan, what are you suddenly talking about?”
“Before long, Your Highness will become a demon. You have contracted such an affliction. I am the only one who can help you.”
Gawain was dumbfounded.
“Ha! I see now that you truly are a pathological liar. I misjudged you.”
Johan ignored his reaction and continued saying what he needed to say.
“Please remain in this castle and receive treatment. It is the only way Your Highness can survive.”
Anger filled Gawain’s face.
He struggled to suppress his fury as he spoke.
“Sir Johan, let us never meet again. I will be leaving now. There is no need to see me off.”
Gawain turned his back and headed toward the door.
Then his footsteps abruptly stopped.
His expression stiffened.
Johan wiped his mouth with a napkin and rose from his seat.
“Your Highness cannot leave this castle.”
Gawain’s head slowly turned toward Johan.
Creak. Creak.
His movements were unnaturally rigid.
He resembled a machine that had never been oiled.
Gawain struggled to speak.
“Wh-What have you done to me...?”
The dining room door slowly opened.
A silver-haired girl entered with a smile.
“I put some medicine in the soup.”
She snapped her fingers.
Immediately afterward, Gawain’s heart pounded violently.
Blood began circulating throughout his body at tremendous speed.
Every vein beneath his skin bulged into view.
Alongside his blood, dark blue mana coursed through his veins.
Gawain’s body flashed repeatedly.
Excruciating pain assaulted him.
It felt as though he had been engulfed in flames.
Gawain could not even scream.
He could only glare at Johan with hatred in his eyes.
“G-Ghuaaaagh...”
Johan spoke.
“Please endure it for just a little while. This is all for Your Highness’s sake.”
Gawain slowly raised his arm. Even amid the unbearable pain, he was displaying his intent to attack.
Ilea looked at Johan.
“Johan, His Highness will break free soon. Please leave the dining room before that happens.”
Poison mixed into soup could never subdue Gawain.
He would soon purge the poison from his body.
Immediately afterward, he would attempt to kill Johan.
Johan nodded.
“I will deal with his personal guard. I leave Gawain to you.”
Merely being caught in the battle between Ilea and Gawain could cost him his life.
Johan immediately left the dining room.
Yuri, the knight who commanded the Third Prince’s personal guard, sat atop a castle tower and looked down at the lord’s castle.
The atmosphere surrounding the castle had changed drastically when night fell.
The once stately old castle now exuded an ominous air.
Moonlight streamed over its weathered spires, casting distorted shadows across the ground.
A biting chill rose from a deep well within the castle grounds.
The sound of the wind resembled the wailing of ghosts.
Goosebumps rose across Yuri’s body.
She felt uneasy for no apparent reason.
“...Damn it.”
Her lord, the Third Prince Gawain, was staying within that castle.
He had entered enemy territory alone.
Yuri knew perfectly well about the relationship between the Count and Johan, so she could not put her mind at ease.
As she remained consumed by worry, her lieutenant approached.
“Captain, if you were going to worry this much, why did you let His Highness go in alone?”
Yuri sighed.
“He ordered me not to accompany him. What else could I do? It isn’t as though I can break that stubbornness of his.”
Gawain always kept his personal guard at a distance.
He found them bothersome.
The lieutenant burst into laughter.
“If I remember correctly, His Highness also ordered you not to watch him.”
Yuri looked displeased.
“This isn’t surveillance. It’s protection.”
“No, it’s obsession. Obsession. Honestly, how many beings in this world are even capable of harming His Highness?”
Gawain was a monster.
In truth, he did not need protection.
Yuri said,
“You fool. I’m not trying to protect His Highness right now.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“I’m protecting that family from His Highness.”
“What in the world is that supposed to mean?”
The Count was Gawain’s mortal enemy, and Johan was allied with the Count.
It was possible that Johan and Gawain might clash.
There was also a chance that such a confrontation would trigger Gawain’s rampage.
If that happened, even by the slightest possibility, the Barony of Myatro would disappear from the map.
Naturally, Gawain would not be able to escape punishment either.
He would be forced to pay the price for murdering the Watcher of the Abyss—especially one who was also a member of the Royal Council.
Protecting the barony was therefore the same as protecting Gawain.
Yuri waved her lieutenant away.
“I’ll only waste my breath trying to explain it. Go back and keep drinking.”
The lieutenant grinned slyly.
“You should give it a rest and withdraw as well, Captain. His Highness is all grown up now. He’ll soon be holding his coming-of-age ceremony. Do you really need to keep sheltering him under your skirts?”
Yuri glared fiercely at her lieutenant.
“Say one more word.”
The lieutenant raised both hands and backed away.
“Then I’ll take my leave. There are some lovely young ladies waiting for me in the village. Haha!”
He lightly leaped from the castle tower.
Yuri turned her gaze back toward the lord’s castle.
The ominous energy surrounding it had grown even denser.
The mist clinging to the spires resembled demonic energy.
“Is it just my imagination? Why do I feel so uneasy?”
Yuri lightly slapped both cheeks.
Her mind cleared, but her anxiety did not fade in the slightest.
Instead, an even greater tension washed over her.
The surrounding air was growing heavy.
She could feel an inexplicable gaze upon her.
“You still haven’t left? Stop fooling around.”
There was definitely someone nearby.
Yuri quickly looked around.
“You really are asking to die—”
She could not finish her sentence.
She had met a pair of bloodred eyes.
An unspeakably sinister being was sitting right beside her.
It was a demon concealed within the depths of the night.
An eerie voice burrowed into her mind.
“Mortal, come at me with everything you possess.”
Mapheltan intended to assess his power objectively.
Yuri, the commander of the prince’s personal guard, would make a suitable opponent.
Startled, Yuri immediately put distance between herself and Mapheltan.
Her pupils trembled.
“...C-Could you be the White Horn?”
The corners of Mapheltan’s mouth stretched into a wide smile.
“Indeed. This is your chance to slay an Apostle. Draw your sword.”
Yuri’s gaze turned toward the lord’s castle.
“Y-Your Highness!”
She leaped from the castle tower.
As a knight of the personal guard, she had to confirm Gawain’s safety first.
Mapheltan clicked his tongue.
Pitch-black demonic energy gathered in his hand.
The Demonic Spear Turavak emerged.
Mapheltan hurled the spear at Yuri.
Turavak tore through the darkness.