THIS TIME THE DUKE WAS SPEECHLESS. He couldn’t take his eyes off his son’s face. The gaze that Lucian had at that moment, as though he suffered tremendously at the thought of losing a loved one… was the same as the face the Duke saw in the mirror every single day.
“Luci—”
The Duke tried to call him again, but Lucian was one step faster.
He ran back and jumped back on his horse.
“Young Master!”
The nearby knights followed him, but Lucian was faster. In his head, Lucian organized the information he had heard.
He then suddenly disappeared from the streets. Those who attacked were more likely better than his father.
And that it hadn’t been long since they had disappeared.
Nevertheless, the Duke’s Knights couldn’t find them. While sorting through the clues left behind, Lucian paused for a moment.
And he called out for someone in his head.
—Enzo.
—What? What’s wrong with you? Calling me so casually.
—Find someone.
—Who? Your beloved brother?
This sly mage just never listened. That’s why Lucian didn’t usually let him speak.
At some point, Enzo’s voice began to resound in his head. Lucian couldn’t remember when exactly that had started.
Perhaps he had heard his voice ever since his melancholic days started.
—You’re not answering again. Even though you’re young, you’re being rude. How many times have I told you that if you have a favor to ask, you need to be polite, huh? Even if you’re the heir to the Leon family, you should listen to me properly.
Lucian’s expression remained unchanged despite this inner voice’s nagging. He just asked again.
Unlike his expression that remained unfazed, his voice seemed to tremble.
—Find him. Please,,
—…
—Raphael… Please find him…
Enzo thought about swallowing this poor bastard up in one bite. He wanted to dig into the darkness in this guy’s heart and take over.
But it wasn’t the right time just yet, and he was curious about this brother of his.
So Enzo, a great archmage, showed uncharacteristically helpful goodwill.
—The child you’re looking for is trapped in the maze forest.
Enzo could easily tell where Raphael was. The knights had already given the right answer. It hadn’t been long since the kidnappers disappeared from the streets, but the knights still couldn’t find them.
In addition, Raphael could easily be detected by magic because he had a completely different wavelength from ordinary people.
He thought it was strange when he first saw him.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucian pressed on even faster.
Located at the end of the Imperial Capital, the maze forest sits on the edge of the capital city wall.
He headed to a place not far away, while rushing the horse. Enzo grumbled at him.
—So you aren’t going to say thank you again?
He was being so uncharacteristically kind to this descendant, but he wasn’t even given any appreciation.
It was for the best that he hasn’t accidentally revealed his true intentions to Lucian.
People of the Empire, especially the nobles, had special abilities.
This might have been what allowed the Empire to prosper for a thousand years without being invaded.
Sometimes a deceased ancestor could connect with one of their descendants using their special abilities.
You can think of it as possession or something like a lingering spirit.
There were quite a few descendants chosen by the other ancestors in the family, but Lucian was the only descendant chosen by Enzo.
A thousand years ago, he was a public servant who helped build the Leonis Empire.
It’s no exaggeration to say that he hit the pinnacle of magic, being a magical genius who achieved the Ninth Circle for the first time in all of history.
But he became a dark mage for a reason.
He was a man whose life ended by being sealed without being killed due to being someone who almost endangered not only the Empire, but the entire continent with his black magic.
Enzo de Leon.
He was a historical hero and sinner who occupied ten pages of the Leonis Empire’s history books.
—He’s not a normal kid. Aren’t you worried too much?
Enzo was spouting sarcastic words towards his descendant whose stomach was twisted up in knots from worry. But it wasn’t a bunch of empty words.
Raphael, in his view, was by no means just a bubbly child.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
I RAN RECKLESSLY. The dark spirits that he somehow thought were useless before followed the mana trail, now having the capacity to move freely and fast.
The reason why this place became a maze forest was simple.
It was because mana of different properties collided with each other in this place. The theory for understanding the phenomenon was simple, but it wasn’t easy to escape it.
But if I get caught by that madman, the Duke’s neck would either be sliced or be left intact.
I found out the reason why I was captured.
The Empire right now was peaceful, but that guy didn’t like this. He wanted to create an event that would shake this empire, and the Duke just happened to catch his eye?
I don’t know exactly, but I’m sure there’s no real reason.
What’s the point of a villain’s existence? I don’t know. Not to mention, there was also no explanation in the original plot.
“Ahh!”
He was caught in a tree root and rolled, but he used a recoil to pick himself up again.
“Safe!”
I thought I was good at exercising. The reason I started exercising was for my bias.
In a scene often found in the original plot, Noah would run away from Lucian when he fought with him.
He could just disappear if he wanted to, but Noah would run away clumsily, his pace slow.
It’s like he’s asking to be caught anyway.
And yet Lucian had never caught Noah for some reason.
The relationship between the two would have definitely changed if Lucian had caught Noah even once. Thus, I practiced running to catch Noah instead.
I even practiced running, with the intention of running fast at any given time to catch Noah in Lucian’s stead.
Noah! My brother has something to say to you. Please don’t go!
Yeah, I’d even thought of a line that would soothe Noah if he ran hard and I caught up to him.
It’s all for my bias. Lucian, you have to recognize your brother’s hard work.
But at times like this, I only thought that I was only good at it while practicing.
“Ugh, this wench! If I catch you, you’re really dead!”
“Hiiek!”
Why was he so quick to recover? Didn’t I throw something at your eyes? I guess it wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be?
I was deliberately trying to think of more important thoughts, but my heart was beating like crazy.
This dark forest was really different from the sunny forest he knew.
I felt like I could see something in the dark, but I couldn’t see the way out.
“Haa, haa.”
Running frantically, the madman’s voice was clearly heard.
“Darn it, you really look like a potato, don’t you?”
He seemed to have lost his sense of direction.
What? I think I ran a lot and widened the distance between us, but why did he sound so close? My teeth were gritted in fear.
I poured the spicy sauce into his eyes to escape, and if I got caught now, I really felt like he’d lop off my head.
I don’t want to die.
While running frantically away from the voice, I accidentally crashed into a tree.
“Argh!”
“There you are!”
“Hiiek!”
Under the dim light, I’m sure I was still casting a shadow in the lingering darkness.
Perhaps he was using the power of darkness that I saw in the original book.
“You haven’t gone far.”
With what he said, I got up and ran in a hurry.
I thought I heard something from behind me, but I couldn’t think anymore and I couldn’t hear anything.
“Prince.”
Then his voice reached right in my ear.
“Argh!”
I screamed frantically at the whisper I heard in a clear voice.
“Get away from me, you lunatic!”
“Can a prince have such a rough manner of speech?”
“Get away! Leave me be! Leave my sight…”
Shouting out to him in the darkness to get lost, thrashingly, I ran off somewhere else first.
I seemed to have hit an invisible wall. At the same time, the man shouted like crazy.
“Where did you go!”
Only then did I feel relieved that I had lived.
As I was about to fall to the ground, somebody grabbed me and held me in their arms. As I trembled with surprise, someone whispered.
“It’s been a while, Master.”
I tried to look at that individual that spoke in the dark.
Even if I squinted, or I looked hard and opened my eyes round, the maze forest continued to be obscured by darkness.
“Who is it?”
“What, have you forgotten me already?”
I’ve never heard that voice before… but why was he speaking informally?
“Did you just talk informally to me?”
I didn’t know what happened, but I was relieved that I had escaped from the crazy man.
The person holding me is definitely taller than me. Judging by his voice, he’s a man.
I wanted to check the person’s identity with my eyes wide open, but it was impossible because his silhouette was blurry.
The other person sighed frustratingly.
“Let’s get out of here. We’re not far from him yet, so it’s dangerous.”
The man seemed to be moving. I could notice that he was moving quite fast even with the wind hitting his face.
Because it didn’t make any noise.
When we were moving, I heard him step on the fallen leaves, but he didn’t make a single noise.
It was strange because I felt like I was flying.
Even though he moved faster and farther than expected, his breathing didn’t get rough at all. It was strange.
Who the hell was it? Why was he helping me? No, more than that.
“Are you living nearby? Can anyone even live in the maze forest?”
The man chuckled at my question.
“I guess you never thought I might not be human.”
“Oh, shi…”
A curse came out of me.
If you’re not a person, then what are you? Are you a ghost? Oh, I want to faint.
I just thought I wanted to faint, but I didn’t know I’d really lose my consciousness. Actually, it should’ve been at least a little harder for me to let myself pass out.
Before I lost my awareness, I heard the man say.
“Good night, my master.”
Who’s your master? I never raised anything like you.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
AUTHOR’s NOTE:
I’d just like to clear up a few terms so that it won’t be confusing from here on out
Su-in/prisoner → Shapeshifter
– Su-in or prisoner is how Raphael called Doggy and Damian before, but the actual translation is ‘shapeshifter’
Sue → Uke (bottom)
– This is what Raphael called Noah before his name was revealed, but 수 or Su/Soo is actually Korean for bottom/uke in BL. (ê³µ or Gong for the seme/top if you’re curious lol)
Foreign matter/waste → Fish/Booger/Trash
– This is what Raphael called the men who are surrounding the uke/Noah in the original novel. Raphael calls them boogers, but fish is kind of close too, if you’re familiar with what a fishing pond is in Korean novels. (And he calls his kidnapper the booger king..)
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