Fairy Trap

After swiftly confirming the existence of an unwanted presence in the room, Sethian naturally covered Yi-Gyeol with his body.

“Since when have you been there?”

As soon as the question was asked, it was Yi-Gyeol – not the man shrouded in the dark – who briskly responded. He flinched in surprise for a brief moment, then one of his hands soon grabbed the armrest of the chair he was seated so that he could get up from it any time needed and send it flying to that side, while his other hand fixed the pointed part of the quill he was holding outward as if to swing it flat-out. His eyes, instead of the bright and innocent ones just minutes ago, had also changed into a cold glare resembling Sethian’s.[1]

He couldn’t see who the opponent was, but he thought that anyone who would silently break into Sethian’s bedroom could only be an assassin that’s after his life. In fact, the uninvited guest in the bedroom was, as he expected, a person who mainly engaged in assassination. However, he came not for Sethian’s life, but because of a certain transaction.

The man, wearing an all-black outfit, walked out of the blind spot and turned outstandingly noticeable because of the bright surroundings. Sethian recognized who he was at a glance.

“Is it completed?”

At Sethian’s question, the man in black held out a piece of paper without saying a single word. Sethian had to walk a little forward since the man stopped at a certain distance, so Yi-Gyeol, who was hidden behind him, was given a chance to catch a glimpse of the man. A dwarfish man, heavily covered in black, has his eyes fixed on Sethian through his black bangs.

Sethian took the paper and read the words written on it. Then, the corners of his eyes rose even more as he was reading the note.

At that moment, someone’s hurried footsteps were heard outside the door, and the man in black clothes slowly stepped back and went hiding in the darkness again.

The voice that came with a short knock was from Lenox, who was known to have retired for the day to recharge his spent energy.

“Your Highness, are you sleeping? I’m sorry, but the one dispatched to Lake Rollen…!”

“Come on in.”

Sethian, who already knew it was Lenox the moment he heard his footsteps, cut his words. Lenox, who entered the room after receiving the permission, did not notice the man in black as expected, but after following the end of Sethian’s tenacious gaze, he immediately recognized him and pulled out his sword at once.

“First, lower your sword since he’s an ally.”

“Yes?”

Despite his dwarfish stature, his lack of presence and attire makes it clear that he is an assassin, but his lord is saying he’s an ally….

Rather than provide further explanation to Lenox, Sethian took the letter in his hand and headed for Yi-Gyeol.

“Set out with Lenox for a while.”

Yi-Gyeol’s mouth was still wide open when Sethian raised him up. He seems to want to ask who the hell that man in black is and what’s going on, but still decided to close his mouth and just nod in the end. Sethian was proud of him who purportedly kept himself from asking and kept calm although he must have been surprised.

When Yi-Gyeol went outside with Lenox, the air, which had been softened for a very brief moment, immediately froze. Sethian opened the letter that Lenox had brought and scanned its content. Meanwhile, the man in black walked out to a bright place.

“I have to recognize your skills.”

Sethian looked up at the man after reading the letter. He’s quiet without a single trace as ever.

The letter was sent by one of the knights who were hiding within the depths of Lake Rollen, near Canael’s stronghold, and monitoring it. According to the correspondence, the tunnels entering Canael’s stronghold were open, and as they entered, the heads of thousands of people were placed on wooden skewers and displayed along the way.

With a total of 148 skulls.

It exactly matched the number of ‘Canael’s Assassins’ in the list provided by the man in front of them. It also contains the Sub-Guild Master Pair, who also succumbed at the hands of the said man.

Upon examining the heads on display, they all had their tongues removed, and behind their necks was a small snake tattooed with a special dye that could never be erased. This was obvious evidence that the owners of each head were assassins belonging to Canael.

Sethian commissioned the Guild Master of Canael to kill all of its assassins and he faithfully carried out the commission. Starting from dealing with the Sub-Guild masters who were also commissioned by the other imperial family members, they swiftly beheaded them one by one and prepared all of them as instructed by Sethian.

Still, it was necessary to make sure that no one escaped and that the man didn’t just create a fake list. The knights, who were directed about this in advance, found a jar containing the tongues of the assassins as suggested by the man that was said to be its own Guild Master. The jar, which was buried so deep underground in the basement, had no trace of excavation at all as if it wasn’t even there. As a result of comparing the tongues that had been preserved in their original state after being treated with medicine and opening the mouths of the skulls one by one, it was clearly the same quantity as the number of people written on the list.

Having read the contents of the report in detail, Sethian had to admit that the man in front of him carried out his orders properly.

The black-clad man, Canael’s Guild Master, handed over another piece of paper.

<Now it’s your turn to fulfill our agreement.>

Lifting his head after checking the brief contents of the paper, Sethian saw a pair of eyes filled with longing for something that he had never seen with the man before.

There’s only one thing that the Guild Master of Canael wanted.

Regaining his own ‘voice’[2] that disappeared in front of his eyes after taking over the position of being Canael’s head.

He doesn’t want gold and silver, nor does he desire impressive honor or status. It’s small if it’s small. But it is something that the man thought he could never get back even until the day he died.

The other Canael assassins offered their tongues to the Guild Master as a sign of committing to the contract then he collected and buried them deep on their base to preserve them. On the other hand, he had to burn his own in front of his eyes as evidence of succeeding the position.

He tried to regain his ‘voice’ – the tongue he had lost of his own – and learned that the only thing that could make a human body was the magic from the Magic Tower, and that only the emperor or the crown prince could use that magic, so he immediately accepted Sethian’s offer.

Solely to recover his ‘voice’, the man slaughtered all the assassins of the group he was a part of without making even a single clatter.

The corners of Sethian’s eyebrows rose upwards then slightly curled.

“Fine. We’ll head to the tower together as soon as tomorrow. I’ll get your voice back as you wish.”

Nothing was outwardly discernible, and the only visible eye area also remained unchanged, but Sethian quickly recognized the subtle tremors of his eyes that were filled with longing.

“What do you plan to do after you get your ‘voice’ back?”

The man who heard Sethian’s words didn’t react as expected.

“After providing the compensation tomorrow, I want to make one more request.”

The man shook his head slowly. Then he pulled out a small stick, a palm-sized wooden board, and a piece of paper. He put the piece of paper on the wooden board and wrote something with the blunt part of the stick, and handed it to Sethian.

<I won’t take requests any longer. I plan to leave once I get my voice back.>

Sethian crumpled the piece of paper within his hand after fleetingly giving it a glance.

“Tomorrow, just hearing the contents of the commission would be enough. You probably won’t just let it pass.”

The man’s eyes crumpled as if in doubt.
 

[3]

After the uninvited guest who came unannounced went out through the window without making a sound, Sethian promptly opened the door to call in Yi-Gyeol, who was waiting outside. Unable to go into details about where the man was, Sethian told Lenox to read the knight’s correspondence instead and said he would head to the tower as soon as dawn broke tomorrow.

Upon entering the room, Yi-Gyeol quickly searched for the man in black with his eyes, then grabbed Sethian’s sleeve.

“Are you okay?”

“Nothing happened.”

Relieved after hearing Sethian’s words, Yi-Gyeol let out the breath he was holding, and his obviously tired eyes curved like a crescent moon and smiled.

“That’s a relief. You must be tired, hurry to bed.”

Yi-Gyeol, who had eyes that looked even more tired than Sethian’s just now, said gently. And the dark, sharp air that filled the room moments ago somehow also disappeared.

It is truly fascinating how an atmosphere in a certain space could change at once just because of a single person. And its main axis has always been Joo Yi-Gyeol.

“Aren’t you going to ask what’s going on?”

Tsk, I spat it out without realizing. 

He was curious to know why Yi-Gyeol, who constantly worries and only sees himself in his eyes, did not ask deeply. He thought that he already knew enough about him, but it seems that there are still some things that he doesn’t know.

Yi-Gyeol lowered his eyes and smiled bitterly.

“Since it’s something I’m not supposed to hear.”

As he said, Sethian doesn’t want Yi-Gyeol to know what Canael does or what he ordered their Guild Master. He doesn’t know how he’ll change his mind later, but at least for now, he doesn’t want him to have foreign feelings within his eyes when he looks at him.

“It’s all right, you don’t have to tell me. It’s enough for me to learn what you want me.”

As if he could read Sethian’s thoughts, Yi-Gyeol kept the line for himself.

His ‘Seth’ appearance that can be pried with anything.

And his ‘Crown Prince Sethian’ appearance that some things shouldn’t be dug into.

That’s also the reason why even if he frequently escapes from his body, he never came to visit him when he was at work. Because it was the realm of ‘Crown Prince Sethian’.

A loyal, devoted, lovable man who only knows himself.

A deep smile drew around Sethian’s mouth. His hand raised Yi-Gyeol’s chin, as if to do what he couldn’t do because of Canael’s Guild Master. Clear and pure eyes that are inversely different from his, captured his face without hesitation.

“Open your mouth.”

As if something invisible connected the two of them, Sethian swallowed Yi-Gyeol’s lips in one breath.