Shadowless Night

Ricardis and Nathan sighed deeply. Fortunately, someone with a keen eye and sensible thoughts seemed to have prevented the subsequent manipulations. Of course, Ricardis never called her. Diech had lied to bring this dull knight back.

 

“So, after I got out of there…”

 

“It’s not over yet?”

 

Ricardis looked a little tired. She had been away from Ricardis for less than thirty minutes. He had no idea what the hell she was doing in the meantime. Rosaline nodded and continued to speak.

 

“I heard Prince Diech say to Prince Haqab, ‘This is a message from Elpidio.’”

 

Ricardis forced a laugh out loud. He ruffled his flowing hair roughly. The atmosphere in the room became sharp like an awl. Rosaline barely understood. He contacted Haqab with a message from the 1st Prince, the enemy of Ricardis. It was reasonable to think that Diech wouldn’t do anything in Ricardis’ favor.

 

Rosaline suddenly remembered that moment when Diech pulled off the petals from her face gently. His golden eyes twinkled in the sunlight.

 

[I was worried, Rosaline.]

 

His voice was so soft that it seemed to melt. Rosaline could easily see that there was a lot of goodwill in it. So it was even more difficult for Rosaline to understand the situation. Diech was a good person to her, but he’s not a good guy for Ricardis. He was a good person on one side and a bad person on the other side. Firm boundaries were set in her mind, but Diech was too difficult for her to classify. ‘Is he my enemy?’

 

“It must have been very urgent that they had to meet on the first day we arrived. Did you hear anything else, Sir Rosaline?”

 

Rosaline recalled their conversation, which was getting smaller until the sound of grasshoppers took over. The two men’s stories reached her ears, which had borrowed the hearing of wild birds.

 

[This is a message from Elpidio.]

 

[Oh my, what will happen to this humble son of Balta?]

 

[‘This combination of magic and poison is something I haven’t heard.’]

 

[Actually, it’s a poison called ‘Fragment’.]

 

[‘I have never heard of it being a combination of magic and poison. We held hands for each other’s future. I thought we were true friends.’]

 

Afterward, she heard Haqab laugh. It seemed it was particularly amusing when he heard the words ‘true friend’. Diech continued talking, regardless of his reaction. At that moment, the sound gradually decreased.

 

[‘What kind of cause can you achieve based on a poorly built trust relationship? As much as I trusted you, I want you to show your trust too…’ He said.]

 

[He’s twisting his words so skillfully. Isn’t the point of this asking if there’s an antidote?]

 

[That’s right.]

 

Haqab was briefly silent. Only the sound of a soft laugh that implied he seemed to be in a good mood filled the void. The sound was getting smaller. Rosaline pricked up her ears and focused.

 

[An antidote.]

 

As the sound of Haqab’s laugh reached its end, the faint conversation completely stopped.

 

[There’s none.]

 

It was a night where only grasshoppers cried.

 

***

 

“It’s dangerous, Your Highness!”

 

Rosaline flew from somewhere.

 

‘Damn it!’ Ricardis snorted and took a stance. He meant to avoid Rosaline, who seemed like she was flying like a butterfly, but couldn’t beat her speed and eventually fell to the ground. A bee flew next to the two fallen people, and Raymond chased away the bee by waving his hands indifferently. Silence prevailed.

 

‘Cut down. When I return to Illavenia, I will cut her down!’

 

Ricardis shivered under Rosaline. This extraordinary escort was still energetic since last night. Rosaline was confused because of the strange magic that coated this immense palace. It wasn’t just one or two people, and not just one or two places. It covered the entire palace.

 

Excellent eyes and ears to observe things. An animal sense which captures all traces of life. Even the characteristic of ‘It’ that reads magic. Rosaline’s extraordinary abilities became a poison. She couldn’t tell anyone or run away. They said she shouldn’t kill unless the enemy comes to attack first. All she was allowed to do was her role as Ricardis’ shield.

 

She started to get confused. The world seen through her eyes and the world seen through her senses overlapped. It was difficult to instantly determine what was dangerous between flowers or swords in the world of heterogeneous magic. She followed her instinct and started to be on the lookout for everything. A mere passing servant. A cat living in the palace. A flying beetle. Even Isserion and Knight Commander Starz.

 

As Rosaline stood in the way, Starz gave her a look of exasperation. This was better than a lazy attitude. He thought that it would be better to have an abundance of boundaries than to lack them. She lacked a little common sense, but she was great, and she worked hard, so he usually just let it pass. It was today that the consequences of that easy judgment appeared.

 

“Your Highness! It’s dangerous!”

 

It was a cat lying on the grass and licking its paws.

 

“Your Highness! Get behind me!”

 

It was a servant of the palace who was eating in the distance. Rosaline’s cry made him cough for a long time.

 

“Avoid it!”

 

It was a leaf blown by the wind. Isserion, who was annoyed by the continued excessive escort, gave up at this point.

 

“Your Highness!”

 

Rosaline’s outstretched arms stopped Ricardis.

 

“Stop! Please stop, Sir Rosaline!”

 

Ricardis shouted at the back of her head. But Rosaline only desperately tried to dig up the stones beneath his feet, as if she couldn’t hear him. Ricardis was angry and stretched his hand towards her. He wondered what she had become. Neither a ninety-year-old nor a newborn, so what the hell is this!

 

Ricardis grabbed the back of Rosaline’s uniform and pulled her up. Her gaze was still on the stones. She looked forlorn as she couldn’t remove the rest.

 

“You…!”

 

Ricardis was furious for a moment, but he took a deep breath and managed to clear his mind. If it was someone else, he would have thought all of these actions were some kind of bullying, but it was Rosaline. Every one of her actions is done from the heart to protect himself. ‘I know it well. Yes, I know, but…’ This was too excessive.

 

“I have eyes too, Sir Rosaline. I’ll take care of avoiding the stones, so… Stop it.”

 

Ricardis gritted his teeth. He wanted to make her leave his side, but he couldn’t speak. A few minutes ago, he couldn’t stand it and gave her a break, forcing her out, but she returned like the wind with the bee’s appearance. Her sense of duty as an escort strengthened with both time and distance.

 

She kept looking around, not paying any attention to what he was saying. It looked like her vigilance was extremely high. ‘Is it because of being in a foreign country? Because it’s the land of their sworn enemies? Did she realize the danger at the words of the Knight Commander? Or is there something that only she knows?’ He could only guess. Ricardis walked towards his room. If he wandered around any longer, he might die from high blood pressure because of Rosaline before he even met Prince Haqab.

 

Rosaline looked around more anxiously. She quickly followed him as he moved away.

 

***

 

Ricardis could not sleep deeply. No matter how many days or nights he had stayed up, he woke up to the sound of rain knocking on the window and stayed awake until the candles in the room went out. He was never allowed to relax. Carelessness directly leads to a crisis, and the moment of sleep is no exception. Crisis does not come according to personal circumstances. Ricardis knew this from an early age.

 

As a result, Ricardis could maintain his subconscious mind to a point where he could be aware of anything, even when he slept. Although it may be called a disease by some, Ricardis was satisfied.

 

Ricardis felt a slight change in the air surrounding the room. The wind blew in from another space, breaking through the still flowing air. There was a smell of grass mixed with a soft rustling sound. ‘Someone came in.’ Ricardis read the signs while half asleep.

 

“…”

 

Since he didn’t hear the sounds of windows or doors opening, they must have come through an unknown passageway. Still, he wasn’t wary. Ricardis lay there with his eyes closed.

 

“Rosaline.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

A calm voice was heard close to Ricardis’ ear. Rosaline was also not surprised at all. It was natural for him to continue the conversation that had been interrupted for a while. Ricardis opened his eyes. A black silhouette stood tall at his bedside. The light in the room dimly lit her face. The flickering candle reflected in her eyes. Ricardis tidied up his open shirt.

 

“Where did you come from? I didn’t hear the door open.”

 

“There was a path in the ceiling.”

 

“The Baltans who made it and the one who found it are both very talented.”

 

“At first, I was trying to get in through the window, but I got caught by Sir Pardict…”

 

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‘So, I’m mad.’ He read her unspoken words. Ricardis smiled slightly. Even on this dark night, his escort knights seemed to be doing their job admirably, enough to defend the window from Rosaline.

 

Ricardis wondered, ‘Why did you come here? What do you want to do?’ But he didn’t ask any questions. He couldn’t forget the appearance of Rosaline, who had been performing as an unusual escort all day today.