Chapter Text
𝐝𝐮𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐟
❝𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞.❞
Aristeia has always been a strange child. She was too mature, too sharp, too smart, too scary for a child her age.
One second she will praise you with sweet words and a second later she will get all your secrets and destroy your entire life.
That's what other people think.
But they didn't know that she became like this because of someone.
Zed Crossman knew his wife and daughter were dark elf but he didn't care. He knew that he shouldn't fall for a servant but he didn't care. He knew about the 'curse' but he didn't care.
Zed Crossman knew his eldest daughter was no ordinary child, he knew Aristeia knew more things that a child shouldn't.
And he knew Aristeia would be a greater and stronger leader than himself, who would make this Kingdom the strongest and most advanced, and maybe make this kingdom an empire.
Curse be damned, Zed will make sure Aristeia becomes the king.
But he also knows that even the strongest person has a weakness, no matter how small or big the weakness is.
Therefore, Zed ignored Aristeia pain, he neglect her, he turn blind eyes at the abuse and the assassination attempt, forcing his daughter who is not even 10 years old to handle everything on her own, to become more mature.
(But a small part of him knew that he just couldn't bear to look at his eldest daughter who looked so much like his former lover. There were many nights where he wished it was his daughter who died.)
He did that to make her the perfect king, the perfect ruler.
(Or so he told himself.)
Zed thought that he knew everything about his daughter because he was the one who made her this way.
But when her ancient powers are revealed, Zed realises that Aristeia and his lover are great liars and con artists, able to hide their true powers.
━━°⌜ 크로스맨의 우수성 ⌟°━━
Cale got off the carriage. The carriage that he got off from had the Henituse Golden Turtle on it.
– It has been a while! I can't wait to meet with kind human again! It's been a long time since I met her!
They literally just meet her two days ago
And yet Cale agreed with what the Black Dragon said inside his head.
Cale was currently at the Plaza of Glory. A large fence was around the northern part of the plaza that was destroyed from the explosion.
Cale just walked forward, only looking toward his seat. The Henituse family’s knight brigade, led by their Vice Captain, walked with Cale in the center of their formation in order to protect him.
As Cale was walking, he heard someone say something that gave him the chills.
“Oh, young master Silver Light!”
“Young master shield!”
Cale immediately started to frown. He could clearly imagine Aristeia laughing at him right now.
Cale could see the smirk on the Vice Captain’s face as he let out some fake coughs and started to frown some more. The Vice Captain lowered his body a bit to whisper in Cale’s ear.
“Young master, I guess they call you, ‘young master Silver Light,’ now. Ahem, cool people like you are bound to get awesome nicknames.”
'Shit.'
Cale held back the rough words in his mind.
Young master Silver Light, young master Shield, he didn’t want to hear such cheesy and embarrassing things. However, Cale knew that it would have been much worse if it wasn’t for the crown princess subduing the rumours, so he could not say anything about it.
"Ah, the crown princess also got a cool nickname."
Now that caught Cale's attention.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, Crown Princess Crystal! Such a cool and fitting nickname for the crown princess!"
– Yes! Kind human deserve that cool nickname even though they are not as cool as me!
Cale can hear the pride in Raon's voice. And he could also imagine Aristeia with a blank and disgusted expression when she heard that nickname.
Within a week, Cale and Aristeia had become a little closer. Aristeia turns out to be visiting him more often than he thought (it's not that he doesn't like it, he loves it). Aristeia often comes at night because that's when Aristeia's work is done. And two days earlier, Aristeia had just revealed her old name.
"Sung Byeol, that's my name in my past life."
Cale had never met a person with such a name and even though he wondered how she knew him, he remained silent because he had a feeling that in the future, Aristeia would tell him the truth.
The official story was that he was injured because he used his ancient power past its intended limits so that he could protect the crowd, causing a miracle to happen that prevented the explosion.
That miraculous story naturally originated from the crown princess. That was why the staff at the Henituse residence was busy protecting the injured Cale.
It was not just the staff at the capital. Cale thought about his father, Count Deruth, who was planning on coming up to the capital a few days ago. This was what Deruth had said through the video communication.
– Cale, did you see the faces of those bastards? Your dad will kill them all for you. How dare they do such a thing to a person who cannot even swing a sword!
Even though Deruth knew Cale had earned an ancient power, the fact that even Cale’s younger sister was better than Cale at swinging a sword made Deruth consider Cale to be weak.
– The reason the Henituse family does not take action is not because we are weak. Remember this Cale. We have not taken any actions until now because we are strong. Nobody shall take any actions against you like this in the future.
That was what Countess Violan had said while calming Count Deruth down. But that must have been the truth, as no nobles sent any messages or came to look for Cale once Cale left the palace and returned to his own residence. Even Eric and company did not show up.
Cale, who had been looking forward as he walked, could see the knight and soldier guarding the entrance.
“Ah, young master Cale.”
“Do you need to verify my identity?”
The knight shook his head at Cale’s question and respectfully opened the entrance. Cale had to enter alone from here on. The number of people who were allowed to enter this time was significantly less than during the birthday celebration, but Cale was the exception.
“Young master Cale-nim, please enter.”
“Great, thanks. Keep up the good work.”
“…Yes sir!”
Cale thought that the knight was probably overworked, so he patted the knight on the shoulder as the knight bowed and vigorously responded to him. He then walked in, not knowing that the knight was watching him walk in for a very long time.
(Aristeia, who was getting ready, suddenly had the urge to laugh.)
The Plaza of Glory.
The king planned to respect the fallen and give medals to certain people for their actions during the plaza terror incident today. The recipients were given the qualifications to stand at the second highest platform, right underneath the king, in the plaza today.
Cale was wearing a more luxurious black outfit than usual as he arrived at his spot.
“Cale.”
“Hyung-nim, you got here early.”
Cale smiled at Eric Wheelsman, who had called out to him, before standing at his spot. This was the spot for the nobles. Cale was standing here. But why?
Eric Wheelsman, Amiru, Gilbert, and all of the other nobles could only watch Cale in silence. It was because they had all heard some news regarding Cale.
Cale Henituse has declined to accept the medal of honour and has yielded the medal to someone else.
In addition, he dragged his still injured body to participate in the ceremony.
Amiru Ubarr looked toward Cale, who was looking up at the sky.
“It is a beautiful day today. Probably because we are here to respect the fallen.”
Cale’s red hair fluttered in the wind and created a stark comparison to his black outfit. Amiru had a curious smile after seeing Cale as his usual confident self.
“It is probably because of you, young master Cale.”
“Me?”
Cale looked toward Amiru with confusion. Amiru responded back with a calm and warm smile. Cale found that reaction to be odd, but still said what he needed to say.
“You are leaving today, young lady Amiru?”
“Yes. I believe you are heading out tomorrow? I will see you at our Ubarr territory.”
Cale was going to visit the Ubarr territory after this ceremony.
“Yes. I want to see the ocean.”
“I heard. Is it for your recovery?”
‘Recovery my ass. I am completely healthy and will be going there to get even stronger. You should be worried about the crown princess...’
However, Cale agreed with Amiru and nodded his head before adding on.
“Of course, that is not the only reason.”
“Ah, of course.”
Amiru, as well as Gilbert and Eric who were listening, all started to smile. It was a similar smile to Cale’s. After today, the nobles will all hear about what is going on.
The development and investment for a military base at the Northeastern coastline. That was why Amiru and Gilbert were hurrying out of the capital tonight. It was to prevent any false information from leaking out, as well as because the crown wanted things to progress as quickly as possible.
Of course, this was only possible because the Henituse family agreed to loan a significant amount of money to Amiru and Gilbert’s territories. That was the other reason why Cale needed to visit Amiru and Gilbert’s territories.
‘Cale, we are planning to send someone as well, but if you are going to go there anyways, take a look while you are there.’
‘Father, wouldn’t it be better for an expert to go?’
‘Having more pairs of eyes is always better.’
Cale agreed to do as Count Deruth asked.
“We are in your care.”
“We are in your care, young master Cale.”
Cale waved at Amiru and Gilbert to say not to worry about it, as he looked back to the front.
King Zed had arrived and Crown Princess Aristeia was behind him, wearing white and blue suit. With her blonde braided hair and blue diamond eyes, Aristeia looks ethereal .
– WOAH! She's so pretty!!
Cale could feel his face heating up and he could also see several nobles also looking full of amazement with red cheeks at Aristeia.
While Aristeia, who was in front of all of It, pretended to not know it.
━━°⌜ 크로스맨의 우수성 ⌟°━━
The memorial and medal ceremony then started.
Aristeia hummed a song while standing behind King Zed.
– Kind human! You're very beautiful and you also look healthier, you are no longer pale. And do you know that-
Aristeia smiled as she heard Raon's voice in her head. The poison in her body finally completely disappeared and Isbert decided to sleep for quite a long time.
King Zed spoke in a loud voice that was stronger than ever. There still was a large number of people in the plaza, but the atmosphere was completely different. It was very quiet.
“We are gathered back here today to show that we will not cower under fear.”
King Zed called out to the crowd once again. It was a warning to the enemies, as well as something to rally the crowd. King Zed looked down to the plaza from the highest platform as he continued to speak.
“Many people showed heroic deeds during that incident. We were able to protect this land like the past thanks to their bravery.”
When King Zed tried to make eye contact with Cale but Cale stealthily turned away in order to look past the King toward the sky behind him, Aristeia couldn't help but chuckle a little.
Until King Zed told Aristeia to come forward and make a speech.
And Aristeia didn't know if this was because she had managed to hide her ancient powers from him or because he wanted to test her.
Whatever it was, Aristeia stepped forward and faced all the nobles below her.
It's time to activate her glib tongue.
"Thank you."
And everything fell into complete silence.
Everyone stared wide-eyed in shock at Aristeia as she said those sincere words.
Even Cale was slightly surprised, not expecting that Aristeia would say that out of all the words he thought he would say.
'How can she sound so sincere with just one word? Did her glib tongue improve?'
"Thank you for surviving that incident. Thank you to the knights, guards, priests, mages and soldiers who did their best to protect both the nobles and the civilians."
"Thank you to our heroes today for protecting us. Thank you to the civilians for protecting each other when others couldn't."
Every word that came out of her mouth sounded sincere and heartwarming. It makes almost everyone change their opinion about her. Some people even shed tears.
'How can we never realise we have an angel as our crown princess?' is what everyone was thinking right now except Cale.
If only they knew...
"Thanks to you all, no one died although some were injured. Especially to Cale Henituse, our main hero today, with his silver shield ancient power that saved many people."
Cale silently cursed Aristeia as the attention was on him. Even though Aristeia didn't show it, Cale could hear her sinister laugh.
"I also want to apologise. For not being able to save some of you, for being careless. To all of you, thank you for being strong."
"And I want to say something to the enemy, that we are not afraid of you. I and the others will continue to stand strong, the Rowoon Kingdom will always stand and will not fall."
"Mark my words."
And almost everyone realises. Where was the king, the second and third princes when their citizens needed them? It was the Unfavour Crown Princess Aristeia and the Trash Cale Henituse who were trying their hardest to save them until they coughed up blood. The Crown Princess even refused treatment from the Priests, instead telling them to treat other people.
Ironic. The trash young master and the unfavour crown princess who was once hated and ignored were the ones who did their best to save them.
"In that regard, we will now hand out the medals to those heroic individuals!"
And everyone stared in amazement as a small explosion appeared above their heads and ice particles descended.
With that, King Zed and Aristeia started the medal ceremony and everyone went up one by one to receive their medal.
Waaaaaaaaaaa-
Cheering filled the plaza, as if it had never been silent from the start. Raon's voice filled Cale’s head once again.
– Kind human is always a kind human.
Cale could only sigh. If only he knew...
━━°⌜ 크로스맨의 우수성 ⌟°━━
The atmosphere was much better now. People all enjoyed the medal ceremony as if it was a festival. This jovial environment made it possible for anybody to approach Cale right now.
“Young master Cale.”
Cale turned toward the quiet voice calling out to him. There were quite a lot of nobles who headed back home, thinking that the capital was a dangerous place because of the terror incident. That was why the number of nobles here was less than before, but one of those nobles approached Cale and called out to him.
“What is it, young master Venion?”
Venion Stan was still here. In addition, the heads of each region were still here as well.
“I heard that you declined a medal. Will you not regret it?”
The gazes of the nobles who had been looking up at the platform all turned toward Venion and Cale. Cale did not know why Venion was smiling so gently and asking him that question.
– I want to kill him.
Cale was just worried that Venion’s body would blow up right here. Aristeia on the other hand, who also received the same words from Raon, didn't care if Venion died on the spot or not.
Cale had rejected a medal. The reason for it was simple. He did not want to get ‘recorded.’
There is a record of all of the past kings of the kingdom in the highest floor of the royal library. The floor underneath that holds the record of all of the ‘heroes,’ who have received different medals of honor throughout the history of the kingdom.
The crown used the fact that they needed to continue to provide these heroes with their reward money to locate and keep track of these heroes.
That might sound like fame and honor to others, but it just sounds like chains to him.
Cale did not want to be recorded anywhere. It was easier to forget someone who was not recorded. Who would remember the incidents at this plaza in the future when war was going to break out soon? Even if they recalled this incident, they would remember other things first.
The fact that he knew this was part of the reason Cale had decided to step forward during the terror incident, as well as the reason he wanted to avoid getting recorded.
Cale started to smile as he looked toward Venion and started to speak.
“What would I regret?”
Cale had nothing to regret. He had received a handsome reward, and most importantly.
“It is enough that we managed to survive.”
He was able to live without getting seriously injured. That was the absolutely most important truth for Cale, no, for Kim Rok Soo. The area around Cale became silent. Venion spoke after a while so as to break that silence.
“… I see.”
Aristeia, who heard Cale's words, silently face-palmed with a so-done face.
'This is why you won't get your slacker life, Cale.'
“Yes. I am also very shy. I’m too shy to go up there to receive a medal.”
Venion’s expression turned odd. However, Cale just shrugged his shoulders and turned around to clap for another person who was receiving a medal.
Raon was debating how to kill Venion quickly and simply, before he looked at Aristeia then Cale and the people around Cale and shook his head.
There were too many people looking at Cale right now. Both the nobles and the people down below were looking at Cale. Raon thought things would get very complicated and annoying for Cale if he killed Venion right now, so he decided to act like Cale and be still, very still, as he watched the ceremony.
“This concludes today’s ceremony. However, this king will not forget this moment. I will remember it day after day in order to not forget the valiant heroes!”
The ceremony ended with the king’s final remarks.
━━°⌜ 크로스맨의 우수성 ⌟°━━
“Sniff! It smells salty! Is this the sea?”
The red kitten Hong looked out the open carriage window and sniffed the air. Cale nodded his head as he received a small round item that Raon handed to him.
“This is the condensed mana from the bomb?”
Raon nodded his head at Cale’s question and responded.
“Yes. We can make a new magic bomb now.”
Cale became jovial at this confirmation and opened the carriage window wide. The cool sea breeze entered the carriage as he looked out toward the Northeastern sea. There were many islands visible in the ocean. The Northeastern sea had quite a number of these small islands.
"My, my, how cunning."
A melodious and delicate voice entered the ears of the three individuals. Their attention was drawn to a woman with light brown skin with beautiful brown eyes and long dark brown hair. The woman wore a black robe that covered most of her body. The woman in front of them could easily be mistaken as someone from the jungle or a Southerner.
"Thanks for the compliment, crown princess Aristeia, the sun of our kingdom-"
"Shut up."
Aristeia leaned back on the chair, while Cale looked at her silently.
If Aristeia while wearing her disguise is already beautiful, Aristeia without her disguise looks heavenly .
Raon wasn't lying when he said that Aristeia is very beautiful without a disguise.
"Tell me one more time why did you choose to follow me? Don't you have paperwork as the crown princess there?" Cale asked with a straight face. "And how can you just reveal your true form to me? Aren't you afraid that I could use this against you or reveal your identity or hate you?"
"But you don't."
Cale clicked his tongue hearing the quarter's dark elf short reply in front of him.
But that's the truth.
While stroking the heads of Raon and the kittens, Aristeia sent Cale a grin. "If you really want to take advantage of this or hate me, you won't look normal and talk to me with a stoic face after I take off my disguise. But I'll admit, your surprised face is quite cute."
Hearing that, the tips of Cale's ears turned red.
"After all, I have my clone to take care of my work. I can always control my clone whenever I want."
"And pry to tell, how the fuck-"
"Don't question it."
Cale only sighed. Somehow the crown princess in front of him found out about his plan and decided to follow him, even confidently showing her true form (which he admits is very very beautiful, but he won't tell her that.)
“Oh! Look at that sharp cliff!”
The sharp cliff brought forth both awe and fear as they were riding across a path created on top of that cliff.
Cale looked toward the, ‘Cliff of Winds,’ the most beautiful sight in the Ubarr territory. There were many small islands next to that cliff.
Between the cliff and the islands were multiple raging whirlpools. Those whirlpools were the culprit behind why the seas of the Ubarr territory were so dangerous.
‘The mage slayer ends up landing on one of those islands after being shipwrecked by the whirlpools, and ends up finding the, ‘Sound of the Wind.’
The mage slayer was known for being an intelligent barbarian. He was even stronger than Lock, the Blue Wolf Tribe member and the future Wolf King, and held the title of the strongest individual in the Western Continent. The mage slayer’s name was Toonka, known as Toonka the Tyrant.
‘I just need to get it before he does.’
If things went as it did in the novel, it was still too early for Toonka to come here. Cale was thinking that there was no chance he would run into Toonka as he looked out to the sea with satisfaction. This journey would be smooth, as long as he avoided Toonka.
Meanwhile, Aristeia, who knew what Cale was thinking, sighed. Lately she's been getting memories of the contents of the novel again but this time it's clearer and she admits that's really helpful. Although there are still some things that are blurry and just don't make sense.
Cale, who had been looking out the window with satisfaction, could see something far in the horizon.
“Hmm?”
Cale rubbed his eyes a bit, but it was still the same.
“…Isn’t that a whale?”
A pod of large whales were shooting water into the air as they crossed through the Northeastern Sea to head north. Cale suddenly had an ominous feeling, and clenched the magic bomb ingredients in his hand.
The whales tended to live in the Northern sea. This was true for the Whale Tribe as well. It was only during the war with the mermaids that the Whale Tribe came down south.
‘I’m sure that’s just a group of whales passing by. Tons of whales head north. Absolutely no way, right?'
Aristeia muffled her laughter with her hands when she saw the expression Cale was making.
“I feel a strong presence.”
That statement stabbed right into Cale's brain and Aristeia burst out laughing.
That was why Cale was frowning when they arrived at a small village just outside the Cliff of Winds.
“Young master, did you get sick on the way?"
Cale shook his head at Hans’s question.
“No, I just have a bad feeling.”
“Ah, it is scary because of the cliffs. However, our driver is a veteran, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Cale ignored the useless comments from Hans and reached his hand out to the person approaching him.
“Long time no see, young lady Amiru.”
“Hello, young master Cale.”
Amiru had her uniquely calm smile on her face as she welcomed Cale and crew.
Then Amiru looked at the beautiful woman beside Cale who was stroking Ohn and Hong's head while catching her breath after laughing. The woman wore a black robe with a hood that covered her hair and forehead, a black face veil that covered the lower half of her face so that only her eyes could be seen.
And yet, Amiru could see her outstanding beauty.
Light brown skin that looked somehow radiant, eyes and hair with the most beautiful brown colour she had ever seen.
Amiru's heart does a strange little flip.
Noticing Amiru staring at Aristeia, Cale felt displeased and pretended to cough. Amiru immediately realised that she had been looking at the beautiful woman in front of her.
"Amiru, this is my friend-"
"Byeol."
Attention was immediately drawn to Aristeia who stretched out her hand and smiled sweetly. Amiru didn't realise how nervous Aristeia was but the others could see it.
"You can call me Byeol."
"A-ah, then my name Amiru Ubarr," Amiru stuttered while shaking hands with 'Byeol'.
Aristeia wisely ignored Amiru's red cheeks.
"Miss Byeol, your voice sound familiar..." Amiru's words immediately made Aristeia's body tense up and the kittens in her arms meowed and tried to calm her down.
"It's that so?"
"Yeah, it sounds like-"
"Anyway-" Cale immediately cut Amiru off after seeing Aristeia tense and distracted try to her and it's successful.
While Cale was distracting Amiru, Aristeia took a trembling breath, trying to calm herself down. Her heart was pounding with fear and nervousness as she almost got caught.
'I almost got caught.'
– Kind human! Are you okay?
"Are you okay, nyaa?"
Aristeia could feel the worried gazes of Ohn, Hong, Raon and even Cale. Swallowing her saliva and licking her dry lip, she nodded.
“I'm fine,” she whispered and walked after Cale and Amiru.
This was a small seaside village in the Ubarr territory. This small village, that had nothing special and allowed the residents to live in peace and quiet until now, was suddenly busy with visitors.
The village was quickly changing every day. However, they would soon face an opportunity that will allow their village to change incomparably in the near future. Tomorrow night would be that moment. Tomorrow night, Cale was planning on blowing up a magic bomb deep inside the ocean.
However, something that, in Cale’s point of view, should have never happened had happened. This terrible situation began when one of Amiru’s knights came to report to Amiru. The knight urgently approached Amiru and quietly reported.
“My lady, the person we rescued has regained consciousness.”
“Oh, is that so?”
‘Rescue?’
That word made Cale and Aristeia think of a single person.
As Cale started to frown with doubt on his mind, Amiru noticed Cale’s expression and started to explain.
“We were inspecting the shoreline and nearby islands for the new naval base when we rescued a shipwrecked person. It seems that he has regained consciousness.”
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
“We were debating what to do when we saw him unconscious and being dragged into the whirlpool, but I remembered what you and the crown princess did at the plaza and decided we needed to save him.”
Amiru continued to speak to Cale. Aristeia flinched slightly when she was suddenly called out.
“Because a person’s life is precious, right, young master Cale?”
Cale answered that question after a long moment of silence.
“…Of course.”
“I knew young master Cale would answer like that.”
Cale could not even think about Amiru’s smiling face right now. All that was on his mind right now were the details regarding how the novel described Toonka’s situation.
Amiru, who had no way of knowing what Cale was thinking about, thought the serious expression on Cale’s face was because of how caring of a person he was. Meanwhile Aristeia, who knew what Cale was thinking and the misunderstanding that was going on right now, could only continue to pet the kittens in her hands and trying to contain her laughter.
Amiru then continued to speak.
“Based on his outfit and physique, he seemed to be someone from the Whipper Kingdom.”
It was definitely Toonka.
Cale’s face turned paler as Amiru continued to speak.
The non-mage faction that was fighting against the mages in the Whipper Kingdom were ignored as barbarians by the mages.
However, there were no barbarians in this world.
All humans had the same brain. It was just that, as time went on and history was created, they all grew and developed in the way that was most suitable for them.
The non-mages of the Whipper Kingdom were all strong individuals who managed to take control of the Whipper Kingdom’s harsh mountains and shores without using any magic. They were people who focused on strengthening the human body rather than relying on other factors, such as magic.
They were rebelling because they wanted to destroy the current Whipper Kingdom that was made only for mages to have easy lives and return it to its original form.
The citizens of the Whipper Kingdom were on the side of these non-mages. Foreigners may think that the barbarians were trying to take over the kingdom, but they were not barbarians to the Whipper Kingdom’s citizens. They were just free people.
They used instinct to take down this kingdom of logic.
‘The problem is that Toonka is extremely stupid.’
An intelligent barbarian? There were some who said that, but, in Cale’s opinion, Toonka was just a simple and stupid person who just happened to be very strong.
And stupid people were the scariest type of people.
This was because you could not talk to them.
Aristeia on the other hand, thought…
'Well, if you can't talk to them, it's better to talk to them with violence.'
Aristeia-no, Byeol is no stranger to violence. She had felt and seen violence since childhood. She knew some things had to be done with violence in order for them to listen and obey.
Aristeia stared at Cale silently.
'But let's see what Cale will do…'
She never clearly saw how Cale deals with Toonka.
“Young master Cale, you do not have to worry about that person. He seemed to recover very quickly.”
Cale laughed it off after hearing Amiru’s words.
“I’m not worried at all. In fact, I’d prefer it if he continued to get treatment for a long time.”
Cale’s hope was that Toonka would remain in recovery until he left. Amiru, as well as the knights who were with her in the capital, all looked toward Cale with warm gazes.
Cale did not have time to pay attention to such gazes. He had enough of a headache trying to figure out why Toonka arrived here so early.
“Young lady Amiru, could you please show us to our rooms?”
“Of course. You are still not at full strength yet, right?”
“Yes. I am still hurt.”
“...Oh no, let’s hurry then.”
Cale only had a single thought in his head as Amiru started to walk quickly with a serious expression on her face before slowing back down to Cale’s speed.
‘The Civil War must be happening earlier than in the novel.’
If Cale thought about it that way, everything made sense. But what would have brought forth the Civil War? However, Cale did not think long about this question.
The fact that Toonka was shipwrecked meant that his ship was destroyed by the mages’ attacks and that he had returned from the north after gaining strength.
That meant that, even if it was moved up, the story itself did not change.
The strength that instilled fear in the mages. The peak of human potential when it came to physical strength. Toonka survived through the sea, mountain, desert, jungle, volcano, and glaciers with just his physical strength alone.
Toonka had survived through nature and its harshest elements. There was no way that mages, who use mana, a power that is drawn from nature, could defeat such a person.
‘Maybe a dragon can kill him.’
A dragon could probably still kill Toonka with a single hit.
But Cale immediately threw away that idea as Aristeia glared at him like she knew what he was thinking.
'Don't you dare use Raon to kill,' was what the eyes said.
Cale said that he needed to rest as soon as he arrived at the residence and sent everybody out of his room except Aristeia before looking up at the ceiling and starting to speak.
“Hey.”
“What is it, human.”
Raon revealed himself. Cale started to seriously speak to the dragon.
“Stay by my side without going anywhere for a while.”
“You don't need to always follow Cale's words,” Aristeia said after Cale finished speaking.
"I will do whatever I want.”
Raon snorted and turned away from Cale. However, the way the dragon’s wings were flapping let Cale and Aristeia know that Raon would listen to him. He was saying one thing, but his body was saying another.
Aristeia just sighed and sat down on the chair and the kittens in her hands jumped away from her hands.
Aristeia took off her robe and face veil as the windows and doors closed and locked. Behind the large robe, Aristeia wore a black long-sleeved shirt and black trousers. Simple and comfy.
And not even a second after Aristeia took off her robe and face veil, Raon immediately sat down on Aristeia's lap.
Aristeia chuckled. "For a dragon, you are quite clingy."
"Silence, kind human!"
And yet, Raon didn't avoid Aristeia's touch and instead leaned himself into the warm hand of the human who first showed him warmth.
Ohn and Hong decided that they wanted to be petted by Aristeia too.
As for Cale, who was looking at the peaceful scene, unconsciously make a soft smile.
Peace and calm. Those were the two things Cale had always wanted.
Cale would do anything to keep the peace in front of him. This time, he will protect the people he cares about.
Cale then looked around his room. It was a residence that the head of the Ubarr family had built a while ago in this small village.
‘It doesn’t really fit with the rest of the village.’
This luxurious room did not fit with the village they were in. That meant that Amiru’s mother, the head of the Ubarr territory, already had plans to develop this area when she originally started the construction of this residence.
That vision was finally becoming a reality 10 years later.
‘It probably took a while to draw in Gilbert’s family and get the protection of the Wheelsman family.’
Cale was scheduled to meet with Amiru’s mother before leaving the Ubarr territory. She was going to come from the city with the Ubarr family’s main estate around that time.
Cale thought about that meeting for a bit before moving to stand in front of the window. He could see the entire village through the large window, as well as the Cliff of Winds.
The Cliff of Winds.
For hundreds of years, the water in front of the cliff was ravaged by a whirlpool, causing headaches for the Ubarr citizens trying to head out into the sea.
But there was a reason Amiru’s family still considered this area to be important.
There were two other villages that were by the sea, but this village was at the centre of the three. The shoreline that was in the shape of a crescent moon had this village in the centre with two cliffs on either side, making this the only village that made it easy for boats to set out.
Furthermore, islands of different sizes were visible from the village, making it a pretty sight as well. It would be a great location for a military base.
Cale was scheduled to go to the smallest island tomorrow morning. The ‘Sound of the Wind,’ that was the source of all of these whirlpools was located right next to that island.
Toonka had said the following about the Sound of the Wind in the novel.
< “It is a quiet but chaotic power.” >
It was exactly what Cale was looking for.
A power that would allow him to quickly and quietly run away while causing chaos for the strong. Cale started to slightly smile in anticipation of tomorrow morning.
That smirk soon changed to a full-on smile that was full of satisfaction.
“Young master-nim! Uncle Beacrox made this seafood just for you!”
“Uncle is very excited about the sea!”
“Right! Cale-nim, please eat a lot!”
Cale looked at the ten wolf children bringing food to his room with satisfaction.
He had told the others that they were Lock’s cousins and that they all lived in the same village when their families were killed by bandits.
Cale’s smile became even thicker. It was not because he liked the ten of them. Cale’s eyes were focused on Beacrox, who was bringing trays of food behind the children.
Ron’s son, a chef, and a torture expert. That was Beacrox. He usually wore clothes without any wrinkles nor even a speck of dust.
Beacrox's black eyes sharpened as he noticed the presence of another person he didn't recognize, not just that, a powerful presence.
"Young master, who is that woman?" he asked warily.
The ten wolf children also looked at Aristeia in awe of her beauty and curiosity.
"Noona! You are so beautiful!"
"What is your name?"
"Are you an angel?"
Hearing the latter question, Aristeia immediately laughed, not noticing that the figures of four people nodded their heads.
'Crown princess/good human/Ari-noona/-unnie is like an angel.'
"My name is Byeol and no, I'm not an angel."
The eyes of the ten wolf cubs instantly lit up and Aristeia almost closed her eyes because of their light.
Although on the outside Aristeia looks calm, inwardly she squeals at the cuteness of the ten wolf children.
“Ah, right! Please eat, young master Cale."
“Great, thanks. It was a good decision to have you all help Beacrox in the kitchen.”
Cale thanked Maes, the twelve-year-old who was the eldest of the 10 wolf children, before picking up his fork.
"And for Miss Byeol, we're sorry for not preparing a good meal for you. Don't worry, we will make-"
"Ah, you don't have to. You weren't told about my arrival and after all, I've already eaten," interrupted Aristeia.
Aristeia ignored the disbelieving gazes from the five people (Cale, Beacrox, Ohn, Hong and Raon.)
Beacrox just stood there while the wolf children set up the table and then headed out.
“Uncle, are you not coming?”
The wolf children were bright and pure. They called Beacrox uncle and treated him like family.
“…I’m coming.”
The children headed out first after hearing his comment. All of them were dressed cleanly and had their hair well kept, as if they never lived in a remote village before.
It was inevitable with Beacrox’s style.
‘Now that I think about it, he would be a really good babysitter.’
Cale avoided Beacrox’s gaze, thinking that Beacrox would come at him with his cooking knife if he knew what Cale was thinking about. Beacrox was living as a clean and respectful chef right now. He could not be cold to the wolf children.
All he could do was glare at Cale every so often.
Cale picked up the fork and knife and spoke to Beacrox who was leaving.
“Thanks for always giving me a delicious meal.”
“…Yes sir.”
Click.
Beacrox left the room and closed the door behind him. Cale looked at the door and started to speak.
“Come eat.”
Cale’s meal buddies, On, Hong, and the Black Dragon, rushed to the table and started to eat. Cale looked at Aristeia.
"You know, you can ask for food."
Aristeia just sat quietly and read a book. To be honest, he was very hungry but he didn't want to trouble those kids and Beacrox.
And a few minutes later, a knock could be heard and when Aristeia opened the door, she saw a plate with delicious food.
'Eat.
-B'
Aristeia let out a smile and the next day, Beacrox found the kitchen very clean with a note.
'Thanks for the meal.
-Byeol:)'