Chapter 127 :

Chapter 127 - A Subtle Change

Once the strange death of the First Prince, Rasia, began to be spoken of by people, it showed no sign of easily leaving their mouths.

The amusing point was that those at the center of this were none other than the imperial family.

Unlike others, who dared not say this or that about Rasia’s death, the golden-haired children of God were desperate to learn the truth of the rumor whenever they had the chance.

It was the rumor that Rasia might have died from illness.

Many words wrapped the fear they were feeling for the first time since birth in pity and curiosity toward the First Prince.

On the other hand, the Seventh Prince’s death contrasted with the death of the First Prince Rasia.

His death drew surprisingly little attention.

Even those who had resolved their inferiority complex about their low rank through the existence of the Seventh Prince focused more on Rasia’s illness than on the Seventh Prince’s death.

Thanks to that, an unexpected figure who visited the desolate and chaotic castle of the Seventh Prince was able to wander quietly through the castle.

It was the Eighth Prince, Celos Abiran.

* * *

Is he really dead?

Every time Celos stepped onto a new floor of the desolate castle, he looked around for no reason.

He had always had the impression that this was not a place fit to live in, but now that even the Seventh Prince bastard was gone, the castle could no longer be called a place where people could live.

There were servants still remaining because no disposition had yet been given, but the castle was quiet.

The fact that there was not even a single knight guarding the entrance seemed to make the Seventh Prince’s death even more certain, and Celos walked down the corridor in an even heavier mood.

He did not even feel like reprimanding the irreverence of not showing even the minimum sincerity due when receiving a member of the imperial family.

Celos could not clearly point to the cause of this filthy feeling.

Was it because the number of imperial family members with less Manis than himself had decreased, or was it simply......

Squish.

Before the assumption that rose on its own could occupy his head, Celos raised his head at the noise that pierced his ears.

At the presence felt from inside a room where no one should have been, Celos unknowingly walked almost as if running and flung the door open.

“Kyaak!!!”

A thin, delicate voice that could not have belonged to the owner of the room screamed.

Celos, whose strength somehow drained away, glared at the cause of his disappointment.

“What are you doing here?”

“I-I greet the Eighth Prince.”

Anna, who still had not fixed her stutter, bowed her head before Celos.

Celos looked around the empty room.

No matter how beggar-like the room had been, it had not been this bad.

He threateningly grabbed Anna’s arm.

“No matter how vermin-like he was, he had inherited imperial blood. Did you think stealing the keepsakes of the master you served would be forgiven?”

At his cold, sharp face, tears welled up in Anna’s eyes.

“N-no, Prince! Stealing? I would never even imagine such a thing!”

Anna’s desperate cry only irritated Celos’s temper further.

“Then what is this completely empty room!”

When Celos shouted, Anna tightly shut both eyes and desperately cried out.

“It was something the Seventh Prince personally ordered! He said we could take anything that could be turned into money!”

“What?”

At the unexpected answer, the grip holding Anna’s arm weakened.

“I-it is true! Lord Ran said that if anything happened to him, I should tell the others that they could take valuable things from the castle and leave......”

“Silence! That is not what matters!”

Celos cut off Anna, who was frantically spitting out words.

Anna flinched and looked up at Celos’+ gleaming eyes.

“Are you saying that bastard knew beforehand that something would happen to him?”

“I-I do not know. I merely conveyed his words......”

“That is the same thing! You stupid thing!”

Unable to hold back his temper, Celos shouted again.

Anna, who was on the verge of fainting again, sank down, but someone like Anna was no longer a concern of Celos.

That bastard had definitely known something would happen to him.

Would he have just quietly let it happen?

He was a bastard with many incomprehensible aspects.

Whether he was dead or alive, one thing was certain.

That bastard had not simply died after being caught up in an accident.

Celos, who would never dream that he himself had played a major role in Ran Abiran’s survival, rapidly turned his thoughts.

His sharp gaze fixed on Anna.

“What else did that bastard say? Were there any other strange signs before his death?”

“N-no, there was not...... Ah.”

Anna, who had answered reflexively, stopped speaking as if something had come to mind.

“What is it? If something comes to mind, speak quickly! Do not dawdle!”

At his urging, Anna drew her neck in like a turtle and watched his mood.

“R-recently, he seemed to be in a good mood. I thought his expression had improved a little after he grew closer to the Eighth Prince......”

“.......”

Anna’s answer gradually slowed.

Because the more her words continued, the more she felt that Celos’s face, which had been pressing her, was twisting.

But before Anna could properly confirm it, Celos’s face was covered in anger.

“Who said I was close with that bastard?”

He muttered lowly, then glared at Anna again.

“That is not what I asked. I am asking whether there was anyone he met specially, an object he found, or a place he visited.”

At the specific question, Anna moved her lips.

“On the last day before he passed away, he only confirmed whether the First Prince had truly passed away. He rarely left the study, so......”

Not very helpful.

“Then why are you still here? Everyone else must have grabbed their share and run away.”

“N-not everyone ran away. Those with nowhere to go decided to stay here for the time being. Until the......Seventh Prince’s funeral rite......”

At Anna’s words, Celos’s mouth twisted.

“How stupid. There will be no funeral for that bastard. He will simply be forgotten as if he never existed from the beginning.”

“W-why?”

The flustered Anna unknowingly asked back.

At the child’s insolent question, Celos twitched his eyebrow as if he had heard every stupid thing imaginable.

“Because he has no such value. He was treated as nonexistent from the beginning. At best, he was a bastard who lived as a toy for the imperial family to mock.”

If the black-haired prince had one value, it was only as a means for other imperial family members to relieve their inferiority complex.

Like himself, he was someone who most relieved their anxiety among the imperial family.

At least I am better than that, better than that powerless vermin-like prince—an existence that gave them such reassurance.

Celos knew him better than anyone.

“The moment he died, that bastard lost even that final value.”

At Celos’ calm and cruel explanation, Anna bit her lip.

Whether she did or not, the red-haired prince continued speaking.

“At most, his aide will suffer a little.”

Anna recalled Sein, who had not shown his face for a while.

She also recalled the face of the councilor on the first floor, who had complained that things were difficult because he had vanished without properly doing his work.

Thinking about it, there was something slightly strange about how he had not shown his face even once since the Seventh Prince’s death.

She had thought he would be the first to gather anything in the castle that could become money and flee.

Because of the sudden death of the Seventh Prince, she had not had the energy to care and had not noticed him until now.

“What is that expression?”

Celos asked Anna, whose expression had become awkward.

“......Lord Sein, that is, the aide, has not shown his face even once, and I just remembered that. He is not someone who would normally be this quiet.”

In any case, it meant there was at least one strange bastard.

Celos put the aide’s name into his head and turned around.

At his movement as if to leave the castle, Anna hurriedly bowed her head.

At that, as if something had occurred to him, Celos stopped for a moment.

“Starting tomorrow, I will visit the Seventh Prince’s study once every afternoon. Tell the remaining ones not to touch anything left in the castle.”

At Celos’ order, Anna bowed her head even lower and barely answered that she understood.

“And starting tomorrow, you will have to explain to me in detail what the Seventh Prince usually did.”

At the following order, she had no choice but to answer in an even more crawling voice.

After Celos, who had stirred up the castle, disappeared like the wind, and when his footsteps could no longer be heard, Anna let out a sigh of relief and raised her head.

Only now did it feel as if a little strength returned to her toes, which had gone numb from the blood cooling.

Though thinking that from tomorrow onward, days of listening to the frightening Eighth Prince’s shouting would begin made all strength drain from her whole body again.

The resolve she had made one day never to get involved with the imperial family again had gone down the drain, but Anna decided to think positively.

He was frightening enough to make her faint, but perhaps he might not be as frightening as she thought.

Like the Seventh Prince, who had been quite generous to servants as long as they did their work properly.

Though his method was somewhat rough, in any case, Celos Abiran was the only blood relative who had come to the Seventh Prince’s palace after his death.

Anna wriggled her hands, then soon began picking up and organizing the books strewn here and there around the room.

Because it suddenly felt lonely that the room of the Seventh Prince, who would not even have a funeral, was this messy.

* * *

The movement speed of the strange combination of one human and three orcs was very slow.

It even felt like it was taking longer than when two humans moved together.

There were two reasons this could happen despite the average stride of the group having grown by fifty centimeters.

The first was the one-armed orc’s stamina problem.

The steps of the creature, who looked as though it would not be strange if his breath went out immediately, were too slow.

Though he himself seemed unwilling to admit that even if he died.

Thud.

Leading the group from the front, I stopped walking at the small commotion and turned back to check the cause of the noise.

Perhaps because the path’s slope began to rise and the strength left his legs, the one-armed orc was panting with one trembling knee bent.

“Kweeek, I tripped and fell.”

Muttering an excuse no one had asked for, the creature struggled to rise.

Watching that staggering state naturally made me worry.

What if he kicks the bucket just like that before we arrive?

It would be a big problem if that creature simply died of natural causes.

If he was going to die, he should at least give up the leader’s seat before dying.

“Kweeek, it would be best to rest for a moment around here.”

We still had to climb two steep uphill slopes ahead.

In his current state, not only would he be unable to climb them, but if we kept advancing like this, it was clear that death away from home would come faster than regaining the leader’s seat.

“Kweeeek!! Shut your mouth!!”

But what came back was the one-armed creature’s strong resistance.

It was because of the second reason we had no choice but to be slow.

“Kweeek, I am the boss!! Kweeek, I decide where we stop!!”

The one-armed orc overworked his body and shouted at me.

“Then decide to rest now.”

Ratel, who had been following behind the leader, cut in with a voice full of annoyance.

This was not very helpful.

Because Ratel’s voice only increased the leader’s defiance.

“Kweeek, you idiot!! Kweeek, I told you to watch this one carefully!!”

Then, deliberately turning his body widely as if threatening him, the creature snapped at the dimwit following us from the very back.

“Kwee, kweeek!”

The dimwit gave something like an answer, but it was not very trustworthy.

Perhaps the memory of nearly dying once at Ratel’s hands was quite vivid, because the creature seemed busy constantly watching Ratel’s mood.

In front of the dimwit, Ratel, who merely had his hands tied and looked twice as relaxed as the leader, was walking lazily.

If you voluntarily became that thing, at least smell a little like bait.

The creature immediately noticed my gaze, but only sent back a look asking what I wanted him to do and did not particularly change his attitude.

As if even that sight displeased him, the leader panted roughly and turned his body sharply.

Since I also did not want to see the empty end of that creature dying from his blood pressure rising, I obediently backed down.

This was the second reason.

The creature was excessively wary of me and Ratel.

Considering that both of us were ultimately aiming for his neck, it was not exactly a wrong choice.

Following behind the leader, I turned my head at the gaze I felt.

“Kwee, kweeek......!”

The dimwit, who had been glancing at me, was startled and pretended to look elsewhere.

The leader’s choice was not wrong.

However, the creature did not yet seem to have noticed that the range of his vigilance was far too narrow.