Chapter 3
“…Do you know what this is?”
Sian’s expression hardened dramatically as she unfolded the cloth. Wrapped in the white fabric was a strange, pure white barb of unknown origin.
Though bloodstained, it wasn’t enough to obscure its original color. About the size of two finger joints, one end had multiple prongs spiraling out, while the opposite end was shaped like a latch, seemingly designed to be attached to something.
“This was embedded in the prince’s body?”
Sian couldn’t bring herself to touch the grotesque-looking barb, only frowning deeply. Max nodded up and down. Conversely, Sian tilted her head, her expression filled with doubt.
“This is strange. Anyone can see this is for assassination, right?”
“We thought the same. That’s why we brought it to you, Miss Sian. But what’s puzzling is the material of this assassination tool. It’s not metal, it’s more like…”
“An animal’s bone?”
Sian interrupted Max.
“If it’s an animal’s bone, it’s an animal’s bone. A dragon is an animal too, after all.”
“…Pardon?”
Max’s eyes widened.
“This is a bone extracted from a living dragon. The dragon’s pain when the bone was carved out remains as magical energy. It wouldn’t be good for ordinary people, but it’s even more fatal for a dragon’s master.”
If such an ominous object fell into the hands of an ordinary person, the victim would merely be unfortunate. But if it fell into the hands of a dragon’s master, it would be disastrous. Just possessing it would act like poison, causing death. And it was even embedded in his body…
It was remarkable that he was still alive.
“It’s too obvious that someone was trying to assassinate the dragon’s master. Why would the Crown Prince, who publicly announced the prince’s treachery and moved to eliminate him, use such a crude and horrific weapon?”
The uniquely shaped barb was clearly custom-made. It was perfectly an assassin’s weapon, and one that only the vilest of them would use.
“Could it be evidence of the Crown Prince’s strong will to eliminate him…?”
“…It’s too suspicious for that. Living dragon bones have been hard to find even on the black market for quite some time now. …Surely someone of the Crown Prince’s stature wouldn’t keep such a venomous weapon in the Imperial Palace?”
Impossible.
Sian crossed her arms and looked down at the peculiar assassination tool with serious eyes. Max also looked like he wanted to sigh deeply.
“…It’s certain that the prince didn’t assassinate the Dragon King. But the reason why the Crown Prince attacked the prince under the pretext of the Dragon King’s assassination is something to think about…”
Hmm, Sian made a thoughtful noise.
Max spent some time staring at Sian. Soon, feeling his gaze, Sian looked up.
“What?”
“No, it’s just something I’ve been noticing. Miss Sian, you seem to believe in His Highness’s innocence more than anyone else.”
“…Huh?”
Sian blinked her large eyes, making a blank sound. It was the very expression of someone caught off guard.
“Isn’t that right? You keep saying that since the world believes it, your opinion doesn’t matter… but you’re not doubting His Highness’s innocence at all, are you?”
“…Huuuh?”
A strange sound involuntarily escaped her lips.
“Well… Prince Carlston and Idelin have absolutely no reason to assassinate His Majesty’s dragon…”
“But His Highness the Crown Prince has no reason to falsely accuse Prince Carlston either, right?”
‘It’s strange. There’s no way the prince would have assassinated the Dragon King, and the Crown Prince has no reason to frame the prince for a crime he didn’t commit.’
When rumors spread throughout the empire that Prince Carlston had been eliminated by Crown Prince Hendrick for the treasonous crime of assassinating the Emperor’s dragon, the Dragon King Elena, that had been Sian’s opinion.
Sian’s expression turned angry, full of discontent.
“What kind of answer do you want to hear? You were the one making a fuss about saving the prince from the beginning.”
Realizing she had fallen into Max’s leading questions, Sian glared at him. In response, Max smiled, the corners of his mouth stretching wide.
“There’s no particular answer I want to hear. It’s just how it is.”
Sian narrowed her eyes at Max, full of dissatisfaction. Max’s sly smile deepened.
“Why don’t you hear about His Highness’s condition directly from Dr. Zivago? He should be in His Highness’s tent right now.”
* * *
“Miss Sian.”
“Sis.”
As Sian arrived at the tent, the rest of the mercenaries, including Bill and Skull, were gathered in front of it.
“What are you all doing here?”
“Huh? What else? We’re here to see a rare sight we might only get once in a lifetime.”
“Is the prince some circus monkey for you to gawk at?”
Sian snapped at the mercenaries irritably. Despite her sharp tone, the men laughed boisterously, unfazed.
“Of course not, but isn’t it too fascinating? I’ve never seen someone who looks like that before.”
“Did you see his face? His head is this small, but it fits all the features…”
“I think his skin might be better than yours, Sis.”
“They call him the Saint of Ivarid or whatever, but with that face, even curses would sound like blessings, ya know?”
“He must have been with a lot of women, right?”
The men’s chatter burst forth like rapid-fire. Sian clicked her tongue, visibly frowning.
“Quiet! Disperse, disperse!”
Feeling her ears ache, Sian waved her hands widely as if shooing away flies, pushing through the mercenaries.
“Woah, it’s a tyrant, a tyrant.”
“The witch has appeared―”
The mercenaries teased even as they backed away from Sian’s force. When Sian’s eyes flashed at their words, they burst into laughter and quickly disappeared.
“…Good grief.”
Sian muttered with a displeased face, looking at where the men had vanished.
Contrary to Max’s words that Dr. Zivago would be in the prince’s tent, there was no one inside the tent where the mercenaries had been gathered to peek. Only the prince lay neatly on a makeshift bed, his complexion ashen.
Sian clicked her tongue lightly again. Prince Carlston appeared to be unconscious. Unlike when she first saw him in the dark forest, he now wore a clean shirt and looked neat.
“No matter how good-looking a person is…”
Sian, who had been muttering, frowned.
What’s this? Is something wrong with my eyes?
Sian blinked. Since meeting him in the pitch-black forest where even moonlight couldn’t penetrate, this was the first time Sian was seeing the prince in a bright place. There was clearly a torch stand in a corner of the tent to light up the darkness, but was it an illusion?
The light seemed to be coming from the prince’s face rather than the torch.
‘His skin is better than yours, Sis…’
‘Even curses would sound like blessings…’
The words of the mercenaries who had been chattering freely in front of the tent floated in Sian’s mind.
They really say the darndest things. How ridiculous.
Sian desperately tried to deny the mercenaries’ words, but it wasn’t easy. As long as she had eyes, her instincts couldn’t help but affirm their words.
So that’s what they mean by a face as small as a bean, Sian realized unconsciously.
The prince’s face, as he lay neatly with his hands clasped on his chest, completely ignored the laws of perspective. His small face was extremely three-dimensional.
From the straight, refreshing bridge of his nose, to his lips with clear lines despite the lack of blood, to the jawline flowing elegantly into his neck, and even the long eyelashes on his tightly closed eyelids.
…For someone of such noble birth as a prince, and even having a high-bloodline dragon like the silver Idelin, he could have looked like a rotten apple kneaded by foot and it would have been fine, but this is the embodiment of unfairness.
Sian thought to herself as she looked down at Carlston. And in the very next moment, she was startled and covered her own mouth.
At some point, her position had moved right next to the makeshift bed where Prince Carlston lay. She had clearly stopped at the entrance of the tent to look at the prince, but when she came to her senses, her position had changed. She had no memory of moving at all.
A chill ran down her spine.
Was it magic? But the prince was unconscious.
Startled, Sian, pale-faced, stared intently at the prince’s face. Looking closely, he was even more handso… No, that wasn’t the issue. Not a single one of the prince’s long eyelashes moved.
‘You were enchanted.’
At that moment, a voice echoed in her mind.
‘Even if he’s a dragon’s master, would he have magic to draw people in? You were enchanted and walked over on your own.’
The voice that arose in her mind clicked its tongue, genuinely dumbfounded.
What, so that’s what it was?
Sian awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, accepting reality.
‘You’ll never break that habit of being dazzled by faces, Sian Roosevelt.’
“…Shut up.”
Sian coldly retorted to the voice in her head.
Who’s being dazzled by faces… As she was thinking, she felt something warm trickle down the corner of her mouth. Startled by the sensation, she wiped her mouth with her fingertips, only then realizing that she had been drooling while looking at the prince. Her face reddened involuntarily.
Tsk tsk tsk, ‘he’ in her mind clicked his tongue as if to say she was hopeless. Even with ten mouths, there was nothing she could say to defend herself.
Ugh, Sian irritably waved her hand, cutting off the voice chattering away in her head. The prince seemed to sense Sian’s presence, furrowing his brow slightly and shifting a little.
midori
thanks! urgh, i despise Max’s personality, i hope i see him suffer a bit soon. loool who is this ‘he’ in sian’s head? very curious!