#071

At the familiar name, Cullen’s eyebrows slightly rose. Though his time in the Imperial Palace wasn’t long, he had learned the names of most nobles then. Moreover, Count Linden was someone who had been more overtly hostile towards him than Duke Lenon.

“I do.”

“As expected, you were confined to the palace. My objective is…”

Just as Ulli’s words were about to continue, the group preparing to leave the first floor descended. Arne, who had been about to wave cheerfully at Cullen, froze at the sight before her. Cullen realized they were still holding pinky fingers.

Kiyen’s gaze, from the very back, fell upon their hands. Cullen remembered that Kiyen didn’t like Ulli, so he quietly released his finger. Ulli, watching Cullen, also shifted her body slightly.

“Hi!”

Ulli seemed to have decided to speak casually to everyone. Finding it difficult to ignore Ulli waving cheerfully, Arne was the first to respond.

“Hello…?”

“Feel free to speak casually! I will.”

Lasano, still clearly not fond of Ulli, smiled with narrowed eyes. He let out a “Hmm,” sound and sat next to Cullen. Kiyen leaned against the staircase wall with no discernible change in expression. Seeing him maintain a distance without coming to the table made Cullen’s heart feel heavy.

However, finding it difficult to initiate conversation, Cullen remained silent.

“You’re quite sociable.”

Ulli shrugged at Lasano’s words as he sat next to Cullen.

“It’s better this way if you live alone. Why are you all speaking so formally? Relax a bit, won’t you?”

“It’s a habit.”

Lasano said so and then asked Cullen, “So, what were you two enjoying so intimately?”

“We were just starting to talk.”

Ulli glanced at the group and then agreed with Cullen.

“Since you’re here, you can all listen. We’ll be traveling together anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you know, right?”

“Please continue.”

“Alright. My objective is one thing. I want Count Linden to lose everything. To be left with nothing, unable to die, wandering forever. That’s what I want.”

Lasano stared at Ulli, seemingly surprised.

“Did the Count do something to you?”

“You know him too? Then you must know what kind of person he is. Greedy, and someone who won’t hesitate to commit inhumane acts for what he desires.”

Ulli said that much and stood up.

“Then let’s go.”

Cullen asked, consciously trying not to look at Kiyen, “Are you taking us to Dark Island immediately?”

“No, I’ve never been to Dark Island.”

At Ulli’s words, Lasano winced.

“Didn’t you say you would tell us about Dark Island?”

“Dark Island isn’t a place anyone can go. However, I can guide you to where the weapons from Dark Island flowed. If you go there, you’ll eventually find out.”

Kiyen, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“Where is that?”

Ulli turned around. She examined Kiyen with eyes filled with curiosity and an unreadable emotion, then smiled and said,

“The Duchy of Jenix.”

“That place was destroyed in the past.”

“I know. The Dragon who protected the Empire burned the entire eastern region.”

It was a meaningful statement.

“There are people who operate from that place as a base. Strange people in black cloaks and masks. But they are all incredibly powerful.”

The gazes of those other than Ulli mingled. Ulli was describing the attire of the people who had contacted the Sorcerers, as Gael had mentioned. By this point, it was certain that individuals from a formidable force were secretly operating throughout the Empire.

And that they possessed enough power to influence the Imperial family.

Those who used divine power, unknown even to Kiyen, were clearly plotting something. By investigating them, she would eventually uncover the identities of her mother’s murderers and their objectives.

Cullen stood up. The destination was set, and now all that remained was to move. Standing, he quietly observed Ulli and Arne. When they first departed from the palace, he never thought he would be adding more people to his group. Yet, he had brought unexpected individuals into their party.

Was all of this also arranged by the goddess?

Cullen, who had wandered alone, had ended up here due to the goddess’s intervention. He suddenly wondered how far the goddess controlled his life.

If everything he faced was the goddess’s will… what would be at the end?

Cullen glanced at Kiyen for a moment, then slowly turned his head.

Thanks to Gael’s kindness, the group acquired six horses. With adequate food and water prepared, they crossed the desert, leaving Dadin behind. It was best to leave the desert before sunset, so for a while, everyone rode their horses in silence.

After passing through terrain where the desert met the sea, plains began to appear. Crossing the vast plains where bright yellow wildflowers swayed, they reached the road leading to the duchy, and after several hours of riding, a massive city wall came into view.

It was the land of Duke Ruffellon, one of only two duchies. As it was associated with unpleasant memories, Cullen intended to bypass the duchy and head directly east.

As the gray city wall, rising like a mountain in the distance, became faintly visible, the group stopped to rest. It was time for a late lunch.

Arne, accustomed to camping, began to take out the cooking utensils. While Cullen gathered the horses, Ulli started watching Arne cook. Even Lasano moved towards Arne, leaving Cullen alone with Kiyen in an instant.

Kiyen, having dismounted, was silent. Their gazes met, his expressionless face staring at him. They had only not spoken properly for a day, yet it felt as if they had been separated for a very long time. Even with him right in front of him, a sense of longing made his lips part.

“……Did you sleep well?”

His shining blue eyes gazed steadily at Cullen. A moment of silence felt like it would last forever, and Cullen feared it.

“It seems a bit late for that.”

Cullen felt relieved by the answer that came after what felt like an eternity. His face flushed involuntarily. His lips curved slightly upwards, and Cullen belatedly realized he was smiling and quickly composed his expression.

“I apologize.”

He then apologized.

“For what?”

Kiyen asked, looking puzzled by his apology.

“I think my words might have burdened you… I might have made you uncomfortable.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I thought you were avoiding me.”

Indeed, Kiyen hadn’t come near him since last night. At Cullen’s words, Kiyen’s delicate eyes slightly furrowed.

“That seems to be about you.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“But you didn’t approach me either.”

Was Kiyen also paying attention to him? At those words alone, a smile bloomed again, uncontrollably. Though he thought it foolish, he couldn’t help it. From the moment he acknowledged his feelings, everything about him had been beyond rational control.

His gaze constantly drifting towards Kiyen, his every action drawing all his attention, his joy and sorrow fluctuating with a single casual word – it all depended on Kiyen.

It was like being manipulated by someone else, yet why didn’t he dislike it? He, who hated such things more than anyone else. He couldn’t understand it at all. The most amusing part was that he didn’t even have the thought of stopping his own behavior.

Cullen cherished the happiness he felt from Kiyen more than anything.

“I didn’t know you were paying attention.”

“……I wasn’t paying that much attention. And as you said, I did keep my distance for a while.”

Kiyen said that, then looked down at him and spoke.

“Has your thought not changed?”

“What are you referring to?”

“What you said about liking me. I’ve thought about it. Why you feel that way. It’s possible Rodiak influenced you.”

Cullen hadn’t dismissed that possibility either. He had been suspicious from the moment he started being drawn to Kiyen.

However, Cullen didn’t want to consider the feelings he had as merely being caused by a curse.

He could desire Kiyen physically due to his beautiful appearance and Rodiak. But the tenderness, including a sense of comfort, the desire to make him smile – could all of that truly stem from mere stimulation…?

“It’s possible, but……”

It was sacred, noble.

Heavy and intense.

“If that’s the case, then I will like Kiyen-nim until the curse is lifted.”

One might resent Kiyen for dismissing his feelings, which he had cherished and then revealed, as a curse, but Cullen simply smiled. He was happy that Kiyen had thought of him that much.

Just that fact made him happy.

“…….”

Kiyen wore his usual confused expression. He looked at Cullen as if seeing something he couldn’t comprehend, then slowly averted his gaze.

“I suppose so.”

“Kiyen-nim, you don’t need to worry. I won’t make you uncomfortable.”

Those words seemed to have touched something in Kiyen. He shot Cullen a look of utter incomprehension.

“Are you always like this?”

“Excuse me?”

“When you like someone, do you always act like this?”

His voice sounded like he was angry, and Cullen’s eyebrows furrowed. It was a side of himself he didn’t know, so he had no way of knowing.

“I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never liked anyone before.”

Though he worried Kiyen might dislike it, Cullen spoke honestly again. Kiyen, who was about to retort, closed his mouth. A faint bewilderment appeared in his blue eyes beneath his blinking golden eyelashes.

“The first time I had relations, the first time I liked someone, it was all you, Kiyen-nim.”

Leaving behind the voices of the group calling from afar, Cullen whispered softly.

His sharp impression, his attire that was neither knightly nor noble, his not-so-romantic voice. He felt embarrassed speaking to Kiyen in such an awkward state, but he couldn’t stop himself.

Kiyen slowly raised his hand to cover his mouth. His dark golden-brown eyebrows furrowed slightly. He watched the fingers that touched his pink lips.

Was he displeased?

It was at that moment.

“Cullen-nim!”

With Arne’s voice calling him, Cullen saw a light coloring Kiyen’s face red. At the moment he mistook that strange light as perhaps originating from Kiyen himself, the scene changed. Red clouds bloomed high in the sky, covering even their location in red. It was a scene that felt like déjà vu.

Cullen turned his gaze towards the city wall visible in the distance. A faint drumming sound, echoing like an earthquake, could be heard from afar. The sound didn’t end there. The drumming was soon drowned out by a roar.

BOOM!

Even though they were quite a distance from the city wall, the colossal noise struck their ears. Simultaneously with the thunderous impact, a fierce wind began to blow. Like an avalanche sweeping everything away, a typhoon mixed with gray stone dust instantly surged towards where the group stood.

“Everyone, fall back!”

Cullen’s shout was lost in the terrifyingly descending gray wind. He blocked the stones striking his hair and skin with his arms. In the face of this sudden, disaster-like assault, Cullen recalled Lasano’s prophecy.

‘Now, predetermined calamities will arrive.’

As if they were being watched.

‘If the ancient protector of the Empire does not stop this, the continent will face destruction.’

The goddess proclaimed calamities on every path they took.