#110

Thinking back, Lasano had always had a mysterious side from the beginning. It was partly due to his peculiar personality, but didn’t Kiyen also dislike his high-handedness and have friction with him? As he accepted him as a companion, the forgotten doubts began to sprout.

How did Lasano know my story? That he knew something I had never even confided in Kiyen, was it included in the goddess’s prophecy?

It was a possibility. Unable to shake off his suspicion, Cullen, watching his back, decided to postpone his judgment for a moment. He accepted Lasano as a companion. He didn’t want to suspect him blindly in that state.

He wanted to ask Kiyen, but since Lasano was with him, Cullen waited for nightfall and turned his gaze away. Places like Dadin or the southern regions were places Cullen avoided, so he thought it would be good to identify any changed terrain or structures beforehand.

Scanning the surroundings, Cullen briefly gazed at the path leading east. Then he put his hand in his pocket and touched his compass.

What form do Artifacts precisely take? And what is their role?

After thinking about it intermittently, Cullen concluded that this must be clearly related to the words of the goddess in his dream. It was likely the vision he saw when he held Kuanu’s stone.

If so…

The goddess told Carias that someone would make a decision. And Carias apologized to Cullen, his distant descendant, saying it was their fate. Pir said the world could change due to his choice.

That statement also leads to the oracle. It was said that the fate of the continent rested on the guardian. Taken together, it meant Cullen had to make a choice, and it would change many things.

Could that be connected to Kiyen as well?

The big picture was almost clear, but the detailed clues were invisible, causing frustration. Cullen looked at the castle, where a gentle breeze was blowing, for a long time, then decided to move.

“Kiyen, I’m going to scout the surroundings for a bit.”

Lasano and Kiyen looked at him.

“I’ll go with you. You only cause trouble when you disappear from my sight.”

With that said, he couldn’t refuse. If Kiyen, of all people, wanted to go, he naturally had to follow.

“You’re not planning to leave me, your frail self, behind, are you?”

“……Then let’s just scout the castle walls together. We have time to kill anyway, and we’ll get signals from Ulli or Arne nearby.”

“It’s been a while since it’s just the three of us.”

Lasano was as usual, making the previous conversation seem meaningless. Cullen glanced at him and headed towards the outer direction of the castle walls, where there were few people.

The Duke’s territory consisted of vast plains suitable for farming and several hills. It was a region that tended to be short on water, but by diverting water from the Jenix territory to the east, it was known to always produce abundant grain.

“At least it’s not a good place to escape during the day. It’s wide open, so it’ll be easy to chase us.”

Lasano gave his assessment. Cullen recalled his memories. The southeastern castle wall connecting to the east would likely be different. As the territory expanded, new walls were built, so many places were still under construction, and the east was relatively rugged.

“Since we have to head east anyway, if anything happens, we can escape through the southeastern castle wall.”

“Indeed, that would be the case. The east is the land of death.”

At Lasano’s words, Cullen glanced at Kiyen. Kiyen couldn’t help but react when stories related to the east came up. Kiyen, without much reaction, was looking at the flowers blooming in the field. Cullen approached him.

“Do you have any favorite flowers here?”

“I’m not picky about plants. Even Wasp Grass, which eats insects, looks pretty to me.”

Wasp Grass is a plant with large, poisonous purple flowers. It’s a fearsome plant found only in very humid areas…

Kiyen’s aesthetic sense was indeed different from humans. Thinking that far, Cullen asked something he was curious about.

“May I ask more questions?”

“Ask away.”

Then Kiyen suddenly looked at him and added one more thing.

“As lovers, you don’t need to ask for permission for what you want to ask.”

“……Thank you.”

Kiyen sat down in the field. The hem of his white robe fluttered. Cullen also slowly sat down next to him.

“I know you don’t like cut flowers, Kiyen. But… I was curious why you eat the petals Arne puts on food.”

Kiyen looked at him with surprise, as if it were a strange question.

“Why is that curious?”

“I was wondering if there was a difference.”

“The flowers the cook picks are usually ones that have fallen. It would be different from those from the Imperial Palace, but fallen ones are fine. Didn’t you yourself pluck living things? For the sake of making me happy.”

As he answered, Kiyen asked in return.

“You continuously wanted me to be happy. Aren’t you tired of it? I didn’t know you still hadn’t given up.”

The answer was so certain that Cullen looked straight at Kiyen and said,

“Because I like you, Kiyen, it’s natural to always want that.”

“You are one of the most rational people I’ve seen. Yet, you always act so clumsily in moments like these.”

Cullen chuckled sheepishly. It was because, even though he was fine moments ago, he suddenly felt embarrassed. His dark eyebrows curved softly, and his purple eyes beneath them elongated.

“Is that so?”

The wind blew in one direction, laying the grass flat. Kiyen’s blond hair, fluttering along the grain, looked like golden flowers blooming within it. The sky was high and blue.

Even as his emotions and circumstances gradually changed, it was still happiness just to see Kiyen existing within this beautiful scenery. The words that had made him sad seemed to be healed.

“Since I’m happy every time I see you, Kiyen, I suppose it’s because I want to repay you, even a little.”

Kiyen closed his mouth. His elegant golden-brown eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he gazed at Cullen’s smiling face for a long time. After a long pause, he said abruptly,

“Don’t smile.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“I mean, don’t smile in front of anyone else, not me.”

Kiyen said that and turned his head. Cullen blinked, looking at him, then shyly hid his smile and tucked his knees to his chest.

It was a trivial remark, yet it made him uncontrollably happy.

As night fell, they headed towards the city walls. Sentries could be seen on the walls, but their numbers were not great. However, at least the security was tighter than at the Imperial Palace.

“I don’t know how Arne will contact us,”

Lasano leaned against the wall and pulled his robe down. Kiyen replied.

“A lizard will appear.”

“I’ve always wondered, is that a smaller version of you, Kiyen?”

Kiyen answered by ignoring him. No sooner had the words left his mouth than a lizard slowly revealed itself on Kiyen’s shoulder. It shimmered like a golden firefly.

“It seems it has appeared.”

Lasano approached the lizard with a look of wonder. As if mirroring Kiyen’s emotions, the lizard tilted its head at Lasano. Then, it ran to Cullen and began to circle his feet.

“It means to follow.”

With that, Kiyen moved first. The lizard, following behind Kiyen, soon overtook him. Following the lizard, which repeatedly ran a short distance and then stopped, they circled more than half the city walls. It was quite a long distance.

“Come in!”

A whisper came from somewhere. Looking around, Cullen realized the sound was coming from below. He felt a sense of déjà vu. Squinting and bending his waist, he saw a gap at the very bottom of the wall.

“……Ulli?”

He was correct.

“You have to crawl in. There’s no other way. This was the best we could do. There were too many guards up there; if we tried to put them all to sleep or deal with them, it would cause a commotion.”

The lizard had found the exact spot. Following the lizard, which scurried in, they closely examined the vicinity and found a hole just large enough for an adult to barely fit through.

“Arne, was this your idea?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

Arne asked, sounding surprised.

“We entered the same way in the Exion Territory, didn’t we?”

Lasano said, clicking his tongue. Then Arne cheerfully reassured them.

“The walls won’t collapse from something like this, so don’t worry! There are always small openings everywhere.”

“You really… try everything, don’t you.”

Lasano seemed reluctant. Cullen was the first to act. Bending low and surveying the area, he saw Arne and Ulli.

For now, there were no other signs of people around… He pushed his sword down first, then crawled in with practiced ease. Kiyen spoke from behind him.

“No matter how I look at it, he’s like a hedgehog.”

“Kiyen, you don’t seem to have a talent for metaphors.”

Ignoring the words from behind, he crawled in, and Lasano followed. Arne, who hadn’t helped Cullen, quickly extended a hand to Lasano as he entered. Feeling uneasy, Cullen watched him when Kiyen appeared behind him.

“……?”

He hadn’t heard the sound of crawling. As Cullen stared in confusion, Ulli voiced his thoughts.

“What? How did you get in?”

“Passing through a place like this alone is not a problem for me.”

“Is it magic? That’s amazing!”

Unlike Arne, Ulli seemed annoyed.

“I feel like I’ve been tricked… Ah, whatever. Let’s go! We might get caught. The security inside is really tight, with many guards. I tried to find an informant beforehand, but I didn’t see any secret marks.”

Anxious, she tapped her foot. The others followed her, moving stealthily.

“I’ve booked lodging. I booked more than two rooms because it would be suspicious otherwise, so you guys come in through the window secretly. Not only the walls but wanted posters are everywhere, so it’s impossible to move around during the day.”

“The bounties were enormous too. Lasano-nim, 100 Luna, and Cullen-nim and Kiyen-nim, 600 Luna each!”

“That’s why everyone looked suspiciously at anyone wearing a hood during the day.”

Listening to Ulli’s explanation, Cullen slowly fell back. With Arne and Ulli appearing, Lasano was now by their side, so it seemed like a good time to ask Kiyen.

“Kiyen.”

“Speak.”

“Does the goddess… speak directly to the High Priest?”

Kiyen’s golden eyes briefly scanned Lasano. Then he shook his head.

“No, the High Priest is merely a tool for receiving prophecies. The goddess only uses them as intermediaries.”

“Then it’s unlikely Lasano would have learned about me through the goddess.”

Lasano’s words, which were hard to dismiss, lingered in his mind.

“Yes. Furthermore, you are a Larkan. It is difficult to discover things about you through other means. Unless you tell us about yourself directly.”

Those words finally ignited the doubt he had tried to extinguish.