By Zephyria 
A soldier was walking along a road with a knapsack on his back and a sword at his side. He was on his way home from the battlefield.
While walking, the soldier encountered an old, ugly witch.
“Greetings, soldier. You have a very fine sword and a large knapsack. You are a true soldier indeed. Therefore, I shall help you come into a great deal of money.”
“Thank you, old witch.”
“You will see a large tree over there.”
The witch spoke, pointing to a tree standing beside them.
“That tree is hollow inside; go into it. When you see a hole, you must descend deep beneath it. I will tie a rope around your body, and when you shout, I shall pull you back up.”
“What should I do once I go down beneath the tree?”
“Get the money, of course,” the witch replied.
“When you reach the bottom of the tree, there is a large room lit by numerous lamps, and there you will find three doors.
If you enter the first room, there is a large chest, and sitting upon it is a dog with eyes as large as teacups. But there is nothing to fear. Just spread this blue cloth I give you on the floor and let the dog sit upon it. Then open the chest and take as many copper coins as you wish.
However, if you desire silver coins, go to the second room. There you will find a dog with eyes as large as windmill wheels, but if you place it upon my cloth, you have nothing to worry about. Take as much money as you desire.
But if you want even more gold coins, you must go to the third room. There is a chest full of gold coins. Upon that chest sits a dog with eyes as large as towers, but it is alright. If you place that dog upon my cloth as well, it will be unable to do anything. Then you may take as many gold coins from the chest as you please.”
“That is an interesting tale,” the soldier said.
“Then what must I do for you? Surely you did not tell me this story for nothing.”
“No,” the witch said. “I do not want a single penny. All I ask is that you bring me an old tinderbox that my grandmother left behind there long ago.”
“Very well. I promise. Now, please tie the rope around me.”
“There, it is done. Take my blue cloth as well,” the witch replied.
As soon as the rope was tied, the soldier descended beneath the tree. And just as the witch had described, he arrived at a large room lit by numerous lamps.
The soldier entered the first room. There sat a dog with eyes as large as teacups.
“Good boy.”
The soldier guided the dog to sit upon the cloth and then took a handful of coins from the chest. He then closed the chest, put the dog back on top, and entered the second room.
There was a dog with eyes as large as windmill wheels.
The soldier sat that dog upon the cloth as well and opened the chest. Seeing the silver coins filling the chest, the soldier threw away all the copper coins he had put in his pockets and filled his pockets and knapsack to the brim with silver.
Then the soldier went to the third room. There, a terrifying dog was rolling eyes as large as towers.
“Hello.”
The soldier had never seen such a dog and was afraid, but he summoned his courage, sat the dog upon the cloth, and opened the chest. To his amazement, the chest was filled with an enormous amount of gold!
The soldier cast aside all the silver coins from his pockets and knapsack and filled them with gold instead. He filled not only his pockets and knapsack but even his hat and boots.
The soldier had now become immensely wealthy. So, he placed the dog back on the chest, closed the door, and shouted up into the tree.
“Pull me up, old witch!”
“Did you find the tinderbox?” the witch asked.
“Oh, I forgot.”
The soldier went back and retrieved the tinderbox, and the witch pulled him up from the tree.
The soldier emerged with his pockets, knapsack, hat, and boots filled with gold.
“What will you do with the tinderbox?” the soldier asked.
“That is none of your concern. You have your money, so now give me the tinderbox,” the witch replied.
“If you do not tell me what you will do with this, I shall cut off your head with my sword.”
“No!”
The soldier immediately beheaded the witch. He then put his money in the witch’s cloth, placed the tinderbox in his pocket, and headed to the nearest village.
Having become rich, the soldier stayed at the finest lodging and ate luxurious foods.
People invited the soldier, who had become a wealthy gentleman, and told him all sorts of stories about the village and the king’s beautiful princess.
“How can I see the princess?” the soldier asked.
“No one can see her. The princess lives in a great copper castle surrounded by walls and towers. The king prevents anyone from meeting her, fearing that a prophecy—that the princess would marry an ordinary soldier—might come true.”
The soldier desperately wanted to see the princess, but there was no way.
However, the soldier spent his money lavishly and had a very pleasant time. All his friends liked the wealthy soldier.
But that money did not last long.
Because he spent enormous sums every day, the soldier soon became poor and ended up living in a shabby attic, and all his friends disappeared.
One dark evening, having no money to buy candles, the soldier remembered that there was a small piece of candle inside the tinderbox he had brought from beneath the tree long ago.
He took out the tinderbox, and as soon as he struck the flint and a spark flew, a door opened and the dog with eyes as large as teacups, which he had seen beneath the tree, appeared.
“Master, what wish shall I grant you?”
“My goodness, this was a magic tinderbox. If you can grant any wish, bring me some money,” the soldier told the dog.
The dog vanished in an instant and returned shortly after with a bag full of copper coins in its mouth.
The soldier soon realized that the tinderbox was a tremendous treasure.
If he struck the flint once, the dog that sat upon the copper coin chest appeared. If he struck it twice, the dog from the silver coin chest appeared, and if he struck it three times, the dog from the gold coin chest appeared.
Having become rich again, the soldier returned to a magnificent house, and his friends began to visit him once more.
One night, the soldier thought of the princess.
‘Everyone says the princess is beautiful, but what use is that if she is trapped in a copper castle surrounded by towers? How can I see her? Wait! Where is my tinderbox?’
When the soldier struck the flint, the dog with eyes as large as teacups soon appeared.
“I want to see the princess.”
The dog quickly brought the princess. The princess was asleep, carried on the dog’s back, and she was so lovely that anyone could tell at a glance that she was a princess. The soldier could not resist and kissed her, and the dog carried the princess back to the castle.
The next morning, while having a meal with the king and queen, the princess told them she had had a strange dream the night before. She said she had been carried by a dog to meet a soldier who had kissed her.
“What a truly strange dream,” the queen said.
To see if it was truly a dream, an old maidservant watched over the princess’s bed that night.
The soldier, wanting to see the princess once more, sent the dog to bring her. The maidservant quickly followed and saw the dog enter a large house. The maidservant marked the door with an X and returned, and the dog carried the princess back to the castle.
Then, the dog, discovering the X on the soldier’s door, drew an X on every door in the village so that the maidservant could not find the soldier’s house.
The next morning, the king and queen set out with the maidservant and their officials to find the house the princess had visited.
“Here it is,” the king said in front of the first house with an X.
“No, it is here,” the queen said, pointing to the second house with an X.
“There is one here, and there too!” everyone shouted, pointing to the X marks on every house.
But the queen was very clever. The queen used gold scissors to cut silk into a square, made a small pouch, filled it with buckwheat flour, and hung it around the princess’s neck. She poked a small hole in the pouch so that flour would leak out wherever the princess went.
When night fell, the dog came again and took the princess to the soldier. The soldier, who loved the princess dearly, hoped to become a prince and marry her.
The dog did not notice the flour leaking from the princess’s pouch on the way from the castle to the soldier’s house, and the next morning, the king and queen found the soldier and threw him into prison.
To the soldier, trapped in a dark and filthy prison, people said:
“You will be hanged tomorrow.”
It was terrible news, but the soldier had left the tinderbox at his lodging and could do nothing about it.
The next morning, the soldier could see the people waiting for his execution through the prison bars. Drums rolled, and soldiers were marching.
While everyone had come out to see him, a shoemaker’s boy, running along, had his shoe come off and stopped in front of the prison where the soldier was held.
“Child, there is no need to hurry so,” the soldier said to the boy.
“There is nothing to see until I come out. So, could you run quickly to the house where I lived and bring me my tinderbox? I will give you some pocket money.”
The shoemaker’s boy, wanting the pocket money, quickly brought the tinderbox and gave it to the soldier.
Now, what happened?
Beside the gallows erected outside the village, thousands of people and soldiers were standing. The king and queen sat on ornate thrones opposite the judges.
Finally, the soldier stepped onto the ladder. Just before the rope was placed around his neck, the soldier requested to smoke one last pipe before he died, and the king granted it.
So, the soldier took out the tinderbox and struck the flint. Once, twice, three times, repeatedly.
Then, all three dogs appeared. The dog with eyes as large as teacups, the dog with eyes as large as windmills, and the dog with eyes as large as towers.
“Help me so that I do not die!” the soldier shouted.
Then the dogs lunged at the judges.
“Do not touch me!” the king shouted, but the largest dog seized the king and queen and threw them down.
The soldiers and people cried out in terror:
“Soldier, please marry the beautiful princess and become our king!”
They seated the soldier on the throne. The three dogs cheered, the young boys whistled with their fingers, and the soldiers saluted. The princess, very happy, left the copper castle and became the queen.
The wedding festivities lasted for a whole week, and the dogs sat at the table with their eyes wide open.
The Tinder Box
by Hans Christian Andersen
Isaac, who had fallen into a deep sleep after working a full twenty-four hours since the previous night, began to hear the sound of whispering voices in his ears.
His roommate, Hoden, had said he would be staying at his lover’s house tonight, so Isaac should have been the only one in the room. What was this sound? Was it a dream? Isaac, vaguely hearing the tiny voices that seemed to be coming from very close by, continued to try and sleep.
‘Is it this one?’
‘Yes. Look at the guard’s uniform hanging there. He’s the one who works at the royal palace.’
‘Wow. Even if he’s a half-breed… as a [blank], how on earth did he choose to enter a place where those people linger?’
‘Maybe he’s a bit of a fool.’
‘How pitiful.’
‘Pitiful indeed.’
‘That is why I say we, the magnificent, should look after him.’
‘I’m not so sure. Should a noble being like me have to look after someone like this?’
‘You must look down upon the lower classes with a heart like the vast sea. Noblesse oblige! How much must the boy have suffered to survive in this harsh world with that deficient brain? Do you not feel pity?’
‘True. Besides, though he’s a bit lacking in the head, he was commendable enough to offer us tributes. We should show him some mercy. Moreover, if it’s him, perhaps…’
‘Exactly. He works at the palace. So perhaps he can bring back the —.’
‘Yes, yes, we need that. That was originally ours.’
‘We must reclaim it. Only by reclaiming it can we return.’
It was so noisy that Isaac, who had been pressing his pillow over his head to sleep, suddenly bolted upright and was about to shout something in irritation when he locked eyes with Hoden, who flinched while taking off his shirt right in front of him.
“Why, why are you like that all of a sudden? Weren’t you sleeping?”
“…Are you alone?”
“Huh?”
Sitting blankly on his bed in his usually quiet and peaceful room, Isaac stared at Hoden and scratched his bedhead. Outside the window, where the day had already broken and become bright, only the chirping of sparrows could be heard. From below the window, a cat occasionally meowed, perhaps thinking the sparrows looked delicious. Other than that, it was a quiet and leisurely morning, just like any other.
“Someone kept chattering next to me… I must have been dreaming. Did you just get back? Did you have a good time with Aire?”
“Of course. Everything was wonderful, except for the fact that our plan to share a drink while watching the full moon from the terrace was ruined by the rain. And you—the guy who said he had a cold—were you sleeping with the window open?”
Seeing how Hoden had been head-over-heels in love lately and constantly staying out, thinking he might get married soon, Hoden clicked his tongue and flung open the old window with a broken latch. The old wooden building, used as a dormitory by a few poor provincial youths, had been a church building until about ten years ago; when the window was opened, overgrown graves were visible right outside. It was fine during the day, but quite eerie at night, so even sturdy young men would move to other accommodations as soon as they saved a bit of money. Currently, only four or five people, including Isaac, lived in this ruin-like building.
“I closed it, but it must have opened with the wind. Oof, my body aches…”
Isaac patted his lower back and massaged his shoulders, shaking his heavy head. He had to get up now if he didn’t want to be late for morning training. In his heart, he wanted to take a full day’s rest, but as a low-ranking guardsman, there was no way he could take time off as he pleased.
“You often seem so exhausted even when nothing special is happening. Almost once a month… Come to think of it, are you a witch? They say witches lose their energy and become powerless every full moon. Well? Are you scared? Scared?”
Hoden chuckled, playfully waving a cross in front of Isaac’s eyes. Isaac indifferently pushed the cross away.
“Witches would hardly still remain in this country. It’s been decades since they’ve been hunted and killed on sight with burning eyes.”
“Why, if the royal family’s curse hasn’t been lifted, doesn’t that mean some are still around? Besides, you occasionally hear news that a witch has been caught.”
“Once in a blue moon, maybe.”
“Tsk. If I could just catch one, the reward would be enormous.”
Isaac got out of bed and walked past the muttering Hoden toward the window. The meowing of the cat below the window seemed to grow louder, and suddenly, one leaped up onto the windowsill.
“Gah! That guy’s back. What kind of cat has eyes as big as lanterns…”
Without even glancing at Hoden, who was clutching his chest in surprise, the cat stared intently at Isaac with its wide, piercing eyes and meowed incessantly.
“What did I tell you? I told you not to feed it in the first place. Now it’ll come every day; you’re in trouble.”
“It’s fine. Well… looking at it, it’s actually quite cute.”
“With eyes as big as lanterns, what’s so pretty about something so pitch-black?”
“The footprints are.”
Ignoring Hoden’s grumbling that there were plenty of other things to find pretty, Isaac pulled a piece of dried jerky from his basket and tossed it. The cat snatched the jerky up instantly and vanished briskly without looking back.
It had been a short while since he first started feeding that black cat with the unusually large eyes. If you could actually call it ‘feeding,’ that is.
After finishing his shift and returning home late, Isaac had placed a lump of bread and a sausage on a plate for dinner. When he returned from washing his hands for a brief moment, the sausage had vanished from the plate.
It was at that exact moment that Isaac, looking around in bewilderment at the empty plate, locked eyes with a cat that was just about to slip out through a gap in the open window. The cat, with the sausage in its mouth and its lantern-like eyes wide open, froze mid-stride with one front paw raised. They stared at each other for a while.
‘….’
Sighing, Isaac decided he would have to settle his hunger with just a lump of bread today. “Fine, you must be hungry too. Go on, go,” he said, waving the cat away. After staring intently at Isaac for a moment, the cat quickly disappeared out the window, and Isaac thought that was the end of it.
But as it turned out.
The cat continued to visit shamelessly and extort food from Isaac. Whether it was snatching food the moment he looked away or staring him down with those piercing eyes and meowing until he handed over something to eat, there was truly no other word for it than ‘extortion.’
They say that when kindness is excessive, it becomes an entitlement; this must be exactly that.
As Isaac began preparing to leave, munching on jerky instead of breakfast, Hoden emerged from the bathroom and grumbled, “The drain is clogged again. We need to save up money and get out of this dilapidated place soon,” before heading toward the communal bath.
Left alone, Isaac decided he would just wash his face roughly after arriving at the palace. While changing clothes, his gaze happened to fall upon the cross Hoden had set down. Isaac picked up the small cross hanging from the end of the necklace, shook it in front of his nose, and then clicked his tongue, setting it back on the windowsill with a look of indifference.
“What is there to be afraid of with something like this… You’d have to be under a full moon’s light to even get a slight burn. Seriously, the rumors have spread too far. Though, I suppose I should be grateful.”
As the bell rang to signal lunchtime, the royal guards, having finished their morning training, wiped away their sweat and sat under a tree to wait for their meal. Only after the morning shift guards finished eating in the dining hall could the afternoon shift guards have their meal.
“Ugh, I’m starving. I wish the morning crew would just eat and get out already.”
“Isn’t the training unusually tough lately?”
“The hunting competition is coming up soon. Isn’t that why?”
“What does that matter to low-ranking guards like us?”
While chatting and fanning themselves with their hands, the hungry guards kept glancing toward the dining hall; some even lay flat on the grass. Isaac, who had covered his face with a handkerchief and fallen asleep under the scorching sun, was one of them.
“Still, it’s a chance to make a name for ourselves. If we catch a big one and catch the eye of the higher-ups, it’d be a great way to get promoted.”
“Promotion, huh… Rather than promotion, I’d just like a hefty reward right now. What was it—didn’t they say that if you achieve a great feat, the King personally takes you to the treasure vault to give you a reward? I heard Captain Abe got to go into the treasure vault a long time ago when he suppressed a provincial lord… wasn’t that right, Squad Leader?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I believe Captain Abe and Vice-Captain Brown both went in. They said it was… absolutely ecstatic.”
Squad Leader Simon whispered like a sigh, his eyes narrowing.
Recalling the rumors of that vault, where the treasures of the entire world were said to be piled high, the other guards looked into the air with similar expressions.
The King’s treasure vault was famous. It was said to house all sorts of rare things from across the world—not only gold and silver treasures, but also flying carpets, geese that laid golden eggs, shoes that could travel a thousand leagues, and all manner of wonders.
The rumors of that ecstatic vault, where the King personally leads a subject who has achieved a great feat to choose whatever they desire, had considerable credibility since a few subjects had actually entered.
“Well, it won’t be easy to achieve a feat great enough to get in there. Normally, you can’t even get a glimpse.”
Simon spoke regretfully, his ecstatic gaze fading. As if waking from a dream, the guards also smacked their lips with disappointed faces.
“Tsk. Our King is far too greedy. What’s the harm in just letting us look?”
“Exactly. What’s the point of being that greedy? He only lives half as long as others do.”
“Shh!”
There are things that must not be spoken aloud, even if everyone in the world knows them. Another guard nudged the one who had unconsciously grumbled. Just as the guard snapped his mouth shut, a short soldier walked toward them from down the road.
He was a blond youth with features so delicate they were striking even from a distance. He wore a royal guard uniform, but it seemed strangely different from the standard one; upon closer inspection, it was adorned with jewels everywhere. From the large brooch and cufflinks to the belt and sword ornament, not a single piece was lacking in luxury. Combined with his looks, the guard youth, who appeared as flamboyant as royalty, looked at the guards cooling off in the shade of the tree, tilted his chin up arrogantly, and passed them by.
The area under the tree, which had been deathly silent while the youth passed, only began to buzz with whispers again after he had disappeared far down the opposite side of the road.
“Thank goodness. He didn’t hear. Imagine if that brat ran off to tattle. You’d have your head lopped off immediately for insulting royalty….”
“Did I even say anything untrue? It’s a fact that the King lives only half as long as others. Not just the King, but all the royals.”
“You little—! You’re the kind of guy who’d bring disaster upon us with that mouth!”
The guard who had been speaking recklessly was eventually smacked on the back by the squad leader. As he wailed in pain, the other guards took turns thumping his back as well.
There is no one who does not know that any direct descendant of the royal bloodline of this kingdom is born under a witch’s curse.
It was the price paid for the first King, the progenitor of the current royal family, who killed a witch and stole her treasures long ago. As she died, the witch cast a curse on the King, and the King and his descendants were doomed to suffer excruciating pain—their blood boiling and flesh searing—every Dark Moon night, when the power of witches is at its strongest. That curse passed down through generations, and in that pain, which no human could endure while sane, many of the royal kin took their own lives or went mad.
An oracle declared that to break the curse, every witch in the land must be eliminated. A frenzy of witch hunts swept the nation, and a brutal slaughter of witches followed until no more could be found, yet the curse remained unbroken. Occasionally, a witch living in hiding was discovered and killed, but the curse persisted.
In the midst of this, some royals began to make contracts with mages. In exchange for falling into a deep sleep on Dark Moon nights to avoid the pain, the royals gave half of their time to the mages. They spent only half of a day awake and the other half asleep.
Even while living a life where they could only be awake for half the time of ordinary people, the royals willingly contracted with mages to avoid the terrifying agony of the Dark Moon.
Thus, the witch’s curse continued to haunt the royal family, and it was an open secret that everyone knew but never spoke of.
“You’re going to die before the witches do because of that three-inch tongue of yours! If you want to keep your life for even a moment longer, don’t you dare mention such things anywhere! Who knows who might be listening?”
The squad leader scolded him harshly, delivering one final blow to the guard’s back. As he gestured with his chin toward the direction where the flamboyantly dressed soldier had disappeared, the guard muttered sullenly.
“Even so, that guy will probably die before I do. So what if he’s in the higher-ups’ good graces and receiving gold and silver right now? The one giving him that wealth and glory, Lord Kaieon, is actually the Grim Reaper—”
“Right, that’s enough. Gag this guy.”
The moment the squad leader exclaimed in alarm and covered the man’s mouth, the other guards swarmed in as if they had been waiting, wrapping a towel around his mouth and tying it tight with rope. The guard made muffled protests, but no one listened. Instead, they all kicked him in the rear and hissed in low voices.
“You brat, do you really want to die? Whose name are you throwing around?”
“Don’t you know the name that must not be spoken? Now that I see it, this guy is someone who wouldn’t have a leg to stand on even if his limbs were hacked to pieces tomorrow.”
Among the people looking around with fearful eyes, the guard also seemed to be struck by sudden terror, as he shut his mouth and rolled his eyes. Even Isaac, who had been rolling around in the sun, pulled the towel off his face and stealthily looked around. Despite the hot sun hitting his skin, a chilly shiver ran through him, and he rubbed his arms.
Kaieon.
The one who could be called by that name alone, without a surname. The royalty of royalties, the direct and legitimate son of the current King. Prince Kaieon.
“Of course, no one who got caught by him has had a long spring….”
“Of course, that guy is living luxuriously now as a favorite, but he won’t last a month….”
“Of course, it’ll be a miracle if he even keeps his life….”
“Of course, the one who was the favorite just before him died miserably….”
The guards huddled together and whispered in hushed tones. “Hey, I was the one who cleared the body back then. I still have nightmares,” one guard muttered, shivering. Hearing this, Isaac, who was lying on his side, covered his face with the towel again and murmured.
“You were the one who cleared the body, but I was the one who dug the grave….”
Because he lived on the old Church Grounds, Isaac often dug graves in the front yard for corpses with nowhere else to go.
Of course, the security of the capital wasn’t so dire that he ‘often buried corpses.’ In fact, the castle town seen from the Royal Palace had quite good security; most of those who died were elderly people passing away from natural causes.
However, Isaac had become someone who dug a grave every couple of months starting last year. Ever since Prince Kaieon returned to the castle.
The Prince had been away from the capital for over a decade. He had stayed in the remote Western Border, living in the rugged mountains and fighting off barbarians, magical beasts, and monsters that frequently raided the cities. Regarding the man who had subdued and led the rough, unruly soldiers of the border—who boasted the nation’s greatest military power—at such a young age, only praises of ‘our terrifyingly brave Prince, despite his youth’ had spread across the long distance to the capital.
Then, surprisingly, last year, our wonderful and great Prince put an end to the long war by beheading the thousand-year-old Imoogi, the leader of the monsters in the Western Mountains, raising his great name throughout the land. The Prince finally returned to the capital with great dignity.
And.
The people of the castle, including Isaac, came to realize poignantly how beautifully the rumors from the distant West had been refined as they traveled the long road.
To the commoners outside the castle who had no reason to deal with royalty, he was still ‘our wonderful and great Prince,’ but….
“Is he really human…?”
The moment someone muttered that, a chilling silence fell over the area. Though no one dared say it aloud, everyone likely thought the same.
“The guard he had by his side recently, the one he kept close every night—”
“Let’s be accurate; what guard? Is someone a guard just because they’re dressed in a guard’s uniform? Is it even possible to ‘guard’ him? Is he someone who even needs guarding?”
“Well, in reality, he was a favorite, but the pretext for keeping him close was as a guard. Anyway, who was it, the one who was a guard just recently? You know, the one who was doing errands in the palace and happened to catch his eye and was called as a guard.”
“Martin?”
“Yeah, Martin! That guy, he spent nearly two months being kept in bed every night to the point where he couldn’t even walk properly during the day, and then one morning, his head was just sliced clean off.”
“That’s because the idiot babbled some nonsense about how it must be nice for witches to live a long time while staying young, and how he envied witches, and he got caught red-handed.”
“He was insane. Saying such a thing where he could hear it—how is that any different from asking to be killed?”
“Hey, but still, to lop off the head of a favorite he’d been sleeping with just for one sentence….”
“Drop it. You weren’t there. I happened to be right there at that moment. Isaac, you remember too, right?”
One of the guards who had been whispering called out to Isaac. Isaac, lying with the towel over his head a few steps away, mumbled in that state, “Yeah….”
How could he forget?
At that time, Isaac had been on guard duty in the rear garden with that soldier. On the terrace of the Star Palace in the rear garden, the Prince was out with his guard—effectively his favorite—and while the favorite chattered away while drinking tea, the Prince was indifferently turning the pages of a book, whether he was listening to those words or not.
Isaac had been inwardly admiring how it must be difficult to turn pages so dryly without giving a single glance while a lovely favorite was chatting so coquettishly right next to him, and then it happened.
‘I can’t tell you how happy I am to be able to spend time with Lord Kaieon like this. If only I could continue to live like this… If only I could continue to be loved by Lord Kaieon and live with this beautiful appearance. In that regard, I wouldn’t even envy that wicked witch. Since they say witches can live forever while staying young….’
At the favorite’s whispered words mixed with a sigh, Isaac flinched inwardly and shifted his eyes to look at the Prince. Is it okay to say something like that?
The Prince still showed no sign of reaction. He indifferently turned a page and took a sip from his teacup.
Rumors had been circulating that while the Prince’s favorites usually got worn out in about fifteen days to a month, this favorite had exceptionally held his position for nearly two months, meaning he must be very well-loved. It seemed it was true. No wonder he believed in the Prince’s affection and murmured coquettishly about witches.
It was just as Isaac felt a slight sense of relief and breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
The Prince set down the teacup. With that hand, he suddenly drew the sword from the waist of the soldier standing beside him and sliced through the favorite’s neck.
Squelch.
It happened in a very brief moment, as if it were nothing. Even during that time, the Prince’s gaze never left the pages of the book, and there was not a single change in his expression. He simply beheaded the favorite with a blank face, slid the blood-stained sword back into the soldier’s scabbard, and said only one thing as if nothing had happened.
‘Clean it up.’
That was the end of it.
That afternoon, the Prince took another handsome royal guard as his new guard, and nothing changed. Except that one more mound of earth with a cross was added in front of Isaac’s room window that night.
Isaac pulled the towel down to cover his neck and smacked his lips bitterly. He had been trying to forget the sight of a human head flying off right before his eyes, but that idiot brought it up and made him remember it again. Well, he heard that guy still has nightmares.
“Seriously, why bring up witches? And of all people, right in front of him. Among the royals, no one hates witches more than he does. He won’t even deal with mages because he considers them the same kind as witches. I heard his relationship with the head of the Mage Guild is terrible. It’s only because the Mage Guild is powerful enough to knock a bird out of the sky; otherwise, they would have been wiped out by his hand long ago.”
“He’s the only one among the royals who didn’t make a contract with a mage, right?”
“Yeah. He has no intention of giving his time to anyone else. I heard there’s a line of mages desperate to make a contract with him even now, but he ignores them all. They say that every time the Dark Moon comes, it’s so painful that blood seeps through his entire body instead of sweat. According to a guy who was on guard at the Prince’s palace during a Dark Moon night, just looking at him was enough to make one’s skin crawl and knees shake; he said he just trembled all night, unable to move an inch.”
“And yet he refuses to make a contract and tastes that pain in full… how stubborn, just so stubborn… I’m more afraid of him than a witch…”
“Me too…”
Hearing them whisper as if sharing secret stories, Isaac finally pulled back his towel and sat halfway up.
“You masochists, if it’s so scary, why do you keep chewing over that topic? Talk about something else, something else. Why are you rambling about horror stories in broad daylight, keeping people from sleeping…?”
“You’re scared too, so why are you picking on us?!”
“I’m telling you to stop because I’m scared!”
As Isaac grumbled while waving his towel, a stray cat that had been hiding in the nearby bushes, glaring at a fluttering butterfly, leaped and retreated a few steps. Since there was no one to harass them and there were plenty of wide spaces to hide, it was common to see one or two stray cats wandering the Royal Palace gardens.
The cat began to meow with wide eyes, as if demanding food for having been startled, and Isaac stared back at it, thinking, ‘What kind of cat has eyes that big? But somehow, it looks familiar.’
“Alright, if you don’t want your heads flown off, watch your mouths. You don’t just let your tongues wag freely in the palace. Let’s just do as the superiors say and not get struck by lightning for paying attention to useless things.”
The squad leader concluded sternly, and the royal guards nodded in agreement. Isaac, rummaging through his pocket and pulling out some dried chicken, continued a staring contest with the cat—whose eyes lit up the moment it saw the meat—and muttered, “Of course, you’re absolutely right.”
“My dream is to make some money, retire quickly, return home in glory, and live quietly in a pretty house in my hometown, raising pretty chickens with a pretty wife.”
“The chickens have to be pretty too? He really is a sucker for pretty things, even though he doesn’t look like it. Do you think you’ll actually achieve that dream before you die? Is your hometown pretty? By the way, where was Isaac’s hometown again?”
When a guard abruptly asked back, the sentry sitting next to him gave him a light kick as a warning. Those close to Isaac all knew that he had been abandoned by his single mother as a child and had lived alone like an orphan since the age of ten. After doing all sorts of grueling work, he had managed to secure a position as a low-ranking royal guard a few years ago because his swordsmanship was decent.
Isaac didn’t go around broadcasting that fact, but he never intentionally hid it either. To the question, he replied nonchalantly, “Wherever I feel attached to is my hometown.”
Having grown up in the capital since he was very young, Isaac had no specific place to call a hometown. He was told he was born in a rural area a few days’ journey from the capital, but since he had no memory of it, there was no way to call it home. However, he had long harbored the desire to move to a quiet countryside once he had enough financial leeway.
“…—Ack! You little brat!”
While Isaac was lost in thought, the cat lunged forward and exquisitely snatched the chicken. Isaac, putting his finger—which had a drop of blood from a scratch—into his mouth, glared at the cat that was looking back at him with wide eyes from a few steps away, and finally sighed.
“Fine, eat it, eat. I don’t have much of an appetite anyway.”
As Isaac flopped back down, his colleagues, who were standing up to head to the cafeteria as the morning shift guards’ mealtime approached, spoke to him.
“Get up. Let’s go eat.”
“I’m good. I’m feeling a bit lethargic today, so I’ll just close my eyes for a bit.”
“Really? You looked exhausted during training, too. See you later then.”
The hungry guards stood up in a crowd and headed toward the cafeteria, leaving Isaac alone in an instant.
Left alone in the suddenly quiet grassland, Isaac rolled his body a few times to get under the shade of a tree and covered his face with the towel again. The shade casting over his body, which had been warmed by the hot sun, felt perfectly cool.
Since he had to be on duty in the afternoon, he decided to catch a quick nap during lunch. He was hungry, but on a day when his body felt this limp, resting came first.
“This is why I hate the days around the full moon…”
Muttering to himself, Isaac let out a long sigh and fell into a light sleep. It was a drowsy, pleasant sleep, where he could vaguely sense the sunlight shimmering through the leaves, the gentle breeze, and the occasional sound of birds chirping in the distance.
‘Is he sleeping now? Sleeping? Hey, how can you sleep in this situation, huh?’
‘He’s so immature. Sleeping peacefully in a place like this.’
‘Leave him be. It’s pitiful. He works day and night to earn offerings for us.’
‘Then he should wake up quickly and give the offerings. Wake up, you brat. I’m hungry. Give me food!’
At some point, chattering voices began to mix with the peaceful atmosphere. It was a very strange sound, as if someone were speaking from far beyond the mountains, or perhaps whispering very closely.
The chattering sound, tickling his ears without cease, eventually caused the hazily sleeping Isaac to snap his eyes open. At that moment.
“Hyak!!”
Isaac leaped up, bolting upright.
Simultaneously, something that had been thrusting its face right in front of Isaac’s nose also leaped back in surprise.
Clutching his pounding chest, Isaac stared at it. A cat with eyes as large as windmill wheels was staring at Isaac with those huge eyes wide open; he didn’t know how long it had been there. The cat, frozen in place as it looked at Isaac, soon began to meow loudly as if angry that it had been startled too.
“What kind of cat has such piercing eyes… ah, you scared me.”
Wiping the fright from his chest, Isaac looked at the cat and discovered another cat a few steps away, grooming its front paw. Noticing Isaac’s gaze, the one that stopped licking its paw and stared back blankly was the one that had snatched the chicken earlier.
Just by the size of their eyes, he could tell they were of the same bloodline. It was incredibly burdensome to have two pairs of eyes, like oil lamps, staring intently at him at the same time.
Before long, one resumed grooming itself, and the other meowed at Isaac as if asking how he intended to take responsibility for startling it. It showed no sign of backing down quietly.
Isaac looked at the cat with a sour expression and rummaged through his pocket. He found a piece of jerky he had saved for when he got hungry in the afternoon.
“I didn’t even eat lunch, so I have to starve until dinner now. Besides, I don’t even like cats that much…”
As he mumbled gloomily and held out the jerky, the meowing cat snatched it away in a flash. Now Isaac was destined to starve until dinner.
He remembered now. He thought they looked familiar; they looked exactly like that black cat that occasionally entered Isaac’s room and left with food in its mouth. Not only the pitch-black body without a single white hair, but above all, that extraordinary eye size was unmistakable.
Isaac rested his chin on his hand and gazed blankly at the two cats, rubbing his stomach, which was already starting to feel empty.
Today, he had to work until evening, go home to nap briefly, and then return for night guard duty from midnight until dawn. Then, tomorrow would be his day off. His body felt heavy and lethargic, but he figured he could rest as long as he endured until tomorrow dawn. With a sigh, Isaac stood up.
While walking toward the East Gate for his afternoon shift, he passed through the courtyard, and a statue standing in the center caught his eye. It was the statue of the Prince, a young hero who had made an absolute contribution to the subjugation of monsters in the West.
“…He really looks like a sculpture…”
The magnificent statue, which seemed to carve a beautiful and dignified male god rather than a human, might have led a stranger to say, ‘No matter how much portraits or statues beautify the actual person, isn’t this too much?’ but unfortunately, it was a masterpiece crafted by the best sculptor in the land, who had poured his entire soul into making it identical to the real person.
“With that pretty face… … … …sigh.”
Stopping unconsciously and staring blankly at the statue for a while, Isaac let out a sigh, slumped his shoulders, and trudged along.
The moment he opened the door and entered, he heard a rustling sound inside the empty room. It was coming from the basket under the table where he kept his stored food.
Was it a mouse? Isaac picked up the poker he had left by the door and cautiously took a step toward the table. The moment he did, as if sensing his presence, a head popped out of the basket.
It was a cat. A black cat. A black cat with eyes like oil lamps was poking its head out of the basket. With cheese in its mouth, it stared intently at Isaac with a look that said, ‘Ah, I’m caught.’
“…”
“…”
These little brats, really…
Isaac strode forward and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck, lifting it up. Only then did the cat snap out of it, struggling and meowing wildly, causing the cheese in its mouth to plop onto the floor.
“I closed the window before I left, so where do you keep coming in from?”
Isaac opened the window, tossed the cat out into the bushes, threw the cheese after it, and slammed the door shut.
“I’m hungry and exhausted right now. Besides, I need to nap quickly and then go back to stand guard at night.”
Having eaten nothing since lunch, Isaac took a piece of dry bread from the basket, bit into it, and sat on the edge of the bed. Outside the window, the moon had risen in the already darkened sky. Since yesterday had been the full moon, it was a round and beautiful moon.
He’d be tired today and tomorrow, but he’d probably be fine by the day after. Isaac wasn’t exactly in pain, but he rubbed his heavy, lethargic head and suddenly glanced toward the window. The crucifix necklace he had placed there in the morning was sparkling in the moonlight. As he picked up the necklace to put it away, the cross brushed against his forearm.
“Ow, hot…”
Isaac flinched and pulled his arm away, placing the necklace on Hoden’s desk and rubbing his forearm. The skin had turned slightly reddish, but it wasn’t a burn. If it had been the full moon, it would have burned.
The full moon, when witches are said to have no power.
The crucifix, which witches are said to fear.
The things people commonly said weren’t literally true, but they weren’t entirely baseless either.
Isaac drew the curtains, lay on the bed, and sighed.
“Even as a mixed-blood, it’s this bad; real witches must have found it so hard to live in this land… How did you live, Mother?”
Isaac recalled his mother, who used to click her tongue and say, ‘How is it that you didn’t inherit a single bit of my blood? You’re so clumsy and dim-witted, just like your late father.’
On the night of the Great Dark Moon fourteen years ago, his mother crossed over to the land of the new moon on a ship made from fragments of the moon. Leaving this land where witches were killed as soon as they were discovered, she went to a country where they could live in peace.
His mother had tried to take Isaac with her, but Isaac, who was half-human, could not board the Moon Fragment Ship. The ferryman shook his head, saying only those of pure witch blood could board, and his mother turned back, saying she would remain here with her son.
Isaac had pushed his mother onto the ship.
It was during the height of the Witch hunt. Having seen a woman from the neighborhood be brutally slaughtered just a few days prior after being discovered as a witch, Isaac had desperately pushed his mother onto the boat.
‘Go. You’re a witch. You have to go. I’m half-human, so I’ll be fine. You go, Mom.’
‘Isaac, I can’t do that. You’re still so young. My son.’
‘If you’re caught and killed here, I’ll die with you as a witch’s child. But if I live alone like a human without you, it’ll be hard because I’m young, but I won’t die.’
‘Isaac.’
‘Go, Mom. You have to, for your sake and mine.’
It takes seven years for the Moon Fragment Ship to go to the land of the new moon and return. If one missed the ship on this night, they would have to wait seven years to board again.
His mother looked at Isaac carefully. Knowing better than anyone what kind of child her son was, she eventually nodded slowly.
‘Very well, Isaac. It is time for us to part. Then, make a promise to me. Swear it upon the River of the Moon. That no matter what happens, you will stay spirited and become happy.’
Isaac promised he would, swearing upon the sacred River of the Moon, which not even a god could break. Only after hearing that promise did his mother board the ship.
Thus, ten-year-old Isaac parted from his mother, and from that day on, he lived alone. Even a young child left all alone could somehow survive. The gold coins his mother had left him were helpful, and while Isaac had a clumsy and dim-witted side, he was actually quite a smart child.
Around the full moon, which was poison to witches, his body would become lethargically limp; around the Dark Moon, the witches’ festival, he would feel exhilarated as if drunk; his mouth would water at the sight of goat meat or wine, which witches supposedly couldn’t resist; and he felt an uneasy sensation when seeing a crucifix, which witches feared—but that was the extent of it. With only half-witch blood flowing in him, it wasn’t difficult for him to blend in with ordinary, kind people and live as a diligent and admirable orphan boy.
And so, he had reached the present.
Though there had been many painful and sorrowful events along the way, Isaac did not regret being left alone after his mother departed. He simply strove to stay spirited and become happy, as he had promised his mother.
In the past, he had occasionally wondered what ‘being happy’ meant, but he no longer worried about it. Seeing those who lived in hiding only to be discovered as witches and killed, Isaac thought that a quiet and peaceful life was precisely what happiness was.
Living each day diligently, quietly, and peacefully.
That was the promise Isaac had sworn upon the sacred River of the Moon, and he was currently living while faithfully keeping that oath.
In this peaceful life, where he had no other complaints besides the poverty of having to save food a day or two before payday, the one thing Isaac wished for was:
“I’ll save up money quickly and go live in the quiet countryside… The capital where the Royal Palace is, after all, is too harsh on witches. I heard there are places in the far outskirts of the countryside where witches and humans live together…”
Isaac muttered with a sigh.
There are still quite a few witches who were left behind here, unable to board the Moon Fragment Ship. There are likely several witches living in the capital, hiding their identities perfectly. However, their daily lives must be like a precarious tightrope walk, filled with anxiety.
Though he couldn’t be compared to them, Isaac was the same. To be more peaceful, to be more at ease. For that reason, he saved like an ant and worked hard today as well.
Isaac checked the clock. There wasn’t much time left before his scheduled night shift. He decided to catch a quick nap; otherwise, it would be hard to stay awake throughout the night.
Isaac pulled up the blanket and tried to sleep, and his lethargic body soon fell into a weary slumber, with disjointed thoughts soaking into his dreams.
I’ll sleep just a little and then go to work, work diligently to save money, move down to the peaceful countryside, build a pretty brick house, tend a pretty garden, meet a pretty lady, and live happily…
‘Look at him.’
‘I think everything this kid eats goes into his dreams. Seeing as his dreams are not just plump, but absolutely chubby.’
‘Dreaming is the best time… ah, Third!’
How long had he been asleep?
At some point, chattering sounds like a dream began to tickle his ears, and then suddenly, a sharp ‘Kyeng!’ sound ripped through his eardrums.
Waking instantly and bolting upright, Isaac reflexively sharpened all his senses and scanned his surroundings.
The room was submerged in a silent darkness, with nothing happening. Outside the window, only faint moonlight leaked through the curtains, and there was no sign of anything.
“… , …?”
He felt as if his ears had been buzzing, but was it a dream? He thought he heard something like a sharp animal cry. Isaac tilted his head, but even as he did, the surroundings remained unchangingly quiet.
He must have been dreaming. Isaac, letting his tense shoulders slump, picked up the clock on the nightstand to see how long he had slept. It felt as if he had only blinked, yet a fair amount of time had passed. Still, he figured he could close his eyes for a little longer.
It was just as Isaac lay back down on the bed and pulled up the covers. The moment he closed his eyes, he heard a rustling sound outside the window.
“…….”
It was a small sound, the kind one might dismiss as a mouse passing by or a leaf rolling in the wind, but given why he had woken up, it bothered him. Isaac pushed his heavy body back up, drew the curtains, and looked out the window. Because it was dark, he couldn’t see much, so the moment he opened the window and poked his head out—
Three cats sitting right below the window looked up at Isaac simultaneously. Facing three pairs of flashing eyes within arm’s reach, Isaac flinched.
……To be honest, he was momentarily terrified. In the darkness, not one or two, but six eyes as large as lanterns were flashing and staring at him; it was scary.
“What are you… what are you guys doing there?”
Barely managing to speak while clutching his pounding chest, Isaac suddenly noticed one of them holding a front paw up awkwardly. At the tip of that paw was a protruding thorn.
Isaac’s hand moved faster than his thoughts. Only after he grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck did the cat start flailing in surprise, but it was already too late.
“Hey, hey, stay still. Where did you pick up something like this on your paw?”
Holding the struggling, clawing cat with practiced ease, he looked closely under the lamplight and saw that it wasn’t a thorn, but a thin, long nail. It seemed the cat had stepped on it while running among the graves in the front yard.
Frowning, Isaac held onto the cat—fearing it would run away if he let go—and took out his medicine box before firmly gripping the paw.
“Just bear with it for a second. —”
“Kyung!!”
The moment Isaac finished his short sentence, he yanked the nail out in one go, and the cat shrieked with a start. Offering his forearm as a sacrificial lamb to the flailing, clawing cat, Isaac skillfully applied disinfectant to the wound and wrapped it in a clean bandage. Even so, the cat would likely chew through and unravel the bandage soon, but it would hold until the medicine soaked in.
After struggling for a while, the cat seemed to lose its energy by the time Isaac tied the knot; it slumped and curled up quietly on his lap. Then, seeing Isaac’s forearm covered in scratch marks, it seemed to feel a bit sorry and gave it a lick—which actually hurt more because the tongue was rough—but it was somewhat cute in its own way.
Isaac lightly stroked the cat’s back.
“You’ve got eyes several times larger than other cats, yet you can’t even see something like this and step on it? What’s the point of being big if you’re not useful?”
As Isaac clicked his tongue and spoke, the cat suddenly bristled its fur and, with a “Kyak!!” of sudden temper, swiped at him with its paw.
“Ack! Ow, ow, ow….”
Having carved one more scratch into Isaac’s forearm, the creature leisurely hopped off his lap and onto the windowsill. Then, widening those large eyes even further, it glared at Isaac before leaping back outside.
“That little brat, repaying kindness with enmity… Hey, did I say anything wrong?”
Isaac grumbled toward the window, but no response came from outside.
Isaac rubbed some disinfectant on his own forearm and put away the medicine box. He had heard that some cats bring mice to their owner’s bedside to repay a favor, but this one… well… it was better than that.
As a bit more time passed, Isaac stared at the clock, contemplated for a moment, and then gave up on sleep and stood up. It was an awkward time to try for another nap. He figured it would be better to grab another piece of bread and head out with plenty of time to spare.
Isaac’s duty tonight was guarding Byeokyeong Palace.
Located at the westernmost part of the royal castle walls, it was quite far from the main palace and stood isolated. Bordering the foothills and surrounded by lakes and forests, the scenery here was beautiful all year round; it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter, making it one of the favorite palaces for the royals. ……Until last year.
However, since Prince Kaieon returned from the border last autumn and became the master of this palace, the footsteps of those visiting without specific business had completely ceased. Part of it was because everyone, regardless of rank, feared Kaieon, and part of it was because Kaieon himself did not particularly welcome guests.
Not welcoming them didn’t mean he mistreated them. If someone visited, he left them be to stay as they pleased. He left them be. He simply ignored them. As long as they didn’t enter the palace and intrude upon Kaieon’s personal spaces, he didn’t care if they drank tea in the garden or peeked into the drawing room. To put it simply, he ignored them.
The Prince was a man who was utterly indifferent to others.
“It’s not just indifference… he has no compassion and no consideration.”
“Maybe he has no emotions at all?”
Arriving at his post slightly earlier than the shift change, Isaac crouched down beside two royal guards who were standing side-by-side chatting, waiting for the colleague who would be on night duty with him.
“Basically, if the word ‘heart’ or ‘feeling’ is attached to it, he definitely doesn’t have it.”
“Why? There’s cold-hearted, heartless, callous—things like that.”
As the senior guards whispered among themselves, they fell silent and looked down at Isaac after he murmured nonchalantly, then nodded in agreement.
Listening to them whisper that he was right and that those terms were perfect, Isaac gazed at the lake bathed in moonlight. The forest in the distance was pitch black as the night descended, but the sky was brilliantly bright with the moonlight of a moon just past full. A beautiful moon was sunken into the mirror-still lake.
“Byeokyeong Palace really is beautiful in terms of scenery….”
When Isaac murmured this, the guards clicked their tongues.
“So what? I wouldn’t care if the scenery wasn’t beautiful at all; I’d rather guard the main palace or the North Palace.”
“He really does appreciate beauty in the most random moments… He’s going to get a real lesson one of these days. Ugh, I hate guarding Byeokyeong Palace the most.”
“Me too. Anyway, it’s time for the shift change; why isn’t Bern here yet?”
The guard grumbled, glancing toward the clock tower. Right on cue, the bell announcing 11 PM rang in the distance, and Isaac, whose shift had now arrived, dusted off his backside and stood up.
“Good work. Go get some rest. I’ll take over now.”
“You’re standing alone? What about Bern?”
“He’ll be here soon. Besides, it’s not like anything ever happens.”
“I guess so. That guy Bern is always late. Alright, we’re heading back. Good luck.”
The two guards gave Isaac’s shoulder a light pat and turned away, leaving Isaac alone to wait for his colleague, Bern, who was scheduled to work with him tonight.
A few steps through the brush lay the lake, beside which was a dense forest, and further away was the palace. In the sky was a slightly slender round moon, and beneath it stood Isaac alone.
It really was beautiful.
Because of the moon, which still held the energy of the full moon, his body felt languidly pressed down, but Isaac gazed blankly at everything. He felt that it would be fine even if Bern never came and he occupied this scenery alone all night.
In any case, whether one or two people stood guard here made no difference. To the point that the term ‘guarding’ felt meaningless, there was no way anyone suspicious or dangerous would visit Byeokyeong Palace.
Coming from the outside? Through the forest where dangerous beasts lurked just a bit deeper in, or across the lake that was infinitely deep and wide, impossible to swim across? Or perhaps from the main palace, knowing who the master of this palace was? Either way, it was out of the question.
A guarding soldier simply stood in their assigned spot and then swapped out when the shift ended. It was the easiest task among the duties guards performed. Simultaneously, it was the task they hated the most.
Because it was a place where, if one wasn’t careful, the possibility of seeing something unsightly was far greater than anywhere else.
“……. Hmm. Actually, it would be better if Bern came. After all, two are better than one.”
It was just as Isaac changed his mind and murmured.
There was a presence coming from the forest. Looking back, someone was approaching from the dark woods. It was too dark to see who it was, but the footsteps of the shadow, who was breathing heavily, were slow and heavy.
“Who is there?”
He lifted the lantern he had set beside him, but the area still shrouded in the forest’s shadow remained invisible. However, the answer to Isaac’s question came quickly.
“It’s me… Bern…”
“Bern? Why does your voice sound like that?”
Isaac asked back curiously, relaxing the grip on his spear. The voice, sounding as if he were about to cry, was indeed Bern’s, but for some reason, he was panting and gasping for air.
When Isaac took a step toward him, Bern finally emerged from the forest’s shadow, and his silhouette appeared strangely thick. It looked as if he had suddenly gained weight… no, the silhouette approaching him was not that of a human body.
“Bern?!”
“Isaac… h-help me…”
Only when that shadow took a couple more steps forward, sobbing, could Isaac see Bern’s appearance under the moonlight. Bern, with a face that looked as if he would burst into tears at any moment, was carrying something on his back—no, he was lugging it. It took Isaac a moment to realize that the massive thing being dragged along by Bern was the carcass of a predator as large as a human.
“Bern! What happened?!”
Isaac rushed toward Bern. As he supported the sobbing Bern, he lost his words upon seeing the gruesome state of the beast, whose belly had been ripped open. Its intestines were exposed as if they had been torn out by bare hands, and pieces of flesh were scattered across the blood-soaked fur. Even Isaac, who had a strong stomach, felt like gagging.
“I was late… while taking a shortcut through the forest… I ran into him on the way… and he told me to bring it here…”
There was no need to ask Bern, who was stammering through tears, ‘who’ had told him. Because right then, the figure walking out of the forest behind Bern appeared.
Stepping out from the forest’s shadow and revealing himself under the moonlight, he was drenched in black blood from head to toe. A thick, pungent scent of blood wafted over belatedly.
Perhaps because it was night, or perhaps because of the heat of slaughter enveloping his entire body, the tall man, who looked terrifyingly massive, was approaching with slow steps. Beside Bern, who was trembling like an aspen leaf, Isaac stood frozen, unable to move a muscle as he watched the man.
The man gave no glance to Bern, the beast Bern was carrying, or Isaac. As if there was nothing there, he slowly passed by them with eyes that were uninterested and indifferent.
The sensation of something terrifying brushing past the tip of one’s nose.
Isaac, who had remained nailed to the spot until the man walked a few more steps and distance was created again, only regained his senses after the man stopped before the lake, stripped off his blood-soaked clothes, and plunged into the water with a splash.
Blood seemed to spread crimsonly around the man who had jumped into the lake, but soon it blurred. The man slowly cut through the water, washing away the blood on his body. The moonlight that had been resting on the still lake shattered and surged.
As Isaac took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart, a few servants who had been following the man at a distance finally came into view.
“Prepare the towels. Hurry. Before Lord Kaieon comes out.”
“We must bring new clothes.”
“There isn’t enough to drink. Go to the palace quickly and bring water bottles and ice glasses. Lord Kaieon won’t come out for a while once he’s in the water, so hurry.”
Among the servants bustling to prepare everything before the man emerged from the lake, the pretty-looking guard he had seen earlier was standing blankly. He was called a guard, but he was the Prince’s favorite.
The fair youth, who usually followed the Prince everywhere unless something happened, had a pale, yellow face, as if he had seen something. Then, his gaze suddenly fell upon the beast’s carcass Bern was carrying, and he finally let out a loud retch and vomited.
“Ugh… I was barely holding it in… I feel like throwing up too…”
Bern mumbled, covering his mouth. Isaac quickly took the beast’s carcass from Bern and laid it down in the grass, then crouched beside Bern, rubbing his back as he gagged.
Listening to the fragmented words Bern stammered in between, the poor Bern had apparently taken a shortcut through the forest because he was late for the shift change and had run straight into the Prince, who was hunting. And of all times, it happened at the exact moment the beast was being killed.
“Don’t even ask… he ripped open the belly of a thing that was still alive and pulled out the intestines with his bare hands… I didn’t know if I was in hell or where…”
“You went through a lot.”
“To avoid seeing that again, I’ll absolutely never be late from now on…”
Though the conclusion he reached while sobbing and sniffing was a bit strange, Isaac comforted Bern, thinking to himself that it was a desirable conclusion nonetheless.
Going hunting in the deep forest in the middle of the night was one of the things the Prince occasionally enjoyed. He would often dash out in the middle of the night whenever the mood struck him, and whenever that happened, the servants would panic, scrambling to follow him. Today seemed to have been one of those days.
Isaac watched from a distance as the Prince quietly cut through the water, creating ripples in the lake. Despite the water likely being cold, he showed no sign of it, his movements fluid as he glided through the water. Isaac secretly wondered if the man was not only devoid of emotion but also devoid of sensation.
In the meantime, along with the servants who had quickly gone to the palace to gather the necessary items, Bern also returned after delivering the beast’s carcass, and by then, Bern seemed to have calmed down and returned to his usual self. Although he smelled a bit of alcohol.
Just as the servants had prepared dry towels, clothes, drinks, and light snacks, the Prince emerged from the lake. People held their breath and grew tense as he walked out of the water, pushing through the aquatic plants.
The Prince pushed back his wet hair and let out a light breath. His bright blond hair, appearing silver due to the moonlight, shone like a wet jewel. Even the droplets falling from the ends looked like beads decorating his flawless, supple, and dignified body.
The servants, who had been staring at the Prince in a momentary, enchanted trance, snapped out of it when the Prince, having wiped the water from his face with his hand, looked up and indifferently surveyed them. Only then did they hurriedly approach him with dry towels and clothes, but the Prince waved them off as if it were unnecessary.
“Strip.”
Sitting on the chair the servants had prepared and gulping down ice water, the Prince tossed the words toward the youth who was his guard—or rather, his favorite. The youth flinched and hurriedly approached the Prince.
Kneeling before the naked Prince, the youth soon buried his face in the Prince’s crotch and began oral sex, while simultaneously rushing to strip off his own clothes. As if he didn’t know what would happen if he hesitated even for a moment, the youth quickly became naked, and the Prince rested his chin on his hand, looking down at the youth with an expressionless face, as if he were looking at some tedious object.
Before long, the Prince grabbed the youth’s hair and began to push him even harder into his crotch. The youth, being roughly thrust into his throat, gagged and let out stifled, beast-like moans, tears pricking his eyes. Soon, the Prince pulled the youth firmly against his crotch and stopped moving for a moment; the sound of the youth’s Adam’s apple bobbing up and down echoed unusually loudly in the surrounding silence.
“Get down.”
When the Prince pushed the youth away and spoke, the youth coughed as if choking, but quickly turned around and lay prone. The Prince gripped the waist of the youth, who had lowered his head and arched his hips, and without any foreplay or affection, he inserted his member into the youth, and the violation began.
That was not intercourse or a love affair. It was a one-sided violation.
While all the servants and guards stood watch as if this were a familiar occurrence, the youth cried out, his backside pierced, used merely as a tool to satisfy a desire without a single shred of kindness or tenderness. Although the youth lived in luxury and arrogance as a reward for this, still, that was a bit…
Isaac stealthily averted his eyes. Well, they were probably doing it because the mutual gains and losses aligned, but still, he didn’t really want to see someone’s private acts so explicitly right before his eyes…