By Zephyria 
Actually, I didn’t feel scared when I was dismembering the corpse. I just felt so tired and exhausted that I wanted to quit. Regardless of the situation, I just wanted to let go of everything and collapse to sleep.
But the Crown Prince’s long, drawn-out speech made me realize that wasn’t a normal reaction. That’s why I knew which direction to choose at the desolate crossroads.
His actions and words became a signpost for me.
“Well, it’s better to be normal than abnormal, for now.”
I muttered to myself and nodded.
Even if I still wasn’t scared, knowing it was wrong and not knowing it were completely different.
“But where is Garam?”
It had already been two days since I returned to Actan, and the guy who used to follow me around like a shadow was nowhere to be seen. I had an incurable disease that made me anxious when someone I was used to seeing disappeared, so I couldn’t help but ask.
Asella, who was feeding me rice porridge, replied calmly.
“I believe he is scheduled to be transferred to an outer post.”
She said, pushing the spoon to my lips, and I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. I didn’t want to eat it anyway because it had no taste, but now I completely lost my appetite.
“Why all of a sudden?”
When I frowned, Asella hesitated to answer, which was rare. She moved her lips as if choosing her words several times, then cleared her throat.
“He was disciplined for unauthorized departure during duty.”
“Discipline? So he was demoted?”
At my question, Asella nodded and told me the whole story.
Garam had left the capital without permission and gone all the way to Gaulaprum with the Crown Prince to see me. The problem was that he didn’t even tell the Crown Prince… So, he was tailing him.
He was out of his mind. To tail the Crown Prince to the battlefield, of all places? If he had been a little unlucky, he could have been mistaken for a spy and killed on the spot.
“It seems he formally requested to accompany His Highness to Gaulaprum, but was rejected.”
What am I even hearing right now? I stared blankly at Asella and asked.
“Has he already left?”
“No, he’s in custody. I believe he’s leaving next week.”
I was going to tell her to bring him, but I just went myself. It was still a bit difficult to walk, but I was getting stuffy just staying in bed, so it was like killing two birds with one stone. Garam wasn’t in an underground prison, but uniquely confined to his home. That is, his own house outside the Imperial Castle…
“Y-Your Highness!”
“…”
I had vaguely heard that he was from a fallen noble family, but I didn’t know he lived in such a small and shabby house. A pale-faced old woman, who seemed to be his mother, was living alone with him in what was almost a warehouse, and she knelt down, almost having a fit.
Asella had made such a fuss that I even came in a carriage with a large escort, which seemed to startle her even more. I dismissed everyone except Garam, telling them to go out and get a meal or something, and then went inside.
The chair creaked as soon as I sat down.
“…”
“…”
Garam was kneeling in front of me like a criminal waiting for a verdict. I stared silently at the top of his head, which was bowed, and asked.
“I heard you were tailing me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m sorry.”
I had noticed that he was trying to follow me around without a sense of boundaries, but I didn’t know it was to this extent. I remembered that he had even said he would go with me when the Emperor called me.
Didn’t he get scolded by the Emperor’s knight at that time for daring to interfere as a mere guard?
“Why would His Highness put you under house arrest for a week instead of just sending you to a remote post? ”
It was an incomprehensible order. Garam, who had been keeping his head down, finally glanced up at me.
“His Highness said that if Your Highness doesn’t find me within a week, I should leave without complaint.”
I couldn’t help but frown at those words.
“If I find you?”
“He said that my punishment and future are up to Your Highness.”
“…”
If he was just going to send him away or keep him, he should just do it, what kind of bizarre condition is this? Anyway, he was still doing things with unknowable intentions.
In any case, the Crown Prince’s consideration, or lack thereof, left me with no choice but to ponder. I didn’t want to send him to a remote post, but I couldn’t just let him go without any punishment. After all, it was true that he had disobeyed orders and left his post.
I stared at him for a long time and then asked.
“Why were you so desperate to go to Gaulaprum?”
“I heard that Your Highness was missing.”
“And?”
“So I just thought I had to go.”
“What would change if you came alone?”
“That’s true, but I thought I’d figure out the rest after I arrived.”
The Crown Prince was already giving me a headache, and now Garam was also making riddles.
Why is he doing this? Considering that he is from a fallen noble family, perhaps he needed a line to grab onto. It would be difficult to regain the glory of the past without the help of high-ranking officials or powerful people.
If that was the case, I could understand, but the problem was that I was just a prince in name only. There was no particular benefit to trying to get on my good side, right?
In the end, I couldn’t find an answer, so I asked directly.
“What are you trying to get by being nice to me?”
“I’m not trying to be nice.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“I have sworn my loyalty to Your Highness and vowed to protect you with my life.”
That was really out of the blue. Someone had sworn loyalty to me without my knowledge? I tilted my head and asked again.
“Why?”
“Because Your Highness remembered my name.”
I still didn’t understand even after hearing that.
In fact, I was still not fully recovered from my injuries, so it was hard to even sit. Could it be that I couldn’t understand because I was in pain? What does that mean? It couldn’t be the literal meaning of the sentence. Of course. Who would risk their life just because someone remembered their name?
“…”
But I had already seen such guys before. Suddenly, my head throbbed, so I closed my eyes. I waited for the pain to subside, but it didn’t go away.
“Are you alright?”
Garam asked with a worried voice. I finally got up from the chair and looked around. There was nothing in sight, and it seemed that Garam had been disarmed before being imprisoned.
I had no choice but to go to the kitchen, grab a kitchen knife, and beckon him to come to me. Garam walked on his knees to me without a word.
I put the kitchen knife on both of his shoulders, and finally on his head, and said.
“From now on, I will appoint you as my knight with honor and… Ah, skip that. Anyway, go back to Talim from tomorrow. A knight is responsible for the safety of his lord, so I won’t press charges for chasing me all the way to Gaulaprum.”
“…”
Garam was completely bewildered by the sudden appointment, as if he didn’t understand the situation at all. But soon, all sorts of emotions flashed across his face and disappeared.
Garam bowed his head with a choked-up expression and moved his lips. I knew he was going to recite a long and tedious code of chivalry, so I spoke first.
“You can skip that too.”
“But…”
“You just need to keep two things in mind. Obey any unreasonable orders without complaint, and don’t die without my permission. Do you understand?”
Garam bowed his head with a determined face and reverently received the kitchen knife I had bestowed with both hands.
“I will obey my lord’s command.”
Anyway, that’s how the Knight of the Kitchen Knife was born.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
It took almost a year just to call a Wizard to heal my wounds and scars and raise my energy levels to a certain level. I wasn’t fully healed yet, but I often sneaked out of the Imperial Castle.
Since the fall of Gaulaprum, there were many eyes watching, so I even made a secret passage for going out.
I had impulsively bestowed the title of knight, but it wasn’t like I really thought of Garam as a close aide. That’s why I didn’t bother to take him with me.
But there wasn’t really a reason not to take him with me either, but today I had something to do, so I made a special effort to sneak out of the Imperial Castle.
As I recovered my health, I often thought about the time I was in the underground prison of Gaulaprum. It was just a few days full of pain and terrible memories, but it was also one of the most comfortable and refreshing times in my life.
Why was I so comfortable then?
Since I had nothing else to do in bed, I repeatedly recalled that time and thought about it. Then I came to a conclusion. No matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing special other than being tortured.
Could it be that I have a peculiar constitution that makes me feel comfortable in pain? When I first had this question, I shook my head. Who in the world is like that? But I couldn’t resist my curiosity and eventually cut my arm.
The sharp blade tore through my skin and blood flowed. I stared at the wound for a long time and vividly felt the throbbing pain. I even tried to concentrate, but I didn’t feel comfortable or refreshed.
“…”
Well, I had already been hit by the Emperor before. When I was slapped on the cheek and my mouth was torn and bleeding, I was just miserable, and I never felt good.
Then why was I so refreshed back then? What’s the difference? Do I have to have someone else do it? Maybe I didn’t feel comfortable because I didn’t have good feelings for the Emperor.
I needed someone I didn’t know at all, like the torturer in the underground prison.
“Get down, you bastard!”
In the end, after coming to that conclusion, I secretly snuck out of the Imperial Castle and deliberately got kidnapped by a human trafficking ring. It was an unavoidable choice in order to create an environment as similar as possible to the underground prison of Gaulaprum.
The problem was that they didn’t touch the merchandise because they had to sell it. So I deliberately caused a ruckus to make them angry and forced them to hit me a few times.
My lip was torn and bleeding, but it was ambiguous. It wasn’t this kind of feeling.
“…”
It just hurt and I didn’t feel good at all.