By Zephyria 
I told Mahir everything, even the story of Abyss and Sakira recuperating in the deep forest with other people. I didn’t bother to mention that I hadn’t regained my senses for almost five years because I thought he would worry.
As I talked about using the name Aska and Abyss and Sakira getting married, I realized it was about time for Mahir to meet the King.
Before leaving, he looked at me and earnestly pleaded.
“I’m only saying this just in case, but if you’re going anywhere, you have to tell me. Do you understand? If you disappear without a word one more time, I really won’t let it go.”
“I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”
I bowed my head and answered politely. Why would I disappear without a word? It’s not like I committed a crime. Of course, even if I had committed a crime, that would never happen now.
Thinking that, I subtly raised my head. I thought he would click his tongue and say something more, but it was too quiet. Mahir was just silently staring at me with his mouth shut.
“……”
“……”
What is it? Does he have more to say? Or is he just admiring my face? I also took the opportunity to thoroughly examine Mahir’s face, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time.
But before long, Mahir turned his back without saying anything.
“What’s wrong with him?”
I looked at the place where Mahir disappeared with a puzzled expression, and Aska approached me.
“Isn’t it because there’s more to hear?”
The moment I heard those words, I realized what it was. I peeled off Aska’s hood with a sullen expression and checked his face. He didn’t have reverse eyes, nor did he have tiny horns on his forehead.
“Why do you change as you please?”
“Aren’t you unable to talk comfortably because I’m here? Other things are fine, but especially about the Emperor…”
Aska was not even listening to me and was talking nonsense. Aska glanced at me and said.
“Shall I go out for a bit? You can stay with Pipi and Popo.”
“Where are you going? It’s okay. And it’s not because of you that I didn’t say it…”
It was more because I didn’t know what to say. No matter how I sugarcoat it, the conclusion is that the whole thing happened because I couldn’t control my anger.
And the bigger problem is that Mahir and I are not biological brothers. I could make excuses for suddenly disappearing, saying it was because I was injured by a Magical creature after the sky was torn, but…
At that time, I had already decided to run away with Aska. Even if a Magical creature hadn’t appeared, I would have left somehow. If I stayed in the Imperial Castle, I would only be a source of trouble. In the first place, most of Mahir’s close aides disliked me.
The reason Khalifa favored Mahir more than me, his own son, might be because of his guilt over the late King, whom he killed with his own hands. So, Mahir was naturally in a situation where he couldn’t help but feel guilty towards me, like a chain reaction.
Telling the story of that time included not only Khalifa’s death but also all of this. That’s why it wasn’t easy to open my mouth.
The entanglements were too complicated, and I couldn’t even understand my own feelings, so I couldn’t unravel the threads.
What good would it do to ask Mahir about such things? Now…
Ah, it’s all because of Khalifa. If he had just gotten along well, why did he kill his own brother…
Thinking that, I even remembered the image of Khalifa being cut and injured by the sword I wielded.
I paused for a moment. Did I completely take Khalifa’s life? I inflicted a fatal wound, but I don’t think I directly confirmed his death.
At that time, Aska clearly took the unconscious Khalifa away…
I stared blankly at Aska.
“Or what?”
Aska asked back because I kept silent. I felt strangely dazed.
“I’m still sorting things out. How to say it.”
“Are you even going to say it?”
“I have to. He already knows I killed him, what’s the point of hiding it?”
Where is Khalifa’s body? There’s no way Aska would have buried him quietly. It’s something I could just ask, but for some reason, I couldn’t.
I had a feeling that Aska might have eaten Khalifa.
After that, the sky suddenly tore, and Aska was injured to the point of death. When he was restoring his injured body in the lake, Pipi brought people to him, didn’t she?
I was wondering how he went to the lake with such an injured body, but maybe he had regained some energy by eating Khalifa?
“Tell me first before you say it.”
Aska said while I was having plausible imaginations. I was so surprised that I asked.
“Why?”
Is he going to confess that he ate him?
“Why is why. I’m just trying to be there for you. Wouldn’t it be less scary if we were together?”
What’s there to be scared of? He seemed to be misunderstanding something, but I let it go because I found it cute that he was worried.
“What do you think about that person with the long ears? The Forgotten Race or whatever that you asked Mahir to keep company.”
I didn’t want to talk about Khalifa anymore, so I changed the subject.
“I don’t know. But I think I’ve seen them in my dreams.”
“Me too. Now that I think about it, all the strange things I saw in my dreams were Forgotten Race. There were gnats and people who seemed to be only about 1 meter tall.”
I pondered for a moment and asked.
“Aren’t the seaweed-haired fish you saw in the sea all Forgotten Race? Anyway, if they didn’t attack you and just followed you, it means they have reason.”
Was it a mermaid? Anyway, they didn’t seem to be Magical creatures. Are there more races in this world than I thought? I thought they were all extinct, but there were already two confirmed types. No, three types if you include gnats.
“It seems there are many things other than humans in the world.”
Aska said something similar to what I was thinking. It wasn’t a big deal, but I smiled at the thought that we were on the same wavelength, but I couldn’t help but frown at the words that came out right after.
“Then can I say that I’m a Magical creature too?”
“What are you talking about? Who are you going to tell?”
“Just to people. Of course, I’m not saying I’m going to blab it to just anyone, just to people I can trust around me.”
I was flustered to see Aska saying it so casually as if it were nothing. Did he suddenly have a change of heart? Aska was the one who hated the fact that he wasn’t human more than anyone else.
Just until recently, he said he wanted to become human like me… Even suddenly revealing his claws, even if it’s for treatment.
I became anxious that Aska might reveal his identity to someone without me knowing, like he did to the Royal Physician.
“No. Why are you suddenly thinking that?”
Whether they are trustworthy or not, the more people who know a secret, the higher the probability of it being leaked. Magical creatures are only in the early stages of investigation, so there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be humans who would do crazy things for information or simple curiosity.
No, even if there was no such reason, I didn’t like it. I just didn’t like it no matter what.
“It’s not like there’s a big reason…”
Aska seemed to be thinking about something, then trailed off. And he glanced at me, hesitated, and started muttering.
“Just in case something similar happens again…”
“Put in the subject and say it properly.”
I was getting more and more sensitive because I couldn’t stop Aska once he started being stubborn. Aska sighed because of my annoyed voice.
“In case my mind goes crazy again like last time.”
“When that happens, what.”
What on earth is he talking about? I couldn’t understand even if I heard it. So, I understand that he’s talking about when he suddenly went crazy like he was in the Ruins. But I had no idea what that had to do with revealing his identity to other people.
“It’s easier to deal with if many people know.”
“……”
I racked my brain to understand Aska’s words. I felt like I could hear a rattling sound in my ears.
There’s no way that could be the case, but I asked just in case.
“Are you perhaps talking about suppression when you say deal with it?”
But contrary to my expectations, Aska nodded so easily. I was so dumbfounded that I was speechless for a moment. I stared blankly at Aska and then calmly opened my mouth.
“Aska.”
How can I convey my feelings without getting angry? I would usually pretend to think about it for a bit, but I didn’t have time for that now. I wanted to correct what was wrong as soon as possible, so I only softened my words as much as possible.
“It’s not about suppression, but if anyone just stands in front of you and confronts you, I’ll kill them all.”
I softened my words too much, and Aska didn’t seem to understand the sentence well, so he rolled his eyes and avoided my gaze. I grabbed Aska’s chin tightly with one hand and forced him to look at me.
“Why are you suddenly having such useless thoughts? Is it because the Royal Physician said he doesn’t know if you’re a Magical creature or not? So you suddenly got scared? But you already knew that.”
His lips, which were pressed and popped out like a goldfish, were cute even in this situation.