By Zephyria 
“Did you hear? The Crown Prince has gone completely mad.”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“Well, he was attacked by mountain beasts at the entrance to the northern Mountain Range a few weeks ago. The Crown Prince is fine, but it seems the prospective Crown Princess was tragically lost. I have a friend in the mountain guard who told me that ever since then…”
The herbalist, whose face was etched with the wrinkles of a hard life, clucked his tongue as he chatted with a regular old woman. It wasn’t surprising news, as he’d heard similar stories many times already.
About a month after my planned disappearance, Adrian Pearson, who had been doing a decent job of pretending to be a wise ruler for the people, had completely turned into a tyrant. He was searching the entire empire, focusing on the Mountain Range where I had disappeared, and sending out murderous knights to any place with even the slightest bit of suspicious evidence.
Rumor had it that he wasn’t eating or sleeping, constantly badgering his subordinates, saying that his consort couldn’t be dead, and even if they were, they had to find the body.
He had even tried to kill the knights who had been in charge of the escort on the spot, but barely managed to restrain himself when he remembered that they were currently the most skilled fighters.
The Crown Prince had personally promised to execute the nobles’ families for treason if they didn’t bring Noah Hamilton back alive within a hundred days, so the nobles were all holding their breath and searching for me with one mind.
The Crown Prince seemed to want to believe that I was alive… But judging from the way they were searching, it seemed the nobles were looking for the body of a man in his twenties that had floated down the river.
But none of that mattered to me. Neither the Crown Prince nor the nobles searching for me because of his pressure would ever find me.
A commoner boy with thick glasses and messy brown hair was the only assistant of the Archmage who had been staying in the Territory of Graham as a valued guest of the Grand Duke’s family for several months. No one questioned the identity that the Magic Tower Lord had personally certified, and I was able to establish myself in the north without a sound.
“I’ll take these today, sir.”
“Huh? Is that all you’re taking?”
“Yes. The Sorcerer said he’s almost done and doesn’t need much.”
I had been squatting down for a while, picking out the herbs Lennox had told me to get, and I called out to the herbalist, who had been engrossed in conversation, to pay. Sigh… I was told to be thorough in my disguise, but I didn’t expect to actually become Lennox’s errand boy.
I swung the basket of herbs and walked slowly. After Lennox and Carlisle joined forces, the chaotic north was quickly being pacified. The Demon beasts were practically wiped out by the two men’s combined efforts, which far exceeded human capabilities, and those who had tried to seize power in the chaos gave up in the face of overwhelming force and returned to being obedient subjects.
“Welcome back, Noah?”
“…Hmph.”
As I entered the Ducal Palace through the side gate mainly used by servants, Carlisle was waiting for me with an awkward smile. He checked that no one was around and immediately took the basket from my hand. Then, he kept glancing at me the whole way to the detached residence where Lennox was staying, twitching his lips as hard as he could whenever our eyes met.
“Thanks for carrying it, Mr. Liar.”
As soon as we arrived at the detached residence, I snatched the basket back and glared at him. His broad shoulders flinched at the title of Mr. Liar! How could he even think of telling such a big lie when he was so timid…
Even though he had been raised since he was young, the wolf, who wasn’t even related by blood, looked too much like him. That day, the huge beast that had snatched me away from the Crown Prince was none other than Carlisle.
I was so surprised when I saw him transform back into a human as soon as we landed safely with Lennox after jumping down the waterfall. I asked him why he had deceived me. Even if he was confident, what if the Crown Prince had a hidden card and really hurt him? Carlisle blushed shyly and said.
‘…But, still, you see. I didn’t want to give the role of snatching you away from that man to anyone else. Even if it was as a beast who couldn’t speak.’
‘Unbelievable, just for that reason…!’
‘Ah, but it ended well without anyone getting hurt. Don’t be angry, Noah.’
Maybe the problem was that I had been treating him like a puppy and doting on him even though he wasn’t one. Carlisle had almost made it a habit to act cute even when he was in his human form, which was now a head taller than me.
That wasn’t the end of it. I had thought that the form of Carlisle as a wolf, which was twice as big and ferocious as the one I knew, was something he had used magic to achieve with Lennox’s help, but it turned out that that was his real form.
‘…Then why did you lie about that too.’
‘W, w, well… It’s just that… it’s more useful in many ways when Noah dotes on me…….’
Carlisle, who I thought was the most normal of the Alphas and Love interest around me, even Carlisle was like this… Sigh… No. He’s still better than the other guys. Yes, that’s right.
That’s how I calmed my surprised heart.
‘It’s okay. Just don’t hide anything from me from now on.’
‘Then… will you dote on my true form too?’
Even though Carlisle was looking dejected and pitiful, I couldn’t bring myself to nod. Carlisle’s hidden preference, which I had forgotten, flashed through my mind.
Carlisle Graham’s hidden preference was definitely… someone he wanted to protect… and…
‘…He wants to ravage them in his true form…….’
‘Huh? What did you say, Noah?’
Oh, damn it. Absolutely not. Absolutely, absolutely not. I hadn’t been able to prepare myself for the puppy version, which at least had some cuteness to it (even that was much bigger than a normal wolf… but compared to the true form I just found out about, it was really like a puppy).
Just thinking about that huge beast howling made my shoulders shudder. If I did it with that, I’d die, yeah. I’d die for sure.
“I’m sorry… I won’t lie again…….”
Carlisle muttered dejectedly, but I still narrowed my eyes at him with a cold expression. It wasn’t that I was seriously angry or betrayed. I was half teasing him, and half…
“……”
“Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Noah…?”
“Carlisle.”
“Yes.”
“I’m telling you clearly. I like you best in this form. The best, the best, the best.”
“Ah…!”
His face was blushing red, not knowing what I was thinking inside, and damn it, he looked irresistibly cute. I even stood on tiptoe and stroked the top of Carlisle’s head, who was much taller than me.
“What are you two talking about so happily?”
Oh, goodness. I could never get used to Lennox appearing out of nowhere in the air. I asked him to please walk normally, but he said it wasn’t befitting of an Archmage. Considering that it had only been a few years since he became a Sorcerer, he sounded like he had been a Sorcerer since birth.
“Would it hurt you to make some noise when you walk?”
“Yes, it would hurt. My magic power would be reduced.”
He was really good at talking nonsense with a serious face. I shuddered and moved a few steps away from Lennox.
Lennox hummed a tune, regardless of what I did, and received the herbs I had asked him to get, checking the contents. He never told me what he was going to use them for, but he never failed to ask me to run errands, which was very Lennox-like… Lennox had said with a sly smile that he wouldn’t get another chance to use me like this. Even when Carlisle had seriously tried to stop him, he couldn’t be dissuaded.
“By the way, Little Duke. It must be tonight, right?”
“…Yes. I’m sure of it. It’s tonight.”
Lennox, who wrapped his cold and cunning core in a smooth shell like a trap, and Carlisle, who hid his affectionate and thoughtful inner self behind a serious and rigid exterior. At first glance, the two seemed like water and oil that could never mix, but surprisingly, they worked well together when it came to achieving the same goal. Of course, they didn’t seem to think very positively of each other… That was the conclusion I came to after spending a month in the north as Lennox’s assistant.
“If we miss tonight’s Lunar eclipse, we’ll have to wait at least half a year for the next one. We can’t miss this opportunity no matter what.”
Carlisle held my hand tightly and muttered in a serious voice. I silently squeezed his hand back. If it were him… he would have just wanted me to live forever as an unknown commoner in the north. The vacation, or rather, the break, I had spent in the north while waiting for the Lunar eclipse had been that sweet.
But that vacation was ending tonight, and probably around this time tomorrow, I would be heading back to the capital to return to the Crown Prince with a loud announcement of my survival.
‘Make a contract with me. If you promise to grant me what I want, I’ll tell you anything you’re curious about. This is the last chance for him, and it’s the last chance for me too.’
The voice of the Spirit, who had been teasingly ordering me in a clear voice, came to mind after entering the Territory of Graham in the north, or rather, the Graham main castle where the Sanctuary of the Ancient God was located.
‘Don’t forget! You must remember, to call me again…!’
I had thought that all the System’s interference had been eliminated, but there were still deeply rooted traces left.
‘On the night of the Lunar eclipse, you must jump into the Secluded mirror of the false castle that reflects everything!’
It wasn’t intentional, but the timing of my disappearance was just right, neither too late nor too early, based on the Lunar eclipse. I decided to take that as my last remaining bit of luck.
“…Wait for me. I’ll come back to your side, definitely.”
“Yes, Noah. Definitely.”
His reliable lips curved into a soft smile.
“Hey, you two young masters? I hope you haven’t forgotten that a humble Sorcerer is here too?”
It was a smile that I wouldn’t have been able to resist kissing right away if it weren’t for a certain Sorcerer who was either oblivious or too perceptive.