By Zephyria 
I didn’t notice it the first time I saw him, but there were traces of magic used near his face. I got up from my seat and reached out to brush away the hair covering his forehead, revealing a faint red mark.
Healing magic was a convenient magic that could heal all wounds as long as the person was still alive and had enough Mana, but it was a non-mainstream magic that was not often used unless it was an emergency.
Even if the wound was healed immediately, it would create resistance, and the Self-healing ability that humans inherently possessed, that is, immunity and recovery, would be significantly reduced.
If healing magic was overused, even a small wound could not heal on its own and would fester and rot, so it was not often used unless it was wartime. Of course, even among rare Wizards, only a very few could use healing magic, so it was not a magic that could be overused in the first place.
“Were you hurt?”
At my question, Mahir lightly avoided my hand.
“How badly were you hurt that you even used magic?”
“It’s nothing, so tell me properly about what happened yesterday.”
“It doesn’t seem like nothing to me?”
How many people in the world could injure the Crown Prince of the Empire? Especially in this Actan Imperial Palace.
“Did Khalifa do it?”
“Who calls Your Majesty by his name so carelessly?”
“Why? What else don’t you like?”
Mahir sighed and then touched his forehead.
“Do you remember Prince Amir?”
“No? Who is he?”
“He caused a ruckus in Talim and made you get carried all the way to the Duke’s mansion.”
Ah, now that he said it like that, I think I know who he was. That young prince who said strange nonsense to Aska not long after I got married.
“Why suddenly that matter?”
“Your Majesty tried to kill Prince Amir.”
“……”
I closed my mouth and stared at Mahir for a long time before asking.
“Suddenly?”
“He insulted you?”
“That’s true, but… he’s the Duke’s son.”
He wasn’t just any noble, but the son of a Duke, of which there were only twelve in Actan, so I couldn’t understand why he suddenly tried to kill him.
“And I even said it was a misunderstanding and that I overreacted? That’s why Aegis even cast Sealing Magic instead, what nonsense are you talking about?”
When I spoke with a deeply furrowed brow, Mahir sighed again. Looking at that, I felt like I knew why Mahir’s forehead was broken.
The founding background of the Empire and the saying that the Emperor is the Incarnation of the Sun God showed that Actan’s imperial power was very strong, to the point where there was nothing to check it. It could be said that they had been maintaining an absolute imperial system that had never been overturned since its founding.
But no matter how much, killing the Duke’s son for such a thing was unacceptable. So, of course, Mahir would have stopped him, and Khalifa, angry at that, would have smashed his head as a way to vent his anger.
“The Duke agreed to hand over part of his territory, and the incident was settled, so don’t make an issue out of it anymore.”
Looking at Mahir, who was speaking with a tired face, I said, dumbfounded.
“I never made an issue out of it in the first place, and I had no intention of doing so. I paid back the Prince well for what he did wrong, so why did this happen?”
“If you were going to end it like it was nothing, you shouldn’t have sent the Prince back like that.”
“……”
Thinking about it, this was also true. Since he was carried out so openly on a stretcher for everyone to see, there was no way that words wouldn’t come out.
But just because I was going to end it like it was nothing didn’t mean that the matter was nothing. That guy met with my wife alone in my castle without my permission. Khalifa’s actions were a bit hasty, but in fact, the Prince had done something that he deserved to die for.
I didn’t say anything, but if it was known that he even made lewd remarks, not only the death of one Prince but the entire Duke’s family would be destroyed, and they would have nothing to say.
Since no one knew this fact yet, it seemed that the Prince hadn’t properly said why he was beaten by me.
“How did those guys know the location of the secret passage? Did you interrogate them before killing them?”
Mahir changed the subject when I didn’t say anything. After hesitating until the very end, I nodded.
“I told Aegis the location of the secret passage just in case, and it seems he was caught there while running away.”
“You?”
“Yeah, so I was able to get there without being late.”
At my words, Mahir frowned.
“Why did you suddenly tell him the location of the secret passage? Was there any suspicious sign from before?”
“I just told him as a side note. You never know what might happen in the dangerous Imperial Palace. I thought that if he knew something like that, a bride who was sold from another country might feel a little relieved…”
While I was rambling on, I suddenly stopped talking when I saw Aska’s face outside the window. Am I dreaming right now? Is there something wrong with my eyes? Is it a hallucination? More than that, this is the third floor right now?
Mahir tilted his head and looked towards the window, following my gaze, as I suddenly stopped talking in the middle of my sentence. But the face of Aska, who was peeking out and looking inside, disappeared upwards the moment Mahir moved.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“The weather is so nice today.”
“Weather?”
Mahir tilted his head and looked at me, and then Aska’s face popped out of the window again. He’s not a lizard, so how can his face come out in that position? What posture is he sticking to the wall in?
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak.
“But why is your chin like that?”
Mahir tilted his head slightly to the side and looked at my chin, asking. I reflexively raised my hand and stroked the area around my chin, which was bruised, and said.
“I fell off the bed.”
“I heard your neck was also badly injured.”
“They said it’ll get better soon if I apply medicine and get plenty of rest.”
At my words, Mahir sighed. And just as he was about to say something, there was a knock. The door opened with permission to enter, and the secretary who usually accompanied Mahir was seen.
“Greetings.”
“It’s been a while.”
After exchanging light greetings, Mahir and the secretary started talking about something among themselves. I was roughly listening to it, but it was a political story that I wasn’t interested in, so I let it flow in one ear and out the other, and approached the window where Aska had been seen.
I pretended to look at the scenery outside and leaned my upper body out to look up, but Aska, who should have been hanging on the wall, was not seen. Did he make eye contact with me and go back into the room?
If that was the case, it would be fortunate, but if he went on an adventure somewhere else, it would be a really big problem.
“Kyle, don’t lean your body out too far.”
Mahir called me, probably because my posture looked unstable. It wasn’t very dangerous at this height, but every time I was near the window, I heard that sound.
Anyway, since I had confirmed that Aska was not there, there was no reason to look outside anymore. When I returned to my seat, Mahir looked at me and said.
“I have something to do, so I have to go, so take good care of yourself and try to be careful.”
“Because Khalifa, no. Your Majesty is in a bad mood?”
I realized that there was a secretary next to him and changed my words, but he was looking elsewhere as if he hadn’t heard me. When I noticed, Mahir sighed. Looking at that, I reached out and checked Mahir’s forehead again.
“Take it easy too, hyung.”
“I’ll send you some medicine, so don’t forget to take it.”
“You take it. I’ll get better soon after taking a nap anyway.”
At my words, Mahir reached out and stroked my head.
“And I wasn’t going to say this because you lie often, but I think there might be a situation where you’ll be in trouble later, so I can’t help but say it.”
I couldn’t help but tilt my head at the sudden words.
“Lie? I don’t lie often? Why are you slandering me?”
“Kyle, if you’ve decided to deceive someone, you have to deceive them thoroughly. If you use half-assed tricks, the other person’s vigilance will increase, and the weight of your words will become infinitely light.”
“……”
Did Mahir notice that I just lied? There weren’t any awkward parts, and they were all convincing words, so how did he know I was lying?
“How did you know?”
When I couldn’t resist my curiosity and asked, Mahir, who was stroking my head, hit my head with his fist.
“Your expression gets weird every time you lie.”
“How? I just made a normal, as natural as possible expression.”
“That’s the most awkward. Anyway, everyone who’s even a little interested in you knows it, so don’t lie if you can help it.”
“Then Khalifa probably doesn’t know.”
In fact, the only person I had to deceive with a serious attitude was Khalifa, so if only he didn’t know, I didn’t really care if other people found out. But it would be a problem if those people went to Khalifa and told him.
I glanced at the secretary and asked.
“Do you know when I’m lying too?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Honestly.”
“Yes.”
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“……”
At the short and concise words, I asked again with a dumbfounded expression.
“How is it obvious?”
“You suddenly smile or stare intently.”
“People can smile a little and stare intently, can’t they? Judging the truth of a lie with just that is too rash, isn’t it? Can you even call yourself the Crown Prince’s closest aide if you do that?”
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
When he bowed his head and apologized politely, I became drained instead. I lashed out because I felt guilty for no reason, and now I was speechless. Mahir scolded me, who had closed my mouth.
“Why are you picking on someone who’s just standing there?”
“I just asked.”
“Anyway, you’re all grown up now, so you probably want to make secrets too. Just don’t cause any accidents. If something happens that you can’t handle, tell me quickly.”
I couldn’t help but frown because he was treating me too much like a child. But what’s important now wasn’t this. I had no idea how much Mahir knew.
“Do you know why they died?”
“The people from Calderia? I heard they killed them all because it was hard to find them one by one?”
“Do you believe that?”
Does he even know that Aska is a boy? No, this is a serious problem, so there’s no way Mahir would just let it go like this. Mahir looked at me, who was standing still with a confused expression, and said.
“That’s probably true to some extent. But wasn’t there some other reason? You wouldn’t kill people without a reason.”
“That’s true. There was another reason.”
“Yeah, if you say so, then that’s probably it. You too, but your wife must have been very surprised because of a big incident, so take good care of him.”
At those words, I remembered Aska’s face, which was sticking to the wall and peeking out of the window. Very… surprised? I was more surprised, but Aska was eating well, sleeping well, and doing well.
“Okay.”
When I answered with a sullen expression, Mahir smiled. After exchanging a few more words, Mahir left Talim.