#097

When they arrived at the temple, it was bustling with people. One of the novice priests who recognized them rushed out to greet them.

“You’ve arrived just in time, Your Highness. The High Priest has just awakened.”

“It is Aksha’s blessing!”

The priests shouted with excited faces. There were many reasons, but the greatest was likely the joy of directly serving the High Priest.

Even though they were priests of the duchy, seeing a priest of the Aksha Temple was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Cullen, too, would never have encountered them if he hadn’t received a revelation.

As he thought this, Cullen looked back at his party. His eyes met Kiyen’s, who stood behind him. Thinking that he wouldn’t have met Kiyen either if there hadn’t been a prophecy, he felt a strange twist of fate.

Does the goddess truly plan everything for humans? Is it her will that I fell in love with Kiyen?

“Hurry up and go in, Cullen!”

Arne, who looked like he wanted to go even more, urged him, pulling Cullen out of his thoughts.

“I’ll allow it just this once.”

Ulli, showing her reluctance to enter the temple, also followed them in.

Many priests were gathered. Pushing through the crowd, Cullen entered the open room. Through the long glass window, the afternoon sunlight poured in warmly, and the wind puffed out the curtains in a round shape.

Lasano was sitting on a large bed. Leaning against a pillow, he was conversing with Ritke.

Ritke, who spotted them first, turned her head. Lasano, whose gaze followed hers, met Cullen’s eyes, and Arne ran forward.

“Lasano!”

His voice, already choked with tears, echoed. He slid to the bed in one breath and knelt. Embracing Lasano tightly around the waist, Arne burst into tears. Seeing Arne openly sobbing, Lasano looked uncharacteristically flustered.

“……Arne?”

Bewilderment flickered in his red eyes, which usually held only a sly smile. Looking down at Arne, who buried his face and sobbed, he awkwardly patted his shoulder. Then, he turned his gaze to Cullen.

“Why are you here again, Cullen?”

His voice was genuinely puzzled. The bewilderment seemed deeper than the joy of waking up. It was almost a reprimand, as if asking why he was still here.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Ulli retorted, as if Lasano were the strange one. Lasano brushed back his long silver hair, repeatedly looking at Arne, then covered his mouth.

“Are you alright?”

Cullen asked, gazing at the flustered Lasano. He looked up at Cullen’s silent question and remained speechless for a long time before slowly resuming his usual smile.

“Yes, as I said, I don’t die easily.”

He surveyed the room and asked the date.

“The weather is hot, like the Burning Moon. What day is it?”

“We’ve just entered the Burning Moon. Tomorrow is the night the moon sleeps.”

Then Lasano chuckled slyly.

“Oh dear, you must have waited for me so eagerly that you spent the summer here. I knew my charm was this great, but it’s a bit overwhelming.”

Larsciel’s summer is extremely short compared to spring. It occupies only two of the twelve months, but the temperature varies by region. In the southernmost parts, summer lasted an extra month, and Tesnia, where Cullen was born, only counted one month as summer.

“You’re talking nonsense right after waking up.”

Kiyen finally spoke, and Arne’s crying intensified. Lasano froze with his smile, squinted slightly, and then rubbed Arne’s shoulder, asking.

“Why on earth is Arne crying so much?”

“Because, sob, I missed it…… Prince Kiyen, sob, ignoring Lasano, sob, it feels like it’s been too long……”

Saying words that sounded like curses, Arne buried his face again. Lasano burst into laughter, looking bewildered. Shaking his head, he leaned back against the pillow. Gazing at the flowing white curtains, Lasano remained silent for quite some time. Only after Arne’s crying subsided did he speak.

“I never expected this.”

His muttered words filled the room. Before anyone could answer, Lasano clapped his hands and laughed.

“Alright, the emotional reunion ends here. I’m starving to death, so how about we eat first? If you don’t want to kill me twice.”

“I’ll make it incredibly delicious!”

Arne, who stood up faster than anyone, volunteered with tear-reddened eyes. His gentle brown eyes, like a puppy’s, were still moist, but he bravely wiped his face and left the room. Ulli, watching his back as he headed to the dining hall without anyone stopping him, also said.

“I’ll eat too, then.”

“Was what you ate earlier dirt instead of bread?”

Ulli covered her ears as if Kiyen’s quiet voice was too loud and left the room. As Kiyen and Cullen were about to follow her out, Lasano asked.

“Really, Cullen. Why did you wait for me?”

His eyes, devoid of a smile, asked Cullen. He was asking a question in a similar vein to what Kiyen had asked.

“Aren’t I a suspicious person whose intentions are unclear to you both? Have you gained trust in me in the meantime?”

“Nothing has particularly changed.”

Kiyen corrected him.

“It’s just that Cullen wanted it.”

“Why?”

Lasano acted as if he needed to hear the answer. Looking at his eyes full of questions, Cullen opened his mouth calmly.

“After all, we are colleagues now.”

Recalling what Ulli had told him, Cullen calmly acknowledged.

“And there’s no one who abandons their colleagues.”

“No, there are many such people.”

Lasano countered. Just as he had denied many things before. Just as Cullen had done.

“I am not one of them.”

The conversation ended there. Lasano closed his pale lips and closed his eyes with a look of incomprehension.

“I heard the High Priest has awakened.”

Late in the afternoon, Duke Refellon visited Cullen at the temple. The Duke had changed in the intervening season. He spoke much less than before, and the days he didn’t smile increased. Even though he was a wayward son, the grief of losing a child did not seem to lessen.

“It is so.”

Cullen stopped packing his belongings and greeted him. The Duke looked at the luggage Cullen had packed and spoke.

“You will be leaving soon.”

His voice was bitter. Unlike the season when the burning sun arrived, he looked like someone enduring winter alone. Perhaps he would have to do so for the rest of his life.

“I plan to leave the day after tomorrow, avoiding the last day of the month.”

“The last day is a bad day for travelers.”

When Cullen looked at him, having uttered a fact that only mercenaries might know, the Duke smiled rarely.

“I traveled a bit when I was young. I caused foolish accidents and went through various things before inheriting my title. Isaac resembled me the most.”

The topic of the Young Duke came up. Without any particular response, the Duke continued.

“He was my first child, born after a difficult labor, so I couldn’t bring myself to see him negatively. I thought he would naturally become more sensible than Moet as he grew older… but that’s how life is.”

Cullen offered his condolences, which he had kept buried, as the pain of loss is the same for everyone, regardless of its form.

“……I am sorry, Duke.”

“Thank you.”

He smiled kindly and got to the point.

“I will step down from the front lines and do my best to pursue Zarkas from now on. It is a way to be loyal to Your Highness, and it is also for my revenge. I hope Your Highness will also be careful.”

“What do you intend to do?”

“For now, I plan to find the distribution channels for Cadmium. In cooperation with the western nobles who were almost harmed by this incident. A tremendous amount of money has leaked out, and everyone is furious.”

Cadmium was undoubtedly Zarkas’s source of funds, so it was a good initiative.

“I wish you luck.”

“I will bring good news when we meet again.”

For some reason, it was difficult to give a definitive answer to the idea of meeting again, so Cullen changed the subject.

“Is Moet doing well?”

“Yes, he was always a bright child. Where will you be heading next? I would like to prepare anything you might need based on your destination.”

“I intend to head east.”

“East… you will have to pass through the Lenon Duchy.”

“It seems so.”

The Lenon Duchy was located south of the Cliff County border, and it was a place they had to pass through to go east. The center was occupied only by the capital and the rocky terrain surrounding it, so there was no other route.

“In the current situation, he is the most dangerous, so please be careful.”

“I should.”

It was likely that Duke Lenon was involved in some way, so it was a valid point.

“Then, I will not bother you any further. I will see you on the day you leave.”

“Understood.”

As Cullen moved to pack his belongings again, the Duke paused before turning away and began.

“When I first met Your Highness, I thought you didn’t resemble the Princess.”

Cullen turned around quietly, and the Duke smiled.

“But now I see I was wrong. Your compassion for people might even be greater than the Princess’s.”

It was the first time he had spoken of his mother, so Cullen stood rooted to the spot, listening intently.

“If someone like Your Highness had become Emperor sooner, perhaps many things would have been different. The Empire is currently maintained in a peculiar form. While I have contributed to that system…”

The Duke’s smile faded, and he spoke earnestly.

“So, you must return alive, Your Highness. I also care for Princess Kihelene, but she is different from you.”

The words “return alive” weighed on his mind. Cullen looked around the room. He felt a strange sensation, similar to when he left the Imperial Palace.

“I will try.”

“Yes. And…”

He offered Cullen advice with sincere eyes.

“Please do not trust the Guardian Dragon completely.”

It was a phrase he had heard countless times in the Imperial Palace. Not wanting to hear such words, Cullen coldly pushed the Duke away.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Your Highness, please don’t dismiss it and consider it at least once.”

The Duke pleaded with him as he turned to leave, then said quietly.

“That person has captured the interest of Your Highness, following Princess Kashyella. The best outcome is for nothing to happen, but just in case, please keep a piece of your heart for yourself.”

At the mention of a piece of my heart, Cullen recalled Kiyen, who had asked about his dream. The scene from that day, which had surfaced unexpectedly, lingered in his mind for no reason.

However, Cullen recalled today again. Kiyen’s hand, which had obediently bowed for him, playfully placing a leaf on him.

After their conversation, Kiyen had approached him again. Like a wary beast opening its heart, slowly, slowly.

He didn’t want to doubt Kiyen. Even if he had other intentions…….

“Understood.”

Cullen was fine with even that.