Abel opened his eyes after the sun had set. As if he had finally rested after sleepless nights, he had slept deeply in the prince’s bed. The doctor who examined him confird it was just a fainting spell, as Ashler had said.
Still, the prince clung to Abel’s hand as though he were gravely ill. Since only Ashler was allowed inside, he had to awkwardly lift Abel each ti. While Ashler briefly left to fetch the prince’s al, Abel finally stirred.
Blink, blink.
He blinked a few tis, still groggy, then slowly turned his gaze toward the ceiling. But just beside him, the prince was there. When their eyes t—those familiar yellow eyes—Abel smiled instinctively.
“Your Highness, did you see the wolf spider? It’s really scary, isn’t it?”
The question, odd for soone just waking up, was t with a gentle nod. Abel’s face lit up as he sat upright.
“Haha, right? Terrifying, isn’t it? I faint every ti I see one! Wait... if I fainted, how did I end up here...?”
Only then did he realize he was in the prince’s bedroom. His eyes widened, but before the questions could spill out, the prince placed a small hand on his chest. It was a soft touch, not forceful, but Abel lay back down obediently. As he looked up in confusion, he understood.
“Ah. Your Highness, are you worried about ? Don’t worry. I’m really fine. I just fainted for a mont...”
When he tried to sit again, the small hand stopped him.
“No can’t... Eppel.”
“Haha, I can. I’m all better now— Huh? What? What?!!”
Abel bolted upright, eyes wide with disbelief, then turned to the prince, bursting with excitent.
“Oh! Wow, Your Highness! Did you just talk to ? And... if you said Eppel... are you really calling that?!!”
Nod.
Abel’s face turned bright red. A scream exploded from his mouth.
“W-W-Wow―――!!!!!!”
At that mont, the door burst open and Ashler entered, sword in hand.
“What?! Another bear?!”
But in his confused eyes, only Abel and the prince were there. He had clearly heard what sounded like a bear’s roar—from a human bear. Abel, unaware of the noise he had made, looked around in amazent.
“Ah! A bear? Where?!”
You. Ashler resisted the urge to point and stepped inside. He placed the tray he had managed not to drop onto the nearest table and crossed the room. But when he tried to ask if Abel was all right, he froze.
The prince’s yellow eyes were fixed on him—cold, unlike before. The sa chill from their first eting in the forest crept over Ashler again. He hesitated, swallowing hard. It felt like a silent warning not to approach.
The eyes in the forest had held urgency and desperation. Now, they blocked his path. It was not himself the prince was keeping away, but Abel.
Ashler deliberately stepped back. The prince, satisfied, turned his small head.
This child, now revealing his will, understood how to wield his power. He knew how to use those eyes others feared. Ashler realized he had to reassess his view of the prince.
“Oh, right! Sir Ashler! The prince spoke to ! Ahahaha— I’m so happy! From now on, my na is Eppel! That’s what he called , so keep calling that! As much as you want!”
Abel’s joyful voice echoed, but Ashler did not look away from the prince. The chill remained. Had Abel awakened sothing dangerous—sothing that should have stayed asleep?
Fortunately, the excuse that Abel still couldn’t walk gave him the rare honor of staying the night in the prince’s room. The prince refused to let go of his hand—and Abel wanted to stay as well.
When Ashler approached briefly while the prince was eating, he told Abel that things would change starting tomorrow. It seed the palace’s long-neglected affairs were finally being addressed, spurred by the prince’s transformation. Until now, no one had co to teach him letters or manners, which allowed Abel to take him to the forest all day.
But starting tomorrow, the prince would receive a proper education. Tutors would teach him, etings would require proper procedures, and every conversation would be guided by etiquette. A record keeper would follow the prince everywhere, noting every movent.
Clearly, crawling through the dirt, staining clothes, picking fruit, and catching bugs with bare hands were not part of what they considered ‘proper.’ And Abel would no longer be allowed near the prince without authorization.
So tonight would be the last. The last ti he could share a bed with the prince.
Abel gently pulled the blanket snug around him and covered him more securely. Just then, the prince, who seed to be sleeping, opened his eyes.
“Ah? Prince, you’re still awake?”
Abel whispered, and the prince poked a finger out from beneath the blanket, wiggling it. His expressionless face looked like a doll’s, but to Abel, it sohow resembled a child excited at bedti.
With a chuckle, Abel smiled and pulled the blanket up to his neck.
“You should stay tucked in, even if it’s not cold. Especially your stomach!”
He placed a large hand gently on the prince’s shoulder.
“If you sleep on a full stomach, you’ll get sick the next day. When I was a kid, I didn’t listen to my mom, and I ended up bedridden for two days. This is a secret, but since then, I’ve always slept with a pillow on my belly. Hehe.”
There was indeed a pillow atop Abel’s stomach. Since childhood, it had beco his bedti habit. Looking back, it seed silly—but as a child, the next worst thing after being sick was sleeping with your belly uncovered.
That probably wasn’t why he got sick. But to young Abel, even small mistakes felt monuntal. To a child, even the smallest failure could feel like the whole world.
And yet the child beside him faced hostilities no adult could bear. Abel t his yellow eyes glowing in the dark. The prince was told to sleep, but his eyes remained half-lidded.
Knowing sleep wouldn’t co just because he said so, Abel tried again.
“You need to sleep if we’re going to find the raccoon cave tomorrow. They live near the forest’s edge, so we’ll have to walk a lot. None live in the fields, so I want to try the far end of the lake. I’m not sure how fun they are, but when threatened, they pretend to be dead. I was fooled the first ti!”
Abel’s voice carried on. Gradually it slowed, softened, and eventually, the prince closed his eyes, drifting into quiet sleep.
But Abel stayed awake, staring at the ceiling.
He couldn’t sleep. When he’d passed out earlier, he’d had a vivid dream—so vivid it felt real. A dream like the ones his master used to have. Even now, it hadn’t faded from his mind.
****
“From now on, be clear about this: a Regas is a treasured presence that serves the sacred dragon bloodline. But because of that, he can also beco dangerous. If he begins to believe in his own power and harbors impure intent, he will cease to be a Regas—and beco a threat that may drag the kingdom into ruin.”
Truyde’s words, flat and dull, continued without sincerity as his eyes skimd over the docunts before him.
“But I heard the prince only follows you. Your role is to guide him properly, not to monopolize his affection, is it?”
Tap. The pen in Truyde’s hand made a sharp sound as it was placed on the desk. He raised his head for the first ti since Abel entered the room, signaling that he had finished his paperwork.
“Answer . Am I wrong?”
Abel responded quietly to the cold question, “You are correct.” Truyde’s mouth twitched slightly, seemingly pleased with the answer.
“If you recognize your mistakes, that is fortunate. So, if you are staying in the palace, you must now correct them. Many people will now stand beside the prince to provide the education he has been lacking. Your role is to help him accept them. In the anti, you are to keep your distance.”
This ti, Abel did not respond right away. His gaze fixed sowhere in space, more dazed than thoughtful. Truyde frowned, wondering if the fool was scrambling for an excuse, and added,
“If you refuse, you will no longer be allowed near the prince. No—I will drag you out of the palace myself.”
“Yes.”
The reply ca sooner than expected. Truyde sneered inwardly. Of course he wants to stay—leaving now would make all his effort aningless. But his smugness wavered when a calm voice followed.
“As you’ve said, I will do as you ask.”
There was sothing off about that gaze. Abel’s calm green eyes held neither fear of losing his place nor desperation. They were sunken, quiet—too deep. Truyde’s gaze sharpened. This was not the reaction he expected.
Abel looked almost unchanged from a month ago, aside from the many new scars on his face and neck. His foolish tone and innocent laughter were still there.
And yet, even a fool would feel disappointnt at being reprimanded instead of praised—but no such emotion showed on Abel’s face. Rather, it seed he had known this would happen. Truyde tilted his head and spoke again.
“It’s not enough to simply do as I say. If you care about the prince, you should help close the gap between him and others. Also, from this point forward, you will not serve as the prince’s official Regas.”
“Yes, understood.”
As expected, the answer was polite. Truyde stared at Abel for a mont, then suddenly laughed.
“Do you not want to know why? Why you cannot serve as his official Regas even after accompanying him to the Dragon Forest?”
When Abel said nothing, Truyde smirked and answered his own question.
“It is because you are too unimpressive a Regas.”
“......”
“It’s admirable that you led the prince this far, but is it not ridiculous to teach # Nоvеlight # a future king how to catch bugs in the forest?”
Truyde’s eyes glinted as Abel silently bowed his head.
“Fortunately, you seem aware of your own inadequacies. From now on, you will be allowed to go to the forest with the prince only three tis a week. Gradually, you will reduce those visits until he stops going entirely. There’s no ti for dirt and insects when he has so much to learn. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Abel’s polite reply ca again. But this ti, Truyde’s expression turned curious instead of satisfied. Why does he accept it all so obediently?
With a wave of his hand, he signaled Abel to leave. After the boy had gone, Truyde sat for a while in thought, then called for a court attendant. When the attendant entered, he reported first.
“His Majesty ntioned he would go into the forest today. I will guide him to the entrance once the prince and Abel are inside.”
“He used to hate the forest—would tremble with fear. And yet you convinced him?”
When Truyde offered praise, the attendant smiled.
“It’s all thanks to that item made by the great Truyde family...”
“Be careful what you say.”
Truyde’s voice turned cold. The attendant imdiately bowed his head.
“M-My apologies, Your Grace.”
Truyde looked down at the bowing man with faint contempt and revealed his true purpose.
Swish. Thump.
He pulled a small bottle from the drawer and handed it to the attendant.
“Begin using this on Abel starting tomorrow.”
“Ah... this is...”
The attendant took the bottle cautiously, eyeing the purplish-blue liquid inside.
“Isn’t this just a sleeping draught to numb the effects of a toxic atmosphere? Do we really need to go this far?”
“Why waste sothing so precious on soone who will die early anyway?”
Under Truyde’s glare, the attendant bowed again. Still hesitant, he asked,
“But will we be able to remove him so easily? I heard the prince is still hard to control.”
Truyde’s lips curled.
“The sooner he disappears, the better. If he starts babbling about strange things under the pretext of protecting the prince, it will only beco more troubleso.”
He muttered, recalling Abel’s calm face as he left.
“He’s too composed.”
Sothing had changed. Truyde could feel it—this was not the sa fool. And Truyde had learned to be wary of people like that. Those who appeared harmless often harbored the most danger. Unless they were subordinates, they must be treated as threats until proven otherwise.
He lifted his head and gave a cold command.
“Prepare more n.”
“For whom, Your Grace?”
“The queen.”
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