Regas Vol 3. Chapter 7

As he looked at his fairy-like, beautiful face, Ashler realized that evidence wasn’t important. lmond was right. There was sothing he felt in his heart before his mind even comprehended it. The fact that he had revealed secrets known only to the two of them was just the next confirmation.

Every sensation in his body spoke: He was real. So there was never any worry about whether the prince would recognize him or not. He had no anxiety, because he was genuine. But that was exactly the problem.

The sentint was that it didn’t matter if the prince didn’t recognize him.

As long as the prince was happy, it didn’t matter what happened to him. That was the implication.

Watching him quietly, Ashler asked softly, not knowing why the question suddenly ca to mind:

“A hawk doesn’t get sick from eating rotten at. Do you know why?”

At the beginning of the war, when allies had turned into enemies and Ashler was about to sacrifice his life for Karas, Karas had asked him that sa question during a miraculous mont. Ashler hadn’t been able to answer. He simply couldn’t tear his gaze away from Karas, who was looking up at the hawk perched in a high place.

Amidst the sea of countless corpses, he seed to be in a completely different world as he stared at the hawk in the sky.

Ashler had thought—only Abel could explain that hawk to Karas. So, if the man before him was truly Abel... then he would know the answer.

The man, who looked completely different from Abel, smiled as if in surprise, his eyes going wide.

“You know that too, Sir Ashler? Wow, that’s fascinating. I taught that to the prince. Hawks bring grass to their nests—an herb that protects them even if they eat rotten at.”

lmond, intrigued by the conversation, interjected as if hearing it for the first ti.

“Really? There’s such a thing in a hawk’s nest?”

Abel nodded as he looked at lmond.

“Yes, my master taught . My master learned it from his master.”

“What? What are you talking about? I didn’t learn that!”

When lmond shouted in surprise, Abel added as if rembering sothing.

“That’s right. My master said so. lmond only learned roughly. His goal was to get a stable job, so he pretended to have a stomachache to skip outdoor classes.”

“......”

“And during Regas’s class, you always complained. One day, you even got stung by a bee while standing outside barefoot...”

“Stop it!”

lmond raised his voice again and turned to Ashler. He cursed Abel inwardly for talking too much and then addressed Ashler with confidence:

“Yes, it’s really Abel. °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° I can guarantee it.”

But there was no need to confirm with Ashler. He was already in awe.

Is it really true that there is reincarnation?

Yet there was sothing in Abel’s words that Ashler couldn’t understand.

“I understand your intentions, Abel. But isn’t your decision not to appear before His Majesty already aningless? His Majesty has already t—”

“Uh!”

“Cough!”

lmond and the butler suddenly coughed loudly, cutting Ashler off. Ashler looked surprised. lmond gripped his shoulder and told him the truth.

“Sir Ashler. Abel still doesn’t know who went to the valley with him.”

“What?”

Ashler turned to Abel in disbelief. Even if it was Karas, with such a changed appearance, it made sense not to recognize him...

But Abel? Of course, Karas’s appearance had also changed, so maybe that made sense too.

Ashler reluctantly accepted that—but sothing still felt off.

“Does he really not know?”

He asked lmond again and then turned to Abel.

“Then who do you think guided you to the Crimson Valley?”

“The Commander-in-Chief.”

“....”

“You already heard from the Commander-in-Chief, right? What I said in the valley... He knows I said there’s no such thing as reincarnation.”

Of course, he knows because he heard it directly.

But—Commander-in-Chief?

“Commander-in-Chief?”

Nodding, Abel added quickly:

“Yes, the Commander-in-Chief. I’m grateful to him for saving my life, but... he’s really scary. He kills people with a sword... Really, really scary.”

Gloom spread across Abel’s face as he recalled the corpses covering the ground.

“At first, I almost died at the Commander-in-Chief’s hands too. I only survived because I could trace the path the enemies took. I was terrified.”

That at least resolved the mystery of who had guided him. But now the others were more frustrated than ever.

Oblivious to their confusion, Abel kept talking about how frightening the Commander-in-Chief was.

“Even after that, he kept trying to kill . Luckily, his mind changed and I barely survived. On the first day, he hated so much he just left lying there. Oh, right—he even drew his sword once, angry at . I went through several close calls.”

Abel now smiled faintly, relieved that it was all in the past, but the expressions on everyone else’s faces grew more severe.

Abel quickly added, as if he felt he’d spoken too harshly of the Commander-in-Chief:

“But I’m really grateful that he saved my life. Truly. If we et again, I’ll definitely thank him for saving so many tis.”

Then, with a hint of embarrassnt, he added sothing softly—like he didn’t want anyone to hear it:

“Still... because he’s such a scary person, I’m glad he’s not the prince.”

Ashler, lmond, the butler, and Nani all froze like statues.

Abel, sensing he might have said too much, tried to co up with sothing good to say next.

“By the way, his loyalty to the prince—no, to His Majesty—is really deep. He even tried to eliminate the enemy king in the Crimson Valley. He let be bait to expose traps. He encouraged to die for His Majesty.”

There was no greater insult than that.

And yet Abel smiled proudly, thinking he was giving a complint.

“He’s cruel and scary, but it’s reassuring to know he’s on His Majesty’s side. Thanks to him, the war is over. He’s really done a lot for His Majesty.”

Of course he has. After all... it’s himself.

But no one dared to say it.

Abel, exhausted from speaking so much, wore a faint smile on his pale face, struggling to breathe.

“I’m sorry. I guess my stamina hasn’t returned yet. Phew. Ah, Sir Ashler, did you have sothing else to say to ?”

Everyone turned to look at Ashler at once.

Under the pressure, Ashler barely managed to speak.

“...There is none.”

Then, as if waiting for the mont, lmond spoke to everyone but Abel.

“Let’s have a eting outside.”

“Okay. Let summarize again.”

Nani began speaking, drawing two circles on the ground.

“These two people t each other but don’t know each other’s identities.”

He marked one as Abel and the other as Karas.

“His Majesty sees Abel as just a guide. Abel sees His Majesty as the Commander-in-Chief. But the problem is—!”

Nani tapped the ground with a branch, glancing at the three others gathered around the torch.

“The Commander can’t reveal his true identity, because Abel might collapse from the shock. And Abel already said there’s no reincarnation, so even if he changes his mind later, His Majesty won’t believe it.”

Nani’s words were unexpectedly clear and concise. lmond stared at him in admiration. He had always thought of Nani as a reckless gambler who once lost the house in a bet, but now he seed...

“Sir lmond.”

lmond snapped out of his thoughts at Ashler’s call. Seeing Ashler’s serious gaze, he seed to already know what he was about to say.

Still, they had to know each other’s identities.

lmond agreed with that point, but the timing was the issue.

“I suppose soday we will have to tell the truth. But now is not the ti. I know Abel’s physical condition well enough.”

He turned his gaze toward the tent where Abel was.

“If we reveal the truth now, Abel’s heart will truly stop.”

The butler nodded in agreent beside him. lmond then pointed out Karas’ problem.

“His Majesty shows interest in Abel, but how deep is that interest? What do you think, Sir Ashler?”

“Yes, he does show interest, but he has never ntioned it. However, soon we will go to the palace. Shouldn’t we inform him before we have to fight the King’s Heart?”

Once again, lmond expressed a different opinion.

“No, if that’s the case, it’s better to not reveal it at all.”

Ashler was surprised by lmond’s unexpectedly firm argunt and looked at him. lmond explained in a dry voice.

“They’re the ones who’ve already tried to kill Abel once. If they know Abel is by His Majesty’s side again, wouldn’t that make it twice as easy for them to do it again?”

Ashler had no argunt to counter and agreed in silence. It was a valid point. Those who had relentlessly tornted Abel when he was already gone from this world, using it as Karas’ weakness, might really kill him again this ti if they found out Abel had reappeared.

“Then, for now, let’s keep this a secret among the four of us...”

At that mont, a loud voice calling for Ashler was heard from sowhere. Ashler and Nani reflexively grabbed their swords and stood up, and soon a soldier discovered Ashler and approached him. With an urgent voice, he delivered the news.

“His Majesty has disappeared.”

****

It seed chaotic outside. The four had said they needed to hold a eting and had left, and after waiting for a long ti without any news, Abel grew anxious.

Had sothing happened?

He slowly lifted his lying body from the bed and placed his feet on the floor. Standing barefoot, he didn’t even have ti to feel the discomfort as a wave of dizziness made him stagger.

Still, as ti passed, he felt more stable and thought it would be okay to walk. One arm was wrapped in bandages and felt uncomfortable, but he carefully and slowly moved backward. Abel lifted the back tent flap and peeked his head out. If they found out he had gotten up, lmond and the butler would surely be furious.

So, he wanted to find out what was happening without them knowing. He really only intended to see what was going on and then lie back down. But behind the tent was a forest, and there was no one around to ask. Hesitating for a mont, Abel bent down and slipped through the split in the tent.

The stones and dirt on the ground painfully pricked Abel’s tender, callus-free bare feet. It was a pain he hadn’t known before, so he took another slow step. Then, from the end of the tent, a light appeared, and a soldier ca into view.

“I’ll turn this way and take a look!”

The soldier, who had been speaking loudly to soone, stepped forward toward where Abel was and then stopped in his tracks.

“Who’s there?!”

He quickly drew his sword and thrust the torch he was holding forward. Then, the figure behind the tent faintly ca into view. It was a blond-haired fairy wearing only a white robe that reached down to his knees.

“Oh!”

The soldier gasped, blinking as if he were seeing an illusion. But the fairy smiled at him warmly and took a step forward, speaking in a beautiful voice as if he were happy to see him.

“Thank goodness. Is sothing wrong? It seems quite chaotic.”

“Ah, well, that’s because His Majesty has gone missing...”

The soldier, caught off guard, replied, and the fairy’s eyes widened in surprise. Seeing those beautiful green eyes grow larger made the soldier feel like he was having a heart attack.

Clang.

He dropped his sword without realizing it and clutched his heart. The fairy asked with concern.

“His Majesty has gone missing? Have the enemies invaded?”

Shaking his head vigorously, the soldier, unable to speak, barely pointed in the direction he had co from.

“I—I will go and... confirm the exact facts....”

The soldier, thinking only of the fairy’s curiosity, ran off as if he might fall over. As he disappeared, Abel took another step forward, using his weak legs.

What if the enemy had invaded? What if the fragile prince had been injured...?

Rustle.

A sound ca from the forest. Abel was about to take a step toward where the soldier had disappeared, but he turned his body and looked toward the forest. But there was nothing to be seen in the dark. Still, there was a feeling that sothing was there. Abel hesitated and quietly moved in that direction. If it was an enemy invasion, he had to confirm it and inform the others.

One step, then another. As he stepped off the path and onto the branches and roots, a hand suddenly shot out from the darkness.

With a short wind sound—whoosh—a hook-like arm popped out and wrapped around Abel’s body in an instant, then disappeared into the darkness again. After a mont, with the sound of footsteps and rustling, the soldier who had disappeared reappeared with another soldier.

“Here, it’s here! There’s a fairy here—”

The soldier pointed behind the tent, shouting, but there was no one there. Another soldier nearby teased him, asking if he had seen a ghost, but the first soldier couldn’t tear his eyes away from the empty spot for a long ti.

It was strange. He was certain he had seen a fairy.

****

Gasp!

Abel held his breath, but it didn’t have much effect. The arm that hugged his waist from behind was so strong that it was difficult to breathe, and the other hand was covering his mouth. Abel used his free hand to try to pry the arm off, struggling against the firm grip.

He was caught suddenly and lost his mind due to the speed of the rapid movent. He finally regained his senses when he stopped moving. Well, even though his legs were in the air because of the arm hugging his back. When he kicked his feet, they touched the legs of the person standing behind him.

It was definitely the enemy. It had to be a remnant of the opposing nation attacking! Panicked, Abel moved his feet and kicked the legs of the person hugging him. However, Abel’s weak strength only tickled the opponent. Moreover, the opponent didn’t even feel Abel’s small hand trying to remove his arm as resistance.

He just waited for Abel to get tired and give up all his movents. When Abel’s resistance weakened, he took a step back. Startled by the movent, Abel kicked again and hit the abductor’s leg next to his ear.

“Shh.”

It sounded like a faint breeze. However, he knew there was no breeze that carried such warmth. He also knew that the sound wasn’t this gentle. Although his captor hadn’t uttered a coherent word, Abel, as if under a spell, suddenly ceased all movent. His captor, holding him tightly from behind, had bent his head down. Even without looking, Abel had a sense of who it was.

As Abel cald down, the large hand covering his mouth slowly released. Abel turned his head to confirm his suspicion with his eyes. The man was still bent over, gazing down at Abel. His face was so close that even in the darkness, Abel could clearly see his gray eyes.