“Huh? Oh, I was climbing the mountain behind the dormitory for early morning exercise and accidentally found so rare precious herbs. I was so excited that I dug them up, but then I got lost in the d*mn fog and ran into you.”
The man, scared, explained in detail without being asked and trailed off at the end. He noticed Abel, who was in Karas’s arms, and blinked. Then his expression subtly changed.
“Did you perhaps call for ?”
He raised the herb in his hand and his eyes sparkled as if amazed.
“I’m here to get this herb that can revive soone whose heart has stopped.”
Herb? Karas’ eyes narrowed in response to the man’s words. However, the man, who was already examining Abel closely, did not notice and hastily added.
“Seeing that he still has so color left in his complexion, it’s fortunate we’re not too late. We should hurry.”
As the man took a step closer, Karas asked again.
“Who are you?”
“? Hahaha, you’re asking about . You’ll be surprised when you hear it. Hehe, if I were to explain about myself, I’m 35 years old, but I still look like I’m in my early 20s. Not only that, but I’m also famous for having the best personality around here. How good is my personality, you ask? Well, let tell you...”
The man, who looked exactly his age, grinned proudly as he introduced himself.
“I even beca friends with a guy everyone calls a complete scumbag.”
“Shut up.”
“Ah, okay, shut up...”
The man laughed at Karas’ order and complained resentfully.
“But you asked.”
However, he quickly regained his senses after seeing Karas’s fierce glare. Knowing there was soone in urgent need, the man offered the herb he was holding.
“Feed him quickly.”
“...”
When Karas only looked at him suspiciously, the man, feeling frustrated, simply placed the herb in front of Karas.
“You called because of this, didn’t you? You hurry up.”
“I didn’t call you.”
“Right. You didn’t call , huh? Wasn’t it you who called in the fog? I definitely heard sothing. Oh! Then it must be a ghost!”
The man had a knack for making light of any serious situation.
“No wonder, my feet have been feeling heavy lately! It must be a ghost sitting on my shoulders!”
It’s just weight gain.
“And could this be why won have been avoiding lately?!”
They always did. However, the middle-aged bachelor who believed he looked young failed to realize the reality. Instead, he seized the opportunity to bla every little thing on the ghost.
“Co to think of it, last night’s dinner was unusually tasteless. I had a heavy lunch yesterday! I thought it was the landlady’s way of kicking out, but it turns out the ghost has dulled my taste buds!”
The man’s face, which had been spouting nonsense to the point of seeming crazy, was now painted with fear. He had climbed the dark mountain at dawn, accidentally discovered a rare herb, got excited while digging it up, and then suddenly got caught in the fog. In the midst of this, he t soone who needed the herb, but he forgot all about this incredible coincidence and was now completely imrsed in his own ghost stories.
“Oh, so that’s why I, a perfect human, haven’t been able to get married yet! This d*mn ghost. Why would it cling to a perfect human like , who even beca friends with a guy with a terrible personality?”
The man continued to accuse the ghost of everything until he stopped abruptly when he saw Karas move. Karas had put the man’s herb in his mouth and was chewing it thoroughly. Then, he bowed his head and passed the chewed herb into Abel’s mouth. He held Abel’s jaw, pressing and massaging it to make him swallow.
Karas divided the herb into several pieces until he had fed Abel the entire herb. The man seed to be quietly watching without interfering, but his eyes were filled with curiosity as he observed the two. Then, as if he suddenly rembered sothing, he looked around at the fog that still surrounded them. The dense white fog was so thick that it seed like he could scoop up a lump of it if he tried to move it with his hand.
It was a fog that was rarely seen, however, the man looked around with familiar eyes and then turned his gaze back to Karas. Karas, having finished feeding Abel, was now waiting for a reaction. Seeing Karas looking down at Abel without moving, the man smiled softly.
“You must care about him a lot.”
Though Karas didn’t respond, the man didn’t mind and continued. If he’s soone he cared so much, then...
“Is he your younger brother?”
Karas looked up with cold eyes. The man flinched at his gaze and asked again.
“Ah, is the sick one the older brother, and you’re the younger?”
“Shut up.”
The man took a step back at the second warning, but he didn’t forget to mutter quietly.
“How much did he steal from his older brother to grow so big?”
“You.”
“Oh, of course, the youngest is always the biggest in any family. Haha, um, why are you glaring at ?”
The man asked, shrugging his shoulders, but Karas knew that the other person was not afraid of him at all. There was no fear in his eyes from the very beginning. He was just as calm as a quiet lake. Even when he spat out such absurd words, it was the sa. Karas asked the sa question for the third ti.
“Who are you?”
“Haha, if I may say so, I’m 35 years old, but...”
“I asked who you are.“
At the low voice, the man finally dropped his foolish expression. He looked at Karas and answered calmly, unlike before.
“You wouldn’t know even if I told you. Isn’t it enough to know just one thing? No matter how strange this coincidence is, I am the person you need.”
Strangely, Karas did not refute those words. Instead, his eyes narrowed as if asking how he knew that. Karas knew that he had created the fog with his power. He also instinctively knew that the man who erged from beyond it was soone he needed, even if he was a guy like this. Unlike Karas’ glaring eyes, the man didn’t pay attention and lowered his eyes at Abel.
“The herb he ate is a poisonous plant that would kill an ordinary person, but for soone with a heart condition, it’s like a miracle drug. If given imdiately to soone whose heart has stopped, it can bring them back to life. It’s just that it’s too difficult to obtain. The environnt where the herb grows is unique, you see.”
He muttered casually as if explaining, and smiled slightly, changing the atmosphere.
“But there are also people who are incredibly lucky. Since the one you cherish has taken the herb, he will soon wake up. Well, after waking up, there will be so aftereffects like feeling his heart burning for a while, but there’s no need to worry about that because he will beco stronger than anyone else after the pain.”
The man, who had been speaking with certainty, suddenly chuckled and muttered.
“For example, he could outrun a wild boar and win?”
“When?”
“Huh? Well, as soon as he wakes up.”
“When?”
Only then did the man finally realize that there was no change in Abel and panicked.
“Huh? He should wake up as soon as he takes the herb, right? Hey, did you put it in his mouth instead of his throat?”
Karas reached out with one hand and grabbed the sword nearby. The man flinched, his shoulders trembling as he held out his hands.
“Wait a minute! He, He’s about to wake up soon. Count to three, and he will wake up. Look, one, two, three!”
“...”
“Haha, I counted too quickly. This ti, I’m sure. One—two—three————ah, ah!”
After the intense countdown that was almost as long as 30, silence returned. Abel was still motionless, but it wasn’t entirely true that nothing had awakened. Karas’ murderous intent had awakened. The man, truly flustered, quickly opened his mouth to Karas.
“No, really, if you wait just a bit more, he will... huh?”
The man suddenly realized sothing while speaking and widened his eyes. Then, as if shocked, he muttered:
“It must not have been the herb.”
“...”
“What should we do?”
Karas imdiately gave him the answer.
Swish.
In an instant, he laid Abel on the ground, stood up, and approached the man with his sword drawn. Karas’ eyes coldly shone with unmistakable murderous intent that anyone could see. He raised his arm as if to cut the man’s throat in one stroke.
“Die.”
“Ugh! Hey, little brother! Let’s talk about this! Aaaah!”
The man’s scream echoed faintly through the forest as he fled into the fog. Karas disappeared into the fog as he chased after him, and silence returned. But that silence didn’t last long.
Wiggle.
Just as Abel’s fingers seed to move, a breath was exhaled as if it burst out of his mouth.
“Cough!”
His chest slowly began to rise, and soon, stable breathing followed. Then, after a while, his eyelids slowly lifted, revealing clear green eyes.
****
Is Abel alive? Where did the emperor take him?
Though dawn had arrived after spending a day at the camp where the emperor’s army had stayed, lmond’s worries, which had kept him up all night, did not subside. If he had known this would happen, he should have told him to prepare himself little by little. Even he might have had a heart attack knowing the child he raised had grown into the King of Slaughter. Let alone the weak Abel.
“Phew.”
As he let out a sigh for the umpteenth ti, Nani, who was also tending to the butler with him, offered comfort.
“Young Master Abel will be fine. There’s no way heaven would take away soone so beautiful.”
“Well, I hope so, but his condition is not good, haah.”
Along with another sigh, lmond’s shoulders slumped. Seeing this, Nani looked at him sympathetically, placed a hand on his shoulder, and asked cautiously:
“No. He will co back alive and well. Do you want to bet?”
“......”
“I’ll bet my next month’s salary.”
Nani’s comfort had an effect. lmond straightened his hunched shoulders and stared at Nani. Nani’s intention to make the other person unconsciously bet was revealed in his trembling voice when he ntioned “salary.” However, he did not lose hope and asked again:
“I’ll bet a year’s worth of my future salary that he cos back alive. What about you, lmond?”
“I’ll bet my entire fortune that he doesn’t.”
Nani’s eyes lit up with excitent at the thought of reclaiming his ho. He confird in a trembling voice:
“A-Are you serious?”
“Of course. I’m willing to bet my entire fortune that he dies.”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you understand, get lost.”
This ti, Nani’s shoulders slumped as he squatted at the entrance of the tent. As soon as he moved away, lmond let out another worried sigh. Nani, feeling sorry, tried to give hope again and opened his mouth:
“He really will co back alive. Miracles do happen, you know. Who knows? Maybe he found so miraculous herb that can revive the dead.”
“A miraculous herb?”
“Yes, they say such an herb exists. It can even make a stopped heart beat again.”
“Really? Where does it grow?”
At lmond’s urgent question, Nani opened his mouth as he tried to recall his mory.
“Ah, um...”
“Where?”
“Well, it’s supposed to be in a very rare place. Where was it again?”
The downside of having broad but shallow knowledge beca apparent. lmond felt all his energy drain and pointed outside with his hand.
“Could you just get lost?”
****
Where am I?
Abel lifted his heavy-feeling body and looked around. However, all he could see was a fog so dense it was hard to see an inch ahead. Strangely, there was no fog in the small space where Abel was. It seed as if the fog was shielding this space like a barrier.
He stared blankly at the fog, trying to recall why he had collapsed.
Ah, co to think of it, after finding out that Karas was the prince, I ran into the forest... Oh no! The prince!
Abel quickly looked around again. It made sense that he was still in the forest, but where was the prince?
Moreover, the light of dawn was already filling the surroundings, piercing through the fog. It was clear that this ant he had been lying in the forest all night. Abel imdiately realized the situation.
The prince must have left because I was a nuisance.
Given that he had been abandoned before when he first t Karas, he felt both familiar and yet saddened by it.
He could have at least covered with so leaves. He was so kind and cute when he was young.
As the realization of Karas’ identity sank in again, Abel sat down under the tree next to him. Quietly, he called out to him.
“Prince.”
Snap.
As if in response to Abel’s call, there was a sound in the fog. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Soone erged from the fog, and it was Karas, who rarely cursed.
“F*ck, that little rat.”
For the first ti in his life, Karas missed his target and walked onto the field with a fierce look in his eyes, only to et soone’s gaze. Clear green eyes looked up at him in surprise. And he even spoke to him.
“Oh?! Your, Your Highness Karas! You didn’t abandon after all!”
Abel stood up, looking at Karas frozen in place. It was clear that his good nature from his childhood still remained. He still had a pure and kind heart sowhere inside, despite his intimidating appearance. Abel’s heart swelled as if he had heard a promise from a wayward son who had co to his senses. And then, unable to contain his joy, Abel approached Karas and grabbed his hand.
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