While the Prince lightly dusted the soot off his collar, the escort, who had been out of sight for a moment, returned. The escort walked back, glancing over his shoulder at the blazing warehouse.

“It’s a bit of a distance from the adjacent buildings, so I don’t think the fire will spread. I’ve cleared away anything nearby that could catch fire, so…… we should just inform the sentries on our way back.”

“Fortunately, there’s no wind and no one around,” he muttered, dusting off his palms. He must have pricked his finger on a splinter or a thorn while moving the wood, as he frowned and gently scratched the edge of his palm with his nail. It seemed that as soon as he escaped the blazing warehouse, he had disappeared to inspect the perimeter of the building.

Only then did the escort slump down in his spot, letting out a long sigh as if finally catching his breath. “Aigoo…… This is the first time I’ve been this exhausted leading up to a new moon……” he mumbled to himself, before suddenly snapping his mouth shut and stealing a glance at the Prince.

The Prince, who had been gauging the time by looking up at the star-studded, pitch-black sky, felt his gaze and looked at him. The escort, staring at the Prince illuminated by the firelight, suddenly blinked twice, his expression clouding as he stood up.

“Uh…… are you alright? Your Highness, your complexion……”

The Prince silently turned his gaze away from the escort. There was no more business here. As he turned and started to walk away, he heard the escort’s voice trailing behind him.

“Um, I can carry you on my back…… Never mind.”

The escort, who had cautiously offered from behind, saw the Prince stop and turn to look at him blankly. His face clearly read, ‘Did I just say something crazy? Am I insane?’ as he mumbled, “I apologize.” The Prince resumed walking, and after a slight gap, the sound of footsteps following him resumed.

The Prince raised his hand and quietly wiped his own face once. It came away full of ash and dust. If he were to look in a mirror right now, his appearance would probably be unspeakable. Aside from being completely filthy, his deadly pale, dark complexion would look stark enough to make it seem like he might collapse at any moment. Indeed, even lifting a single arm felt heavy.

It was always like this when the new moon approached. The atmosphere seemed to press down on him. His entire body ached and throbbed as if he were suffering from a severe fever. Let alone right now. It felt similar to when he had swung his sword non-stop for three days during monster subjugations on the border. Right now, he just wanted to go into the forest right next  , climb a suitable tree, and close his eyes.

He felt so terrible that even without looking in a mirror, he could guess his own complexion was no different from a corpse’s. But offering to carry him on his back.

It was a phrase he had never heard directed at him before, so for a moment, he had to genuinely process what ‘carry on my back’ even meant. The fact that someone offered to carry him was baffling enough, but what was even more absurd was……

“…….”

The Prince looked at the escort, who was walking a few steps ahead to clear the debris blocking the ruined path here and there, tossing the trash to the edges of the path.

Covered entirely in soot from the fire, his clothes reduced to rags, the man was the very definition of a complete wreck. Moreover, though he had his back turned now so it wasn’t visible, blood was still seeping little by little from the chest wound slashed earlier by the Prince’s sword. His limbs were covered in burns.

It was absurd that someone in a state where even holding a single cat might be too much to bear would offer to carry someone else on his back.

What a ridiculous thought…… Just as he was thinking that, one of the cats that had been darting around the escort’s feet suddenly scrambled up the back of his neck. Then, as if they had been waiting, the other two followed suit, dangling precariously from the escort’s shoulders, back, and head.

“Hey, hey, can you guys please get down…… I feel like I’m really going to die……”

As the escort grumbled, the cats, as if understanding his words, began to chatter “nyang-nyang-nyang.” With all three meowing at once, it was quite loud.

“…….”

The Prince suddenly looked down at his own hand. The hand that had been gripping the sword just moments ago.

He could have cut him.

The moment he swung the sword, even if the cats rushed in and scratched his arm, he could have easily withstood that amount of weight. He was entirely capable of slicing straight through to the heart with the force he had swung the sword. And yet, the strength in the hand holding the sword had loosened, stopping at merely making a shallow cut on the surface of the skin.

The Prince lifted his gaze from his hand and looked at the escort. Throwing a piece of wood blocking the path into the grass, his shoulders were slumped. Amidst the cats continuously chattering on top of his head, he wore a sullen expression, like a person getting an earful of nagging. Pouting his lips, making an expression that clearly said he was dying of annoyance…… “Ah, geez! Okay, thanks, thank you. I lived thanks to you guys, huh? So could you please just stop?!” he grumbled, sounding on the verge of lifting them off.

One of the cats hanging on his shoulder meowed something, then licked around the escort’s cheek. “Ack, that stings! Hey, that’s where I got burned!” The escort, jumping up, wiped away a stray tear and slowly distanced his face from the cat. Then, suddenly, he sighed, stroked the cat’s head, and beneath the hand covered in ash and wounds, the cat purred and rubbed its neck affectionately.

Every time the escort walked, the cat dangling on his shoulder bobbed up and down, yet it maintained its balance like a ghost without showing any sign of falling. When it felt a gaze on it, it turned its head to stare back. Rolling its eyes, which were larger than bells, to look at the Prince, it suddenly hissed fiercely, “Haaack.” Then it turned its head away.

“…….”

Why are you suddenly getting mad? Don’t fight on my shoulders, you guys, I’m exhausted, as the escort grumbled, the Prince slowly clenched his empty left hand.

‘Why didn’t I cut him? Even though I could have.’

The Prince knew that he had willingly relaxed the strength in his hand the moment that cat rushed in. But why.

He didn’t know exactly what that escort was, but there was something catching him. It had been like that from the beginning, and it was the same now. Yet he couldn’t pinpoint what that ‘something’ was.

“You.”

The Prince spoke. Even though it was a low voice like a soliloquy, the escort miraculously caught it and turned around.

“Yes?”

The escort, turning toward the Prince with a questioning look, was indeed a complete wreck. The chest wound cut by the Prince’s sword earlier had dyed his clothes red with blood from his shoulder down to his waist, and he was covered in burns from the fire. Yet, in that state, he systematically inspected the Prince’s complexion and spoke with a clouded expression.

“Would you like to wait here for a moment? You don’t look well at all…… I will go and bring the horse here.”

Suddenly, something flared up inside the Prince. Anger.

It was a very unfamiliar emotion. In the past, if he ever found something annoying or bothersome, he had simply cut it down and eliminated it immediately. Accompanying this unpleasant irritation was an unfamiliar feeling. He didn’t immediately think of how to get rid of it, nor did he know exactly what was causing the anger.

“You can’t bring it.” 

“Ah…… I suppose that’s true.”

As the Prince spoke coldly, the escort obediently nodded and turned back around. He then walked ahead, clearing away the wood debris scattered on the path again. Silently following behind him, the Prince suddenly thought that if it was that escort, he might actually be able to do it.

The Prince’s horse was a treasure presented as tribute five years ago from the Freya region, famous for producing legendary steeds. Even in Freya, where horses capable of running a thousand li a day were common, such an exceptional horse was rare, highly praised by the Head of the Royal Stables. It was a brave and intelligent horse that had been with the Prince since his time on the borders. It was also incredibly arrogant, treating the stable hands merely as its servants and absolutely refusing to let anyone but its master touch it. When the Prince called, it would run to him like an arrow, but it hated being tied up normally, so he would often let it roam freely in the forest or fields, and no one else had any way of calling or catching it.

“…….”

When was it, about five or six days ago.

Early in the morning, while reading a book in his study, he looked out the window and saw his horse eating grass nearby. Being a smart beast, he didn’t care what it was eating. As he turned his gaze back to his book, he heard a muttering sound. He immediately recognized the voice belonged to that escort. There was still time before his shift started, so it seemed he had come a bit early and was resting under there.

‘Hey…… there’s plenty of good quality hay in your trough, why are you grazing on butterbur here. It’s bitter.’

Smacking his lips, an awkward laugh was laced in the voice clicking its tongue.

The Prince looked down from the window. Leaning against the wall, sitting comfortably with his legs stretched out, the escort was staring blankly at the horse. He was practically half-lying down, as if it were his own living room. The horse rolled its eyes and glanced at the escort, but didn’t even pretend to listen.

Watching the horse leisurely stepping closer to the escort while eating grass and sniffing around, the Prince slightly raised his eyebrow. Other than its master, it was a beast that fundamentally kept a distance of at least a few steps from anyone else. Being within arm’s reach, as if it had completely let its guard down around someone who wasn’t there, was a very rare sight. Except for the Head of the Stables who looked after it for a few years, there was no one else.

On the other hand, the escort seemed to have no interest beyond watching the beast approach right next to him and graze. He could have at least reached out to touch it, but he simply watched. He didn’t seem to be deliberately holding back for fear of startling it either. He just naturally existed like that. Leaving whoever approached beside him exactly as they were.

Then, from somewhere, a cat trotted over, proudly carrying a sparrow in its mouth. As it approached, the horse seemed annoyed and turned away to distance itself, but for a very brief moment, the horse nudged the back of the escort’s hand with its snout, as if telling him to clear away the cat so it could smell the grass underneath, and the Prince saw it.

It was a very fleeting moment, but it was such an unexpected sight that it was vividly engraved in a corner of his brain.

Even including that part. That escort kept catching his attention.

The Prince had good intuition. Having crossed the threshold of death countless times, his intuition had never once been wrong, and thanks to it, he had survived many times. Dangerous, safe, it will work, no, I must do it, I mustn’t do it—most of the time he acted after thoroughly finding the rationale, but in situations where no rationale could be found, he always followed his intuition, and the conclusion always aligned with his premonition.

But.

“Goat meat what…… they’ve been begging for that incredibly expensive meat all week. Just eat me instead, eat me.”

Muttering to himself like he was possessed by a ghost, he probably thought no one could hear him because his voice was so small, the escort looked fiercely at the Prince.

He couldn’t figure it out. It kept bothering him, something kept scratching at a corner of his mind, but he couldn’t grasp the feeling. He couldn’t tell if it was dangerous or the opposite, or if he shouldn’t bother with it. He sometimes wondered if the man wasn’t even human, but that wasn’t clearly confirmed either, and he didn’t have a single guess beyond that.

The escort was also aware of the fact that the Prince was observing him closely. For example, there were times when the Prince would test the escort, half-seriously and half-halfheartedly. Like telling him to move the silver guillotine blade, which had cut off their heads back when they were actively hunting witches, to another storage room, or making him lift objects purified with holy water.

That escort wasn’t a fool either, so he quickly realized that the Prince was suspecting him of being related to witches by making him do such things. When that happened, he would look slightly crestfallen, but he silently did as he was told, and the Prince would indifferently watch him silently carrying objects that a witch or magical beast couldn’t even touch.

‘He must really find me suspicious…… hah.’

Once, the Prince had handed him a silver dagger to put in a drawer. As soon as break time arrived, the escort went outside. From the backyard, muttering sounds could be heard. Looking outside, the escort was crouched under a tree, letting the cats enthusiastically lick his hands, and letting out a gloomy sigh. ‘Alright, alright, you can stop licking now,’ he said, petting the cats and giving them dried jerky. Even though the escort clearly knew he was buying the Prince’s suspicion, there was nothing he did afterward that made him look even more suspicious. It always led to a similar, subtle feeling.

‘…… Should I just cut him down.’

This was the first time something kept bothering him like this. Despite that, it was also the first time he didn’t just eliminate it or clear it away as he always had. Constantly, it felt like the edges of his nerves were rustling.

Because he disliked that bothersome feeling, there were several times he thought about just killing him. But each time, an unknown feeling that it might be better to let him live and observe for now took precedence.

But it still bothered him. As the days went by, the feeling of his nerves standing on edge increased bit by bit.

‘Should I just cut him down after all.’

“Still, it’s fortunate today isn’t the actual day of the new moon. If it were the day of the new moon, it would have been harder.”

Then, finally finding the path comfortable enough to walk as there was nothing left to trip over, the escort abruptly spoke while looking up at the night sky.

On the day before the new moon, when the moon had almost disappeared, the sky was packed with stars shining dazzlingly bright. The face of the escort looking up at the starry sky looked exceptionally white, perhaps because he had lost so much blood. He almost didn’t look human.

In that calm face, the Prince suddenly overlaid a face lingering in his memory.

It was when they went to attend Mass on Sunday.

On Sunday mornings, the royal relatives gathered in the chapel inside the palace to attend Mass as a mandatory duty unless there was a special event. At such times, it was natural for their escorts to line up and stand guard at the front and back of the chapel.

He saw it then. Turning his gaze without much thought, the Prince’s eyes caught the sight of the escort standing guard next to a pillar in the chapel, staring intently at the divine statue located right in the center of the front.

At that time, the escort had that kind of face. Quiet and solemn, an unreadable expression, he simply gazed deeply at the divine statue without taking his eyes off it for an eternity. For the entire duration of the Mass.

‘You must have a very deep faith. You never took your eyes off the statue.’

As they came out after Mass, the Prince spoke, and the escort blinked, looking at the Prince before saying, ‘Ah,’ and tilting his head ambiguously. ‘It’s not that, I just suddenly had a thought…….. Where will I go when I die.’

The escort looked like he didn’t really want to speak, but as the Prince quietly kept his gaze on him and waited, he added somewhat sullenly. Where will I go when I die, he muttered quietly to himself. ‘They say if you have deep faith you go to heaven.’

When the Prince spoke, the escort looked at him for a moment and just smiled. That smile somehow lingered in his eyes. ‘When I was young, a friend who lived next door died of an illness. He was maybe seven, or eight, when he was really young…….’

The escort muttered intermittently, whether he was searching his memory or just letting out a soliloquy. ‘The priest who prayed for him back then comforted me because I was crying. He said that after a lot of time passes, we would be able to meet again in the Kingdom of Heaven.’

His words stopped. The escort didn’t speak for a while, as if lost in thought. Then, after a long time, he muttered like a sigh. It would be nice if that were true, he said. ‘I think doing your best in every single moment is all there is. While doing what you truly desire.’

‘Somehow that sounds very cliché, doesn’t it,’ the escort said to himself, then, as if displeased, frowned and scratched his temple. With that, the topic was over.

Doing what you truly desire in every single moment.

The escort, who had said that, was now moving his tattered body with slow steps, looking up blankly at the star-filled sky.

“Why did you come here?”

The question popped out before the Prince himself even realized it. Only after asking it did he remember he had asked the same question earlier, and then he realized this question was the same as before, but not the same. It wasn’t ‘what intent did you have in coming’. What he was asking now was closer to pure curiosity.

Looking back at the Prince, the escort made a troubled face. Blinking his eyes like a child asked a difficult question, he gave the same answer as before in a perplexed tone.

“Because I am Prince Kyan’s escort.”

Because he is an escort.

It wasn’t a wrong statement. It was his duty to protect his master and ensure his safety. However, right now it was the middle of the night, and the Prince hadn’t called for him. He could easily have pretended not to know. And yet.

“If you take on the role of a royal escort, does the Head Chamberlain make you swear an oath on the Moon River to carry out your duty even if it costs your life?”

This was half a joke, but half serious. Unless there was a compulsory reason making him absolutely have to do so. The escort wore an expression that said he was speechless.

“How could they make those countless guards swear that oath every single day?”

Unless it was an official contract with a witch or a wizard, to impose compulsion on an ordinary human with an oath on the Moon River, a wizard had to be present to facilitate the contract. There was no way they could do that cumbersome procedure every single day for mere guards.

“I came because I wanted to. ……Though I couldn’t be of much help.” 

“Yes, you were of no help.”

When the Prince replied indifferently and nodded, the escort dropped his shoulders with a highly depressed look. Seeing that, the Prince felt his mood improve just a tiny bit. Why on earth did he come, really.

The escort, who had been walking heavily, suddenly seemed lost in thought with a serious expression. Then,

“But earlier, that crest……, ……, ……no, never mind.”

The escort, who had heavily opened his mouth, shook his head midway and closed his mouth. The Prince easily guessed what he had been about to say.

The crest revealed as the magically controlled corpse dried up and crumbled into dust. The unique crest of the one who controlled the corpse was the crest of the Guild Master of the Wizard Guild.

The wizard contracted with the King. The head of the Court Wizards, the one who possessed the most powerful magic and equal authority. He was an old man the Prince hadn’t seen more than a few times either, as he rarely appeared in front of people for over a decade.

Just as the Prince had realized the other’s identity, the other side now knew who he was as well.

“As if our relationship wasn’t bad enough already, why of all people……” The escort muttered like a sigh.

Indeed, the relationship between the wizard faction and the Prince was not good. If he had been an ordinary noble instead of a Prince, he might have been ousted to a remote borderland long ago, or perhaps even lost his life. But the opponent was a Court Wizard, and even their head.

Whether this was something several of the Court Wizards knew about, or entirely the personal acting of the Guild Master alone was unknown, but either way, it was clear things had not become easy.

But there was an important fact that superseded all of that.

What happened there today was not something possible with the power of a wizard alone. Controlling something from far away that wasn’t alive, and making that non-living thing use magic. That was a feat beyond the capabilities of a wizard.

In other words——it was close. That thing. The thing the Prince had been chasing all this time.

The sensation close to exhilaration was like the moment he finally spotted the back of his prey after wandering in a forest for a long time.

…… However, right now, more than that,

“Still, the Court Wizards must swear loyalty to the royal family when they enter the palace, so they won’t be able to harm Prince Kyan, but……, Ouch!!”

The escort, muttering to himself, suddenly jumped up as the cat hanging on his shoulder viciously licked his cheek. Holding onto the yowling cat with one hand to keep it from falling, he wiped away a stray tear with his other hand, showing just how much it stung.

“Do you know how much it hurts when you lick a burn like that?! ……Why are you worrying about my future, just do it……. I’m already a ruined body anyway…… Ack! Don’t lick my arm either!!”

Looking at the escort struggling to detach the cats, who were licking him as if to show him what’s what, the Prince stared at him blankly. He realized the strength had drained from his hand gripping the sword hilt.

Even though the clue he had waited so long for had finally appeared, the fact that the Guild Master’s crest was now pushed aside by how much this bothered him was even clearer.

If he cut it, the annoyance of this unknown feeling would end. If he didn’t cut it, ……was there a reason not to cut it?

Other than the fact that he hadn’t yet figured out the true nature of this annoyance, there was no reason not to cut him. Even if that man wouldn’t cause him any harm, that wasn’t a reason not to cut him.

If so.

“Ah——you’re waiting so quietly. Good boy, good boy.”

When the Prince gripped his sword hilt, the escort walking ahead spoke. In front of him, the Prince’s horse was clip-clopping closer, looking at its master. Only when the horse reached the Prince did the escort let out a sigh of relief and slump his shoulders.

“Then I will inform the sentries on my way back. Your Highness, please ride back and rest. …… Will you be alright?”

Looking closely, the escort, who had likely walked all the way here from outside the city gates, looked anxiously at the Prince, who would quickly return on horseback, even though the escort himself would have to walk for a solid half hour to get back to the city. He looked as if he was worried the Prince might collapse somewhere along the way. Judging by his appearance, he was the one who looked like he’d collapse and die right there on the road.

Yeah, it looks like he really could die right there on the road. Even without being cut, he might just collapse and die on his way back.

“…….”

The Prince lightly patted the horse’s neck and vaulted effortlessly into the saddle. Still holding the sword hilt in one hand, the Prince looked down at the escort, lost in thought. As the Prince’s gaze briefly locked onto him, the escort must have realized something was wrong. His complexion seemed to harden slightly.

Their eyes met again. Sometimes, when looking down at the escort who silently looked back up at him, the Prince would vaguely narrow his eyes.

For instance, this was the part. The part that bothered him.

Facing an absolute predator capable of killing him, the prey showed neither resignation, nor subservience, nor any sign of trying to fight back, looking straight at him. What exactly was this unfamiliarity?

The Prince stared piercingly at the escort. The escort, unblinking, did the same. While it was obvious he was terrified and tense, the Prince looked down for a moment at the man who wouldn’t avert his pure gaze, and soon slowly let go of the sword hilt. A look of relief spread across the escort’s stiffened face.

Right. It doesn’t necessarily have to be now. I can cut him anytime.

The Prince repeated the thought he had had many times before, and gripped the reins.

“Tomorrow,”

The Prince casually opened his mouth, but then paused.

Tomorrow, what was he going to say after that? He was going to tell him not to come. He had never cared about how others around him looked, but perhaps he really disliked seeing that tattered state.

However, he stopped mid-sentence before saying ‘don’t come’.

If he didn’t come……. If he couldn’t see him, it would bother him even more. If he didn’t know his true identity, it would be safer to keep him somewhere visible.

…… But looking at that complete wreck.

“Tomorrow, come out in the afternoon.”

Suddenly, irritation welled up inside him. For the Prince, the emotion of irritation was an uncommon sensation. Clicking his tongue briefly, the escort, blinking as if wondering what that meant, bowed and said, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Giving a brief glance to the man bowing deeply at the waist, the Prince kicked his horse’s flanks exactly like that. Following its master’s will, the horse kicked off the ground and broke into a run, the cold night air hitting his ears.

It didn’t take long to escape that messy factory site.

From the factory site just outside the city walls to the city gates was a distance of twenty or thirty minutes walking, but on a galloping horse, it was only a few minutes. Even though it wasn’t far and there was no reason to rush, the Prince spurred his horse on. The horse picked up even more speed.

His entire body ached heavily. It wasn’t as bad as the night of the new moon itself, but it was the night right before it. His head felt like it would split open, and his body felt like it was being crushed by boulders. Inside his body, his organs had been churning all night long.

He had never made a big deal out of it when it was around this level, but, well, today he did want to rest a bit. It felt like the pitch-black smoke he had inhaled earlier was still lingering in his body, swirling around and knocking on every single cell.

Ordinarily, he would be in peak condition around the new moon, so he would normally have a complexion like a corpse right now. It was enough to make him worry about that wrecked escort instead.

Although this level was nothing compared to the pain of the new moon. And there was absolutely no need to look at him with such anxious eyes.

The Prince clicked his tongue. His irritation didn’t fade.

Meanwhile, the horse quickly reached the city gates, and the sentry who ran out from the guard post in front of the gates changed his complexion and stood rigidly at attention after confirming the Prince’s crest hanging on the saddle.

“Torun, on duty at Capital Guard Post 1.”

“A fire has broken out in the abandoned warehouse at the ruined factory site thirty d-raun to the northwest. Extinguish it immediately.” 

“Yes? YES, SIR!”

“And before that, send someone that way right now. There will be a man coming from there. A man in his mid-twenties, average build, wearing black clothes from shoulder to waist, with burns all over his body. Bring a horse and give him a ride. Immediately.”

With those words, the Prince shot a glare at the sentry, and the sentry, meeting his eyes, flinched as if his rear end had caught fire and shouted, “Y-YES, UNDERSTOOD!” before hurriedly sprinting into the guard post. The quiet guard post instantly became noisy, and soon, the other posts stationed sparsely nearby also lit up brightly.

The gatekeepers hurriedly opened the city gates, but the Prince did not enter, remaining stopped in his spot. Even though the sentries inside the post were communicating in all directions and going through the procedures with utmost speed, he didn’t like the pace. It was slow.

Clicking his tongue lowly, the Prince finally realized the obvious fact that it would have been faster if he had just brought that escort with him.

Until now, he had never considered taking someone somewhere with him, or coming together. He had never even thought of such an idea. Therefore, he only now realized that doing it that way was also a possible method.

Meanwhile, whether the sentry’s message had been relayed to the guard post on the other side, a rider leading an empty horse to carry someone burst forth, and the Prince watched them head in the direction he had just come from.

“…….”

The Prince, who had been watching that direction for a moment, soon grabbed the reins tightly and turned his horse’s head toward the open city gates as if cutting off any lingering attachment.

Already, faint signs of dawn were showing in the eastern sky of the dark heavens. Now, when he returned to the palace, his heavy, sluggish body would fall into a death-like sleep, and by the time he opened his eyes again, it would already be late afternoon. By then, the escort would have arrived as well.

Yes, he needed to rest now.

It was better to erase the thought of going back there to see if that escort was dragging his wrecked body at a snail’s pace, or sitting on the road resting, and just return to the palace now.

Then, when he woke up from a death-like sleep, he would be standing there guarding his side again.

Because he was his escort. For that reason alone, he would have come to him.