Garlan once again returned to the central government of Tverul City, but this time he was not imprisoned in a dark dungeon.
Under the leadership of the city of Canile, he came to the back of the ruling government, in the huge and majestic castle.
In the spacious living room, the sun shines in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows, filling the entire room, making it look bright. Garlan was sitting on the soft sofa, and Heimos was sitting beside him, drinking tea with his head in one hand.
And a certain bard, holding his lost and found bow, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, wiping it carefully in the sunlight. However, while wiping, he occasionally peeked at the sofa from the corner of his eye.
I don't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that there was something wrong with the atmosphere between the two.
Who is that black-haired man
Why is Gal... No, it was Prince Gallan who looked a little cowardly in front of this person
Shulos glanced secretly out of the corner of his eyes, and saw that the black-haired young man took a sip of tea slowly and brought this cup of tea to Garlan.
Garlan didn't react. As soon as something came close to his mouth, he subconsciously opened his mouth to take a sip, licked his lips, and took another sip.
After feeding Garlan a few sips of tea, the corners of Heimos's mouth curved slightly.
"Hey... uh, why are you here?"
"Come to find you."
"But I left a note saying that it was not used to find me."
"That's just your opinion."
"But didn't you just say that you wouldn't take me back?"
"Um."
"... If you don't take me back anyway, why do you have to come to me?"
"Follow you." Heimos said, glanced at someone by the window, and that glance made someone who was peeking at him turn his head in surprise, then, pretending to cough dryly, walked out of the room through the floor-to-ceiling window, Standing on the large balcony outside, lying on the railing pretending to look at the scenery.
Withdrawing his sharp gaze, he said, "You can't be abducted by others."
Garland: "..."
Heimos took another sip of tea, the same cup that had fed Garlan a few sips.
He said, "Do you think that when I said 'I'll accompany you', I was coaxing you to talk casually?"
"Heimos, you said you wanted the throne..."
"But not such a throne."
Heimos interrupted Garlan.
"I don't need what other people gave me, especially that person is you."
The boy lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks.
"Your self-esteem doesn't require me to give you the throne, so do you ask me to do my best to fight with you, to snatch you with all my means? For it, do we have to become enemies?"
"I never thought about it that way."
"But that's the truth. Heimos, someone has to step back. It's not you or me. If no one backs down, then there's only a fight. It's impossible for you not to understand this."
"The foreign enemy is still eyeing, I don't think Aaron Landis can afford the consequences of the infighting between the two of us."
Garlan pursed his lips, his hands clasped together.
The clenched fingers tightened, and the scenes from the previous life flashed in his mind again at this moment, making his chest tight.
"But now you are unwilling to retreat, and you have not let me retreat, so what do you want to do? I don't understand, you must force me to be hostile to you? For the throne, kill you or be killed by you?! Just Like a few days ago—"
"Gallan!"
The shoulders were grabbed with force, and the shout suddenly woke Garlan awake.
The words he almost blurted out were swallowed hard by him.
He paused and continued, "Like last time...you were almost burned to death when you were a child...At that time, it could have been me, too, wasn't it?"
"Listen, Garlan, I never thought about it that way."
Heimos said in a low voice, "I can't be hostile to you, you understand, you know why. I want the throne, but I can't trade you for it, only this thing I can't accept."
"But… "
"There is no need for that, you don't need to leave, because there will be no fighting, and you and I will not be hostile."
Holding Garlan's shoulders tightly, Heimos looked at him deeply.
"I do want the throne, but I will be recognized by everyone with my strength, whether it is King Camos or others, I will use my strength and merit to make them think that I am more suitable than you to sit on. Throne—that's my decision."
The golden red eyes reflected the young man's face, he said, "I said, Garlan, no matter what happens, I will not hurt you, you know, you should understand."
"… "
Heimos's fingers lightly stroked Garlan's forehead.
"I'm angry, not because of anything else, but because you said that you left to avoid a fight between us. You don't trust me, you should know, my feelings."
His fingertips slowly rubbed his golden forehead, and his voice was low and sounded like no waves, but there seemed to be some kind of bottomless emotion brewing in it.
He whispered, "You should know better than anyone that my crush on you..."
"Wait, wait, wait!"
The boy who was still pursing his lips just now was blushing at this moment.
He frantically tried to stop Heimos from continuing.
"Now is not the time to talk about this kind of thing, there are still people nearby, and the city lord of Canille is coming soon! What do you do when you hear this?!"
"Do you think I would care about such a thing?"
The corner of Heimos's mouth raised an arc, but this arc seemed a little cold for some reason, which made people's heart tremble.
Since the day Garlan disappeared before his eyes, his sanity has been disappearing little by little.
He could even feel the feeling of that dark shadow shrouding him a little bit...
What the fuck is the feeling is always false, the throne is real!
If Garlan really disappeared in front of his eyes from now on... He didn't even know what he would do when he completely lost his mind.
The eyes of Heimos met, and Garlan's heart sank.
Although he didn't quite understand it, he keenly sensed the danger oozing out of Heimos's eyes.
The golden-red hue sank deeply, as if shrouded in some shadow.
Almost subconsciously, he reached out and touched Heimos's face.
Heimos was stunned for a moment, but Garlan clearly felt that the dangerous breath oozing from the bottom of his eyes disappeared, and he touched Heimos' face again.
Heimos stopped talking, and looked at him with his thin lips slightly pursed.
That look made Garlan think of the look of an abandoned animal for some reason.
"I see, Heimos."
He sighed.
"It was my fault, I shouldn't have done such a thing."
He said, "I'm going back."
"Um?"
"We have a special status, so don't run around, go back."
Heimos stared at Garlan's eyes, his eyes were sharp, as if he wanted to steal his true thoughts from Garlan's eyes.
Garlan didn't look away, letting the other party visit.
He smiled at Heimos.
He said, "Go back together."
"… it is good."
Just as Garlan was about to get up, the hand he was about to withdraw from Heimos' cheek was suddenly held.
Heimos held his wrist, stared at him, and whispered, "Speaking of..."
"what?"
"You said you left because you didn't want to be hostile to me, because I'm already very important to you, and you like me a little bit, don't you?"
"No! No! Don't talk nonsense! I don't like men!"
Garlan was instantly blown away by Heimos' words, and he suddenly retracted his hand.
But Heimos didn't seem to hear Garlan's denial words at all, the corners of his lips raised, and he rubbed the boy's head indulgently and indulgently, looking at Garlan's eyes revealing a little bit Smile, there seems to be a shallow light in his eyes.
"I said did you hear it, I've said it many times, I won't accept you!"
"Okay, I heard you."
"… "
It doesn't look like you've heard it at all.
…
So what kind of atmosphere was that—
It always feels so wrong!
Who is that black-haired guy
Why do the two seem so close
Ah, it really makes people care about and die of curiosity! It is simply heart-wrenching!
On the balcony outside the room, the bard lying on the railing pretending to look at the scenery continued to peek at the scene in the room from the corner of his eyes, the fire of gossip was burning in his heart.
…
…
When he heard that Garlan said he was going to return to the royal city, the face of the city lord Karnile was a little better.
He glanced at Heimos who was with Garlan. Although he didn't hear what Heimos said at that time, from his actions, he felt that the relationship between the two was still very close.
That's fine, at least so that nothing bad will happen to the throne.
To be honest, his heart still favors Heimos, who gives a strong sense of sharp-edgedness.
only…
He set his eyes on the blond prince, and the deep wrinkles on his forehead wrinkled again.
"Prince Garland, I owe you my life."
City Lord Canile said, looking solemn.
"From now on, on the premise of not disobeying the orders of King Camos, I will be sent by you."
"City Lord Canille, you don't need to worry too much about this..."
"No." The old city lord said solemnly, "I rarely owe others anything in my life, but as long as I owe it, I must pay it back. This is my principle. No matter what you ask me to do, as long as King Camos agrees , I will never refuse."
"I understand, then, City Lord Canille, I have one thing to ask you now."
"You say."
Is it about supporting him to be crown prince
The old city master thought to himself.
"If Twilour City's finances are still sufficient, can the tax payment in the second half of this year be exempted. After all, this earthquake has caused a large-scale disaster to the people. If the tax is still imposed, many families may go bankrupt. Even had to be sold as a slave."
In fact, it would be better to do disaster relief or something, but, in this era, this is almost impossible, so Garlan can only take the second place, at least exempt the disaster victims from taxes.
"… "
I didn't expect that this was what Gallan said, and the old city lord didn't react.
"Can't you?"
"No, it's not impossible... Okay, His Royal Highness Gallan, I will report this to King Camos, and once I get the king's permission, I will follow your order."
After speaking, the city lord Carnille looked back at the staff behind him, the middle-aged staff nodded slightly, and then took a step forward.
"His Royal Highness, what are you going to do about the team leader who disrespected you?"
he asked respectfully.
"Um?"
"I have sent someone to imprison him secretly, and I can bring him here now."
"no need."
That kind of person, Garlan didn't care at all.
This is a villain who bullies Mei Shang, so why take it too seriously.
"However, it seems that his hand was interrupted last night."
"… "
Garlan glanced at someone beside him from the corner of his eye.
Heimos looked away, not looking at him.
"His offense to you is unforgivable. That kind of rebellious behavior is really... Lord Carnellie means to be executed directly." They have all been arrested and await your disposal."
"Forget it, the city gate guard and those soldiers, let it go. They just obey orders. They don't know my identity, so it's not an offense."
"I thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. Then, that one, do you want to be executed directly? Or should he be punished more severely..."
Garland thought for a moment and shook his head.
"Confiscated all his property other than his normal income, returned the tax he had overcharged without authorization, and then sent him to the village, let him live there, and declared his crime to the people, let him live in the village where he was once The villages where the crime was committed are in labor and cannot leave until he has paid off all his debts."
The staff froze for a moment, then nodded and stepped back.
Afterwards, Garland and the others rejected the old city lord’s proposal to send a thousand cavalry to escort them back to the royal city.
After all, he ran out secretly, so it's not good to go back with such a big fanfare.
The Lord of Canillele sent them out of the city.
He looked at Garlan and said, "His Royal Highness, in half a month, I will go to the royal city, congratulations to you."
Half a month later, it will be the period of the crown prince canonization ceremony announced by King Camos.
…
A certain bard who had endured for a long time finally couldn't hold back, riding his horse and trotting down the flat road.
"I said, Gal... uh, His Royal Highness, what is your relationship with that one?"
"you guess?"
"...don't dare to guess."
What if, like last time, he accidentally slurped his mouth again
"Then don't guess, you will know when you return to the royal city. However, do you really want to go back to the royal city with me? Don't you like the kind of place where nobles gather?"
"Tsk, I saved the prince of Aaron Landis, how should I give a large sum of Aaron gold coins as a reward?"
Shulos snorted.
"However, having said that, I just thought that you would let the team leader go. After all, you said that those who don't know are innocent. After all, you are the kind and tolerant prince that is rumored to be~"
He shrugged.
"For someone like him, let him work for the civilians he once despised, pay for his crimes until his death, which is more painful for him than death..."
"Kindness only needs to be given to those who have the same kindness."
Garland said, an understatement.
"Some people, who don't have it themselves, naturally don't need to give it to him."
…
On the way back to the royal city, the three did not walk very fast, mainly because Garlan didn't want to return to the palace so quickly.
Anyway, the city lord of Canillele has been quick to report his traces and the matter of going back to King Camos. Presumably the brother will not be so anxious.
One day, three people who had stayed in a small town for one night left the small town, and when they just came to a fork in the road, Heimos, who had not spoken much all morning, suddenly spoke up.
"Garlan, it's not far from the royal city, you go back first, I have something to go to other places."
After he finished speaking, he set his eyes on Shulos.
"Take him well and escort him back."
Those sharp eyes made Shulos nodded subconsciously.
Heimos raised his head slightly, turned his horse's head, and galloped away toward another road.
"What is he going to do in such a hurry?"
Shulos looked at the back of Heimos, who was about to disappear, and couldn't help asking.
"I don't know, I haven't heard him say it."
Garland shook his head.
But in retrospect, after meeting a few people in that small city last night, Heimos has always been a little thoughtful.
He asked back, "Where is this direction going?"
"This direction? There are many places to go, Yas Lake, Philotemi City, Koda City, Mount Arma, Tiadali City, Menister City, Muhir City, etc., It's all in this direction."
On the living map, Shulos said a long list of the names of cities or famous mountain lakes in one breath. Anyway, Garland has never been to any of them, and he does not know any of them.
Forget it, let's go back to the royal city first.
Garlan thought and set foot on the road leading to the royal city.
After riding for a long time, I saw that it was evening, and there was a small town in front of me.
Shulos said: "I will rest here today, and I will be able to arrive at Wangcheng at about noon tomorrow."
Garlan nodded, seeing that he was about to return to the royal city, and he still had some regrets in his heart.
He has never been to the places Shulos mentioned, the many cities, which is really a pity.
those cities...
…
Wait, I always feel... a name seems a little familiar...
That is…
Seeing that he was about to reach the gate of the small town, Garlan suddenly stopped his horse.
"Shiros!"
"what?"
"Did you say Maneste City at noon? The road he took was to Maneste City?"
"Yes what's the matter?"
There was a sudden thud in his heart, and without saying a word, Gallan turned his horse's head abruptly, and hurried back in the direction from which he came.
…
... the dreaded Highness of Heimos...
He is cruel and sinister like a viper in the night.
Everyone knows that he killed his uncle and killed his cousin with his own hands.
He is the son of the devil.
He was violent and cruel.
Everyone knows that he killed his relatives with his own hands.
He shall be cursed by the gods—