The Crown Princess's Man (15)

Leaving the Imperial Palace, Saik and Nel headed to their respective homes, and Kaiston went to the Commander General’s HQ with Millen.

The HQ was thrown into upheaval at the sudden arrival of the two with no prior notice. Fortunately, Luther was apparently not away and soon came out to see them. Seeing his father striding toward them, Millen faltered and took a step back.

“Kaiston!”

He called out his name suddenly, with many onlookers present.

“General, have you been well?”

He walked up to Kaiston and then looked at his son standing behind him. Noticing the gaze, Kaiston spoke.

“You two are acquainted, yes? He’s my knight I brought from the Red Moon, and quite skilled.”

At Kaiston’s cheeky introduction, Millen looked at him in embarrassment. Luther also gave an awkward chuckle.

“Good to have such a capable retainer.”

“Even if you’re envious, it’s too late now.”

Luther gave a vague nod and approached Millen. He watched his son, who was stiff and staring downward, and then spoke.

“Have you been well, Millen?”

Millen flinched. It had been ages since the father and son had exchanged such ordinary, calm words without raising their voices.

“Yes. I… have been well. Father, have you been well as well?”

“Oh, so-so. Without a troublemaker son around, it’s a bit boring.”

“……”

Luther, watching Millen stand there silently, turned his gaze back to Kaiston.

“Since you’ve come this far, spar once before you go.”

“I’m busy, though.”

“Why, do you have another appointment?”

Kaiston took out a sheet of paper from his pocket.

“It’s a Darkan tourist map. We need to visit every place listed here.”

“What?”

“Because I need to plan a date course.”

Luther folded his arms, glared at the paper, cleared his throat with a harrumph, and continued, “I’ll take responsibility and plan it, so spare an hour and then go.”

“How could the General know the date courses that ladies prefer these days?”

“What do you take my power for! With a word from me, this is no problem at all.”

“Ha… very well. Then, just one hour.”

Luther’s eyes lit up at Kaiston’s answer.

“Agreed.”

As could be guessed, Luther kept Kaiston until dusk, and even took him to his family home for dinner before letting him go.

“I told you to stay the night.”

Millen shook his head at Kaiston’s remark.

“They’ve already cleaned my room, haven’t they?”

“Do you believe that?”

“……”

“Right. It will take time, I suppose.”

Saying that, Kaiston moved off first. He remembered he had left his horse at the HQ but it was late, so he’d have to fetch it tomorrow.

“Your younger siblings were cute.”

“They’re little brats, yes.”

Jerome Grandis, the younger brother just below him, was eight years younger than Millen, so calling them little brats wasn’t wrong.

“They seemed to cling to you quite a lot.”

“They’re like that because they don’t know what kind of man I am.”

Kaiston stopped and looked at him at Millen’s words.

“My subordinates are the same. If they knew what sort of man I am, they’d have left long ago.”

Kaiston didn’t reply to that and simply resumed walking.

“Shall we have a drink?”

“Even though you don’t know any places.”

“A native of the Isles could show me around.”

“…Well, then.”

Millen led him to a modest tavern. It was not high-class, but discreet and with decent food. As Kaiston and Millen entered, all eyes turned to them. Millen’s dazzling looks, unrivaled in the Isles, spoke for themselves, and Kaiston was a type of handsome man not seen on the Isles, so attention was natural. The two sat side by side at the bar and looked at the menu, which ran over two pages with so many types of alcohol.

“Let’s try a drink of each.”

“That’s impossible. Even a third and I won’t be able to stand.”

“Fine. Then a third each.”

“…Are you sure that’s okay?”

“What could go wrong?”

Reluctantly following Kaiston’s lead, they began ordering one drink at a time from the top of the first page. Seeing Kaiston jot down notes on drinks he liked, Millen asked in puzzlement.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to remember which are good. So I can recommend them later.”

“The Crown Princess knows far more about types of alcohol than the Commander does.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. She rarely gets drunk. But she’s pregnant now, so she can’t drink at all.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kaiston chuckled softly, downed his glass, and continued, “You should’ve treated her better.”

“Huh?”

“If you’d treated her kindly instead of carelessly, things might’ve worked out someday; she had good prospects, too.”

Realizing they were talking about the Crown Princess, Millen groaned.

“The Commander doesn’t know how impenetrable she was toward men.”

“Was she that way?”

“I tried this and that, but nothing worked. If it weren’t for that bastard Raiden, I might’ve had more time to handle it.”

“Then why didn’t you give up? Was the love that much?”

Millen gave a bitter smile at Kaiston’s question.

“I don’t know. I’ve never gone without getting what I wanted in my life, so when something I couldn’t have appeared, it felt more like a necessity to conquer. I’d like to call it love, but when the other person despises you like that, it’s hard to call it love.”

After downing their tenth glasses side by side, they began to feel the buzz.

“Raiden is different from me. That bastard equates the Crown Princess with the throne. He believes that by completely possessing her he proves his right to be Emperor. Raiden wouldn’t care if, in the process, she became crippled or mentally broken. He might even consider killing her if it meant he would become first in line for the throne.”

Kaiston’s eyes flashed dangerously at Millen’s words.

“This needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.”

With that he sprang to his feet, and Millen, startled, grabbed him.

“Now?”

“Why, is that not possible?”

“Of course not. Do you think Raiden is stupid?”

Kaiston paid a gold coin on the table without answering and left the tavern.

“Commander!”

Millen hurriedly followed after him.

“Where on earth are you going!?”

Kaiston turned to look at him.

“Are you worrying about me right now?”

“W-well… if you die somewhere unexpected before taking your revenge… it’d be troublesome for me too.”

Kaiston snorted and tapped his shoulder.

“Yes. That would be troublesome.”

Kaiston turned and began walking again. Instead of the main road, he seemed to be heading into increasingly narrow alleys, which puzzled Millen. Eventually Kaiston shoved him into a gap between houses barely wide enough for two grown men.

“W-what…”

“Shh.”

Kaiston covered Millen’s mouth, then groped at his chest.

“Ugh…?”

Regardless of Millen’s frown, Kaiston rummaged through his clothes and managed to find a dagger, the same one that had pierced his wrist before. Millen’s eyes widened. He wondered how Kaiston had known he always carried it.

“Lend it to me for a moment.”

A magical bag hung at his waist, so the only weapon he had on him at the moment was that dagger.

“Here, Millen.”

Kaiston whispered softly and stepped slowly out of the gap.

The assassins had such a high level of skill that Millen could hardly notice them. Perhaps all the ones sent before were tricks, otherwise he wouldn’t have left his weapon lying about carelessly.

He slowly drew up mana. A silvery sword aura surrounded the dagger.

Fwoosh!

The dagger left his hand in an instant. Using the Weapon-Launching Technique of the Igieo Sword Art, something he’d trained the hardest for nearly a year in preparation for the Great Demonic War, he targeted the nearest enemy’s throat. The moment it was confirmed the weapon had left his hand, three shadowy figures surged at him as if on cue.

A slight smile curled Kaiston’s mouth. Unlike ordinary dagger techniques, the Igieo Sword Art allowed him to freely retrieve a weapon that had left his hand.

The dagger, having silently cut an enemy’s windpipe, gracefully curved and now aimed at their backs. Yet they hadn’t noticed.

“Fal (Release)!”

In an instant, light burst outward like an explosion from the hand seal he formed.

“Ugh!”

Only one of the attackers gave a weak groan and faltered. Kaiston leapt toward him, dropped his stance low to get beneath him, then sprang up and slammed his palm into the man’s abdomen.

“Pa (Wave)!”

Though it looked like a light shove, the technique violently racked the internal organs. It was definitely an advanced skill.

“Gak!”

The man sprayed blood and was shoved back, collapsing limp. Unfazed by their companion’s death, the two remaining attackers launched themselves at Kaiston’s back.

One wielded a sickle-like weapon aimed at his ankle; the other held a long, sharpened stiletto adapted for thrusting. Kaiston suspected it was smeared with potent poison.

Kaiston ignored the sickle wielder, drove off the ground, and kicked the wrist of the stiletto wielder.

Crunch!

The bone-cracking sound rang horrifyingly. As the stiletto man clutched his arm and retreated, the retrieved dagger flew back and lodged into the nape of the sickle wielder.

“……!!!”

The man died silently without even a scream.

The dagger, still vibrating with its silvery sword aura, was recalled into Kaiston’s hand.

The lone surviving man, his right wrist—the one to wield a weapon—shattered, gritted his teeth and lunged at Kaiston. Kaiston’s face hardened as he watched the man’s body swell. As he feared, a wild, uncontrolled ferocity surged from him; he intended to self-destruct, and the blast radius was uncertain.

Millen stood dangerously close.

In a split second, Kaiston made his decision. He dashed toward the man and shoved his body to the opposite side before it could fully swell.

“Hwan (Ring)! Sak (Sever)!”

Boom!!

At the explosion within the ring, Millen sprang out, startled.

“Commander!”