Chapter 22 – The Luxurious Super Chapter That Falls Into V Is Here—

Editor: SleepyMango123

Proofreader: Lore

Dream…

It was just a dream.

Garlan, who was startled awakened by this dream, let out a long breath.

Why would I suddenly have such a dream?

He was a little confused.

Was it because I kept thinking about it during the day that I dreamt at night? Because I was thinking about how to kill Heimos that day, and then during a nap, dreamt of Heimos burning to death?

But that isn’t right ah. I was obviously thinking about stabbing him with a knife at that time, it has nothing to do with fire ah?

The more he thought about it, the more dumbfounded Garlan became. He raised his hand to slap his face sober.

In the dream, most of Heimos’ body was burned by fire. There was even a smell of burnt flesh in the air… That scene was really shocking, even if he knew it was a dream now, he still had lingering fears when he thought about it.

Luckily it’s a dream…

Being so disturbed by the strange nightmare, Garlan couldn’t continue to sleep. He thought for a long time and still couldn’t understand it, so he got out of bed.

As soon as he walked out of the bedroom door, maids came and helped him clean his face, comb his messy hair, and arrange his clothes. He was used to standing in place, opening his arms and letting them fuss.

After the maids took care of him in all aspects, the leading female officer led him to another side hall.

As soon as he entered, he saw the priest of Shamash standing there, obviously waiting for him.

Ziemuer stood with a sceptre in his hand, still dressed in white, with no dust visible from head to toe, sparkly clean and tidy. Even the crown, made up of laurel branches on the top of his head, was upright. Only God knew how he managed to wear the crown so upright that it was not crooked at all.

Geez, this Virgo man-

Garlan murmured this in his heart. When he turned his eyes, he saw a group of people standing opposite Ziemuer.

All of them were familiar faces. They were those little teenage brats with the royal bloodline who were vying for the position of King’s Brother.

What are they doing here?

The teenagers, who had always looked at him with contempt whenever they saw him, were now showing him a ‘kind’ smile. In addition, there was a hint of flattery in those smiles.

Garlan tilted his head.

What kind of situation are you planning?

With questioning eyes, he stared at Ziemuer.

“Your Royal Highness Garlan, they will be sent back tomorrow. But after thorough consideration, you can appoint one to three of them to be your study companion and stay in the palace.”

As soon as Ziemuer finished speaking, the teenagers turned their expectant gazes on Garlan.

Although they were the so-called descendants of the royal family, the best family members were merely the children of the city lord. They were definitely incomparable to the real royal family.

If one could be selected by Garlan and stay in the palace as a companion, one could imagine that he would certainly occupy a place in the center of Aaron Landis’ ruling class when he grew up.

“It’s up to me?” Garlan asked.

“Yes.”

Garlan nodded and turned his head. His eyes swept back and forth among the group of people.

Everybody’s anticipating gaze fell on him. Among them, the eyes of a round-faced teenager were especially eager. This young man was secretly happy and felt relieved. When so many people bullied and pressured Garlan, he had never participated and would occasionally express sympathy and help a little.

No one thought that the child, who was despised and scolded as a bastard at the beginning, would be spotted by King Camos. Even if Camos was opposed by the ministers, he insisted for him to be the King’s Brother and personally took him to the holy throne- one could imagine how much this child was favored by King Camos.

And at this moment, among these people, I treated him the best. Therefore, that kid should definitely choose me.

The round-faced boy confidently thought so and looked at Garlan without blinking, feeling very excited.

Garlan’s gaze swept across the crowd, and then he looked at the back.

“Then, him.”

He stretched out his hand and pointed at a little chubby boy, who was desperately hiding, and wishing to let his sense of existence disappear.

He continued, “He alone will do.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience instantly became silent.

Everyone looked at him, dumbfounded, with a look of disbelief.

Everyone knew that the little chubby boy was one of the people who bullied him the most.

“… Are you sure?”

Even Ziemuer, who had always been taciturn, couldn’t help but ask.

With just a little investigation, he would know what happened among this group of children.

“En. Just him.”

Garlan made his final decision.

The little plump boy, who was being called out, became completely stupefied. Until the others were taken away and he was left alone, he still had his mouth open with a foolish dazed expression.

When he was in front of Garlan, he finally reacted. Tears immediately swelled in his eyes and he looked at Garlan with an emotion of being touched.

When he saw that Garlan became the King’s Brother, he had been shivering with fear, constantly imagining various tragic ways of his death. At night, he had recurring nightmares when he slept. It was very scary.

Unexpectedly, Garlan not only didn’t pursue his past offense, but also let him be his study companion. Not only did he not have to die, he also became the envy of everyone.

“Garlan…no, no. It’s your Royal Highness. You, you’re really…” He was so excited that he stammered, “Too Magnanimous! Too kind! I treated you like that and you could still forgive me.”

In an instant, his emotions underwent many ups and downs, great sorrow and happiness. The little chubby Tarl, who was still a child, was so excited that he cried.

As he sobbed, he wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I was really…I-I know I’m wrong, I really know.”

His words were almost incoherent. He just raised his head hard, patted his fleshy little chest and swore.

“Your Royal Highness Garlan! Don’t worry! In the future, I will definitely protect you! I swear to the Sun God, Shamash. Whoever wants to hurt you in the future will have to step over me!”

“…Oh. Thank you very much.”

“Leave it to me, Your Highness!”

The tubby little boy pounded his fleshy chest with a loud ‘Papa’ sound.

He felt that His Royal Highness Garlan must have had a unique eye for his own differences, so he chose him from the sea of people!

He was so touched that he would do whatever his Royal Highness Garlan asked him to do. If he pointed to the East, he would never face the West!

However, the truth was…

Why did he choose this rotund little boy?

It was because he was the worst among this group of people, being at the bottom on every test ah.

Anyway, he wouldn’t be in this position for long. So, to prevent wastage of talents, just find the most useless one and make do with it.

The above was the psychological process of why Garlan selected the little chubby Tarl.

Of course, it was impossible for Tarl to know the truth in his life. Therefore, he felt that he had won the grand prize and was grateful to Garlan. He happily ran to Garlan’s side.

Originally, he did that kind of foolish thing because he wanted to play with this cute-looking kid. Now not only did he not need to be punished, he could also study with him. He was so happy.

No one thought, not even Garlan, what would happen when he just casually pointed.

And thus, the most loyal dog in his life was born.

…

…

The fire was burning.

It was hot, like a scarlet fire snake, entwining the black-haired boy tightly.

The long tongue of the hissing flame licked the skin into charred charcoal.

The stench of burnt flesh was everywhere…

A brown hand stretched out from the flames, struggling, and stubbornly buckled his fingers into the crevices of the stone. Its fingertips were already dripping with blood.

The hand that was struggling to stretch out seemed to be making a silent cry, but it was not known who it was calling for help.

…The strange black water flowed down, but the fire burned fiercely in the black water. Amid the screams and shouts of everyone, the flame ignited rapidly along the desperately outstretched arm and in an instant, completely swallowed the boy who was struggling in pain—

…

The child once again jolted awake from his dream.

Garlan sat up on the bed with his head wrapped in his arms and rubbed his hair vigorously with both hands into a mess like a chicken coop. The cold sweat that oozed from his nightmares stuck a few strands to his forehead and his eartips turned red.

Holding his head and panting with lingering fears, he blankly stared forward with a confused expression on his face.

What is going on?

Garlan felt that his whole being was going to be sick.

Originally, he thought that dream was just an accident, but he had been repeating this dream almost every day since that day.

Sometimes it was at night, sometimes it was in the afternoon. He kept having this nightmare constantly and repeatedly.

Garlan covered his forehead, and the temples that his fingers touched were soaked in sweat. It was sticky, making him very uncomfortable.

He could now confirm that this was definitely not the case of thinking about it during the day that made him dream at night, because he didn’t want to have this damn nightmare at all!

Also, he was not a psychopath. Even if it was a mortal enemy, every day seeing that person burned alive by flames made him terrified and anxious- these days, he hadn’t touched any meat. When the female guard asked, he deceived her by saying he was too hot and didn’t want to eat too much greasy food.

But if this goes on, don’t talk about eating in the future, he might become nauseous whenever he sees barbecued meat.

But, why on earth…

Why do I have this dream?

 

Garlan covered his face, closed his eyes, and relaxed his breathing, calming himself down.

Then he got out of bed and looked at the sky through the window. The sun was leaning slightly to the west, and it was already in the afternoon.

Logically at this time, if he didn’t go to the greenhouse to see Nergal, the little lion cub would start to lose his temper. But this time, he thought for a while, instead of going to the greenhouse, he quickly ran to find Heimos by himself.

As always, Heimos’ residence was cold and deserted, with no one in it except for a few guards standing at the entrance.

As soon as Garlan walked into this small courtyard, he could hear the brisk sound of running water as there was a small stream running half a circle along this courtyard. The night Heimos had a fever, he ran to this creek to wash his hands.

As soon as Garlan walked into the small courtyard, he raised his eyes and saw the familiar figure standing in the stream.

The stream was not too deep, and as Heimos stood in it, the depth of the water didn’t surpass his waist.

The young teenager stood in the middle of the stream. It was as if he were bathing, but he was still wearing his clothes. He lowered his head, holding clear water in both hands, splashing it on his face and shoulders, as well as the clothes on his body, even his black hair was soaked.

When Garlan approached, like a vigilant beast that had his own territory trespassed, Heimos suddenly raised his head. His golden-red eyes shot sharply towards Garlan’s direction.

After clearly seeing who the incoming person was, the blade-like gaze faded slightly.

The young man raised his hand. His dripping wet fingers lifted the soaked black hair in front of his eyes, and the golden-red eyes that were exposed became brighter in the sun.

Garlan squatted down by the stream, resting his cheek in one hand and looking up and down at Heimos.

Obviously this person looked well ah. Nothing happened.

He looked at him and wondered.

So why do I keep having that terrible dream?

The honey-colored skin drenched in water glowed with a dark brown luster in the bright sunlight with watery light.

The soaked black hair was stuck to the attractive teenager’s cheeks. A small drop of water on the tip of the hair rolled along the honey-colored skin onto the slightly pointed chin and then dripped onto the water surface, making small ripples.

The wet hair slanted down, and a shadow covered most of Heimos’ right eye. Only a golden-red left eye was exposed and the image of a child squatting by the stream was reflected in it.

The thin lips were watery red, and the lip line was slightly angular, giving them a sense of toughness.

A well-proportioned body with wide shoulders and a narrow waist with tight muscles covering it, with prominent muscular veins.

En, truly a beautiful boy.

Staring at Heimos in the stream, Garlan’s thoughts unknowingly strayed.

Speaking of it, even if he was his mortal enemy, he had to admit that this person was really good looking.

When he grew up, he was also a beautiful man. With logical reasoning, he should be very popular with girls.

It was just that, after he grew up, the gloomy appearance and killing aura of Heimos covered up most of his good appearance. In addition, those evil eyes like poisonous snakes and lizards would chill one’s back in terror…

Garlan couldn’t help but think.

It was no wonder that this guy in his twenties had no woman around him. He had a gloomy face all day long. Which woman would dare to approach him?

Eh?

Speaking of which…

“Heimos.”

“What?”

“Where’s your bandage?”

“Huh?”

“…” Garlan scratched his head. “Do you not have the habit of putting a bandage on your arm? I saw the dagger on your body that day… Well, someone told me that after putting a bandage on your arm, it’ll be easier to use a dagger.”

Raising his hand to lift the wet black hair back and revealing the raised black eyebrows, Heimos glanced at him.

“Who told you such stupid things?”

Garlan, “…”

It was you in your twenties who said this stupid thing.

At that time, your right hand was tightly tied with a white dressing, from the upper arm to the palm of your hand, all firmly bandaged.

When Garlan was reborn into this world for the first time, there was once where he and Heimos were waiting in the outer hall to meet King Camos. At that time, he still had the mentality of being in a game, and he didn’t know Heimos’ greatness. Because he was bored, he looked at the white bandage on the man’s arm, couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked the question.

That was how Heimos answered at that time.

‘With bandaged hands, you can hold the sword tighter, it’s easier to slaughter people that way. ’

When Heimos said this, his hand wrapped in the snow-white bandage was pressed against the dagger around his waist, and the golden-red eyes stared at him coldly similar to that of a poisonous snake staring at its prey.

The last two words, ‘slaughter people’ seemed to be severely crushed by the man and swallowed bit by bit.

He even felt that in the next second, that person might use his bandaged hand to pull out a sharp blade and pierce him—

…

…

Waking up from his memory, Garlan looked at the boy in front of him.

Speaking of which, this time, after seeing Heimos as a teenager, he had not seen bandages on his hands.

In other words, was that habit only cultivated at a later time?

Garlan was still thinking about it, but the young man standing in the stream threw another sentence.

“People who believe such things are also stupid.”

Garlan, “…”

He never knew that Heimos as a teenager, actually had the attribute of having a poisonous tongue.

Forget it, I shall not mess with this guy.

Garlan, who had been choked several times, didn’t want to care about this stuff anymore. He was just about to get up, but suddenly remembered something, so he squatted down again. He touched his waist, took out something, and then stretched out his hand in front of Heimos.

“Do you want it?”

Garlan chuckled and showed Heimos the pill that he requested in the morning, with a triumphant expression on his face.

Then he gave Heimos a wicked smile that he thought was a success.

“Beg me if you want ah~~”

Heimos stood in the middle of the stream. Icy clear water rushed past him, drenching the corners of his clothes that swayed in the water with the current.

He leaned on his side, looking at the boy who was squatting by the stream and showing him his hand.

Under the sunlight, the small hand that was fair and delicate had a milky white pill on it.

The round pill rolled around in the child’s reddish palm.

The child, who squatted there smiling at him, grinned sweetly with a cute little face. His big eyes bent into a crescent arc and even the voice of his speech was like a sweet cake—soft, waxy, and sweet.

This comfortable feeling felt like it was wrapping up the cold and hard stuff in his chest into something warm, revealing a little sweetness that had never been seen before.

…

While Garlan was beaming and waiting for Heimos to beg him, the teenager staring at him suddenly leaned forward.

Wet black hair fell on his wrist and a wet hand supported the hand he reached out. The water droplets dampened the back of his hand.

Before Garlan could react, he felt that his palm was lightly touched by something, as if he had been lightly caressed by a soft feather.

Like the last time, in just a second, Heimos swallowed the pill in Garlan’s palm.

Then he raised his head, still keeping the posture of holding Garlan’s hand in his, and ran his gaze from the water marks dripping from his black hair to the boy’s honey-colored face.

The lips of the handsome face that were very close to Garlan were raised and smiled at him.

…

Garlan couldn’t even explode in fury anymore.

He looked at Heimos who had gotten up and walked out of the stream in an annoyed manner. The water dripping from that man even splashed a little on him.

He stretched his hand into the stream with an uncomfortable expression, as if to wash his hands on purpose to show Heimos and rubbed it vigorously.

What’s the problem with you always liking to eat from other people’s hands?

Did you learn from Nergal?

Currently, that little guy was the kind that wouldn’t even look at the food thrown in front of him. He would just rush over and bite whatever I’m holding and just chew and lick my hand, covering them with his saliva.

But the little guy who was just weaned did that to act like a baby to me. Heimos, what the hell are you doing with his virtue?

Could it be that he was learning from Nergal, acting like a baby?

The last sentence popped out of his mind, and Garlan himself shivered from the cold joke.

Heimos acting like a baby towards him…

No, no, no, no, no — this was too, too, too, too frightening! It’s terrifying!

Impossible. It’s impossible in this life! The possibility of world destruction is higher than this!

He crushed the terrible thought in his mind to pieces, threw it into the trash can, and stomped on it with both feet. It was only then Garlan was relieved from the horror.

He didn’t pay attention to Heimos, who had just grabbed the pill from him, and ran away.

Garlan quickly ran to the greenhouse to take a look. As expected, he found Nergal, who realised he hadn’t come, throwing a temper. His brothers and sisters who were younger than him were bitten by him and were whimpering. Even a group of little lion cubs collectively bit him together, but they weren’t able to overpower him. Although he was small, he was very domineering. He lost his temper and had refused to eat, so no one was allowed to eat as well. The bowls filled with food were all overturned by him and were scattered all over the ground. All of a sudden there was a lot of commotion in the greenhouse.

The maids stood by and dared not stop them. They were afraid they could not stop them and became anxious.

It wasn’t until Garlan ran through the door that their eyes lit up and they were relieved.

The round ears of the little lion cub who was biting his brothers moved as if he heard Garlan’s footsteps and raised his head. His small bean-sized eyes looked over, saw Garlan, and he suddenly roared happily.

With his butt, he knocked away the other lion cub who was approaching to bite him, and ran towards Garlan happily, circling round him.

Seeing the messy sight in front of him and the little Nergal who was tumbling around him, the corner of Garlan’s eyes twitched.

However, in the end, he could only sigh and took a few small tender meatballs from the maids beside him.

These tender meatballs were specially made for these little lion cubs who were in a semi-weaned state. They used the freshest minced meat with a little milk mixed in them, which could be eaten by the cubs.

He looked at little Nergal exasperated, who was hugging his ankle and staring at the meatballs in his hand. As he was too lazy to squat down, he threw a meatball at him.

The meatball fell on the ground and rolled, just at the feet of the little cub. He could eat it with just lowering his head. But the little cub only looked and did not move away from Garlan’s feet.

Soon, the meatball rolled away, and the little cub didn’t spare it another look. He continued to raise his head, tried hard to grasp Garlan’s calf with his paws, looking at the meatballs Garlan was holding in his hand and whined.

Garlan, who didn’t know what to do with him, could only squat down and stretch out his hand.

The little lion cub immediately leaned over contentedly and the fluffy little head came to Garlan’s hand. His rough little tongue licked Garlan’s palm and the little meatballs rolled into his mouth. He munched on them and swallowed.

Garlan looked at the little cub leaning on his hand to eat the meatballs, his little tail flicked, and suddenly remembered the one scene where Heimos held his hand and lowered his head to swallow the pill from his hand not long ago.

…The inexplicable sense of deja vu..

Was it an illusion?

There was this feeling… of how he seemed to have raised two beasts that must be fed by his own hands now.

A lion and a wolf.

…

No, no, this is an illusion.

It’s definitely an illusion!

…

…

 

Time quickly flew by, and a month had passed in the blink of an eye.

King Camos was still the same – overly pampering his little brother. He basically took him wherever he went and specially arranged Garlan’s residence in the side hall to be next to his bedroom.

But within a month, this little King’s Brother caused many people to have headaches. Because Garlan and his little sidekick, Tarl, often made trouble in the palace. Although they hadn’t made any big mistakes, they kept on making small ones. These troubles made the supposed solemn and quiet royal palace, chaotic and noisy.

However, King Camos indulged him and had never punished Garlan at all. When someone complained, he would laugh and touch his younger brother’s head while saying that it was a good thing that this child was more energetic and lively and that it wasn’t any different from when he was a boy.

Everyone was speechless.

Indeed, their King Camos was also a troublemaker when he was a child and had caused trouble every day. However, King Camos’ father, the former King of Aaron Landis, would at least teach the troublemaker Camos a lesson. But now, Camos not only didn’t care about teaching his naughty little brother, but also indulged him so much. What would happen in the future?

Everyone was worried about this.

However, Garlan, as the culprit, was more worried compared to them.

Why was Brother Camos not angry at all?

He had deliberately relied on his identity as a child, acting as a bear child, making trouble every day, just to provoke Brother Camos to drive him away.

But looking at Brother King’s eyes… he actually supported him?

King Camos, “Very good. Just like my previous demeanor, continue, I’ll support you.”

Garlan, “…”

The first plan had failed and was aborted.

Fortunately, there was a second plan that was simultaneously in action.

…

In the afternoon, a group of young children were sitting in the spacious school hall.

This was an open hall with no walls on any side, only dozens of columns supporting the arched roof. The bright sunlight illuminated the study hall. The breeze brought the water vapor from the clear lake on the side of the hall and the fragrance of lotus in the water into the hall.

On one side of the school hall was a large courtyard with a lotus pond and on the other side was a martial arts field. It was very vast and even connected to a large piece of small grassland that could be galloped. It was specially designed for these children to train in martial arts, archery, and horse riding.

The blond-haired child sat cross-legged in the hall, while the others surrounded him, like stars arching over the moon.

There were no tables and chairs in the school hall, but a soft carpet. Everyone sat cross-legged on the ground when they studied. Those who surrounded Garlan were all teenagers who were older than him. There were even those who were about to reach adulthood.

These youngsters were children whose fathers were ministers of the court, or direct descendants of the nobles. It was customary for these descendants to accompany the heir of the throne to learn together.

One reason was for the successor to better understand his future subordinates and second, this was also the best way for these future state ministers to have a better relationship with the future King.

Therefore, almost all of them sat with Garlan as the center.

Only one person was faintly squeezed to one side by the crowd and sat alone on the other side.

King Camos chose two King Brothers a month ago.

One was the young Prince Garlan.

The other was the slightly older Prince Heimos.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see it…No, even the blind could see it. King Camos didn’t like Prince Heimos, who was selected by the ministers according to the test method, but prefered the little prince Garlan, who he chose himself.

So far, he seemed to have only allowed Garlan to call him Brother King, and Heimos had never called him that way.

Therefore, when the title King’s Brother was mentioned, the first person that came into everyone’s mind was the flaxen-haired child. Yet, the title of the other had always been Prince Heimos, not King Camos’ brother .

Naturally, everyone flocked to Garlan, while Heimos was deserted and no one cared about him.

In order to please Garlan, some people even deliberately used various means to exclude and target Heimos, and from time to time, they wanted to teach him a lesson.

After all, in their opinion, the existence of Heimos was a hindrance to Garlan, so Garlan must be very upset about his presence. If they could teach Heimos a lesson, they would be favored by Garlan.

“Your Royal Highness Garlan.”

Although Ziemuer was appointed by King Camos as Garlan’s mentor, he had to assist King Camos with political affairs every day. Therefore, for one day in a week, he would spare some time to teach Garlan.

…Although the results of a month’s teaching made him feel that the time he took from his busy schedule had been fed to the dogs.

At this moment, he blankly slapped a piece of parchment onto Garlan’s hand. The force he patted down was so strong that he made a snapping noise and Garlan almost wasn’t able to hold it.

The child glanced at the parchment. En, as expected, low-grade, failed.

The people next to him saw the grades on Garlan’s paper at a glance and subconsciously folded their papers to block their grades.

That was right. Among this group of people, Garlan was the only one who received a low score.

The others were basically first-class, and the lowest class was upper-middle class. After all, these people who could be qualified to accompany the prince were people with excellent aptitudes, so there was not even one middle-class person.

Oh, no. There was another special one. The little chubby boy selected by Garlan was medium almost every time, stuck in the middle, neither here nor there.

However, time and time again, Garlan’s grades were hovering between two grades of middle and lower tier. Everyone became accustomed to it during the month.

Although some slandered him in their hearts and began to look down on Garlan a little, on the surface they still flattered and praised the young prince.

Ziemuer walked to Heimos, who was sitting alone on the other side and handed him another parchment paper in his hand.

Only Garlan and Heimos, who were the princes, were personally reviewed, issued, commented on and taught by Ziemuer. The other teenagers who accompanied them were naturally taken care of by other teachers.

The priest of Shamash looked at Heimos with satisfied eyes.

He praised, “You did a great job, Your Highness Heimos.”

Ziemuer was an extremely strict person with obsessive-compulsive disorder. For someone who could make him praise the other, he must have had an extremely good performance.

Over the past month, Heimos had achieved excellent results in all aspects. He was the most outstanding existence among them, in extreme contrast to Garlan.

After praising Heimos, Ziemuer again looked at Garlan without any expression.

He continued, “The others go back first. Your Highness Garlan, please stay back.”

Garlan scratched his head.

No matter how bad his grades were, the other teachers never dared to say anything to him. Only his tutor, Ziemuer, with such stubbornness would severely criticize him every time he came.

He didn’t refute and nodded, indicating that he understood.

The group of teenagers who were still consoling him didn’t dare to provoke the solemn and upright priest Shamash, one by one stood up and obediently left. Only the little chubby boy was left. Although he was terrified of Ziemuer, he still held on to his loyalty and did not want to leave Garlan to be scolded.

Ziemuer glanced at Tarl and repeated again.

“Tarl, leave immediately.”

Ziemuer’s words made the little chubby boy nervous, he swallowed and stammered, “I… I’ll wait here… Wait…”

“Tarl, you go back first. Don’t wait for me.”

“But Your Highness…”

“It’s okay.” Garlan continued with a chuckle, waving to indicate Tarl to quickly go. “It’s not a big problem.”

As soon as Garlan’s words came to an end, the temperature around him suddenly dropped by ten degrees, and Tarl shuddered in the cold.

With trembling eyes, he looked at the priest whose gaze had become cold and left obediently.

As a result, there were only two people, one adult and one child, in the large school hall.

“It’s okay? It’s not a big problem? You look at this and really think ‘It’s not a big problem’?!”

In front of other people, he still had to save the prince a little bit of face, so he resisted without saying a word. As soon as the others left, Ziemuer unceremoniously began to berate Garlan.

He motioned to the terribly flawed paper in Garlan’s hand and coldly stared at Garlan as if it would freeze.

“Your Royal Highness, you are not stupid, you just don’t care.”

Ziemuer’s voice sounded unsentimental and indifferent.

“You repeat the same mistakes every time, and you don’t intend to correct them. Instead, you let yourself continue to make the mistakes.”

“I don’t know what the reason is, but I can see that you don’t have the slightest motivation, you just want to stay where you are, or even fall behind.”

The priest of Shamash looked at the little blond-haired prince who was silent, with disappointment in his eyes.

He always remembered what King Camos said to him the last time. Even if he didn’t have much hope for this child at the beginning, he still performed his duties earnestly and meticulously taught Garlan.

He believed that he treated Garlan and the one he was more optimistic about, Heimos, equally. There wasn’t any favoritism.

Perhaps he was also looking forward to it in his heart. As King Camos said, this child had excellent aptitude and he had missed it- but the facts made him very disappointed.

He couldn’t tell whether Garlan had the qualifications of an excellent King for the time being, but he knew that if Garlan continued like this, he would never become a qualified successor.

“Compared to His Royal Highness Heimos, you are so much worse. If this goes on, you will always be left behind by him.”

After Ziemuer said this, he didn’t continue, but turned around and left.

Garlan stood there staring at that person’s distant receding figure, looked down at the examination paper in his hand, and then closed the parchment with a snap.

He turned around and had his back towards Ziemuer.

Striding forward with big steps, he walked in the completely opposite direction from Ziemuer, and the rolled parchment was gripped tightly in his hands.

Ziemuer, the priest of Shamash; my mentor. You who are destined to betray me in the future, have never been on the same path as me.

Since I’m destined to disappoint you in eight years’ time, I might as well not give you any expectations from the beginning.

…

 

Walking out of the school hall, there was no one outside. Everyone knew that they shouldn’t linger around to see Garlan being reprimanded by the priest, so no one stayed.

The blond-haired child stood on the high platform, looking down at the wide courtyard below. Under the blue sky, the clear lake surface was sparkling. The water ripples reflected in his golden pupils, as if there were also golden waves rippling in his eyes.

The circle columns on the outermost periphery of the school hall were fenced by bluestone slabs. Garlan jumped and sat on them. The bluestone slabs were a bit high, and he could not reach the ground when he sat up. He could only hang in the air, shaking his legs.

He turned his head and looked back. The ground of the school hall was nearly three meters above the ground, which looked quite high.

Turning his head back, Garlan opened the parchment scroll that was crumpled by him.

Heimos was a child of someone else’s family.

He thought so and couldn’t help but smile and laughed a little self-deprecatingly.

Looking at the questions on the paper, he knew the answers to all of them. But Ziemuer was right. He was not stupid, it was just that he didn’t care, so almost half of the answers on the paper were wrong.

He did this deliberately.

Because all along he had only one purpose.

It was to leave this palace, stay far away from Ziemuer and that boy, Heimos, who would kill him in the future. The further the better.

…Although he felt a little apologetic towards Brother Camos… He had always been very good to him…

As Garlan looked at the script in a daze, a slight sound of footsteps came. He raised his head subconsciously, and his eyes met the golden-red eyes of the young man, who was already standing in front of him.

“Come down,” The boy looked at him and continued, “It’s dangerous to sit there.”

Garlan raised his head, pursed his lips and looked at Heimos. He didn’t say a word, answer, nor move.

Heimos hesitated for a moment, stretched out his hand, and pointed his fingers at a wrong question on the unfolded parchment in front of Garlan.

He said, “This. The livelihood of people in Morro City are dependent on the mines.”

I know.

Garlan thought to himself, but still had his mouth closed and said nothing.

He was now in a bad mood. He didn’t want to talk to this person.

Heimos looked at the child’s tightly shut lips not talking to him, and for some reason, felt a little anxious

He was waiting outside just now and didn’t leave. He heard how Ziemuer reprimanded Garlan. He also knew that he was used by the priest as an example to teach Garlan. So, the young boy should have been upset.

He thought for a while and whispered, “I can teach you.”

As he said this, he stretched out his hand to get the parchment from Garlan’s hand.

Garlan subconsciously gripped tighter, not giving it to him. But for some reason, Heimos seemed to be stubborn and grabbed the other end of the parchment without letting go and insisted on pulling it out of Garlan’s hand.

At the moment, Garlan was also headstrong. The more Heimos wanted to grab, the more he refused to let him take it away.

With a deep breath, he held the parchment and pulled it back forcefully.

The parchment was tough. But no matter how sturdy it was, it was still a thin layer. At this moment, being pulled on both ends by the two people, it immediately couldn’t withstand the pressure.

The next second, with a tearing sound, the parchment tore from the middle.

Garlan was struggling to pull it back. He was originally sitting on the slabs, with his legs hanging in the air and his feet not touching the ground. At this moment, the parchment ripped, the force battling with him was gone, and suddenly his whole being fell backwards.

Behind him was the edge of the empty high platform. Seeing that his entire being was about to fall off the nearly three-meter-high platform-

A hand rushed over and grabbed his arm.

With a violent tug, Garlan, who was almost falling behind, moved forward and plunged into Heimos’ embrace.

“You fool! Didn’t you understand when I told you to come down!!”

Garlan, who had almost fallen, was stunned by Heimos’ bellow as soon as he turned his head.

The boy who grabbed his arm and pulled him back just now, clasped his shoulder tightly and yelled at him with an ugly expression.

“Sitting in such a dangerous place, are you looking for death?!!”

He had never seen such an expression before. Garlan was being yelled at dumbfoundedly by Heimos for a while.

He stayed with his mouth open for a long time and suddenly replied in a low voice.

“… I’m sorry.”

Seeing with his own eyes the moment Garlan almost fell right in front of him, Heimos felt his heart stop beating for a while.

After pulling the other back, he suddenly lost control and yelled at the child.

At such a high place, there was only the hard slate ground at the bottom. If he were to fall…

Thinking of the consequences, the young man couldn’t help but yell at the other party.

He originally wanted to continue to scold him, but the sudden whisper of apology came and blocked the anger rising in his throat.

The child raised his head. The palm-sized face and big golden eyes looked at him, but his eyes were slightly aggrieved, which made one feel soft-hearted.

Heimos opened his mouth and couldn’t chide the other anymore.

He sighed, reached out and knocked the child’s forehead hard, opening his mouth to say something.

However, before he could speak, he suddenly heard some voices.

“Ah—! What are you doing to His Royal Highness Garlan?!”

A shriek suddenly sounded nearby.

The shrieking little chubby boy led a group of people and aggressively rushed towards Heimos.

“Did you hit His Royal Highness Garlan?”

“Yes, Prince Heimos, how could you do this kind of thing?”

“It’s too much for you to bully the young!”

“You must be jealous of His Royal Highness Garlan. Jealous that he is more favored by King Camos than you!”

……

…

A bunch of young people began to denounce Prince Heimos, the ‘bully’, who had been ‘bullying’ Prince Garlan. For a moment, the crowd was agitated.

Heimos, who only felt a bunch of mosquitoes buzzing in his ears, turned his head and glanced at Garlan next to him.

He saw the child standing on the spot. His big round eyes blinked and eagerly observed the scene in front of him. With that kind of appearance, he obviously did not intend to help him explain anything and instead had a look of expectation for a good show.

Seeing the child change back to the quirky look of the past, no longer the sluggish and listless expression that he had just now, for some reason, Heimos was in a much better mood than before.

The corners of his mouth raised. His hand suddenly stretched out and dragged Garlan, who was waiting to see the fascinating scene unfold, to stand in front of him.

Before Garlan could react, he was pulled to stand in front of Heimos.

Heimos stood behind him, held him by the left shoulder with one hand, and pinched his chin with his right hand.

Immediately afterwards, Heimos smiled at the opposite group of people, who were together with Tarl.

“Don’t move,” He said, “Her Royal Highness is in my hands now. If you move, I won’t be polite to the princess.”

Little chubby and everyone else, “???”

Garlan, “…”

You’re the princess! Your whole family are princesses!

Garlan, who was waiting to see Heimos being attacked by everyone, inadvertently became a hostage.

Then the young man, who was holding the “little princess” hostage, calmly took the “little princess” and left under everyone’s sight.