The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

121 – Need a Break (03)

122.

“So, it’s not an invitation from the imperial family?”

“The imperial family has much more to manage than you might think. The gossips love to say the empire is obsessed with power, but that’s an empty claim if the extra details aren’t managed.”

The reason Kallen asked that was simple.

The old man was guiding Kallen not to the imperial audience hall, but to a space the imperial bloodline uses to meet people privately.

Long ago, when learning the empire’s etiquette with Sinat, Blamia told him something.

As a grand mage, Blamia could tell him various things about the world.

Among them were not a few things related to the imperial family.

Since the head of the Dranus family often had to deal with the imperial family, Blamia gave Sinat that early education.

The important thing is that Kallen was also there, and it was thanks to that he could differentiate the imperial spaces now.

“This matter… you could say it’s a unique case. It is true that His Highness the Prince has invited you, but His Majesty the Emperor is also aware of this and has granted permission.”

Looks like he doesn’t intend to say what’s going on beforehand.

Kalen nodded, following the path alongside a long, narrow pond.

Venturing behind the main palace revealed the living quarters of the Imperial bloodline.

Of course, it couldn’t compare to the scale of the main palace, but that was only by Imperial standards.

The garden stretching along the pond was as vast as a whole noble estate’s street.

Marveling at the sheer scale, they walked for a while before finally reaching a building.

The old man silently led Kalen into a room.

It was more of an open space than a room, but aside from providing a good view of the pond, it fulfilled its role well enough.

“This is it.”

“Is His Highness the Prince already waiting?”

“Yes. I’ll go in with you. I have something to tell His Highness.”

The old man gave a gentle smile before opening the door.

On the other side, a young man was sitting, gazing at the pond.

He turned towards Kalen and the old man, noticing the door opening.

Though he was a young man, he appeared older than Kalen.

At least, old enough to have undergone his coming-of-age ceremony a while ago.

“Your Highness, I’ve brought Lord Kalen.”

“Ah. Hape. Thanks for the trouble.”

“And as for what you mentioned, I don’t think you need to worry. I may not have fully handled it, but at least there was no malice.”

“I see. Thank you. Then, you may leave now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

With those words, the old man retreated.

He said he had something to say, and that was it?

Judging by his talk of “handling” and “malice,” it seemed the entire conversation in the carriage was orchestrated by the Prince.

Thinking this, Kalen approached the Prince without hesitation.

It was a familiar face.

The Dranus Banquet.

There, the Prince had only exchanged a few words with those he knew well, not interacting with anyone else.

Kalen stared at Medius and sat in the chair he gestured to.

“Lord Kalen… Ah. Should we drop the formalities? They’re a bit stifling.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“You can speak comfortably too, if you want.”

I had thought that his quiet demeanor at the banquet stemmed from his dislike of clamor, but seeing him now, that doesn’t seem right.

Even though I saw his face at the banquet hall, this is the first time we’re actually exchanging words.

Dropping formalities with someone you’ve never even spoken to, right from the start, is hardly indicative of someone who dislikes noise.

“Um… first off, I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Apologize?”

“About Hape. You must have been asked a lot of irritating questions in the carriage, right?”

“Ah.”

So they hadn’t even specified the questions.

Kallen nodded, as if to say it was fine.

“It’s alright. It wasn’t that irritating.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

He gives off a rather different vibe from the one I saw at the banquet.

Kallen, wondering which was his true self, gave up trying to figure it out.

He hadn’t seen the prince enough to judge, and he could just ask him directly, so there was no reason not to.

“Which one is the real you, Your Highness?”

“Huh?”

“At the banquet? Or like this?”

The prince opened his mouth at Kallen’s words.

Looking somewhat taken aback, he then closed it and burst out laughing.

This is an unusual situation for Medius.

The empire’s power is unprecedentedly strong, and his succession to the throne is certain.

The title of the little master of the Claire Empire held that much power.

No one dared to voice a dissenting opinion, except for Hape.

And no one in the imperial family held any real interest for Medius.

Everyone was busy trying to please him.

Busy watching his father and Medius’ own moods.

It was also why Medius kept Hape close.

So, he couldn’t help but feel amused.

The boy, with a face already cold, speaks his mind without a hint of confusion.

Even the test he’d undergone by speaking to Hape had far exceeded a passing score.

Hape was a man who’d served the Imperial Family since his grandfather’s time.

He wasn’t someone you could simply trick or deceive with sweet talk.

Having earned recognition from such a monstrous old man, Medius was growing increasingly curious about Calen.

“Which one do you think it is?”

“From what I see, this seems to be the true Imperial Prince.”

“Hmm. Right. If you’re asking about my real personality, this is it.”

“Are there times when you change?”

“There are. It’s hard to live as you are in this position, after all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Calen, however, just wanted to go back quickly.

No matter how he looked at it, the reason he was summoned seemed to stem from the incident at the Plache family.

If it wasn’t to keep Calen in check, it was hard to imagine any other reason.

And for that reason, Calen kept his words to a minimum.

“I’d like to ask the reason for summoning me, Your Highness Medius.”

“The reason for summoning you… isn’t it a bit too soon?”

“I know that Your Highness’s time is more precious than gold. Just by meeting you, it takes a great deal of my focus.”

“Hmm… I understand.”

Medius seemed a bit disappointed, but he quickly returned to a bright expression.

Then, he pulled the magic crystal he had pushed aside and slid it towards Calen.

“It’s a recording crystal.”

Calen looked at the magic crystal orb.

Recording crystals were a rare sight.

Since they could capture everything the crystal reflected exactly as it appeared, they were not only costly, but also difficult to create.

But this was the Imperial Palace.

And he was facing an Imperial Prince who was certain to inherit the throne, so the appearance of such a rare item wasn’t surprising.

The important thing was the reason Medius had presented this crystal.

“Do I just look at it?”

“Yeah.”

Could this be about the affairs of the Plache family?

If so, it’s purely a matter between Callen himself and Laris.

Meaning, the Imperial Family has absolutely no right to interfere.

Callen manipulated the recording crystal sphere like that.

And what was contained within was the figure of a man.

Not being one for scrutinizing men’s faces, Callen observed the man’s actions.

Inside the recording crystal, the man had someone laid out before him, hands clasped together.

“Praying…? Is he praying?”

Since the recording ended there, Callen withdrew his attention and looked at the Prince.

But the Prince, as if that wasn’t the end, gestured with his chin toward the crystal.

“Look at his face closely.”

“His face…?”

Growing weary, Callen did as Medius said and looked into the man’s face.

And it was in that instant.

“…”

“He looks a lot like someone, doesn’t he?”

Even as Medius spoke, Callen couldn’t tear his eyes from the crystal.

“To explain what that man’s doing, recently there have been many disappearances. Most were people from the back alleys, who wouldn’t be missed.”

Medius adjusted his posture, then,

Slowly looked at Callen and said.

“The culprit, as you see, is him. He’s abducting people and using them as a kind of sacrifice.”

“…Sacrifice…?”

“He’s using magic that looks like contract magic. But it’s quite different from normal contract magic. It’s like he’s summoning something using people as sacrifices.”

This shouldn’t be happening.

Contract magic is magic where a mage makes a contract with a spirit from the spirit world and borrows their power.

It’s absolutely not magic that uses living beings as a medium to manifest the spirit itself.

However, the man in the sphere was committing an act that even Callen found hard to put into words.

The energy surrounding him.

Now starting to catch his eye, symbols that were strangely familiar.

And the man’s appearance…

“Kallen. One question.”

“…”

“What’s your relationship with that man?”

He looked so much like Kallen that I thought, if Kallen ever aged, that’s exactly how he’d look.

*

A nameless lower noble,

And a woman of the pleasure district, selling her body to survive each day.

A child born between them, abandoned.

Up until now, that’s all I thought it was.

It’s a common enough story, isn’t it?

A child born from a moment of indiscretion, no one would want it.

And the one who had to bear the burden of that entirely, ironically, was a boy whose very birth was a sin.

Kallen never felt a need to find his parents.

Only, if he happened to run into them someday, he might have wondered what they were thinking.

He’d learned how to survive before love from parents.

Various relationships that started thanks to Blamia’s whims had kept Kallen afloat.

So, even less of a reason to look for them.

But, as if disregarding Kallen’s thoughts.

The man in the crystal ball had a face almost identical to Kallen’s.

“F…father?”

“Ah, so you didn’t know.”

“…Do you know something?”

“I just wanted to confirm if there was a connection. Seeing you so shocked makes me almost feel sorry.”

Kallen then looked Medius directly in the eyes.

Medius wore a look of pity.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s planning. But using humans as sacrifices to summon spirits is something I can’t tolerate, so I needed to confirm the relationship between you two.”

“…”

“I was hoping it wasn’t true, but it seems like he is your father.”

And with that, he stood up and turned off the recording crystal.

As the light faded from the crystal, Medius patted Kallen’s shoulder.

“I can’t help your father. And… I’m really sorry, but I need your help capturing this man. We’ve already sent several knights, but not a single one has returned.”

This was the reason Medius had called for Kallen.

It wasn’t about what happened in the Plache family.

It was a confrontation with the past in an entirely unexpected form.

Kallen had unexpectedly faced his father who abandoned him.

And that father was trying to manifest a spirit by using humans as sacrifices.

He possessed strength so great that even the Imperial knights couldn’t capture him, so Medius had asked Kallen, who single-handedly destroyed Plache and the Lyle trading company, for help.

The story was too simple and clear.

Kallen stared blankly at the crystal for a moment, then regained his usual expression.

Medius, who at least thought Kallen would be confused, was taken aback.

Kallen turned to him and calmly said.

“I think I know what he’s trying to do.”

“…What?”

Kallen, recalling the pattern he’d seen in the crystal, spoke.

His voice was so calm and detached.

Medius, as if absurdly impressed, laughed.