“Gasp, huh, phew…”
Leaning against the headboard, Arendt tried to catch his breath.
He closed his eyes in bed, thinking he’d get some rest, and sure enough, this happened again.
It felt like an invisible entity was constantly strangling him.
Arendt tried to regain a sense of reality by repeatedly clenching and unclenching his hands.
But he couldn’t shake off all the distracting thoughts that were swirling around in his head and the tinnitus that filled his ears.
‘Don’t think useless thoughts.’
As if brainwashing himself, Arendt repeated this to himself over and over again.
‘Stop thinking useless thoughts.’
He tried to roughly sweep his unruly hair back, but his fingertips were shaking so much that even that wasn’t possible.
The strange sense of alienation felt all around him made it hard to breathe.
A huge, thick, dark presence was slowly suffocating him.
Everything around him felt unnatural.
Long flowing hair, expensive bed and sheets, silver candlesticks on the bedside table, lamps, books bound with monster hide.
Everything in this space seemed to creak.
He was thrown alone into an endlessly unfolding stage with no one around him, and the false things that filled his surroundings…
‘No.’
He unconsciously gripped his wrist tightly.
It was the place where Nikephoros left his burn scars.
Before long, his fingernails began to dig into his flesh and blood began to ooze out little by little.
Only then did he feel his consciousness returning to him.
‘Wake up, idiot.’
If he went outside right now, he’d hear the snoring of the nosy and spineless knights.
If he opened the window, a fresh breeze would blow in, and in the damn clear night sky, the moon and stars like pieces of ice would shine coldly.
“Hah…”
He was the Imperial Apprentice Knight Arendt von Eckhart.
An arrogant, selfish, and cocky brat who fears nothing.
‘Focus on your role.’
Slowly, his breathing found its pace.
This was the palace of the Caerleon Empire, the stage of his own choosing.
The objects that filled this room were not stage props, but real, and the books and documents were all things he had painstakingly collected himself.
Darkness was just darkness, and so was light.
Only after a long time did Arendt manage to nervously run his hand through his hair.
“…This is really fucking annoying.”
A sense of reality gradually returned to his mind. At the same time, Arendt frowned for a moment at the onset of a migraine.
“Damn gods.”
He felt like he had done something pointless.
Since the knights seemed to be starting to sense something strange, he was planning on lying down as still as a mouse without even turning on the lights today.
He could at least pretend to be asleep so he could shake off those annoying people.
But it wasn’t a very good choice.
He ended up paying a heavy price for falling into a deep sleep, unable to overcome his fatigue.
“If you’re an audience member, then just watch like an audience member… or at least state your business properly. Honestly, you crazy bastards. I’m going to have to kill you for real someday.”
Arendt, who was muttering curses and nervously scratching at the wound, suddenly realized that he could smell blood.
He stopped moving after belatedly coming back to his senses.
The fingertips that had been constantly scratching at the burn scars were now covered in blood.
“…I’m going crazy.”
The moment he realized how ridiculous his situation was, he burst out in incredulous laughter.
Arendt eventually had no choice but to get up from bed.
He somehow came to his senses, but he felt like he was going to go crazy if he stayed in this room any longer.
After hastily changing his clothes and stepping outside the room, the cool air brushed against his skin.
Gazing at the moonlight pouring through the window, he felt his heart gradually begin to calm.
“Phew.”
Arendt let out a short sigh and walked slowly toward the lobby.
His hair, which was always neatly styled even when no one was looking, was left hanging down to his shoulders.
Normally, he would have even paid attention to the way he walked, but right now, he simply didn’t have the strength. Just trying to drive out the thoughts crowding his mind was all he could manage.
Because of this, Arendt did not notice the presence of another person who opened the door and came out.
“Arendt?”
Arendt flinched at the sudden voice that appeared in the silence.
He turned his head absentmindedly and met eyes with Arthur, who was standing a few steps behind him.
“Ah…”
Caught off guard by the sudden encounter, Arendt froze for a moment. It was because no lines came to mind right away.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Arthur was the first to move. Arthur, his face crumpled, began to approach with brisk strides.
“Hey, what the hell happened to you?”
“Huh? What’s wrong with my appearance…”
Arendt, who was about to respond reflexively, stopped when he realized the problem.
‘I should have at least wiped off the blood before I left.’
It was a mistake he made when he was in a confused state.
Before he could even think of an excuse, Arthur grabbed Arendt’s injured wrist with an angry look.
“Why are you picking at a wound that has already healed? Are you crazy?”
“Oh, seriously. Where are you touching?”
Arendt also frowned and shook Arthur’s hand away.
“I scratched because it was itchy and now this happened. What do you want me to do? I was on my way to get some bandages anyway.”
“Don’t make me laugh. Do you think I don’t have eyes? Just a scratch. It’s covered in blood!”
Arendt did not back down from Arthur’s fierce words and responded irritably.
“I’ll take care of it, so go to sleep. Why are you wandering around and causing trouble in the middle of the night?”
“That’s what I should say, you little bastard! Who’s the one roaming around every night these days?”
Arthur growled, lowering his voice, and grabbed Arendt’s arm again.
“Just shut up and follow me. You don’t want to wake up all the other seniors.”
“Follow you, where are you going…”
“I told you to just shut up and come. If you don’t follow me, I’m barging straight into the captain’s room, so consider this a warning.”
Arendt shut up at Arthur’s ominous warning. From his experience, he knew Arthur was the kind of person who would actually follow through.
Arthur dragged Arendt to the sofa in the lobby. Arthur forced Arendt to sit down and turned on the lamp on the table.
A soft light began to glow in the previously dark lobby.
While Arendt waited blankly, Arthur stepped away for a moment and returned with a bandage.
“Give me your hand.”
“…”
Arendt sat next to him and looked at him with discontent as he spoke to him in a commanding tone, but he obediently did as he said and held out his arm covered in dried blood.
Arthur irritably began tightly wrapping the bandage around the wound.
“You damn bastard. What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night?”
“Who told you to meddle so much? I was going to take care of it on my own… ugh!”
Arendt, who had been responding sharply, swallowed a scream from the sudden pain.
Arthur had deliberately tightened the bandage with all his might.
“What are you doing?”
“Shut up, you. I’m going to die of frustration.”
“No, what did I…”
Arthur tightened the bandage once more because his junior did not know how to reflect despite his stern warning.
Kwaaak.
Arendt was eventually forced to stay silent as the bandage was pulled so tightly that his blood flow cut off.
“You’re just asking to get lectured.”
Arthur grumbled irritably, then unwrapped the bandage and finished treating the wound properly.
“Go see the healer in the morning.”
“Is this really something worth going to the healer for…?”
“If I tell you to go, go, you little bastard.”
After scolding the grumbling Arendt, Arthur let out a deep sigh. After a moment, he looked straight at Arendt again and spoke.
“You. Stay here and wait.”
“What? It’s not over?”
Arthur disappeared into the darkness, ignoring Arendt’s disgruntled voice.
And a moment later, Arthur returned carrying a large bottle of liquor and two glasses.
“…?”
Just as Arendt, puzzled, was about to furrow his brow.
Clang!
Arthur placed a bottle of liquor the size of his torso on the table.
Arendt, still unable to grasp the situation, asked bewilderedly.
“…What are you trying to do? What is this all of a sudden?”
“What is this?”
Arthur, who followed Arendt’s words while lowering his voice, handed him a glass. When Arendt absentmindedly accepted it, Arthur added shamelessly.
“A bottle of alcohol that Senior Glenn secretly got the kitchen staff to hide for him.”
“Yes?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected answer, Arendt asked in a dazed voice. Arthur set down his own glass in front of him and began opening the tightly sealed bottle.
“It’s wine made directly in an inn outside the palace, but it’s so popular that it’s hard to get. Senior Glenn apparently pulled some strings with the owner to get it. It should be perfectly aged by now.”
“…”
“I don’t know if a young master like you can truly appreciate this kind of flavor, but it’s quite exceptional.”
It was absurd.
All food entering the Imperial Palace had to go through strict inspection. It was equally absurd that Glenn had secretly brought in external provisions by breaking those rules, and that Arthur had somehow stolen it from somewhere.
“No, what is this…”
“Oh, nice.”
Just as Arendt, who was shocked, was barely able to open his mouth, the cork that was sealing the bottle opened with a refreshing pop.
Arthur filled Arendt’s glass with the liquor that his senior had been keeping carefully, and then filled his own glass as well.
“I can guarantee the taste. I’ve gone there to try it a few times and it wasn’t bad.”
With a sly smile, Arthur clinked his glass against Arendt’s as if to make a toast.
Arthur quickly gulped down his drink in one go, then frowned as he urged Arendt to hurry up.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you drinking?”
Arthur clearly didn’t intend to ask any questions.
It was his way of showing, indirectly, that he wouldn’t cross any boundaries, a form of consideration in his own way.
Arendt, looking down at his glass with a troubled gaze, let out a deep sigh.
“This is truly unbelievable.”
As he took a sip, a sweet and smooth wine scent hit the air.
It wasn’t as fancy as the liquor you could taste inside the palace, but it tasted pretty good, just as Arthur had boasted.
Arendt, who had been silent for a moment, expressed his honest feelings.
“…It’s delicious.”
“That’s what I said.”
Arthur, agreeing, refilled Arendt’s glass and then poured more wine into his own.
Arendt accepted the drink without any hesitation.
As the alcohol took effect, his stiff shoulders began to relax. His trembling heart gradually calmed down.
At this point, he thought he could immerse himself in his role again.
Arendt, who had finished his second glass, broke the silence.
“Isn’t it a bit boring to just drink? Should I bring some snacks from the room? I got quite a lot from Aide Jereon.”
“You keep stuff like that piled up in your room? No thanks. The kind of top-quality snacks that His Highness eats don’t go well with cheap liquor like this.”
As the two engaged in trivial conversation, their glasses were constantly refilled and emptied again.
Arthur muttered regretfully when they had finished half of the large bottle.
“Still, it’d be nice to have something to go with it. Drinking it plain feels too sweet, don’t you think? Are there any salty snacks?”
“There are pieces of beef jerky that we eat when we go on missions. Or we can search the kitchen. We might be able to find some cheese.”
Arendt agreed.
Just as the apprentice knight and the youngest knight were agreeing to raid the kitchen once again, a sinister shadow was quietly creeping toward the two of them.
“Cheese sounds good. But if we mess with the kitchen pantry, won’t we really get in trouble?”
“You’re worried about getting in trouble now? Even this drink is Senior Glenn’s.”
“That’s true. If we fill it with water, would Senior Glenn notice?”
“Well, if it’s that person, there’s a chance that he won’t notice for a while.”
Arthur and Arendt, who were absorbed in a foolish conversation, noticed the presence a beat too late and fell silent.
Right at the instant a bad premonition struck.
“Does it taste good…? You damn bastards.”
A chilling voice sounded from behind.
It was Glenn.