Episode 153
The next day.
After a day of rest at the inn, the group headed straight to the royal palace in the capital.
It was to meet King Baltair Marriott, Abelson’s father.
“This is the palace… It’s so splendid.”
It didn’t look that big when viewed from the outside.
Considering the scale of the Black Giant, the comparison itself is embarrassing.
But the glamour was different.
The palace, built with pure white bricks, was as beautiful as a castle from a fairy tale.
“Is it okay if I just come in?”
“yes.”
Abelson walked confidently to the entrance of the palace.
Although it has been a long time since she left the palace, she is still a princess of the Mariott Kingdom.
There was nothing to be embarrassed about.
“This is the royal palace. Please state your identity and the purpose of your visit.”
A knight blocked the way.
He wore splendid armor, befitting a knight guarding the palace entrance, and his voice was heavy yet respectful.
‘You’re quite skilled.’
The knight was hiding his magical powers.
Because of the circumstances, I couldn’t confirm it openly, but I could infer the level of magical power I was handling just by looking at the magical power that was leaking out slightly.
“This is Abelson Marriott.”
“yes?”
The knight blinked with rabbit eyes, unlike his previous serious appearance.
“My name is Abelson Marriott. Sir Maol. Have you forgotten my face?”
“Oh, Princess…!?”
The knight called Maol shouted in surprise.
He soon realized his mistake and continued speaking with a hardened expression.
“Ahem! You really are the princess. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” “It’s okay. It’s been a long time, Lord Maol.” “Yes. It’s been over five years already. I’m so glad to see you safe and sound, princess.” “I want to see your father.” “I understand. But…”
Knight Maol looked at Choi Hyeon-seok.
“Who is that person in the back?”
“We are a group.”
“No one can present themselves to the King without verifying their identity.” “This is the person who protected me throughout my journey. I will guarantee your identity, so don’t worry, my lord.”
“but….”
“Your Majesty, you do not recognize me. Are you going to embarrass me in front of my benefactor?”
“…”
“The kingdom has changed a lot in the past five years. How can the palace be so cold to a member of the royal family?”
A chill dripped from Abelson’s voice.
Knight Maol quickly bowed his head.
“I’m sorry! I’ll contact my supervisor right away.”
Choi Hyun-seok watched the situation with his eyes wide open.
‘Mr. Abelson seems like a different person.’
I felt it yesterday too, but Abelson’s mood seems to have changed a little after the grueling training.
Although it had a cold and stiff atmosphere before, it now feels like it has a sharp edge to it.
It was strangely aggressive.
“Princess. I will serve you.”
After a while, a large crowd of people came into the palace.
They guided the group with extreme courtesy that was almost burdensome.
‘It’s definitely a different level once you get to the royal palace.’
As I walked, I was met with a never-ending stream of gorgeous decorations.
Wherever your eyes look, there is gold and jewels strewn about.
Choi Hyun-seok looked around like a country bumpkin and kept exclaiming in admiration.
“You can go there.”
Finally, we arrived in front of a huge door.
If you open this door, the king will probably be waiting for you.
The knight standing in front of the door approached.
“Let me check your belongings for a moment.”
Choi Hyun-seok raised his hand and made a gesture indicating that there was nothing.
“Thank you for your cooperation. But…”
The knight narrowed his eyes.
“What is this dog?” “As you can see, it’s a dog. It’s like a pet dog. Haha…!”
Choi Hyun-seok said while hugging Bobo.
“We cannot bring such an animal into the presence of the King.” “Well, uh… this is truly embarrassing.”
Choi Hyun-seok made an unusually bewildered expression.
‘If you want to live, you can’t tell me to ignore you. What can I do?’
I made sure to fill Bobo’s stomach with plenty of food just in case something happened.
But you never know when or what kind of accident might happen.
If not careful, the entire palace could have been turned upside down.
“Don’t worry, the dog will be safely taken care of by our servants here.” “No, that’s not safe…” “We’re used to this kind of thing. Trust us and leave it to us.”
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“No… that’s…”
At that time, Choi Hyun-seok was in trouble.
Abelson stood between the knight and Choi Hyun-seok.
“are you okay.”
“princess…?”
“If anything happens, I will take full responsibility.”
“…All right.”
When Abelson spoke firmly, the knight had no choice but to back down.
He turned and knocked on the door.
“Princess Abelson Marriott, please come in.”
***
King Baltair Marriott was a middle-aged man of gentle demeanor.
Even though he was wearing fancy clothes and a crown, he had the friendly feel of a neighborhood uncle, perhaps because of his plump body.
“I see. That’s what it was…”
Abelson and the king had a long talk.
Most of the stories were from the time she was a young saint.
There was a story about what happened after being captured by the Demon King’s army, but it wasn’t detailed.
It just ended with a misunderstanding and the Holy Empire Gatren chasing them.
“You’ve had a hard time for the past five years.”
The king took Abelson’s hand.
His eyes were moist.
“That hair must have been used as camouflage to avoid pursuit.”
“yes…”
Abelson nodded, his mouth tightly shut.
Seeing her father after a long time, she seemed to be overcome with emotion.
“Is it okay for me to stay here from now on?” “Of course! It’s okay.” “I don’t know what the Holy Empire will do. They probably already know that I’m here.” “Don’t worry. Our Mariott Kingdom is not that weak.”
The king patted Abelson on the shoulder.
“By the way, who is the man standing behind you?” “Ah, he’s the warrior who protected me during my journey.”
“brave….”
The king nodded and approached Choi Hyeon-seok.
“Excuse me. I should have said hello first.” “Oh, no. It’s an honor to meet you. Haha…!”
Choi Hyun-seok doesn’t know anything about etiquette.
So I just nodded and said hello.
The knights surrounding him had fierce expressions on their faces, but he ignored them cleanly.
Fortunately, the king was a very easygoing person and did not find fault with etiquette or anything like that.
“Thank you for protecting my daughter all this time. Now, you can rest in peace.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
“Hahaha! What a bold young man!”
The king laughed heartily and clapped his hands.
“Well, you must be tired after coming a long way. Take a rest for today. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
“yes.”
After a brief greeting with the King.
Abelson and Choi Hyun-seok, who came out, were each given directions to where to stay.
The way out.
Choi Hyun-seok sneakily sat next to Abelson.
“Mr. Abelson, are our rooms far apart from each other?”
“yes?”
“If possible, don’t go too far away from me. I think it would be best for Mr. Abelson and I to have our rooms as close to each other as possible.”
Choi Hyun-seok whispered softly while looking around.
Abelson looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded.
“Okay, I’ll tell you separately.” “Yes. I’ll explain why later.”
***
Despite Choi Hyun-seok’s request, Abelson and Choi Hyun-seok ended up living quite a distance apart.
We ended up staying in completely different buildings.
Choi Hyun-seok asked to be allowed to at least stay in the same building, but the palace would not allow it.
There was nothing more to say, as it was said that this was also moved to a nearby location at Abelson’s request.
“I’m sorry. This is the limit.”
That evening.
Abelson and Choi Hyun-seok chatted while drinking tea in the garden.
“It’s okay. I can’t help it. By the way, Abel… no, Princess.” “You can call me by my name like before.” “Um, okay.”
After seeing people around him roll their eyes and throw a tantrum while calling her Mr. Abelson during the day, Choi Hyun-seok started calling her princess in public.
“So what’s going on? What you were saying earlier?” “I think it’s best to clean up the surroundings first.”
“yes?”
Abelson looked puzzled.
There was no one around her at the moment.
However, Choi Hyun-seok was frowning and looking somewhere.
“There’s one in the bushes right behind you. There’s one on top of the tree over there. There’s two on top of the building over there. I think there’s one behind that wall too.”
Choi Hyun-seok said, quickly looking around.
Abelson looked confused and checked the direction Choi Hyun-seok was pointing to.
Her face hardened.
When Choi Hyun-seok pointed it out specifically, she was able to detect that someone was there.
“What the heck is this…”
At Abelson’s words, a knight in plain clothes emerged from the bushes.
He walked with his shoulders back, and Abelson’s expression hardened even more at his confident attitude.
“I’m sure you were told not to let anyone around.
“I’m sorry. It is unacceptable for an outsider to be alone with the princess…”
“Shut up.”
Late at night.
Abelson’s voice rang out coldly.
“This is your last chance. Make sure no one is around. I don’t know if you’re too stupid to understand, but this includes the monks.”
“… All right.”
The knight stepped back, his face hardening.
Only then did Abelson breathe a sigh of relief.
“Phew, it’s quiet now. Sorry.” “It’s okay. Haha! It’s nice to see a lot of new things.”
“…”
Abelson’s face turned slightly red.
It seemed as if he had belatedly remembered what he had said and done.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just joking.”
Choi Hyun-seok snickered and called Rachel.
“Rachel. Can you block out nearby sounds?” “Yes. If you want, you can block out the view too!” “That’s fine. It’s not a good idea to barge in again just to tell me something’s wrong. Just block out the sounds.”
“all right!”
Rachel used a magic spell to block out noise.
Soon, when the two of them were left alone, Choi Hyun-seok brought up the main topic.
“I will continue what I said earlier this afternoon.”
He continued with a serious expression.
“The atmosphere is strange.”
“What’s the mood?”
“Yes. It was the same when we were talking to the King earlier. Even now, people are gradually leaving the palace.”
“yes…?”
Since coming to the palace, Choi Hyun-seok has never let his guard down for a moment.
Just in case, he spread his magical power widely and checked his surroundings to make sure there were no threats.
As a result, Choi Hyeon-seok could see that many people were moving busily within the palace.
“At first I thought it was just me being oversensitive, but now I’m sure of it. Something feels off.” “What exactly is off?” “The knights guarding this place. The ones you mentioned as the royal knights, they’ve all escaped.” “Huh? What the…?”
“There are no royal knights in the vicinity, except for the five who were just watching here.”
The Royal Knights are the most important force protecting the royal palace.
Guard the palace under all circumstances.
They rarely left the palace in groups.
“Could it be because of training…?” “Even if it’s training, do you really empty the palace like this? Without leaving even half of it?” “That’s not it, but…”
“At this very moment, when Mr. Abelson has arrived, the Royal Knights, the core force of the defense, are vacating the palace.”
“…”
“I don’t mean to doubt Mr. Abelson’s father, but shouldn’t we be prepared?”
Choi Hyun-seok continued speaking with a heavy expression.
“And we already have a similar experience.” “If it’s a similar experience…” “Gardlock Castle. Do you remember?”
8th Division Headquarters Guardlock Castle.
At that time, Crocodile Grat, who was the commander of the 8th Division, planned to escape the castle and attack the humans in return for the large-scale offensive by the humans.
At that time, most of the forces evacuated the Gardrak Castle, but for some reason, only Choi Hyeon-seok and Abelson remained in the castle.
“It turned out that they were plotting against humans, and if we had stayed in the Gardrak Castle, we would have died.”
If I hadn’t made the decision to escape the castle to save Raidran at that time, I might have died.
“We are calling in foreign enemies, leaving out the defensive forces. The only change in stage is from the Gardrak Castle to the royal palace, but isn’t the situation almost the same?”
“…”
The circumstances were too coincidental to be a guess.
Abelson was confused
‘Father… why…?’
I don’t want to believe it.
But, if you don’t trust Choi Hyun-seok, there’s no one you can trust.
At that moment, Choi Hyun-seok smiled comfortably.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“…”
“I’m not suggesting that we do anything right away, but I’m just saying that we should be careful for now. I could be wrong.”
“yes…”
Abelson nodded, his face dark.
It feels like the air in the palace, which used to feel cozy, has changed.
The cool night air began to seep through my collar.
