“Kuro...” Herscherik could barely utter those two syllables.
Kuro patted the prince’s head to console him. “Side effects are temporary. You’ll be as good as new once the drugs are out of your system.”
Kuro moved his hand away from Herscherik’s forehead and lifted the prince in his arms. Herscherik was more than a little embarrassed at the gesture, but he had a more pressing question on his mind.
“Kuro... I need... to...”
“The prince stays here!” The man who had been in an argument with Meria interrupted Herscherik as he stepped out before Kuro. He held a dagger in his hand, his eyes bloodshot. “Our livelihood... Our very lives are on the line!” the man declared with anger.
“So?” Kuro coldly countered. His eyes were devoid of emotion, glaring at the man as if he was nothing more than a pebble on the road.
Kuro let out a sigh, as if he couldn’t be bothered with it. He shifted to carry Herscherik with one hand. A knife had suddenly appeared in his other hand.
Noticing the blade in his hand, Herscherik tried to call to him. “Kuro...!” Just as he did, Herscherik’s brain rattled.
Kuro had dodged the man’s attack. He used his knife to knock the dagger out of the man’s hand and swung directly at his neck, aiming for the carotid artery. Kuro was going to do exactly as he’d warned them. In that instant, something snapped within Herscherik—more precisely, his patience.
Why won’t you listen!?
Herscherik’s blood boiled, evaporating all of the drug’s side effects from the headache, to the lethargy, to even the fog on his thoughts. “Kuro, stop!” he sharply ordered, as if he was commanding Ryoko’s loyal dog, as he smacked Kuro’s head which happened to be just within his reach. That caused his hood to fall back, revealing his shimmering black hair and widened red eyes. Kuro stared at Herscherik, unable to say or do anything but blink after that unexpected attack.
“I want... to hear them... out. Why... won’t you listen...?” Herscherik’s plea faded out as a throttling dizzy spell caught up to him. Herscherik buried his head into Kuro’s shoulder. He felt a shiver run all the way down from the tip of his head to his toes, and a powerful urge to vomit. Still, Herscherik held on. If he fell unconscious again, he wouldn’t be able to solve anything. He lifted his face from Kuro’s shoulders and looked the underground agent square in the eyes. “Let me down... Kuro. I can’t see or hear anyone up here.”
“But...”
“Then sit down, please. Kuro, sit!” Herscherik commanded, complete with the gesture of pointing to the ground with one hand.
At this point, Herscherik was thinking of Kuro (the underground spy) and Kuro (Ryoko’s old dog) on the same level. In fact, he remembered that even Kuro the dog was smarter than how the human Kuro was acting right now.
Eventually, Kuro compromised by setting Herscherik down to sit on the edge of the cot he had been lying in. Kuro remained standing by the cot.
“Tell me what’s going on, Meria.” Herscherik turned to Meria, who had been frozen on the ground since being knocked down by that man.
“...I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am, Prince Herscherik.” Meria’s chin fell.
Her apology seemed genuine to Herscherik, but he wasn’t looking for an apology.
“I don’t want you to apologize, but tell me why you’ve drugged me and brought me here. You know these people, right? Someone said that their livelihood and even their lives are at stake?”
Herscherik couldn’t perfectly recall the exact words he had heard while his mind was still foggy. The only thing he could make out was that these people were desperate.
Meria looked around the room in hesitation before answering. “We are all from the land Lord Ruseria used to rule.”
Herscherik’s eyes widened. He hadn’t heard that name in a while. Ruseria was the very person that served as a turning point in Herscherik’s life. Without him, Herscherik imagined that he would still be idly living in blissful ignorance.
Meria continued without noticing Herscherik’s surprise. “When Lord Ruseria passed away, someone else took over our land. Count Grim.”
Herscherik recognized that name, too. He was the direct cause of Ruseria’s execution. The one that backed him into a corner.
“He only sees our land as his personal playground.” A man spoke up, the one who Kuro had nearly killed.
No one who lived on his land believed that Ruseria had committed treason. Their lord was a just ruler who treasured his people like his own family. During famines, he gave up any food he had and suffered alongside his people. After the accidental death of his wife and child, people began to notice their lord delving into research like he was haunted by something. They witnessed Ruseria urgently coming or going from various places.
Later, the people received the news of Ruseria’s treason and execution. Their new lord, Grim, was the polar opposite of Ruseria—the worst ruler they could have imagined. Grim levied far more taxes than was necessary and sold off Ruseria’s resources to line his own pockets. In fact, when a weather-driven famine struck the land, not only did the despicable new lord refuse to lower taxes, but he hired some thugs in an attempt to forcibly collect them.
“It hasn’t even been two years since he took control, and most of us are already starving. We don’t know if some of the sick and elderly will make it through winter... including my parents,” Meria muttered, heartbroken. Their land was already built on poor soil under a climate that made it difficult to grow crops. It didn’t take long for their community to fall, and fall hard. “I received letters from my parents. As soon as my cousin—that’s him, right there—told me of the situation, I immediately spoke up to His Majesty about it. But...”
“Father did nothing.” Herscherik finished the sentence that Meria couldn’t bear to.