ALONG the manor’s drive, guards and knights load the captives into the former earl’s supply wagons, as well as those servants we’d finished interrogating.
Prince Dominic is ready to leave as well, yet he lingers beside me, his arms crossed in frustration. “I trust your judgement, sir, but I don’t understand how you’ve managed to predict a sudden monster stampede. You’ll explain this to me later, won’t you?”
While not entirely convinced, he’s accurately discerned the truth of my warning. The prince is certainly shrewd.
“Did Your Highness see the monster corpses in the outbuilding?”
“There are some things I need to see to believe.”
“That’s what Longhurst is like. I don’t know all the details yet, but they seem to know more about monsters than they let on. Perhaps that’s the source of the information.”
“Did the servants confess to it during the interrogation?”
I shrug, silently shifting the blame to the locals.
The prince frowns in anger. “You asked me to look into the ties between the royal family and the earldom a while back, sir. I did do some investigation out of curiosity and found some leads hidden in the crown’s archive of forbidden texts.”
It’s my first time hearing of such an archive, and I raise my brow to signal him to continue.
He sighs and buries his face in his hands. “The region next to Longhurst used to be a small country. It was really tiny, so it would have been absorbed by the kingdom sooner or later, but it collapsed before that could happen.”
“And it’s royal territory now, isn’t it?”
“Yes. An exclave that wasn’t useless but wasn’t profitable either. Not very appealing, really. That’s partly why we wanted to annex Longhurst, to drive up its value, but when I looked through the documents, I found texts advising against taking Longhurst. I haven’t managed to find out why though.”
“How did your ancestors not pass down such seemingly important information?”
“It’s inevitable. The royal family has had its ups and downs with would-be usurpers. That’s probably when the knowledge was lost.”
“Did you find out why the country collapsed?”
“Mainly due to long bouts of heavy rainfall, drought, and other natural causes. Longhurst probably suffered the same but survived with the royal family’s support.”
“I see. Something must have happened to prompt someone to write that the kingdom should avoid the territory.”
“I think so too… Father said he’d bequeath Longhurst to me if I manage to make it profitable again, but I don’t want it anymore… But if I could get help managing it…”
“I think Your Highness should heed your ancestors’ advice. Now, your chamberlain is waiting.” I turn away from his questioning stare.
After a moment, he heaves a heavy sigh and departs to find his chamberlain.
I assumed that the rulers who sent the hero to defeat the Monster King were of our royal family, but perhaps they were heads of state of the fallen country instead. If Abigail is right and the dragon is on its way to avenge the mirror birds, could it have done the same when humans attacked and killed other monsters in the Monster King’s time? I doubt she can give me a clear answer. The Monster King didn’t seem too interested in events that didn’t concern it. Abigail wasn’t even bothered by my rudeness the first night we met or by Prince Dominic’s insensitivity.
She only became more emotional after eating delicious food and experiencing fun, which she’d never done before.
And that’s not just wishful thinking on my part. She’s learned to express her mood, if only with a tiny quirk of her lips. She’s learned to question the emotions in her heart, clutching at her chest in an attempt to understand what’s happening. She’s learned jealousy and adorably insists that she’s the only one I can hug. She’s learned to feel upset when people close to her get hurt.
And yet she speaks so casually of her own death.
I thought that if I was patient enough, she’d eventually learn to understand love, affection, and other such subtle emotions, but I was wrong. Her view of life and death is exactly the same as when she was the Monster King. It’s honestly terrifying.
✦ ✦ ✦
🎂🎂🎂
AS we finish filling the wagons, a young guard hitches them to horses. To quicken our trip, I am considering casting body fortification magic on the animals so they can gallop all the way to the forest’s edge.
Rodney appears with a heavy tattered sack. “Master, I—”
“Quiet.”
“But you said no.”
“Now I’m saying quiet.”
“…The lady sure has the best pick-up lines.”
Yes, when a regular woman speaks of remarrying her lover in her next life, that’s probably romantic. Abigail is different though. She has experienced reincarnation and rebirth before, so death doesn’t mean anything to her.
“I understand your worry, Master,” Rodney says, “but you know the lady will most likely come to no harm in the forest.”
“It’s not a certainty. There’s no way I’m bringing her along when she doesn’t fear death.”
“Then what do we do now? She’s—”
“It’s fine. Don’t look at her.”
“I’m not. It’s just…my stomach hurts from holding it in.” His eyes dart toward the tree Abigail is lurking behind. She’s been there for a while, and although skinny enough to hide in the shadows, she exposes her face with every peek in our direction! Damn it! I won’t take her!