5.

Ban bowed his head deeply and turned around. She saw a familiar figure through the open door. Adelhard, deputy commander of the Leviathan Knights.

As the second son of a count, he admired Richt’s father and devoted himself to the Duke of Devine. As such, he was generous to Van, a former slave. So when he came looking for Richt to receive his punishment, he would anxiously pace outside the door.

Originally, Richt would have scolded Adelhard, but he had no intention of doing so now.

‘Well, now I’ve done one urgent thing.’

Next is the problem. Richt went to great lengths to take the Crown Prince Theodore hostage. He lured the southern aristocratic alliance into power as bait, and dispersed his forces to break through the imperial family with only the Knights of Leviathan.

The people used in the process were the Shadow Knights of the Devine family. Richt’s father may have intended to use him to protect the well-being of the imperial family, but things did not go as he had hoped.

‘Although he was a man of great character.’

The children were not like that. Maia, who became empress, and Richt, who became the head of the dukedom, were both greedy people. When he was young, they tried to cure him, but it was no use.

Richt went to the window and opened it. Then he sat down on the window sill and looked up at the moon in the sky.

“Anyway, what’s going on?”

I don’t know how to contact the Shadow Knights. No, Richt is not the main character of this story. This means that a villain is necessary for the protagonist to grow.

Although he has been called a rare villain, he is still a mid-boss that appears in the beginning. Is there any novel that describes in detail the story of a villain who is not even the main character? It’s a role that even dies in vain.

A sigh came out of my mouth. Still, I knew the leader of the Shadow Knights. jin. He was a former slave like Ban and was younger than him. He is a few years older than Richt. With dark skin, purple eyes, and silver hair, he had a sly personality on the outside. But he doesn’t know the inside. That part was easier for half to understand.

“Well, it’s no use worrying about it.”

Richt moved away from the window. At that time, a small bird quickly came back inside the window. At first glance, it resembles a falcon, but is smaller and dark blue in color.

It is a blue plum, a bird rescued from the East.

The Devine family was the first to successfully breed it, and the Devine family is currently the only family in the empire that owns blue plums.

‘Oh, I see.’

There was a small container attached to the hawk’s leg. I opened it, took out a small piece of paper, unfolded it, and there was a password written on it. It was translated automatically without me having to try to understand it.

Everything is going according to plan.

This was a means of communication. The curiosity has been resolved. Richt tore his paper into small pieces, swallowed it, and sent Cheongmae away. After that, the time was already approaching dawn.

I felt like I needed to get some sleep, so I lay down on a chair in the corner of the room. And when I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them, it was already morning. I blinked for a moment and then stood up.

I wasn’t healthy to begin with, but after staying up all night in a chair, my body felt heavy. I wanted to rest properly. But it’s still too early to do that. Richt suppressed his desire and left the room.

Nothing changed overnight.

The people guarding in front of Theodore’s door were Licht’s knights, and the imperial knights were not visible. When I opened the door and went inside, Theodore, who was lying on the bed, quietly looked at me.

“Good morning, Theodore.”

I greeted him gently, but there was no reply.

“Theodore?”

When I called again, the blue eyes that were fixed on Richt slowly shook.

“At night.”

A dry, rough voice came out.

“Where were you at night?”

Why are you suddenly asking that? Richt could not understand the intention of the question. As he tilted his head slightly and was lost in thought, Theodore pouted his lips.

“Why weren’t you next to me?”

Only then did Richt notice Theodore’s complaints. It seemed like his cute little nephew wanted to be with his uncle the whole time.

“this. I thought you were fast asleep and was doing some business for a while. “Did you find it?”

“huh. “I woke up and looked for it, but I couldn’t see it.”

“Because it was in another room. “Couldn’t you have asked someone else to call you?”

“Is that okay?”

Theodore’s expression became brighter.

“Your Majesty the Crown Prince, is there anything that cannot be done?”

Theodore pursed his lips at those words. Then he remained silent for a long time.

“If I am not the crown prince.”

“That won’t happen.”

Richt answered firmly. Theodore was the son of Maia and the emperor, so he was a member of the royal family. It was unnecessary to assume otherwise.

“What if?”

“Theodore.”

“Still, Licht will come to me?”

I was dazed for a moment by Theodore’s words. An indescribable emotion welled up in me and I closed my mouth without realizing it. If I didn’t do that, I felt like I would throw it all up.

Richt gathered his emotions and took a deep breath. Theodore was still waiting for an answer.

“Of course you should come.”

“why? “Aren’t I useless because I’m not the crown prince?”

“It’s not like that.”

Richt got closer and found Theodore’s small hand and squeezed it.

“Even if you’re not the crown prince, you’re such a lovely person. “Even if you said he wasn’t a member of the royal family, I would have fallen in love with you at first sight.”

Theodore laughed softly.

“Licht, aren’t you popular with women?”

“no.”

That’s all I could say. Of course, Licht was quite beautiful, just like her parents, but her personality was lacking. She was sensitive, sharp, and arrogant, so no one was willing to approach her. So it’s bound to be unpopular. But Theodore didn’t seem to believe that.

“lie!”

“It’s not a lie.”

Theodore glanced at Richt and spoke again.

“It seems like a lie.”

“Why on earth do you think that?”

“That’s why it’s so pretty.”

Theodore gently smoothed Richt’s long hair.

“If possible, I’d like to hear people say I’m cool.”

“It’s cool too.”

He’s also good at lying. Richt said with a grin.

“I will believe you.”

“Really.”

“yes. Rather, it is morning now. “Shouldn’t you get up?”

“I know. “This is my first time waking up this late.”

“Did you usually wake up earlier?”

“Yes, at dawn. “It is said that lazy people cannot succeed.”

“Is that what your mother said too?”

“huh.”

Maia. This useless guy. Richt cursed at the dead Empress and laid her small body down as it tried to get up.

“Sometimes it’s good to oversleep.”

“No, you should get up now. “I have to eat breakfast too.”

“okay. “I will call the maids.”

Originally, the maid should have come and taken care of Theodore a long time ago. It seems that her life is more important than her loyalty, so no one has come to visit her yet. It seems that Maia didn’t have an eye for people.

Richt pulled the string hanging next to the bed.

Before long, the maid appeared. It seemed like she had already figured out how the imperial family was going by looking at her. In fact, the people who are always quickest to hear the news are the ones who never know when their heads will fall off.

“Bring breakfast.”

As soon as he gave the command, he lowered his head and moved quickly. What was served was still a cold meal.

“Do it again.”

Richt commanded the maid with the tips of his fingers.

“Food tastes better when it’s warm.”

Then the maid hesitated. But she waited for a while, and the maid brought out the meal again, and after a while, warm food was brought in. Steaming warm black tea, soup, fresh vegetable salad, eggs and bacon. It was served with some bread.

Theodore seemed surprised to see steam rising. He put his hand on it, made eye contact with Richt, and quickly lowered his hand.

“Please wait a moment.”

Richt took out a small case from his pocket. Then he took out a delicately crafted needle from inside and jabbed it into the food one at a time. Just as Maia was sensitive to the poison sent by Richt, Richt was also sensitive to the poison sent by Maia. That’s why we always took thorough measures to deal with poison.

This was the result. Insert the needle and count to ten. If there is no change by then, there is no poison. Richt spent a considerable amount of money to obtain this item. Instead, the effect was clear.

“Now eat it.”

Then Theodore raised his glass with a determined expression. First, take a sip of black tea. As expected from the royal family, the tea had a fragrant scent. After confirming that Theodore was eating, Richt also started eating.

‘Oh, I want to eat kimchi with white rice. Or soybean paste stew.’

No matter how many times I ate here, I already miss Korean food. I had no choice but to slow down in eating natural foods.

‘Bacon and white rice are also delicious. Oh, this bread is so delicious.’

The meat was okay, but the bread was tasteless. Hard and tasteless. I don’t know if it was because it was a meal bread or if it was a technical problem, but at least it wasn’t to Richt’s taste.