Dry Drowning - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The surrounding area was calm even though it was once quite noisy. Dozens of eyes stared at only one place as if they knew what was about to happen. It was about a month ago that the Prince of Rox came here to Shertian. If everything was on schedule, the “matrix” should have already been finished.

[T/N- Here, Ian is referred as the “Prince of Rox” and the place where he is right now is “Shertian”]

The prince’s carriage was attacked when he had just crossed the border through the western Shuyen bureau.

The Grand duchy of Hyer and Rox was closer than the Imperial Royal Road. But now the entire border is blocked by walls, making it impossible to travel. Also, everyone knew that it was safest to travel through the neighboring country of Shuyen because they had to come across the black forest.

The Knights of Shertian decided to lead the wagon from the Lebanese estate which was not far from the border. It was an appropriate choice because it was a heavily guarded area due to its contact with other countries.

However, just before entering the Lebanese estate, the wagon was attacked by strangers in a vast pasture. It was a terrible incident in which not only the attendants and escorts who followed from Rox, but also the imperial army were decapitated and killed. The prince, who was the only one to escape by hiding in the corner of the carriage, was also heavily injured.

When more knights arrived at the scene of the attack in a hurry after sensing something strange, the man was already on the verge of dying. Although they poured precious holy water due to the deep stab wounds on his neck, they eventually witnessed his arms drooping as if he had already taken his last breath.

It happened across the border of the Hyer estate.

If the people of Rox learnt that the prince had been murdered, he didn’t know what he would have done. What was even more terrifying than that was Prince Hyer’s command which he added before they left to bring him.

He didn’t mean to say that.

When one of the knights tried to check his pulse by holding his stretched arms, he had a face as if he had been decapitated.

Flinch.

The man’s body briefly twitched with a faint groan. Those shivering eyes and the sudden breath, made everyone panic.

The remaining Seongsu, too, fell down, and when they returned to the mansion they were barely breathing in fear. However, the Grand Duke who walked to the entrance was silent.

[T/N- Seongsu: Holy Water]

The blood-soaked man breathed shallowly.

No one could open his mouth because their face, which quietly looked at the person who was about to die without making a sound, seemed to appreciate the dead body of an animal.

***

“When they brought you back, you were covered with blood, so I was very worried.”

Everyone in the mansion witnessed it, but no one dared to point it out right then. It was rather creepy to talk in a sensitive tone like someone who was really worried.

The eyes, which seem to have been delicately drawn with a brush, were curved like a crescent moon. There was definitely someone who was nervous about that appearance that seemed to pop out of a famous painting.

“It’s good to see you breathing like this.”

However, there was no response from the counterpart to whom the Great Duke spoke. The Prince of Rox, whose arms were seized by knights, looked as if he had lost his mind. He was beautiful enough for someone to look back at least once when their eyes met, but rumour has it that his vocal cords were severely damaged and he couldn’t speak.

“……..”

It was not unreasonable to treat such a man like a rare animal and to brighten his eyes.

There was some exchange between the two countries before the war stained the two countries with blood. But now there was a large wall built between the borders and the connections had been cut off. Most of them present there saw Prince of Rox for the first time, so they looked curious.

Clean, white skin like snow and waist-long black hair was something that could not be seen in Shertian. They saw no achromatic hair except for Prince Hyer and the prince in front of him.

“What clean skin he has there.”

Unlike themselves who had marks on their bodies since they were born, the back of his hands was clean.

Perhaps even if you peel off all the clothes he’s wearing, you’ll only see a pure white body. As if he had imagined it, a strange look lingered on for a moment.

There is a saying that in Rox a body without a scratch would strive to the top. It is a symbol of aristocracy to consider a scratch as a shame and grow a hair without letting it get damaged.

But the man’s wrist was a mess. At a glance, it was clear that the red blood bandages were traces of self-harm.

“You must be scared.”

Even idiots would have noticed how he would be treated here in the future.

The prince of Rox who was standing in front of Logan Hyer who was famous for being notorious. The people agreed that it was natural for his hands and feet to freeze.

“Ack, grab him!”

In an instant the man who stood absentmindedly with an expression of meeting a dead person again, shook off two knights who were holding him back and ran forward.

As he pulled down the uniform collar embroidered with gold leaves, their eyes met.

There was no time to be captivated by the unexpected circumstances.

The swords of the men, which stood like ornaments a little far away, turned his direction all at once, but he couldn’t see any of that.

‘Obviously I killed him, but why is he alive?’

Ian couldn’t believe it even when he saw him right in front of him, so he gave more strength to the fingertips he was holding, and pulled him.

Logan, who easily narrowed the height gap, didn’t seem too surprised by Ian’s sudden behavior. Well, nobody knows if anyone saw that guy surprised.

It was rather the other side that was shocked beyond surprise.

Not only the servants and knights at the meeting, but also the nobles of Shertian, who had been brought to greet the Prince of Rox, opened their mouths blankly at Ian, who had touched Logan’s body recklessly without fear.

‘Who is Logan Hyer?’

He is the current duke of the Hyer family, called the Imperial Sword, cousin of Emperor Roselia, and the only legitimate bloodline of the royal family.

He was the only successor of the shortest lived Grand Duke, who lost both of his parents at 15 years old and was succeeded by his title.

The public’s comments toward this beautiful man with a blessed as well as a cursed birth, were extreme. There were half of those who worshiped and supported the spirit, and the rest of them put their tongues out at the cruel spirit and hid themselves as unnoticed as possible.

To put it mildly, he seemed to have not learned respect for life, and he was a man who thought that slaughtering others were it very easy and simple. When he was a minor, he just couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, but since he became an adult, an eerie corner opened within him.

And no one wants to think about what happened in the last year.

It was only the beginning of the year that he split the nobleman’s belly, who fawned on himself in order to make amends.

He didn’t know what offended him, but he killed the noble in the banquet hall while everyone was watching. He had to be held in custody immediately and they tried, but they couldn’t.

The whole nation knew the reason, and no one could speak recklessly in front of Logan. Instead, from mouth to mouth, rumors were spread that the Grand Duke’s residence was lined with corpses and that he actually had blue blood flowing through him.

In short, Logan was not a man to put up with this kind of rudeness.

“Please step back.”

It was the Knights underneath him who knew it better than anyone else. The man behind Logan warned Ian, without scaring him by the knife that he pulled out of his waistline. It was difficult in many ways to kill what was barely alive. The aristocrats of their own country and princes of other countries had different textures.

He was about to take a step closer to the Grand Duke.

Logan willingly bent down to the man who dared to pull his uniform collar with his bare hands, and spoke with delight.

“You are so curious about my face.”

[T/N – Who wouldn’t be curious about your face??!!?( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

There was something sweet in his voice that seemed to melt people away. Logan smiled at Ian, who looked closely at his face, lowered his head a little more, and the aristocrats around him closed their eyes.

He behaved like that the last time when he split open the novel’s belly. They didn’t want to see that scene of blood spilling on the floor like a glass of champagne was being spilled. In fact, they didn’t even want to come near the duke.

“If you hadn’t hurt your throat, I would have heard each of your thoughts one by one.”

As the distance, which remained about a span, got a little closer, his golden eyes that looked like a well crafted gemstone strikingly stood out. In the highly chromatic iris, a vertical slit pupil stood out under the light .

Ian, who discovered the only difference in his frightening resemblance, was out of breath as if he had been rescued from the water.

I could feel my eyes looking down, but I was distracted by the fast paced heartbeat. It’s a distinctively different characteristic from the general public but even that was still hard to find a flaw in a man who matched without any sense of incompatibility.

‘However, there was only one difference.’ 

Ian muttered stubbornly in his heart, even though he could not deny that even his voice was familiar.

‘Yes. I am sure he’s dead. Close enough to reach the tip of my nose, I, then….’

“…..?”

‘When was that?’

When the accident stopped and subsided again, a great sense of incongruity swept through his body. Looking forward, he saw the face of a still alive man. Noticing that his expression was confused, Ian narrowed his eyes slightly.

It was certain that he had killed him.

I can’t forget that face even if I dream or even if I die.

‘However, I could not seem to recall neither the name nor the reason why I killed him.’

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