Chapter 77: You Are Here
The place Galon guided him was the lowest part of the Sapphire Palace.
No light illuminated the basement. Ian and other knights covered their noses upon smelling the foul stench.
“Is this really the place?”
“Yes, that’s right, Your Highness.”
Ian scoffed after hearing Galon’s reply.
He didn’t know there was such a basement in this gorgeous palace. And the more he went down, the more he felt uncomfortable.
‘He has a terrible personality after all.’
Ian couldn’t believe the Second Prince was hiding people in a place like this.
Still, it was certainly a place where even a rat could not escape. Far from escaping, they would be caught before then.
After descending through a number of stairs.
“!”
A peculiar wall came into view.
It’s a smooth wall with no handles or anything, so they couldn’t even call it a door.
Galon opened his mouth as he looked at the door.
“This is what I have confirmed so far. That attendant also said she was here.”
Since Galon personally checked it, she must be here. However, Ian furrowed his brow.
“Well, I think he tricked you, Sir Galon? We can’t even open the door.”
When Ian deliberately glared at the attendant, the startled attendant trembled and opened his mouth.
“Wh, what do you mean? No way! You just need a special item to open this door…”
The attendant who said that flinched. Apparently, the attendant only intended to guide them to the place.
It must have been by the Second Prince’s order with the least loyalty he still had.
And Ian, who deliberately lured him, fished something out with a smile.
“Is this the special item?”
“Yes, yes?”
The attendant jolted seeing the necklace ring that Ian had taken out, but he secretly avoided his gaze.
Ian frowned.
“From now on, make sure you realize who your master is. It is also wise of you to distinguish loyalty according to time and place.”
Facing Ian’s fierce golden eyes, the attendant bowed his head immediately.
“Yes… That’s the item. The Second Prince used it as a key! You can take it to the pattern of the door!”
Ian chuckled.
‘It was indeed the correct answer to take this ring away.’
It was probably combined into a ring to make it easier to manage.
‘He is a terrible person anyway.’
Ian couldn’t believe the Second Prince held the weakness of the Third Prince as well as the First Princess.
“Your Highness.”
There was a strange pattern on the door.
A pair of black hands that looked like wings. It seemed like it was trying to grab something.
Soon, something surprising happened when Ian put the Ring of Promise on the pattern.
Flash!
Light shone from the smooth wall, and the door moved as if it were lifted. At the same time, the handle protruded from a part of it.
It changed to the form of a door.
The attendant hurriedly opened his mouth at the sight.
“That’s how far I’ve ever followed him. Beyond this point, no one has been allowed to follow His Highness…”
Ian left Fiosen behind and went inside. It was for preparing the worst case.
‘This could be a trap.’
Someone might force the door to close.
However, Ian’s eyes full of suspicion had no choice but to change as soon as he opened the door and entered.
“!”
It was inevitable.
It was because an unimaginable scene unfolded in front of his eyes now.
Inside a prison filled with the smell of mold.
A woman, drenched in blood, was lying motionlessly as if dead. She seemed to have been tortured. Next to her, there’s a communication tool connected.
She must be the Third Prince’s Achilles’ heel.
After checking her condition, Ian immediately furrowed his brows.
“Sir Galon!”
Galon quickly unsheathed his sword instead. It was to break the shackles restraining the woman’s body.
Clang!
But the shackles did not break. It was apparent that the Second Prince had used a fairly hard mineral.
‘For now, she’s still breathing.’
Right before the shackles broke.
“First, treatment!”
Fortunately, he brought herbs for emergency treatment. But Nathan’s expression when he applied the herb turned grim.
“This is dangerous. Unless we call a royal healer or a priest, her life…”
The problem was the sturdy shackles tying her.
“I think first aid will be difficult because of the shackles.”
“Damn it, I can’t even cure her…”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Won’t it be too late?”
At this rate, he would lose the Achilles’ heel of the Third Prince.
As they were stuck in a dead end, Ian discovered something.
‘This pattern…’
A pattern similar as in the iron gate was engraved on the shackles. When Ian took the ring to the pattern, the shackles moved.
Click!
The shackles came untied by itself.
It must have been a secret measure prepared so that the Third Prince could not crack it. Even so, to think all passwords were unified.
He might be able to get other things that the Second Prince hid with this ring.
However, Ian’s expression was dark.
‘That wretched bastard. Did he have to go this far?’
Ian examined the face of the woman being treated.
She was a beautiful woman.
But it wasn’t her beauty that mattered.
Ian opened his mouth toward the lit crystal ball.
“You’re watching, right? What are you looking at? Not gonna come quickly?”
“Your Highness, who are you talking to?”
Nathan asked in bewilderment. But Ian only shook his head.
“There’s something like that. Sir, carry this woman on your back. I need you to take her out.”
He had a rough idea of who that crystal ball would be connected to by the nature of the cruel Second Prince.
Meanwhile, Ian found something in the cave.
“What?”
He spotted something familiar sculpted on the floor.
The same pattern as in the basement of the annex of Garcia mansion was engraved on the floor.
But something was amiss.
‘Doesn’t it resemble Garcia’s insignia?’
It wasn’t the only thing.
Several letters were also found on the table that appeared to be the Second Prince’s. And those letters even seemed to belong to Duke Garcia.
So Ian raised the corners of his mouth in disbelief.
‘Could it be that he has been supporting the Second Prince while being my guardian?’
When Ian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
At that very moment.
‘!’
Wooong!
Faith reacted to the pattern on the floor.
Ian, who found it strange, looked closely at the floor.
‘Is it the power of the Seven Virtues?’
Ian reached out with anticipation.
But it was then.
Bzzt!
A strong rejection occurred. Galon shouted in surprise seeing the sudden spark.
“Your Highness!”
But Ian was even more surprised.
Someone talked to him with repulsion.
[I can’t believe there are traces of them.]
Faith that had never been responsive was now talking to him. No, it wasn’t just any talk.
[Be careful. Those guys are coming.]
That was a warning.
Faith’s voice was stiff.
Ian asked in surprise.
“Those guys?”
[The traitors. The Seven Sins, the enemy of the Seven Virtues.]
“!”
When surprised Ian was about to ask in detail.
Faith disappeared, leaving those words behind. He remained silent no matter how much Ian called.
‘The Seven Sins?’
It was definitely a name he had never heard of in his previous life.
But Ian, after coming out of the prison, had no time to be surprised.
One of the attendants came running with an urgent expression.
“The First Princess has come to visit, Your Highness!”
As expected, she was here.
Ian curled up his lips with the Ring of Promise firmly hung around his neck.
***
The First Princess was waiting in the parlor with the nobles of her faction.
The nobles looked around nervously.
“I didn’t expect the Seventh Prince to be in the second rank.”
It was, of course, the first Battle of Ranking match.
The ranking could change any time, and it could change again depending on the result of the competition, but this fact alone was daunting to the nobles.
“I thought we should be wary of the Second Prince and the Third Prince?”
“I thought things would work out easily after the troublesome Fifth Prince and Sixth Prince went abroad…”
The nobles were pressing their attendants for no reason out of nervousness.
Therefore, the attendants swallowed their saliva while stealing glances at the First Princess.
She was quiet now, but they knew how terrifying the First Princess was.
She was still freezingly intimidating, but they couldn’t imagine what kind of aftermath would befall once Ian came.
Just then.
“You’re here, sister.”
At Ian’s arrival, the expression of the First Princess changed in an instant.
And the attendants were taken aback by that rare expression.
If her expression before had been icy cold like the winter blizzard, now it was blooming with a warm smile that felt like the spring breeze.
“You’ve come. It took you a long time.”
“Oh, I have something to do.”
“I see, that’s understandable. You’ll be busy, but don’t overdo it. Doesn’t health come first? This older sister is always worried about your body.”
She flashed a gentle smile. The three knights following Ian were barely able to control their expressions at her gentle way of speaking.
Nathan, in particular, even coughed.
Whose face were they looking at just now?
Ian also tilted his head.
‘What happened to her all of a sudden? Why is she doing this?’
It was only natural for Ian to think so.
She was the First Princess who was known to be emotionless throughout both the past life and present life. He could never get used to her being so kind.
And she was not of the royal bloodline for no reason.
The First Princess, one of the most striking beauties, smiled shyly.
“Congratulations on your victory. You did great. You were worthy to be the next heir to the throne.”
Ian scratched his head. He knew roughly why she came here, but this situation was also awkward.
Thus, he needed to be straightforward.
“What brings you here? You, who are busy preparing for the Northern Expedition.”
“Regardless of how busy I am, I can make time to celebrate my only brother’s victory. I have some congratulatory gifts and superb tonics, special for you—”
Ian raised his hand and interrupted the First Princess.
“We’re not in that kind of relationship, are we? Let’s just get to the point, shall we?”
“…”
At Ian’s cold words, the First Princess took a breath for a moment. Then she said, still smiling.
“I’m here because of my brother, the Second Prince. Although we have different mothers, we are of the same blood. But aren’t you being too much?”
“…???”
Ian tilted his head. Who said it was bad to whom now?
To begin with, it was the First Princess who suggested they start the Battle of Ranking to take away everything from their siblings.
It was because she was aiming for his life.
However, the First Princess continued to talk without giving in.
“As a royal family, honor is more important than anything else. I won’t ask you to hand over the credit, so I’d like you to return some of my brother’s clothes.”
Ian gave a ridiculous look on his face.
She wanted to pay the compensation he asked for by the authority of the Battle of Ranking match.
However, the First Princess flashed a lonely smile, which was unlike her.
“Do you know? The things you took were specially made by my mother, the queen, for my brother. Even if you hate my brother, I want you to consider my mother’s feelings.”
Ian, who lost his mother when he was a child.
When he seemed to be swayed by her “mother’s feelings” remarks, the First Princess smiled, asking for his understanding.
“I don’t want to make my mother sad. So, please return the clothes you took.”
“Alright, sure.”
“Really?”
Ian’s immediate answer, which she didn’t expect, brightened the First Princess’s expression.
Ian smiled and called Nathan.
“I won’t go back on my word. Sir Nathan, bring those things.”
At Ian’s order, Nathan brought in the Second Prince’s clothes. They were dirty after being soiled with mud. Those were white clothes that Ian simply tossed aside in the corner after ordering not to wash them.
“You may take them all.”
Ian smiled. The First Princess also accepted the clothes with a smile, as if responding to his smile.
“Thank you. My mother will be happy too…”
But it was then.
The First Princess’s eyes turned cold.
“This… Is this everything?”
Those were definitely all of the Second Prince’s stuff. There were clothes, accessories, and even magic tools.
However, the Ring of the Promise was nowhere to be seen.
Ian answered calmly.
“Why? Are you looking for something there?”
The First Princess trembled inside at the question, but she soon smiled enchantingly.
“No, it’s cleared. This is all good.”
What was important for the First Princess was the whereabouts of the Ring of Promise. But if Ian lost it, that was good, too. If no one had it, there would be no one to restrain her.
‘I think he has hidden it somewhere else.’
But it was then.
“Oh. Come to think of it, there was one more.”
“!”
Ian shook the stuff around his neck.
It was the Ring of Promise.
The First Princess’s eyes, upon recognizing the ring, became very panicked.
“Yes. That’s my brother’s stuff, too. It’s a very special item that my grandmother gave to my brother as a child. So why don’t you give it back too? I’ll repay this favor greatly later.”
But Ian purposely smiled like an innocent child.
“Well? The ring is so pretty. I am not sure if I should give it to you.”
“Ian, don’t tease your sister too much…”
“Then I won’t give it to you.”
“!?”
At that moment, the First Princess’s eyes changed.
There was no more tenderness in her eyes. It’s like she was facing an enemy she would fight till death.
But, perhaps because of the Ring of Promise, she didn’t hastily rush into an attack.
‘All that matters is he not knowing the contents of the vow.’
The vow was to restrain the First Princess.
If Ian used that ring, she might be humiliated here.
Hence she stepped back.
“Then, I can’t help it. I’ll talk to the queen. Don’t lose it and keep it well.”
She had figured out the location of the item anyway. If it didn’t work, she would order Nathan to steal it, and that’d be the end of the problem.
Ian was not as terrible as the Second Prince, so she believed there would be a chance.
However, a voice came from behind the First Princess who was about to leave.
“Oh yeah, sister! I read some books. There’s some fun stuff. The Ring of Promise? They say it’s a ring that forces someone to make a vow. Isn’t it very similar to this one?”
“…!!”
Ian was staring at the First Princess, who turned around, with a child-like smile.
In fact, he did not know what vow was attached to this ring. However, he knew that the use of this ring was accompanied by a considerable risk.
In fact, the risk was so great that it was detrimental to use the Ring of Promise.
‘Well, it seems that she doesn’t know about that risk…’
But its usefulness was tremendous.
In fact, in his previous life, when the Second Prince was cornered, the First Princess helped the Second Prince because of this.
‘Even though my sister is in a precarious situation because of Duke Garcia, she sent troops to the Second Prince. And she lost her life.’
Ian’s confident attitude made the First Princess’s eyes shake.
And then she looked at Nathan with an anxious look, as if telling him to get that ring out of the way.
“…What do you want?”
The First Princess’s gaze changed.
Nevertheless, she wanted to get the Ring of Promise back even if she had to give up everything.
Yet Ian only said calmly.
“Don’t rush me like that and wait. One person is not here yet.”
“?”
Right at that moment.
Bang!
The Sapphire Palace burst open violently.
“Ah, you’re here.”
Ian smiled when the Third Prince, with ferocious eyes, arrived.
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