At Cameron’s words, Demimore’s expression turned icy. After staring at Cameron for a while, Demimore dropped to his knees without protest.
Cameron chuckled at Demimore’s prompt submission.
“Is this enough?”
“What a prideless little bastard.”
“Now, tell me.”
Demimore was not at all embarrassed by this.
He had things that were more valuable and beautiful than his pride.
His mother.
A poor woman who lives without knowing her name.
Demimore believed he would spend the rest of his life guarding that helpless and defenseless woman.
Cameron used a sarcastic tone of voice, whether or not he knew what Demimore was contemplating.
“Well, you’re a guy who joined a hunting bet with your fiance to save his mother. This is too easy, right?”
Does that brat even realize that he’s the one who caused all of this?
The hand Demimore placed on his thigh shook a little. His forearm tendons were especially noticeable.
Knowing he had wounded Demimore’s pride, Cameron grinned with satisfaction.
“His Majesty and your mother are going on a trip to a villa in the north soon, right?”
Right.
Only a few people knew about this top-secret matter, which was especially closely guarded among the Queen’s subjects.
Cameron’s knowledge of this meant that a spy was hiding in the minority now.
Demimore recalled the way Mary used to find the person who leaked Lausanne’s novel. He thought he should also catch the spy through that method.
“I’ve heard that some wood can turn poisonous when burned.”
“Ah…”
“That’s it.”
‘I have to get rid of all the wood in the villa.’
Only then did Demimore jump out of his seat and silently shake the dirt off his knee.
“Let’s go.”
Demimore then turned around and walked away. Cameron watched his back and thought to himself, How funny.
Well, the spy was still around. Demimore’s mother was something that could be dealt with later.
In fact, this plan of poisoning was already in place as a backup to get Demimore involved in this game, so Cameron didn’t feel particularly disappointed.
Watching Demimore kneeling on the dirt in front of him, his irritation subsided a little.
‘Anyway, is Max doing what he’s supposed to be doing?’
Max has been acting rather strangely recently. He constantly attempted to express what he believed to be correct, which was annoying and frustrating.
So when he met with Count Stein and X, Cameron left him out. Max had expressed his distaste for this plan in the open when discussing it.
‘I’ll have to fire him sooner or later.’
He was aware that his father had purposely paired him with capable individuals. But at this point, he was unsure.
Max is clever and loyal, but he is so straightforward.
Around Cameron, there were people more capable than Max who were trying to lift him up as an emperor. They were more impressive than his own father, at least.
He doesn’t even require the power of the Grand Duke of Conler.
He respected his father without a doubt.
However, it was also true that he had been dissatisfied with him.
He will triumph over the Grand Duke of Conler and surpass his father as Emperor in greatness and strength. By all means.
“What the heck is that sound?”
For a while, Demimore and Cameron were strolling along when they heard a roar. Cameron questioned his ears.
If this noise was what he believed it to be, it shouldn’t be coming from this direction.
“Where are we?”
It was close to Mary’s camp. In a fit of rage, Cameron strode over to Demimore and gave him a hard push in the back.
Demimore gently relaxed himself and pushed him away.
“Why? Are you so scared?”
“Going to the other side’s camp violates the rules!”
“When did you start caring so much about the rules, Brother?”
“This bastard!”
Cameron raised his fist and struck Demimore’s cheek.
Demimore only spit blood in his mouth with a casual expression because he anticipated being struck at least once.
‘Your fist is weaker than I thought.’
“What’s your purpose for coming here?”
“Purpose? We can just go back. I was just confused because it was my first time in this forest…….”
Cameron seized Demimore’s collar as he continued to respond without buckling.
A strange smell hit Cameron in the face as he reached out to grab Demimore’s collar towards him, and just as he was about to ask why he smelled that way,
Rumble, rumble.
The noise that irritated Cameron got closer to him and Demimore.
***
“What was that sound earlier?”
“I’m not sure,”
“It didn’t sound like Demimore’s voice.”
“Then it must have been Cameron.”
I kept talking to Theodore because I couldn’t get the scream out of my head, but he didn’t seem to care what was happening over there.
In front of the dead beast, Theodore muttered something while his eyes were closed. The wind suddenly began to blow around him.
“The smell of blood on the wind will attract more beasts.”
Theodore pulled me behind a huge boulder that protruded from the ground, suggesting that we should seek cover. I couldn’t stop thinking about the shouting earlier as Theodore and I huddled close.
I assumed Demimore would be fine since it was Cameron’s shout, but I was concerned that he might have suffered some sort of injury.
“Nothing happened, right?”
“Did Demimore strike him out of rage?”
Cameron had a pretty bad temper, so it wasn’t impossible. Suddenly Theodore put his finger on his lips.
I also peeked out from behind the rock and checked. All sorts of things were coming around the dead beast.
“There seems to be more than I expected…”
“Is the wind blowing a little too hard?”
Theodore said as if it were nothing. The creatures crawled around the dead beast. Theodore covered my eyes.
“It’s better not to look.”
I heard a strange sound. I couldn’t see what was happening, but it sounded like they were suffering from poison after eating the dead beast.
My body felt like it was being pierced by the noise they were making. Theodore eventually removed the hand that had been covering my eyes.
“It seems to be effective.”
Dead bodies were scattered all around. Theodore held out his palm to me. I struck it hard. Finding that red and blue beast is all that remains to be done.
***
“This is exactly Prince Cameron’s plan.”
Sighing heavily, Max pulled out what looked like a birdcage.
When Jasper ran to the garden to find Max, Max was already waiting because he knew Jasper would come to him.
After looking around, they decided to secretly infiltrate the secret garden of the palace where Demimore’s mother lived, as no one ever visited there.
He saw a golden cage in the hands of Max, whom he met in the middle of the night. Two strange birds, which resembled a cross between bees and small birds, were kept inside the cage.
“They call them Gruda.”
“You even gave the beasts names?”
Demimore enquired in an absurd manner. Max nodded.
“Gruda spits out a toxin from its mouth when it hunts for food that can temporarily paralyze the victim.”
“Hmm….”
“He has a huge sweet tooth. They say he likes flowers, so that’s why he was in the garden.”
“Where the hell did you get this?”
“I’m not quite sure…”
He’s not sure how it was obtained, but having this kind of beast was illegal within the empire. This was something not even Cameron could get away with.
“We should inform His Majesty.”
“Hold on for a second!”
Demimore was about to leave when Max halted him.
“His Majesty is aware already.”
“…What?”
Demimore was appalled that the emperor was aware of Cameron’s strategy. How can he support such a filthy, evil scheme?
“He permitted it so that we could destroy the Grand Duke’s faction.”
“Is it okay if you tell us this story?”
“I don’t know if I can say this, but……. Please help Prince Cameron. I can’t stand watching him act like this any longer.”
Demimore remembered Max’s earnest request. The gruda flew between Demimore and Cameron with a grotesque sound.
When Demimore attempted to swing his sword, the tiny creature easily avoided it and quickly grabbed hold of him. Smelling the sweet scent emanating from Demimore’s body, the creature bit him and injected saliva into his arm.
Demimore struggled to keep his mind straight and grabbed the antidote in his pocket that Jasper had given him.
***
“You fool,”
Cameron angrily slapped Demimore, who had collapsed. The antidote slipped out of Demimore’s weakened hand and rolled away.
Fortunately, Cameron didn’t seem to notice the antidote. It was within reach, but Demimore couldn’t muster the strength to grab it.
“You can die here or not.”
Cameron, who thought he had no chance of winning as long as Demimore was around, abandoned Demimore lying flat on the ground.
Demimore thought he’d be okay since he’d just be paralyzed for a while… but his vision gradually blurred.
Even through the blur, he could see Mary.
Thank God, Mary. You don’t have to feel this pain.
