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Chapter: 62

I was immediately taken to my quarters, and as soon as I collapsed onto the bed, I fell fast asleep. My eyes closed involuntarily.

And so I slept soundly. Very soundly.

Thankfully, the heightened sensitivity from my ability subsided while I slept.

"Ah, I slept well. But I feel awful."

Did I sleep too much? My head was aching. A day starts well when you wake up with a clear head.

The chills persisted. It wasn\'t a particularly cold day, yet I was shivering. It was an unpleasant sensation. The thought of living like this for the rest of my life made me resent Taejo all over again. That old man, he really did give me a load of crap.

Anyway, I needed the bellflower. Urgently.

So, I summoned Eunuch Han. As expected of a eunuch, he was quick-witted. He immediately grasped why I had called for him and had already prepared the bellflower tea.

Pitter-patter.

The yellowish tea flowed into the porcelain cup.

The unique, slightly bitter, herbal scent filled the room.

I was incredibly grateful for it, having been driven to the brink of wanting to die without it.

"Eunuch Han."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I truly… How would I survive without you, Eunuch Han?"

Eunuch Han chuckled, seemingly pleased. Seeing him smile made me feel better as well.

I drank the bellflower tea that Eunuch Han had brewed for me. While its effects wore off slowly, they took hold very quickly. Within a short time, my condition improved. After finishing the tea, I thought about the members of the expedition who had disappeared after the monster appeared in the cave.

Were they alive? Had they returned?

"By the way, Eunuch Han."

"Yes, Your Highness."

I suddenly noticed the way Eunuch Han was looking at me, and I was momentarily speechless. His gaze resembled that of a father looking at his child. Of course, I had never personally experienced such a gaze directed at me before, but having observed it countless times, I knew that fathers held such affection for their offspring.

I felt a lump in my throat.

I also felt like a thief.

Because this wasn\'t mine to receive.

I finally managed to speak.

"Do you know what happened to the soldiers who went to the mountain with me?"

At my question, Eunuch Han\'s face darkened rapidly.

"Those soldiers..."

It seemed he knew. I could roughly guess why his expression had turned grim.

They had abandoned me and fled, so it was unlikely they would be viewed favorably by Eunuch Han.

"I heard there were a total of ten, excluding Your Highness and the guide."

"Yes, that\'s right."

"I also heard that the rest of the exploration team, excluding the guide and the man named Chaos, abandoned Your Highness in the cavity and fled."

"Well, that\'s about right."

From my perspective, they were ungrateful wretches. We had climbed the mountain with the same goal, yet they abandoned their companions and ran away. It wasn\'t about me being a prince; it was about being part of the same team.

We had shared meals and slept in the same tents, so how could they abandon us without a word? I felt hurt and disappointed.

Eunuch Han\'s face grew redder and redder.

It was a flush of anger.

"Those… Those wicked and treacherous scoundrels!"

Eunuch Han suddenly burst out in rage.

"Huh?"

My eyes widened.

"Why do you look so surprised, Your Highness?"

"You\'re capable of anger, Eunuch Han?"

"Pardon?"

Eunuch Han asked in surprise.

"I don\'t understand what you mean..."

"I thought you were someone who didn\'t get angry. Your expression never changed, so I thought you only knew how to smile."

Eunuch Han let out a small sigh.

"Even though I am a eunuch, it doesn\'t mean I don\'t have a temper… It\'s just that I\'ve never had a reason to show it to Your Highness. How could I dare display anger or unbecoming behavior in front of you?"

I felt a bit awkward. I was also quick to anger, and the wastrel would have been even quicker. If anger was unbecoming, then the wastrel must have been truly an eyesore.

"Hmm, I see. So what happened to them? Did they live? Did they die?"

Eunuch Han spoke with disapproval.

"I heard they were disciplined and demoted."

"Demoted? They went that far?"

My eyes widened. I had thought that in the north, with its inherent tendency to exclude outsiders, such behavior might be considered normal. But it seemed they still drew a line. Or perhaps it was a special measure taken by the Wolhan Fortress Lord.

In any case, it seemed that Eunuch Han felt the punishment was insufficient.

"They had every intention of harming you, Your Highness. There is no room for leniency," Eunuch Han said resolutely. "They should be grateful they weren\'t beheaded."

"Oh, come on, no need for beheadings," I joked.

But the law was the law. I could afford to be relaxed because the crime of abandoning me would be severely punished even without my intervention.

"It is only right that they should be punished."

"Eunuch Han, you\'ve become quite fiery lately, haven\'t you?"

"I have always been the same, Your Highness."

"Hmm."

* * *

I decided to have a meeting with the Wolhan Fortress Lord. I needed to tell him what I had seen. Of course, he would have already spoken with Deokbong, but it was still better for me to go and provide a summary myself. Knowing Deokbong\'s personality, he probably wouldn\'t have been able to articulate himself properly.

"Did you rest well?"

The Lord of the Wolhan Fortress frowned as soon as he saw me. Why? Did I smell bad? But I had washed up before meeting him. There was no way I smelled bad, right?

But before I could ask, his expression returned to normal.

It was unsettling, but I couldn\'t ask about it.

Putting the uneasiness aside, I answered his question.

"Yes, I rested well."

I nodded once.

"Thanks to you."

"You honor me."

Aside from the sudden frown, the Fortress Lord’s expression wasn\'t very good. He probably felt ashamed about the Wolhan soldiers who had abandoned me, and the existence of the monster horde, which Deokbong must have reported, would also be a cause for concern.

A very big cause for concern.

"Did you receive the report?"

The Wolhan Fortress Lord nodded.

"Yes, Your Highness. I received the report from the guide, Deokbong."

It seemed Deokbong had been diligently moving around without rest. He must have been exhausted from carrying me on his back.

"Hmm. Deokbong and Chaos were a great help."

"...While Deokbong is quite competent as a guide, I had anticipated that Chaos would not be of much help."

If you knew he wouldn\'t be helpful, why did you send him?

"I will reward Deokbong."

"Good. I am greatly indebted to him."

"It is his duty to serve Your Highness."

"Hmm. What did Deokbong say?"

The Wolhan Fortress Lord answered calmly, "Deokbong said that it was not a normal ecology."

"I don\'t know what normal is, so I can\'t really say anything."

"What did Your Highness observe?"

I answered simply.

"I saw the same things that Deokbong saw, but I only saw the monster when I was trapped in the cavity."

"What kind of monster was it?"

"Gageum. A bird-shaped monster, but it couldn\'t fly. It was a huge monster, almost 10 feet tall. I was dealing with an injured one, so it wasn\'t difficult to kill, but one of the soldiers must have died. Is that right?"

The Fortress Lord’s face darkened again.

"Indeed."

"It would probably be difficult to deal with if they attacked in a swarm."

"That is likely."

"Deokbong said it was a species he had never seen before. I don\'t suppose the Fortress Lord has seen it either."

I made a lighthearted joke.

"It would have been nice if we had captured one alive to show you."

"That would be impossible."

"Impossible, indeed. Not dead, but capturing it alive is not feasible."

I gave an awkward laugh and then brought up the main point.

"I think that monster migrated from somewhere else."

"Migration..."

The Wolhan Fortress Lord repeated my words in a serious tone.

Of course, it was still just my speculation.

For now.

"Even beasts have their own power struggles. Would monsters be any different? I\'m saying they might have migrated after losing a territorial battle."

The Wolhan Fortress Lord\'s eyes grew even more serious.

"And due to the emergence of this new species in the vicinity… the monsters that originally lived there might have lost their habitat and moved to other places."

The crease between the Lord’s eyebrows deepened.

"Are you suggesting…that the recent increase in monster appearances within our territory is due to that?"

I nodded.

"That\'s what I think."

"That makes sense."

"However, it\'s just my own thought, so I don\'t have enough evidence."

The Wolhan Fortress Lord nodded.

"Yes, nevertheless, I intend to give your words serious consideration. You said it was an unseen species, so there is a good chance that is the case."

"Hmm."

But still, the evidence was insufficient.

"Why were they driven out, where were they driven out from, what drove them out… I think the problem is that we can\'t answer these questions. What are your thoughts, Fortress Lord?"

"I understand that those answers would be a crucial factor."

No one knows what kind of place lies beyond the northern border. A land where humans cannot live, a land filled with deadly energy. Staying in that poisonous place for a long time to conduct explorations would mean losing a lot in the process.

Especially lives.

Cultivating that land would require too much manpower. It was close to impossible.

Perhaps, who knows? If a new nation emerged, swallowing up Mokryeo, Tohyeon, Geumra, Suseo, and even Huawei, which calls itself an empire, then maybe at that time, we would be able to cultivate that unknown territory beyond the border.

But that was still a far-off story.

"We need to solve the immediate problems first. What do you need, Fortress Lord? Do you need more time?"

I was talking about the battle. A battle that might even escalate into war.

We shouldn\'t waste too much national power in a place like this. That worry crossed my mind, but then I thought about how all the credit would come to me, and I felt the urge to engage in battle immediately.

Furthermore, if I could gain the support of the Northern Provinces after the battle and use it as a weapon in the fight for the throne, it would be a truly excellent achievement.

At the very least, the fact that I participated in their battle would prevent them from siding with the Second Prince, Jaean.

That alone could be considered a worthwhile accomplishment.

Then I would need to gather troops. This was an opportunity to gather the forces of the entire Northern Provinces under my command.

But before that, I needed to make a preliminary report.

"Let\'s write a letter."

It was time to send a letter to King Bonhyeon.