96. Princes and Princesses (5)

“Nonsense… .”

The words that came out of the 2nd prince’s mouth like a scream. Dozens of thoughts came and went in the head of the 2nd prince, colliding with each other and shattering like glass.

“No way… .”

Paola Simon, the vice-captain of the Jackdaw Knights, was a strong knight. It wasn’t even a crude power that could only be described as strong. The 2nd prince was able to know this by observing their training several times. Except for Theodora Benning, the leader with the strength of an outsider, there was no one in the Raven Knights who could properly deal with him.

Among the knights of the 3rd Guards, who competed for that curiosity, none could defeat Paola Simon. Every time Paola sparred, she won a perfect victory not simply because of the difference in mana depth or strength, but because of the difference in skill and experience.

“Kyle?”

Louise’s voice did not reach the second prince. When expectations betrayed reality, the thoughts of the second prince almost stopped. He continued to feel the touch of the hilt of his grip as it closed and opened. Again, the expression of the 2nd prince becomes dazed as if he is possessed by something.

My brother, I, the throne, the knight.

Strange words floated in the air. The second prince had never heard of it, nor did he know that he had said such a thing. The 2nd prince twisted his face and stumbled. Exhale. The second prince was urging his escort again.

Emotional changes were rapid and rapid, like the fall of a waterfall. Confusion swirled and turned into anger in an instant. That’s why no one could detect the abnormality of the 2nd prince. Even Rione, who looked at them from a distance, and Prince 1, and even Paola, who bowed her head in defeat.

“I know your skills well.”

The words cut off and flowed out of the second prince’s mouth. The target of the reprimand was Paola. A knight who ordered to turn the enemy into a half-asshole in a contest, but failed to carry out his order by plunging his sword into the ground.

“Why did the result turn out like that?”

The answer was obvious. It’s because his skill never reached that of the opposing knight. Paola didn’t answer. Just saying sorry was the only way to end the current situation as quickly as possible.

“I apologize.”

1 The prince did not come. It’s because I know that I’m not so tired of defeat that I’m proud of victory, and I know that I’m not so good at comforting losers. He just waited and watched for the second prince to take his knights and retreat after calling his name once.

That fact touched the second prince’s heart even more.

Backed off.

The 2nd prince, without any message, hurriedly walked down the street. Following him, Paola sighed and followed.

“… I’m sorry.”

1 The prince said to Paola. Paola stopped, raised her eyebrows in surprise at the apple, and shook her head.

“Kyle can be this sensitive sometimes. Don’t let this matter go unnoticed. It really won’t be to my advantage if the turmoil gets bigger.”

Explaining the appearance of his younger brother, the first prince sighed.

“Why is His Highness apologizing? I was just following my lord’s orders. If the outcome had been the opposite, my lord wouldn’t have apologized.

The first prince smiled bitterly at Paola’s calm reply.

“… Kyle is lucky. You have a great article.”

Paola smiled lowly, as if she had heard a strange noise.

“The real lucky ones tell me. Why are you envious of me when I have a teacher with a skill that I can’t even compete with?”

The first prince turned his head towards his teacher. Silent black eyes, as if looking into a deep well. Suddenly, strength entered the hand holding the wooden sword. Paola looked up at Maxim and abruptly held out her right hand for a handshake.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to have a good competition.”

Maxim took Paola’s right hand and shook her hand and nodded.

“I, too, was able to wield a sword in a fun way after a long time.”

“I think it would have ended much sooner if you hadn’t tried to enjoy it.”

Paola then beckoned to Maxime and Rione, who were looking at her from some distance away. Rione looked annoyed at the fact that it was now time to go back with the second prince.

“It was a great showdown.”

Rione stood next to Paola and said that to Maxim and asked for a handshake. Maxim wanted to shake his hand, so why did he ask for a handshake? When I grabbed the hand that Rione confidently reached out to me, it trembled for some reason.

“thank you.”

When someone with whom I had no contact before asked for a handshake, I had no choice but to tilt my head. Perhaps because of her mood, Rione even greeted Paola with a raised corner of her mouth and followed Paola. Prince 1 approached Maxim with a bewildered expression.

“I must have fallen in love with your sword skills. It’s a pretty beautiful article.”

To the first prince who muttered so much, Maxim could not say anything back. That person is a wizard.

“… okay.”

You must have liked the changed face. Thinking so, Maxim picked up his sword. The 1st prince ordered the attendant to repair the tuck damaged by the competition.

—

Late in the morning, the palace of the 2nd prince.

It was a moonless night, covered by clouds. You can hear the sound of the wind sweeping through the streets, bleakly and loudly. It was a night thieves liked. The night sky that did not shine on the thief was a blackout to hide him, and the wind that violently swept away dust and leaves was a companion along with the thief, and an earplug that covered the sound of his footsteps.

A thief and an owner who did not know what had been stolen were facing each other in the same room. Leon Benning leaned back in his chair with inorganic gray eyes. In a space where neither moonlight nor starlight penetrated, only those gray eyes were formed.

Rumble, rumble.

The wind swayed the window. The sound of the wind wheezing through the cracks in the window seemed to mock the low voice of the second prince moaning with his head wrapped around his head. wink, wink. The second prince simply repeated someone’s name accordingly.

“Brother, brother… .”

The words were not directed at Count Benning. The 2nd prince sits at the table like a madman and repeats the same words like a curse.

“If my brother, the throne, if Obama, tells the count.”

The count watched the two princes from a distance. A figure approached the count like a shadow. Literally, it was a black magician who permeated the shadows. The unfocused eyes of the 2nd prince were unable to catch the person approaching the count.

“The condition is unstable. I will probably have to go through the process again.”

“The tower of hard work almost collapsed.”

The Count replied indifferently. The black magician approached the second prince. Under the 2nd prince’s pajamas, an ominous red light shimmered. As if he had no intention of committing disrespect, the black magician grabbed the second prince by the back and exposed it.

What caught the black magician’s eyes was a bright red stigma that looked like a scar. Like a huge parasite, it was greedily sucking up the mana of the 2nd prince, leaving behind only suitable residues to restore its light.

“Still, the curse is starting to normalize. There doesn’t seem to be any problem keeping it.”

Tsk. Leon Benning clicked his tongue. I’ll have to stay up all night

“Why did you suddenly act strangely after the brainwashing had stabilized? When I met the wizards last time, who stimulated them with magic? Didn’t they say that the 2nd prince won’t show any abnormal behavior anymore?”

The Warlock immediately denied Leon Benning’s words.

“No, that’s not it. Who would dare to lay down my head for such a dangerous thing?”

Leon Benning let out a big laugh.

“Those who would readily give up their children’s necks, not mine, for their own purposes, their tongues work well as if they were oiled. This is why I hate those who are crazy about magic. There are corners similar to mine. That he always hides a knife behind his back.”

A sharp murderous intent soared from Leon Benning. The warlock hurriedly stepped back and shook his head.

“Not really. With a 1 in 10 million chance, I can say with certainty that no matter who did that, the leader of the Mage Tower never did it.”

Leon Benning glared at the wizard with narrow eyes. The neck of the black magician groaned as he swallowed dry saliva.

“I think you’d be too easy to hang yourself.”

“There is one thing I can guess as the cause of the abnormal behavior.”

The warlock quickly presented his opinion before the Count tried to argue further.

“Tell me.”

“When it comes to brainwashing, the process of erasing memories that interfere with forming the desired personality is essential, but this process was omitted in brainwashing the 2nd prince with a curse.”

“continue.”

The warlock swallowed again and continued. Leon Benning’s intent to kill was still clearly capturing himself.

“The process of brainwashing is to distort, exaggerate, and erase the memories that exist rather than to create memories that do not exist, and extremely distort the already formed personality.”

“yes. I know very well.”

The warlock waved his hand in the air and explained.

“I wonder if the memory of the second prince, who did not erase the most disturbing memory, caused a temporary error by causing a conflict with the distorted and exaggerated memory. My conclusion is that the key to brainwashing and things related to memories all at once caused the abnormal behavior.”

“You mean I still haven’t let go of my attachment to my father? If not, are you saying that there is still some kind of brotherly love for the first prince who is not even a real brother?”

“… I think there is a good chance of that.”

He thought that all of his brotherly love and lingering attachments to his parents had been replaced by dependence on himself, but if there were still fragments of them, he could have caused such an error.

Brainwashing and curses aren’t quite perfect. Confusion was possible. The warlock desperately tried to soothe Leon Benning’s anger by adding excuses and repudiations.

“Don’t you know? In order not to be found out by the people of the court, especially the king, the first prince, and the first princess, the memory had to be erased… .”

Leon Benning tapped the table. As the black magician said, in order not to be found out by the people in the court, it was necessary to take the risk of not deleting the memory even if it was distorted, so it was not an unconvincing explanation.

“So, the affair with the first prince and the sword touched that guy’s memory, and it turned out that he was acting as rapidly as he is now, that’s it. To the extent that curses and brainwashing are temporarily disturbed.”

Leon Benning, who called the second prince ‘that guy’, twisted the corners of his mouth and lifted them up.

“Yes. I think that’s the most likely.”

The Count closed his eyes as if he understood. Tuk-tuk. The count’s fingers were constantly tapping on the tabletop. The warlock wondered whether it would be okay to let out a sigh of relief, or whether he should still remain vigilant.

“Right. Prince, the sword… .”

“Yes. you’re right.”

The warlock was finally relieved by the words that came out of the earl’s mouth. The Count nodded. Tuk-tuk. Aside from that, his fingers were still tapping on the table.

“I need to be a little more careful and tuned this time.”

The warlock agreed with the count in a rosy voice.

“Yes. I will pay more attention and make the bond of curse stronger.”

“By the way.”

Tuk-tuk.

This was not the sound of the Count knocking on the table.

My body felt empty, and soon the warlock collapsed to the ground.

“… !!”

“It has progressed a lot. Is it before he becomes non-human? You don’t seem to feel much pain.”

The Count’s cynical voice came.

The left arm and right leg were cut off. Instead of blood, black, thick liquid flowed down the cut surface. The count stumbled towards the warlock, who was looking up at the count with a bewildered light.

“Yeah, by the way, shouldn’t we skip the straw and move on?”

The black magician’s pupils trembled. A cool chill began to fill the second prince’s bedroom. The Count knelt down in front of the warlock who had fallen and struggled.

“Do you think I would not have stimulated those memories? I must have thought that I hadn’t even tested the lingering feelings for the king, the memories and feelings for the first prince and the first princess, and the elements that would interfere with everything in the future. And do you know the result?”

The warlock was afraid of what the count would say next.

“Under any circumstances, I have never experienced such great confusion. Damn it, to the point where I have to reset my brainwashing.”

The warlock’s eyes changed their light from bewilderment to sheer fear. I knew. The black magician recalled words that could not be uttered in words.

“Is the Mage Tower laughing at me, or am I really laughing at myself?”

“No, never!”

“Well, you should be able to run away, but you still have certainty that I won’t kill you.”

A terrible, terrible life was only weighing down the wizard. The wizard resisted the fear to the end, as if he would be decapitated at any moment. I couldn’t utter a single word. All the warlock could do in response to Leon Benning’s threat was to hold on to his reason and prevent himself from using magic.

“You know that if you run away, things will get worse.”

Leon Benning grabbed the warlock by the hair and forced his head up. The trembling pupils met Leon Benning’s eyes.

“Then you know that not killing you is not my mercy, but a final warning to you guys.”

Even with her hair pulled, the warlock moved her neck and nodded desperately.

“Go and tell them. I don’t know who played the trick on the curse of the second prince, but this will never end well.”

Benning said in a heavy voice. The coldness filled the black magician’s throat, making it difficult to even breathe.

“At least you should be prepared to make a few more puppets.”

The hair that had been caught snapped and snapped. Leon Benning threw the warlock to the floor and let go. The pressure and murder that had surrounded the warlock had faded. The shadow slowly engulfed the warlock, and the warlock disappeared. The blood he shed and the severed limbs were all together.

Leon Benning frowned slightly as if he did not like the sight.

“Brother, Obama, the throne… .”

“I still have that left.”

Leon Benning approached the second prince, who was still talking incoherently and clutching his head. Towards the brand of the second prince, the Count reached out his hand.

“Shut up… !”

As soon as Leon Benning’s finger touched the stigma, a cry filled with pain erupted from the second prince’s mouth. However, the 2nd Prince’s bedroom was surrounded by Leon Benning’s enormous mana, and all sounds and signs were blocked, so there was no one to hear his screams.

“Quaaagh!”

“Remember. Even though you are the offspring of a royal family, you are treated similarly to a first-born concubine, no, like the first prince whose child you are unknown to.”

The voice of Leon Benning flows into the prince’s head. The second prince twisted his body with his eyes wide open. The nature of the second prince’s heart was being maximized by Leon Benning.

“You hate your father. That hatred was unleashed with a sword, and with that sharpened sword I hope to someday make the throne of this country yours.”

Leon Benning’s voice flowed into the second prince’s head. Suddenly, the screams of the two princes died down. All that was left was the voice of Leon Benning, chanting quietly.

“The thing you depend on the most for him is Count Leon Benning. If you just listen to that, everything will come true.”

“Everything, everything.”

2 The prince’s lips trembled as he spat out what the count had said. Soon the tremors subside. The stigma that glowed from the back of the second prince’s neck and emitted an ominous light also returned to the form of a scar.

“Hmm.”

The Count, who laid the unconscious second prince on the bed, looked down at him and furrowed his eyebrows. Things were happening outside of their hands one by one.

I might have to get the ‘puppet’ ready to move.

The wind blew through the windows again.

—

“I knew.”

The professor who listened to the black magician’s report did not change his expression. The warlock’s limbs, which had been severed, were hanging back together in a pale appearance. It still needs time for nerves to come back.

“You knew?”

“… You took a quick look at the stigma.”

At the black magician’s report, the professor let out a laugh.

“Well, that’s over now, so it’s okay. There is no need to look further, and if we offend the Count any more than this, we will be in a lot of trouble.”

Black magic research fund, experimental material. They needed a lot right now.

“… Are you really going to hide her to the end?”

“I don’t know about brainwashing, but there’s no wizard that’s as good to use as long as you put on an appropriate necklace and make them participate in research. If not, you can use it as a magic lab. You probably don’t know that mana is a really rare material.”

“… of course.”

The black magician nodded. Bringing back a genius. It was well worth the risk of being exchangeable for just a few puppets. The professor was looking at a wizard surrounded by a transparent glass wall.

“If that is discovered, the Count will surely be in a frenzy to use it as a hostage somehow.”

The professor smiled mischievously. Beyond that field of vision, a blonde mage was asleep with her eyes closed.