DMHS 7

Forty-nine.’

Kian looked at the woman bowing and leaving.

‘Three minutes left.’

The fiftieth to exchange signs with him was a man who had lowered his glasses.

‘The smell of oil reeks.’

Kian furrowed his brow slightly and reached out his hand.

“Give me the paper.”

At such a trivial request, the man flinched like he had been woken from sleep.

“H-here it is.”

Kian signed the man’s paper and handed it back.

Now it was the man’s turn to sign Kian’s paper.

The man, with trembling hands, took the sheet Kian gave him. Just when it looked like he was writing something with the pen…

“Kyaaa!”

“Sir Kian, fire! Fire!”

From his fingertips, flames erupted and instantly burned Kian’s paper. The sheet with forty-nine signatures went up in smoke in an instant.

The magically conjured flame disappeared without a trace the moment it had consumed the paper completely. Latecomers gathered and murmurs rose.

“Wasn’t that Sir Kian’s paper that burned just now?”

“What should we do? The signatures can be done again, but there are only three minutes left. Can he really get signatures from forty-nine people in that time?”

“Impossible.”

A vile smile flickered on the man’s face and vanished.

“S-sorry. I’ve gotten into the habit of practicing fire magic. When I saw the paper, my body just moved on its own. Ha, haha…”

At the ridiculous excuse, Ibrahim’s shoulders flinched instead.

But Kian, the one affected, stayed completely calm. Kian smiled as though it was nothing and reached into the man’s inner pocket.

“I thought you might try something, so I hid my paper here.”

“What…!”

Kian unfolded the sheet he pulled from the man’s chest. Though the man had supposedly received Kian’s signature first, somehow the paper inside his coat was Kian’s.

Their papers had been swapped without anyone noticing.

“You burned your own paper by mistake, so it can’t be helped. Next time you practice fire magic, be more careful. Now, next person.”

The man hunched his shoulders and shuffled backward. He looked frustrated to retreat like that, but since he had been caught in his own scheme, he had no one to blame. The last to come forward was Frederick.

“So you know how to use petty tricks. I didn’t notice at all when the two papers were switched.”

“The one using tricks is you.”

“You’re suspecting me?”

“Of course not.”

It meant he wasn’t suspecting, but certain that it was his doing. Whether Frederick understood that meaning was uncertain.

But one thing was sure.

‘They shouldn’t have sent some brat stinking of oil mana just because he thought of using fire magic.’

For Kian, that level of threat wasn’t even worth laughing at.

Thus the preliminary test ended.

“The time limit has ended. Those who completed the mission, please come this way.”

At the official’s instruction, the people gathered together. Their number had clearly been halved, so now each face could be checked more carefully than before.

“Along with verifying the mission, we will draw lots for lodging numbers. The accommodations are two people per room. For fair competition, during the stay you are forbidden from leaving the palace grounds, and no belongings other than what you already have may be brought in.”

The building they would stay in was the Marigold Palace. It was said to have been built specially for the contestants of the mate selection contest.

Kian drew the number for Room 301. Turning around, he met the stiff face of the boy who had stuck close to Frederick all day.

‘His name was Gavin?’

Maybe because he was young, he was rigid but had a simple nature. Kian deliberately spun the key to Room 301 around his finger as he approached him.

“I’ll be in your care for a while. Roommate.”

Gavin’s face twisted. Kian swallowed a laugh inwardly and gathered his things. Ibrahim was trailing after Kian.

“Sir Kian. I’ll carry your things.”

“It’s fine. You look more tired than me.”

“Did it show that much? No, that’s not it. Please, give me the luggage. Serving you is my duty.”

Ibrahim stubbornly snatched up Kian’s luggage.

“You were really incredible today. You already knew that since both the South and the North had forty-nine, your vote would be crucial, right? I told you to waste such a precious vote without knowing.”

“I was just lucky.”

“Lucky? Quick judgment and awareness of the situation are your ability, Sir Kian!”

“I mean the part where both sides had exactly the same number of people. And that each one was missing exactly one vote to pass the mission. Can that really be called coincidence?”

“What?”

“Just talking to myself.”

Kian followed Ibrahim into the Marigold Palace.

When they arrived at Room 301, Ibrahim checked the interior and explained the room.

Inside, with a bathroom attached, it was wider and more comfortable than Kian expected. Considering all the mate candidates were children of noble families, such treatment was perhaps only natural.

“It would be best to wash and change clothes first. I’ll prepare the bath.”

Kian stopped Ibrahim, who was about to head to the bathroom.

“I don’t need a bath attendant. Same for meals or clothes, I don’t need help.”

“But that’s my job.”

“You heard in the hall earlier too. Our family fell long ago, so being treated like that only feels awkward. I’ll handle my own needs, but instead I want you to help with something else.”

Kian voiced what he had been thinking since earlier.

“Ibrahim, can you get into the royal library?”

“A little, yes.”

“You can access up to security level C1, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Kian paused and checked his expression. He had carelessly brought up the subject of security levels, but judging from Ibrahim’s reaction, he didn’t seem concerned.

“Inside the library, there are C-level records. Find me material related to the ‘Blood Harvest Festival.’”

“Understood. I’ll look for it tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks. Which palace are you staying in? I’ll walk you there.”

“Eh… what? N-no! Please don’t! I’ve already felt your kindness plenty today! Don’t make me depend on it more! Sir Kian, you’re already dangerous enough as it is!”

Ibrahim waved his hands with strange words, his face flushed like he had a fever. Of course, Kian wasn’t offering to escort him out of kindness.

Just earlier, he had made enemies of both the North and the South factions. He had taken what they thought of as their rightful Pass Tokens and forced half their people to drop out.

If someone came tonight seeking revenge on Kian himself, they were welcome. But if they targeted his attendant Ibrahim, the problem would be serious.

‘The chance is slim from the start, but I can’t be sure.’

“Let’s go.”

“Didn’t you hear me? Sir Kian, you’re already a dangerous man to me…”

Kian sighed and lifted his eyes.

“Just for tonight, let me take you. Alright?”

Ibrahim suddenly spun around.

“Then I’ll be in your care!”

Like something in his body was broken, Ibrahim walked stiffly. Looking closely, his left hand moved with his left foot, and his right hand with his right foot.

‘Quite the trick.’

Kian clasped his hands behind his back and followed. The palace where the attendants stayed was not far from the dormitory.

“This is my room. Thank you for everything today.”

“I should be the one saying that. Sleep well, see you tomorrow.”

“Th-thank you, Sir Kian!”

Once Ibrahim went inside, Kian crouched down in front of the door. Again, what slipped from his mouth was not the kingdom’s tongue but a foreign language.

–If an enemy intrudes, protect him and inform me at once.

In the dark, Kian’s eyes flashed with a red light for an instant before fading. The wavering shadow moved slowly as if it was licking at Kian’s feet, then sank into the floor.

Anyone extremely sensitive to magic would have realized that an enormous surge of mana had risen around Kian and then disappeared again at a startling speed.

‘Maybe someone noticed.’

This was the royal palace, so among those who handled mana there might have been at least one who felt Kian’s ability.

‘If there is, that would be interesting. Though most likely there isn’t. And even if there were, they wouldn’t come running all the way to the attendants’ palace over something this faint.’

Kian stretched and stepped outside the attendants’ palace. A bright full moon was visible overhead.

Perhaps earlier the moon had been hidden by clouds, because what had seemed dark before was now suddenly clear. Before Kian’s eyes was a moonflower garden he had not noticed earlier.

‘A garden in bloom…’

The yellow flowers all spread their petals wide and blossomed in profusion. Bathed in moonlight, they shone golden, both mysterious and somehow unsettling.

A sweet fragrance brushed lightly at his nose. The gentle aroma spread and eased his nerves pleasantly. At that moment, a strong wind blew from afar.

–Swaaa.

The flowers bent in unison with the direction of the wind. Hanging from their slender stems, the blossoms began to move as though dancing.

–Swaaa.

With their movement, vivid golden light left trails, rippling like waves.

–Swaaa.

Like golden waves.

–Swaaa..

Like an irresistible current.

–Swaaa.

Like fate shaped by repeated coincidence. And then….Kian doubted his eyes.

A boy was standing the middle of the garden, which had been empty just moments before.