HEO 20

Wolf rubbed his knee with his fingertips while tracing back his memories. The sight of Black Weasel carelessly guzzling alcohol, heedless of the pursuers. If there had been no pursues to begin with, it all made sense.

Wolf discreetly glanced at Red Eagle. He probably had reached a similar conclusion, because he looked restless.

“Listen, Silver. I need to talk to you.”

Wolf tossed a card.

“What is it? Go ahead.”

Silver replied carelessly without even looking this way. Wolf cleared his throat and spoke.

“The prince and I want to leave here. With your help. The three of us would escape together …That’s what I was going to tell you. That old man probably expected it, right?”

“Yes. Bingapsu might be an idiot, but he can think that much.”

“Now, here’s my question. Even if we give up on your help, the prince and I can still get out of here. We just need to shake you off, open the door leading outside, take eight steps, push through the thicket, and cross the suspension bridge. That’s all. So why did the old man leave?”

“Because you can’t open the door.”

Wolf got the answer he expected. Silver continued speaking as if he were reading from a book.

“Bingapsu locked the door from the outside when he left. That door’s an iron door plated with wood. Bingapsu could open and close it effortlessly, but in reality, it wouldn’t budge even if a dozen strong men threw their weight against it. What? Disappointed?”

“No. I figured he’d lock the door. I just didn’t know it was iron.”

Unlike Wolf, Red Eagle lowered his head. He’d hoped for a twist, even though the answer was obvious.

“Pray the prince’s mother dies, just like Bingapsu said. If the prince can’t do it, you must. She’s just some woman you’ve never even seen.”

“I’m sorry to the prince, but if that’s truly the only way, I’ll have to pray for a curse.”

Red Eagle gave a bitter smile at Wolf’s words.

“You don’t need to apologize to me, Wolf. If my mother dies, it won’t be because of your curse, but because of her foolish greed.”

“Did you hear that, Silver? The prince is such a mature person. To have someone like him as my foster brother, I’m so lucky.”

“It’s just a lord-servant relationship.”

Silver abruptly stood up. His next action made Wolf’s eyes widen.

“Silver…?”

Silver sprinted forward. He jumped and stuck flat against the cave wall. He shifted positions as he climbed toward the cave opening. His movements were so quick he resembled a squirrel scaling a tree. Wolf scrambled to his feet.

“Silver! What are you doing! It’s dangerous!”

“It’s not dangerous.”

“But…!”

Wolf started to say something but stopped. Silver wasn’t an ordinary boy. If the assassin’s assistant said it wasn’t dangerous, then it really wasn’t. That meant the question he needed to ask was different.

“Silver, you’re trying to get outside, right? Why?”

“To hunt.”

“There’s plenty to eat here.”

“Shut up if you don’t know.”

Wolf shut his mouth. Red Eagle nudged Wolf’s side and signaled with his eyes.

To get food… for me?

While Wolf was spaced out, Silver vanished outside. Red Eagle, who had been watching the pouring light, suddenly spoke in a barely audible voice.

“Wolf. Can you hear me?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“I need to talk. Come closer.”

Red Eagle beckoned Wolf with a flick of his hand. He was wary that Silver might overhear their conversation.

“What is it, Your Highness? Don’t worry, Silver seems to have gone far away.”

Wolf spoke in a whisper and tilted his head toward Red Eagle. The latter whispered into Wolf’s ear.

“Silver likes you.”

“…Huh?”

It felt like a cold drop of water had suddenly splashed onto the top of his bare foot, Wolf flinched .

“He likes you. Silver.”

“Wh-wh-why all of a sudden… Si-Si-Silver doesn’t seem to… h-hate me or anything, but…”

Fuck, why am I stuttering? My face is burning too…

Could the heart of someone listening to the verdict of a long-awaited lawsuit beat this fast? Wolf had sensed it too, implicitly. That Silver seemed to like him too… But it was still just a vague ‘guess’, not a confirmed fact.

“Earlier when we talked, Silver only called us ‘you’. Not ‘you all’, just ‘you’. ‘You’ Wolf.”

Red Eagle’s observation was something Wolf hadn’t even noticed.

“Is that so? But maybe it’s just because he’s not very good with Atania’s language…”

“You don’t think he’d get confused over a simple pronoun? Think back to the situation. When I tried talking to him, he didn’t even acknowledge me, but the moment you, Wolf, spoke up, he turned into a chatterbox. It was completely different from when we were butchering meat together. You have no idea how quiet Silver was back then.”

The corners of his mouth kept trying to turn up. Wolf desperately tensed his facial muscles to maintain a stiff expression. Ugh, I mustn’t smile…

“You probably don’t feel like talking when you’re cutting and extracting blood from adorable rabbits and a baby goat.”

“No, no. You started talking, so Silver opened up too. Didn’t you notice? He stared at you the whole time we were on the ferry…”

“He did? But when I asked for a comb, he made me feel terribly embarrassed. I was so mortified.”

“He was rough, like a true Stoll. The point is, that rough Silver took the time to deal with you properly. Plus, he even went out to get you food. Silver likes you.”

“Really? Seriously?”

“Yes. I’m telling you, Silver likes you.”

It felt like pink wine bubbles were flowing through his veins. The idea that Silver liked him was dizzyingly sweet, and he wanted to keep hearing it.

“You can see right through Silver’s personality. The difference between caring and not caring is stark. He likes you, so he saves your life, talks to you, and gets you food.”

“But Silver has no reason to like me…”

“Why wouldn’t there be? You’re good at fighting.”

“……”

It felt like being caught in a sudden downpour. His soaring mood plummeted in an instant. Wolf stared at Red Eagle.

“So the reason Silver likes me… is because of my fighting skills?”

“Yes. Remember when we first met? Silver kept asking about your fighting skills. He recognized you as a warrior, Wolf.”

Recognized as a warrior.

“That’s it?”

“I was too distracted to say it before, but you looked really cool back then! I’m the one who should be proud to be your foster brother! You’re my hero! When did you build up that kind of skill? Why didn’t you tell me you were good at fighting! Watching martial matches is my hobby! I heard commoner boys do these back-alley fights, so maybe you, Wolf… wow!”

Red Eagle clenched his fists and gasped for breath. He seemed to have imagined the scene of Wolf, his muscular upper body exposed, knocking down a huge back-alley fighter with a single blow, and was excited by his own imagination.

“That’s enough to make even Silver acknowledge you. People from the underworld are said to recognize their own kind instantly. Silver definitely sensed that same scent in you.”

Own kind.

So that was it? The reason Silver liked me?

Come to think of it, he couldn’t think of any other reason either. But…

Strangely enough, Wolf was overcome by a miserable, sorrowful feeling. Something inside him crumbled like a sandcastle swept away by waves. Wolf slowly sank to his knees.

“Wolf?”

Red Eagle quickly grabbed Wolf’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling dizzy?”

“No, Your Highness. My legs were numb, so I sat down to rest.”

“That’s not it. There’s another reason…Could it be Silver?”

Damn it, he’s only perceptive about meaningless things. With a resigned shrug, Wolf clasped his hands and nodded.

“Did it make you uncomfortable to hear that Silver likes you? I meant it as a sign it’d be easier to bring Silver to our side… Maybe I didn’t express myself well.”

“No, Your Highness! I was happy to hear you say Silver likes me. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Wolf shook his head and lifted his face. Red Eagle looked down at him with a stunned expression.

“Then why…?”

“I can’t fight.”

“Huh?”

Red Eagle looked completely baffled by Wolf’s words.