Chapter 201 – Chapter 42: Awareness #3 (2/2)
“Go safely.”
Carack opened the door of the cabin with a chuckle.
&
There were some dark elves on the deck, but fortunately, Felicia and Caitlin weren’t present. In-gong greeted the dark elves before heading to a place that was deserted. The cool night breeze cleared his head.
In-gong became emotional and raised his head toward the night sky. It felt like the stars in the sky were falling toward him.
“Prince.”
“Sword Duke.”
The sword duke approached from behind. He grabbed a seat next to In-gong and stretched.
“That look… you seem refreshed.”
“Yes.”
The sword duke had been worrying about his reaction. Once In-gong answered calmly, the sword duke sighed and smiled.
“I am relieved. Yes, what about the reaction of the others… Prince? What is with that expression?”
The sword duke frowned and tilted his head. He had expected a reaction, but he didn’t think In-gong would look so embarrassed.
“Uh, um. That…”
In-gong hesitated before telling the sword duke the story. He didn’t tell every detail, but the flow was straightforward, making the sword duke curious.
“What can I say… I imagined this development to happen further in the future.”
“I-Is that so?”
The shock of In-gong’s birth secret being revealed had changed to confusion and embarrassment.
“The 4th Queen’s mindset… I thought it would come eventually… But uh, well, this is quick… Moreover…”
“Moreover?”
“It is strange to say something like this, but shouldn’t you normally feel distress over your identity or something like that?”
The sword duke asked.
“Uh…”
It was like he said. As far as Shutra’s birth was concerned, Shutra wasn’t a child born out of a natural process but an artificially created one. Usually in this situation, the novel or manhwa protagonist would feel a serious confusion over their identity.
‘I am not XX,’ or ‘I’m not human,’ or ‘I don’t care, I am human!’… They would think things like that. Then they would usually accept their identity through some dramatic situation.
However, In-gong was different. He didn’t feel any confusion over his identity.
‘Well, Shutra…’
In-gong was already Shutra, but something still felt separate. If he had many memories of the 5th Queen, then it might be different. However, it had only been a year since In-gong became Shutra. Additionally, the problem of Felicia and Caitlin was far more important than some confusion over his identity.
After seeing that In-gong didn’t feel any identity crisis, the sword duke laughed once again.
“Well, you don’t have to react like that. It is good. Prince actually seems more dependable. You are mentally tough.”
“Thank you.”
In-gong replied coolly. The sword duke didn’t continue talking about In-gong’s identity but switched the topic instead.
“Prince, do you remember the first time we met?”
“I remember.”
It was when In-gong had been facing the man with the blue aura at Thunderdoom Fortress. In-gong had been incapable of beating the enemy before him ,and everyone was prepared for death. That memory was still vivid.
The sword duke laughed and stared straight at In-gong. In-gong had been impressed by the sword duke, and now the sword duke was impressed by In-gong. It wasn’t because In-gong was a being created using the essence of the gandharva god. There was something more special about In-gong.
“It isn’t because of the divinity of the gandharva. I am really looking forward to Prince’s future. Someday, I might bow to you after you are the demon king.”
This was why the demon king had given In-gong the Seed of Extreme Nothingness.
“The group led by Prince is important. Look after the other princes and princesses.”
“Yes, Sword Duke.”
There were no more questions and answers.
The sword duke patted In-gong’s shoulder and left, while In-gong stayed on the deck for a bit longer.
&
Two days later, the Black Flame Dragon arrived at Enger Plains. Anastasia had already arrived first, so she greeted the party.
As elegant as always, she frowned when she saw the party before her.
“What is with this subtly sweet, happy, and dangerous atmosphere?”
The feeling around Shutra was quite different from when she last saw them. Chris was smiling more wickedly than usual, while Silvan was unsure about what to do. Felicia and Caitlin on In-gong’s left and right looked unnatural, as Caitlin kept on fidgeting and Felicia never removed the fan from her face.
In the centre of all that, In-gong was just smiling. Anastasia felt quite favourable toward In-gong, but she couldn’t help wanting to beat that expression off his face.
“T-That… it is nothing. Yes, there is nothing.”
Felicia said quickly. Anastasia looked dubious as her eyes narrowed even further.
“Hrmm…?”
Her questioning gaze was scary, but no one opened their mouths. In-gong was familiar with Anastasia, but there was a clear difference in position between Anastasia’s faction and Shutra’s faction. Anastasia was still a powerful adversary and head of a rival faction, so she couldn’t be told his birth secret.
“What—what are you doing?”
Anastasia attacked Felicia, who was the closest and seemed the easiest. The normal Felicia would’ve replied in a certain way, but she didn’t answer.
“How suspicious.”
Anastasia’s eyes narrowed even more. Felicia, who was in charge of Anastasia, was in a helpless state, so there was no one to deal with her. Chris was able to compete with Anastasia, but he just laughed like the situation was funny. Then just as In-gong was about to open his mouth…
“4th Princess, shouldn’t you move? It seems like there are more people who want to say hello.”
The sword duke moved like the wind and spoke to Anastasia. She was surprised by the sword duke’s appearance but regained her poise as always.
“4th Princess Anastasia Nekrion greets the sword duke.”
“A pleasure. You are still as beautiful as ever.”
Anastasia was one of several people who had gathered at the Enger Plains to greet them, and she displayed a formal greeting to the sword duke. Felicia sighed with relief when Anastasia’s attention was turned away from her and toward the sword duke instead.
“Come this way. We have prepared a small welcoming ceremony. It would be better to exchange greetings there.”
Anastasia said gracefully as she led the way. At that moment, In-gong saw the people behind Anastasia. There was some good faces.
‘Ferocious Eyes.’
As the name suggests, the eyes were ferocious. However, despite the scary eyes, In-gong just smiled at him. It wasn’t just Ferocious Eyes who In-gong greeted gladly. Among the crowd at Enger Plains, many of them were In-gong’s people.
Vandal’s large size made him stand out as he smiled at In-gong, and there was a beautiful woman smiling beside Vandal.
The succubus, Nayatra…
It was her.
&
“Your Highness, I will report about the information I’ve collected.”
“Yes.”