His Highness’ Secret Accountant

"I'm going to end my long journey."

Eden's heavily sinking voice echoed behind Luke's back.

Luke bit his trembling lips tightly, trying to stay calm.

"What… do you mean?"

"It's as it is. Why don't you stop acting?"

Eden twitched his eyebrows and brought the bottle he was holding to his mouth.

There was silence between the two of them for a while.

"You knew?"

"There's no way I didn't know. You're my close friend from childhood. Isn't that right, Jenon?"

"… I'm Luke Jenners."

"We were around thirteen years old then? I wonder if what the two little boys said would do was frivolous."

"…"

"Rather than revenge… I barely escaped death."

Eden's moist eyes stared at the moonlight shining calmly.

"You've become a fine man. Jenon Timbella."

"That name has been erased a long time ago."

"…"

"From that day… The day I was sold to the Stellen Kingdom."

Ah.

A deep sigh erupted from Eden's mouth as he looked at Luke.

Luke's trembling fingers seemed to represent all the sorrow he had been suffering.

Eden, who remained silent with his gaze down, opened his mouth with a sad smile.

"My father's sins are endless."

"So go back. Hail. Don't be foolish anymore."

"What if I can't do that?"

"Pella was undeniably at fault. Crossing the border, hiding wizards."

"You're right. That's all that stupid king ever did. Me being the child of a concubine suited my incompetent father perfectly."

"Please stop."

At Luke's low voice, Eden bit his lips and stared at him.

"You were always like that. Always doing the right thing, always going on the right path."

"…"

"But I always did what I wanted."

"That's why you made a mistake."

"I see you're still as honest as you were back then."

"I can't let you live in a delusion."

"It feels like we're really going back to the old days. It was a lot of fun…"

What made them become like this?

Eden's gray eyes became wet as he lowered them.

Since that day, they had encountered countless piles of corpses.

In the end, the little boys who were full of resolve were forced to turn away from them.

The day he managed to save his life and returned to Pella.

Jenon, who had lost his parents to the war, was sold to the Stellen Kingdom and became a soldier.

Despite being a righteous man who had saved the one and only prince and had returned to his homeland.

Chuckle.

As he recalled for a moment, a bitter smile hung around Eden's mouth.

"I will get going now."

"Attack the Crown Prince."

"!"

Luke's steps as he moved forward stopped in an instant.

His quickly shaking eyes slowly turned to Eden.

And asked without a sound.

What on earth he was thinking.

"I told you my plan, you can go to the Knights and tell them, or you can kill me for treason right now. It's up to you."

"…"

"Of course, carrying out the plan together isn't bad either."

"Please stop."

"I followed Kyle Ermedi just for this day. How hard I worked under that son of a bitch!!"

"It's just meaningless revenge. The Crown Prince is just a scapegoat used in political fights."

"I can't forgive him. No, I won't! Every night, the voices of the people of Pella crying in that dark cave seem to linger in my ears!"

"…"

"I lived helplessly day after day because I can't die. Struggling with guilt, shuddering with betrayal!"

"…"

"But now you're telling me not to do anything? Meaningless revenge? Scapegoat? Don't give me that bullshit. Whether it is meaningless or not, I'll be the one to decide."

Eden's fierce eyes suddenly stared at Luke.

Eden forced the trembling corners of his mouth to go down.

There was a suffocating silence between the two of them.

After taking a breath, Luke slowly opened his mouth with his eyes closed.

As if he had gone back to being the thirteen years old Jenon.

"This is all I have to say. Now get out of the past. Hail Edea."

"…"

Then, when the tension between the two of them was reaching an extreme.

Rustle.

A strange noise reached their ears.

The two looked towards the bush where they heard the sound.

The protagonist of the sound remained still, as if they had noticed that they had become a target.

It was clearly a person.

Eden, who was silently exchanging gazes with Luke, quickly walked towards the sound.

If they had listened to the conversation between the two, it could have been the gist of the problem.

They had to get rid of them. Whoever it was.

Trudge, trudge.

Eden slowly narrowed the distance and took his hand to the hilt of the sword he was wearing around his waist.

Soon, the protagonist of the sound was revealed.

A small body that was crouching among the long bushes, suppressing their breathing.

Eden tilted his head and spoke to the somewhat familiar figure.

"Who are you?"

Eden's cold voice echoed through the serene silence.

Eden's eyes opened wide as he confirmed who the other person was.

Clank!

The hilt of the sword he was holding crashed to the ground.

***