“Jeong-ye, how’s it going?”
Suddenly, Hyung ambled into the living room and asked.
Sitting next to Sir Johan, tapping away at the keyboard, I nodded ambiguously.
Truthfully, it would be much better if a seasoned writer like Jeong Hyun-seo wrote the fanfic—even if it was a task close to copying, pasting, and dictating—but he had been incredibly busy these past few days.
The news of Mom’s sudden improvement in the hospital was a delight to the whole family, allowing Hyung to fully dedicate himself to preparing for
For reference,
Eun-seo and I, who had been worried about Hyung’s health, were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
By the way,
“Why does he have that look in his eyes?”
“…Don’t forget my friends, Hyung. Our kids are precious too.”
“Hoo…. You should let me forget them before saying things like that.”
Jeong Hyun-seo looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, then trudged to the kitchen to make coffee.
I thought about asking about the content of
What would I do knowing that?
Christel and Cedric there will have their own adventures waiting for them.
“If you have any questions while dictating, ask me.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“My *담당 PDs* [production directors] are two people, so tell me if you need information from either of them.”
“You’re the best, Hyung. You look kind of handsome for the first time?”
“Don’t get cocky. Oh, when you post the article, put that at the very beginning. A disclaimer.”
“Disclaimer?”
As I blinked, he raised his glasses and scoffed.
“You went to law school, so you know. ‘All stories, names, characters, and events appearing in this work are fictitious.’”
“Ah, ah.”
“How many people in this day and age would believe a fanfic is real?”
“That’s true. The Canary members are mostly cynical and speak scarily. They’re all angry.”
“…Don’t look at the comments if you can help it. Anyway, it’s good to prevent anything that could be defamatory in advance.”
Hyung advised seriously. I quickly wrote a few more things on a sticky note.
‘Don’t read comments.’ And ‘Be sure to write a disclaimer.’
Meanwhile, Jeong Hyun-seo looked back and forth between me and Sir Johan, muttering.
“The content is so…. I don’t know how many views it will get because it’s so unpredictable.”
“…Is it that bad?”
“Put your hand on your heart and think about what *선생님* [teacher/master, here referring to the protagonist] has gone through.”
“…”
…I rubbed my chest with my palm and spaced out. Is it really that bad?
“…Anyway, it would help if even one more observer of the world increased. Save the files one by one. In this situation, it’s always good to have many saves, so hit it as fast as possible. Sync it to the drive.”
“I’ve done that from the beginning.”
“Okay. You didn’t waste your time at the company.”
Hyung, who had extracted a strong espresso, waved his hand roughly and went back to his room.
I glanced at Eun-seo’s wide-open door—the youngest insisted on working together, but knowing that she had made plans with her friends early on, I let her go out to play for the first time in a while—smiled and turned my gaze back to the monitor.
The blinking cursor was waiting for me.
…Let’s do our best so we don’t have any regrets.
“Aja aja fighting [Korean phrase for ‘Let’s go!’]”
“Aja aja fighting.”
I laughed thanks to Sir Johan, who was repeating my words in the next seat.
It was Sunday, and I wanted to see the lovely divine creatures today.
I wonder how our leader is doing?
*
Demi, with his ears perked up, looked up at the ceiling.
-….Kkuu?
-Kkureut
“Yes, you’re smart.”
Perry, sitting next to him, wagged his tail while receiving a secret order from Prince Yeseo.
Leia was also showing off her presence with her plump body.
The royal priest whispered a few more things to them, patted their butts in turn, and sent them out the door.
Jibril, who was leaning against the door with his arms crossed, gestured once and escorted the divine creatures out.
“….”
Inside, only the priest, the servant, and the boy remained.
The prince’s beautiful eyelashes drooped down, then lifted like a curtain revealing a secret.
The two Holy Knights of Water and Fire had been patrolling for a long time to grasp the internal situation of the Papal States.
Benjamin Girardin was simply lowering his gaze respectfully before his superiors.
-Bbi
“Yes.”
Sitting on the sofa, Herrit looked up at the high ceiling.
Dduk-ssim’s eyes also wriggled upwards.
Once, the boy was situated on the outskirts of a tragedy that was spinning busily like a top.
It was the day when all the adults were struggling to protect the child from the shock.
They hugged his small shoulders and hid in the safest place, taking the boy to a room where screams and cries could not be heard, and wrapping his whole body in a warm blanket.
That day, Herrit engraved everyone’s love and despair in a bowl.
No one would have wanted such a result, but children naturally grow up regardless of the will of adults.
“….”
But today was different. Herrit was sitting in the middle of a comedy.
This was not an act of running away from the death of a noble, but an act of everyone running at full speed towards his return.
The golden moons and purple patterns that decorated the splendid ceiling seemed at first glance like planets diligently orbiting the temple.
The prince, who gently stroked the boy’s head, looked back at the servant.
“Benjamin.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I believe you and I have something to talk about.”
“….”
The middle-aged man slowly raised his eyes. The eyes of the two met.
The prince continued without bothering to send Herrit out.
“Because you have received a noble name from the heavens, your perspective on the world is unique.”
“….”
Benjamin’s blue irises shook greatly. The priest added kindly, looking at him.
“You must have recognized at first glance that I am not ‘that person’.”
“Your Highness.”
The servant could not readily affirm it.
However, such an embarrassing reaction was the correct answer. The prince smiled softly.
Yeseo Fenetian was a person who had watched all the events and remembered all the lines.
He was a person who had died once on the battlefield but opened his eyes again in the palace.
So he knew quite well what Benjamin of the Girardin family was like.
Also, how much he had devoted himself to him in his ‘previous life’.
Although he does not know me now.
“I sincerely trust you. I know your affection for that person is deep. I am also working for him, so don’t worry.”
“….”
“How much do you know?”
The prince asked gently but directly. The servant did not dare delay his answer.
“…I…. I consider this to be the third *개벽* [Gaebyeok, a Korean term for ‘new world’] of my life.”
“Aha. ‘The third’.”
The prince raised his eyebrows and raised the corners of his lips.
Herrit blankly admired his unfamiliar facial movements.
“You have seen correctly. However, this time everyone will find their place. There will be no fourth time.”
“…I will do my best to help with my weak strength, Your Highness.”
“Weak?”
The priest smiled.
“I will only trust Benjamin for the ‘*성찬* [Seongchan, Holy Communion]’ part. Please proceed as I said.”
“Yes, I will prepare without any setbacks.”
-Knock knock
At that time, someone knocked on the door of the wide living room and entered.
It was the servant Ganael, who had become very busy serving several distinguished guests overnight.
“Your Highness, His Eminence Cardinal Ari Scott requests an audience. After hearing Your Highness’s words, he postponed all his schedules and rushed over.”
‘Shall I tell him to come in right away?’ The boy asked, blinking his big eyes.
The man wore a satisfied expression.
“It’s all falling into place. Let him in.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The young servant quickly disappeared outside.
The prince put new bread and cream on Herrit’s plate and said in a voice as calm as tea.
“Earlier, His Highness Boutier turned the Papal States upside down and left.”
“Not quite upside down…. Yes, that’s right.”
Benjamin gave a reply mixed with a dry cough. The purple eyes narrowed like a happy moon.
“Today, we must see his *덕* [Deok, virtue/benefit]. The operation will proceed quickly, so don’t give the *총대리* [Chongdaeri, Vicar General] time to react.”
“…I understand.”
“Well, who would imagine such a petty method?”
‘Except for Sir Christel.’ The prince laughed, making his throat vibrate.
It was a look of pride.
Benjamin thought that the noble in front of him was not very heterogeneous even when he was with the other two nobles.
Perhaps he was similar to the owner of the *냉궁* [Naenggung, cold palace] he had lost.
*
That night was so dark and deep that those without a pocket watch could not even tell whether it was night, dawn, or even the darkness just before dawn.
『….What happens to the *성찬* [Seongchan, Holy Communion] after the *성사* [Seongsa, Holy Mass/Service] is over?』
Several Holy Knights of the Papal States whispered lowly.
They were guards guarding the entrance to the underground labyrinth of the temple, ‘Labyrinthos’.
The sacred fires that lit every part of the hallway flickered and illuminated curious faces.
Among them, a woman who appeared to be the eldest answered with a serious face.
『It’s practically *폐기* [Pyegi, discarded/disposed of].』
『Yes? *선배님* [Sunbaenim, senior/superior], *폐기*? Are you saying that the cardinals are throwing away something so precious?』
『Is that true?』
『But, but it was made with purple tulips, *달무리초* [Dalmuricho, moon halo grass], and *햇무리초* [Haetmuricho, sun halo grass]….』
『That’s why they’re *폐기* it even more. Who knows whose mouth such precious alcohol might end up in?』
『Heo….』
The knights instantly wore a hollow expression and looked back at each other.
The rumor about ‘*성찬* [Seongchan, Holy Communion]’, that is, the ‘Ether Elixir’ that the resurrected Prince Yeseo Fenetian had personally brewed, had spread throughout the Papal States in an instant, and there was no one who did not know about it.
Even a passing errand boy would answer brightly, ‘Are you talking about the purple tulips? The servant from the Empire has taken them all. There aren’t any left now.’
However, as long as a human is born as a Holy Knight—if they are a Holy Knight of the continent, there were several words that they could not help but react to instinctively, literally….
『Then, that, since it’s going to be thrown away anyway…. Is there any way we can get a little bit to drink? I heard it’s so good for ether emission….』
『Hey, please.』
『But *선배님* [Sunbaenim, senior/superior], you were thinking the same thing, right? Yes?』
『There’s so much of it, wouldn’t there be quite a bit left even after the *성사* [Seongsa, Holy Mass/Service]?』
『That’s right, the Crown Prince of the Empire would never bestow such a mystical medicine upon us.』
Someone among them gently dissuaded them.
Before they knew it, the number of people gathered in the hallway had exceeded ten.
The order of the Papal States was clearly collapsing.
『The fact that that person wrecked our temple building is as vivid as if it were yesterday….』
“Hiccup!”
At that time, a loud hiccup sounded from the other side of the hallway.
The knights immediately raised their spears and aimed them at that side.
But what appeared from beyond the dimness was….
“Haa…. Hic.”
“….Who is that?”
It was a red-eyed imperial nobleman staggering, drunk.