“Ha, Damn it. It seems like prince Verdi had his hands in this.”
Hearing Riole’s word, my adoptive father stared at the training ground with a serious look on his face.
He hesitated for a bit, but after feeling a strong sense of responsibility, he spoke again.
“The emperor will not just stand by. Don’t make a commotion.”
The Lubiche family always remained neutral.
But I realized that my adoptive father and Rioel’s tendencies were very similar to the madman.
In their hearts, they were already supporting the crown prince.
“But father…!”
Rioel looked like an employee who had wrongfully heard that he was fired.
My adoptive father finally crossed his arms and looked the other way.
And at that moment, the next knight in line came out, and the whistle blew again.
But the knight, who was swinging his sword at the madman, didn’t look normal by all means.
Even I, who didn’t know anything about swordsmanship, thought the man was swinging his sword like he wanted to kill the crown prince.
The knight grazed the madman’s arms with a swing, ripping his sleeves and blood poured out.
But this crazy test still did not end.
This wasn’t what I had heard about the Royal Guards’s selection process.
A scratch on a royal’s body?
I was so surprised that I looked at the emperor.
But the emperor, prince Verdi, and Countess Mason were all looking at the scene in front of them indifferently.
Riole, to my right, started to swear and get up.
“Those crazy bast**ds……!”
“Rioel, there are many eyes on us.”
My adoptive father calmed Rioel down.
If my adoptive father hadn’t stopped him, I was sure that Rioel would have let out a string of unbelievable curses.
And while this happened, the knight facing the madman also fell.
There was no one stopping this situation. Why was everyone just watching something so crazy?
Was I the only strange one? Was I the only one who found the situation weird?
As many held their breaths, a chilly atmosphere blanketed the training ground.
In the center of the training ground, the madman looked exhausted but suddenly let out a burst of laughter.
His appearance was like that of a broken toy that had fallen out of track.
He really laughed like a crazy person.
The sight of him laughing with blood all over him was so chilly and frightening that I got goosebumps all over my arms.
He walked towards the knights waiting for their turn.
And as if they have been waiting for him to come over to them, they all charged towards him, prepared.
No matter how you looked at it, they didn’t look like they were in a test but were charging against the madman with murderous intent.
I crumpled my forehead because I couldn’t understand the situation at all.
The madman arched his back low and then speeded while swinging his sword around.
His sword seemed to make circles in the air, but I couldn’t tell what was happening with my eyes.
Everyone who clashed their swords against his and was on his path sprouted blood up to the air like fountains.
And like leaves on an autumn day, wounded soldiers laid feebly on the ground.
Admiration poured out from the audience seats.
What? Wasn’t it time to fix the situation rather than admiring it?
“Why isn’t the emperor doing anything? Shouldn’t he try to fix this situation?”
At my question, my adoptive father looked troubled and scratched his cheeks.
“I told you. Our emperor likes to push his majesty, Reynold, to a corner.”
There was disillusionment and contempt so noticeably mixed in his voice that my adoptive father looked around his surroundings to see if anyone had heard him.
“Please refrain yourself since there are many eyes on us.”
My adoptive father pressed on his temples.
Again, Rioel looked like he had no choice and clicked his tongue before he clasped his mouth shut.
“Ena, I won’t ask you what your relationship is with his majesty, Reynold, right now, but in this place, I will ask you to be more careful of your words.”
My adoptive father warned me, and I also had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
It was a scream filled with pain.
Bright red blood messed up the dirt soil like a rain field.
My mouth tightened at the sight of wounded men falling across the ruined ground.
“I told you not to look.”
“It’s ok.”
Rioel tried to cover my eyes again, but I was able to calm down and shake my head.
I squinted my eyes and looked for the madman.
The madman was approaching the emperor with blood covering him from head to toe.
As he came closer, the faces of prince Verdi and Countess Mason became paler.
Ah. That was when I could understand the situation.
There was the madman’s political enemy, prince Verdi and his mother, Countess Mason, who had relatives in the influential Stefan family.
And there was the emperor who liked to push the crown prince into a corner.
It felt like those three people had created this situation.
As if they knew that he would come out as the examiner, they attacked him with assassins, disguised as knights taking a test.
And when I saw how these aristocrats around me, looking shocked but not doing anything in fear of going against prince Verdi and Countess Mason, I could understand the madman’s position in this world.
My heart fell a bit.
The madman walked up the stairs one-by-one and stood in front of the emperor.
“I am sorry, father. It seems like we have to hold the selection process again, because I killed all the candidates.”
With clownish eyes, he stared up at the emperor and flicked his sword a couple of times.
As he did this, the blood on his sword dropped to the ground and landed on the ends of Countess Mason’s dress and Prince Verdi’s pants.
Countess Mason wasn’t even surprised and glared at the madman.
But when the madman also stared back with his gold eyes, she lowered her gaze.
The madman’s completely white uniform now matched the red cape attached to his shoulders in a dizzying, blackish-red color.
I saw clotted blood between the ripped pieces of his uniform and closed my eyes.
I was a bit nauseous.
“Hey, Are you okay?”
Rioel asked me, and I nodded.
“You have worked hard.”
When I heard the emperor’s voice, I opened my eyes again.
The emperor brought the hands that had supported his chin into a clap.
He looked strangely satisfied and fulfilled.
The aristocrats who had looked at each other without knowing what to do began to clap.
The applause continued, and I studied the madman’s face.
Because he was not that far away, I could see what kind of expression he was making.
He was looking at the emperor with an expressionless face, and I couldn’t guess what he was thinking at all.
But even his indifferent face felt sad to me.
“I am very curious.”
I turned around to look at Rioel.
Rioel had his arms crossed while looking very dissatisfied at the emperor but loosened his expression when he looked at me.
“What?”
“Is this normal? Is this kind of situation normal in Alpine?”
I was meaning to ask him if it was normal for everyone to be calm in front of a bloodshed, but Rioel instantly knew what I meant.
Like he was disgusted, he scowled.
“What? Of course not. Does this look normal to you?”
“Then, would I be asking you this?”
Rioel nodded to me as if he was saying that was true.
I quickly got up when I saw the madman throw his sword away and leave the training ground.
While grabbing the edges of my dress with both of my hands, I turned back to my adoptive father.
“Father, there’s something I have to do, so I will rise first. Let’s meet at the mansion.”
At my words, Rioel jumped out of his seat.
“Where are you going? I didn’t even go through my formal ordination yet!”
Rioel yelled at me in urgency, and his voice was full of remorse.
I thought he didn’t like me?
After tilting my head, I patted his shoulder.
“Congratulations in advance. See you later, father.”
“What? Hey!”
I ran while Rioel shouted, and I quickly got down from the audience seat.
Even when I was out of the training ground, I didn’t see where the madman had gone.
I wandered between the training ground and buildings for a long time.
“Ah, where is he?”
“This way.”
I was surprised to hear an answer to my murmurings.
I walked toward the voice and found the madman lying on a patch of grass.
It had been such a clean, white uniform, but now his clothes were blotted with blood and dirt.
I stared down at the traces of blood on his silver hair and met his glittering, gold eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was a bit dizzy.”
“Are you alright? You are hurt.”
“I won’t die with just this.”
I crouched over him and studied his injuries.
“No, this is pretty serious…? When you were in Korea, you used to panic over a papercut.”
He fell into silence at my words.
Then, he covered his eyes with one of his arms and laughed.
It was an empty laugh.
“Thank you.”
What, so suddenly?
I frowned because I didn’t know the reason for his thanks and thought about his injuries.
I had to call a medic for this.
“You are the first person to ask me if I’m alright. You are the first person in the past 26 years.”
I had just gotten up, but I stopped my steps when I heard him.
The madman dropped his arm from his eyes, lifted himself, and stared up at me.
I saw how his eyes had become red.
I could sort of understand what kind of life he had lived in this new world and why he was so glad to see me.
I also now knew why people in this world called him a lunatic.
This was a perfect situation to push someone into insanity.
I opened my mouth and told him, “The PD Cha Do-Hyuk I know was the kind of person who would always find a solution, no matter what the circumstances were.”
The madman looked speechless for a moment.
Then, he made a face that was hard to tell whether he was happy or sad.
“I had felt like I was dreaming a long dream, but after meeting you, I realized it.”
As if he had become wholly reassured of something, he stared straight into my eyes.
Then, he made a pretty smile.
“Yes, this is my reality. Thank you for proving to me that I had not gone crazy.”
After saying those words, the madman got up from his seat, saying that he would go to a medic, and patted my head before he left.
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