Chapter Text
Summary: Cale Henituse's plan for life: A) Become an assassin, B) earn a large amount of money, and C) retire young. He failed to account for what becoming the Crown Prince's sworn brother and stopping a terrorist attack would cause. Assassin!Cale, sequel to Partners in Crime.
II. Money, Honor, Beauty
Henituse Residence, Capital of the Roan Kingdom
The doors to the balcony were open, letting in a nice breeze. Choi Han had questioned it, concerned about someone entering that way despite the room being three stories up. Cale calmly waved aside Choi Han’s suggestion of locking the balcony doors; he ignored Choi Han, not because he wasn’t paranoid, but because there was a reason for doing so.
Choi Han hadn’t been totally convinced by Cale’s apparent lack of concern, but had decided it wasn’t his place to protest, of course that didn't mean he forgot about it. He kept glancing at the balcony throughout the dinner, just in case.
“Lock, have you had a chance to check on your siblings yet?” Cale questioned, as he cut into the delicious looking steak Beacrox had cooked.
The boy he’d addressed shook his head in response, a nervous expression on his face. “No, not yet. I was thinking I’d go tomorrow.” Lock looked at Cale as if seeking approval for his actions, earning a raised eyebrow in response.
The noble considered it none of his business when Lock chose to do things. “Go whenever you want,” Cale stated dismissively, taking a bite of his food. Like everything Beacrox made, it tasted amazing.
“Cale-nim.” It was Choi Han’s turn to ask a question. “What are your plans now you’ve made it to the capitol?”
“The Crown Prince’s birthday banquet will be in a few days, though before that I’ll probably have to meet up with the rest of the North-Western Nobles.” It wasn’t a meeting he was looking forward to, though there was a good amount of decent nobles among them, as a whole he found them far too nosy for his own good. He could still remember the fuss they’d kicked up back when he and Alberu had first become sworn brothers. “Hmm, maybe I can skip it.”
Rosalyn raised an eyebrow at that. “I highly doubt you could get away with it.” As a princess she was well aware of the do’s and don'ts nobles had to follow. If Cale chose to skip a nobles meeting, even if it was just with those from the same side of the country as him, there would no doubt be consequences.
Cale knew that just as well as she did, and heaved an annoyed sigh. “You are unfortunately correct, it would cause more trouble than it’s worth.”
Choi Han opened his mouth to ask a question about the purpose of the noble’s meeting, when he caught sight of movement from behind Cale on the balcony. While they’d been eating a figure had landed there. Choi Han bolted to his feet. He had his sword drawn and was sprinting towards the balcony before the others reacted. The person he spotted had opened a door and entered the room before he got there.
The intruder sidestepped the swing of Choi Han’s blade and used a knife—that looked very familiar to Cale—to guide the sword aside. Next, the man used a chair to block Rosalyn’s binding magic. He was approached by Lock on the other side of the table, but quickly tripped the Wolf boy.
Hong had started yelling as soon as Choi Han swung. His sister joined him in trying to get the three to stop fighting the intruder.
Raon was getting anxious and almost intervened, but he saw that Cale wasn’t worried.
Cale cut up another piece of steak. He commented, “I thought you were coming later.” He had the feeling that this was revenge for all the times he snuck into Alberu’s room and surprised him.
“I decided to drop by for dinner.” Alberu straightened his clothes and pulled down the scarf around his face. He took a seat to Cale’s right, across from the cats.
On looked relieved. On the other hand, her brother’s eyes were practically sparkling. “Uncle, that was really cool.”
“Thank you. How are you all doing?” Alberu asked. He started putting things on his plate, a steak, some buns, and an apple pie the size of a muffin. For the last item, he was sure Beacrox had made them because of Raon, as the baby dragon adored apples.
“We are doing well,” On politely responded. “And you, Uncle?”
-Uncle, Uncle. You looked strong as one of my claws. It’s been a long time since I saw you. I got a lot stronger. I am even more mighty now.
Raon’s excited voice made Alberu smile.
“It has been a long time,” the prince acknowledged. “I am well, just unfortunately busy.”
Choi Han, Rosalyn and Lock stared in shock for a moment at the sight of the intruder casually conversing with not only Cale, but the two kittens who could apparently talk. Surprisingly it was Lock who recovered first.
“You...are you Cat Tribe?” He addressed the kittens, who shot him annoyed looks for interrupting their conversation, before nodding their heads. Choi Han was more concerned about the intruder than the newly revealed beast tribe members, and fixed the man with a glare. “Who are you?” He demanded, not as rudely as he could have since they were obviously an associate of Cale’s, but still not politely.
The stranger let out an outraged gasp, though it was obviously fake. He turned to his left, where the nobleman sat. “Cale, you didn’t mention me? Your own sworn brother?”
Cale shot him an annoyed glare. “It never came up,” he explained, his voice grumpy. He then turned to his companions, nonchalantly waving a hand in the man’s direction. “This person who just broke into my house is my sworn brother Alberu.”
“You have a sworn brother?” Rosalyn asked, before quickly moving to a different question. “Wait, why did the cats call him uncle?”
Alberu grinned. He made no comment but ate his food. Cale also pointedly ignored the question.
Choi Han still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the whole situation, but he returned to his seat, deciding to trust Cale’s judgment in this matter. You didn’t become sworn brothers with someone without knowing them for a while, so Alberu was most likely trustworthy, and if he turned out not to be then Choi Han would deal with him before he could hurt Cale.
The three took their seats, still feeling stunned. Dinner was finished in awkward silence, each person ruminating over their own thoughts as they ate. Once the plates were cleared away, Cale cleared his throat, a serious expression on his face. “Since you’re all here anyway, I have something important to talk to you about. Raon, would you mind casting a noise canceling spell around us?”
Raon obliged, encasing the room with a shield that blocked any sound coming in or out. As he did his invisibility spell faded, revealing his existence to those who had not yet known of it.
Choi Han, Lock, and Rosalyn stared at the dragon. They were still in shock from earlier, and this made them feel even more overwhelmed.
Rosalyn felt her throat dry up. For a mage, meeting a dragon was like a dream come true, and here Cale had one listening to requests from him. She had pegged Cale as a regular noble before tonight. She had underestimated him because she thought of him as just like another of the hundreds of nobles she had dealt with before as a Princess of Breck Kingdom. “Just, how much about you do we not know?”
Cale smiled and ignored the question. “There have been rumors circulating that there will be an attack during the Crown Prince’s birthday celebration. Obviously we don’t want that to happen. The terrorists will use magic bombs to kill people in populated areas, so we must find and deal with them before they succeed.”
“How do you know?”
“Alberu had a contact that heard about it.” Cale did not mention that he was the said contact.
Alberu smiled slightly. Those who knew him well, might be able to detect the amusement in his eyes. “My informant only told me on two conditions, that I would not tell anyone who he was and would have someone take care of it. The latter part is where all of you come in.”
“Can you for sure trust this informant?” Choi Han asked, he didn’t want them to be walking into a trap.
Alberu met Choi Han’s eyes. “I would trust them with my life.”
Choi Han glanced back at Cale, who nodded in agreement with Alberu’s words, and then let out a sigh. “Alright, what exactly is the plan?”
—
Palace of Joy, Capital of the Roan Kingdom
Cale stepped out of his carriage. None of his servants offered him a hand, as they knew he preferred to get out himself. He glanced around at the other nobles he could see arriving, they were all familiar to him, either from his time at school or because of his job.
The nobles from the North-East Faction had gathered nearby, it had been prearranged that they would all enter together, so he moved to join them. As he approached, Eric Wheelsman immediately greeted Cale, followed by Amiru Ubarr. Cale exchanged pleasantries with the other members of his faction, before the five walked in and sat at the table reserved for them. Although there were other counts in the North-East, the Henituses were the most prominent and wealthiest of the nobles in that area of the country.
Other nobles began to file in and take their seats as well, among them Cale could see Viscount Neo Tolz; once the man had followed Venion Stan around like a dog, but ever since Venion’s disappearance he’d been forced to stand on his own two feet. He straightened out his behavior after losing his support.
Last to walk in was the Crown Prince, accompanied by Taylor Stan. The nobles couldn’t help the gasps at the sight of the latter. The oldest son of Marquis Stan had been wheelchair bound for years after being crippled, and now he was walking around like he had never been injured. Cale had to force back a smile at the sight, he knew very well that Taylor had been healed for a while now, he’d just been waiting for the right moment to reveal it.
Alberu’s gaze swept around the room as he entered, taking note of the filled seats, including the one that should by all rights belong to Taylor; which was currently occupied by one of the man’s younger brothers. Though as the Crown Prince he would be well within his rights to force them to move, the slight could cause unrest towards Taylor from his siblings, making it harder for him to become head of the family. For the sake of Alberu’s own plans it would be better to not take such a risk.
A seat was still needed though, and it was obvious where it needed to be. He’d already planned this ahead of time, it was best to place Taylor amongst a neutral faction, but somewhere that Alberu still had connections to. This meant that Taylor would be sitting with the North-East faction.
“How are you doing?” Taylor greeted Cale as he sat down next to him, while hardly close friends the two of them had had enough interactions to merit conversation.
“Well. And yourself?” Cale replied. He was feeding Raon under the table, something he had gotten surprisingly good at doing surreptitiously after three years of practice. “I haven’t seen Cage for a while, how is she?”
Taylor gave an amused shake of his head. “She’s well, still the same old Cage.”
Out of the corner of his eye Cale could see the other nobles peering curiously at the two of them, their acquaintance was not a well known thing, so naturally people were curious. Cale felt no need to indulge their curiously however and so chose his words carefully.
He smiled and replied, “That’s good. Is she travelling with you? Perhaps we could all meet up together.” ‘To drink’, he meant.
“I think that is a wonderful idea.” Taylor knew well that Cage was always up for drinking.
“Would tomorrow night at my family’s residence be acceptable?”
“Of course.” With the agreement to meet up the next night they finished up their conversation, anything else they might want to say was best saved for when there weren’t prying ears around.
As the meal came to a close, nobles began to get up to greet the Crown Prince and offer their birthday well-wishes.
Cale waited for the line to grow shorter before approaching. “Hyung, it has been far too long since I last saw you.” He had a soft smile on his lips. “You’re doing such an amazing job as always. With you as the Kingdom’s sun, I need not worry."
Alberu narrowed his eyes for a moment at the address. He thought with annoyance about how he had to remind Cale in private, but not in public. “Thank you for the compliment. It has been far too long, little brother. How have you been lately?”
“Very well. My father has been giving me duties to take care of.” Cale’s slight grimace let Alberu know exactly what Cale really thought of the matter.
The other nobles listened to their conversation with unabashed interest, even though it had been years since the two of them had become sworn brothers, their relationship still drew talk and opinions on whether Alberu was simply using Cale or truly considered him a brother were split.
—
Plaza of Glory, Capital of the Roan Kingdom
Cale saw the red flag—really one of Ron’s handkerchiefs—waving above the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the square. He relaxed his shoulders slightly.
Everyone was in position. Everything was going according to plan thus far, all he needed to do was stand around and try his best to enjoy the ceremony now. The key word there being try, of course, both he and Alberu found this kind of thing to be a pain, but as nobles they had no choice but to endure it.
Redika and his men would be showing up soon to crash the celebration and try to detonate the bombs. They were ready for when they did though; aside from Cale’s people, Alberu had stationed disguised dark elves throughout the plaza, with instructions to capture anyone who showed up. Additionally, there were more royal guards stationed around the plaza than was normal for a celebration. If needed, Alberu could order some to help in the fight, and others to evacuate the nobles.
A group of black clothed people appeared on the Bell Tower. Before Redika, the mage, could activate his bombs, the Mana Disturbance Tool underneath them went off.
The high grade magic devices rang shrilly. The alarm-like sound making sure everyone knew that, indeed, someone had messed with the mana field in the Plaza of Glory and made using magic impossible until the mages stabilized the field. A ripple of alarm spread through the square at the realization, all but the few in the know wondered just what was going on.
Arm members proceeded to throw long range attacks. Royal guards used their shields to protect the people nearby them and Dark Elves secretly had their elementals knock weapons off course.
As the chaos spread, Raon, Rosalyn, Lock and Choi Han started moving. They had ten minutes to dismantle the bombs or move them. It was made harder by the fact that the bombs were disguised as normal items, but luckily they had two people who could sense their locations by paying attention to items with higher concentrations of magic.
Cale sighed, but didn’t say anything. He was not screaming or complaining or remarking about the situation at all.
The North-Eastern nobles looked towards him, only to see his relaxed expression and unhurried pace towards the gate. In turn, their own hearts settled down and stopped beating wildly in their chests.
-Cale, we found all four
Raon’s triumphant cry echoed in Cale's head, it seemed like they'd been successful. His relief only lasted a moment though before he remembered: there were ten magic bombs in the novel.
The mana field was stabilized by the mages. Rosalyn and Raon threw the bombs upwards with magic, far enough away that Redika’s mana only made them explode in midair without hurting anyone.
Cale didn't have time to celebrate though, there were still six bombs unaccounted for. He let his eyes roam the Plaza as he kept up his calm demeanor and steady pace to not to alarm anyone. Where could they be?
Two of Redika’s men ripped three scrolls—shield, acceleration, and combustion—and rushed towards the plaza. One was going towards the nobles, and the other was headed for the Royal Family. They wore backpacks, with something unknown in each.
Cale swore. Those had to be the bombs, it was a suicide attack! He started moving closer, in the opposite direction of the fleeing nobles. There wasn't much time, he had to act now. “Raon, shield Alberu,” Cale said. He couldn’t take care of both bombs by himself.
-Why are you going that way?
Raon asked urgently.
“I’ll be fine,” Cale reassured. “Just make sure Alberu is fine.”
-Alright, I’ll take care of Uncle. . . .
There was clear reluctance in the dragon's voice, it was obvious he was worried. Raon felt like Cale was going to be hurt, and he hated it. He'd been given a task though, and he had to complete it so Uncle wasn’t hurt.
With Alberu's safety taken care of, Cale focused on the task he needed to complete, the safety of the nobles rested on his shoulders. He counted seconds to keep himself focused, waiting for when Redika’s mana would catch up to the bombs and force them to explode.
A silver shield opened up in front of him and surrounded his enemy. Cale let out one last curse before the bombs exploded.
Up in the bell tower, Ron was waiting to complete his own assignment; rather than having him join the others in searching for the bombs, Cale had tasked him with getting rid of the mage in charge. Tucked into his pocket was the invisibility device his young master had presented him with and after the mana field stabilized, he flipped it on. He used the distraction of the suicide bombers to sneak onto the roof.
There was a time limit for the device, but more importantly there was a small window of time where Redika could be surprised and killed. Ron had to get to the mage before he could try and escape. He remembered Cale’s instructions clearly, ‘First, get rid of the teleportation scroll in the mage’s hands. Second, kill him.’
An assassin’s strongest advantage was having the element of surprise. Ron had already long since mastered being stealthy, being invisible was almost like cheating for someone like him.
Redika didn't notice a thing as the master assassin came up behind him. The teleportation scroll was knocked out of his hands. And before he could cast magic, a blade was already sliding into his jugular vein.
Ron forced his knife in further, making sure there was no way the mage could be saved. He had no regrets about killing a terrorist who just attempted to murder hundreds of innocent people. Ron dodged away from the magic cast around Redika, leaving his knife in the mage. The invisibility device was still running, making it hard for his enemies to locate him.
The teleportation scroll rolled down the roof tiles and fell into the plaza before Redika’s men could catch it. The roof was surrounded by royal guards and mages. Everyone on the Bell Tower roof was stuck, except for Ron who slipped under the eaves and through the open window he used before.
Below in the plaza, the dust settled. The silver shield that had protected the nobles shattered. Raon’s magic shield around the royal family had been let go as well.
Alberu had already sprinted to where the strand of silver light from the shield led. He supported his sworn brother as Cale coughed up blood. “You’re an idiot,” he hissed quietly. “A heroic idiot.”
“I’m not a hero,” Cale grumbled under his breath, quietly enough that no one else heard him. He felt better after coughing up the blood; Vitality of the Heart had already started repairing his body.
Alberu rolled his eyes.
—
Henituse Residence, Capital of the Roan Kingdom
Beacrox was beginning to wonder if Choi Han's pacing would end up wearing a hole through the carpet. It had been several hours since the incident in the Plaza of Joy and Cale still hadn't returned from the palace. Though none of them had witnessed it, they had all heard that he'd apparently coughed up blood following the use of his newly revealed ancient power.
The front doors opened finally and Alberu, Raon, Cale, and Ron entered.
Ron, acting as a proper butler, took Cale’s and Alberu’s coats to hang up. There was no blood on him, as he had changed before going to the Crown Prince’s palace to pick up his young master.
"Cale-nim!" Choi Han exclaimed, eyes wide. It wasn’t odd for him to be worried about the people he knew dying, as so many of them had died in both worlds.
"You!" Rosalyn shouted at the same moment, pointing a finger at Alberu. "You're the Crown Prince."
Alberu's eyes widened in fake surprise. "Really? I hadn't noticed." The sarcastic answer earned him a glare from Rosalyn and Alberu gave an annoyed sigh. “Yes. I am Alberu Crossman, the Crown Prince of Roan Kingdom. And it is a pleasure to meet you as well, Princess Rosalyn of Breck Kingdom.”
Said princess gave a nervous laugh upon hearing he knew her true identity.
Choi Han blinked in surprise at the revelation of Alberu’s royal heritage, but quickly turned his attention back to Cale. "Are you okay?" He questioned, looking Cale up and down as if it would somehow allow him to spot any internal injuries the noble might have.
“Perfectly fine,” Cale replied. He turned his head towards Alberu. “Do you think Taylor Stan and Cage will still show up to drink?”
Alberu’s lips twitched up. “Knowing Taylor, he might want something after being in the plaza. And knowing Cage, she would not pass up an invitation to get into your wine collection.”
As if summoned by Alberu’s words, there was a knock on the manor’s front door. As befitting of his job as butler, Ron was quick to answer it, revealing Cage and Taylor standing there.
“Is the party still on?” Cage immediately asked, glasses in hand. She acted in a manner unbefitting of a priestess, but most of them were not shocked as they had already seen her like this.
Cale smiled. “Of course.”
Taylor frowned slightly. He hesitated before asking, “Are you sure you should be drinking after your injury earlier?”
“You think that and yet you still came over anyway?” Cale snorted in disbelief.
“In truth, we were just going to check on how you were doing.”
“Speak for yourself,” Cage stated. “I’m not going to miss out on expensive Henituse family wine.”
“Good. Hyung had me checked out by far too many healers, so believe me, I am fine.” Cale smirked, “Besides, everyone knows that rubbing alcohol is good for external wounds and drinking alcohol is good for internal ones.”
Everyone stared. Alberu bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. Ron’s face was carefully blank, but while attention was directed away from him, he took the opportunity to facepalm.
Cage slapped Cale on the back with a grin. “I knew I liked you for a reason! Come on, let’s get this party started.”
Cale led the way upstairs to an empty sitting room. Ron left to take care of other things, and Lock went to see his siblings. The children were told to go play in Cale’s room. This left Cale, Taylor Stan, Cage, Alberu, Choi Han, and Rosalyn to socialize.
Cale had a few bottles of wine from the cellar put into the wine cabinet of the upstairs sitting room yesterday. He brought them out, along with additional glasses for those who unlike Cage, didn’t constantly carry around their own.
Cage looked at the bottles and chose one to open. She poured everyone’s glasses and raised a quick toast to the host, Cale, before drinking. Her wine was gone in almost an instant and she’d already poured herself another glass before the others had even started on theirs.
Choi Han sipped carefully at his drink, he hadn’t been old enough to drink before he’d been brought to this world and up until now he’d never really had the chance to try alcohol. Rosalyn on the other hand was well acquainted with fine drinks, as a princess she’d gotten to try lots of different types, though she’d never been able to freely indulge.
These two were the first to get drunk. Choi Han cemented himself as being an absolute light weight; he almost slammed his head against the table when he passed out, and would have if not for the help of the two people next to him, Taylor Stan and Cale. Rosalyn was very emotional but fortunately did not pass out. She cried and complained about wanting to be a mage instead of a princess, cursing her royal heritage.
Cage soon joined Rosalyn in complaining, the priestess was still mostly sober but happily took the opportunity to whine about how annoying the God of Death was and how she wanted to be excommunicated.
Taylor Stan had several cups of wine and barely seemed affected. He had built an impressive tolerance for alcohol due to Cage. However, he was rather tired and so he laid his head back against the couch before falling asleep.
Alberu ruffled Cale’s head before standing up with the help of the table. He straightened up and managed to walk in a mostly straight line out the door. He did not trust himself to teleport back to his room without any issues and would rather sleep on one of the residence’s guest beds instead of an armchair.
Cale sighed at the sight of the drunk people surrounding him. Although his cheeks were flushed red he didn’t feel the slightest bit drunk, thanks to the combination of his natural alcohol tolerance and Vitality of the Heart. Cale looked at the pile of sleeping people around the room and sighed; he should recruit some help.
As he was trying to decide what to do, he took notice of a small red paw slowly pulling a bottle towards the edge of the table. Cale quickly snatched the bottle. He stood, and saw that Hong was accompanied by his sister and Raon. “Don’t even try,” he sternly warned them, “You’re not allowed to drink until you’re at least eighteen.” He made a shooing motion towards the children. “Go find Hans and ask him to come over.”