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Chapter Text

Introduction

“God of death. How bad could you mess up to come with your own and beg me for help?”

A beautiful dark haired goddess of balance had the silver haired and tanned skin god of death kneeling in front of her.

“Listen. It was an honest mistake! I wanted to do my part in a deal and accidentally touched the wrong souls of another world and put them back together as fast as I could but a connection already occurred!”

The god of death made the huge mistake of connecting two souls of different worlds that weren't meant to connect. No god actually made that mistake, souls have been accidentally connected before but not souls of different worlds.

Goddess of balance sighed as she recalled how the god of death frantically barged into her office yelling ‘I connected two souls of different worlds by accident’

“How could you do something so stupid!? You're a god, couldn't you be more careful? And stop making deals with humans for another hundred years at the very least will you?"

Godess of balance continued scolding him pointing out the other worlds he messed up in that's similar to this one, and how that ended.

"Did you see the other worlds when you played with these two specific souls?! Have you lost your mind connecting them together!?"

“I didn't mean to! plus, they were a similar soul but in a different world, it wasn't even a whole other dimension, only a different world. Thankfully they can only hear each other and they didn't even find out yet!”

The goddess of balance was fuming with anger at this point, after making that huge mistake, god of death comes here to let her find a way to clean his mess then says its not a big deal and make excuses.

She was not happy.

“If its such a small problem go deal with it on your own, you bastard get out!”

She screamed as she kicked the god of death out and closed the door, putting a barrier to make sure there is no way for him to get in. 

‘Well this is bad’

God of death thought, contemplating his life choices.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: A weird voice?

Cale henituse, the son of count deruth rumored to be a trash, was drinking again in a bar.

He was hearing rumors all day about him while drinking and threw some bottles at gangsters, he convinced himself that's the only thing he's good for, no matter what people say.

Keeping gangsters in check and protecting his family is the least he could do for them, after all he's the burden that will always ruin his family's image.

He broke a few things today, making sure to keep feeding the rumors more and more as he acted drunk and threw tantrums as usual.

Its been a long day for him and he was heading to his house, on a carriage.

'Finally, I can say today wasn't a failure...atleast for me. My reputation is still a hot topic but it will soon get boring if I don't find other ways, it will get boring if it stays the same for a few years and faults in my acting would probably be found out.'

Cale was contemplating his next move, his reputation has been the same since he was 14, that was the last time it had changed, it was when he started drinking.

He did it because the rumors were dying down and he was receiving pity instead of hate most of the time, it was a great choice and he build up his alcohol tolerance.

But now its almost 3 years since something else happened, he's 18 and nothing new that could keep his reputation going was happening.

Repetition is not a good choice if you want attention to stay on you.

Cale was trying to come up with something that will get negative attention, but he didn't want to do something outrageous that doesn't line up with his morals.

He was already ignoring his wants and needs but there's a line he wont cross, unless it was absolutely necessary, thankfully its still peaceful and nothing is happening to his family so he has time to think thoroughly of something.

'Ah, whatever I'm tired. Lets think about it later, its not like anyone likes me or there's enough attention to attract people that will look into this properly. Which means there could be false rumors that could go around and no one is going to find out about my acting right?'

Pushing it for later, Cale gets out of the carriage and walks to his room, it was late because he likes to come home after dinner to avoid his family.

Cale was afraid he wouldn't hold himself back and spit something out he doesn't want to, while actually throwing a tantrum.

He would rather stay alone than take the risk of that happening, plus they wouldn't care right? He's the burden and disgrace of the family after all.

He entered his room and started changing to something more comfortable, he didn't like extravagant clothes but wore them to make himself appear more like a spoiled child.

He wants his image to be the ungrateful son who's given everything he wants without limit and still demands more and causes problems all because he doesn't like his step family.

Wearing the comfortable clothes he likes outside of his room, wouldn't help that image, especially from before.

His relatives wanted to put him as heir to control him and wanted any reason to excuse his behaviour, the comfy clothes would've gave them the excuse of deruth neglects his son and doesn't even give him enough money for jewelry.

Since back then he always wore extravagant clothes and couldn't change his style because he knew rumors would surface, anything about him is going to get talked about. People do not get enough of judging and criticising his every move.

But who is he to complain? He wanted this, he wanted this attention to not put his younger brother in it.

After changing, he layed down on his bed and tried to sleep, but he couldn't.

'Tomorrow, is mom's death anniversary...I'm exhausted, I need to cause even more ruckus tomorrow too..'

He couldn't get it out of his mind, its his mother's death anniversary, he wants to actually grieve for her but he can't. He doesn't want to know what rumors may come up if he missed a day, especially his mother's anniversary, he doesn't want to know what rumors may come up if he did such a thing.

It would surely get people suspicious and unwanted attention (good attention), he doesn't want to risk getting found out, especially with ron around.

He wants to tell him the truth, a part of him begs to let go of the truth for once but he can't, he trusts his butler but he can't.

He doesn't want an unknown conclusion, he needs to be sure of everything, risks are not to be taken lightly when it involves his family no matter what, even his family can't know.

Tears were showing themselves on his eyes, threatening to come out.

'Haah, I'm overwhelmed again, this is tiring.'

His face and pillow started get wet, his eyes kept letting his tears fall with no signs of stopping, but his face looked apathetic and exhausted.

The only time he lets himself act like this is in the dead of night where even his extremely observant butler is asleep.

He came home later than usual, he told ron not to wait when he does and just go to sleep, or more of screaming at him for treating him like a child and saying not to bother him while cursing.

So that worked and now he has a bit of time for himself to have all his bottled up emotions burst out instead of risking crying while 'drunk'.

Not like he really gets that drunk but being cautious is not a bad thing is it?

Cale stayed in bed for a while before finally feeling his eyes shutting down and drifted to sleep

***

Ron, woke him earlier than usual today, Cale didn't get enough sleep because of his insomnia and crying last night.

It never really shows on his face he'd been crying for some reason, he guessed it could be because he cries or atleast a tear or two falls every night, or maybe because he has an apathetic face while crying most of the time.

He doesn't really know why, but he's thankful for it either way.

He picked what he will wear today and ron dressed him, as usual.

"Young master, the count is asking for you."

"You woke me up earlier than fucking usual just for that? Didn't I say I hate seeing their faces in the morning? I can't even eat right now because I just woke up, seeing their stupid face is going to make me throw up."

Without wasting a second Cale refused to dine with his father, he'd rather stay up all night and wake up late than get ordered to dine with them.

"The count said you have to."

Ron insisted but cale couldn't back down, he didn't get enough sleep and cried, there is no way a mistake isn't going to happen.

Besides, he doesn't want to throw food and insult the cooking of the chef, especially since his cooking is so good and is the only food he could eat atleast some portion of without throwing up.

Drinking daily the amount of alcohol he did is bound to get repercussions, and indigestion is one of them.

Kinda hard to act trash when you're about to throw up.

He's gotten used to the headaches that come after drinking that much and building up tolerance, but there's a limit and right now his head feels like its about to explode.

"Just bring me a hangover drink, ron. I'm not saying it again. I'm not going to eat with them."

Ron smiled benignly, but it always looked like an annoyed smile to Cale, he can't imagine someone smiling genuinely at him when he's making their job ten times harder.

"yes, young master"

After ron left, Cale sat on his bed and thoughts of what his next step would be clouded his mind.

'I don't know until when the people will stay interested in my act. I can't wait until they're bored for them to find faults in basen, if the relatives can't control me, they will try to get the position for themselves and try to pressure father.'

He couldn't rest when his relatives are out there plotting something and his father is clueless about them.

(I don't hate deruth maybe dislike or neutrality toward him more, but him not knowing about it sounds way better than he knows and ain't doing shit)

He wouldn't put it past them to try assassination even as a last resort, to be honest.

'Assassination is way easier than manipulation, killing basen would be easier than killing his father because then the countess would become a problem and need to be killed as well or banished somehow, so that is atleast a last resort but forget that. Back to the point, I need something to attract attention.'

Before he could continue his thoughts he heard knocking on the door.

'Must be ron, the other servants are too much of cowards to even try entering when I'm here.'

"Come in"

Given his response, ron enters with a tray that has the hangover drink and lemon tea.

Cale sighed internally, as he stared at the addition to what he ordered.

'He's back at it again with the lemon drinks..when will he accept I'll never drink these things?'

Too tired to say anything, Cale didn't comment and lets ron put the tray beside the bed.

***

The day went as usual, Cale went out to terrorize the gangsters and scammers with bottles, with a small addition of him stressing and strategizing what to do when people get bored of the repetition.

'Fighting? No, it's not like I quit training my body at all, but I'd definitely get beaten up each time, I'm not that strong. That'll probably make gangsters less scared of me too and I don't need that right now.'

After a while the sun started setting, he had drunk enough to cloud his mind enough to stop thinking about it, but then his mother's memories came to haunt him.

so he drank even more than usual, getting him not drunk enough to not see or walk but drunk enough to say shit he shouldn't.

After realizing that, he tried not to talk, but the moment that kid entered asking for the territory lord, he just had to open his mouth.

Overhearing what the kid wanted, he confronted him.

"And so what if that village got attacked? Their lives worth less than the bottle in my hand."

His hatred for harris village got him way too far, he knew it wasn't the villagers fault, but he still didn't want anything to do with the village that his mother got hurt in. Was she even hurt there? He didn't know but he knows she got hurt when she came back.

He didn't hate the villagers and he knew it was immature to hate a village, but that's one of the reasons why he doesn't think he deserves to rule over a place, why the heir position wasnt for him.

He despises that place, and no matter what happens its not somewhere he wants to know anything about.

"Oh really? Then lets see until when you'll stick to that thought."

Cale saw the maniac look on the kid's face, chills went through his body, dawning on him what he said, he was a bit drunk and hearing about harris village exactly the day his mother died, he said something stupid but he couldn't take it back.

He got beaten, but the only thing he could think of was the benefits and how to make the situation benefit him. Its too late to turn back time, he'll just take what he could, plus he was stressing about finding something new to do.

'It isn't that bad, considering what people are saying right now, its satisfying them and it will be the talk of the town for a while could be a year if I'm lucky. But i would've liked it more if i kept it as a trump card for later...'

His mind was calculating the benefit while getting beat up, the beating definitely hurts, but he couldn't do anything about it and he was in the wrong anyway.

He caught a glimpse of beacrox, ron's son, watching before a punch in the face averted his gaze and he closed his eyes.

'Even he isn't willing to help, well can't blame him, plus I asked for this anyway, but I can't help but feel a bit betrayed.'

Cale didn't like what he said at all about the villagers, but he wanted his image to stay as trash, he couldn't apologize or take back what he said about them now.

Making fun of the death of someone when he himself is dealing with the affects of losing someone, isn't something he'd do in his right mind.

But his family is more important to him right now, risking ruining what he worked on for years wasn't in his plan, so he took the beating without ever admitting to take back his words meaning until he passed out.

"how stubborn can you be to not back down even after that?"

Cale heard a strange voice before everything went black.

***

"Ugh..."

Cale groaned as he sat up, he woke up with all his body aching and a stronger headache than usual.

"Ah, what the fuck is up with that kid...he didn't have to beat me this much."

-finally awake?

Startled, Cale looked around, there was no one there but the voice continues to talk.

-don't panic, I don't know what's happening either, started hearing you when you were getting beat up.

Cale's gaze turned sharp and he was frowning.

"What the fuck do you mean you don't know? Who the fuck are you?"

***

Finally done, I was considering not throwing a cliff hanger in the first chapter, but couldn't think of a better moment to stop the chapter and if I continue, this will be a chapter tall enough to be organized into 5 to 10 chapters so this is a good stop for now.

I'm thinking of uploading the first 10 chapters fast, not sure about after but it will probably be based on when I want to write but also I'll make sure nothing takes more than a week or two so that's probably how I'm gonna upload a limit of 2 weeks if I'm late and could be multiple chapters in a week depending on my mood.

Chapter Text

"What the fuck do you mean you don't know? And who the hell are you?"

-my name is kim rok soo, I seriously don't know why this happened.

Cale sighed, covering his face with both hands and layed down again.

"Why the hell did I wake up..."

With a muffled voice, cale muttered those words and tried to calm himself, after losing control with that kid, he really didn't want to make more mistakes, but here is life throwing at him another unexpected incident and ruining the balance in his life.

He tried to think calmly about this, a strange man can talk with him like this. What are the disadvantages of this, and what could he gain?

-for now there's nothing we can do, so what's your name?

"Cale henituse"

Cale mumbled his name, thinking maybe this voice of a man will get annoyed to know he is talking with the trash of the count's family.

-what? 

'As I expected he's disappointed, anyway atleast that's one thing I expected since waking up, having everything fall from my grasp like this is hard.'

Silence took over the room for a few minutes, before cale heard the man, kim rok soo again.

-I think you're from a book I read yesterday.

Cale blinked, caught off guard with the man, who he is sure was crazy.

"Crazy old man, go back to sleep you need it"

-I just want to confirm my suspicion, do you have a butler named ron?

Cale didn't answer, so Kim rok soo continued.

-Chef named beacrox, son of ron? Is your hair color red? Considering what I heard yesterday you already got beaten up by choi Han, the main character?

"All of this is information anyone could find if they investigated or bought."

-that's true, did ron and beacrox leave yet? Probably. Considering you just woke up, I don't think you knew it.

"What do you mean they left? This confirms for me your delusional, why would they leave, ron wouldn't leave like that, he took care of me since I was young!"

Cale went into panic, ron is one of the few people he trusts, beacrox is the only one who can make food cale can eat from, he can't have them leave he needs them, and the little chance kim rok soo is saying the truth is worrying him.

"I need to get up, they didn't leave, I'll prove to you that book you have is nothing but a stupid book!"

Cale tried to get up, but his body was aching and he was dizzy, before he could fully stand up, the orange haired butler, hans, came in.

"Y-young master, please get back into bed! Y-you're going to open your wounds! "

"Hans were the fuck is ron?"

Hans didn't know how to answer cale's question, he could see the slight panic in the boy's eyes and anger mixed in.

-hans? That's another servant for your family right, I do remember that was one of the names mentioned.

Before cale could comprehend what Kim rok soo said, he heard hans voice.

"I'm sorry, young master, I don't know he left the night before with the one who..the kid, without saying a word to the count or anyone else."

The room went silent, Cale was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the ground while mumbling something.

"...out"

"Excuse me?"

"Get out!"

Cale screamed at hans and pushed him out of the door before locking it, and falling to the floor.

Ron was the only one who noticed little things about him, he was the one who knew the most about cale without a doubt, more than his father and more than anyone.

Ron was the reason he had to be extra careful with his plans, even though he makes it harder for him to act and lie with that observant eye of his, a part of cale was happy about it.

A part of cale was happy that atleast one person in the world may care enough to notice what he's doing, that he at the very least has one person that knows him enough to notice, to take care of him without rumors going out of his every move or it getting to his father's ears.

If you want to trick people, you need to be observant. And he knew ron ever since he could remember, even if he didn't notice hans he would always notice his butler's change in demeanor.

How could he not notice by now? The way ron's face stiffens or the look hans give him, or how ron's face looks relaxed at specific timings, he is sure those are the times hans goes to inform the count of his actions daily.

Sob

A small sob escaped cale's mouth, he thought ron wont leave, he took care of him ever since he was a baby, there got to be some kind of affection he has towards him right?

'Who am I kidding? Would he leave without leaving even a note or a get well with the person who beat me up if he cared?'

Cale knew he chose this, that's why he's not mad at ron, he's just disappointed. He really wanted to convince himself ron would notice and stop or support his stupid plan, that maybe he'd offer a different way than this, that he'll stop the plan he came up with in the heat of the moment when he was 9.

He wanted to be selfish, he knows he wanted this, but he wants to be selfish and cry, and blame ron who left for a bit, he wants to scream at ron, he wants for once to really be a child and throw a tantrum for something he wanted but wont accept.

Its stupid, childish and a bit selfish but he wants to really act like this for a moment, he'll scold himself for it later, just let him cry for a bit more.

Kim rok soo didn't know what to say after hearing the sobs of Cale, so he simply stayed silent.

"K-kim rok soo? A-are you still here?"

-I am. I don't control this situation, I kind of can't go? 

"Idiot old man..."

-you call for me just to curse me out, really? And you don't even know my age why do you call me old man?

"You sound like you're old."

-you little punk..haah whatever, I have to go to work so try not to cause much of a ruckus will you?

Cale chuckled at rok soo's response, he didn't know why he called for him, he just wanted to know if he could still hear him or not, but the little calm conversation he had, made something lift of his shoulders and caused him to calm down a bit.

Even if its such a small thing he appreciates it, a small normal conversation without acting, without screaming, without swearing unnecessarily.

'When was the last time I had a calm, normal conversation with someone like this? I wanted everything happening to me, its all going according to what I want but I'm still not satisfied huh?'

Cale hugged his knees while sitting on the floor and buried his face into them.

'I missed you mama...'

From the day his mother died, everything turned upside down for him, he wonders sometimes if his father really cared about his mother or is he just naive and stupid.

Did he not notice or is he really just ignoring him because he doesn't want to be reminded of his wife?

Questions like this always come and go for him, he wouldn't hate his father no matter what he does to him, but its hard not to have such thoughts when his father moved on after a year only, while he is still suffering after 10 years, a whole decade.

***

The day went on without cale making a sound or getting out of the room, he didn't even open the door to get food and only accepted water.

It was night time and he was laying on the bed, he's been hearing kim rok soo work for a while now, everytime rok soo said something, cale would hear it, but strangely he couldn't hear anything else other than what rok soo says.

It would be obvious rok soo is having a conversation but he could only hear his voice. 

Cale tried not to disturb him when noticing rok soo talking with someone else, but when he's alone, cale made it his job to ask about different words and things he heard, if he doesn't get an answer he'd just say the word repeatedly until rok soo gives up and tells him.

"Based on everything I have gathered from you, we're basically from different worlds? And in your world, this world is a novel that only has 5 volumes. And your world doesn't have magic but superpowers right? But its way more adapted in science or in other words something like alchemy? And therapy which is a science for emotions?"

-kind of, yes. Can you please shut up and let me sleep now?

"No! We haven't talked about the book! You said it ended in a cliff hanger for a war in my territory! I'm not sleeping or letting you sleep unless you tell me more!"

-I told you, it ended with clopeh sekka, the guardian night of the north, announcing war on the roan kingdom and appearing with wyverns into your territory from the forest of darkness. That's all I know about the attack of your territory.

Kim rok soo made the fault of mentioning the attack to cale, and cale is now interested in the book and the journey of choi Han.

"you have to try and find another book, there should be sixth volume if it ended in a cliff hanger!"

-the author died long ago from a monster kid, there is no way a sixth volume is out. Plus, shouldn't you be worried about the earlier incidents more than one that happens 2 years into the future? The plaza incident-

At the mention of a plaza, cale jumped in and cut off rok soo.

"Plaza what!? The maids said something about basen going to the plaza for the king's birthday, are you fucking serious?!"

Rok soo sighed, if it's going to hurt Cale's family he's sure cale is going to get involved one way or another in the events now.

'who the fuck said cale doesn't care for his family?'

He can't trust that book at all, and he isn't going to put the kid in danger, but he learned today, cale is stubborn as hell and nothing is stopping him if its about his family.

-fine, I'll tell you about events, but in the condition of you listening to warnings and doing what I say in specific moments. And the first thing you're doing is collecting ancient powers that will protect you.

Cale's eyes lit up at the opportunity, he doesn't care about ancient powers he wants an opportunity to protect his family from the confirmed future.

"but if it specified ancient power places doesn't that mean someone took it?"

-there's one ancient power no one took, and the rest, most were useless for them and they died anyway.

"Perfect!"

Kim rok soo was amused with Cale, the novel was completely wrong about the kid, in a day rok soo learned so much about him, 1 the kid rambles alot, 2 he's a worrywart, 3 he's ready to kill himself if his family told him to, 4 he's too energetic for his own good, 5 he's born with a strategic mind, 6 is that he's a fast learner, 7 he is stubborn enough to possibly convince a content from h nagging to do something stupid.

He noticed these 7 things in one day, only because of how frantic and worried the kid was after kim rok so told him about one thing that happened right after, trusting that he knew the future because of it, which adds a 8th point, he trusts people way too easily with only one or 2 debatable proofs.

"What is my first mission into stealing an ancient power?"

...and maybe a 9th he has concerning interest in stealing? Not like kim rok soo can judge when he stole guilds money dry on multiple occasions, but in his defense it was corrupted guilds.

-feeding a man eating tree.

The room went silent for a bit before Cale screamed.

"I am not going to feed humans to a tree!"

rok soo quickly retorted back cale's vicious statement

-are you crazy? Who said anything about feeding meat to that tree?

"You said it was a man eating tree!"

-that's a rumor about the tree right at the end of the slums you idiot, its rumured to be man-eating because a man hanged himself there and his body disappeared not long after.

"oh.Why didn't you say that?!"

Kim rok soo sighed again, and continued his explanation of how to get the power.

-that tree in the slums has a black hole under it-

Before he could continue cale cut him off again.

"I am not putting my hand in it."

-let me finish the fucking explanation if you want the information!

After kim rok soo's scream, cake decided to quieten down and listen.

-finally! You need to throw any kind of food into it, bread is my recommendation, its cheap and easy to find huge amounts of. You'll need about 10 or more huge bags full of it.

"Done?"

-yes, it will give you the power if you do that. It also said that the past owner was a priestess who died from hunger, it may help who knows?

"A backstory isn't needed to take an ancient power if you know where it is and how to get it already.

-sure thing, your brother isn't going today right? Sleep its already past midnight, you'll get the power tomorrow.

"But-"

-No buts, if you want information, you're going to be safe and well rested. How will you even get that much bread in the middle of the night where everything is closed?

"Good point..."

Frowning(pouting), Cale went to sleep for once in a really long while without crying.

***

Extra:

After god of death ran away from the goddess of balance, because he didn't fix the problem before the 2 souls would connect properly, he was on his desk trying to make the connection as weak as possible.

"Well, shit. Cale is planning on changing the future...do I really have to get another beating because of these 2? At the very least she should've spared me this time does she know how hard I worked to get the connection to be this weak?!"

God of death had pushed a year's worth of paper work for later and focused on this problem, he really tried to stop the connection but all he could do was stop it enough so the two world's wouldn't get completely connected.

Which the results were, they only can hear each other and nothing else from the other world, nor can they hear each others thoughts as the souls didn't get fused together thanks to the god of death.

But what does he get for his hard work? Curses and beatings. no one appreciates his work, he's being bullied!

(You do realize, you're the one making the problems you solve right? You're the one creating work for yourself, let your mistake be helpful for the poor souls)

Chapter Text

When hans knocked on the door to wake cale up, he was surprised to see him sitting on the desk that was unused for a decade now.

"Y-young master?"

Cale was startled, he didn't notice the butler coming in and was caught on the study.

"Why the fuck did you not knock?! Do you want to get fired? Did you really want me to throw a bottle at you?"

Hans panicked, he did knock but the young master hadn't heard him, he noticed there was no bottle in his hands but he could throw anything else.

"N-no, I knocked I swear!"

Cale realised he just was focused on the plans and what Kim rok so is saying and all the new terms he learned of the old world, that he didn't hear the knocks. But would he be trash if he admitted his fault?

"Are you saying I'm lying?!"

Cale grabbed the nearest thing, an ink glass, and threw it on the ground near hans legs.

"Go get me 2 wine bottles, now!"

-you shouldn't drink too much at your age, especially since you've been drinking since you were young, its not good for you.

Cale flinched at the unexpected voice, he hadn't gotten used to it and he didn't act like this while talking with rok soo, for some reason he felt weird, he didn't mean to show this part of him to rok soo.

Since yesterday, he wanted to find a way to not make the other worlder know of how he acts with people in his world, he excused the incident that was told about in the novel with he was drunk and was angry at the mention of harris village that he hated.

After realising rok soo was another worlder, he didn't want to act, he didn't need to, why would he when rok soo can't even come here and tell anyone, he can trust him not because he's trustworthy but because he's unable to tell anyone or hurt him.

Plus, he had a mental breakdown and he heard him, it would be unreasonable and even more embarrassing to act trashy after all that.

He didn't want to hear his disappointed voice.

He watched hans leave the room with a stoic face, once he hot out and waited a few minutes to be sure he's far enough he responded to rok soo.

"Shut up when I'm talking, I almost got caught because of you, can you be quiet when I'm having a conversation with someone like I am when you are?"

-wouldn't call that a conversation, but you were done already when I talked anyway.

"He wasn't out of the room yet!"

-how would I know that?

"Fuck you old man."

Ignoring cale's swearing, rok soo saw an opportunity, he was bored and needed something to distract him from the paper works that some of his teammates decided to throw at him by burning the guild building of the leader who talks bad about him behind his back without warning him and while getting caught!

He only wanted to distract himself from work, not help cale without compensation!

-anyway shouldn't you run away now? He's far enough isn't he.

Remembering what he had to do, cale's eyes lit with excitement.

"Right, I need to buy bread and feed it to a tree to gain that power! I bet the story didn't tell you anything about my sneaking skills, I developed them enough to be able to sneak into beacrox's kitchen unnoticed from practice when I was young! You wouldn't understand but beacrox's sharp senses are almost impossible to achieve-"

Kim rok soo cut him off before he'd go into another topic and miss his opportunity.

-No, I definitely understand. He's from a professional assassin family, how could he not have strong senses? And his father is the patriarch of the family, the strongest assassin. but thats not the point

"What do you mean professional assassin?! You think I was raised by an assassin!?"

Kim rok soo didnt care about cale's existential crisis right now, his time is limited he shouldn't miss his opportunity.

-back to the point! Bread, tree, ancient power, remember? We'll talk about this later. You have limited time.

"Right!"

-'this kid needs a diagnosis, seriously, if only his world was a bit smarter on these things I'd force him to go to a psychiatrist...'

Rok soo had that last thought before making sure Cale is getting ready to sneak out and tuned him out completely after to get work done.

Cale digged deep into his closet to find a black robe to wear, after putting it on, he checked to see if hans is back yet, which he wasn't.

Cale was sure hans went to report early because he was caught red handed on a desk, but he also knew he'd probably be back soon. Aswell, that he will be reported missing the moment he walks out, but that's a problem for future him to deal with.

He went out of his room and closed the door silently, no maids were around his room most of the time so getting out wasn't a problem, but unfortunately for him hans was right at the end of the hall walking towards his room with a bottle and a glass on a tray.

Frantically, he went into any room that was near and let hans pass by. Hans was knocking on his door, obviously no one answered, waiting for hans to get away, he observed his surroundings to find himself in his study. One of the places he hates the most in the mansion.

The place that had the most memories with his mother right after the garden.

Cale heard a door handle opening, he realised it was hans entering his room, with that information he opened the door and bolted out of the hallway as fast as he could.

'That was close!'

The more he walked the more maids came into view as he came closer to the front door.

'hell no, I'm not stupid. I'll go through the back door.'

After understanding the stupidity of walking out of the front door while sneaking, he changed directions without anyone noticing and avoided or hid if anyone came near until he got out of the mansion through the back door.

***

Hans on the other hand, was panicking. After leaving and going earlier than usual to report to the count because of the noticeable difference in cale's routine, and bringing the alcohol the young master requested, he came back to find an empty room.

He hurriedly put the tray he's carrying on a table, and ran out to tell the count.

He knocked on the office door, after hearing a confirmation he opened the door and went in.

"C-count, Cale isn't here, he-"

"He went out again? Why did you come back then, he probably went out to drink again right? Doesn't he always does this? just go continue working, and pay for anything he wants or breaks."

"But he didn't-"

Hans wanted to say cale didn't tell anyone he's gong out and that he already ordered alcohol before going out, but the count cut him off and told him to continue working.

***

With Cale.

"Well that was stressful..."

-you thought sneaking from a mansion would be easy?

"No! We have security too, of course it was hard...but maybe it wasn't hard enough considering I got out this easily.."

-just go buy the bread, you didn't forget your money did you?

Cale gasped at the audacity of rok soo to think he forgot the most important, needed thing in this outing, buying food.

"Of course not! I put it in the robes pockets before going out."

Rok soo hummed and continued ignoring cale, who was heading to a bakery.

"How may I help you?"

The owner didn't notice cale's hidden red hair or cale's face that was carefully covered with the black robe's hood.

The black robed cale pointed to one end of the store's bread then moved it slowly to t other end.

"From here to there"

Seeing the owner's shocked face, cale smirked and reached for a golden coin.

"Keep the change, but pack it fast."

The owner hurriedly moved to pack everything, not wanting to lose the golden blessing that visited his store today.

"H-here, sir! Thank you so much for choosing to come here sir."

Giving Cale the bag he thanked him and cale went on his way.

-don't want to act trash anymore?

Kim rok soo hadn't heard cale curse, shout or threaten whoever he was talking to, kim rok soo had a suspicion that cale was faking the trash since the moment he started talking with him.

"Its not that, I'm wearing a robe that's covering my face and hair, I don't need to be a trash right now."

Cale's whisper confirmed rok soo's suspicion, but Rok soo wanted to understand why cale decided he needed to fake being trash when he was young, the story said he was trash from the moment his step family entered the house and that he hated them, but he doesn't trust the book about these things anymore.

How could he? Look at cale, is that any way a trash can act? Look at the differences between him and rok soo, he's the polar opposite of him, how could he be trash when he's so different from him?

-and why do you need to act trash?

"do you think its time to talk right now when I'm out in the open? Shut up!"

Cale whisper screamed at rok soo, he had noticed that rok soo is interrogating him, he didn't really care, telling an other worlder that can't talk with anyone but him isn't going to do anything to him and his plans, but not right now when he's walking an alley way heading to the slums!

-alright, but we're talking about this later.

Cale ignored rok soo, he could see the black tree and was about to walk up the small hill but a little voice stopped him.

"d-don't go there!"

Looking back, he saw a red haired boy and a silver haired older girl with the same golden-yellow eye colour.

'They're probably siblings.'

"it's dangerous, that's a man-eating tree!"

While the boy was warning him, the little girl seemed hesitant and wary, as she should of strangers.

Cale crouched down making himself smaller than her and as tall as the little boy, he had a soft smile as he was reminded of when basen was young and lily.

"Don't worry about me, I'm just going to do something fast and come back I promise. Are you hungry?"

He took out two breads from the bag and gave them to the children.

"Here, I was going to feed that tree so it won't eat anything else, so just take this bread as compensation for not telling anyone I came here alright?"

He stood up from his crouching position and pet the little boy's head.

"Thanks for the warning."

He went on his way to the tree and left the kids watching him.

"S-sir, you have to come back like you promised!"

He heard the little boy's shout, but he decided to ignore it and crouched down on the ground then threw the contents of the bag in the black hole that's on the ground.

Rumble-

Once the bag finished, the tree started to shake and an odd cry that seemed to say it wanted more came from the tree.

"this is weird and scary..."

-what's happening?

Cale who was in a trance staring at the tree got back to his senses after hearing rok soo's voice.

"It's just making a weird noise as if asking for more."

-You don't have much time since your brother is going tomorrow to the plaza right? You should go get more, I told you it may need 10 large bags right?

Cale observed how the black hole was slowly turning white.

"I think it needs one more bag, 11 bags not 10. And I finished this so there are 10 left to throw."

-you're the one who can see it, not me. Do what you think is better, but you should finish it today.

Cale hummed and went to get another bag.

***

Cale spent the day going back and forth getting the bags and throwing bread in the hole. The two kids had watched him through all of it refusing to leave until they make sure cale got back safely and never returned to the tree.

The girl seemed to stay hesitant to stay but the boy had wanted to, so they did.

At lunch time, cale went to get something to eat, he didn't want to eat bread because he wanted to save them for the tree, he doesn't know if all the bread on rain city will finish because of him and he didn't want to come back tomorrow.

But he noticed the kids didn't eat anything otr than the piece of bread he gave them, so he bought something for them on the way to eat lunch, cake and meat.

When he threw the final bag,the hole tired transparent and he heard a woman's voice in his head.

-it was so so good!

Cale was surprised, rok soon didn't say anything about a voice.

-what the fuck?

And kim rok soo seemed to hear it too.

"You can hear it?"

-somehow?

-that soft texture of bread! I especially liked the third bag you brought. I guess even food develops she time goes by.there was no such thing as bread back in my days! The wheat itself must grow on really fertile land! Yes, not all wheat not all wheat is the same-

The voice was evaluating the taste of bread...

"No wonder no one took this ancient power, do I need to take it?"

-cale, its a shield, without it I'm not giving you information.

"Do you think it can hear you?"

The voice was louder than the whispers of the two men and continued to chatter.

-don't know.

"Useless."

-brat

"Old man"

The two men ignored the voice evaluating the bread and begun cursing eachother.

-hey, who is this with you anyway? I don't see anyone else, but he's not an ancient power either.

After th voice realised what was happening it tried to converse with them but both ignored her.

-hey!

She screaned to get their attention which surprisingly worked, cale looked at the tree questioningly.

"finally satisfied with the bread?"

-yes but who is he? He isn't an ancient power and it isnt magic either so who is he?

"You mean Kim rok soo? He's an other worlder. I woke up yesterday after getting beat up by some protagonist and woke u with him talking in my head, its not important forget it, no one can hear me but him and ancient power ghosts I guess."

-...if I didn't hear him I would've called you crazy, but its weirdly easy to believe.

"So, did I get the ancient power?"

-yes, it will protect you until your heart stops beating, it gets its strength from your heart.

Kim rok soo had an idea after hearing what the glutton said, if we strengthen what it takes its strength from it will get stronger.

-so we can make it stronger if we get the vitality of the heart, another ancient power you'll need.

Cale was hesitant about it because rok soo said that this ancient power was the only one without an owner inhe book but he replied positively to taking it.

-go back home, its probably late for you now right?

"does time move differently for you? The sun already set here."

-No, its night time here too. Maybe just an hour difference.

"Could be."

The glutton was flabbergasted by the way those two act, not a minute ago they were cursing eachother as if they will kill the other of they could, but now they're having a normal conversation like that didn't happen!

"Alright, I'm going home."

Cale got up and went down the hill, the kids weren't there, but there was two kittens, one red and another silver, waiting for him.

He walked away but the kittens followed him.

When he was close to the mansion he stopped and looked behind him.

"You want to come with me? You don't even know how I look, I was wearing the robe the whole time. Just because someone fed you its not good to follow them."

Meow.

The silver kitten stood infrontof the red one and didn't let it get close to cale.

"I know who you are, did you think I wouldn't notice the vertical pupils? Or maybe how your fur color and eyes match the two kids I fed? Just talk, do you want to come with me? I don't mind but don't follow strangers just because they fed you next time."

The red kitten tapped on the silver one but the sister didn't budge.

"Who are you?"

Instead she wanted to know who the man is before deciding if she will listen to her brother.

"Hm... You may not want to come with someone who's rumoured to be trash. I'm cale henituse, you should've atleast heard about me."

Cale lifted the hood enough to show his face before hiding it again.

"Anyways, it was good seeing you, just please keep this between us kids."

He continued walking, not expecting the kittens to follow but they did.

Once he was infront of the door he wetout of this morning, he looked behind him.

"you still followed me?"

The kittens came closer and the red one, the boy, rubbed his face on his leg.

Meow.

Cale quietly lifted them up and entered the door, the mansion wasn't loud, its not like he expected it to be, but considering he let without saying anything he thought maybe his father would be worried.

But maybe not, he always goes out sonwjy would his father be worried, there's nothing to be worried about and he's already 18 anyway, he's not a kid.

He avoided the workers and went to his room, he put then kittens down on the floor.

"You can shower alone right? Go shower in my bathroom and then I'll go after you."

The silver kitten nodded and went back into her human form before going into the bathroom to help her brother.

'I think I still have some of my clothes when I was younger, I wouldn't need them anyway I should give them to the kids until I go shop for clothes for them.'

Cale had kept the old clothes he bought with his mother when he was younger, he kept them as a memory of the times he spent with his mother, there was little things he could remember his mother from and couldn't throw them away.

"I will give you some of my old clothes so tell me after you finish!"

-you brought the kids you fed, home?

"Mhm"

-they're beast people right?

Kim rok soo had heard the conversations cake had with the kids, he eard something about fur and vertical pupils so he guessed it would be beast people.

"Yeah, they're from the cat tribe, I should probably ask about their names though."

-you don't even know their names?

"I just met them today genius."

Rok so ignore him not wanting to bother with another cursing match.

-the important thing is you got the ancient power.

"With two extra children."

Cale heard the girl say they finished and gave her his old clothes, thankfully they fit on her but were big on her brother.

"what's your names and age?"

"I'm on and he's hong, I'm 10, he's 7."

After he heard on's answer, he entered the bathroom with his clothes, since the children are in his room he's going to have to change in the bathroom after taking a shower.

-you think it's safe to bring two kids with you to a bombing incident?

"They're beast people. Plus, it's not like I'm going to bring them to the plaza."

-taking care of kids is not easy.

"I know."

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Cale had went out of the bathroom to find two kittens sleeping on his bed. He went over and sat down beside them, he tried to make himself in a comfortable position without waking the siblings but he noticed on staring at him.

“Ah, did I wake you up? You can go back to sleep, it's not good to stay up late. Get a good rest, you obviously weren't gettibg enough in the slums.”

On shuffled closer to her brother and closed her eyes.

“I wasn't asleep, you didn't wake me up.”

On had not let her guard down, sure cale had been kind to them but they only met today too. If it weren't for her brother, she would've said a simple thank you or made a small favour for him, not follow him.

But On wanted to try to give her brother a better life, she couldn't bare to see her brother crying because he's scared and hungry, she needed to have a proper place to make sure he grows strong to protect himself from them, and if it means to work for cale to let him keep them, then she'll do it for him.

But what confused her is how cake acts, people had said he's a drunkard, a trash, someone who screams and curses, someone who's rude and throws things around, yet he was so kind. 

She noticed the bottle in the room when she entered, so him being a drunkard is probably true but he wasn't trash at all. He fed them, he was kind to them, he let them follow him, he explained why he was going to the tree when he didn't need to, he let them shower in his bathroom, and when he saw them on his bed he didn't do anything and even tried to get on it without waking them.

How could someone like this be called trash who's rude and breaks things?

He didn't even know them, why would he be kind especially after everyone calls him all these things?

She didn't understand Cale, if everyone is calling him these things, shouldn't he be angry? Why did he introduce himself as trash when they followed him?

She put these questions aside and tried to sleep.

Cale just noticed the bottle beside his bed.

‘This is bad, I haven't done anything since that day, wont something bad happen? I should start drinking out again.’

–so now that you have the ancient power, how exactly do you plan on going to the plaza?

cale had stayed silent for a bit before whispering an answer.

“Well, I thought maybe I can just run away? Or ask to go with basen, but I don't know. Both don't sound good to me.”

–why don't you ask your father to go? He wouldn't refuse you right?

Cale thought about it, the idea wasn't bad but it will definitely be bad to his reputation. If he does people may think he wants his position back which, hell no why would he want that much work? Anyway, rumors like he got back to his senses after a beating wouldn't be beneficial to him.

“No, it would make me look like I'm trying to get the heir position and fix my reputation.”

–and why would that be bad? You do know if you want to stop a war the trash reputation you're trying to achieve is not going to help right?

Cale sighed, he knows that but if he tries to change, his actions are surely going to affect his family. 

“you don't know why I'm doing this, I need to find another way.”

–I have a few guesses on why, and it all circles back to your family. You want to protect them don't you? If you stay stubborn, you're not going to be able to save them from war. Its not some joke, war is a battlefield acting wont help in. Whatever the reason you're doing this, there is another choice for, war doesn't give you the privilege to choose.

“I-I know, I don't want to be the reason they die either, but what do I do? What are these choices you're talking about?”

–you think I can know everything? I don't know what's the reason your backing this yet, its just guesses that I have.

Cale stayed silent, he was contemplating if he should tell rok soo or not, he wouldn't lose anything but he feels uncomfortable opening to someone after so long, plus this is one of his tightly hidden secrets, should he really be opening to someone he doesn't even know their face like this?

He said he can give him choices for this situation and help him protect the county to keep his family safe, cals could tell rok soo really wants to help.

“Its because my relatives are attacking violan and basen. They had been talking behind their backs and tried to convince me to make their life hell, when that didn't work, they went to father to complain. I wanted it to stop because I knew father wouldn't last long under pressure and he was happy with them so I didn't want them to leave.”

Rok soo silently listened to cale, he could feel the slight shaking and relief in his voice, it wouldn't be noticeable if you don't search for it, but it was there.

–have you tried talking to your father? Or punishing the relatives yourself, you can do that as the first son right? Because they're talking behind your families backs, isn't that enough reason to atleast disown them? Since you're not a royal family it wont be considered treason but it is a crime too right?

Cale hadn't thought about that, but now with his reputation he doesnt think he still can do that. Maybe if he convinced his father?.

“I can't do it now. With my reputation its impossible and they already stopped because of me.”

–act like yourself, like how you do with me and forget your reputation for a bit and ignore rumours, if they return to what they used to do, talk about it with your family. You're not alone, you have a family and a house to come back to, don't do this alone without consulting them.

Cale opened the bottle that hans left beside his bed and took a big gulp of it.

“Ah, you don't understand, I can't do it. They think I hate them, so they hate me in return… They think I'm a burden! I'm the lout of the family, they aren't going to listen…Do you think I haven't tried talking with father? I have been trying before they even came…when I try to bring them up, he stops me because he thinks I'll say the same things my relatives did…. So he started ignoring me after telling me they're my family and not to hate them!”

Cale went on a rant of every time he went to his father and he ignored him, how he had tried talking with him before his step family came but his father drowned himself with work and didn't want to see his face, how after a year he finally called him only to find he has a step family. 

He told rok soo everything, taking a gulp of wine between his words, once he started he couldn't stop he wanted to spill everything, it had suffocated him and deep inside he was waiting for someone to comment, to atleast repremand him for drinking or breaking things.

Once he was done he took a last gulp of alcohol and was searching for more.

“Dammit, he only bought one… Ah I really want to throw something.”

–No Cale, one bottle is enough today, and don't break it you've been whispering for a reason, aren't the children with you?

“Yes yes, I fucking know! I brought them, I have to take care of them. I'm not going to wake them up when its the first night in who knows how long they can actually rest in a bed!”

–we'll continue later then, you have to sleep too.

***

Cale hadn't woken up early this time, considering how late he kept chatting with rok soo it was obvious.

He woke up at lunch time since no one bothered to wake him up today, hans was busy with basen because he was going to the plaza and needed extra hands.

–cale I have decided.

“what now old man? I'm running away and that's final, its already too late to talk it out with father.”

–I decided 2 things, you promised to listen to what I say for the info right? You are not getting anything out of me until you talk this shit out with your father or the countess. Second, there's a four year old dragon on the way that is being abused and will go berserk to run away and destroy a city.

“D-dragon?! Wait more importantly why and who has the guts to torture a dragon that young? Where are its parents?!”

–the thing is, you're going to have to either kill it or help him out before he goes berserk and I have a plan for the latter.

Cale sat up straight from his previous relaxed position.

“And? Continue talking, I'm not leaving a child to kill itself trying to escape torture, I'm a bad person but not a monster!”

From there rok soo started explaining his plan, which he said ‘wasn't really a plan’ which cale strongly objected and kept ranting about why it is a great plan and about how rok soo should learn about self appreciation, which rok soo made sure to let the words go into one ear and out the other.

The kittens had explored the mansion while cake was asleep, he made sheet scold them and today them not to wander around without saying anything, especially when no one knows they're here other than him.

“No one is supposed to know I have you! You know my reputation, so why would you leave like this!? Do you know what bad people might do if they found out I'm taking care of you?!”

Hong had his head down while on was infront of him and the one taking the blame for leaving.

“Why are you mad? We only left for a bit and no one noticed.”

On tried to argue, she knew her brother would blame himself for this but she didn't see the reason why they should be shouted at.

“Do you know how many enemies I've made? Who the kind of people I piss off? Or how my relatives are? Do you know the amount of times I had to see my favorate things destroyed or ruined because of such people? If they know I'm taking care of kittens some may not hesitate to kill you! I'm fucking worried not mad, kid!”

On stayed silent, she now realised why cake was lecturing them, at first she thought he just wanted to lock them up, she thought maybe he is just like the rumours say, but she was wrong once again about him.

Her fur that was standing tall came down, she thought the life of the trash was a carefree life where he does everything he wants without consequences, but unlike what she thought, Cale was here not able to care for anything without keeping it a secret.

On imagined if she was in his place,she wouldn't be able to keep her brother with her if she wanted him safe but she can't bare to leave him either, a question came in her head.

‘Is that why he's distancing himself from his family? To protect them?’

On was half right in her predicament, she was on point about protecting them but the reason was wrong, his relatives would possibly kill them because of heir position not because he loves them.

On had her tail down, she seemed apologetic after realising that cale is worried not mad because they left without permission, now that she's feeling guilty, she lowered her head just like her brother.

Cale sighed, now that already the oldest understands why she shouldn't go out, he felt bad about screaming at them, they didn't know and he hadn't warned them, it was his fault aswell.

“”I know staying in a room all day is not fun, but next time warn me and tell me where you're going or I'll go with you. If you want to stay, you have to listen to my rules.”

He got a meow and nod of confirmation, he felt relieved at that.

“now, stay here and hide under the bed if someone comes in, alright? I need to go talk to my father quickly.”

After announcing he's leaving he closed the door behind him and headed towards his father's office.

–they all have been doing such things to you aswell? 

Cale hummed and murmured, the maids looked at him strangely for it, but he didnt care. Rok soo and him are the only ones who can hear and understand the murmurs anyway.

“Hm, yes ofcource. Did you think they'd leave me alone after I refused to work with them to take down the countess? Are you stupid old man?”

–you didn't bother to tell me about it? Are you seriously saying no matter what it is, for years, your relatives have been ruining everything you love?

“Well, I used to like birds, especially mocking birds. They're smart and mother loved them too, but because my relatives knew it, they would find all kinds of dead mocking birds on my window, after a week I couldn't look at the mocking birds and ignored them so they stopped.”

“Another time was when I was 10, I had just started acting and stopped my studies, there was one toy and handkerchief mom bought for me, I always had them, so the relatives told their kids to attack me and ruin them infront of me. There was many of them against me, so I got beat up while trying to take them back but I managed to get them back, they were ruined either way, I still have them though.”

.

Rok soo listened to many stories, with every word cale said his blood was boiling and he wanted to loot them dry, torture them and break them before throwing them in a cell for what they'd done and enter to torture them when he remembers.

Before cale could notice, he was already infront of deruth’s door, the count had exited the door to see cale standing while murmuring something.

“Cale? What are you doing here?”

When cale heard his father's voice, he lifted his head to look at deruth with wide eyes.

He could feel basen, who was standing beside deruth, staring at him.

“Ah- I- No, I-”

Cale started stuttering, he was focused on talking with rok soo he forgot everthing he was planning to say, he heard rok soo's sigh.

–repeat after me, can we talk inside?

“Can we talk inside?”

deruth seemed surprised but nodded, basen was going to go but cale stopped him.

“I-its something connected to you-”

–who are you talking to?

“Basen, so how about you come too?”

Cale, heard rok soo's question and found a way to answer while talking, he did it instinctively, his instincts were telling him he's going to need rok soo's help.

“O-ok”

Basen agreed and went into the office hesitantly, deruth and basen sat opposite cale while cale sat alone.

“I- plaza-”

–repeat, I want to go to the plaza.

“I want to go to the plaza.”

While Cale tried acting calm, internally he was panicking and cursing.

‘ I forgot what I wanted to say, I swear if I end up in more shit because I'm listening to this fuckng bastard old man I'm going to find a way to drive him crazy!’

“you- what!?”

Deruth was surprised that cale would ask to go there.

–can you try telling me what he's saying?

“W-why would you want to go to royal gathering- No you can't go cause a ruckus, I can protect and compensate for everything you do here but I can't let you go there!”

Cale was murmuring while deruth talked, he had whispered every word deruth said, which reached rok soo.

–I'm not going to cause a ruckus there, I want to rest, I'm not going to drink there I promise.

Cale repeated the words, he didn't like the last sentence but he agreed it was necessary to convince his father.

“This isn't something like a vacation, you can go on one your own, not in the king's birthday celebration.”

Before rok soo could say anything cale spoke up.

“I want to meet my friends. Its been a while, with them I'm going to behave I promise. I haven't seen Eric since forever, and he was sending me messages every day.”

Deruth seemed to think about it but the answer was the same.

“No Cale, its said the heir has to go and you're clearly not going there for that.”

“We don't have an official heir, so going both wouldn't be a problem right? More than one can go if there's no official heir!”

“Brother-”

“if you do anything there, I can't help you. I will leave you to handle the consequences this time.”

Cale's eyes lit up with excitement, he had been thinking about Eric before but more importantly now he can protect his brother in a different way than that trashy persona he put on, he can protect his brother without his mask this time.

“thanks father! I'll be ready in a bit, I promise I wont make basen late.”

Cale had forgotten all about his mask from the joy he was feeling, maybe the idea rok soo made sure to stitch in his mind that there are other ways to protect them, and because he has been putting the mask off for a while now, it slowly started to break or atleast its being forgotten.

Rok soo had noticed it but didn't say anything, the moment cale entered his room and closed the door, he begun talking to rok soo again.

“I did it! I convinced my stubborn father and talked with him normally! We had a discussion!”

He said it loudly, so he got weird looks from the new residents living in his room, he could see the judgmental eyes on was giving him.

“Sorry…anyway, we're going on a little trip kids, so you'll have to hide in the bag.”

On stared at him with sharper judgmental eyes.

“No, listen first! I explained before reasons, and I'm going with my brother to the plaza. I'm not leaving you here alone with no one to care for you or give you food while I'm away, so hiding it is. I promise the bag will be big and comfy with pillows inside, and it won't leave my hand with obvious holes for breathing.”

On nodded hesitantly, but when she saw the big bag stuffed with cale's bed pillows with a big hole in the bag, she layed down  and found it comfortable. She refused to get out with her brother and slept there while cale continued packing.

Cale finished in an hour and a half, he was holding the kittens bag carefully while entering the carriage, refusing to give it to someone else just like he promised them.

After everything was ready they started heading on their way.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

While Cale was on the carriage, rok soo didn't shut up once.

– do you remember what I said? Remember the details, you're going to stop at the village the baby dragon will go berserk in. You will arrive early so its better to save him and-

Cale cut him off, he's tired of hearing the number of guards and the description of the place, yes he wants to save the dragon but he already memorised everything.

“This is the fucking tenth time you repeat this, I memorised this shit already, leave me be, you workaholic!”

–I am not a workaholic! Ugh, whatever. Now that you memorised the layout, you need a plan.

“Later, I wanna rest! My head is going to explode from you!”

Cale almost flew from his seat at the abrupt stop.

“Why the fuck did you stop?!”

Unlike his past mumbling, that had gotten basen to stare at him for, he was screaming making sure the people outside the carriage heard him.

‘He was acting so differently in father's office, its like he's a different person now.”

Basen didn't mind the screaming, he was observing cale. He wanted to get closer to cale but he was scared before. But after the talk with his father and him, he found himself unconsciously observing cale.

He acted so differently, he couldn't imagine the trash person that everyone saw in cale that moment, he only saw an excited and focused cale that wanted to achieve a goal, it was weird but he couldn't associate the trash personality with the person who he saw in his father's office.

Hans had opened the door and was talking to Cale, but basen had his full focus on cale.

“What the fuck happened?”

Hans was explaining to Cale the situation, the marquis stann carriage was infront of them and that venison was screaming at an old man on the street.

While hans was explaining, basen noticed the bag Cale insisted on keeping with him move.

At the moment, on was looking through the space cale left for hong and her to breathe, she was observing cale just like what basen was doing before, she compared the cale here with Cale when he's in his room alone with them, the cale that pets them while mumbling or reading.

She found that cale was acting, she had suspected it before but now she's sure, because unlike the stressed and worried cale she saw before and thought was mad, if she observes enough she can see the calm and calculated eyes of Cale.

It was enough proof for her, eyes can tell so much and the calculated look on cale's face tells enough that he isn't acting out of rage or irrationality like he shows the world he does.

Hong was tapping her as if asking what she's doing and why is Cale screaming, she went back into a comfortable position and cuddled with hong reassuring him nothing is wrong.

Basen kept his eyes on the bag, it had stopped moving for a bit but not long after it moved again.

‘What is inside the bag? Why did Cale insist on keeping it with him?’

Questions he didn't have before filled his mind, he thought it was just another tantrum cale threw for no reason like the rumours said he does, but now he wonders why.

Cale had gotten off the carriage, after understanding what was happening, he wanted to move on and stop the stupid venion.

From how much he heard rok soo repeatedly curse venion out and what he did to the dragon he couldn't say the man's name without atleast one curse word before it.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Cale was looking at venion and the commoner that was on the ground. He noticed the blood on venion's clothes.

It wasn't much but now that he knows where it could've come from his eyes clouded and he was cursing venion while swearing to free the dragon and make sure he gets his revenge.

“I have not had any reason to come to this area, and have only heard stories, but I heard there was someone in the count's family that was a free spirit and doesn't seem like a noble.”

‘What a fancy way to say you heard the rumors.’

Cale was judging every word venion was saying, he glanced at the old man that was hit by the carriage, he seemed hurt but thankfully is still conscious which means the hit wasn't too strong.

‘He still needs to go to a priest or have a potion though.’

Cale was ignoring venion's rambles until he heard basen's name.

“I heard that the young master basen henituse had been taking part on all of the gatherings of nobles since last year-”

Cale didn't like the sound of basen's name on that motherfucker's mouth, so he cut him off like proper trash.

“yeah, so what? I am that ‘free spirit’ and basen is in the fucking carriage. Now go back to yours and let me continue my outing in peace. Your voice is annoying.”

Venion's smile twitched, he was barely holding back, and cale could see it. Cale had a mocking smirk on his face that broke venion's composure completely.

“You trash-!”

“Oh ho, what a great coincidence? You seem like a free spirit as well, not following etiquette too, lets have a drink together later, you seem to be like me!“

With that venion returned his composure to prove he is not like Cale, he said a few pleasantries and walked away.

Cale couldn't help the small chuckle that left his mouth, he couldn't wait to steal that dragon and see venion's sorry state.

“Hans, lets get on our way, we need to find a place to stay.”

Cale was about to move but the commoner stopped him.

“Y-young master!”

Cale turned around to look at the commoner, he hesitated after cake turned around but continued talking.

“Um..I-I own an inn if you'd like to stay in it… i-its not much but inns in this place are a bit full but I have extra rooms and great alcohol, if you'd like as a thank you for helping-”

Cale cut him off, he understood what he man wanted and didn't want to hear more.

“I didn't help you, his voice was annoying and I wanted to move on in my trip because I'm tired. But sure I'll accept. Lead the way.”

***

After cale got into his room, the first thing he did was to open the kittens’ bag to let them get out and stretch.

“The trip we longer than I thought, was the bag comfortable?”

Cale worriedly looked at the kittens while they stretched their limbs.

“It was big enough to move, nya”

“Yes, nya”

Cale had a relieved smile and went into the bathroom to change.

On kept observing him, he was the kindest human she met, yet he lets people think he's trash for some reason, he is a weird human with absolutely no selfish desires, even though he's a noble.

The moment cale entered the bathroom rok soo started talking.

–cale you need a plan, I think the cats are from the fog cat tribe, ask them for help. 

“You want me to let children fight?!”

rok soo gasped offended.

–who said anything about fighting? Fog cat tribe can create fog, they'll stay hidden but use their power! You need help, don't you want to save the dragon?

Cale sighed, he isn't strong enough to fight the guards just like rok soo said in the carriage and he needs to use stealth. He had no choice but to ask for the kids help.

“Fine”

–also do you know the human pressure points?

“The what?”

–human pressure points, places if you hit, you can paralyse someone with or knock them out?

Cale answer was straight forward and he had second guesses on trusting rok soo.

“No, I do not and I'm worried why you do know them.”

–my life isn't fun and games, now lets teach you some. You'll need to knock people out, later I will teach you the paralysing ones.

–so I will teach you 3 fatal pressure points, first back of the neck, right in the middle, the worst case scenario if you use it wrong, the opponent will die, so unless its sparing its the best way to use. Second the chin, and lastly the head in the middle is the most fatal and easiest, but for all of these to work, you need excessive strength, so using a weapon would be the most efficient, but you need to be stealthy because a dodge may be the reason they have an opening to kill you.

Cale listened to rok soo's lesson while laying on the bed pretending to sleep, he had gone out of the bathroom before rok soo started the lesson.

He was sure there was no way he'll forget anything with rok soo repeating what he said a thousand times, so while rok soo repeated the lesson for the fifth time cale actually slept with rok soo's voice as a relaxing audio on repeat.

Cale hadn't slept around anyone in years, he couldn't physically close his eyes with someone in the room anymore, rok soo wasn't really there but when he talks his presence is known to cale, but instead of making him feel paranoid it seemed more like a relaxing lullaby to cale, a lullaby to reassure him he's safe even though he's not in his room in the mansion.

Even the cats in his room, he only slept when he was sure they were asleep first. But now, he didn't feel the need to check, he slept before making sure they were asleep.

***

Cale had woken up to silence unlike the last few days, rok soo hadn't said anything from the moment he woke up.

“Are you sulking right now? Seriously?”

–I am not sulking, brat!

“You sure you aren't? You haven't mumbled a word about the plan unlike yesterday.”

Rok soo didn't say anything, cale sighed.

‘Isn't he the older one? Why is he acting like a child just because I slept while he was repeating the lesson?’

“Old man, for the sake of the young dragon don't hold grudges, plus I swear I heard everything and memorised it. The back of the neck, could kill someone, recommended if its an enemy not a spar. The chin, and lastly the head. All need excessive force so a weapon is recommended and use stealth. See? I listened to everything.”

After convincing the grumbling old man, he went back to normal, and started planning again.

–ask the children for now so we can plan ahead.

“Yes yes, but I'm still not happy they're helping.”

–Have you ever heard of the saying beggars can't be choosers? No? now you have. We need all the strength we can get.

“Fuck you, how do I even tell them?”

–bluntly is the best option.

Cale looked at two kittens cuddling on the floor and called them to sit on the bed.

“I want to save a dragon child from torture.”

–you're gonna give the poor children a heart attack.

‘You're the one who told me to be blunt, you hypocrite!’

Cale wanted to shout at rok soo but the children were infront of him so he held back.

On was staring at cale confused and horrified at the implication the child is being tortured.

“...And I may need your help, so can I know what abilities you have? I guessed you're from the fog cat tribe so…?”

On broke the awkward silence that stayed for a few seconds.

“I can create fog, the more it is the harder it is to control it, nya”

“Poison! I love eating poison and whatever I eat I can make! Its easier to make low level poison like paralysis!”

“Poison and fog? That's great! Will you help me? I promise you'll stay safe and won't get seen, we can put charcoal on your fur to hide you too.”

He repeated their abilities to tell rok soo indirectly what they are.

–it really is, poison is a rare ability and together with fog its perfect. Now all you need is an alibi.

“Ok, so what do you think, do you want to help?”

On nodded hesitantly, she thought about it and as long they wont be seen they shouldnt be in danger, and they have to repay cale somehow.

“then we are going to move tonight, but let me do something first.”

Before talking with his father and packing, rok soo had told cale to buy specific clothes while he bought the children new clothes.

And he had to sew the stars rok soo described right now. 

He had learned how to sew from his mother, she had said it may come in handy even if he's a noble, after all she needed it and she was noble before her family fell too.

“Now I need an alibi, I have an idea.”

Rok soo didn't comment, he had guessed what it was and he didn't like it but he couldn't think of something else.

 Cale left the children upstairs obviously and made sure to convince basen is occupied with knights and taking a walk.

Cale had ordered multiple bottles from the bar's inn and started drinking.

–its not good to drink too much even if your resistance is strong.

“beggars can't be choosers right old man?”

Cale had stayed in the bar drinking til night time, hans had noticed how he'd mumble alot these days, he wondered if its a new habit of the young master after being beat up or if he's always been like this and he just didn't notice.

‘Ron would've known. I wonder where he went? He was the closest to the young master, I didn't think he'd leave.’

Hans started wondering about ron and how he is, his thought process always went to ron when he noticed new things about cale, he wonders if ron knew about it each time and notices how little everyone actually knows cale.

All they ever know about him are rumours.

‘Does anyone even know what his favourite food is? What does he do other than drink?’

Hans felt concerned after noticing these things, no matter how rude Cale is there should be atleast one person who knows such simple things right?

***

Night came and cale pretended to be drunk and threatened hans before entering his room and closing the door.

‘This would've been so much harder if ron was here.’

“Are you ready kids? Have you hid the ball I gave you?”

They answered positively before the three of them jumped out of the window and went near viscount tolz's mansion.

***

“You hid it pretty well, good job.”

Cale had told the kids to hide the magic disturbance tool anywhere near this place properly and he was impressed.

He bought it anonymously for a huge amount of money from billos, the greedy son of a merchant, it was easy when all it took was money.

Rok soo had taught him to use the enemies plans against them or steal their ways if he can't counter it, venion uses magic devices to keep the dragon, then he'll use magic devices to stop them.

The kittens that were covered in charcoal acted as if it was nothing but cale noticed on's nose twitching. 

Cale chuckled before he heard the noise of the magic devices being disturbed, cale tapped hong to release the paralysis poison.

On worked to make the fog, it was so little the fog would barely be noticed only if you searched for it, it was mixed with a paralysis poison without color.

Cale petted the two kittens then moved stealthily to hit the back of the neck of all the paralyzed guards with the back of a sheathed dagger, making sure to knock out the stronger ones first that can get rid of the poison faster.

Some made it and got rid of the poison but on quickly acted and covered the area with fog, allowing Cale to move without alerting them and hitting the back of their necks.

He had to fight some, but the poison weakened them and rok soo taught him a few techniques to dodge and paralyse, he hit someone right above the knee causing the leg to not work for a second giving cale time to hit him properly on the head and fall down.

“Don't come near!”

He saw someone he identified as the torturer that rok soo explained how he looks, knowing he'll explode if hit he looked at hong who received his signal and poisoned him with stronger poison than the others.

Cale didn't want to make the kids work too hard and made sure they won't use too much power unless necessary.

After making sure the torturer can't move and was on the ground, he went to the dragon's cell and smelled the stench of blood.

On the ground was the tied up injured bloody little dragon, cale went closer to the dragon and removed the dragon's shackles.

“Lets get you out of here.”

Cale carried the dragon and went outside the cell, he put the dragon down and started knocking on the wall, after finding the place rok soo told him about, he put an explosive device under it and activated it before backing away to the children.

It exploded, at that moment he held the dragon again and ran through the exposed tunnel.

After he was far enough he put the dragon down, and took out gloves and grabbed the dragon's neck.

The dragon closed its eyes shut and the kittens couldn't help but gasp even though they knew this human was kind and wouldn't hurt the dragon.

Cale used the knife to cut the mama restriction chain on the dragon's neck, he quickly took out a potion and made the dragon drink it.

Only after seeing the dragon healing did he notice the dragon's wide eyes looking at him.

“Surprised? Don't be, not all humans are as bad as that fu-”

–children

Rok soo doesn't want the children around Cale swearing, one is enough, he sweard plenty for a kid and he doesn't want the children cale adopted to turn as stupid as him.

“Ba-”

–Cale!

“Guy… Anyway what do you want to do now?”

Rok soo had long noticed cale had a soft spot for children, no matter what species they are as long they are children cale wont see them anything but that.

“I know you can talk, dragons are smart”

“I…I will live”

The dragon repeated what he always thought of when he was stuck in that cave.

“I will go away.”

He'll get as far away from this place as he could.

“I will not be tamed!”

“yes, you wont be. Your a dragon, the strongest species to walk on earth, learn and grow so no one could get their hands on you again.”

cale could see the hesitance and hatred in the dragon's eyes, but he couldn't blame him, humans are indeed the worst even in cale's eyes.

“I will not take care of you.”

‘I can't take care of a dragon, that will be overdoing it, cats are explainable if someone saw them, but a dragon?’

Cale absolutely had no intention of taking him, he doesn't trust humans either. if he got found out, who knows what those greedy fuckers will do?

“Liar! Humans are good at lying.”

“Yes that's true, I'm a very good liar too.”

‘Acting in a way is lying.’

On stared at Cale, she knew what he meant and she hated it, why would he lie to destroy himself like that?

But the dragon held contempt in his eyes, not anger directed at Cale, but general anger directed at humans that trampled on his pride.

cale stood from his crouching position then took out some mid grade potions and a small pouch from his magic bag, he put the potions in a bag and gave it to the dragon.

“Live freely.”

Cale moved on his way, the kittens followed him and the dragon stayed in his place but instead of looking the the stars and sky, he was looking at cale's back as it got smaller and smaller the more cale walked away.

Cale heard the two kittens whispering behind him, on wondered.

“Cale nya, if the dragon followed us what will you do?”

Cale thought a bit, he didn't think it would be possible because the dragon hate humans but if he did he would probably find a way to take care of him while hiding him like the kittens.

“Don't think too much about the what ifs.”

He didn't want the kittens to think about what ifs like he does, he wants them to play around and not worry about the what ifs or the future, showing he does to the kids may make them paranoid. 

Kids should run around and play, not think about such things.

“Oh, did you send that letter after hiding the ball?”

“Yes nya”

“Don't worry nya.”

Cale had given the kittens a letter to deliver for him, to young master Taylor stan, the crippled son of the marquis, after cale asked for who did the ancient power he'll get next belonged to, rok soo answered and he got more hesitant to take it until rok soo explained it only got him despair and was a waste of time for Taylor.

After that cale became adamant on helping Taylor and rok soo told him about the one time use ancient power of the first prince, and said to do with the info what he wanted.

That was to send a letter to Taylor telling him about it.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

Agh, leave me alone, you bastard!”

Cage got an unpleasant surprise by the god of death's voice while she was drinking. He was telling her about the letter they received.

Taylor and her were on the balcony after hearing a noise and found a jar with a note under it.

God of death was warning them that if they broke the jar, Taylor would find a solution for his legs but at the price of his peace and getting involved in trouble.

“My life never was peaceful anyway.”

Taylor decided to break the jar and opened the note.

<you're searching for the wrong ancient power. It only heals injuries after acquiring it. Search for the first prince and his ancient power. Instead, it's a one-time use ancient power named healing star. He's desperate for a way to keep the crown prince position and support. Remember, your legs may be paralyzed, but you're still alive, so there's still hope>

That was what's written on the letter, reminding him there's still hope as long as he's alive and giving him a solution.

“Prepare a carriage.”

***

Cale was asleep on his bed, on and hong were in the open bag they traveled in, also asleep, but there was an extra addition of an invisible black dragon on the window hugging the basket cale gave him.

***

For some reason, cale woke up tired as if he wasn't asleep at all. He knew why he woke up like this as it happened before.

From the number of times he woke up and found out ron was staring at him until he woke up, he hated how familiar the feeling was.

Ron found it amusing that cale could wake up because he could sense someone staring at him and found it the easiest way to wake him up.

cale identified the feeling as ‘being stared at to the point his mind perceives it as a threat to wake him up’, and because his senses would be on edge while asleep he wouldn't feel as if he actually had any sleep.

‘Who was staring at me though?...’

Cale decided to ignore everything. No one was staring at him. He is just paranoid because he slept outside his house.

Lying to himself, Cale got up to get a hangover drink, his head hurt a bit, and he needed to make sure the alibi of him being drunk the night before worked.

“Noona, cale seemed uncomfortable today. Should we tell him about soon to be the youngest?”

On stared at the door, cale went out of before responding.

“when he comes back.”

***

Cale was sitting at a table, drinking and minding his business, but he heard the vice captain talking, he had took many guards with him because his father and the countess refused to let him and basen leave without atleast the vice captain and many more guards with them even though cale tried to tell them there was no need for too much guards.

“Yesterday, some of the guards were drinking and relaxing after a long journey. Nobody left the inn. But I still don't understand why someone from the viscount’s estate would be curious about that.”

‘there it is.’

This was exactly the info and rumors he wanted to hear right now, he needed to be sure the alibi was believable, he told the inn owner to give the guards whatever they want and put it in his cheque.

The vice guard was talking with a Knight from the viscount estate that cale was sure was actually from the marquis Knight in disguise.

“There was a thief that broke into the viscount’s villa yesterday. A couple of guards and I were on guard, but we lost a few items to the thief.  After hearing that people from Count henituse's estate were here in the village, we came to see if the thief stole from the count as well.”

‘What a smart way to avoid saying you want to accuse us’

If the guard had said that he had come to check if someone came out from the count's estate to make sure they had no relation to the incident, it would be seen as disrespecting the count and accusing them without proof.

Cale took a gulp of the alcohol in his hand. He and the viscount Knight made eye contact.

“what the fuck are you looking at?”

Cale glared at the Knight who averted his gaze, he was considering throwing the bottle but reevaluated the thought as he took another gulp of the precious alcohol.

The vice captain smiled awkwardly, embarrassed about his young master's actions.

“The young master is having a hangover drink from drinking too much the night before..”

“I see”

Cale could practicly hear the words ‘I guess the rumors were true’ hidden behind the short answer, and reconsidered throwing the bottle again.

‘No, cale. You're trying to make an alibi, throwing a bottle and screaming at the Knight is not very alibi helpful’

He was calming himself and convincing himself not to throw the near empty bottle in his hand.

“Then I wish for your safe journey as you travel today.”

There was not much to blame them, other than they were in the area there isn't much to trace towards them. Plus the ones who saw his outfit would think its the arm organization, because kim rok soo told him to sew their logo mark on the black clothes.

‘Plus, I wouldn't really seem smart enough as I'm drinking on my way to a summon from the crown.’

He drank what was left in the bottle and went to his room to pack as they are going to continue on their way today.

He entered his room and the moment he closed the door the kittens jumped on him. He hurriedly caught them before they fell.

“What do you want?”

“The dragon was here at night, nya!”

“Yes, nya, he was on the window at night!”

Cale felt something clicking in his mind, but nope he will ignore everything he decided to ignore before.

“Ignore him.”

A knock was heard and the kittens jumped from his arms and hid under the bed.

‘Their reaction speed is admirable’

Cale opened the door to find his brother on the door, he panicked internally.

“Um…c-can I talk to you?”

Cale stepped aside to let basen in, his brother entered the room and cale closed the door and sat on the bed.

“What do you want?”

Cale had a stoic annoyed face, he didn't want to interact with his brother, he really doesn't want to be mean towards his brother.

–who is it?

This was the first time rok soo commented today, rok soo was busy fighting and didn't find a reason to talk with cale. But now he finally defeated the monster and was patching himself up.

He felt the slight panic masked with annoyance in cale's tone, so he decided to intervene.

Cale didn't reply to rok soo, he had the attention of his younger brother and he needed to do it indirectly if he wants to reply.

“W-well, I was wondering if….c-can you come out with me next time? I-I mean, in the capital, can we please hang out there? I-its the first time for me in the capital and I would like to hang out and walk with you…”

Cale immediately answered to both rok soo and basen.

“Basen. I'm not planning on going out in the capital, don't bother me with your exploring journey.”

Cale could see the disappointed sad face of basen, he really wanted to go, he wants to show his brother everything his mother showed him there and hang out with him, he was really happy his brother wanted to hang out with him, but he can't do it. 

The family safety comes before his wants, if the family needs a bad child, he will be the bad child.

–cale, both of us know you care and want to do it. Loosen up a bit, you're not in your county.

Cale ignored rok soo, if his relatives find out he's closer to basen they're going to torment him more and may try to do something to basen.

“Get out if that's all.”

Basen looked even more dejected but walked to the door anyway. Before leaving, he asked a question.

“Can we ever hang out? Any time you want, I just want to hang out and get to know you more.”

Cale stared at basen, if basen gets to be the count, would he have a bit of more freedom to do it without harming basen?

‘it's a stupid thought, I shouldn't think like that. The relatives would probably try even harder when he's older. They would result to assassination at some point, I'm sure.’

“I don't know, get out.”

Basen finally went out, cale really wanted to cry. This is exactly why he doesn't want to interact with his family. He tried to be nicer without dropping the trash personality and he didn't swear once, but would basen care or even notice? It's just details no one ever tried to look into and it didn't matter to others as much as it mattered to him.

–...you're way nicer to your brother, I know you care. You want to hang out and get to know him too right? 

Cale was startled, he didn't expect rok soo to comment on anything he said, he was rude and when he's acting rok soo never commented on it. He always acted as if he wasn't acting in the first place as if everything was normal.

Cale appreciated when rok soo did that, the first time he did it, he was a hit worried about rok soo's  reaction but he acted as if it was nothing, only commenting to find out why would he act, he didn't make comments like the rumors about having to be nicer to people or about how trashy his attitude is or even about how he can change in an instant like right when his brother entered.

–you shouldn't avoid your brother, he did a move to try and befriend you, he doesn't hate you like you thought.

“if he didn't before he definitely does now.”

–what makes you think that?

“you didn't see the look on his face.”

Rok soo could feel cale’s emotions in that sentence, cale was mad, tired, desperate, afraid, and regretting what he said. Cale was mad at himself, tired from acting, desperate to convince himself he's doing the right thing, afraid of giving in to his emotions and having an unknown future, and the regret is eating him alive because he was rude to his brother.

–...’I'm really not good at this, why should I deal with comforting a teenager anyway?’

Rok soo was contemplating what to say, but couldn't find anything.

On had long since gotten out of under the bed with her brother, she had told him to turn into his human form and prepare they're comfy traveling bag.

She looked at cale and called for him several times before she noticed he was mumbling again so she left him to do whatever he wants. But after a while of him staring at the floor, she went up beside him and tapped him.

“cale, nya!”

Cale was startled at the sudden touch and looked at on.

“hm, what's wrong?”

“I should ask you that question, nya! You've been staring at the floor and we finished packing and preparing the bag!”

“ah, I must have been daydreaming again. Don't worry too much about it, on. I'll get ready and we'll be moving.”

Cale petted on a bit, before moving to finish packing.

***

Cale and rok soo hadn't talked to each other after that, they learned to tune out each other while talking and got used to it enough not to get disturbed by the other as long as they don't scream.

Cale was on the carriage again with the bag beside him, he noticed basen staring at it long ago, but ignored it.

“hyung-nim, what's inside the bag?”

Cale stared at basen, contemplating what to tell him with a stoic face, before remembering his trash mask.

“none of your business. “

‘Being trash gets you the best excuses.’

Cale returned to looking at the window leaving basen to stare at the bag the kittens laid in. 

After a while they arrived at puzzle city, it was easy to to finish the procedure of getting them in because of the huge turtle on the carriage

‘Did the black dragon follow us? I hope he's ok, he shouldn't travel to long destinations without knowing much about them like this.’

While cale was blankly staring at a window and thinking about the little dragon kid, on was looking through a hole. 

Cale had positioned the bag in a way that they could see the window if they peek through it, on was looking and checking everything before allowing hong to do it after her.

Hong was going to say something about the rock towers before on quickly put a paw on hong's  mouth and pushed him down gently while shaking her head.

Hong understood his fault and cuddled with his sister quietly, he can ask cale about them later.

The luxurious Inn also had a similar rock tower,

“We're staying here?”

Hans quickly replied to cale's question.

“Yes sir! We reserved it for everyone until the end of our stay, the rooms weren't too expensive because we arrived right before the rock tower festival season.”

Cale held the kittens bag and headed to his room, the moment he closed the door hong went out and begun talking.

“Why is there so many rock towers on windows?”

On got out after him and looked at cale waiting for the answer as well.

“Hm…I think I read about them before, it was something about them building it because god isn't listening to their wishes and they break it if they achieve their wish or dream?”

On and hong looked disappointed with the story, their interest in them completely vanished after hearing it.

Cale thought about the ancient power he's supposed to get now, rok soo said that a man spent 100 years building a rock tower, well not exactly build because he kept destroying it whenever he's close to finish it, he died at the age 150 and he build it back up half way before dying.

‘What wish did he want? Whatever, I should build the tower then destroy it to get it’

“I'm going out.”

Cale left the kittens at his room after telling them to hide if someone came and went on his way.

***

Cale went to the ruins and searched for the cave rok soo told him about.

–did you find it? It's a bit hidden and the entrance is small so you have to crawl in.

Cale found the cave and crouched down to look at the entrance.

“Dammit, why didn't you tell me before I came here? I could've worn the black clothes you told me to buy, not the expensive shit I'm wearing!”

Even though cale kept grumbling and cursing rok soo under his breath, he went in and crawled through the cave.

–when you reach a point where you can stand, wind will start coming your way, you'll have to push through it, but the shield will help you.

Cale listened to rok soo's instructions quietly as he finally stood up on the ground and was going to start moving forward.

“N-no! You will get hurt! You're extremely weak!”

Cale paused and looked behind him when he heard the kid's voice.

‘Ah, it's the dragon.’

“Shh, wait a bit.”

Cale mumbled for rok soo to stop talking and focused on the dragon.

“Don't worry about me, I have a shield”

Cale put up his shield to show it to the worried dragon.

“Don't intervene, let's talk later, yeah? I'm going to go fetch something but I can't get anyone else involved so don't worry.”

“I-im not worried! Just go, but I'm not leaving!”

Cale nodded and continued on his way, he was pushing through the strong wind with the shield to get to the rock tower.

The black dragon was focused on cale, he kept looking at the white wings that are different from his own.

–I regret it.

Cale could hear an old man's voice which he guessed to be the past owner of the ancient power.

-ahem, I regret it.

–haah, another sob story…why do I have to hear those too?

Rok soo sighed, he didn't really care about the ancient powers, the only reason he's actually helping cale is because he's bored and they can communicate even if he doesn't want to. Plus he knows cale won't leave him alone if he doesn't. but he doesn't understand why he should hear those ancient powers too, isn't cale enough? He doesn't need more annoying voices in his head.

–the one that has a power I am familiar with, I hope you don't get this power.

Cale stopped, he didn't care about the ghost haunting ancient power, he wanted to know something else.

“Old man, will this affect the process of getting the ancient power?”

–probably not, I think the power he's talking about is the glutton, and I am not that old!

“Your nickname is old man, deal with it.”

While the ancient power was rambling about his past and how he regrets not being able to fight in the war with his comrades that died in the battlefield and that he was the only one alive, cale was focused on two things. Pushing through the wind that's getting stronger, and bickering with rok soo.

“Well, it's either workaholic or old man, and I hate that word so it's old man.”

–you brat, why do you even think I'm old?

“1, you're not telling me your age, 2, you sound like an old man. I told you this before!”

–I am just 36, if you asked I would've told you my age. And if I sound like an old man, you sound like a whiny brat, which you actually are.

“You think 36 is not old? Ha! See you proved me right old man!”

While bickering cale was having difficulty pushing through the strong wind, but after taking a last step in the calm area it sounded as of its raining all around him.

“Ok , ok. Delusional old man, I'm infront of the rock tower should I just build it up now?

–yeah.

–were you even listening to my story?

The ancient power was trying to talk to them, but they both completely ignored it. Cale put on gloves and started building the rock tower.

“Old man, you have powers in your world right? What are your powers?”

–record, basically I can record everything I hear and see, and instant.

“Woah, that's useful.”

Rok soo hummed thoughtfully.

–Hmm, yeah if it was a normal world, not one filled with monsters.

“Right I almost forgot. Anyway, I built the tower now what?”

Cale stood up from his crouching position and looked at the tower he made.

“the rocks are way uglier than I expected. But its built.”

–I really don't want to give the ancient power to you…

“old man you said it shouldn't affect me if he doesn't want to right?”

–yeah, just break it, you'll probably get it either way if you complete the test.

–how do you even know what to do? Isn't it cheating if you knew the test all along? And who are you anyway?

–an otherworlder. Anyway can you get this over with brat?

Cale kicked the tower, the moment he saw the power he took it. 

“let's head back, I'm tired.”

–of course you are, the moment we arrived you hurried to get this. Go rest brat.

“And go try to talk with people properly, old man.”

From there another bickering started all the way until cale got out of the cave.

“Ah, you're still here?”

Cale was surprised to see the dragon waiting for him outside of the cave.

“I thought you hated humans, but if you want come with me.”

“....you're so weak you need protection, but I still hate humans…”

Cale could see the black dragon disappear, probably used invisibility magic but he could still notice the slight dent on the grass.

Cale chuckled at the four year old dragon's antics and went on his way.

‘I guess he'll follow me in the end, thankfully he atleast can hide himself.’

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

After the small fight with wind and breaking a rock tower, cale headed home with a dragon following.

But what cale didn't think of was making an excuse for his dirty clothes.

“Young master, what happened to your clothes?!”

Hans ran towards cale, the first thing he noticed was cale's dirty clothes.

Cale panicked, he didn't have an excuse planned because rok soo failed to warn him about crawling into a mountain to reach the ancient power.

“I….rolled on a mountain.”

–pfft..ehm

Cale could hear rok soo coughing and struggling to stop a laugh.

‘You old fucker, this is your fault and you dare laugh at me? If only I could get my hands on you…’

Cale was ready to jump on rok soo if he ever gets to see his face, he kept swearing at him trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere and focusing on his hatred towards rok soo at the moment.

“I see..young master, do you want to take a shower? I will prepare warm water for you.”

Hans moved on to prepare the shower for cale, he waited for hans to finish before getting in the shower.

–do you know where choi han is? Had he moved before you and your brother?

“For fucks sake, will you let atleast take a shower in peace?!”

–the cats are in your room, the bathroom is the best setting for you to talk freely and I'm free right now which doesn't happen often now answer.

“Oh really? It doesn't sound like your very busy when your focusing on my life nearly all the time.”

–I work at a night shift and I'm a team leader, and my team fights monsters. Do you think I'm free for this shit? Talk. Where is choi han.

Cale scoffed at rok soo, he actually didn't know what to say as a comeback.

“I don't know, he left before us by a day I think. Why would I care about the movements of someone who beat me anyway? And why do you want to know?”

–he's the main character in the book, do you think I'd magicly know the timings of events? I need to know where he is to figure out when the hell is some events going to happen.

“the plaza isn't here yet.”

–if that's the only thing that happens, do you think this would be a 5 volume story? Try to get something from hans, I won't involve you in things that won't help you like saving a wolf. I just need to check if something is different from the book.

Cale thought about it, trusting the book while changing the context really wasn't a good idea, this is his life not just a book, there is no going back to write things differently for him, yet rok soo who's not living in the book is being more cautious than him.

He felt really useless, this is not something for him to deal with, he's not an expert and he's not skilled in anything in particular, so why was he the one talking with rok soo right now? Why is it not the main character who's actually useful and gets into events not receiving the info of the future?

“you're right, trusting the book isn't a good idea. Plus there is a limit to the info. Just don't get me involved in anything stupid. I'm not the main character.”

–I know, plus you're still young. Why would I involve you in things that won't affect you?

“fine, I'll look into it. Wait, isn't that bastard younger than me? Why would you say-”

–No, he’s actually more than 150 years old. I'm not that worried about him, plus he's a sword master and has been fighting monsters in the forest of darkness ever since he was 17.

“What?!”

Cale yelled, surprised at the new information about the bastard who beat him, he got beat up by someone who’s probably older than his great grandfather that wears a fucking 17 year old mask, of course he's surprised.

–ugh, lower your voice! Now I have a headache because of you.

Rok soo groaned, hearing a normal scream and hearing cale scream in his head are two different things that he doesn't want to experience, who knew a voice screaming in your head would be more painful and annoying than someone bursting your eardrums?

After that they both ignored each other, rok soo had some paperwork to deal with and cale got out of the shower to continue his day.

Cale went out to find the two kittens on his bed fidgeting.

“What did someone see you?”

On made eye contact with cale while hong looked away.

“Can we get a dongsaeng.”

On blatantly asked while keeping the staring contest between her and cale.

“Depends.”

“It's a dragon.”

Cale realized what on was getting at, he shifted his gaze somewhere on the bed before quickly looking back at on.

“If its about the dragon we saved I told him to follow me If he wants, and I can see the dent in the bed.”

At that moment on finally looked away.

“I let him in without asking because hong wanted to meet him. Can we have him as our dongsaeng?”

The dragon lifted the invisibility magic he had and stared at cale.

“Sure, if he wants. Now get ready we're going. And you.”

Cale stared back at the black dragon.

“It's safer if you keep the invisibility magic. I don't trust humans either.”

The dragon had a confused look on his face, but on understood why.

Cale had manipulated a whole city by just rumors enough to make him hated. Why would someone who can see through how humans search for any little thing to attack and turn their backs on you, trust them?

That's without mentioning those power starved people, that just made it to the top of the list of the worst beings on earth for cale because of what happened to the dragon.

Everyone had gotten ready and the kittens were sitting on the bag waiting for cale to close it.

“Alright, I'll close the bag now.”

“No! Don't lock them in a bag!”

The dragon rushed to step infront of the bag and take a defensive position.

“Don't worry, it's just because it would be bad if someone saw them just like how it's better for you to hide too. I made sure its comfy and that their ok with it.”

“Yes, youngest! You should try it too! It's super comfy, tell cale to make you one too!”

Cale rushed to stop hong from continuing to talk.

“No, he’s so much bigger than both of you. No bag will be big enough for him to feel comfortable while traveling and with it closed.”

“fine.”

The dragon grumbled, but stepped aside to let cale close the bag, making sure it had enough holes for both kittens to breathe from.

After he's done, the bag turned invisible, cale turned to look at the dragon.

“What? It's safer right?”

Cale just nodded and carried the invisible bag, but also felt it float away, he looked back at the dragon worried this time.

“It would be weird if they saw you carrying it invisible and I don't trust you.”

“but wouldn't it be too much? I don't want you to get tired from using too much magic.”

The dragon glared at cale.

“I'm not weak! Dragons are mighty, I am great and mighty!”

‘Ah, right he's a dragon.’

Most of the day went for cale in a carriage, the kittens bag was on his lap with the dragon next to him this time, basen was sitting infront of him like last time.

They prepared the campsite, cale felt hungry and ordered the servants to cook something, obviously while cursing and shouting at everyone.

While cale was doing that the dragon was glaring at him observing his actions, the kittens noticed that so on intervened.

“Don't judge him when he's outside, he has his reasons to act like this but he actually is so kind to us.”

The dragon looked away and continued talking with on and hong, he decided to trust on’s judgement, she acted trustworthy enough for him and she's not human.

After the food was ready cale started eating outside, he couldn't get himself to eat more than a bite of steak before tossing it aside for the dragon.

He had been drinking so much less but the work of 10 years isn't just going to disappear after a few days and he didn't cut out drinking completely, he needs to go back to it later.

His eating disorder that came from drinking too much isn't disappearing any time soon, plus the only chef that can make food he can atleast eat half if not quarter of depending on how much he drunk that day is not here anymore. 

So he just was drinking the soup and left the steak for the dragon and kittens.

While cale was eating outside, a carriage stopped infront of their campsite

‘What is it now?!’

Cale was frustrated, he wanted to relax. Ever since he got beat up and started to hear rok soo, he's been on his nerves, its tiring and he thought he will get some rest finally before going to the plaza but noo god forbid he get rest, to the point god sent him a carriage to annoy him…

Cale noticed the guards checking on the carriage took too long so he went to the commotion.

“What is it?”

When the guards stepped out of the way cale could see a man with light blonde shoulder length hair and a dark haired woman. Taylor Stan and…someone?

‘oh fuck, I didn't think this through at all…’

Cale realized the paper he sent caused him and Taylor to cross paths, he hadn't thought about that possibility at all.

“hello, young master, I'm sorry for the intrusion. I'm Taylor Stan and this is Cage a prie-”

Cale cut him off, if he needed info he knows where to get it, and all he needed is names.

“Taylor Stan and Cage? The crippled older marquis stan’s son? What are you doing here?”

Rok soo's attention went from his paperwork to cale instantly.

– the crazy priestess Cage? I was hoping you’d avoid the two because after taylor’s death Cage, the priestess of the god of death, went crazy. She tortured the assasins and killed them with curses until she was excommunicated.

Oh how much cale would love to see rok soo’s face just to bash a bottle at his head.

‘then why the fuck did you not tell me? How did it pass over your stupid head that I may need to know who to avoid if you want me to avoid them?!’

Cale was so done with rok soo at this point, he realized rok soo is the worst and best person to come to for info, somehow that's the only way cale can describe this man's stupidity. He has the info but doesn't know how to converse properly to share shit.

Cale had spaced out as he focused on rok soo, Taylor explained why he's here but only snapped out of his daze after Taylor called his name.

“Young master cale?”

Cale was startled at hearing his name, forgetting everything that was said in the past 10 minutes.

“Hm?”

He made a confused expression, after getting brought to reality he needed a moment to organize his thoughts.

When cale realized where he was and what he's doing, his eyes went wide and his face had a slight flush from embarrassment, before quickly going back to his stoic expression.

“Ah, I didn't hear you, what do you want?”

None of the guards noticed as they weren't looking at cale, but Taylor and Cage definitely did, they first thought that cale really had a trash personality because he brought up taylor's crippled state as if mocking it.

But after seeing him zoned out both thought he was pretty cute and maybe the rude comments are just blunt ones that cale does without noticing.

Taylor explained his situation again for cale.

‘I'm kind of the reason they're here anyway, so it's unreasonable to turn them away and I don't own the land.’

“Why would I care what you do? This is an unowned land, do whatever you want.”

Taylor and Cage definitely reconsidered their opinion of cale, not only he didn't make any other comment about Taylor being crippled, if you see it in a different view, cale seems to just be blunt and doesn't care about etiquette.

They met venion, so of course someone like cale would be normal, kind even.

Cale decided to get in his tent and try to sleep, if he wants rest the only way to get it is to sleep. No one can send problems his way if he's asleep right? 

He wasn't really hungry anymore and it's not like he could eat anything else even if he wanted to, so sleep is the best option to rest and ignore whatever is happening outside.

The kittens layed next to him when he tried to sleep, they didn't really sleep this close to him before so he felt a bit weird about it.

‘I guess it's understandable, this is a new place to them and we're camping out now not in an Inn or anything like that. They used to live in the streets but that doesn't mean they're comfortable outside.’

“are you going to sleep nya?”

“mhm”

On cuddled closer to him after hearing his answer but hong jumped up.

“it's too early, nya!”

“the trip was long, let cale rest, nya.”

Cale patted both of them and warned them not to go out.

“don't go out unless the dragon uses invisibility magic on you. And hide the moment you hear someone come in.”

“there's no where to hide, nya”

“where do we hide, nya!”

“you can come under the blankets, or if you have time go to your bag. On, you know how to close it right?”

Both kittens nodded, cale went to sleep trusting on not to let her brother venture out when she knows it's dangerous to be seen.

Because he slept in the middle of the day cale woke up at night, he tried to sleep again but couldn't. 

The cats were sleeping beside him, so he slowly got up without waking them and went outside to get some fresh air.

“hm..I like this. The night is quiet and there is no one to act for.”

Cale decided to sit down under a nearby tree while looking at the stars, he started humming a soft lullaby.

–you're awake?

He flinched and his eyes widened at the unexpected voice.

“why the hell are you awake?!”

–I should be the one asking you that question!”

“I slept early, now what's your excuse old man?”

–work

“I knew you were a workaholic.”

Cale looked towards Taylor stan’s tent, there wasn’t any guards but one.

“isn't that unsafe especially when you're camping beside someone?”

Cale mumbled what he thought out loud but of course the voice in his head can't miss it.

–what are you talking about?

“Taylor Stan, he only has one guard.”

After answering rok soo, he heard rustling in the ground, he looked towards the voice just to see the black dragon coming from the forest beside the campsite with a boar.

Cale blinked and stared at the dragon who was staring back.

“w-why are you awake, you weak human!? You're not supposed to be awake!”

The dragon was glaring at cale who caught him in the act of bringing a boar, the dragon wanted to leave it so they could cook it.

“I can wake up whenever I want, now mind telling me why you are awake in the middle of the night and dragging an animal's corpse?”

The dragon took a defensive position infront of the dead boar, as if hiding it from cale’s view.

“i-its for on and hong! I wanted the servants to cook it for them!”

In reality, the dragon was too embarrassed to say that he brought it because he didn't see cale eating much and thought it was because of the meat, so he hunted fresh meat for cale that he thought he might like to eat.

Cale sighed and went closer to the dragon.

“Do you want to eat it too? It's your prey. But come on, let's sleep. We'll make it tomorrow for the three of you.”

“I'm not sleeping with you in that thing!”

The dragon pointed at cale's tent, he didn't trust cale yet. He was kind to him, but he also was screaming at other people. The dragon wasn't ready to trust a human yet.

“fine then, if you sleep outside you'll have to protect that tent then.”

Cale pointed at taylor’s tent, he didn't like to use children, but he's irritated by how unguarded the tent is and this child is a dragon. A little weak barrier spell wouldn't affect a great mighty dragon.

“hmph, dont tell me what to do, I'll do whatever I want weak human!”

Even though the dragon’s words seemed to deny what cale wanted, cale could see the faint barrier on the tent.

‘this kid is a ball of contradictions…’

Cale stood infront of his tent and opened it gesturing the dragon to enter.

“Just for the night come in, its cold tonight. Sleep on the kitten's bag, it's big enough to fit you just won't close so you'll have to use invisibility magic if someone comes in.”

The dragon was grumbling but followed cale anyway.

The next day, cale woke up early. even though he didn't sleep at night, being out in the wild isn't exactly comfortable so he couldn't keep himself asleep with all the noise outside and in the tent.

“Cale! Someone is coming in nya”

With on's scream, the dragon quickly casted invisibility magic on the three of them.

“Good Morning young master. Young master basen wants you to come outside.”

“What the fuck do both of you want?”

Cale glared at hans, he noticed how hans started to act differently, its as if he's not as scared of him as before, instead he's watching him and testing him.

He didn't like when hans acted scared from him but he definitely doesn't want hans to start testing the waters with him as if he's a wild animal, observing what ticks him off and what doesn't.

‘Should I go back to throwing bottles? But I promised not to cause a ruckus to my father. Just wait till I go back into the family's territory!’

“there seems to be a dead boar near and-”

‘oh shit, the dragon left that there.’

Cale covered his face with his hands.

“fuck off, I have a headache.”

The moment hans left, the dragon turned visible again and started complaining.

“they better not throw my gift away! Those ungrateful humans! Weak human don't let them touch it, it's for on and hong!”

“unfortunately, I don't know how to cook so if you want them to eat it others will have to touch it. But I promise not to let them throw it away. ”

Cale got out after getting dressed, he came closer to the commotion where his brother and Taylor, followed by Cage pushing the wheelchair, was.

“I'm sorry young master.”

“No its ok-”

“What the fuck is going on?”

Basen and Taylor, who were talking, looked back at cale.

“brother, its nothing just-”

He looked at the boar on the ground and cut basen off.

“What the hell is this doing here?”

“I'm sorry young master, I think my mivement has been detected.”

Cale could hear Cage murmuring behind Taylor.

“How did they escape my detection?”

At this point he was considering going back to bed and ignoring everything, but he's the reason why those two are traveling either way, it makes no sense to leave them like this.

Cale sighed And tried thinking of an excuse, he can't have them stressing like this because of the dragon he saved, plus he was the one who forgot to hide it when he saw him bring it at night.

Everything is just telling him it's his fault and he should fix this at this point.

“don't act like worrywarts, I saw someone put it there at night, he's someone I know and forgot to put it away. He likes to hunt. Now go back to your tent, I'm tired and you're causing a ruckus for no fucking reason.”

“I apologise young master…”

Both Cage and Taylor apologised for the hassle they caused, basen was staring.

‘when did he have the time to befriend someone? And why are they following us?’

Basen had alot of questions but was too afraid to ask, just like the rest of the servants and knights who were also blankly staring at cale.

“You.”

Cale picked a random servant and pointed his finger at them.

“Take this and prepare the meat.”

“Y-yes, young master.”

Some servants came and got the boar to start preparing it.

“you two.”

He pointed at Taylor and Cage this time.

“Eat something and get going.”

Cale noticed both Cage and Taylor's hesitant behavior, but they decided to say what's on their mind anyway.

“Young master, you're going to the capital too right? Can we go with both of you if you don't mind?”

Cale felt conflicted, rok soo is talking to someone right now and has been busy since last night, but he told him not to get affiliated with both of them, at the same time he felt its his responsibility to help since he's the one who forced them to move.

“Talk with basen about that, I couldn't care less about what both of you do.”

Cale went back to his tent after making sure everything was taken care of, he sat on the bed and pet the kittens. He was waiting for rok soo to finish his conversation.

“Are you done?”

He was mumbling to the point he barely can hear himself because the children were here.

–yeah, what do you want?

“Finally! Taylor and Cage want to come along, you told me to avoid them since Cage goes crazy when Taylor dies. But if he lives there shouldn't be a problem right? I mean we can use them too. Didn't you say he was searching for ancient powers for quite a long time now?”

Cale wanted to analyze the pros and cons of helping the two, but he didn't have enough info about them since he never interacted with them, so he went to his personal human analyser for help to decide.

–well yes, as long as Taylor gets his legs with the help of the healing star nothing should happen to them and they'd have a debt to pay for you. Though I wouldn't tell them about the letter if I was you. it would be a hassle coming up with an excuse for knowing such a thing about the crown prince.

The kittens got tired of hearing cale's weird murmurs that didn't make sense and went to play with the dragon, cale let them go and layed down.

“Yeah, there is a higher possibility of him getting his legs back, so there is temporarily no cons, wow. It's definitely a good shot to try to get him indebted to me.”

Kim rok soo was honestly surprised by cale's way of deciding things.

–’At this point he's born to be a strategist, he hasn't touched a book in years and he's able to analyze situations like this? This brat has a terrifying mind’

“Anyway, what were you doing all night?”

–Fighting monsters. A breakout happened.

“What? Why were you working this morning then?!”

–haah, you're just like them. I was having an argument just now and my teammates basically locked me in my apartment for this.

Cale wondered how this old man’s teammates even deal with him, he already had a headache from just listening about this.

–why does everyone think I'm tired or hurt all the time? I just don't want work to pile up so I can rest later.

“You really find nothing wrong with this?!”

And that's how rok soo received an hour of scolding from cale to take care of his body and that work after fighting without rest is unhealthy, especially after pulling an all nighter.

After getting ready they continued on their way to the capital, stopping every now and then to rest. That was how they traveled until they were at an Inn a day's worth of travel away from the capital.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

After everyone settled at the inn, cale heard a knock at the door.

‘Fuck, not again. Please let it not be basen!’

Cale got up to open the door while hoping that he doesn't need to act like a jerk to his brother like last time.

“Hello you young master.”

Internally cale sighed in relief that it wasn't basen, he was met with the faces of Taylor and Cage.

“What the fuck do you want?”

Even though cale's words seemed hostile he made way for them to enter the room and went to sit down.

“cale henituse the trash that cant go a day without alcohol”

Of course they heard the rumors about him, cale really doesn't understand why everyone is interested in rumors, people find it fun to judge others and mock them until they break down, even if they do break down they still continue to talk. They never want to mind their business and cale can't understand what's so fun with that.

“but I don't think that's all.”

“Cut the bullshit. I'm too tired for pleasantries, what the fuck do you want?”

Cale didn't hesitate and immediately stopped taylor, he has an idea what he could want from him and really doesn't want to hear any crapy excuses that no one believes in, like he's a ‘free spirit’ or some shit.

“I really think you're different from the rumors, young master.”

Cale just nodded, he played along to get this over with and for Taylor to start talking, he really didn't have the energy to argue.

“It should be fine if we share a drink before we go our separate ways, right?”

He sighed but accepted the drink anyway and waited for Taylor to get into whatever he wanted.

“What kind of person do you think I am, young master?”

The moment cale realized Taylor isn't planning on getting into whatever he wanted right on like he hasn't been shamelessly staring at him from the moment they met and how he is infront of him right now, he decided to end this as fast as possible

“I don't know who the fuck you really are, we just met. Now can you just get this over with and say you want money? There's really not much someone with a trash reputation and a lot of money with the love of alcohol can give.”

Honestly, Taylor and Cage were impressed. They didn't think it would go smoothly at all, they were hesitant and thought about going to basen instead but their curiosity took the best of them.

“You're right, we'd like to ask for this favor.”

“Shameless bastards.”

He did curse them but still got the pouch he prepared beforehand after deciding to help them, and put it on the table.

“Thank you for your help, young master”

“...”

Cale silently stared at the table, it was the first time someone thanked him in a very long while, he was considering helping them a bit further since they are going to the same place.

“I-....”

“We'll excuse ourselves then.”

“Wait! You said you don't believe the rumors right? You piqued my interest so I will help you further. I can help you enter the capital.”

Taylor was surprised, he really didn't believe cale was like the rumors at all but he didn't expect this either. It confused him.

“What would you even get from this?”

‘Shit why did I have to open my mouth? Did I really want my cover to be blown this badly?!’

Cale quickly thought of a half assed excuse.

“As I said you piqued my interest, plus, now I'm curious why the crippled son of the marquis wants to go to the capital so desperately to the point he's willing to beg for money.”

Even though it was half assed it came out perfect for his trash reputation, it has been a while since he did something bad or acted drunk after all.

‘Have I been too careless now? But I promised not to do anything outside of the territory…I've already broken my promise because I drank some alcohol for alibi and now…’

Cale pushed that thought for later, he didn't have time to think about this and nothing seemed to change for now. His relatives aren't making any moves as they probably haven't noticed anything.

He excused Taylor and Cage after confirming they're staying for the night and going with cale in the morning.

Cale sighed and threw himself on the bed while staring blankly at the ceiling. He felt movement on the bed and looked down to find the kittens coming closer and laying next to him.

“Today has been a tiring day right? Sorry you had to stay hidden for a bit longer.”

He spoke with a soft voice to the children completely unlike the way he spoke with Taylor, he pet them and heard them purring until both fell asleep.

–what were you talking about with those two?”

Cale got in a more comfortable position, making sure not to move too much so as to not wake the kittens beside him.

“didn't you hear me? I'm too tired, you should understand the basics without hearing them.”

–brat, I have my own life too, you know. I'm not going to follow up on every step you make. And you still haven't asked about choi han.

“stop nagging, alright. I will ask tomorrow. Taylor came for financial help but I wanted to help more so I could use him better on the excuse that he caught my attention.”

–it's good you did that, he'd be more grateful which would allow you to ask for more favors, but you want to keep your reputation right? What if he goes around saying how kind you are for helping him?

“ah shit, I should've threatened him or something. I should be able to do that tomorrow right?”

–do whatever you want.

With that, cale drifted to sleep.

***

Cale woke up with a paw on his face.

“Wake up, nya!”

“that orange haired servant is here to wake you nya!”

Hearing on’s words and the doorknob turning he jumped up and hid the kittens under the covers.

“young master- oh you're awake.”

“Of course I'm awake, I'm not dead yet.”

Hans put the tray of the cold water and put it beside cale.

“I prepared cold water like you always want it in the morning. I'll prepare the bath now.”

Hans became a bit more observant and now knew certain things cale likes and dislikes just how ron used to.

Cale didn't know if it's a good or bad thing, on one hand he's becoming a better servant on the other hand he doesn't want to have a hard time like before with ron. 

He's been a bit more relaxed in his acting and movements ever since the person who observed him the most left, he really didn't need another person to focus on him.

Ever since hans realized how little everyone knew about cale when he saw him drinking before saving the dragon, he had made it his job to learn more about him not just to serve him.

He had noticed a couple habits other than the muttering, he seemed to space out a lot and he stiffens around people, especially his brother.

 He also has a habit of playing with the lid of an alcohol bottle when he's spaced out or anything he could put his hands on.

It wasn't much, but it was something, and hans was proud he learned a few more things about his master. 

Though his personality always seemed like a mystery and he can't find a way to learn anything more about him other than the rumours of him being rude and a drunkard.

He couldn't see the difference of the way cale acts with certain people, it all sounded rude to him or simple temper tantrums from an angry child, that's all he could see in cale. He has become a lot less afraid, especially when he noticed cale wasn't holding much bottles outside of the territory which he guessed was the work of the promise the count told him of.

After packing up, they got ready to head to the capital, cale had surprised basen and hans when he announced that Taylor and Cage were coming with them. 

The only thing he shared was that and said they didn't need to know anything else, but he did explain to his brother that it was just a deal he did with them and that he didn't need to worry.

But obviously he did it while cursing, and did not include the ‘not to worry’ part. 

But he did notice his brother's expression, that was sitting next to him this time, relax a bit even though he kept stared at the two extra passengers in the corner of the carriage.

The carriage started to move. They were two hours away from the capital.

The dragon made the kittens invisible again and they were on his lap, the dragon didn't want to be left out and also cuddled them on cale's lap that already felt numb from the three children.

‘Haah, If on sat between me and basen and hong sat between Taylor and Cage they would fit perfectly. so why would they want to break my legs like this?’

He decided to ignore the feeling of numbness on his legs and let the children be comfortable.

“Young master cale, do you know anything about this royal event?”

He observed taylor who asked him the question, he had noticed it before but taylor's alcohol tolerance is strong, last night he had no reaction to the alcohol, but its as if he doesn't even have a hangover today unlike Cage who's clearly struggling a bit with the hangover.

Of course he knew why he's going, rok soo didn't stop talking about it for a while and he's anxious about the accident that will happen. He was ready to hang onto any information big or small, even if it seems like it has nothing to do with the accident.

Because even though this info isn't very helpful but knowing atleast the possible reasons for the organisation's actions that could be related to the event is valuable info to cale who barely knows anything about this. After all even rok soo's info on them is minimal.

He couldn't come up with big info as he just figured the organisation only took its chance with a big event to cause chaos and conflicts, but info is info nonetheless to cale.

‘This organisation's leader sure is smart, causing conflicts to happen before announcing war is a smart move, even though the war had a long way to come, there's got to be still some tension from it.’

Cale was in a daze thinking about it and forgot all about taylor’s question until he called on him again.

“Young master cale?”

“Hm? Oh, yes! I'm trash and I barely go to any banquets I'm only here to have some fun and get out of the territory for once. That's why I'm not here alone too.”

Cale pointed at basen who was startled at being addressed suddenly.

“Yes? Oh, hyung-nim did mention he missed-”

“Shut up, they don't have to know.”

He abruptly cut basen short as he remembered the excuse of haven't seen Eric in a while, he didn't need Taylor and Cage knowing any of that when it already was a slip of the tongue and an excuse infront of his father and basen.

Taylor tried to fix the awkward atmosphere and went back to what he wanted to say.

“I see. The event this time is to celebrate his royal highness’ 50th birthday, our current king.”

Cale hummed while looking out the window, he wasn't interested to hear what he already knows, plus he got what he wanted and its not such an important detail.

But he also murmured something that this time was audible as he did it unconsciously.

“Hm, such a fun and festive day it will be for the citizens.”

Cale meant it sarcastically as he was thinking about the chaos that will happen and possible deaths, but taylor didn't know that.

He had another point of view, it did sound sarcastic but also sad to him as he didn't know the actual reason.

“Is it not a festival to you, young master cale?”

“Why would it be? Is there a reason for it to be a festival for you then?”

He acted dumb as if he didn't know exactly why Taylor was here.

“It is my last obstacle until I celebrate.”

Basen who was listening to their conversation, responded to Taylor as cale didn't seem to even care and ignored the last statement.

“I hope you achieve whatever you came here for then, sir.”

Taylor thanked basen and returned his attention to cale.

“Young master, be careful with his highness the crown prince.”

This time what Taylor said got Cale's attention as he turned his gaze to Taylor's.

Basen noticed and also focused on Taylor.

“Even though the event was planned before, the crown prince was the one to request gathering the nobles.”

Cale mumbled something inaudible that only he and rok soo heard this time.

“Oh great, so the crown prince is the reason why I'm here trying to protect my brother from the terrorist attack.”

Because of the accidental mention of the crown prince, of course rok soo butted into the conversation.

–crown prince? What brought that up? Ah. Did I warn you about his glib tongue? He compliments people, getting them to like him and uses them for the kingdom.

‘and isn't that a crucial piece of info I'd liked to hear about earlier to plan for, my dear stupid old info storage?’

Cale now knows when he gets into his room the first thing he's going to do is get rok soo to tell him info about every person he's going to meet in the future. 

He doesn't only have that incident to worry about, he also has a reputation to keep!

But for now he listened to Taylor who was struggling to find a way to describe the crown prince.

“I'm not sure how to describe the crown prince to you…”

“A glib-tongued scammer.”

So cale had to say the unfiltered answer of course, which basically was the felony of talking behind the crown's back.

“Ah yes! No I mean-”

Apparently, Taylor fully agreed to this, but had to take back his answer when he realized what he agreed to. 

Basen also was pale and didn't know if he should continue listening or not, he wished he had something to cancel out the conversation so he could have a choice not to listen.

“well- anyway, so you know about it?”

“he's from the Royal family, I'm not an idiot to come knowing nothing about them. It's basic knowledge to find if you search for a second. I'll atleast know how to handle the royal family.”

‘you hear that rok soo? It's basic knowledge to atleast know about the royal fucking family!’

Cale wanted to scream the unsaid words at rok soo but couldn't say a thing as Taylor is infront of him.

–it's a bit much to call him a scammer considering he only uses people for the kingdom.

Cale mumbled an inaudible answer for rok soo.

“It's still using someone. For his own gains or not it's still scamming someone to do his bidding.”

The mumbles didn't pass by Taylor, he didn't hear anything he could understand but he noticed this habit of cale mumbling to himself. It already was the 3rd or 4th time he saw and heard cale mumble on the carriage.

He was a bit curious but didn't say anything about it, while basen stared at cale trying to hear what he's saying.

“Anyway, young master. As you already know it's tiring to get involved with such a person as the crown prince.”

“I know. I promised not to cause a ruckus to be allowed to come anyway so I'll be quiet.”

Taylor, Cage who was still struggling with her hangover and even basen who heard him say it already but hadn't really expected him to keep his promise were staring at him, he could even feel on staring at him too, even the dragon!

‘Ok, why is the dragon staring now too?! Is it really that unbelievable? He isn't even supposed to know about the rumors so atleast he doesn't have a right to judge!’

For the rest of the trip Taylor continued to tell a story to basen and cale, basen seemed a bit interested while cale looked as if he wasn't even listening when he actually was.

Cale really wasn't interested in a hero's story, he knows he'd never be one and thinks they're stupid for prioritizing the world over their family or friends. He knows he's selfish and that's exactly why he can never be one, he realized that when he was 8 after his mother died.

His family and loved ones mean more to him than the people, he used to love such stories but after experiencing the loss of his mother he couldn't see himself taking care of other people or paying attention to strangers health when he has a family to spend his time with.

If he could he wouldn't leave the side of his father, he's only like this because of his cursed relatives, if it wasn't dangerous to be near them he would've never left them or acted rude to them.

He'd rather spend every second he has to live with his family than take care of a stranger. 

No matter how much time he spent with his mother it never seemed enough, even when he was with her daily, even when there wasn't a day that got by without seeing her it never was enough time for cale.

He wasn't going to leave his family's side for a moment if it weren't for the dangers, he couldn't make the same mistakes when he lost his mother so fast the moment she left his side. He isn't making the same mistake twice.

Even now, the moment basen was planning to go out of the house, he was going towards danger. What was going to happen to basen if rok soo hadn't warned him about it before it was too late?

After hearing the story of the boulder hero who stood tall cale had went into his thoughts about protecting his family and couldn't hear anything else of the conversation, but after realizing they were in front of the capital entrance, his eyes went wide and he looked at Taylor and Cage.

“Quick-”

Before he could say anything he noticed that they had already used the invisibility pendant, rok soo recommended to use to hide them.

They went through the check up and passed through it perfectly, basen was confused and wanted to ask questions but he knew cale wouldn't answer him.

‘Wow, that old man is terrifying. He found a loophole through security when he isn't even living in this world…’

He was a bit worried about not passing security but now that he did he was worried about the terrifyingly smart rok soo.

They has arrived at the henituse resident in the capital and got out of the carriage while leaving Taylor and Cage there.

Cale had only told hans about his reasons and told him to get Taylor and Cage wherever they want after they arrive.

Hans was sitting beside the driver to tell him about the orders. 

He knew it could be a huge hit for his image to hans and he knew his father would probably hear about it, but it was the only way. Plus he only mentioned he's doing this because he's curious and it's breaking the law so his reputation wouldn't take a huge hit.

It may even become worse to hans because he's doing it, there wasn't much to lose and his father would probably ignore it as long as he doesn't cause a commotion just as he promised.

He stopped thinking about it and went to his room with the invisible children following, he could feel the wind from the dragon's moving wings and hong had practically climbed him because he was too tired from walking. Even though he couldn't see on he knew she was following because hong was on his shoulder and she doesn't leave her brother's side.

He laid on his bed, waiting for rok soo to finish a conversation so they could talk about the plaza incident since it's coming near.

–are you in the capital now?

“Yeah.”

Cale was mumbling again, on glanced at him when she heard his inaudible murmurs but ignored it after and continued playing with her brother and the dragon.

–Did you finally ask hans about choi han? 

“Haven't you heard me asking hans about him when I told him about Taylor and Cage? Are you going deaf from old age?”

–brat, you know I don't actually hear you and it's complicated. Your voice is like a thought in my mind so stop calling me old man! I'm not that old. And no I didn't hear you, because I was fighting at the time.

“Yeah I know. I heard you screaming at your team while fighting, I just wanted to piss you off. Anyway he told me that bastard left a day earlier than me, the celebration is after a week from now.”

Rok soo began telling cale where exactly the bombs were described to be in the book.

–but don't trust the book too much, let the dragon help in detecting them, and you'll probably need to go around snatching necklaces and other bombs on people that look like jewelry, so you'll need the invisibility pendant, thankfully it isn't a one time use item.

“yeah.”

After a while planning with rok soo, on jumped on the bed and patted cale with her paw.

“we're hungry nya!”

“ah, you didn't eat anything after breakfast, right? Give me a minute I will tell hans to bring you something.”.

On stared at cale, he barely ate a piece of grape in the morning and said he wasn't hungry and now he forgot to eat and probably wouldn't have eaten if she didn't remind him, but she also caught up on the fact he isn't including himself again either.

“Are you going to eat nya?”

“I'm not hungry, I'll just order them to bring food for you, I'll eat later I promise.”

–Cale, are you skipping meals?

He could feel on’s worried gaze and rok soo’s question didn't make it any better, he had a headache and stomachache since the morning because he was drinking yesterday night, he drank the bottle Taylor and Cage left him that night, it wasn't much for him but it still caused him to feel like throwing up after.

“I'm really not hungry, on.”

“but you haven't eaten breakfast, nya!”

“I did eat with you breakfast though.”

On sighed, she realized this isn't going anywhere and decided to just leave for him some of the food for later.

–cale, did you really eat breakfast or not? I did hear you say that grapes was enough for you and for the children to eat this morning.

‘why the hell do you remember- ah right the record ability….’

“can you record our conversations too even though you don't hear them?”

–don't try to shift the topic, why aren't you eating?

Cale sighed, he really couldn't run away from this conversation, he knew rok soo isn't going to let this pass. It was the first time someone focused on his eating habit, he was always out of the house and everyone just assumed he ate there and never bothered.

“haah, will saying none of your business satisfy you?”

–No, I know you're not eating and that information isn't going anywhere even if I want to ignore it.

“yes I know, I was just trying my luck. My stomach hurts and I throw up when I eat so I don't usually eat much, happy?”

–do you even eat at all?

“Why do you care? I ate something today and it's enough for me, I'm not hungry. I'm not going to die from starvation.”

–you need to tell someone so they can make you soup or anything that you can digest, grapes aren't a meal and I doubt you even ate much of them.

“Forget it, old man. I'll eat when I'm hungry.”

There was a knock on the door and hans came in.

“What is it?”

“Y-young master, choi han and some others are here. Young master basen told me to tell you because they have an injured child and he wants you to know before making a decision…”

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

Cale was looking at choi han's group that was standing in front of the mansion's entrance, choi han was glaring at him, while basen was standing next to cale with an awkward expression.

At first, basen didn't hesitate to tell them to leave, choi han beat up his brother, he would never let that slide like their father did. Basen didn't feel any positive emotions about choi han since hearing about the incident. 

But once he saw the sick teenager choi han was carrying, he couldn't help but feel bad for him, the teenager did not do anything wrong, and just because he hated choi han didn't mean he could let this person possibly die from sickness.

But at the same time, cale was here, and letting the person who beat him up enter his house is not something basen would do without consulting his brother, no matter who's at risk. He is not going to make cale feel like he's in danger in his own home.

“Hyung-nim do we let them in?”

Cale stared at basen. He could see basen worriedly looking at the boy on that bastard's shoulder.

“If you want to help them, do it. As long as that bastard stays out of the house and out of my face, I don't care what you do with the others.”

Cale could feel ron and beacrox staring at him, but he refused to acknowledge that they were there. He completely ignored them without a second hesitation, but questions kept coming into his mind even though he tried to suppress them.

‘Why did you leave? I thought you cared. You always smiled at me and never acted like those cowardly workers, so why?’

He tried to ignore them, to shove those questions to the back of his head, to forget every moment he had with both of them.

“Ok, hyung-nim. Choi han stay here and give the boy to the guard and-”

Cale tuned out everything else and went back to his room he shut the door and laid down on the bed, covering himself with the blanket.

He thought ron understood what he was doing. He really did. Even though he was trying to hide from ron, it always seemed impossible. His observing eyes always looked through him, so why did he do it? Why would he leave if he understood? When Rok soo told him ron was an assassin, it affirmed it more. He couldn't possibly have fooled a professional assassin, did he?

How would a 9 year old do that? Did ron believe the rumours just like everyone else, or did he simply not care and ignore him? Had a professional really gotten fooled by him? He couldn't believe it.

He wasn't really close to beacrox anymore, but he was when he was younger. They used to talk a lot in the kitchen, and beacrox helped him sneak some snacks for him sometimes behind his father's back. He used to call him hyung and play with him. He even learned to make some things with him. It was just small dishes and appetizers, but they had a lot of fun doing it.

Had he forgotten all these things because he insulted the food for a while to save his family? He ate what he could from the plates and stopped after a while by not eating with the family. He couldn't show any type of acceptance toward his family in hopes the relatives would leave them alone.

When he was younger, he always complimented the food, too, so couldn't they see the facade? Couldn't they compare his real face with the mask? Could they really not differentiate his real face and the mask he put on?

A mask is all it took for them not to stand by him and ignore him even watch someone beat him. He hadn't forgotten the sight of beacrox standing there, looking impressed by choi han. Just like all the bystanders who said he got what he deserved.

Tears fell from his face with all these questions he ignored coming up to the surface, he tried to silence them but couldn't, questions kept coming and memories with them before and now coming to him, how they stared coldly at him, all the benign and gentle smiles ron directed at him, they seemed emotionless without any meaning to him now as he looked back at them.

–brat? What happened now?

While cale was having the breakdown, rok soo felt strange, he felt distressed and tense, he thought it may be because of a monster coming or something bad had happened but once he checked around and found that everything was calm and no one was having any problems, he found this feeling even more confusing and strange. Until he heard a sob.

–...are you crying?

Cale didn't respond, rok soo didn't know what to do, the nearest thing he got to comforting someone was him hitting choi jung soo whenever he said something bad about himself like blaming himself for the death of his family, then Lee soo hyuk would say something to him. They did the same with him before, too. That's how they used to comfort each other.

But now it's different, for one he can't hit cale, and for two it's probably not self deprecating thoughts and he didn't even know what happened.

–what happened, cale?

Even though Rok soo said it as a command, his voice was gentle.

–’if I don't get him to feel better, this uneasy feeling won't go away. It's probably something related to the weird ability to talk to each other.’

Rok soo convinced himself it was the only way to get the uneasy feeling he had away and that is the only reason he's going to do this even though he has no idea how to comfort the brat.

–’what the hell is going to get him to talk?’

Rok soo tried to think of any way to get cale to talk to him, he didn't know much about what cale likes, but he knows some things he cherishes. He remembered the kids' clothing, he said his mother bought him and some places he has a lot of memories with his mother in, like the library, study, and garden. He did say he didn't like any of those places but still had objects that reminded him of his mother.

–’talking about his mother obviously isn't going to make this any better. It may even be something about her. What could it be then? He did cry when he realized ron left, too. Could it be about that?’

He found it more believable if it's about ron. When cale mentioned anything about his mother, it wasn't like this. He did sound grieving and nostalgic, but it never led to him crying. He even was willing to give something that reminded him of his mother to the children.

–Did you meet ron again?

“mhm”

–did you talk to him?

“No..”

–then what happened?

“Nothing! I don't know! All of a sudden, the questions came, and I started crying, ok?! I'm just throwing a tantrum like a child because they left, leave me alone!”

Rok soo sighed, now the deprecating thoughts were coming to cale but he couldn't hit him to stop them, so the next option is to try to talk to him like Lee soo hyuk used to with him and choi jung soo.

--You are not throwing a tantrum. You want answers from them. I'm not a fucking therapist so go talk to them if you want. If you don't want to then just tell them to me, just get them out of your damm head.

“If this shit is not a tantrum what the fuck is it? I did this, I wanted this. So why the fuck am I crying because they left? Why am I angry they didn't find out about my act when that's exactly what I wanted?! Its not fair for me to ask why they left when I was acting like that”

–like what?

“A trash, a bastard. I didn't even treat them like they were human. I don't deserve to question why they left when I know exactly why! Beacrox enjoyed watching me get beat up for fucks sake. Why do you even care why I'm crying? Leave me alone, just like before, I will stop eventually. It's just a stupid tantrum that happens because of my choices so leave. You have nothing to do with this!”

Rok soo didn't know what to say, he stayed silent for a while.

Cale cried himself to sleep. After an hour he woke up again because the servants were in chaos screaming.

He got up and went to the commotion, the girl with choi han was fighting off the sick boy that was attacking everything.

“What the hell is happening?”

Cale could only think of one person that could help, he didn't know if he would help or not after what happened just moments ago but he had to try.

“Rok soo! You know choi Han's party right?! You mentioned something about not involving me in saving a wolf or something. Well that damm wolf is berserk and going crazy here.”

–what the hell are you talking about? His berserk transformation is supposed to happen a year later when an elf dies.

“I don't care what's supposed to happen in your stupid book, tell me how do I fucking calm him down?!”

–Usually a family member or an elder does this, but when a wolf turns berserk for the first time it has to drain their strength by attacking someone until they regain their sanity. Is choi han there? Rosalyn, a red haired mage ex princess is supposed to be there too, lead the wolf boy and them to a safe place and let them battle out. 

“Fuck!”

Cale started to scream out loud instead of mumbling to rok soo.

“Hey, you red head girl!”

Rosalyn looked towards cale, she was confused and startled.

“That boy is a wolf right? He's going berserk for the first time. Follow me and make sure he's coming too! Just be careful with him!”

Cale could careless about his reputation right now, he wasn't going to care when he knows his brother may get injured from the berserk wolf boy.

Even though rosalyn didn't know why cale was telling her to follow she did what he said and tied lock with mana restrictions and followed cale while dragging him with her. Cale looked like he knew what he was doing so she decided to do as he said.

Cale led them to the training grounds and screamed at the guards there to get out before letting rosalyn go in with lock.

“fight it out with him here!”

“What?!”

Rosalyn couldn't believe that cale just dragged them to the training grounds so she fights with lock.

“haah, just fight-”

Before cale could continue his explanation choi han barged in, cale couldn't be happier to see him here.

“you too bastard! Go block his attacks!”

Choi han was going to shout at cale and beat him again but rosalyn called for his help.

“now, explain why I'm doing this!”

Rosalyn screamed at cale to explain himself, even if she was angry at him he did seem to know what he's doing and he had an explanation to offer before choi han barged in.

“Focus on blocking or you'll get hurt. I'll explain briefly for now. Wolves first berserk transformation makes them go crazy, they need to drain their power until they get their consciousness back! Try defending for now!”

“How do you know this and how much will it last?!”

“I read it in a book, I don't know exactly how much time it will take.”

–at least 2 hours.

“But at least for two hours!”

“What!?”

Both Rosalyn and choi han screamed in shock, they needed to hold out without hurting lock for two hours.

Cale could feel on and hong rubbing their faces on him, he couldn't see them as they were invisible.

–human what are they doing? Why are they fighting? 

He whispered an answer to the dragon.

“Wolves when they go berserk for the first time they go crazy, that boy is a wolf. The red head girl is a mage. You can learn a thing or two about human magic. I think our library has books about it too if you would like to look at them.”

–I'm great and mighty, I don't need to know how to read, you'll read these books to me.

The dragon doesn't know how to read, but he seemed interested, and he was watching rosalyn too.

‘Knowing human magic may help him in learning how to control his strength. But I'm worried about the two cats, they need to learn how to defend themselves too.’

“On, hong. I don't know much about the cat tribe, but since they specialize in fog I realized they're more of the stealthy type, unlike most tribes that are probably just as large or even larger in size and have more strength. So just in case you have to fight someone from those kinds of tribes, watch closely and see how you can defeat them. ”

The kittens followed his advice and were focusing on the fight, cale sat down on the floor and the kittens sat on his lap, cale felt wind moving beside him and thought that the dragon could've sat beside him.

2 hours of fighting passed by and after lock returned his consciousness, he was resting in the guest rooms. Cale decided to let choi han rest and not kick him out, after all he just had a long fight.

The dragon had bought cale some books and cale had to read it to him. He also started teaching the dragon how to read.

While teaching the dragon, a knock came from the door.

“Hide.”

The children turned invisible and cale put the books away before telling who's outside to come in.

Rosalyn and choi han came in, choi han had a wary face but rosalyn was quite thankful.

“Young master cale, I wanted to thank you for your help. We wouldn't have known what to do, without you telling us about the berserk transformation.”

Choi han didn't glare at cale like before anymore but he still didn't feel like staying in the same room with someone who insulted the dead, even if it was a drunk kid.

“don't bother me, I only did it because he was in my house and he would've destroyed everything and possibly killed someone. Forget about it and get lost.”

Rosalyn glanced somewhere in the room, she could feel something strange with the mana in a certain spot. She stared at it, dazed by the amount of mana in it.

Chai han wanted to quickly get out after lock recovers so he urged her on and she went back with him.

Cale closed the door and stared at the dragon.

“were you messing with her just now?”

“yeah, so what?”

Cale sighed at the dragon child antiques and continued teaching him how to read.

On asked the dragon to turn her invisible to take a walk since she already knew how to read.

While walking around rosalyn was there, she was blankly staring at the ground before she headed towards cale's room again.

On hurriedly went before rosalyn into the room, in the little while on was taking a walk food had arrived and the children were eating while cale was wiping their mouth without eating.

“Cale nya, that redhead girl is coming here. I think it was about when she noticed our dongsaeng!”

The dragon cast invisibility magic on him and hong when he heard someone is coming.

“Come eat.”

Cale calmly told on to eat and not worry about it, he knew the dragon was messing with her after he saw her human magic. Otherwise she could never figure out a dragon's magic.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door, cale told her to come in.

“Hello young master cale.”

The dragon once again was showing his presence and messing with rosalyn.

‘It's closer to the young master. What is it?’ 

“Young master cale do you perhaps know magic?”

What let rosalyn confirm this was the magic books on his bed, but she couldn't feel any mana from him too, so she was conflicted on what to believe.

Meanwhile the dumbfounded cale quickly answered her.

“No, I don't know one thing about magic except extreme basic things.”

Rosalyn glanced at the mana disturbance she feels on the table then looks at the books.

Cale notices and tries to ignore it.

“Is there anything else you want?”

“Some of these books aren't for only basic magic, are you perhaps learning magic?”

Rosalyn was now convinced he was the reason for the disturbance, who else could've done it?

–weak human, that girl is stupid, she thinks you can control mana when you don't have a drop of mana in your body!

‘Well if you stop messing with her maybe she wouldn't think that’

Cale was annoyed, he had to keep up his image, hide three strong and vicious children, take care of them and training them as well when he knows nothing about any of their specialities, and now he has to take care of this stupid mage that thinks he's strong enough to hide his nonexistent magic.

‘right, speaking of the children, I should probably learn more about poisons for hong and find a way to train both him and on about stealth and such. Even assassination if they want. I can't restrict them because of my uselessness when they're clearly talented.’

While cale was thinking of ways to train the children, rosalyn was still staring at cale that denied having magic even though the magic disturbance is so clearly on him.

At the same time after the dragon finished his food he had moved to cale and clung to his head from behind.

–you don't want to reveal any of us so making her believe this is good.

‘No you brat! Hide your magic properly!’

Cale wanted to scream at the dragon to stop messing around but couldn't. While rosalyn made her own conclusions.

‘I guess he wants to hide it.’

“Is that all? If so, get out.”

When rosalyn got out, cale got bombarded with questions from rok soo.

–who were you talking to? Is it one of choi han's people? Did ron and beacrox say something to you?

“One by one old man. I was talking to the red head girl you said was a mage in the bastard's group.”

–rosalyn the ex-princess? Why did she come?”

Cale was baffled at the ex princess part and didn't answer rok soo's question.

“Why the fuck did you not tell me she was an ex princess?! Was that not important to you?”

–Why would it be? She wouldn't want you to find out either and it would've brought questions anyway. You don't want her interested in you do you? Don't let any of choi han's group take interest or you'll be dragged to bothersome things.

“Well that's a bit too fucking late! The dragon wanted to mess with her and now she thinks I'm a mage.”

–Why didn't you tell her about him then?

Cale scoffed at the idea of revealing the dragon, maybe rok soo knows rosalyn from the book but cale doesn't trust her, he doesn't know who she really is and she's affiliated with the bastard with anger issues who's apparently also the protagonist of this world.

Trouble follows protagonists, which means any of that bastard's comrades could be spies as well. Plus, that girl is clearly greedy for power, not political but still magic is a power nonetheless.

“I don't trust her. Who knows what she'd do?”

–mages idolize dragons though. I wouldn't worry about her too much.

“Sure sure. Is there anyone else I should know about? What's up with that wolf boy too?”

–nothing too much, I already warned you about the crown prince right? 

“What about the war, talk more about clopeh sekka.”

–I told you what was mentioned already. There's nothing too detailed about him, you'll have to investigate him later.

“Fine.”

On had noticed cale finally stopped mumbling again and went to sit next to him, he pet her while the dragon and hong continued playing.

“You talk to yourself alot, nya”

“Do I? I didn't notice. Do you hear anything when I do?”

Cale played clueless, he couldn't really tell anyone about rok soo, they'd think he's crazy. 

“No nya. You're too quiet, but sometimes I can hear a word or two but I can't understand what you're saying. Nya.”

“Does the dragon hear?”

On thought it over, her dongsaeng hadn't said anything but she noticed his ears or tail twitching sometimes and he had turned to cale whenever he started mumbling.

Maybe he could hear a few more words than her, even though it was barely audible while sitting next to cale.

“He probably hears more than me nya.”

“Hmm”

Cale hummed and continued patting on, it was already sunset and he could see choi han's group moving.

‘ron and beacrox are with them.’

He returned his gaze at on before hearing rok soo again.

–have you eaten? 

‘he's probably talking to one of his teammates again.’

Cale tuned him out at the thought of him talking to someone else, he and rok soo tried to keep atleast some kind of privacy if they could, rok soo wasn't doing great at that but cale didn't want to interfere too much.

Rok soo had told him that his world went into an apocalypse, he was terrified at the thought of something similar happening to his world or how randomly some of those unranked monsters show up, rok soo seemed like a really strong person to decide to fight off monsters like that. 

But he didn't want to get too interested in other worldly business like rok soo. He's not strong and he has no information, he's useless to rok soo and can't do anything, he barely is trying to save his world anyway.

He doesn't want to get involved in troublesome things he can't do anything about, but he hopes rok soo wouldn't die while fighting off monsters, he would never admit it but having rok soo, someone who he doesn't need to act around, as company is really comforting sometimes.

But that info is going with him to his grave, no matter what.

Cale was in a trance staring into space, until he heard rok soo call his name.

–cale! Why the hell have you not been responding? Did you finally faint from how little you're eating?

“Excuse you? I'm not that weak, and I have been eating!”

–cale I can hear you when you say to the children you aren't hungry. And you haven't ordered any food unless it was for the children. What's going on?

“can you mind your business? I am not hungry!”

–eating half a fruit a day is not healthy cale. Its related to your drinking isn't it?

“...”

Cale stayed silent, he knows rok soo is just worried but he doesn't need to eat. If he does he would throw up and he doesn't want to tell rok soo that. He'd probably try even more to get him to stop drinking.

cale hadn't drunk the past few days properly because he didn't want to pretend to cause trouble when he promised his father he won’t, and he doesn't want basen to see him acting like that.

So he has gotten so much better than before, but I feels so weird he wants to drink again, and he probably needs to get drunk atleast once or twice a week to not get any unwanted rumors like he's changing around.

He noticed how rok soo tried his best to make him lessen his drinking, at first rok soo wanted to cut it off completely but after understanding why he wants to do it, he just started to try and get cale to drink less. But cale knows if rok soo finds out about his eating disorder he's so going to find a way to make him quit drinking forcefully.

And cale definitely didn't want a determined rok soo bothering him about it.

“it's nothing old man. Don't worry about me, I kept myself alive for a decade without anyone and following a similar if not worse routine, I surely can survive a couple more right? Don't worry about me and focus on your own apocalyptic world problem. Your world is probably worse than mine.”

–not since after that hell and the proper shelters that appeared around the world mysteriously. No. It had become so much better, its more than manageable if you stay inside the shelter. You're going to fight in a war soon, you need to be healthy and strong enough.

Rok soo and cale kept arguing for a while, the dragon was staring at cale and stopped reading for hong a while ago, on hadn't heard alot of things but a couple of words when he whisper-screamed sometimes instead of mumbling so low to the point she's not sure he is hearing himself.

Rok soo had work to do after a while and cut the argument short with ‘we’re not done yet’

Cale sighed as he noticed how late it is and told the kids to sleep, the kittens went and slept on his pillow while the dragon decided to sleep beside him this time.

Chapter Text

Cale and the children were sitting in his room eating or, more specifically, cale ate a bite of his food and gave the rest to the children while focusing on wiping their mouths.

–cale are you eating?

“Yes.”

He was too tired to argue and he already had to go to the northeastern meeting thing, he wants to save his energy for later, rok soo can't see him so he'd never find out he was lying.

“You didn't eat yesterday, nya!”

On couldn't keep quiet anymore, it had been more than three days since she focused on cale's  eating habits and it wouldn't even satisfy a mouse. She couldn't ignore it when he's giving his food to them and he's eating a bite a day.

“Later, on. Not now.’

Cale tried his best not to say the words, I'm not hungry as to not alert rok soo, he guessed on would understand either way.

“You won't eat later, nya!”

Hong came into the conversation, adding to cale's  demise.

“You always say that, but don't, nya!”

The dragon nodded to both of their comments. He had noticed it a lot sooner, too, but didn't know if he should say something.

‘Is no one on my side here?! Come on, even the dragon?’

The children kept insisting, so cale forced a couple more botes into his mouth, immediately after regretting it, and hurriedly entered the bathroom.

He puked up everything. It wasn't even that much as it was barely 3 and a half bites of steak, so he had coughed up some additional blood and water.

‘Ugh, it wasn't this bad last time, I never ate until I puked in a while. Had it gotten this bad already?’

Beacrox's food was weirdly ok for him to eat at least a quarter or half a plate, depending on what it is. He hadn't pushed the limit in a while, too.

Cale felt like a strong headache coming. They always do when he pukes up like this.

‘this was a bad idea.’

–hey, what's happening with you? Are you throwing up?

‘Ah, shit. An even bigger problem…’

--cale explain right now.

“You don't need to know! I just need a drink for my headache so stop screaming!”

Cale's headache was becoming worse by the second. Rok soo wasn't screaming, but just hearing him was enough to make his head pound.

–I'm not screaming, and you are not going to drink in that state!

“It's none of your business!”

They continued to argue about it, meanwhile on was worried, she didn't know what's going on with cale, but she knows it's hurting him to eat, but she couldn't figure out why.

“did he become sick from the food?”

The dragon had noticed it too and was trying to know why.

“No, nya! It doesn't have any poison.”

“We would become sick too if it was, nya!”

The three of them tried to gather up ideas to understand what was going on with cale but they couldn't, on wasn't an expert on health or sickness, she was still young and doesn't know much about these things, they can't call a doctor either if cale doesn't want to.

When cale came out, he looked frustrated. He wanted to make hans give him alcohol but rok soo threatened him with the info, and now he got no alcohol for his headache because rok soo would hear him asking for one.

Rok soo didn't like using life-threatening info to get cale to not do something, but it was practically the only thing he could do other than try convincing him, which obviously didn't work.

“Cale, nya, you have to get a doctor. You're sick!”

“What doctor?! On hell no, I am not bringing in a doctor! Do you know how risky that is if my relatives found out I brought one? I wouldn't even be able to trust the doctor as he'd probably be sent by them if they found out I'm sick!”

On was taken aback by cale's outburst, but she did find it convincing and she did see his point, neither he or anyone in the room actually trust humans especially not cale's relatives, but on the other hand, it might be serious and at some point he may not be able to eat at all and die!

“You need to eat, but you're sick! Nya”

“You need a doctor, don't die! nya”

“I'm not going to die, and I already ate! Don't worry, kids. I'm really fine. I'll get ready, I have somewhere to be at, do you want to come? This time you can stay if you want.”

Cale changed the topic, all three of them agreed to follow him as they were still worried. The dragon volunteered to make them invisible again for a more comfortable ride.

After everyone got ready, they were playing a game to see who sits on cale's lap.

But they were already late and cale had to solve this.

“How about on and hong sit in my lap, and you sit on my shoulders? That works, so come on, we're going to make basen late.”

“ Don't call me you!”

“Then what do I call you?”

“Figure it out yourself!”

Cale was dumbfounded, he didn't know if it was an actual indirect demand to name him or just the dragon throwing a tantrum, but for now that's a problem for future him that won't be busy.

“Whatever, let's get going.”

They went to the carriage, basen was pnce again sitting awkwardly infront of cale while the children despite the wide space decided to sit on cale.

‘I feel like my neck is going to break. Maybe it was a bad idea for the dragon to sit there..’

The weak cale was struggling to keep the dragon around his neck, if this child wants it then cale will oblige because he wants the dragon to experience more than just the torture in that stupid cave, even of it was such a small thing like this.

He had tried to train his body before but after not being able to eat, training makes him faint so he stopped, his body would never get stronger without food, no matter how much he tried it always ended him up on the floor, when he tried to resist and last time he resisted and pushed his body he fainted for almost a whole day and woke up on the floor again.

A part of him wonders why no one tried to find him, not even ron, and now it makes sense why ron wouldn't he never saw him the same way cale did, but he would never think about that willingly. 

he decided he's going to do this, so he's going to bear the consequences.

They arrived and were escorted inside, the moment he saw Eric he really wanted to just drop everything and talk with the only person who kept sending letters despite hearing the rumours, he read everything but couldn't send back anything and it was infuriating to him.

But he couldn't. Family comes first, no matter what.

The attendees were surprised to see both of them coming, but cale didn't care, he's used to the stares he gets wherever he goes, but that wasn't the case for basen, cale noticed it and stared back coldly at everyone until they all turned their heads.

Cale sat down and baaen sat beside him, Eric was sitting on cale's other side, while the other two, Gilbert and amiru talked with basen, Eric was trying to make sure cale wouldn't cause a ruckus.

“You still listen to your hyung, right? Don't you find noble interactions annoying?”

He stared at Eric, who was acting as if comforting a child, cale internally sighed but decided to just agree.

“Yes, now what do you want?”

“that is why you don't need to say anything or do anything, just be still! Me and the others will take care of the rest!”

At the opportunity cale so desperately wants, he still had to know the pros and cons, and so he decided to mumble to decide, because of course having another opinion which is a strategist is obviously beneficial.

“Old man, I'm in the northeastern nobles meeting, and Eric is trying to get me to stay still.”

--that's good, no more acting for a while, isn't it?”

“What if rumour-”

–cale, all you're going to do is basically nothing. You need this for the promise you made with the count, too. stop overthinking the rumours. If something happens, just bash someone's head with a bottle.

Cale thought it over, and it really wasn't all that bad. If rumours come, he can just do something worse, and if someone annoys him, a bottle to the head is a solution.

After a while, Eric was worriedly staring at the mumbling cale. He couldn't hear much but waited patiently for the answer.

“depends. If someone annoys me, all of it goes to if you're faster than a bottle.”

“yes! I'll make sure no one bothers you! Just do the initial greeting to the crown prince, and we'll take care of everything else!”

Cale nodded and finally drank the cup of alcohol he had been eying. His headache is still there, better than before and barely gone, but still there nonetheless.

While cale continued drinking alcohol ignoring everything on his plate, basen and the other three were talking about the coastline and investments, hans hasn't given him updates on anything and he didn't really want them, he just let basen do this, he isn't really fighting for the position.

Even though cale was minding his business every now and then, each one of them glances at cale with their guard up.

Cale found it extremely annoying but ignored it and continued drinking.

Finding that the meal went smoothly and cale had actually done nothing, not even talk and only drank, all of them let their guards down, and we're decently satisfied with how the meeting went.

***

Cale finally went back after a long day, but even then, he was not relaxed.

“Old man, when will you tell me the places of the magic bombs?”

–you shouldn't trust the book too much they could have easily changed the place, and how much time is left for the plaza?

“Six days.”

–then you'll have to start wandering the streets with the dragon. Every night you'll be searching for bombs and follow people, unfortunately you will need the children's help.

Cale sighed. He really hated putting the children to work, but he's just way too weak to do this alone. Why the hell is he the one receiving info anyway?

“Fine whatever. You said choi han and rosalyn originally found five, and there are ten of them, right?”

–yes some of them are on unaware people that think they're bracelets or purses while others are hidden. They'll prepare them two days before the plaza because of the strict servelance. You just have to look around with the dragon and let him tell you which is the bombs.

“So? Then what do I do with them? You know I know nothing about disabling bombs.”

–no don't do anything just memorise the places and people, that's all you have to do till the day of the incident. We don't want to warn the organisation. Plus choi han should meet the mage to kill him.

“Fine, so for six nights, I wander around with the black dragon and memorise faces. What do we do in the plaza? I know we should use the magic disturbance tool we used before. that's just obvious. But what after? Do I go around snatching purses and necklaces?”

–that will make you a criminal, but yes, someone should do it. If you ask for help from choi han's group or at least just rosalyn, it's going to be so much easier cale.

“No. I do not want anything to do with someone who thinks I'm as strong as a dragon or a bastard who beat me up.”

–understandable. now get going.

Cale explained to the children what's happening, he told the kittens to stay while he and the dragon went to search. They returned before the sunrise with absolutely nothing.

The next night, they didn't find anything either, cale wasn't getting any sleep at night and was sleeping most of the day.

Hans came in.

“Young master, you're finally up. You know there is a meeting scheduled with the crown prince the day after tomorrow, right?”

Cale nodded and requested wine.

Hans came in after a while and gave the wine to cale

“Young master, the wolf you helped last time is here.”

“What does he want?”

“To thank you and request something.”

Cale drank half of the wine bottle in one breath and told hans to let him come in.

“Young master, um, I want to thank you and-”

“Get to the point.”

Lock breathed in, and begun telling cale about what happened to him.

“So the assassins tried to abduct the children, I protected them, then noona and hyung came in and helped us.”

“And what part of this am I related to?”

Lock started stuttering and was a bit more hesitant to ask for the favour. 

“w-well you helped me, s-so I wanted to ask if you can help my siblings too?”

Cale wanted to kick the wolf out right then and there, he doesn't mind helping a couple of orphans but the problem is the ones taking care of the orphans right now is a bastard with anger issues, and a mage ex-princess that thinks he's as talented as a dragon with mana.

“You have that bastard's assistant and the mage, so why are you here? In what way would this benefit me?”

“um, they said they can't help, and I don't know anyone else s-so”

“you came to the one who helped you before. Just so you know, my brother is the one who made the decision. But if you're that desperate, then think of something that would benefit me and come back.”

Lock nodded and told him he'd come back with an answer, kim rok soo begun asking for details

“He wants help with his siblings.”

–what? he's supposed to be the only survivor?

“Really? We haven't changed much. What could've altered the plot of my world?”

--not sure. Was the dragon’s rampage that important?

Cale looked at the dragon happily talking with the kittens.

“It shouldn't matter. it's good for both the wolf boy and the dragon.”

–you're right.

“Anyway about the dragon, I think he wants me to name him.”

–really? Do you have any ideas?

“Not really, the first thing that popped up is black or blacky  and I'm absolutely not naming him that.”

Cale did not want to name him something stupid like that, he isn't a pet and he wants a more meaningful name.

–wow, how bad can you be at names to come up with that?

He felt embarrassed and tried to change it, he told rok soo for him to help not mock him for his terrible naming sense.

“Anyway, do you have ideas? The dragon seems quite happy but he obviously really wants a name too. He's a joyful dragon and I want a name that would express that for him”

–...do you have any intention of making his name literally joyful dragon?

With that cale started second guessing rok soo's naming abilities too.

“What no, that can't be a name.”

–what if it was in my language? You know we weirdly understand each other but we talk different languages. Raon is for joyful and mir for dragon.

“...it sounds good, raon mir… and it has the same meaning I want, I guess I'll tell him about it later. Thanks old man.

–brat.

***

It was the day to go to the meeting with the crown prince and the nobles, cale was getting ready the children stopped him.

“We want to go nya!”

“Yes nya!”

The dragon was coming with him even though cale tried to say no but the dragon refused to in the excuse of protecting him, but cale was not going to bring the kittens with him No matter what.

So, both of them stood infront of the door because he has been taking the dragon to wander for bombs each night till sunrise and they were worried he might faint from tiredness or from how little he eats.

Even though the kids are worried, vitality of the heart was actually making cale healthier than before, it was making it easier to survive with a bite a day and no sleep.

“I'll be late, on move, I don't want basen to be late!”

“you are not eating at all nya.”

“you're weak nya!”

The dragon agreed and cale was forced to take them as well.

In the carriage basen was sitting at the same seat while on and hong sat on each shoulder this time with the dragon in his lap.

They arrived and cale held the invitation and stepped out with basen, they were waiting fir the other northeastern nobles as they planned to meet up, basen stood next to cale.

“wow, who is this? Isn't that our famous young master cale?”

Basen was staring at neo who came at the sight of cale.

‘I didn't even get to step in and some bastard wants his head bashed already, I don't even have a bottle yet…’

Cale was glaring at neo as he walked closer after sending his subordinates away.

He could guess what neo was thinking, that cale was an easy target especially now that no one is looking but basen who everyone thinks hates cale.

“Young master tolz, what do you need?”

Basen stood before cale and neo was taken aback, while cale stared at basen.

‘I guess I'll let him deal with them, I did say I would stay still as long as someone keeps annoying people out of my way.’

Basen was talking to neo, cale acted as if he didn't care and was staring at the carriages and people coming in, but his focus was on basen and neo's conversation, he saw Eric's carriage coming but what he focused on was neo getting more aggressive towards basen, which made him glare at neo and was about to hit him before Eric came in and shooed away neo.

‘Ugh, I really wanted to punch him though…he's also one of venion's minions too right?’

Cale mumbled to the dragon.

“Hey, don't cause any problems, okay? I promise you'll get your revenge on venion but not today.”

The dragon huffed but showed no signs of refusing, so cale guessed he wouldn't do anything.

Cale and the others entered followed by the invisible three children, their names were called and amiru started to explain why the settings is divided by region.

Cale was a bit annoyed that she thought he knew that little about banquets but kept quiet, she noticed anyway and stopped talking.

The count had already informed the crown that both cale and basen were going because there's no specific heir so there was an extra chair for cale.

He sat down and on sat on his head while hong on his shoulders with the dragon on his lap.

Cale noticed how the crown prince prepared the seating, he didn't like how he portrait his power even in the seating positions but obviously kept quiet.

He never liked people who run for power, he found it stupid and way too tiring, most people who do it are assholes too. 

While basen was talking and cale was lost on thought the name of venion got called out.

Cale immediately started petting the dragon.

–I'm ok, I told you I'm ok!

The dragon was complaining about cale petting him even though he was shaking, but made no move to shove cale's hand away.

–I am strong! I am great and mighty! 

Cale nodded his head, he couldn't see the dragon but he knew it was mad but at the same time the shaking told him he was also scared.

–later I'll kill him and the rest! You promised I'll get my revenge!

“Yes you will.”

He could see venion heading his way because his table was the Northwest right beside them, he could feel the dragon snuggling closer and glared at venion, but the signal didn't seem to be received as he walked right towards cale.

“Long time no see young master cale.”

“Was it really? We met at tolz's territory a couple of days ago,”

The northeastern nobles started to become uncomfortable as other nobles payed attention to their conversation.

‘Tch, noisy bastards’

Cale's top priority was to get venion as far away as possible because he could feel the dragon shaking more and clenching his clothes in anger and fear.

“I was there to meet my friend neo and on my way back.”

“One of viscount neo's knights came saying they got robbed of something very important, I wonder what could've happened, you look like shit., i guess it was important for you too since you're friends, you should be stressing about it right? I hope you find it soon if its affecting you this much.”

‘I hope you die from stress.’

Cale was cursing venion and praying for his early death inwardly even though he's not religious.

“...yes it was so sad to hear.”

He started enjoying it at this point, and continued to act loose mouthed and oblivious.

“I was shocked to hear it from the guard while drinking a hangover drink, since you both are clearly stressing about it, it should be so important for both of you, young master neo.”

Cale could hear on trying to hold her giggles while also glaring and smiling the same sly smile on cale's face.

Cale noticed venion observing him, he knew he suspects him and how funny the important ‘thing’ is right infront of then sitting on his lap. But they had nothing on him, he has so much witnesses that think he was drunk and asleep that night, he isn't scared of shit.

Venion ignored cale after deeming him stupid and a loose mouth and walked to his table with tolz.

“Finally, that bastard was annoying as fuck.”

Cale murmured accidentally loud enough for his table to hear, but they all ignored it and decided collectively it didn't happen.

But cale was startled with rok soo's voice soon after.

–the dragon is vicious, and really angry while you were talking to venion and neo.

“You can hear him?!”

–hm? Yeah I didn't tell you? Seems like I can hear anything as long it's inside your head, I don't think anyone in my world has an ability like that so you wouldn't hear anyone else though.

“Too bad, I'll get bored from just hearing your old voice!”

–you little shit.

Cale smiled as his mood got so much better after annoying rok soo.

The three children were staring at him, all have heard him cause they're literally on him, but ignored it like any other day as if he mumbled and they didn't hear him.

The three of them were curious but decided to ask about it later.

Cale held the wine bottle and all the attention returned to him, he just drank some of it having the courtesy to atleast not appear flushed and drunk infront of the crown prince even if he isn't. 

plus if it appears he's drunk he'd have to act even more like trash  infront of the crown prince and he promised not to do that, he even promised not to drink but here he is just hoping basen wouldn't snitch.

He heard a couple more names get called out before the crown prince and other prince's entered and the door closed, he got up to greet the crown prince like everyone else.

‘When will the two show up? Was my effort to smuggle them all going to waste? Did they not believe the letter?’

Cake was thinking about Taylor and Cage, he wondered if all his efforts to help them was going to waste.

“Precious individuals who will make this kingdom shine, the future leaders of this kingdom, I, the Prince, am very happy that all of you have come to this gathering.”

Cale's  attention went back to the crown prince, he now could understand what rok soo meant by glib and sly individual.

All of a sudden the closed door was being pushed open, cale mind relaxed as he guessed his efforts didn't actually go to waste.

There was muttering all around from the nobles and cale noticed one of the servants running to the crown prince.

He seemed deep in thought before waving off The guard, the door opened but the servants didn't call out the name, the wheelchair appeared with Taylor sitting on it and Cage pushing it.

Both of them glanced at cale, nobody noticed but cale and them, he wondered what do they think of him, until now no one other than them and the children cale helped a bit openly, without hiding it so he wondered how they perceived him at the moment.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

Taylor and Cage seemed to not care about all the judging eyes and murmurs as they entered and the doors closed.

“What is this!...”

Venion stood up in shock and rage at the sight of his crippled brother.

Another voice came from the crown prince.

“I didn't expect to see the eldest son of the marquis, Taylor Stan and a priestess of the god of death here”

The crown prince's voice sounded curious and happy. Taylor showed his respects to the crown prince.

“I heard there was an opportunity for the kingdom's nobles to talk and meet with your highness. I do apologize for coming without an invitation.”

Alberu had a smirk on his face.

‘It's clever the way Taylor hinted that he wanted a conversation with his highness. Judging by the smirk, he seems to get the hint.’

Just as cale thought, alberu had noticed what Taylor wanted.

“It is right that I asked for each household representative to come, but if a household doesn't have one there is no issue who comes, I guess you were upset that I only sent one invitation to the marquis's household, mister taylor?”

“A bit”

Even though there wasn't an official representative for the marquis's household, venion was acting as if he was, and everyone treated him as such too.

‘How arrogant and stupid.’

“I do feel bad for upsetting you, mister Taylor, I'm glad you look healthy. It's been a while since we met.”

“Your highness, my legs may not move, but my senses and I are very much alive, I have even gotten a bit stronger.”

Taylor simply replied with he is alive, he remembered the letter and how it told him as long as he's alive he had hope, he didn't die yet and he will make sure venion doesn't get what he wants as long as he's still alive.

“I see. Indeed, you're still alive. I have forgotten that the strongest is one who manages to live until the end.”

Alberu seemed interested, cale was happy Taylor was getting his way and wished him luck internally, but what he was happy about the most was the angry face and glare that venion was trying to suppress so much.

“Look at how angry he looks glaring at Taylor.”

Cale got used to mumbling and found himself doing it a lot even without talking to Rok soo.

–you sure are happy, huh? You're talking about venion, right?

Cale hummed as an answer.

–it sure will be a show with Taylor there.

While cale was mumbling to Rok soo, Cage introduced herself.

“this servant of eternal rest named Cage greets your highness.”

“let us talk later. It's time for this gathering to start. I'm not sure where to sit the both of you.”

The crown prince began looking around for a place to sit taylor and cage.

He looked at cale, who was staring at the table while mumbling.

“I guess there is a good spot for you. Mister taylor can sit at the northeastern table. There happens to be extra space for seats there.”

Cale looked up towards the crown prince when he heard his table's name.

Neo gasped, and the servants quickly rushed to fix the seating arrangement.

“Thank you for providing extra seats for us, Your Highness.”

“It was nothing we should work with people who will make great contributions to the kingdom.”

The crown prince looked at the northeastern table once again.

“can we fix up the seats a bit?”

Eric stood up and answered.

“Of course, your highness.”

The other nobles stood up as well while the servants rearranged the seats.

“Cale, just stay still, be still!”

Eric made sure cale wouldn't move, but cale didn't care about Eric's words right now.

‘Why the hell are they putting his seat right next to mine?’

He really didn't want to get involved with those two too much, and he already did enough for them, but he couldn't do anything as its probably the orders of the crown prince.

“Please sit”

The crown prince gestured towards the northeastern table, cale quickly sat down, and a wheelchair came in place of the empty spot beside him. Naturally, Cage sat beside taylor

“Nice to meet you.”

Taylor acted like it was the first time they met, and cale was thankful he at least knows to do that and not expose him.

–this is entertaining.

The black dragon commented, and it was soon followed by curious questions from Kim Rok soo.

–what is?

“Taylor is seated at our table, that's it.”

Cale mumbled quietly, and the children's curiosity once again raised up.

Taylor also noticed it but couldn't comprehend the words.

“Then, although it was slightly delayed, let us resume”

Cale turned to look at the crown prince who was using his glib tongue again.

“I wanted to gather together the individuals who will bring forth the future of our kingdom and share a meal together. Thank you all for showing up, and I hope you have a wonderful meal.”

As soon as the crown prince finished talking, the servants came up with plates of food for each table.

The strong smell of food made cale nauseous.

‘Shit, it's gotten bad again. The last few days, it had gotten better. Drinking these past few days already made that bad of a difference?’

Cale ignored the feeling trying to suppress it, he knew nothing would actually happen as long as he doesn't eat, it's just a warning that if he ate he's going to vomit like usual that's it.

The plates were put in front of them but cale didn't touch them and just drank more alcohol.

On noticed but couldn't say anything, she made eye contact with the dragon.

– weak human, you haven't eaten anything since morning!

–you didn't eat today either? 

“I'm not hungry.”

Cale answered both the dragon and rok soo with a mumble.

Rok soo didn't say anything nor that dragon. He had a suspicion cale had an eating disorder but tried to ignore it.

But the dragon was still questioning what makes cale sick when he eats, he tried to check for any curses or check his health but didn't find anything other than the fact his body is weak and its probably because he doesn't eat.

Cale wanted to drink more but Eric stopped him.

“Just five more minutes please. We need to talk to the crown prince soon.”

He begrudgingly agreed and sat still.

–oh and by the way, there is magic video recording all around the hall.

‘Haah, seriously? What the hell is up with that crown prince?’

Cale sighed internally, Eric noticed cale's bad mood and hurriedly stood up.

“Shall we go?”

Cale stood up and went to the platform with the other nobles.

“Oh, our northeastern nobles!”

The crown prince greeted them with a bright smile that seemed fake to cale. He shook hands with all the nobles who came to greet him.

“Your highness, it is great to see you. Eric wheelsman greets his highness for the first time in a while.”

“Yes yes,mister Eric, don't we have something important to talk about?”

Eric seemed to bright up at the mention of the northeastern shoreline investment issue.

“Yes! Yes, your Highness. I have been waiting for a good moment to discuss this with you!”

Cale watched as the crown prince used his glib tongue on every one of the nobles until it was his and basen's turn.

“Mr. cale and basen of the henituse County, I believe your situation is the same as Taylor. The successor hasn't been chosen yet. Each of you has their own talent for mr. cale is a bright free spirit, and Mr. Basen is quite the genius. Whoever is the successor between both of you, I wish you both live in happiness despite what might happen.”

Cale found it hard to contain his laugh as the crown prince surely had a hard time finding something good to praise him for.

He had the urge to just for a moment try and rival the crown prince's glib tongue. It certainly seemed fun.

This time his urges won, plus Rok soo had told him before that it's better to either copy the crown prince or completely stay away.

He shook the prince's hand and tried his luck.

“your highness, the moment I met you I realized in addition to our current sun, his majesty, we also have you the one who is getting ready to shine and protect the kingdom from the cold nights. It's really an honour to see you here today.”

“...is that so?”

Cale had too much fun especially with the reaction of the crown prince he had to continue.

“Indeed your highness, you shine as bright as a star in our kingdom. It's truly a big honour to meet you today.”

Basen was staring at cale as if he's a wild animal who he saw for the first time, Eric's jaw dropped, and Gilbert and amiru looked at cale in disbelief.

–oh?

Rok soo's tone seemed intrigued and surprised as well.

‘Shit.’

And cale panicked because his reputation is surely going to take a hit.

–why did this weakling called the crown prince dye his hair with magic? It is at a level that only a great and mighty being like me can notice. Was it another dragon? No, it's something else.

–shit

‘Fuck.’

Cale and rok soo both cursed at the same time, cale thought if it was too late to make the dragon get away, he really didn't want to learn any more info about the crown prince. He's already dealing with the crisis of a war that's coming in two years. He really doesn't want any more info.

‘I don't know, I don't care, it's just a child's imagination, I don't know anything.’

Cale tried to forget about all of the useless info that's probably also dangerous, but he already couldn't see the crown prince the same, his hair looked like a wig to cale now, and the dragon who continued talking did not help.

–hmm? His pupils are also dyed, weak human the crown prince is definitely plotting something. Be careful!

‘Even his fucking pupils?! No no no, I didn't hear a thing.’

–human this human is not weak, weak human be extra careful!

‘Just shut up I did expect him to be stronger than me since im less than average but you saying this makes it  worse!’

It was told the crown prince was just average, cale really did not want to know secrets that could kill him.

‘Useless and dangerous info is the most troublesome of all!’

Cale tuned out the dragon's murmurs as much as possible.

“...Mr.cale seems a bit like me.”

‘No actually, I didn't dye my hair and it's the first time I tried to use a glib tongue- ahh shit I don't know I don't know’

Cale's head felt like a mess as he tried his best to forget everything he learned.

“..if you say so, your highness it's the biggest honor of my life.”

He tried to distract himself and tried to use a glib tongue again, forgetting the info is more important than his reputation that can be fixed right now.

The crown prince turned to talk to basen and continued talking to Eric.

–there is a reason why he's wary of the second and third prince after all. Is he not really the King's son? Or is there another secret to his birth?

‘Not you too old man! I thought you were smart? Why would you try to analyze this shit?!’

Cale turned to Gilbert.

“Young master Gilbert I can leave after the meal right?”

Cale wanted to get out as fast as possible.

“Yes, we want to talk to the crown prince but you probably don't want to go.”

“Yeah, it's useless for me to be there I'd rather go back.”

Gilbert seemed surprised.

“..did you read the document?”

“No one gave it to me and I don't care.”

After a while the meeting finally ended and the crown prince began talking.

“It was a pleasure to share this meal with all of you tonight. I have prepared a small wine party for those who may be interested, so please enjoy yourselves. Ah, I have also prepared a spot for all of you at the birthday celebration that's coming up.”

Cale didn't care anymore he just wanted to get this over with as his mind is already a mess from the info he received and he couldn't look at the crown prince.

Cale stood up to hurriedly get out but taylor and cage passed him while whispering to him.

“See you later. Little brother.”

‘Since when did I agree to be their little brother?!’

Amiru quickly followed up with cale.

“Young master cale, can I go with you? neo seems to head out too.”

Cale nodded his head and silently worked with amiru, she seemed a bit distressed because of the shoreline.

“...if your in desperate need of the investment, think about the value of the shoreline in relation to the whipper kingdom and other northern countries”

“Excuse me?”

Cale quickly headed inside the carriage and let amiru contemplate what he said.

–the shoreline is also a place of one of the ancient powers the sound of the wind.

“Seriously? I need to go to that place filled with whirlpools?”

–...and jump in one yes.

“What the fuck. Who's stupid enough in that book of yours to do that?”

–the commander of the whipper kingdom.

***

Cale went back from the feast exhausted but had to get ready and go look for bombs, he managed to find four bombs before sunrise and went home to get some sleep.

“I found four bombs, old man.”

Cale mumbled to tell rok soo about his progress.

–Good, just memorise the places of them till the day of the celebration then steal them.

“...I thought we were going to destroy them?”

Cale was confused, he didn't see why they would steal them when he doesn't have a reason to use them and they won't work anyway.

–the density of magic would still be there, free useful ingredients are never not needed, the enemy is basically giving them to us. We need to use their tactics against them.

“I guess strategists really think in strange ways…sure we are stealing them.”

Rok soo didn't say anything so cale took the chance to try and sleep, it wasn't always that rok soo would stay quiet at night as he works night shifts as he calls them and fights monsters sometimes.

Cale's exhaustion started to catch up to him as he mumbled something.

“Today was a long day…”

–of course it was, now get some rest. You've done more than enough today.

“I know, and if you said otherwise I would've cursed you with every curse word I know before sleeping.”

–you really can't say anything good to me can you?

“shut up, I want to sleep.”

After that, Rok soo left cale to sleep.

Cale woke up early because of hans informing him of a letter to go to the inn the wolf children were staying at.

“Haah…maybe I should have just said no, do I really have to go?”

–where are you going?

“To meet that wolf, remember the last time I talked to him? He wanted help from me and I said for him to come find me when he knows properly what he wants and what he's willing to give.”

Even though cale grumbled that he had to meet someone today too, he got dressed and went to the inn while still grumbling with the invisible children following behind.

He was wearing a robe covering his red hair.

“Do you know what you want now?”

Cale was sitting in front of lock in a carriage.

“Yes. I want you to take care of my siblings.”

“Why not just ask the two bas-...people you're traveling with.”

Cale didn't just want to know what he will give and take, he wanted the reasons too because he wants to see if its really worth the effort or necessary to mingle with one of the bastard's group.

“Noona and hyung can't do it as they both are dealing with things and can't provide for all ten of my siblings, that's why I'm asking…”

“Fine…what will you give in return? You surely didn't expect me to help without compensation, did you?”

“No, we talked about this before and not only me but my siblings too, we are stronger together.”

Cale begun to frown.

“The blue wolf tribe is famed for being strong knight-”

“I've heard enough. Absolutely not. I'm not a monster to make children knights, and didn't you want me to take care of them? What kind of caretaker would make the kids knights? Have you even talked with your siblings?”

Lock stayed silent, he didn't know what to give cale if he refused this, the only thing he has is his strength right now and he needed cale to take his siblings he cant provide for them alone.

Cale sighed at the face lock was making.

“I myself don't know what I want from you, I have everything I want already. When I have something in mind i will call you. Until then you can keep the children with me.”

On looked at cale who had tried so hard to make himself look bad towards the wolf but ended up making a favor without a reward for later and showed lock that he'd take care of the children just fine with a mocking look if a cat ever has one.

The dragon was looking at the weird weak human too.

‘Even of your invisible I can feel your stares from a mile away… if only you weren't children…’

Cale no matter how hard he tried couldn't get himself to curse the children even through his thoughts.

Finally the carriage stooped and cale got out and motioned for lock to follow and open the door.

As soon as lock opened it children swarmed him from all sides.

“Nice to meet you young master cale…”

There was a man standing behind the children that welcomed cale.

“What a sweet liar you are. No merchant would like to see me in there shop.”

Cale's gaze hardened the moment he saw the new face, he didn't forget his reputation.

“My name is odeus flynn”

“Odeus flynn? You sure are a merchant since you like to lie through your teeth.”

Rok soo perked up and started to focus with cale at the name.

–he is a very much useful person try not to antagonise the flynn merchants alot.

Cale's mocking smile twitched.

“I'm just here to fetch the children for him”

Cale glanced at lock, he was having a reunion with his siblings.

“I understand I hope there is a moment I can drink with you someday.”

Odeus wasn't completely lying, he heard the opinion of the girl and choi han about cale, choi han just described him as stupidly unpredictable and when drunk an asshole while rosalyn viewed him in a good light and said that he was strong.

Odeus didn't know which words to take, the rumours all circulated towards cale when drunk but no one actually knows how he acts when he's not, come to think of it did he ever stop drinking for one day before?

Odeus was a bit intrigued, judging by how cale acted now he is completely aware of his reputation and doesn't seem to really not like it since he addressed it directly saying odeus was lying when he said Nice to meet you.

Until now cale really wasn't that bad and just didn't follow etiquette, thanks to both of rosalyn and choi han's comments he really wanted to see how he really is.

Cale went to head outside but the ten children blocked his way.

“Thank you very much!”

“Thank you.”

They started to thank him while he had a stoic look on his face.

‘How annoying.’

He scoffed out loud.

“Why would you thank me? Your brother is the one who's going to work for me to feed you.”

After saying that he completely ignored them and looked at lock.

 “take this and get out of my sight for a while.”

Cale gave lock a pouch of money before heading out ignoring all the children thanking him behind him.

Odeus stared at the scene dumbfounded, cale the trash gave children money and seemed to have the oldest of them working for him. 

His opinion started to change rapidly about cale, he is stupidly unpredictable when he's not drunk because he's a bastard then but rudely kind when not.

That was his opinion on cale now.

Cale went back to the mansion, he wanted to sleep more so he could go out tonight as well but his head was a mess trying to find excuses to tell hans.

“How the fuck am I supposed to tell him I basically adopted ten children while remaining trash?! Rok soo help me here!”

Cale was whisper screaming which really didn't help the fact the children already knew he talked to himself often, but cale was too panicked to care right now what the children think.

–calm down will you? Talk to your brother or simply explain the exchange with hans, your reputation won't take that much of a hit.

“Easy for you to say! It's not you or your brother's life on the line here!”

–just tell your brother! I'm sure he isn't the type to snitch!

“No, fuck you. How the hell am I supposed to tell him he's the reason my reputation is trash? That kid will take it to heart and hate himself and possibly me!”

–cale think rationally, there is no way your getting out of this. Your options are hans and basen so choose and tell.

“...hans!”

Cale screamed as he called out to hans.

–you fucking brat, dont ever scream. Do you know how fucking painful it is when you scream?!

“You do that every fucking night you fight as well so shut up.”

They begin cursing each other until hans came and cale was forced to stop.

“Young master, just to get this clear… you made a deal with the wolf that came last time to take care of his siblings if he works for you?”

“Yes, so you're taking care of them. I don't know how, but you're going to find someone suitable and tell me about them or your going to babysit them. These are your options.”

–copying me huh?

‘You fucking old ass bastard just you wait! I'll find a way to hit you with a bottle I swear!’

“Now get out.”

He kicked the shocked and pleading hans out as he added work to his schedule and went to sleep to wake up at night and finish the search.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

Rok soo and cale were arguing again. Why? Because rok soo deemed it too dangerous for cale to handle the magic bombs on his own.

–just include at least one member from choi han's group. At least the wolf boy!

“No, shut up. He's a child!”

–you're barely older than him!

“No means no.”

–cale. Rosalyn is an option then.

“Hell no, I do not want a delusional person with me!”

Rok soo continued to try compromising with cale, but cale decided to ignore him, so rok soo had no choice.

–I guess you don't need more info.

“You bastard!”

–just lock at the very least!

Cale gave up as he knew he needed the info and help of rok soo. He's practically useless without it, and he couldn't put his family in danger because of his stubbornness.

He ordered hans to find choi han and ask him about lock.

Now cale was looking at lock who was sitting in front of him.

“Haa…I want your help with something, but you're not allowed to ask how I know about it, and it will stay between us.”

Lock felt nervous, he wanted to repay cale so he didn't care what it is he had to do as long as he knows his siblings will be taken care of, but he felt like it was serious and didn't know if he can do what cale asks of him.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Lock answered confidently even though he was worried about what it was cale wanted.

Cale gaze was studying lock, trying to figure out if he's trusted enough.

–stop thinking too much and talk cale, the kid is probably nervous since you're still quiet.

Rok soo realised what cale was doing after not hearing him talk for a few minutes.

“OK then. How do I say this…magic bombs will activate in the plaza at the King's 50th birthday celebration, I'm trying to stop them. I have a way to do that, but I need help.”

Cale stopped to observe lock’s expression. At first, he looked shocked but slowly, it turned into determination.

“...some bombs were sold to citizens, and I want you to take them off of people before they go off. They could be in the shape of a necklace or a purse. A hidden person will throw the bombs to a mountain far before they explode.”

Lock’s determination increased as he listened to cale.

Suddenly the door slammed open to reveal choi han and rosalyn with hans.

Cale glared at hans who said nothing about choi han and rosalyn, he didn't hear anything of cale's conversation so he didn't think it was a problem, but choi han's high senses allowed him to hear, and rosalyn used mana to heighten her hearing.

“what the fuck hans? Why the hell are they infront if my room without me knowing?”

Lock looked embarrassed, he knew about them being there as they told him they're just going to make sure he's safe but didn't think it would matter if they heard what cale wanted as they would've pressured him into telling them later anyway.

“What do you mean bombs? You bastard-”

Choi han rushed to ask cale for details, not caring about his surroundings.

Cale didn't look at choi han he kept glaring at hans.

“Get the fuck out and close the door.”

Cale said that as he put his hand on the closest thing to him ready to throw it, not at hans but the door frame or the floor near hans.

Hans quickly took the signal and closed the door.

Cale sighed as he stared at choi han.

“How rude. I'll let it slide since I am putting one of the people you care about in a somewhat dangerous situation.”

Cale said that as he held a cup of alcohol and took a sip, not enough to make him look drunk, he wasn't happy about it but he isn't explaining to the bastard that he just easily looks drunk when he actually isn't.

“Princess rosalyn, can you please put sound barriers? I don't want another eavesdroppers.”

Cale unconsciously called her princess, he remembered the info he received of her and slipped up as he forgot to act as if he didn't know.

Rosalyn looked shocked.

“How did you…”

Cale quickly thought of an excuse.

“You debuted into royal society before I stopped studying, ofcource I know how you look. Its not like I didn't receive any teachings from when I was young.”

–what quick thinking you have.

“Shut up…”

Cale mumbled inaudible for anyone but the children who were on his shoulders and head alerted after seeing the two barge in.

On and hong were warily looking at choi han and rosalyn with their fur just a little bit standing up, while the dragon was glaring at them while moving his tail in a manner that showed his annoyance, it hit cale’s back every now and then which told cale enough.

‘These children are really mad, are they annoyed because they have to be invisible? Or maybe because of the loud noise the two caused when coming in?’

Cale ignored them for now and refocused his attention on the group.

Rosalyn already put up the noise cancellation magic.

“mind explaining now you trash?”

Cale could feel the children getting angrier as the dragon’s tail moved quicker and he could faintly feel claws on one of his shoulders while an inaudible hiss that he heard only because the kitten was on his other shoulder.

He could guess hong was the one who hissed and on was the one who retracted her claws after noticing them out.

He decided to ignore each and every one of the vicious children.

“Just as I said to the wolf boy, bombs are going off in the plaza at the King's celebration. I wanted his help since I can't do it alone.”

“and how exactly do you know that?”

Choi han absolutely didn't believe a word the bastard infront of him said, he didn't see a reason to. He wanted lock to go snatching jewelry and purses calling them bombs? It felt more like a scam to sabotage an innocent child.

Cale could practically hear choi han’s thoughts.

“you won't lose anything if you did it, I really only want to get rid of the bombs because it would be annoying to hear them beside me and to dodge them when I'm forced to go because its a royal celebration.”

Choi han's glaring gaze didn't once break eye contact, he was trying to read cale if he was lying or not, cale found it funny. A professional assassin didn't see through his lies, it was a useless effort from choi han.

“Anyway, if you don't want lock to do it this much how about you help out? You certainly won't lose anything if you do. I'm telling the truth when I say I don't care who does it, but I can't take the bombs off all the people on my own.”

Rosalyn found a chance to corner cale and question him of his magical abilities.

“How do you know which are the bombs?”

Cale caught up and didn't let rosalyn get the satisfaction.

“I have a friend whose a very skilled mage”

–human I am not a mage! I am a great and mighty dragon but I will let it slide just this once!

He could hear the dragon talking in his mind, he just ignored him thankful that atleast he wasn't testing rosalyn's magic ability anymore and actually concealed his mana.

Rosalyn's smile twitched but ignored it.

“I don't see any loss in this for us choi han. If its actually true though people will die.”

Cale could see choi han's expression darken at the mention of people dying.

“Fine…I'll help if you tell me the plan you have first and information.”

“I-I will too!”

Lock chimed in and surprisingly for cale no one refuted lock.

He didn't expect this, cale was ready to announce victory in the argument with rok soo and say they didn't approve to help, so he wouldn't include any of them. He was still salty that each argument they had rok soo would pull out the info card on him and he had to grumble and agree to rok soo’s demands, he was so ready to say he won this time.

He didn't understand why choi han would put lock in danger, if he was in his place and someone who cursed his dead mother approached basen and told him of magic bombs he wouldn't even let them come near him. There was no amount of convincing that could make him put basen in danger, fuck the people if they die its not his fault but basen wouldn't be put in danger.

He saw the three interact, he was sure they saw lock as a younger brother so he couldn't understand why they'd allow him to do such a stupid thing, the only reason he's even interfering is because he's forced to be there and he knows what will happen.

‘I guess he's stupidly good to the point he'd put himself and others in danger to protect random people.’

He didn't approve of choi han's thoughts one bit, he decided to ignore the difference in morality of choi han and him instead he focused on his plan.

“It's really not much of a plan really, I know some of the bomb locations, today I will dismantle them. Before you ask, I didn't do it earlier so as not to get the enemies suspicious. Anyway, that's what I wanted help with.  Today and tomorrow at the celebration we should grab the bombs on the people and throw them with magic far away. My skilled mage friend will help in secret as he doesn't want to be exposed.”

–you could've spared yourself effort and told them of the dragon you know.

‘not happening.’

Cale answered internally, he knew that choi han’s senses were strong and didn't want to take his chances on knowing if he would hear or not.

Rosalyn’s suspicions were stronger as he doesn't want to reveal his friend who she doubted existed, no offense of course.

They eventually left after agreeing to come at night to cale's bedroom.

They arrived at sunset and cale continued telling his plan.

“We should hurry, if we want to infiltrate when the security is stricter we should do it when the guards change shifts, at any minute now they're going to change shifts.”

Cale quickly explained how to infiltrate the plaza.

He had ordered the dragon to sit in the balcony and reveal only his presence while turning them invisible then to quickly hide his presence right after, the dragon did just that.

Rosalyn was amazed by the magic capabilities of cale's so-called friend, she didn't know how cale could hide the fact he's using magic when he used it infront of them, but maybe he actually had a friend and that friend was the one who taught him?

Rosalyn was making all sorts of theories of how cale is hiding his magic or about the mysterious friend he may or may not have.

They stood watching the guards and when they found an opening while a guard went to inform another guard of the shift change, they quickly entered the plaza.

Rosalyn was amused that cale's plan actually worked and wondered how he thought of it and why he looked experienced while executing it, while choi han was giving him weird looks and lock just followed along only thinking of how he will save people.

That night they achieved a couple of things, cale and on and hong went to hide the magic disturbance tool while choi han, lock, rosalyn, and the dragon went to look around for the bombs and dismantle them.

The dragon wasn't happy because of it, but with some flattery and convincing cale managed to make him help them. 

Cale was worried rosalyn would miss some bombs and told the dragon that if she didn't notice a bomb he should help by concentrating mana to the location of the bomb to lead rosalyn while being careful not to set the bomb off, or simply dismantle it himself if he wishes.

He thought it would be good training for the dragon as well.

Cale had also told them to bring the dismantled bombs with them.

After they were done they went back to cale's room, the dragon acted as the mysterious friend again as he removed the invisibility magic.

“As payment, can you give me one of the bombs young master cale?”

Rosalyn was curious and happy to find such strong bombs and wanted to experiment on them even if they don't work anymore, the mana concentration it has was enough compensation for the work they'd done.

“Haa, fine. Its only right to pay you for your service, I can give you one.”

Cale glanced at choi han, he hated debts and he knows damm well that choi han is working for free for him right now and can ask for a favor later for compensation if he wanted.

He didn't like that and already prepared a pouch of money before they returned to his room.

He held the pouch and handed it to choi han with a frown.

“take it. That's compensation for you too. It's not fair to give both the wolf and princess payment while you don't. I hate debts.”

Choi han stared at cale dumbfounded while holding the bag of gold coins filled to the brim.

“Please young master, don't call me princess. I've thrown that title away.”

“Whatever then. Now get the fuck out, I want to sleep.”

–this is the first time you swore directly at them today, do you know that? Is your mask finally slipping off?

Cale didn't answer until all of them went out of his room and the dragon disabled the invisibility magic.

“I was rude. Just didn't curse because I was asking for help. Who would help someone who's cursing them out?”

–me apparently…I'm still wondering why I'm even doing this.

“Me too fucking old man.”

Rok soo sighed at cale's childish unnecessary cursing just to piss him off and ignored him.

Cale was patting the children and thanking them for their help. He made sure they were asleep before laying down and sleeping himself.

He woke up late and tired. It's been a few days since he hadn't been sleeping properly or at all, he was throwing tantrums here and there, throwing something every now and then but it was so much less than when he was in his territory.

One of the reasons was because he's extremely tired as he sometimes comes home from searching for bombs right when hans is there to wake him, another reason is because of the promise.

The servants were very happy, they noticed that the earlier cale wakes up the quieter the mansion will be so they asked hans to wake him early. He too wanted a quieter cale so he sacrificed himself to do it, each time getting more confident as he realised cale doesn't really hit.

Hans wanted to wake cale earlier today because he wanted cale to be too tired to cause trouble in the plaza, but decided otherwise as he saw how tired cale seemed to be as he was in deep sleep.

He ended up waking him even later than usual but cale was still quite tired and annoyed.

‘Didn't he sleep early yesterday? He slept at sunset, didn't he?’

Hans started to question things but stayed quiet and tried to ignore it.

Cale had got dressed up, he wasn't really in the mood to think too much and chose something simple making the servant glance at him weirdly, he was too tired to overthink anything right now though.

It seemed like all the fatigue from staying up came to him all at once, worst of all it came the day of the plaza, adrenaline was pushing him to the limit each night searching for the bombs, yesterday was the fastest and easiest since he had help and he still arrived way past midnight.

The children followed behind him, invisible like usual.

He had to go with amiru as she asked to accompany him, he went inside the carriage with basen.

Basen sat next to cale while amiru was infront of cale, the children noticed cale was tired so only the dragon sat on his lap and on and hong decided to cuddle with cale's legs on the floor.

Cale was leaning his head on the closed window curtain with his eyes half open trying to stay conscious till he arrives at the Palace.

In the end he found his eyes getting heavier so he decided to talk.

“Why did you want us to go together?”

Cale asked amiru who was staring at him with basen.

“hm? Oh, um.”

The distracted amiru tried to gather her thoughts before asking cale another question.

“Young master cale, what do you think of our territory building a naval base?”

Cale didn't bother to think of what to say as he only said what came to mind, too tired to care.

“It's stupid if you're going to get funds from the Royal family, you're just giving them more power over you. Other than that it's a pretty good choice.”

Amiru found cale's answer quite clever, she did think of it and that's exactly why she's here to ask for help but the fact cale stopped studying long ago but still manages to be as calculating as a normal cunning noble who studied all his life was a surprise her.

“That's why I asked to accompany you.”

Cale yawned while pointing at basen.

“There is the next heir talk to him or the count.”

He wasn't thinking about his words at all as he focused on trying to keep his eyes open.

Basen was staring at him wide eyed and startled, while amiru looked shocked to no end.

No noble would have just said that, especially a first born that would be fighting with his siblings to keep the heir position for himself, but here someone known as trash not caring one bit handing the position right over acting more mature than many nobles.

Amiru stared at cale.

‘He's quite handsome and cute when he's calm and sleepy.’ (Not a ship! I see them as siblings more.)

Basen was staring at cale too both could not look away, it's rare to see moments like this.

Basen was slowly feeling more confident to talk to cale.

“Please young master cale, if you have the time come visit our territory.”

“Hmm, sure…”

Cale hummed as an answer, basen and amiru continued talking about the naval base, every now and then glancing at cale until they arrived.

Chapter Text

 Chapter 13

They finally arrived at the plaza of glory, the nobles were gathered outside and would enter at 8:30.

Cale was struggling to keep his eyes open as he walked sleepily towards Eric, who was eyeing him trying to tell him to stay still like before.

‘Do I look like I have enough energy to yell and break things right now?’

He stared at Eric who noticed how tired cale was and let out a sigh of relief.

‘Didn't the vitality of the heart supply me with energy before?’

Cale wondered why the vitality of the heart wasn't working like before.

–sorry but I can't work right now, your body is way too exhausted and you barely eat anything…sob 

He was startled by the familiar voice.

–you can talk? I thought ancient powers can't do that.

“me too.”

Cale mumbled, the two kittens on his shoulder and the dragon following behind were the only ones who heard it.

–apparently?

–I just didn't want to talk.

The vitality of the heart and the indestructible shield both responded to rok soo.

Cale decided to ignore all of the voices and questions he had, he was tired and he had something to do.

It was already 8:05 and the nobles started moving to the plaza, cale could see choi han's group that he talked to last night. They had to identify the bombs on people the moment they entered and that's exactly what both Rosalyn and the dragon were doing.

It was their job to tell cale and the others while lock and choi han grabbed the bombs off people then rosalyn would throw them in a mountain with the help of his ‘friend’ the dragon.

Cale looked towards the crown prince who was infront of them, Taylor Stan was standing there beside him.

“He did it in the end.”

Cale's tired murmur got drowned out by people's shocked voices and questions, he had a slight satisfied smile on his face that disappeared the moment it appeared.

–weak human I'm here!

The dragon talked in his head, he was reporting the situation.

–We are dismantling the bombs we found now, and we will make sure they are completely dismantled at 8:55 like you planned!

Cale nodded, his mind was fighting between keeping his eyes open and focusing on the dangerous situation he's in.

‘Focus, stay focused…’

The knights told the crown prince everything was ready and the nobles started getting on the royal carriages.

Cale got into the royal carriage.

There was sitting five people in the carriage, him and his brother, Taylor with his completely healed legs, amiru ubarr and neo tolz venion's lackey and of course the two kittens followed cale, they sat on his lap.

The dragon was busy working with the others, cale didn't like that thought, he wanted to know the dragon was with him safely seated so he could protect him if needed.

He knows it's a dragon but a child is a child in cale's point of view, he does have more strength and stamina, he also needs to learn different and more complicated things than a human child his age but he is young. He should be playing around experimenting with new things he's curious about, not worrying about bombs and the lives of people.

This dragon lived a harsh enough life and never left that dark cave, its only logical he's curious about many things he should be free to explore.

The nobles in the carriage already finished introducing themselves but cale didn't bother, he leaned his head on the window curtains again and closed his eyes with his brows slightly furrowed.

He couldn't stop thinking about the young dragon, on seemed to notice that but didn't make any movement as to not alert the people on the carriage with them, it was cramped and easy to notice cale's clothes moving even if they were invisible, but she tapped her paws on cale's lap which gained his attention.

He glanced down at his lap before closing his eyes again, he decided not to think about it, he can't do anything right now, instead he focused on what amiru said trying to distract himself from sleeping with something else.

“Young master Taylor, have your legs completely healed?”

The deal was successful with the crown prince, cale didn't doubt it would be. The prince is desperate right now as he has so little supporters, having a capable person indebted to him and supporting him would be a good thing.

Taylor was known for his intelligence and compassion towards people, he was pretty capable before losing his legs, and if he gained them again there is a huge chance of regaining his position that was taken away from him.

It would be easy to do that as it wasn't officially given to anyone else either.

Cale reopened his eyes and observed the nervous neo.

‘Venion is probably ten times more anxious and annoyed.’

Amiru congratulated Taylor after he answered her, neo fake coughed before stepping into the conversation.

“ahem, young master Taylor, will you be returning to the marquis's estate now that your leg is healed?”

Taylor looked towards neo. And spoke firmly.

“Return? That has always been my home. Isn't it obvious I belong there?”

Cale glanced outside the window, there was a reflection of Taylor looking at him through the other window's reflection.

When they locked eyes, he could see taylor’s excitement, probably because he wanted to tell cale about what happened.

‘I'm too tired to think right now, can't this conversation wait?’

Cale's stoic and tired face didn't tell his thoughts, he sighed internally as he decided to listen to Taylor since he seemed so excited about it.

And there it was, the perfect moment to talk came as neo got out of the carriage as soon as the carriage stopped while amiru got up to call Eric and Gilbert who were in another carriage.

‘Nothing should happen since young master basen is there and cale seems too tired to cause a ruckus today.’

Amiru deemed it safe to leave as she stepped out.

Taylor glanced toward basen then to cale hoping to be able to talk even if basen is here.

“What do you want?"

Cale turned to look at Taylor who looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Basen awkwardly sat still seeing the eye contact both Taylor and cale were mentaining.

“Can I…?”

Taylor asked as he glanced to basen.

Cale didn't think much as he nodded.

“Talk. It won't be long before she comes back. Basen knows the basics, he was there.”

“I got my legs fixed by promising to become the head of the family.”

“I knew the crown prince had something to do with it. Did you promise your loyalty?”

Taylor was amused of cale's accurate observation.

“No, I made a deal.”

“Good, you aren't stupid like most. Congratulations on healing your legs.”

To most, Cale's response would've been very rude and offending, but taylor chuckled as he saw it as a compliment.

He saw cale as someone who would never compliment you directly and the best you can get out of him is something like that.

Cale closed his eyes, they were heavy and tiring to keep open.

Taylor got an envelope from his pocket and put it in cale's hand, alarmed at the sudden touch, cale jolted up and stared at Taylor.

“Sorry for startling you. These are the details of our deal.”

“I don't want to know it.”

Cale relaxed again as he held the envelope, he wanted to give it back but taylor shook his head.

“It may be useful to you in the future.”

He sighed and held onto the envelope in the end.

“Cage got excommunicated.”

Cale leaned his head over the window again.

“Didn't expect her to last long as a priestess, she seemed annoyed to be one too.”

He said what he observed about her without thinking much, cale felt oddly relaxed today way much than usual even though he's tired. His head wasn't filled with thoughts as usual and just said what he thought out loud, he felt happier acting like this.

“Yes she indeed doesn't like to be a priestess. She was very happy about it.”

“Good for her. I wouldn't like being in such a position either.”

Basen listened to their conversation intently, he wished he could talk with cale freely like Taylor, he was jealous of how easily Taylor can talk to cale.

“This is just the beginning. We will be victorious, right young master cale?

“You got rid of the hardest obstacle, but don't include me in your problems and don't let your guard down. Just because one big thing got solved doesn't mean other obstacles will disappear.”

Taylor's curiosity increased the more he talks with cale, he made sure to take cale's advice to heart.

‘It's rare to hear such advice from someone who’s rumored to be rude and carefree.’

“Thank you for the advice, young master cale. I will make sure not to let my guard down.”

“Mhm, sure.”

Cale hummed an answer as Taylor got up to head out first.

“I'll be going first, take care young master basen.”

Taylor stopped for a second before looking towards cale and making a last comment.

“I wish to have a drink with you in the future young master cale.”

“Alright, get out now.”

Taylor chuckled to himself at cale's comment as he got out of the carriage

The moment Taylor closed the door of the carriage cale ripped apart the letter.

‘I already know there is a secret behind the crown prince's birth I don't need more troublesome info’

Basen looked shocked at cale's action.

‘He didn't even see what was written! Weren't they friends? Taylor stan said it may help him and its about the crown prince too!’

He was confused of his brother's actions once again, but before he could comment and ask why he ripped it up Eric came in to call them.

“it is our turn to enter now.”

Cale sighed internally because he knew chaos was coming near each second.

He looked at the clock in the bell tower, it was 8:25.

‘If I keep looking at the clock, time will go by even slower.’

He didn't know if that's a good or bad thing, but he's already fed up and wants the plan to end as fast as possible to go to bed.

He finally entered the plaza with his brother and the northeastern nobles, there was too much people gathered in the same place.

Even though the plaza was big enough to accommodate it, cale felt uncomfortable with that many people around, especially when he's too tired to think of what he says or does right now.

He looked at the clock again, he couldn't help it as he was both anxious about what was going to happen soon and of the dragon being with choi han watching him.

Then he noticed lock waving a flag to welcome the king.

‘nothing seems to be going wrong…’

He observed places he found the bombs in and verified there places last night with the others, then snapped his fingers.

The moment he did, lock disappeared from his position.

–is everything going according to plan? What time is it?

“8:30”

Cale answered rok soo with a mumble while still glaring and observing four different places.

–the rest of the bombs will appear at 9:01, you remember right?

“Yes”

Cale's short answers made rok soo feel strange, usually there would be atleast one passing insult towards him, but it was understandable as cale was facing this kind of dangerous situation for the first time.

Cale flinched at Eric's touch, he was calling him multiple times but cale didn't answer while mumbling something inaudible again.

“Cale, come on. we need to go to our seats.”

He let Eric drag him as he stared blankly at the floor.

‘Sit down? I'd rather go back to bed, it's just going to make me even sleepier if I sit down…I need to focus…’

The moment he sat down a voice cut his thoughts and he finally looked up from the ground.

“We seem to run into each other quite alot young master cale.”

“I wonder why…”

Cale said that while frowning and thinking of the crown prince, it was obvious he was purposefully putting Taylor beside him each time.

‘What the fuck is up with that fake blonde? Ah shit. I don't know, I don't know anything.’

He ignored the prince and looked over at the bell tower again, the mana disturbance tool was hidden underneath the bell tower.

–update?

“8:40”

rok soo was putting all his focus into cale's situation, he made sure to finish anything he has for today last night without rest, not like its that much different than how he usually works anyway.

“Cale, be still, ok?”

Cale didn't hear eric as he was too focused on trying to see where everyone could be. 

Eric sighed but saw cale wasn't doing anything so let it be.

“8:45”

Cale started mumbling the time without rok soo asking as he guessed rok soo wanted to know what's happening. Right after the dragon's voice was heard by both of them.

–15 minutes left.

Eric tugged on cale to make him stand up

‘It seems he's more tired than I thought, didn't he hear the announcement of the royal family entering?’

Cale had followed Eric's hand and stood up, but kept staring at the place of the bomb.

“8:55”

Rok soo, who was sitting in his couch and staring at the ceiling, was worried as the time grew closer.

Cale noticed the others hiding in the crowd which means one thing.

“Dismantled.”

He guessed it would be enough for rok soo to know what he meant, he didn't want to talk too much.

Rok soo indeed did as he finally smiled and relaxed a bit.

–atleast now the buildings won't fall on the crowd.

But cale didn't even smile. 

To cale, he can only actually relax only when he gets to his bed, rok soo hadn't let his guard down either but was relaxed since the plan was going accordingly up to now.

But now that the most dangerous bomb was out the way, cale looked over to the crossmans and was more aware of what's happening around him.

He noticed two things, 1, the crossmans including the fake blonde prince, who he just remembered the dragon saying he has brown hair and eyes, arrived. And…

‘Too loud…’

The crowd's cheering was too loud.

Once the King arrived at the sound amplifier and raised his hand, which felt like it took an eternity to cale, the crowd finally shut up.

“It has already been 30 years since this king has received the blessing if the sun god to rule over this kingdom.”

‘Ah right, the king is even older than the old man, he sure is way too energetic and loud for his age…’

Cale's thoughts thankfully weren't said out loud.

“9 am”

At that moment, the moment cale informed roksoo of the time, confused voices rang out across the plaza.

“Huh?”

“What is that?”

Eric and Taylor who were in both sides of cale voiced there confusion as well.

While cale was glaring at the reason he isn't drinking in the henituse's territory, the reason he isn't in bed right now, redika.

The blood obsessed mage that was standing there, on the bell tower, infront of everyone.

“He's here.”

–what an unlucky day for redheads.

“You fucking bastard I'm already annoyed don't make this any worse for me!”

Rok soo smiled, cale finally started acting like usual, though a bit more annoyed.

The king started to shout.

“Who are you?!”

The nights and mages rushed to catch redika, the citizens started to get nervous because they didnt know what's going on, but cale who was annoyed by all the shouting that's happening.

“Get down this instant!”

“Everybody head up to the top of the building now!”

Just like the bed time story rok soo recited to him each night, rok soo decided to recite the dialogue. Again.

–should be fun

“Should be fun.”

So now cale was hearing an echo of redika's words.

On top of that a voice like screeching metal came form underneath the bell tower with red mana.

Cale's head was pounding, getting more annoyed by the second.

The voices of magic devices all around didn't help, but not long after the red mana lost strength. That was a result of the magic disturbance tool.

Four places in the plaza started to ring.

“Finally!”

Cale's exhausted sigh like mumble got drowned out by the noise, this time a bit less annoyed by the extra noise but his pounding head wasn't getting any better.

–so there were alarms that sound there is an error just like I thought, you found them?

“Yes”

Choi han, rosalyn, lock and the dragon each hurried to each place to dismantle the magic bombs, they only had 10 minutes to do it. 

The kittens had followed the dragon for a while but came to cale not long after the others dismantled the first bomb before the bastard, redika, appeared.

Cale felt bad that they had to hear this with their strong hearing, it was already too much to cale whose senses were so much weaker than the kitten's. 

They were invisible but cale could feel them trying to lessen the noise by pushing their ears onto his neck which was useless as only one ear got covered.

He pet them while murmuring.

“You can get out of here, do you know where our carriage is?”

“No, nya!”

“We want to stay nya!”

The kittens talked out loud as the noise drowned their voices, cale sighed at the stubborn children but then turned to look at basen.

Basen was panicking, cale could see the fear in his eyes while he was standing still from shock.

‘Haah, there's nothing I can do about it.’

He tried to ignore all of them and focused towards the group that was executing the plan, he wasn't really worried, even if they couldn't dismantle them in 10 minutes, blowing up a mountain would be easy with rosalyn and the dragon.

Rok soo and cale had come up with countermeasures for anything that could happen, with cale overthinking and rok soo’s planning there was plenty of countermeasures in case something changed from the book.

Cale had his shield to protect himself and the others too, but that was a very last case card, he didn't want anyone to know or see that holy looking shield. But he would protect his brother and whoever helped him if things went wrong, he told them to gather beside him so he could put up the shield obviously without telling them about it.

If that happens whatever the fuck happens outside the shield is none of his business.

Cale who was in a trance thinking of the extra plans felt someone pulling him.

“Cale!”

Eric was the one who pulled him, cale noticed choi han snatching a necklace off a person.

‘That must be one of the bombs.’

Another noise appeared after the laugh of the maniac redika, csle felt annoyed both by the fact the crazy bastard was laughing and of the extra noise to his headache.

‘Can I just drag basen and the children out and leave? I did search for good escape ways while looking for the bombs…I'm tired…’

Cale sighed, for the nth time today, he accidentally looked at the crown prince.

“Hm? Does it not use mana?”

He mumbled what he was thinking out loud, the crown prince's appearance hadn't changed.

Rok soo tensed thinking of all the bad things that could have happened.

--what happened

"Oh? It's just the crown prince's appearance hadn't changed.”

–really? I don't think the novel mentioned any magic devices that work without mana.

“They exist though.”

Cale had learned about them while reading the books for the dragon, these devices are extremely rare to find and expensive because of how hard it is to make them. Of course for a dragon it would be nothing.

“Could he really know a dragon? But then why would he hide that fact? It would help him in so many ways. No, probably not. Dragon's are selfish and arrogant, there is no way a dragon would agree to make such a thing for a human…hm the royal family are wealthy, he could just ask for a high ranking mage to do it, but even with a high ranking mage it would be a bit hard…”

Cale was saying his thoughts out loud, he hadn't realised it until rok soo pointed it out.

–focus on the plan, think about this later.

“Hm? Oh.”

–one more human.

–and another.

–this is the third person.

“I know stop saying useless shit, the noise here is already deaf-”

Before he could continue a shout cut him out.

“Cale, we should go as well! We should go!”

“Young master cale, hurry up!”

Eric, amiru, Gilbert and Taylor gathered around him panicking and looking around.

Cale followed Eric and looked around.

The nobles were fighting to get out, while under the bell tower the citizens were screaming at the knights to open the gates.

Once the gates were open everyone, nobles, priests and citizens rushed out, it was chaotic all around.

“so loud…”

Cale held Eric's shoulder tightly, the pressure made Eric snap out of his panicked state.

“Ah”

“Calm down.”

Eric finally calmed down once he heard cale's relaxed and tired voice, he looked around finally realizing the mess happening around him.

“Panicking like that was stupid.”

“...thank you, I'll make sure not to panic again”

Amiru, Gilbert and basen calmed down after hearing cale talk to Eric, they were all looking at cale.

Taylor was concerned about the citizens instead, the gate for them was opening slowly, probably to control the flow of the people heading out.

‘He's stupidly good, he shouldn't pay attention to people he's not close to, it just may lead to his loved ones getting hurt instead.’

“Lets go”

Cale called out as he moved to the gate with basen and the others.

–one more removed.

–that's four. Only two left.

–that's all.

After the dragon's report reached rok soo and cale they both answered at the same time.

“...what?”

–...what?

“Young master cale, is there something wrong?

Cale ignored Taylor.

‘What do you mean there's only four?!’

–did the number of bombs change? 

“Don't get stupid on me now. There's no way. We have a few sec-”

“Activate mana stability magic!”

He heard redika's shout.

“fuck!”

Cale panicked, they couldn't find the last two, and the plan was so close to be perfectly executed too. 

He was frustrated. 

Rosalyn, with the help of his mysterious friend, the dragon, threw four bombs they couldn't deactivate in time to a mountain.

“mana stability magic complete!”

At the shout the red mana that was still floating around ever since they appeared regained strength and headed to the bombs activating them. 

‘I guess we couldn't avoid blowing up a mountain. ‘

Cale stared in shock and awe at the strength of the bomb, adrenaline rushed through him as he thought of what could've happened if not only those but other bombs blew up in the Plaza. 

‘wow… I really was lucky to be able to get information out of the old man huh?’

Even though the explosion was so far away everyone in the Plaza felt it's strength from the gust of wind that followed after it. 

Everyone had stopped in their tracks, they realiser the bombs came from out if the crowd, everyone was stunned in place while looking at the rising black smoke with sheer terror and pale faces. 

“... Those are magic bombs”

Taylor guessed the only thing that could be this destructive was magic bombs.

“I wonder if magic bombs can become stronger? Maybe I can blow up a castle or two for my relatives with the help of the dragon?”

He mumbled his words knowing if someone heard him he'd be in big trouble so kept his voice as low as ever. 

Cale got over his shock pretty fast as it turned into amusement and relief. Maybe rok soo was right after all. 

While rok soo who was forced to hear his mumbles shivered in fear at the ideas slowly building up in cale's head. 

–I saved them! 

The cheerful voice of the little dragon rung out in cale's head, he seemed really happy at the though of saying someone contradicting all info Cale got about dragons from both books and rok soo. 

–I guess the 2 missing bombs aren't a problem? 

“I think so”

That was as as far as Cale had planned and everything went well, but he didn't want to let his guard down just yet. Redika was still here, why didn't he run off yet? didn't his plan fail?

  Questions still filled cale's mind and he didn't want to let go of the focus he gained the moment Redika appeared even when he's so tired. 

Considering what rok soo told him about Choi Han, that bastard will try to fight him off and that's good for Cale. He didn't want to deal with extra trouble. 

for now his brother is near him safe and sound. He heard his brother's shocked gasp, he focused on his brother's breathing pattern, it was obvious he was scared but he was breathing, alive and well beside him. Not like all the nightmares he's been having about this day. 

Everyone in the Plaza figured out the bombs were supposed to go off near them not in the mountains from redika's disappointed statement. 

“unfortunately, no one died. Why did they go off over there?”

Cale glared at redika, he doesn't want to involve himself any further but if he can watch Choi Han beat that fucker then he will proudly do so. 

“guess the plan failed”

The king started shouting once again. 

“why are you doing this? Who are you? do you think you will be fine after committing such a deed?”

“why the hell is everything so loud today? Who asks those stupid questions before capturing the culprit worse of all in public? what if you couldnt catch him cause I know Damm well you couldn't before. “

Rok soo had told Cale about all of the incident and how powerless and pressured the royal family was against all the destruction, their soldiers and mages contributed nothing as Choi Han captured him. 

–cale for fucks sake stop mumbling out loud, your thoughts are gonna get you killed some day, that's the king you're talking about. 

“and how did you know”

–iI can guess what he said should be around the same thing written in the book. 

Cale ignored Rok soo, he wanted to focus on what's happening in front of him he had limited focus right now and observing redika was the priority, he could be a danger to basen. 

Taylor who had led his guard down thinking the enemy's plan failed and the mages using limitation magic are going to stop him looked towards Cale who was still staring at redika with a stiff expression and a frown. 

Cale's expression made him think otherwise, the tired Cale who was fighting sleep every minute he looked at him was now completely awake glaring at the enemy. 

‘that's right, I shouldn't have thought everything was alright when the terrorists are still here.’ 

Taylor begun staring at the terrorists again, expecting something to go wrong. 

At that moment, two men wearing all black with backpacks appeared, and Cale thought of one things. 

“bombs. Two bombs were missing.”

–cale elaborate. 

“suicide bombers.”

–shit! 

The two men- bombs now were burning before jumping and redika's mana following them. One fell towards the royal family, while the other to the nobles. 

–I'm coming!

Cale couldn't think properly after hearing the little dragon's shout in his head,everything was too loud, he could hear his brother,’s panicked voice, he could hear his past friends trying to get basen to move as he was stunned in place from shock, he could hear Eric and Taylor trying to talk with him but he couldn't hear their words. 

‘No, I can't let basen and the little dragon get involved, I don't want the dragon to experience this when he's only four. Even if we run now we will lose at least a limb from these stupidly strong bombs, I don't want the dragon to see that, I don't want him and my brother to experience that’

He panicked and could only think what will happen to the people he cares about, the people standing right next to him that didn't run yet because of him. 

He raised his hands. 

–if you want to use me you better eat when you're done! I'm fucking starving. 

–you're using the shield? 

“yes.”

The dragon had talked to Rosalyn telepathically, he told her to protect Cale and that he's cale's super great and mighty mysterious dragon friend and she better protect Cale. 

Rosalyn was stunned in place as the dragon teleported her next to Cale, putting aside the fact he had a dragon help them and call him his friend she decided to question Cale later but to do that he has to not get hurt or the dragon would hurt everybody else. 

Rosalyn had her shield raised protecting her, Cale and basen. 

“explode!”

Redika had shouted the same moment Rosalyn put her shield up.

But before anything happened, wings wrapped around the suicide bomber a shield following it, swallowing the bomber. 

Rosalyn stared at the scene unfolding blankly, having too many things being thrown at her at once as she noticed the shield coming from Cale and felt the mysterious person's mana surrounding the shield, which by the way was a dragon apparently?! 

The dragon who saw Cale using the shield decided to help. 

–iI will block it as well

Another faint shield appeared around the silver one, but no one could see it from the light of the first shield. 

At that moment the bomb went off. 

“.., fuck!”

Cale couldn't help but curse, how the hell is he going to justify having a shield?

He could only think about that as the impact of the bomb hit the shield. 

Screams were heard, the bomb directed to the royal family hit the citizens nearby aswell. 

But at the other bombs direction only a strong gust of wind that pushed people to the ground and people nearby the fountain into the water happened. 

The royal family wasn't injured because of the shields the mages cast around them, while people near them died or were severely injured. 

The survivors all looked towards where the nobles and citizens were standing, at the bright silver shield and white wings, it slowly crumbled showing the black smoke inside of it, but the person who was inside didn't have any remains, he disappeared as if he was never there, not even bones or a piece of cloth was left. 

Everyone looked towards the person who had a silver string connecting him to the shield, proven to be his shield. 

“young master Cale!”

Rosalyn rushed to support Cale back up, she knew the dragon's shield absorbed most of the attack but cale's shield absorbed some of it too, and considering the strength of it even a little bit was enough to cause a huge backlash to Cale. 

“young master Cale, are you OK? Young master Cale!”

‘it hurts. I'm tired, can I sleep now? All the bombs mentioned were here, there shouldn't be more right? Why is she being so loud I'm tired of all the noise.’

Cale strength had all but gone and was fully relying on Rosalyn to stand up. 

–aah sob, wait I'm working now! sob, your body is in a very bad condition and is slowly getting malnourished! Why are you hurting yourself more when it's already hard to keep you healthy sob. 

–seriously I'm starving you don't eat at all! now that you used me you have to eat! I'll die again from hunger! 

–what the fuck Cale? didn't I tell you to try and eat what you can at the very least? you can't survive without food. 

While the ancient powers and Rok soo were talking, everyone around Cale was calling for him. 

“ Cale, are you OK?”

“fuck of-”

Cale tried to curse them out this was too much ancient powers and Rok soo were screaming at him scolding him about his health and food and here others are shouting their asses off, can't he get a single second of peace? 

But before he could continue talking blood came out of his mouth. 

“s-shit- cough”

He kept coughing up blood. 

–I'm s-sorry sob, 

–what the fuck is happening can you see? 

–we both can. 

–then say what is happening?! 

–he coughed up blood sob.. But it was the only way to help, he Will feel better sob. 

Cale's head was pounding from all the screaming and voices. 

“at least it doesn't hurt anymore”

He accidentally said it out loud, and everyone misunderstood. 

“h-hyung? don't die!”

“you can't die!”

“I still haven't received answers! Don't die before explaining!”

Rosalyn wanted answers or it will keep her up at night, she needed them. 

–weak human you cannot die! If you die I will destroy everything! I will kill everyone! once I destroy everything even your corpse I will kill myself as well! 

–... Vicious

–he is a dragon after all… 

–ssob…

“im not dying! I'm just sleepy you fucking people, shut up! I have a headache Damm it!" 

Now that the pain is gone he could finally talk, but the pounding headache and his sleepiness didn't go anywhere and he's so pissed at everything right now. 

“hyung, shut your mouth! don't you dare talk after doing what you did! why would you do that?! are you an idiot? have you forgotten our life motto? stay healthy and live a long life, we don't need to be recorded in history you dumb hyung! don't talk and don't you dare lie and say you're fine!”

This was the first time Cale saw basen snap in his life, and it was scary, Cale shivered, he shut his mouth and gave up letting everyone take care of everything while he sat on the floor with his brother supporting him. 

“young master Cale, are you OK?”

Cale nodded too afraid to speak or swear with his brother right beside him. 

“... “ 

Rosalyn stayed silent, she looked towards Choi Han who had backed away after dealing with the bombs and was trying to get in again and deal with redika. 

Rosalyn looked over cale's shoulder to see said redika looking at them. 

“I never expected something like this to happen but this is pretty fun as well.”

Cale turned around to look at the floating redika glaring before getting hit on his head. 

“don't you dare move. This is none of our business you hear?”

‘have I been acting trash too much in front of basen?’

Basen was glaring at Cale making him ignore all the crazy things redika was saying. 

Choi Han who entered forcefully, checked on Rosalyn and looked at Cale. 

“... I can't understand you at all.”

“I don't want you to, bastard. Go follow him to the place I told you about, he'll be there. You better kill that crazy bastard.”

“don't tell me what to do.”

Choi Han went on his way with lock anyway, he had told them where redika was going to teleport to, thankfully the novel Rok soo had mentioned that. 

‘why is Rosalyn here anyway.’ 

He looked at Rosalyn as if asking her. 

“that's why I said I had questions. You better explain latter and introduce me to that friend of yours.”

‘ah…the dragon. I told him he can reveal himself if he wanted but to be careful and not let a lot of people know because it's dangerous. He probably revealed himself to her because he doesn't want to reveal himself to all the people here.’

A priest was heading their way, Cale couldn't stand up he had no strength in his body right now he was exhausted and wanted sleep more than anything. Basen also was still glaring warning him not to move an inch.

But when both of them saw the crown prince coming as well basen stood up with Cale who was barely standing with no support. 

‘I'm really sleepy… This is tiring, why am I even still awake? Redika isn't here anymore I don't care where I sleep.’

Cale was going to fall, he was struggling to keep his eyes open, his vision blurred and all he could see is the fake blond color getting closer, before he knew it his knees gave up and he fainted on his brother who supported him right away. 

“you kept saying your OK and your only sleepy and now you faint? Just wait until you wake up you trash bastard! “

Basen cried as he screamed at Cale, he was distressed and truamatised and Cale didn't make the situation any better for him, he doesnt care anymore, his brother is an idiot

Alberu who watched this all going on, was ignored as basen handed Cale to the priest, before turning to look at the crown prince. 

“I'm sorry your highness, I assume you wanted to talk to my brother? Hyung seems quite idiotic about his health, so please can you wait until he gets better? I'm really sorry for the inconvenience.”

The dumbfounded Alberu stayed silent for a minute before responding. 

“... Yes of course, he's a patient after all and he's unconscious it's really fine if I wait patients come first in such incidents, I'm really sorry you had to experience such a situation today. I only wanted to thank the young master as he lessened the casualties significantly. “

Alberu quickly used his glib tongue, then commanded the priest to take Cale to one of the fancy guest rooms in the palace. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Caleb's head was ringing for too many reasons. 

1 because of his actions when he was tired, instead of doing what he and Rok soo planned days before he used the shield on the bomb instead of on the people next to him and the group who helped him. 

The second reason was Rok soo, who had been calling his name every 5 minutes since he woke up. 

The third reason was the children crying by his head, the fourth as the muttering of basen promising him a hell of a scolding, the fifth was rosalyn's voice talking with Choi Han, which by the way why the hell are they here? 

So in conclusion it was a lot to wake up to and Cale didn't want to open hs eyes to all of that, he'd manage with the ringing and headache but not with whatever the fuck happening in the awake world. 

But Cale realsed something. 

‘wait.. Crying children? why are they crying? what about the people in the room? I thought on is with them? she wouldn't let the dragon reveal himself to all of the people in the room right?’

Right then he decided to open his eyes to the many people in front of him and saw two kitten heads and a dragon head as the first thing. 

“fucking hell… Didn't I tell you not to reveal yourself unless absolutely nessessary?”

At that moment basen was glaring at him with a hint of worry Rosalyn an Choi Han were as well lock who was sitting next to base was looking at him with worry and nervousness about the three children who were crying on cale's shirt. 

“on told us it's ok, nya!”

“don't tell the great and mighty me what to do!”

On was staring at him, it technically wasn't a glare but it felt too uncomfortable for Cale to look at, he looked away from her stare that felt like it was uncovering all his secrets and putting them all out for the world to see, or at least her eyes to see. 

“it's all people I think are trustworthy enough and dongsaeng already revealed himself to Rosalyn. We got tired of hiding for two days. It's your fault for fainting that long.”

On knew there was another reason other than protecting them, Cale didn't want to explain why he took in three children, it would ruin his trash persona that on still can't figure out why he wants to keep anyway. 

So she decided to do this as revenge after making sure it's safe for the three of them and only troubling for Cale but still not dangerous. 

“hyung, why didn't you tell anyone you had children of the cat tribe and a dragon?”

“it's none of your business. And you're not telling anyone else.”

Cale sat up and glared at the others in the room. 

“that goes for everyone here too.”

Choi Han glared back. 

“you can't order me around, trash bastard.”

Before Cale could reply the dragon jumped in front of Cale. 

“don't call human trash! He is not trash human is human!”

–Cale, finally awake? the ancient powers told me what happened. You're not allowed to use the shield unless nessessary. 

“I wasn't planning to. “

–I'm starving Cale! come on eat something anything for fucks sake! 

–you need to drink at least soup from now on. 

“shut up, I have real people in front of me I need to talk to. I don't want them thinking I hit my head and I'm imagining things and talking to myself.”

‘you've been doing that since before you fainted’

On thought as she remembered each time she heard him mumbling. 

While Cale was mumbling basen had called him a couple times but on cut him off. 

“he's not going to hear you nya.”

“when he's like this you just have to wait nya!”

“he's talks to himself a lot, weak human is weird.”

Basen had waited just like the three children told him to, everyone was staring at Cale until he finished mumbling to roksoo and realiser where he is again. 

“hm? why are you staring at me?”

“ Hyung I won't tell anyone if you promise not to do this again. Whatever you used in the Plaza never use it again please.”

Basen remembered the silver shield, it looked so beautiful and it seemed t suit Cale a lot but he couldn't forget the backlash that comes with it. He doesn't want to see his brother bleeding that much again. 

“of course. I only intended to use it to protect myself anyway.”

“then why did you tell us to gather around you if something goes wrong? “

Rosalyn decided to tease Cale a bit the embarrassed flush on cale's face was worth every word. 

Cale quietly replied while looking away. 

“you helped… It was only fair i-”

Most of his words were inaudible too embarrassed to even look at anyone but the children on his lap, excluding on who was so obviously snickering. 

basen who wanted to chuckle but held back changed the topic so Cale wouldn't be embarrassed any longer. 

“I contacted home on my own with the help of Hans, and word about Rosalyn isn't going to travel outside of the mansion.”

“so? What do I have to do with that information?”

Basen sighed, he knew this would be cale's answer. Cale seemed to distance himself so much from the family and now that basen finally has some confidence to talk he will never let go of the little confidence he had at the moment of the attack. He needs it to talk with Cale. 

“they want to talk to you. They're worried and will probably come soon if they don't receive a call soon.”

Cale looked astonished at just the thought of that. 

“what the hell are you talking about? just call them yourself.”

“i meant their worried about you idiot hyung, I called them already. You're the one who fainted.”

Cale failed to find the words to scream at basen for calling him idiot, he was too scared because of last time and couldn't get himself to insult basen right now. So he simply answered honestly. 

“why would they care? we barely talk and I'm always outside the house. I don't see a pont in trying to talk now, just tell them I'm awake and fine-”

Basen cut him off. 

“don't you dare say you're fine. Do you know what the priest said when he checked you? you are malnourished as if you haven't eaten for weeks. It's no wonder you fainted why aren't you eating?

Cale shut up at that moment he looked at the ceiling and ignored everything, he doesn't want to talk about this, he doesn't want to eat, he doesn't want to be forced to eat, he doesnt want to force himself to eat again, he doesn't want to throw up again, he doesn't want to talk about this, it was never supposed to be found out anyway. 

Seeing Cale not answering on answer instead, she wanted to know if Cale is gong to be ok, if this illness he has is going to kill him or not, she wanted to make sure he can stay with them for a long time, if she has to tell a secret of Cale then so be it, if the secret is killing him it's not supposed to be a secret. 

“Cale doesn't eat nya, he gives us the food and says he's not hungry. Nya.”

“a-and when we forced him he threw up nya!”

“weak human hadn't even eaten half a steak that time too. He's very sick, don't force him to eat!”

With on taking the lead her dongsaeng snitched on Cale, everyone was staring at Cale wide eyed. 

“you have such an illness?”

Rosalyn was the forest to comment, she knew a bit about illnesses as she did experiment with healing potions before and it came with very basic info on illnesses. 

“I-is it curable?”

Lock asked with a trembling voice, he got a bit attached to Cale, he know sees him as an older brother that will help him with taking care of his younger siblings he also helped him through his berserk transformation Rosalyn had told him without Cale telling them what to do they wouldn't have known anything. He didn't want to lose Cale. 

“hyung why didn't you tell us? We could've helped.”

‘no, father wouldn't have helped. He never listens. The first time he did was only because you were there.’ 

Cale couldn't say his thoughts outloud, he didn't want to deal with this right now. 

The door opened revealing Ron and beacrox who was entering with a tray of food. 

“I'm sorry, I didn't know you couldn't eat this so I didn't prepare soup I'll prepare it for you young master Cale.”

Cale recognized the voice, it was a voice that rarely comes out but he grew with the owner of the voice, how could he not know who it was? 

He couldn't look anywhere but at the ceiling. 

‘ I don't want to do this today. I don't want to. I want to be alone. This is getting tiring.’

“i'm sorry about eavesdropping, we didn't mean to. I'm here to check on my former young master as I heard what happened and my son wanted to cook him something.”

He could feel tears coming to his eyes as he heard the gentle voice that used to wake him up each day, the voice he heard ever since he could remember, the voice that soothed hm and led him to his room after his mother's funeral, the voice that disappeared all of a sudden when he knew it all his life. 

He couldn't do this, it's too much, too many voices, too many people, too many secrets were revealed. 

He got up and went to the bathroom locking himself in. He's not coming out unless all of them leave. There is nothing that will convince him to go out unless there is no more eyes that can look at him anymore. He doesn't want to be stared at, too many secrets were revealed. 

He cried, he sat on the bathroom floor hugging his knees and cried like a little child again, it was too much pressure their eyes were looking at him without a mask he felt like they were opening him up and studying him, he couldn't take it he felt too exposed under all their gazes. 

Outside of the bathroom everyone was sitting in awkward silence to the point they heard th sobs Cale tried to muffle with his hands tried to hold his breath to keep quiet. 

The voice of Cale gasping air after each time he ran out of air trying to keep his sobs quiet, reminded Choi Han of his early days in the forest of darkness, he realised the situation to Cale was just like that. 

He saw them as the monsters Choi Han saw in the forest of darkness, Cale was afraid, terrified. Choi Han couldn't understand why Cale was so terrified in the moment, was it because he felt vulnerable with his illness being found out?

Rosalyn didn't know quite what to think, she didn't feel like she was supposed to hear all that, it was personal stuff Cale didn't want even his family finding out about. She's not supposed to be here. 

Lock was worried, he was so worried abut Cale, he wondered if the reason Cale hid his illness was because it wasn't curable and he knew he'd die soon, he didn't want to lose another person, Cale reminded him too much of his uncle he couldn't lose another person he carries about. 

Basen didn't know what to do, just when he had the confidence to talk to his brother he realised he had said too much, what did he say? what triggered this? he was the one interrogating and pushing Cale should he have just not changed the topic at that time when Rosalyn teased the embarrassed Cale? it all started then hadn't it? 

Ron couldn't believe what he heard when he was outside of the door, Cale was malnourished? since when did it all begun? How did he not notice? is that why he never ate much of the food beacrox cooks? is that why he thought it was desgusting even though he liked it when he was young? how could he not even eat half a steak and throw up? had he really not noticed any signs at all?

 No he did notice, Cale never ate at home, if Ron saw him he never ate more than half a steak, he thought it was because he didn't like the food, he assumed Cale ate outside but never asked, he did notice but didn't care enough to check, he went along with his assumptions and never tried to ask anything. Is there something else he had missed because of this? 

The dragon wanted to break down the door and hug his human when he heard the sobs but on stopped him, she knew Cale wanted to be alone right now, she knew Cale wouldn't want people listening to him cry. 

“can everyone get out?”

Everyone looked at her, she stared back at them. 

The first to get up was rosalyn, she urged choi Han and lock on an got out of the room, Ron didn't break eye contact wondering where did a child from the cat tribe come from and why she is in cale's room. 

Basen hadn't moved either, he didn't think it applied to him too, he was cale's family after all. Unfortunately, he was included, on saw how Cale acts around him, he is not comfortable enough with basen, there is no way he'd get out of the bathroom with basen here, Cale loved basen as a brother dearly but there is something keeping him from getting too close probably the relatives. It is cale's choice to distance himself and so he is included. 

And the old man observing her is her first target to get out, he was the trigger, the last straw for Cale to lock himself in the bathroom and cry, she didn't know why, but she knew he is part of the reason Cale is crying which means he's getting out. 

“what are you waiting for?”

She glared at Ron. 

“how did young master find you?”

“none of your business get out”

Her fur stood up, she knew this man was dangerous but she wanted him out. The dragon seeing the usually alm oon like this also took a defensive position and glared at the man. 

“get out of our room!”

Ron calmly looked at the dragon and benignly smiled. 

‘I wonder where you found such interesting children young master.’

The shock of seeing the three children faded as he remembered his past young master, he had become quite interesting, or maybe he always was but Ron never cared to look for hints and questions about his actions, but now he does and he wants to know if there is something else the young master he took care of ever since he was a baby managed to hide from him. 

He got out of the room to think just like the children insisted. 

On looked at basen. 

“please get out as well.”

“i'm his brother! “

On knew he was that's exactly why he got to go. Cale is not comfortable with any of his family members and that didn't take more than a day to find out if you stay in the mansion for a day. 

“go tell the count about him waking up. He wants to be alone nya

Basen stayed silent for a while but  understood what she said, Cale really wants to be alone right now. He got out as well leaving the children alone. 

On finally relaxed, the dragon went in front of the door and heard Cale talking. 

“human is talking to himself again. Think he's talking to someone, he's not alone.”

“do you know who he talks with nya?”

The dragon shook his head and sat on the bed, the three decided to cuddle until Cale gets out. 

Kim Rok soo told the ancient powers to explain what happened so Rok soo tried to talk to Cale. 

–hey, Cale? you there? 

He could hear cale's unsteady breathing, Cale didn't respond, he didn't want to answer questions, he had enough questions, he doesn't want to hear more. 

–Cale breath, you are barely getting any air by breathing that fast, slow down. 

Cale tried but couldn't his body wouldn't listen to him, he couldn't stop the tears,he couldn't breath, he couldn't hear anything other than his breathing and Rok soo. 

–Cale follow my lead. Breathe in… Breathe out.

Rok soo tried to guide cale's breathing, it wasn't something new to him, it's not rare to see people hyperventilating after seeing a monster ptsd is almost common and normal at this point in his world, the ones who don't have it either are in groups that fight monsters or power hungry people most others panic at only seeing one, he had to see Lee soo hyuk do this to many others and do it himself to other civilians. 

Cale's breathing finally evened out. 

–tell me what happened. 

“t-they found out. There was too mush questions and everyone was staring at me. I wanted to stop them to say something but I couldn't look at any of them. It was- I felt like everyone was looking inside of me trying to pressure me for answers. I was already overwhelmed I couldn't look at anyone and then Ron and beacrox-they came in they heard about it and I couldn't-”

Cale was trying to swallow his sobs, he didn't want to cry, he wanted to talk to let it out, he did it every time and it always calmed him down, Rok soo listened calmed him down and talked to him about solutions he couldn't think of while panicked, it always helped he wanted to do that again but he couldn't, the words got stuck in his throat then mixed in with the sobs that got out. 

“I was-I couldn't look, I panicked I saw them heard them. Questions came back-it was too much I was asking questions why-they left others were asking about secrets I never expected to be revealed and I just-I just panicked.”

–and now you're calmer. How about you get out of the bathroom now?

“No! What if they're still there? the children are there! I can't let them see me like this!”

–either way I think they heard it. They're not normal children. Get off the cold floor and go rest. You've done enough. Ever since you knew about the Plaza you didn't rest. It's finally over and there's a while to go for something you need to do. 

Cale tried to listen outside, there didn't seem to be any noise, he hesitated but opened the door, there was no one, only the children cuddling on the bed. The room was empty like usual. 

It was finally done, no one is going to ask him questions to try to find more secrets, the children are asleep. 

He walked to the bed and layed down he was tired, he is neber going to talk to that many people at once again. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

Hans quickly barged into his young master's room to wake him up, the crown prince came to visit him of course Hans would be more worried about keeping him waiting than potentially have his head bashed in with a bottle. 

Which surprisingly didn't happen until now. Even though he was slowly getting ruder. At first it was just to make sure if he accidentally said something or if Cale is angry while drunk he wouldn't be hit, but after a while he realized Cale never would hurt him no matter what he said or does. 

He even started joking with Cale and being more brash, which would cause glass to break and he'd have to clean it up but has yet to be hit. 

Hans went in panicking and screaming to get Cale up.

The dragon had known the butler was coming and quickly put invisible magic on himself and his hyung and noona, they had woken up early because they slept early and kept watch on Cale while playing quietly to not wake him up. 

They didn't have time to warn Cale before the butler came in. 

“young master! young master! please wake up, the crown prince is here! don't get us in trouble with the crown please! wake up!”

Hans was crying and was almost going to shake Cale before cale jumped up and threw a pillow at Hans. 

“what the fuck are you doing?! shut up I'm tired. I'm supposed to be a patient you bastard, who comes into a patient's room screaming haah?!”

“the crown prince is here, quickly get up young master! I prepared some clothes. Fast! come on you're too slow the crown prince is here I don't want to get in trouble!”

Cale was surprised but still managed to glare at Hans, he reached to the water that was left beside his bed and threw the glass on the floor. 

“if you want to act like that then I'll make your work hell.” 

“you already do, young master. You don't need to trouble yourself with more mischief.”

Cale was astonished, Hans was getting way too casual with him, he didn't know what to do with him, no matter how many insults how many glasses and drinks he break Hans still acts casual with no sign of stopping. 

“you wanna act like a stubborn idiot? fine then. I'm not getting up. Have fun inviting the guest to the patient.”

Hans looked in shook at Cale, how could he tell the crown prince to come to Cale himself when he already came to his manor? Cale was really trying to get him fired or killed. 

“but young master that's-”

“it's not my fault you wanted to act stupid. Face the consequence I'm not moving.”

hans cried internally knowing full well there's no reasoning with Cale now that he swore to make his work harder. 

‘I should really tone it down unless I can handle more work.’

He went to get the crown prince just as Cale told him to do, questioning his life choices because one of them was messing with cale, and that warns about how bad his life choices are. 

Not long after, a shining fake blond and hans entered the room looking at Cale, who's still in bed attire not even bothering to change. 

‘I told you I prepared clothing, why are you still wearing your bed attire?!’

Hans looked at Cale flabbergasted, every word told through his eyes, Cale looked away not bothering before Hans got out and the prince sat down. 

“I hope you're okay after what happened. I'm sorry for coming as fast as I did. I should've waited until you rest but I was worried about the hero who saved many of our citizens.”

Cale was annoyed he had to deal with this the moment he woke up so he swore to reply even better than the crown prince as payback for making him hear this and waking him up this early after what happened yesterday. 

“its fine your highness. I'm quite honored and happy you made time to visit this lowly trash. I only did what I did to protect myself. It's too much to say I'm a hero, trash would never care about the citizens as much as you our shining star does.”

–human why didn't this crown prince interfere? he's strong. He can fight. So why didn't he? he let you weakling fight and cough blood but didn't interfere!

Cale was startled, he didn't see or hear the children since he woke up, but seems like they were still here. 

He didn't answer the dragons question, normally he'd say that the crown prince didn't do anything wrong as he'd do the same unless someone close to him was there, but it was the crowns responsibility to protect citizens. Plus it would have helped this coward prince much more if he did do that or at least pretend to do something. 

He shoved the thought away as it didn't concern him. He didn't really care, he's not that good of a person either. 

Alberu sighed at hearing the flattery once again directed at him, Cale henituse really was like him. He shouldn't bother then. 

“haah… I have some questions for you and I'm here to talk about your reward.”

He got straight to the point, Cale liked this much better. He didn't like pleasantries, he found them to be a waste of time. Everyone knows no one means a word they say, so why bother? 

“sure. What did you want to ask?”

‘so disrespectful…’

“do you have anything to do with the incident?”

Cale immedietly answered. 

“why would I do something so stupid? and if I did why would I bother blocking it and getting myself in this situation? have you bothered questioning why I would come if I knew this would happen instead of letting my brother just deal with it? it's too troublesome, I hate work.”

Alberu knew Cale wasn't involved he just needed to ask, he could tell Cale didn't like attention, his trash persona seemed to come mostly from his obvious disrespect. 

“indeed, it was only a precaution the crown should make.”

Cale wondered why Rok soo wasn't talking today, he was a bit worried as he's pretty sure he woke up in the middle of the night to him screaming while fighting but maybe he's just asleep after a long fight. 

Cale stopped talking while staring at nothing all of a sudden, Alberu was confused but stayed silent aswell, a couple seconds went by before Cale looked towards the prince again. 

“hm? ah. About the reward. I don't want to be given a title or anything like that, I just want money for alcohol and for you to settle down the rumors if you can. I hate rumors, it's always so exaggerated.”

Alberu stayed silent for a few seconds. 

“... Alright. Rumors indeed do exaggerate things. “

“it can get quite annoying although it's useful.”

“it is.”

Alberu agreed with cale, even though rumors are good for finding information, it's not always right and it can get annoying when it's false things about you or if people purposefully look for every little thing you do to talk about. 

Alberu went out after saying a few pleasantries and a get well soon. 

The children turned visible again and jumped near Cale. 

“that crown prince is weird, human!”

“Hans is getting ruder towards you nya!”

Cale sighed at on's comment, he gave up with Hans, no matter what he did he wouldn't budge or get scared like before. Why is he always assigned the weird fearless butlers? is he gonna have a scary profession like Ron? 

“he's a stubborn idiot, just ignore him.”

“you have to eat now nya! “

Hong reminded Cale about the fact he'll have to force feed himself now that everyone knows about the fact he doesn't eat. Some of them should've guessed he has an eating disorder by now. 

A knock was heard and Hans entered with food as if he heard the children. 

“I'm not-”

Before cale could continue, the now invisible on hit him with her paw, and hans interrupted him, 

“young master you're as thin as a stick and basen ordered me to watch you eat at least half a plate. I'm sorry but I'm scared of young master basen more than you right now.”

“hans, you really have a death wish. I'm fucking tired of you, you'll be fired before you know it if you continue talking to me like that you fucking bastard.”

Hans put down the tray of food for Cale, he was honestly more scared of basen and wasn't saying that to tease Cale as usual. Basen was really going to murder him if he found out that he wasn't taking care of Cale properly, which he is doing but the young master doesn't always make it easy like right now. 

“young master I'm sorry but you really have to eat. Your condition is near dangerous at this point. The priest told us that even if this incident didn't happen he'd give you at least barely 3 days before you would've fainted and probably 4 if you had actual sleep when you told me you're going to bed.”

Hans already figured Cale wasnt sleeping properly, he thought the young master likes to go to bed really early but God knows what the hell he was doing in the time Hans thought he was asleep when now it's obvious he wasn't. 

Cale stayed silent, he could feel the children coming closer and cuddling with him, they were worried. On hit him again. 

He looked at the tray of food on his bed, the smell was making him nauseous even though it was just soup. It seemed basen ordered the chef to cook soup for Cale so he could digest it, but even then the smell of food made him feel irritated.

Hans stayed in place and watched the young master stare at the soup with a frown. 

“I know it's too bland but the priest said you can't eat anything else.”

Hans misunderstood, he thought Cale wanted something like steak for breakfast, the priest hadn't explained that he, even if he wanted to can't eat anything. They just assumed that because he stopped eating for some reason, he needed to take it lightly and start eating slowly starting with soup and  that was what's wrong. 

“I know that Hans. I don't want anything.”

Cale somewhat understood his condition, when it started he was confused. He liked the food that beacrox cooked and wasn't disgusted by it so he didn't understand why he was puking. 

He was around 15, he didn't know anything but the fact if he ate he'd throw up and if the food smelled too strong he'd feel nauseous. At first he hadn't noticed how bad it was because beacrox was the one that Cooked most of his meals, he doesn't know how the chef cooks but it seemed to help him eat. 

He noticed that specific dishes made him puke by the second bite and found out it was made by other chefs in the kitchen, beacrox's food didn't have that strong of a scent either so he mostly didn't feel nauseous by the smell but it slowly was getting worse and Cale had noticed that even beacrox's food was getting a bit harder to digest. 

Not long after, he figured it was from the amount of alcohol he drinks and even made a little test to make sure. Instead of actually drinking he had only took a small amount of alcohol to insure he looked flushed and drunk, which didn't take much more than a cup full as he flushes easily, then threw the rest to make it look as if he drank as much as usual for a whole week, it had actually helped quite a bit. 

He didn't feel like throwing up only by the smell of food and even ate a bit more than half a plate for most of the week. But Ron was slowly getting suspicious of it and he went back to drinking normally. 

Cale didn't care about it at all, he was getting used to it and if beacrox hadn't left he would've never gotten caught as he ate enough not to appear malnourished from it before. 

He got out of  his trance after he heard the little dragon talking to him in his mind. 

–weak human, noona told us she'll reveal herself to Hans and feed it to you by force in her human form if you don't eat.

That was all it took for Cale to ignore the smell and feeling of nauseousness and start eating. 

Apparently the calm on had had enough waiting for him to eat after understanding the severity of his condition. There is no way she's going to let this stupidly kind human kill himself of starvation. They had found a way for him to eat even if it's just soup without getting sick so she'll force him to eat it. 

Hans who had been standing observing Cale while internally begging him to eat because his feet hurt from standing and basen ordered him not to leave until cale is done with his food, saw him finally eating he wanted to cry tears of happiness. 

Cale who noticed this raised an eyebrow while looking at Hans. 

“fuck off already I'm eating like you told me to.”

“young master basen told me to watch over you to make sure you eat.”

‘I already have the children pestering and watching me, there is no need dam it.’

He didn't want to say anything and awkwardly continued eating until the annoying bastard decided to break the silence. 

“... Young master I don't know what happened yesterday but everyone who was in your room when you woke up are extremely worried and had kept asking about you all of yesterday after you kicked them out.”

Cale stayed silent, he didn't even know what time it was when he woke up yesterday, after all that emotional escapade he had for his secrets being found out, he didn't know how long he was out for, he had been exhausted and just woke up from passing out and was too worried about the fact the children revealed themselves to multiple people. 

Had everyone there really stayed here and asked about his well being all day long? he was curious now. After he showed such a weak side to him for such a small reason he thought he'd be ridiculed from some or pitied. 

He thought Rosalyn wasn't going to be interested in him anymore after finding out he was that weak, she probably only came to inquire about the dragon as well, he wondered if she really asked of his well being.

 He couldn't imagine choi Han asking about him either, he probably was forced to come by the wolf kid and Rosalyn. He's probably disgusted by  how weak and pathetic he was acting for such a simple reason.

 Lock and basen would've pitied him but he didn't want that either. He'd rather be looked at with scorn than pity especially by his family. He rather be hit than be looked at in pity. He hated it, the look he imagined both of them would have. 

He stopped eating, his already ruined appetite was ruined even more, he ate half the bowl already it should be enough to satisfy the others. 

Hans noticed how quiet Cale stayed after mentioning it, he wondered what happened and if he should add more details. Cale seemed to react to the topic so maybe he should. 

“they had all stayed in guest rooms and one by one came every 5 minutes asking if they can check on you, especially Ron and beacrox. I asked young master basen if it's allowed, but he said not to let them in so I kept having to come in and out of the room to check on their behalf.”

Cale remembered drifting In and out of consciousness yesterday, he didn't quite pass out so he woke up at some point but didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to wake up yet so he just heard what was happening around him, the children were talking about Hans coming in frequently before he slept again. 

He remembers waking up twice actually and that was the first time he did, the second time was at night where he heard Rok soo fighting for a while before falling back to sleep. 

Now that he thinks of it, he was kind of passed out. His body was trying to gather energy from sleeping for that long to compensate for the lack of eating, that's why he probably could feel the healing ancient power working again. He had enough energy to support it now that he slept for almost a whole day. 

“young master Cale actually beacrox was the one who cooked this for you today. He and Ron had requested for me to ask you if they can enter after you eat.”

Cale turned to look at Hans, he was trying so hard to ignore it each time their names were brought up, but they still waited for him? they waited with the others? why did they leave if they cared? 

Cale shook his head and looked back at Hans. 

“tell them to do whatever they want, I don't care.”

Hans knew by now that is the equivalent to yes for his young master. 

“I'll bring them in as soon as you finish your food.”

“I'm done. I ate enough. I did as all of you want and I am not going to eat more.”

He didn't feel like throwing up but he still felt a fake sense of nauseousness, he knew he won't actually throw up and it was most likely just a phantom feeling but he didn't want to eat anymore.

Hans sighed and took the plate, he didn't try to argue because he knew this time nothing will make Cale change his decision by the way he said it. Cale sometimes is way too stubborn for his own good. 

He went out of the room leaving Cale alone with the kids. 

They turned visible again and Cale pet them, they snuggled closer to Cale. 

‘I wonder why Rok soo isn't talking yet…’

Cale begun feeling worried, had something happened to Rok soo? when will he be able to hear him again? if Rok soo dies in his world would he not be able to talk to him anymore? is that what happened? the last time he heard him he was fighting so it was possible. 

Cale couldn't get used to it, the meddlesome old man hadn't said a word since he woke up it wasn't like usual. His head was too quiet for it to be comfortable now. 

“old man?”

He called out to Rok soo but there was no answer, he thought of the ancient powers. 

“hey glutton.”

–yes? 

“can you see what happens in the other world like how you do with me?”

–hm.. We hadn't thought to try before. But I'm not sure we can. I'll try though if you promise once your condition gets better you eat lots of tasty things. 

“sure, just try to reach him please…”

The priestess could hear desperation in his voice, he really was worried. She decided to find a way, if rok soo can hear them like Cale then it had to be something related to their souls connecting since ancient powers are bound to soul. There has to be a way. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 16

Ron and beacrox entered the room. After the whole thing that happened yesterday, they saw Cale in a completely different light. 

Ron who used to see him as only a fearless puppy, now sees him more as a puppy with alot of secrets and a great actor for being able to hide them from him. 

Beacrox didn't have much good feelings about Cale but the bad thoughts about him were slowly fading as well. It was too much to call it hate but he definitely disliked Cale for insulting his food. But now that he knows Cale simply couldn't eat, he doesn't have much resentment and is only following his father as he seems to have gotten interested in the young master. 

“greetings, young master.”

Cale silently looked at Ron, he had a lot of questions but at this point he felt numb to them. He cried too much over these questions but now that he could find possible answers he doesn't want to question him. 

If he had learned anything from talking to Rok soo, it was ignorance is bliss. The Plaza is an example, he wouldn't be here if he didn't know but he was also happy he could protect basen. It did help but asking useless questions as ‘why’ is useless. Rok soo told him that when they were talking about the attack and planning. 

‘you don't need to understand why that organization wants to do what they did. Their motives have nothing to do with you. What you need to know is if what they are doing would affect you or not. It would be useless to question why.’

So it would apply to this too right? other people's motives are none of his business. 

Ron wants to leave and he doesn't need to know why, could be because of him could be because of something else. Ron has a life outside of taking care of him. He's a professional assassin, it doesn't matter the reason. 

He was just a servant in the first place. He shouldn't have gotten attached as much as he did. Ron doesn't owe him anything. Not answers, nor affection, nothing. 

“what did you want?”

Cale replied emotionlessly, he already got rid of all the feelings he had while crying to Rok soo. Yesterday he was just overwhelmed because his secrets were exposed to too any people at once. It was a stupid reason to cry. 

“I came here to check on you as I was worried after hearing of what happened in the Plaza. I was surprised to hear of your condition. Do you don't mind me becoming your servant again young master?”

Lies his mouth was laced with lies. Cale couldn't believe he was worried, there was another reason. Cale remembers clearly Rok soo telling him Ron only saw him as a fearless puppy who was his responsibility. The novel specified quite alot of things. 

Something had attracted Ron's interest that's all, he understood Ron just as much as Ron understood him, he grew up with him how could he not? he learned to see his body language and how to hide secrets properly from Ron, he wouldn't have been able to do that without understanding the professional assassin. 

He wanted to refuse Ron's offer, he really wanted to. He wanted to tell him there's no reason for him to return, simply answer no. 

“...do whatever you want.”

But dam it he couldn't, the word refused to get out of his mouth, he was still too weak. He was still attached. Why the hell does he still have lingering feelings for that sly assasin? 

Ron smiled benignly, he too understood Cale as much as cale understood him, he saw how coldly Cale looked at them. Cale felt betrayed, he knows.

 There was no one who looked at or understood Cale as much as he did. No one spent as much time or effort to look at Cale before, not as the trash of the count's family, or as a drunkard but as Cale. No one bothered to look at Cale but him. 

He knows Cale feels betrayed because of it, but from cale's gaze he could see that he already moved on and realized Ron was only his servant and nothing more, that Ron has a life outside of taking care of him. 

He also realizes Cale doesn't believe he's worried about him, he came out of habit and interest as to how Cale gotten a shield, he knows Cale doesn't have mana so he realized it is probably an ancient power. 

“I hope you feel better now, Young master.”

The words rang in cale's ears, the voice too familiar to him, it was plastered on his memory a voice he doubts he'd ever forget, a voice that followed him ever since he was born. But he doesn't care anymore, he doesn't need it, the owner's voice is a stranger to him now… Right?  

Ron and beacrox left the room, leaving him with his thoughts.

On looked at Cale, his eyes looked distant as he looked at the closed door. She patted Cale with her paw and came closer to snuggle with cale. 

It shifted cale's attention and he patted on, but now he feels the loss of Rok soo's voice even more. By now Rok soo would have asked what happened or if he's okay after talking to Ron, he would've told him to rest or stopped his thoughts by making him think of something else. He missed Rok soo's voice. 

“... Rok soo?”

He called, hoping that by some miracle the voice that always comforted him would somehow come back, would somehow know he was not okay like he always did.

But there was no answer. 

His head felt empty, it was too quiet he hated it. 

There was a knock at the door but the dragon didn't react, he sensed who was at the door and didnt bother using invisibility magic. 

A voice called out to Cale as he didn't react to the knock. 

“young master Cale?”

Once he heard his name Cale responded for them to enter. 

“hello young master.”

It was Rosalyn, lock and Choi Han. 

“hm”

Cale hummed not bothering to return a greeting. 

“I thought you'd like to know what happened in the Plaza once you were unconscious, so we arrived here yesterday to ask some questions and report it…but I guess it wasn't the right time.”

Cale looked away, he hated the look in her eyes, it was pity. He rather she thought he was weak and sensitive like he thought she would. This was simply too awkward and discomforting. 

“it doesn't matter. Just tell me what happened to that blood crazy mage, redika. Did you manage to kill him?”

Rok soo would've wanted to know too, he would've asked him to talk to Choi han's group and ask of what happened, Cale would've replied he wanted to do it anyway because he wanted to know if the bastard who caused this mess died or not. 

Cale tried to focus on the conversation and forget the missing voice in his head. 

“ah, Choi Han can you please tell young master? I don't know the details”

Choi Han grumbled but did it. 

“I didn't manage to kill him but I took off one of his arms and injured his eye. That bastard's subordinates got in the way.”

“hmm…”

If Cale had said the word bastards Rok soo would've surely scolded him because the children are always around, would he finally return if he swore in front of the children to reprimand him? 

“what kind of fucking cockroache is he?”

Rok soo didn't reprimand him, nor did he ask what he was talking about, it was only silence.

Rosalyn had chuckled but Cale didn't notice it. 

“he is kind of a cockroach isn't he? Such determination to stay alive even though he was already sentenced to death as he is a mage and lost an arm.”

“smart Rosalyn why are you calling him a cockroach?”

Rosalyn looked to the dragon and smiled. 

“those insects are hard to kill, hence calling him a cockroache.”

–human I persisted and stayed alive in that cave and I'm hard to kill so am I a cockroach too?

Cale coughed and his eyes widened. 

“No, little kid. You are not a cockroach, you survived then because you were a very brave and strong dragon.”

Rosalyn stared at Cale, she didn't understand what he was talking about but the dragon probably said something telepathically. 

‘he’ s really good and gentle with the kids. How could he be called trash?’

Choi han's opinion on Cale had changed drastically from the first time they met, he didn't hate him anymore and he doesn't think he dislikes him either, but the words he said still linger in choi han's mind, why would he say that if he really was kind. Was it because he was drunk or is him being kind an act? He wanted to understand why he said what he said.

“can I ask how you knew of the bombs young master Cale?”

Cale mumbled but it was inaudible. 

“Rok soo, that old man… “

“excuse me?”

“hm? “

Cale looked at her confused before he realized he said the name out loud. 

“You don't need to know.”

On wondered if the person he keeps talking to is the one who told him, she wonders if her dongsaeng heard Cale call that person before. 

Even though Rosalyn wanted to know, she decided not to press it, but Choi Han was another matter. 

“why not? are you protecting that person when you shouldn't? are you involved with that organization?”

Cale sighed, even if he told them they wouldn't believe and Rok soo is not here. If he's going to tell someone about him then he wants Rok soo to know. 

“yes I'm protecting that person but because I should and because we both have nothing to do with the organization, and the fact you're interrogating me about this right now proves that I was right in not telling you.”

Choi Han glared at Cale, obviously not believing it, cale couldn't careless and ignored him, but in reality he had goosebumps as he remembered the beating he took, he deserved it though for insulting the dead. 

If rok soo knew what he was thinking he would've probably scolded him and defended him saying that even though he did, beating him as much as half to death wasn't necessary especially because he was drunk even if he wasn't completely he looked like it and no one knew.

He wondered if the glutton priestess found a way to see what's happening in the other world. 

The children who noticed Choi Han getting up and was heading towards Cale to grab his collar stood in front of Cale. The kittens hissed with their fur up, while the dragon glared at Choi Han. 

“don't come closer to my human bastard!”

Cale was startled out of his daze and looked wide eyed to the children. 

“ah fuck. He already picked up on my crude language. I should've listened to the old man… “

Cale accidentally said his thoughts out loud. 

“I will kick you out again if you dare hurt Cale, nya! “

On chimed in as well, there is no way she is letting this idiotic human hurt their kind Cale again, Cale saved them from the bombs and that's how they repay him? 

Hong couldn't be the only one who didn't say something so he also threatened them. 

“I will kill you with my deadliest poison if you come closer nya!”

Cale looked bewildered at the vicious children. 

“sigh, calm down. No need to kill anyone.”

‘right, I should probably start researching poisons for Hong. I already taught the dragon how to read and gave him a few books on magic but he also needs a proper teacher. And I need to know if there is a specific thing on wants to learn…I wonder if rok soo knows about poisons.’

Cale pet the three children to calm them down, Hong and on moved to sit on Cale’s lap while still glaring at choi Han while the dragon sat in front of them  also glaring at Choi Han. 

Cale turned his gaze to Choi Han. 

“ I told you, I don't want to say anything about the person that gave me the information, it's impossible for you to contact him anyway, I'm more of protecting myself and want him to know if I do tell anyone about him. You wouldn't believe me if I said the truth anyway.”

Now on was certain whoever Cale is always talking to was the person who gave him the info. She doesn't exactly know how he's talking to that person since her dongsaeng said he doesn't sense anyone around, but she doesn't think he's only talking to himself. He made it clear he isn't. 

Rosalyn and lock calmed down Choi Han, he sat down again but wasnt pleased and was glaring at cale.

Rosalyn still had one more question. 

“young master Cale can you please tell me if you have mana or are interested in magic?”

Cale looked at her exasperated. 

“for fucks sake, the dragon revealed himself why the hell do you still think I have magic? the kid was playing with you!”

“yes, human is a weakling! he's even weaker than one of my claws! He's also as thin as a stick! Hans confirmed it!”

Cale put his hands on his face. His ears were a tint of red from embarrassment. 

“yes nya. Cale is as weak and thin as a stick! if he carries the three of us for too long his hands start shaking, nya and-”

“enough, Hong. Please.”

On snickered at her brothers comments, not helping Cale in the slightest. 

“I see… I just wanted to make sure”

Rosalyn was surprised even more, weren't there rumors that he shouts and throws things at servants? How is Hans acting so casual to the point he says such things if it was true? was any of the rumors true? 

Now that Rosalyn was done with everything she wanted to talk about, lock who was fidgeting begun to talk. 

“ uh young master Cale about yesterday-”

Cale turned his attention to lock, yesterday was the last time he talked to rok soo, did rok soo really die? Did the glutton find a way yet? 

“I-I just want to know if you're really okay i-i mean I'm worried and-”

“I'm okay. I was just overwhelmed because I woke up to so many people around and my secret was found out. You don't have to worry lock.”

His voice was gentle and quiet while talking to lock, just like he talks to the three children. A vast contrast to how he talks to Rosalyn and Choi Han. 

Both said people looked dumbfounded at this, what kind of favoritism is this? why can't he explain to them something important but explained something sensitive like the reason he was crying to lock? And he was so disrespectful too but the moment he talked to lock he seemed like a completely different person. 

Cale looked back at the two. 

“if you're done get the fuck out.”

See? This is exactly what they mean! 

Choi Han and Rosalyn got up to leave followed by lock.

“it was a nice talk young master.”

“No it wasn't. That bastard was about to attack me so the children got mad.”

‘and rok soo wasn't here…’

His thoughts were left unsaid as the three of them left. 

“glu-”

He was about to call the glutton priestess before on chimed in, finally curiosity taking over. 

“Cale nya, who are you always talking to when you whisper?”

Cale stared at on, he wasn't expecting to be asked this right now. And he definitely didn't expect what the dragon said either. 

“yes, human you haven't talked to that rok soo you call old man all day and only called his name, is he mad at you and not responding? Did you get in a fight?”

“what? No. I haven't been able to hear him since I woke up today so- wait how the hell do you know about him?”

The dragon snickered. 

“human I'm great and mighty! My hearing is much stronger than others! Hyung and noona's hearing is strong too but not as strong as mine!”

Cale sighed, he had been sighing way too much because of the children. He talked about this with on before but thought that they only knew he was talking to himself not that he was actually talking to anyone. 

Hong also commented. 

“yes we can't always hear everything so dongsaeng tells us nya! On told us not to talk about it and wait. Nya”

Cale looked at on. 

“and you thought this was the best moment to mention it?”

“I was curious nya.”

All of a sudden the glutton called out to Cale. 

–hey Cale! I finally found a way! 

“you what?!”

Cale shouted in excitement as his eyes sparkled at the thought he could finally know what happened to rok soo. 

The kids jumped at the sudden loud voice and looked at Cale bewildered. 

–yes Cale, I did it. And you better eat a lot as compensation because it was hard! 

“please glutton just tell me what happened I'll eat a lot for you I promise! “

Hong and the dragon looked confused as on was hit by a wave of realization, there was also another voice Cale talked to before, he called her glutton. It seemed the voice found a way to tell Cale what happened to rok soo. She stayed silent wanting to give Cale some time to find out what happened before asking herself. 

She explained this to her brothers and told them to wait to talk to Cale. Whatever is happening the person named rok soo, Cale cared about him so much and he was finally met with an opportunity to know what happened to him. And if they wanted to figure that out Cale needs to know first. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

“glutton what happened to rok soo?”

Cale's voice sounded desperate, worried and at the same time excited. He needed to know what happened to rok soo. 

–I can't believe I can move through dimensions! I can't see anything since he's asleep though. 

Cale blinked, he wasn't asleep and if the ancient powers could navigate the world through his senses then they definetly can see,

“did you go to the other world? nevermind what do you mean he's asleep?”

He could ask how she did that later, if rok soo really was only asleep then he'd hear Cale calling and wake up. Rok soo was a really sensitive sleeper, most of the time at least because of the monsters. He would have woken up from how much Cale called for him. . 

–No wait, there's someone with rok soo. Huh? 

Cale became anxious, it seems the ancient power was able to go completely to the other world, and who is that with rok soo? he remembers rok soo clearly telling him he lives alone in the outskirts of the city, so who could it be? 

–they're complaining about how little rok soo takes care of himself. 

“no shit, last time I checked he was going to work after fighting monsters all night because of an outbreak.”

–wait wait, what the fuck? what do they mean he's in the brick of death? why are they so casual about it?! 

Cale became tense his eyes shaking, he knew it was normal for him to be injured, his world has monsters all around and he understood how dangerous it could get. The forest of darkness was a forbidden region for the same reason. 

rok soo told him he is living in a world you could die in any second, especially as a fighter. It got better but there is a limit to how safe a world filled with monsters could get. 

–excuse me? He has a power that does what to hs body?! Why are they letting rok soo use it then? 

“what the fuck are you talking about?”

Cale couldn't take it he was worried, will he really lose rok soo? it hadn't even been a day and he's already not used to the silence without rok soo or the bickering.

He just wants to have at least this one person he could be himself around, was that too much to ask for? just one, he just wants rok soo, he wants to be able to be close to rok soo without consequence. Was it too much to ask from whoever was out there watching over them? 

He wants to believe rok soo was alive, that rok soo won't leave him, he can't have him leave when he just finally felt comfortable with someone other than his mother. When there was someone who finally cared to look at him under his facade. Not as trash, nor as a job or master, nor a burden or a count's child but as Cale. 

he thought Ron saw him as such but after talking to rok soo who honestly saw him as just Cale, he doubts ron saw him as anything other than a puppy he had to take care of, hell not even a puppy, it was just a nickname even a puppy would be taken care of with more love and attention than this. If the puppy was really loved no one would abandon it, he was more of a job, just a burden to Ron. 

He couldn't lose rok soo. He was the only one not to care about the rumors. He knew of them from the start but didn't bat an eye, he heard him being rude and threatening Hans and he asked why instead of judging him, cale realized that's all he really wanted.

 Someone to ask why, to try and stop him, he had wished his father would do it first but in the end it took a whole other worlder to get what he wanted, a stranger he doesn't even know how he looks asked before any of the family he cherished did. He didn't want to lose rok soo, who reminded him of how being loved and looked after was like after so long. 

The glutton finally broke his train of thoughts, he couldn't be more thankful for that. 

–he's even known to have 0 casualties but at some point he's going to become the first and last casualty. That's what one of the voices said, he seems to be a team leader that fights the monsters you mentioned. It's really a huge feat to have 0 casualties. 

“what about that power? what were they talking about glutton?”

Cale's voice broke at the last sentence, he was afraid to know what it does to rok soo. 

–it breaks his body, rips it apart. They said it's great, that it's too powerful to be a human's power. Another voice said that it's useless if it hurts him this much and no one would have used it other than rok soo even if they had it because of the drawback. 

“what kind of power rips its owner's body apart to the point he's unconscious?!”

There was silence for a while the glutton didn't talk

–....Cale, I think rok soo needs more mental help than you.

“excuse me? are you calling me crazy right now?”

–you might as well be. I don't know if I can say this it sounds pretty personal but rok soo watched his past team including his team leader and sworn brother die in front of him. They were the only 2 people he was close with and it's basically taboo to talk about. 

Cale and the glutton stayed silent for a while, he didn't know what to say and the glutton was listening to rok soo's team talking. 

–I think you'd want to hear this too. Some of them said that he's emotionless and that he hadn't cried at their funeral, they are basically bad mouthing him in his room while unconscious! 

Cale sighed and put his head in his face. It was obvious rok soo's life wasn't great but on top of the monsters he has to fight people are still interested in rumors in such a world and he also doesn't have a good reputation with some see him more as scary and emotionless than appreciating his hard work for them. 

No matter what world they are in people will always try and find faults in others, rok soo is in an apocalypse yet people still care for some stupid expression and tears. That world has seen more death than anything. 

Cale  didn't expect any less than rok soo feeling numb to death, he had never mentioned family so Cale guessed he lost his family too, and now he knows he saw 2 precious people die brutally in front of him, he didn't expect rok soo to cry, rok soo would be too tired of crying for every death he had seen

“is he okay? Will he wake up?”

Cale decided to ignore it. He couldn't deal with those people in the other world even if he wanted to. He really just wanted to throw at least a bottle to their stupid head to get it to do it's job and think, but he couldn't travel dimensions like his ancient powers. 

–I don't know yet, they didn't mention anything, I think most of them left. 2 people stayed talking though. Nothing about rok soo. They seem calm enough, he will probably wake up soon. 

Cale hummed, he pet the children. At least now he knows something about rok soo's condition. 

“can you stay there and tell me when he wakes up?”

–okay, but you better drink all kinds of soup and stop drinking so you can eat!

Cale didn't respond, he will drink soup like he promised her but couldn't stop drinking yet, he will have to go back to his daily routine of drinking.

On noticed that Cale was done talking and decided to finally ask what happened. 

“Cale nya, did something happen to your friend?”

Cale looked at on who asked the question, Hong and the dragon looked at Cale strangely as well. 

He didn't want to tell them about everything, there is no reason for them to know such cruel things and it was personal things of rok soo's life. So he kept it short. 

“rok soo seems to be sick and was just asleep. I  worried for nothing.”

On didn't believe it, how could she when cale's voice sounded so broken while talking to the person he calls glutton? She wonders why Cale won't just go to rok soo if he's that worried. 

“Cale nya, can we meet that person?”

“yes! this great and mighty dragon wants to know who you are always talking to!”

And her little brothers seem to share her opinion. She wants to meet rok soo, but why doesn't Cale try to go to him and how do they even communicate? 

“ah…you can't. Rok soo is a bit far away, there is no way to go to where rok soo is.”

“ is he in the eastern continent nya?”

“right nya, me and and noona came from there!”

The dragon looked curiously at Cale, can they go to the eastern continent place? Will they find this rok soo person there? 

“No, he's somewhere even further away. He is in another world. I know pretty unbelievable right?”

Cale didn't expect the children or anyone to belive him, especially on. Who would believe there is another world? Cale himself didn't believe it for a while but with that book and the way rok soo explained his world structure to Cale he slowly started to believe it. 

He was surprised to find the children more curious, they didn't think he's insanely talking to himself. Their gazes sparkled, looking at him ready to throw more questions, but unfortunately for them Hans entered and the dragon cast invisibility magic on himself and on and Hong. 

“young master, Eric, gilbert and amiru are here to check on you. Young master basen was angry at me for not informing you of Ron and beacrox coming yesterday. I just wanted to surprise you since you didn't see them for a while I'm sorry.”

Cale nodded, he did prefer knowing who would come to his room and it was what Hans was supposed to do from the start.

“you deserve it for not doing your job. Never let someone enter or stand at the door without informing me.”

Cale glared at hans, now that Ron is back he won't have to deal with Hans, but he doesn't know if he prefers Hans or Ron. 

He really doesn't want ron who's searching only for his amusement and was going to be observant to be the one who serves him. He's not going to fall twice to the acting of ron, he thought he cared but he knows better now. 

Meanwhile Hans isn't the worst but definitely is an annoying butler, but he wasn't as bad for Cale. For one he is not as observant, although it is annoying that he's quite open and doesn't act like a butler at all, but Cale is honestly a bit more comfortable with that than Ron acting like a butler but having hidden emotions behind it. 

Cale was confused as to what led hans to be that comfortable with him even when he throws bottles most of the time but he could ignore that. 

“just go get them Hans.”

Hans went out to do as told, and the children begun talking again. 

“hmph, Hans is annoying! annoying orange Hans!”

The dragon was the first to comment, he was annoyed that Hans had cut him off when he wanted to ask Cale an important question about his important friend! 

Cale chuckled and pet the dragon. 

“isn't he? But can you wait a bit longer? I'm annoyed as well but I need to talk to more people. After that we can talk as long as you want.”

On remembered something as she tapped cale's hand to get his attention. 

“I heard you promise the glutton person to eat nya. Lunch will come soon, you will drink the soup nya!”

Cale sighed but nodded while petting on, he didn't understand why they are bothering with that, it's not like it's killing him. He hadn't stopped eating at all and ate some fruits sometimes, enough not to die at least. He was taking care of it pretty well and preventing himself from dying of starvation so why were they so worked up about him eating more? 

The dragon had activated invisibility magic again when he sensed Hans and a few more people coming closer to the room. There was a knock not long after and Cale announced for them to come in. 

Eric, amiru and gilbirt had walked in with worried faces, amiru was the first to talk. 

“are you alright, young master Cale?”

“yea, just tired. “

Cale answer came fast without a thought, he had gotten used to saying that sentence many times to Ron, especially after training. 

He had stopped long ago but before that he had always came back on the brink of fainting because he didn't want to faint on the floor of the training grounds like what happened before. 

Just when he felt like he would collapse soon, he would go back to his room by sneaking through the backdoor of the training grounds. He used to tell Ron he was going out drinking then sneaked into the training grounds. 

Being on the brink of fainting helped with his lie as he looked like he was drunk. Ron would usually ask if he's alright and he would always repeat with the same sentence ‘yeah, just tired’ while trying not to collapse. It became an automatic answer to the question after a while. He would manage to go to his room without collapsing or with the help of ron, managing a few threats sometimes before fainting. 

Ron had not questioned it even when Cale fainted in front of him sometimes, he only thought he had drunk more than usual and Left it at that.              

“are you sure?”

Eric didn't believe it, Cale had definitely overused his shield. The explosion was massive and just the gust of wind that came out of the shield was enough to push people and even throw some people in the fountain. There was no way Cale, who had taken the actual bomb's explosion all by himself with his shield, was okay. 

“I only have a headache. “

‘and it's because of you.’

Cale's thoughts were left unsaid.

“young master Cale, since we were coming to the henituse residence we bought a few documents to discuss with you and basen.”

Amiru was the one who changed the topic, Cale remembered about the ancient power in her territory, he has to go get it. 

Eric and gilbirt seemed a bit hesitant to talk about it with cale unlike amiru. 

“can you take a look at it?”

Amiru handed Cale the document, he didn't take it from her. 

“No, I don't need to see it, I hate work go work with basen and leave me the fuck alone.”

Amiru smiled and insisted for Cale to see it, ever since she saw the tired Cale, and what he has done in the Plaza her point of view of him changed. He was clever and he doesnt have a bad relationship with his brother like the rumors said because he doesn't want the heir position anyway. 

He was the one that gave her the navy idea, not directly but he clearly was hinting on it in the Plaza when they talked, so it's only right to show him it's progress or at least if it's accepted or not. 

“young master please. Just take a look at it.”

Cale sighed but decided to take the document and opened it to look through. 

‘the navy was accepted.’

He was a bit happy about that, rok soo said wyvern would attack the henituse county but just incase for caution, a navy as well would help. 

Now the ocean is secured, he needs to find a way to defend in the sky though.

He skimmed through the paper reading details, it reminded him of when he was younger, before his step family entered the picture. He used to help his father with paperwork, more so do all of it with Ron double checking. After a month ron said it doesn't need double checking and just to ask of he's having trouble with a certain situation. 

He had continued to work continuously instead of deruth for a year before deruth finally oayed attention to someone other than himself and brought a family home. Yet Cale was still out of deruth's sight, never looked at unless he wanted hi to play with basen. Avoiding eye contact, never talking, but at least he finally started eating outside of his room by then.

Cale closed the document, hating every memory that came with it, he threw it at amiru and layed down. 

“you can talk about the funds with basen now. Congratulations on getting it accepted. Get out.”

Amiru hurried to catch the document before it fell on the floor, she was confused why Cale was annoyed, was it because she insisted when he told her he doesn't want to see it? 

Eric and gilbirt said their goodbyes and went out but right before amiru went out Cale spoke and she looked at him. 

“I will go to your territory for sight seeing and so I can rest.”

‘to pick up an ancient power.’

He left the main reason out, he did want to rest from his interactions with everyone here though, maybe he's finally get some peace there with no one he knows but amiru and the children. 

‘now that I think about it, the dragon has never seen the ocean too. It  would be a good new experience for him.’

Cale nodded to himself, happy that he could make the dragon experience more new things. 

The dragon turned visible again and continued talking. 

“why are so many people coming to you today, weak human? if you are in recovery shouldn't they let you rest and not talk to all of those people?”

On nodded, she just wants to have some time with cale, they had not had time alone unless they were waiting for Hans to bring the next person in.

Hong and the dragon were annoyed, they finally decided to talk to Cale about this rok soo person but they are getting cut off each time. 

On was too, but she felt more worried and sympathetic to Cale, he was the one talking to all of these people and it's clear that he is fed up with all the talking. 

“so can we-”

The dragon made them invisible again. 

“Hans if you fucking enter that door one more fucking time I'm seriously going to throw something at you.”

Hans handed Cale documents as he spoke. 

“don't blame me young master, next time don't get hurt then maybe there won't be so much visitors. This is the rumors going around about you young master basen tald me to give them to you as he thought you'd be happy the same as he was at your recovering image.”

Cale opened the document fast, just to see what he dreaded to ever see. 

The rumors had changed. His reputation got better and he even became a representative of the henituse family's hidden strength. 

<Cale henituse had bravely defended against one of the bombs that got off in the Plaza, showing the hidden strength of the family that protected the roan kingdom from the forest of darkness for so long, the henituse family's first born had bravely stood there with his silver shield surrounding the bomb as if protecting it, causing him to take the full massive affect of the bomb. He coughed blood but still forced himself to stay awake until everything was done, only fainting after the enemy disappeared despite his internal injuries.>

Cale read through the document, each word getting him paler than the other, wasn't the crown prince supposed to stop all this sugar coated rumors?! that was their deal wasn't it? 

Unfortunately for Cale, it was too late and the crown prince has indeed lessened it but it still was that long. It was too late as two days had passed before Cale told him to suppress the rumors, while all the kingdom had already heard of the rumors by then and it was only getting wider to other kingdoms when Alberu was trying to suppress it. 

So it was not alberu's fault as what Cale received was one of the most simplified versions of the rumors as well. 

“why the fuck is basen happy about this shit?”

Hans blinked while looking at Cale, he seemed terrified of the fact the rumors were changing into good ones instead of being happy because he may take back his heir position. While basen who was more likely to lose the heir position was happier than ever, had they somehow switched bodies? 

“are they not good news?”

Cale looked at Hans as if he was the stupidest most strange creature he had seen. 

“why would it be a good thing? Just give me one reason!”

“1. Your reputation improved in social circles-”

“fuck that, I hate talking to those greedy motherfucking nobles. Why would I be happy if more of them would approach?”

‘relatives will attack me and basen!’

“then another reason is you have a higher chance of having the heir position”

“I don't want it. Why would I want a position that would drown me in paper work?”

Cale really didn't want any of that, others would have been jumping in joy. Hans was baffled and tried to come up with another reason. 

“then… your family family would have a better image of you?”

Hans didn't believe that's something a noble would care about, it seemed unbelievable and ridiculous yet Cale stayed silent. 

“... It's better if they don't. It's all lies either way.”

He mumbled but Hans heard, he stayed silent before changing the topic. 

“... The count and countess would like to have a Talk with you. The countess said if you don't reply they would be sending both of you back or coming here creating a scene. And dinner is ready.”

“dinner?”

Cale looked surprised, wasn't lunch supposed to be now? had time passed that fast? 

“you woke up late and skipped a meal young master.”

Cale worriedly looked at the children, had they skipped a meal as well? He found them skin and bones on the streets and in a cave. they had just started to gain weight he can't have them skip meals. 

On who knew what Cale was thinking hit him with her paw. 

“young master I'll bring dinner over then a communication device.”

Cale sighed but nodded anyway, he could not avoid talking to his father and the countess. 

****

Bonus

In a trial.

“your honor she's guilty for writing and editing an angst chapter that has long to come instead of writing the next chapter!”

“In my defense I read too much angst fics!”

“you don't even know when the chapter would takes place!”

“I…have an idea of when“

“and?”

“it has a while to go and it may not even work and would be postponed to a later date…”

Chapter Text

Chapter 18

Cale and the children had started eating, they brought in his usual meal only with an extra plate of soup as basen had requested for Cale. He knew Cale wouldn't want the children or his illness found out so he had not said anything and only told them to prepare the extra plate. 

He stared at his soup while moving it around with a spoon. 

“glutton, did rok soo wake up?”

–No, still asleep and no one has visited since the last time I told you about.

“hm”

Cale hummed still playing with the soup as he hadn't drank any of it yet, he was thinking that if the ancient powers could go to the other world where rok soo is, then rok soo may be able to use them. The glutton had also explained that they're bound by soul, and that was the only reason she could go to the other world. 

“crybaby, can you go to rok soo's body and try to heal him?”

–I don't know, it seems dangerous sob… The path of the connection is a bit narrow and weak sob.. I don't know how the glutton even managed to cross without falling. 

Cale decided to bribe the glutton into helping the crybaby cross to the other world. 

“come on please. Glutton can you help him over and convince him? I promise to eat all kinds of meat and steak that you want if I get better and eat all kinds of soup, even with some bread mixed in sometimes if you help me”

–deal. Crybaby come over here! you're basically a half soul with barely any consciousness and we literally float and don't need ground, stop being stupid and cross over. 

The crybaby hesitantly followed the glutton, they made it with a sigh of relief from the crybaby after getting off the connection bridge. 

“so? do you think you can use your power on him?”

–it's much harder sob… But I think I can do it…i can feel the wounds sob… He is ripped all around his body with cuts to the point its dangerous sob.. 

Cale sighed in relief at that. 

On who had noticed Cale not eating and talking, decided to wait until the right moment to remind him to eat. Once she heard his sigh of relief she swatted at his hand holding the spoon. 

“Cale nya! you promised to eat, stop playing with the soup talking and start eating nya!”

On scolded him as if she was the one taking care of a child, Cale who felt like a child reprimanded by his mother started eating quietly while side eying on who was glaring at him making sure he's eating. 

After Cale and the children were done eating, he called for Hans to bring the communication device. 

–sob.. I'm almost done.. He should wake up soon by now even if he's not completely healed.. Sob I will continue healing him.

Cale was relieved to hear that, it seemed to truly work and he can talk to rok soo soon.

Hans came in with a communication device calling the henituse county, waiting for the call to be accepted by the other side. 

He put the communication device on the table Cale was previously eating on and left, almost immediately after the call connected. 

Cale noticed deruth didn't look as if he had slept in days, it had reminded him of before deruth had found violan when he was grieving, he had the same distant look. 

–...are you alright now?

Deruth avoided eye contact with cale, almost the same as he had in that year of grieving locked up. 

Cale noticed something was wrong, had not Deruth gotten better long ago? is there a reason Deruth can not look at him again? had he messed up something? but he made sure to keep his promise, this ruckus was not caused by him. 

He searched for all possibilities but didn't know what could be the reason.

“yes, it seemed like I was just a bit more tired than usual.”

–were you drunk?

Deruth instantly thought of the first reason why Cale would faint, he had seen the footage of the whole Plaza incident from the start, Cale seemed drunk and about to fall asleep before anything happened, he doesn't believe Cale was just tired and was trying to cover up his drinking.

“No, I had not touched a bottle of alcohol the day of the Plaza.”

There was silence after that, violan decided to break the awkward silence. 

–we are going to show those terrorist hell for touching the henituse family. Our family may have never taken action and stayed still but it seems like the family stayed still for too long and it's time to move as on of the family is hurt.

Hearing his wife saying what deruth should've said to comfort his son he hesitantly started talking. 

–yes, we protect our people when needed but our symbol is a golden turtle as a reminder to protect ourselves and the family more than anything. 

Cale had a small smile on his face, he remembers Deruth telling him that while he was helping him study with his mother. Violan was shocked as it was the first time she ever saw Cale smile like that. 

They talked about what happened a bit longer  and about Cale wanting to go to the ubarr territory before they said their goodbyes and disconnected the communication device. 

Cale sighed and leaned back on his chair while staring at the ceiling. 

‘father hadn't looked me in the eye at all. Something is wrong with him.’

Cale remembered how Deruth avoided his gaze only glancing once before looking away immediately with terror on his face. 

‘did they come back? but father said they didn't appear ever since he fell in love with the countess. Was I the reason, is that why he's avoiding me?’

Suddenly Cale heard a groan. 

–ugh…

–rok soo is finally up! hey rok soo, how about eating a thing or two now? What kind of food does this world have? 

The glutton announced the happiest news Cale heard all day. 

“rok soo! why the fuck did you leave me without a word huh old man?!”

–it wasn't optional, ugh, I'd rather wake up to silence as usual than this. 

“of course why am I not surprised you fainted more than once.”

Rok soo's mouth twitched, he would never in his life admit it, but it was a bit nice to wake up with someone with him after fainting unlike usual. 

On observed Cale, he was smiling and the fire in his eyes returned after being exhausted of talking to so many people from the moment he woke up till the end of the day. This rok soo seemed to really mean a lot to Cale. 

–Cale, why do I feel a strange power in my body? 

“the glutton found out she could go to your world this morning through a narrow bridge that seems to connect our souls.”

–Cale was begging me to do that because he was worried sick about you. 

“you fucking snitch, I trusted you!”

Cale felt the biggest betrayal of his life, how could she so casually say it? if she held it as blackmail he would have felt less betrayed than this. 

–pfft, I knew you were a worry wart.  

–that wasn't even half of it, he also asked vitality to heal you and let me convince him to cross the bridge that he was scared of because it looked weak. 

–you missed me that much when it only has been a day? what you can't live without me any more? 

“hey!”

Cale’ s ears were red from embarrassment as rok soo and the glutton continued to tease him, eventually changing the topic and sharing what happened during the day with his talk with everyone, starting with the crown prince, to ron and beacrox, then Choi han's group moving to his parents just moments ago. 

–it seems like it was a long day for you. 

“It was.”

hong couldn't take it anymore as he watched Cale talk with rok soo. 

“Cale nya! Is there no way for us to talk to rok soo? how are you talking to him if he's from another world?”

Cale turned his attention towards Hong. 

“ah that's… I don't know? I woke up and all of a sudden I heard his voice in my head.”

The children looked disappointed. 

–who are you talking to?”

“the children, they figured out I was talking to you long ago and asked questions.”

Cale looked at their disappointed faces, and decided to tell them rok soo could hear the dragon. 

“actually, the old man can hear the dragon when he talks telepathically. But I don't think you'll be able to hear him still.”

The dragon's wings fluttered. 

“so I can talk to him like human?”

“yes but you can't hear him.”

–human's close other worlder friend, can you hear me? I am a great and mighty dragon that protects the weak human because he is weak! Is your world different than ours? 

Cale chuckled as the dragon started asking questions about the other world with no way for rok soo to answer but through Cale. 

–he's a cute dragon

“he is.”

The dragon sat in front of Cale on the bed, during their talk Cale had moved from sitting at the table to his bed. 

“human what did he say? did he answer my questions?”

“his world is so different than ours. It has only humans and animals that can't talk and only act on instinct.”

– is it true? You don't have dragons in your world? 

Rok soo hadn't answered, Cale knows some of the answers and if he didn't he would answer. 

Cale sighed internally as rok soo was actually ignoring the dragon and he was the one answering the questions. 

“No there isn't. There's no magic either, but their are monsters everywhere that appeared all of a sudden when their world was peaceful-”

–not really, either way it was fucked up with many wars and greedy people. Now those still exist with additional monsters and abilities just to add another thing people could judge. 

“shut up, I don't need your negativity right now.”

Cale shut rok soo up and continued answering the dragon's questions, he had enough pessimistic thoughts throughout the day he didn't need rok soo to tell him his. 

Cale ended up talking with all three children and rok soo for a long time as only when rok soo finally cared to look at his phone did he notice it was way past midnight and the sun would rise after less than 2 hours, then forced rok soo to sleep as he remembered Cale saying he had to go to the Plaza again tomorrow to mourn the dead. 

***

Hans had woken Cale up early to get ready for the memorial and medal ceremony, Cale who was woken up at 6 and barely slept for 2 hours was thankfully not as tired in the Plaza and didn't look drunk as the crybaby had returned to Cale while the glutton stayed with rok soo to eat dishes from the other world through rok soo. Cale could hear her every 5 minutes asking what a certain type of food is and if rok soo could eat it. 

Rok soo had woken up an hour after Cale to go to work as well, which Cale tried to tell him not to because he had just woken up from fainting and the only reason he did so soon was because of the vitality of the heart. 

“rok soo you only woke up because of the vitality of the heart anyway! rest, none of your teammates even know you're awake since none of them visited you since treating your injuries and throwing you home in the outskirts while injured!”

–I am the one who told them to do that and had a big fight with Kim min aah about it. They have families to take care of. If I rest each time I'm injured no work is going to be done and if I don't finish my work I can't slack off. 

Cale couldn't say anything as he knew rok soo's world was dangerous and what is normal between them is different, he stayed silent as rok soo worked and he got ready and went off to the memorial with the children and a lot of guards. 

The atmosphere between him and basen was awkward, basen hadn't talked to him since the day Cale broke down in front of him. 

He could guess what basen was thinking, he was blaming himself for what happened and probably had been anxious all of yesterday thinking about it. Since he made sure to lecture Hans quite a lot and control who is in and out even tell the chefs to cook him soup, basen had been taking care of Cale all of yesterday as a sign of apology and anxiousness. 

They arrived and got of the carriage, then went through security. Nobles only were allowed this time but two guards were allowed to enter as Cale was an exception. 

Nobles had been looking at Cale quietly because of the rumors they heared. 

all the nobles had heard about how cale refused a medal and was injured, but he had come today dragging his sickly body after waking up from fainting for a whole day, rumors from the palace he was staying in got out saying he was beddly ridden as well and slept for the rest of the day only waking up in the middle of the next day, possibly having fainted again right after talking with young master basen. 

For short, what Cale did in a day had trampled and thrown his trash persona he worked so long for out a window. 

Cale and basen went to join Eric amiru and gilbirt.

basen, Eric and gilbirt were talking about the navy and investments. 

“young master Cale you're planning to move tomorrow right?”

“yes I'll be visiting your territory to see the ocean.”

–rok soo what is an ocean? 

Rok soo sighed but answered anyway while dealing with paperwork since he didn't have anyone around unlike Cale.

–it's somewhere with a lot of water to the point big beast tribes like whales can live under it, some whales can almost reach the same size as a dragon and many of them including other creatures and beast tribes live in it, it's so deep, no one knows what is its end but sea creatures, even though you'd think you reached the end humans in my world that explored everything since they didn't have something like magic to occupy themselves with keep finding deeper and deeper levels in it. 

Rok soo said all of it forgetting the dragon couldn't hear him as he was focused on paperwork, Cale sighed but whispered what rok soo said word by word to the dragon who sat on his shoulder to hear the answer better. 

the dragon was fascinated and couldn't wait to see the ocean wondering if Cale would let him get in and explore around like humans in rok soo's world did. Of course this great and mighty dragon doesn't need to get permission but just to make sure his human won't get into trouble without him he needs to tell his human. 

The ceremony had begun and king zed had started his speech. 

“we are gathered back here today to show we will not cower under fear.”

Zed had looked at the crowd as he said the next words, Cale felt a shiver as he thought he made eye contact with the king at that moment and looked away,. 

“many have shown heroic deeds in that incident, we were able to protect the land like in the past thanks to their efforts.”

Cale wanted to get this done with the bullshit the king was spewing, he hated the feeling and chlls he got the more the king talked. 

–human you said that person up there was blessed by God? but I don't feel anything special from him though? 

Cale's mouth twitched as he ignored the dragon, he knew enough about the crossman family and doesn't want to learn anything more. He is not interested one bit in having blackmail or information that could get assassin's sent his way. 

So he was relieved when the dragon hadn't said anything else noting that he has to tell him to keep it secret. 

The medals were finally being handed to who they belong to and the people cheered. 

–why are those humans so happy of a few medals? 

Cale looked boredly at the scene, he never understood the fun of it either, but he knew people always chase fame and a medal is an easy way to get it. 

Just at that moment he could see venion coming closer, he frowned as venison started to talk. 

“don't you think you will regret declining the medal later?”

“not at all, I hate attention.”

Cale's answer was immediate and honest he wanted to get rid of venion as fast as he could. 

–can't I blow him up now? 

The dragon as plotting murder that could happen very easily if the dragon wanted it. 

Thankfully venion had shut up after hearing cale's answer.

–have you received your reward yet?

Cale mumbled an answer to rok soo. 

“yes, he gave me a golden plaque that I can use twice to buy whatever I want.”

–anything? 

Cale hummed 

–even a magic tower? 

He blinked, confused as why the fuck he would buy a magic tower. 

As if reading his thoughts rok soo answered. 

–the magic tower of the whipper kingdom, it has a hidden room filled with gold, a mountain of it. If you buy it, all of that would become yours. 

He grinned, alot more interested in the topic now. If he had learned anything from his mother, it was never to miss an opportunity if you have it , even if you don't need it an opportunity is still an opportunity and it may come in handy, especially if it was gold as it will forever be useful to every human alive. 

The dragon who had noticed this was interested and asked. 

–what are we doing weak human? I'm not leaving your side, you need to tell me what you will do so I can protect you! 

Cale hadn't answered the dragon until they got home. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 19

Right after Cale went home lunch was ready and it was served for Cale. He gave the dragon and kittens steak before he started drinking his soup. 

“what were you planning to do, human?”

Cale hummed thinking, he still has a lot to do despite everything related to the Plaza being done. He has to get that wind ancient power rok soo talked to him about, and buy a destroyed magic tower. 

He put three devices in front of the dragon,they were the magic bombs that contained compressed mana. 

“We will bomb the ocean.”

–ah the sound of the wind, you told me you're going to the ubarr territory to get it and show the dragon the ocean. 

“yes”

–will you let the dragon use those bombs you got from the Plaza? That's better than the plan to jump in the whirlpool with the shield. 

“I know.”

Cale had alot to do today too, even though he is supposed to be a patient he's going to have to talk to three people today, one was billos, another being Taylor, and last Choi han's group

The first time he went to billos to buy the magic devices that helped save the dragon, he was wearing a mask and the same robe he used when he sneaked out to get the glutton. 

So he had to wear the same ones to give it back as he had just borrowed it and did not purchase it, and he has to buy another item. 

Billos had taken a liking to him thanks to rok soo telling him about billos's problems with his family and how to deal with the greedy merchant. 

It wasn't hard, Billos was a bit suspicious of him at first but Cale managed to get him to have a liking to him thanks to rok soo. It hadn't really needed much more than money and info as he also sold some info he knew about nobles, as he found out Billos does also sell information and rumors he hears in his shop. 

It wasn't just rumors Cale sold though, it was information about some noble families and their dirty work, Billos told him he was just now gathering info to start to get a proper income from it as rumors don't pay much. And the info Cale had wasn't simple. 

It was true he doesn't enter his study much as it reminds him of when he used to work instead of Deruth and of his mother thanks to the portrait, but he does enter it in secret when everyone in the mansion is asleep. His mother wasn't that simple of a person, she had hid info of other families in Cale study and told him about it, she also told him that his uncle or someone in the thames family would come every now and then to update the info or add about more families, and rumors. 

She told him not to touch it unless he is at least over the age of 13 if he could, she left it for the safety of Cale and trusted him with that info to help him in dealing with nobles and to stay away from trouble.

Cale had went there when he was 15 once and still remembers the evil things and blackmail he had on every family, he doesn't know how his mother kept herself in the shadow for so long with such info. How did no one try to assassinate his mother with all that info she had? 

Even though he would rather keep his family and himself safe than gather info, he had a mischievous smile as he memorized all of it when he was 15, he's not sure if his uncle had updated the file yet as he had not had the time to recheck it and only went in to get evidence and get out, but it wasn't too old info that he got a good amount of money for and the favor of Billos by sharing 2 of them. 

one was good blackmail against a baron family that was selling illegal potions with the proof being a recording, he made a copy of it and send it to Billos the other being a more simple thing of a family that stole a good amount of money from marquis Stan, it was his run away daughter and her husband, Cale had told him not to do anything to them and rather seek them out as they would be good customers. 

Though he has to probably leave a note to his uncle saying he did that, both were very simple crimes, put into a category of simple blackmail in the book of documents, for every document there was proof of in a secret room that has official contracts and recording devices, hell his mother even had a list of ways to make fake evidence and plans for some of them because they didn't have enough actual evidence or for fun. 

So Cale was now sitting in front of Billos with a robe and a red veil covering his whole face.

“are you not planning to tell me about yourself?”

Billos had so confidently said that. Cale chuckled as if he said a joke. 

“Billos dear, don't you know info gatherers and buyers never share info about themselves? if you want to know, find out for yourself. Only beginners would do such stupid things”

–you sure act differently when it's something illegal. 

Cale ignored rok soo and took a sip of wine with a mischievous smile on his lips and eyes observing Billos. Of course he's acting different, serous times and plans require serious methods. 

“hm you're right. Thank you for returning the past items, here is what you purchased.”

Billos handed Cale a magic box. 

“very well then.”

–now all you have to do is get the ancient power, buy the magic tower, and try to stay as far away from the jungle, empire, and any political problems. 

Cale wondered if there is any updated info on the whipper Kingdom in his mother's records and blackmail. 

He went back to his house to wait for his second guest of the day only to be surprised by a clay doll entering through the balcony of the room. 

On and Hong jumped on cale's shoulders trying to get as far away from it as possible. 

–I sense the power of a god, it reminds me of death! don't touch that thing. 

‘I wasn't planning to’ 

–it seems cage is contacting you? 

His guests decided to come in an interesting way. 

“is this ex priestess cage?”

“I knew you'd figure it out, this thing can listen and talk only.”

Cale was intrigued on how cage could build it with the power of death, it definitely looked useful and efficient, he could talk to people anonymously if he can get this thing with maybe a voice changing magic device on it. 

Itoo bad he didn't have enough knowledge or power of magic to do such a thing, but it is definitely possible to make a little device that moves around with magic and has the same features as communication devices. it may be even easier as it doesn't need eyes but if he could make one that records one side not the other it would be very useful for many things. 

‘it's really unfortunate I don't have the ability to build it.’

“what did you contact me for?”

The small ugly clay doll had started talking. 

“young master Taylor wanted me to inform you he hopes for your early recovery and that once he gets over the small obstacles on his way he will return the favor.”

Cale hummed with a smirk on his face, he already knows what will he ask of Taylor once he becomes a marquis. 

–is that when I can take my revenge? 

The dragon who seemed to have figured the clay doll couldn't see from the start as he isn't turn invisible was thinking the same thing as Cale. It was the perfect opportunity to get back at venion for daring to hurt a dragon hatchling, a small child compared to dragon age could be called an infant even if he's 4 years old. 

Cale hummed giving an answer to the dragon without making it obvious. 

“sure. Now get this thing out of my room.”

On and Hong had been uncomfortable with it being here ever since it entered, he couldn't make them uncomfortable for too long in the only room they can comfortably talk an move around in. 

The clay doll had only  made a chuckling noise before saying goodbye and getting out from the balcony. 

“it was disgusting nya!”

“and creepy nya!”

On and Hong, hated that thing, while the dragon seemed as interested as Cale in it, he wondered if the dragon would like to learn how to build devices as well. 

‘If he asks I'll have to find a way to learn how to do that and buy books about it.

Cale sighed as he hadn't even started looking into poisons or asked on what she wants to learn yet and he already had another thing he will have to research.

Cale was waiting for his third and last guest of the day, Choi han’s group again. 

Choi Han was frowning in a corner while Rosalyn and lock talked with cale because of what happened last time he talked with cale, he was scolded by Rosalyn and was told not to say anything if he wanted to come along. 

“young master Cale I'm here to ask if I can go with noona to help her. I'm sorry, I haven't been working as I'm supposed to.”

Rosalyn needed the help of lock and choi Han, lock told her he had to ask Cale because he was working for him and that's why they were here. 

“do whatever you want for a month then come back. I will consider your work in the Plaza as payment for a month.”

Lock was really grateful, even when he had barely done anything in thhe Plaza and couldn't even protect cale, yet he allowed him to leave after doing such a poor job. 

But cale's words also indicated he had somewhere to go back to, he never imagined he would have one after he saw his first ever home get destroyed in front of him and barely getting lucky enough to save some of his siblings. 

“thank you young master Cale.”

Lock smiled happily at a confused Cale, he was confused why lock would be thankful when Cale only gave him a month when he did such a dangerous job for him. 

Rosalyn had also smiled and looked at him strangely, even choi han. He didn't like their strange reactions it made him have a headache thinking of why they would smile at him. 

Choi Han who had been staring at Cale was thinking about why would Cale say what he said when he seemed not that bad of a person while talking with others. Was it just because he was drunk? why then would he say that?

Choi Han could not forgive Cale for what he said but Cale had saved people and was willing to work with him to do so. Choi Han was willing to forgive Cale if he just apologiesed and said his reasonings, but he didn't want to ask and Cale didn't seem willing to apologies as he never took back his words even when he was getting beat up. 

While Cale didn't hate choi han and knows he was in the wrong for insulting the dead, but choi han beat him up so he didn't need to apologies as Choi Han took his satisfaction from the beating and even then he still hated the village, he knows it's childish but that is exactly why he didn't think he's fit to be a lord of a territory. He didn't think choi han could demand an apology as he had beat him up and now they were fair.

Both of them were stubborn and didn't want to talk to the other, Cale didn't care if choi han didn't like him as he didn't expect him to be, while choi han felt like Cale owed him an apology for what he said but didn't want to confront Cale and was waiting for Cale, who thought they were fair now and everything ended woth them agreeing not to get along, to come and apologies by himself. 

“get out if thats all.”

Cale kicked the group out and sighed. 

“at least you don't have any more guests nya.”

Cale hummed while watching the dragon and Hong read a book and on sat on his lap listening to her dongsaengs playing.

“what do you want to learn, on?”

On looked at Cale with a confused expression. 

“what do you mean nya?”

Cale smiled at her and pet her. 

“the dragon is interested in magic, and Hong likes poisons. What do you want?”

“the cat tribe specializes in stealth and assassination nya.”

“do you want to learn that?”

On thought for a moment before nodding. 

“I want to learn it so I can protect Hong, I want to be strong.”

Cale stayed silent but nodded as he continued to pet on. She reminded him alot of himself when he was younger and even now. Everything he dreams of is related to his family, it's the only thing he knows, protect his family, insure they are happy. It is really the only thing he knows how to do. 

“I will help you. I don't know much about magic, poisons or assassination but I will learn all of it for you.”

On curled onto herself and cuddled closer to Cale. 

“thank you Cale nya.”

–does on want to be an assassin? 

“more of to have the ability to protect her brother. By the way do you know anything about poisons?”

–all I know is poisons from my world, I don't know if they are anything like yours. 

“haah, shit. I barely even know the basics of poison, I know none of the poisons of my world.”

–good luck then, you can't even learn magic so you need to ask Rosalyn to teach the dragon. 

Cale grumbled at the idea of talking to choi han's group again. 

***

It was the next day, Choi Han, Rosalyn and lock had already left, he was in a carriage, alone with the invisible children. There was another carriage that had basen in it, he was going to the ubarr territory while basen was heading home. 

The servants had came out to see them off, cal didn't bat aan eye as he knew that the servants were here to see basen off not him and was focusing on petting the children. 

But what Cale didn't notice were the gazes of some servants looking at his carriage, they hadn't hated working for Cale, unlike he rumors he did nothing to servants and the rumors of him going around helped a lot. Hans who was left behind as Ron replaced him and was going with cale was not happy he had to leave Cale either. 

Cale was the most lenient master he could find in the world, he was not even interested in the lord position unlike most if not all nobles in the world. He could talk freely, joke, tease him but Cale would do nothing but insult him and break things, which adds to his work but other than that he doesn't do anything even when servants are supposed to get fired because of this. 

But now he couldn't work for Cale when ron came back, so he was crying while seeing Cale take off to the ubarr territory.

***

They were about to arrive at their destination, the ocean could be seen from the carriage window. 

“is that the ocean?”

“it smells salty!”

On and Hong jumped on cale's lap and stood on their back paws while holding the window with their front paws, while the dragon settled on hugging cale's head.

Thre dragon was staring at the ocean remembering what Cale said instead of rok soo because he couldn't hear him. 

“I can't see the end! Does it have one?”

Cale had ordered ron to ride with the driver because even though he knew about the children, they seemed uncomfortable around him. 

The children did not like ron for many reasons, Cale looked mad at Ron, and the other was that Ron sneaked into cale's room when Cale slept after crying. He also tried to get on and Hong to learn assassination which made on not like him even more.

“the ocean doesn't exactly have an end, it surrounds everything and the land near the ocean water is called a shore. People use ships to travel to other kingdoms through the ocean.”

The dragon noticed something swimming in the ocean. 

“human are those beast people? Rok soo hadn't mentioned beast people!”

Cale quickly looked at where the dragon was looking. 

“what the fuck is the whale tribe doing near the northeast shore?!”

–shit, are you serious? The war between them and mermaids are supposed to be so much later. You need to hurry and get the ancient power before the tyrant toonka now too. 

Cale sighed, he had been working and talking to so many people even before the Plaza and now he still can't rest. 

“didn't you say I won't have to get involved in anything that doesn't affect me?”

–the events are going by faster than normal but you need to get that ancient power. You can just not go near the sea after getting it. 

“bad luck surely follows me doesn't it?”

–yes. This is already the third time including the Plaza. 

Cale felt annoyed that rok soo said it even though he said it himself, just because he did didn't mean rok soo is allowed to.

“then you are bad luck. You follow me around everywhere.”

–not by choice brat. If I got the option not to I would. 

“what a great liar you are.”

Rok soo stayed silent as he knew and Cale knew rok soo wouldn't have chosen that option, not then and definitely not now. 

He finally arrived, amiru came out to greet him. 

“Welcome young master Cale.”

Cale just nodded and didn't return the greeting. 

A knight came to report to amiru. 

“my lady, the person we have rescued has regained consciousness.”

Cale had a bad feeling, so he muttered his question to rok soo even though amiru was standing in front of him. 

“rok soo, what does toonka look like?”

–He was described to have brown messy hair that looks like a lion’s mane and a big build. 

“you said his ship broke from an attack and he found the ancient power after jumping into a whirlpool right?”

Cale's face paled at the possibility, it could be far fetched, maybe it was a random person but it was a possibility nonetheless. 

–yes.

“who did you save?”

Cale asked amiru, he needed to know that it's not toonka. Not only he is a tyrant and meeting him would be a nightmare, but he also could have taken the ancient power. 

“we were inspecting islands for the naval base and found a shipwrecked person that was about to be swallowed by a whirlpool.”

Cale was relieved, if it was really toonka then either way he didn't get the ancient power. 

Chapter Text

chapter 20

Amiru had not noticed Cale's pale face, only noticing a frown thinking he was worried about the person, so she continued talking.

“ He seemed to be from the whipper kingdom's non-mage faction, so we were skeptical on what to do until we remembered what you did in the plaza and saved him.”

Cale sighed, it was definitely Toonka. There was no room for other possibilities but a miracle of coincidence another non-mage faction from the same ship of Toonka survived and Amiru happened to save them.

Amiru misunderstood cale’s sigh thinking it's a sigh of relief, she smiled at the kindness cale had never shown to anyone, even though deep down he was too kind.

Cale looked at Amiru’s strange expression in confusion before deciding to ignore it and go rest.

His room had a view of the ocean, the dragon and the kids had been looking at it while talking.

“Why is the water moving there?”

The dragon asked on, while pointing to the cliff of winds that was filled with whirlpools all around it.

“It's a whirlpool nya, it's dangerous and can drown you if you come close.”

On explained to the dragon who was thinking of how to make one and how to stop one.

“Human, can we bomb one of those? You said I can bomb the ocean!”

The dragon looked at Cale, who was on the bed. He thought he could maybe stop the whirlpools by bombing it. Either way it seemed fun too.

“Yeah, that's what I was planning to do. I'm going to take something under one of those whirlpools so I need your help with bombing one. Then I can put up my shield and use the few items I bought from Billos to get it.”

“No! I am going to put a shield on you, don't dare put up your shield and throw up blood!”

The dragon hurried to tell Cale not to put up the shield that caused him to bleed, he didn't want to see his human hurt again and was going to protect him no matter what.

Cale smiled at the worried dragon trying to reassure the dragon. He already felt bad that he was forcing children to work.
“Don't worry. I promise I wont get hurt like last time.”

The dragon flew full speed to Cale, bumping his head onto Cale and causing Cale to fall backwards and lay down while the dragon was sitting on his chest.

“No means no! This great and mighty dragon orders human not to use his shield!”

“You can't help me get the power underwater. Remember last time? I took a power that helps me recover in that cave. If i don't do everything alone i can’t get this one. You're doing as much as you can and more than enough by bombing the ocean.”

The dragon huffed in disapproval, but went to the bombs to modify them and work more on them after hearing it was the only thing he could do to help  Cale get what he wanted. Cale watched the dragon with a smile on his face thankful for the dragon’s understanding. 

It was finally time for dinner, the wolf children entered the room with plates of food in their hands while Beacrox was behind them supervising.

He looked tired with eyebags, clear that he had trouble with the children in the kitchen.

 Cale had told them to work in the kitchen with Beacrox when they had come asking Cale to make them work as they didnt want to just leach off of him, Cale at first assured them their brother is doing enough but when lock left they had insisted on helping out, so Cale gave them a job in the kitchen.

He had a mocking smile as he looked at Beacrox, happy with how tired Beacrox looked as revenge for watching him get beat up. 

Beacrox, who noticed the look on Cale’s face, scoffed but looked away as he remembered clearly locking eyes with Cale when he was getting beat up. He did still think Cale deserved it for what he said but still felt a little guilty, after all he knew Cale ever since he was a little kid.

The wolf children put the food on the table and started talking.

“Young master, Uncle Beacrox made seafood soup just for you!”

“Uncle Beacrox is excited about the sea”

“We helped him too! And made some seafood for on, hong and the dragon!”

Cale petted the wolf children with a smile on his face.

“I'm sure you did great.”

Cale knew having overly strong children in a kitchen, especially children with instincts of warriors was a nightmare to Beacrox. So he had a smirk on his face trying not to laugh at Beacrox’s misery. 

‘It has been so long since I've seen him smile like that.’

Beacrox stared at Cale who had not smiled like that infront of anyone since his mother’s death, Cale acted so much differently. He was a troublemaker as a kid, running around pranking his parents, insulting some nobles and each time Deruth brought a tutor he would study the books he was supposed to have and then tell the whole thing word by word to the tutor before skipping all of his other classes, even the previous countess was in on it as she would tell him what he is supposed to study and help him if he needed it.

The nobles who he insults were usually corrupted ones that get fired from the mansion not long after or the relatives who Deruth never had the heart to kick them out despite the disrespect they show so Jour and Cale were always there driving the relatives crazy causing some of them to resign by themselves, they came back after the previous countess’s death. 

Ron had even told Beacrox about the time he heard the countess and a little Cale plotting the downfall of some nobles and relatives that were scheming after Deruth. he never knew that the reason for those nobles downfall was because of his wife and son.

 At that time Jour would tell Cale to do things to help her like insulting them to show their real face or sneak into tight places and record videos using the recording device, Cale was always overjoyed to cause mischief no matter what or who it is he caused it to.

 He used to be that kind of child until his mother’s death, after that he became more closed off, as if he was restraining himself from ever doing anything he used to enjoy.

Cale became scared of losing his family, he wanted to protect them and that's all he wanted to do after his mother’s death. He didn't want to do anything but make sure his family was safe

The wolf children spoke to Beacrox, stopping his thoughts. Cale looked at Beacrox with a questioning gaze asking what he wanted since he was staring at him while standing in the door frame not moving or talking at all.

“What? Do you want me to thank you for doing what you’re supposed to? Or maybe clap and pat you like the children for doing a good job? Get the fuck out.”

Beacrox scoffed under his breath before getting out of the room with the wolf children.

Cale called out to the 3 children in his room to eat, giving them seafood and taking the soup and they began eating.

“Human, when are we going to bomb the ocean?”

“We are going tomorrow. Rest for now.”

–that goes for you too.

“I don't need a workaholic to tell me to rest.”

–Well, it doesn't seem like it. So you are a workaholic as well.

Cale didn't say anything else knowing full well how much work he is willing to do if it helps his family since he had done it once already for his father.

***

The next day, cale had asked Amiru to get him the best sailor in Ubarr to go check the island of the cliff of the winds. He wanted to just check if there was any type of living being there or any danger to plan for tonight properly.

“I have sailed through these whirlpools multiple times, you can say I'm an expert! I can insure your safety in this young master, the hero of the plaza young master silver shield!” 

Cale wanted to hit the man upon hearing him calling him by that title, he had heard it in the passing but ignored it as much as possible. He was thinking of not doing any of this and going back to his residence to rest on his bed. He would be much happier and in a safer environment than an ocean filled with whirlpools.

“Should I just go back? The thought really sounds enticing right now.”

Cale murmured inaudibly, causing Amiru and the professional sailor to think he’s worried.

–cale no. you need that power, as i said before, there is no info for you if i don't trust you have the least amount of power to protect yourself.

–rok soo! What is that? Eat it!

–noona please come back sob… What if cale needs you and he can't use the shield? I don't want my workload to increase…sob

The glutton had been spending more time in rok soo’s body to be able to eat more food, annoying both cale and rok soo by asking him to eat every little thing that fits in a mouth, edible or not.

–glutton go back to cale. He’s going to an island and is going to travel through the sea. He needs the indestructible shield just in case.

Something like a huff sounded into cale and rok soo’s minds, but soon after cale could feel the glutton’s power in his body.

Ron had wanted to go with cale but he refused, he wanted to go alone. Ron was skeptical only allowing it when the dragon had said he was coming along, cale hadn't refuted it as the search and inspection of the island would be faster and more efficient with the dragon. 

The kittens didn't want to come this time, trusting their youngest with cale and too afraid to go into the water.

The sailor who had been boasting about himself finally got on the boat with his son.

Cale felt more secure than ever at feeling the glutton’s power through his body, knowing he could use a shield any time was comforting.

The boat started rocking with every move, cale felt a bit nauseous not long into the ride, the dragon hasnt come with him, he wanted to fly over to check the island in advance.

The sailor begun chatting with cale.

“Young master, that whirlpool in front of that island is the most dangerous! You’ll have to get ready to say goodbye to the world if you get caught up in that one!”

‘Well that's comforting…’

As if he wasn't already nervous he had to get close to the angel of death to the point only a thin line separates them by jumping into a whirlpool tonight, the sailor had to point out that it was the most dangerous as well.

“It was said that a thief had jumped into the water after stealing an ancient artifact from the church. The artifact was made by sacrificing souls, causing the thief to die and leading to the appearance of the whirlpools.”

Cale focused more as the sailor seemed to be mentioning something about the previous ancient power’s owner, which has a high possibility of hearing their voice the moment he gets the ancient power.

“They say the thief was quick on her feet, to the point she could walk on water without a single splashing sound.”

The sailor seemed to finish the story as cale felt the boat sway a little.

“Oi! Row properly!”

The sailor shouted at his son, as the son was distracted by the story as well

“Sorry dad!”

Cale grimaced, feeling like he was in danger at seeing the unprofessional and dangerous action while sailing between whirlpools.

The boat soon stabilized, well as much as a boat sailing between whirlpools could anyway.

The boat finally arrived, surprisingly safely. Cale got out as fast as he could the moment he saw land, thankful that he managed not to throw up after all that swaying between whirlpools.

“If that's the most professional sailor and safest option then I'm scared to know what other sailors would do with the whirlpools.”

Cale mumbled with a sigh of relief. He looked around getting deeper into the island.

He walked around waiting for the little dragon to come back while observing what he could. He trusted the dragon’s observations more than what he could do, after all it was a dragon despite being young.

Just as he thought the dragon had not taken more than a minute before flying over to him.

“Human!”

The dragon hit Cale's chest causing him to stumble but managed to balance himself and carry the dragon.

“Did you see anything strange or if someone was living here?”

–you are talking to the dragon right? Did he go to inspect the island first?

“Yes”

Cale answered rok soo, the dragon noticed and answered cale’s question in his mind to tell rok soo as well.

–there is no one. But there are dead bodies on the shore! They look weird, they aren't humans!

Rok soo had a suspicion on what the dead bodies are, but he didn't want to force an 18 year old to see dead bodies and stayed silent despite wanting to confirm his suspicion.

“Lead me to them.”

In the end cale wanted to go either way, so rok soo finally talked.
–they may be mermaids. If everything is really going faster than supposed to then there is a high possibility a whale killed the mermaids. It should be only one whale since they were left at shore to not attract more mermaids.

Cale hummed as he let the dragon guide the way.

“I need to check everything to make sure no one is around, if it's really mermaids then it  shouldn't be a problem since a whale would return to the ocean and not interact with me. But if they are not then I'll have to conceal myself and choose the first plan without fireworks.”

–that's why you wanted to check the corpses.

The dragon who heard Cale began talking.

“Human, I want to help and I want to bomb the ocean! You promised I can help by bombing the ocean so I can leave you to use your shield!”

Cale sighed but didn't say anything until they arrived and he saw the mermaid corpses.

“We can still bomb the whirlpool. Those are mermaids.”

He knew what mermaids look like because he read a book about all kinds of species with his mother. She said her family studies something unique so they need huge amounts of information about nearly everything. That book was one of the things the Thames family also made, it was a simplified version for the kids of the family with only rough descriptions of multiple species.

He asked before what his maternal family was studying but he was too young to know. He was only 7 at the time.

“I would've done it either way!”

The dragon huffed, but cale noticed the dragon’s tail wagging and his wings fluttering in excitement and happiness. He had returned into Cale's arms when they arrived so it was easy to see. The embarrassed dragon who noticed that, changed his position to sit on Cale’s neck as if to hide, but Cale still felt the dragon’s tail swishing the air near them.

Cale smiled at the cute dragon’s antiques before announcing they were going back to their residence, the dragon went with Cale this time in the boat to protect Cale.

All he had to do was wait at his residence until night came so he could go get the ancient power.

It was now sunset, cale didn't want to go really late, so Amiru could deal with the explosion problem before going to sleep instead of waking her up in the middle of the night. Besides, he didn't want to have to stay awake for another night.

He watched the sun slowly disappear before grabbing the scuba mask he bought from Billos, it was a magic item that allowed him to breathe underwater for 5 minutes.he grabbed the bombs and whatever else he needed finally calling out to the dragon.he was already wearing the scuba gear as well.

“Let's go. We need to finish this fast, remember to keep up your invisibility magic as well.”

The dragon nodded, he cast flight and invisibility magic on cale before waving to his hyung and noona goodbye and going to another mission with cale. 

The dragon put cale right in front of the whirlpool.

“Are you ready?”

Cale asked the dragon but rok soo spoke instead.

–how about we say the plan first?

“Old man, you repeated it 10 fucking times! I don't want to hear it for the eleventh time”

–just to make sure. You will bomb the whirlpool to redirect the spinning of water making it possible to jump in. before even jumping your shield has to be activated! You told the dragon to make the special bombs I told you about right? Ask him about them again to confirm.

Cale just wanted to get this over with and go back to bed, he looked at the dragon who stayed silent after realizing cale was talking to Rok soo.

“Can you tell me how the bombs will go off again?”

The dragon noticed cale looking at him while asking so he answered guessing the question was directed at him.

“The explosion won't be as big as the one you fainted from! It will  make little bombs to stop the whirlpool!”

Cale nodded and smiled, he pat the dragon’s head and praised him.

“Good job. We will get to work once rok soo is done talking.”

“Human’s friend talks a lot! We have work!”

At the dragon’s comment cale snickered agreeing with him, but Rok soo cut him off before he would start shit talking him with the dragon.

–so I guess that's a yes. It's a chain of small bombs released into the ocean. You will have to make your way to the bottom, there will be a large boulder and under it there is a top spinning. It's the reason for the whirlpools. Toonka broke the boulder but it's easier for you to dig the top out and break it. You won't have enough time to swim up all the way by then so use the sound of the wind to swim your way up.

Cale listened to Rok soo repeat the plan once again in boredom, he had memorized all of it word by word as rok soo repeated the same exact explanation each time.

“Finally. Now can I get this over with?”

–Yes, let's get it over with. I want to eat with rok soo!

The glutton was starting to grow impatient, she wanted to go eat more of the otherworld’s foods. Most of them were spicy but it was what made the food so delicious as well. She had not even managed to eat all kinds of rok soo’s county’s food, korea! 

–I'm not hungry and I'm working. I've been delaying too much paperwork thanks to cale.

“For fucks sake, you would've still been bed ridden without the cry baby!”

–so? The cry baby healed me didn't he? It's still your fault I'm not doing the paperwork I need to. I haven't even had enough time to check on the team for the whole day. Get this over with i can't focus on you for much more time. I also have to go to a meeting soon.

“Its 8 fucking pm what kind of timing for a meeting is that?”

–just get this over with. I need to finish the stack of paperwork before 9 and get ready.

“Fine.”

Once the dragon noticed cale looking at him he activated the bombs and threw them at the whirlpool, cale stared at the whirlpool, thankful for the small conversation that eased his fear about playing with death right now.

 He quickly activated the shield, jumping in when the whirlpool became disoriented from the bombs. Keeping the shield activated to protect him from the small explosions going off around him, he swam to the bottom until he could see the boulder rok soo explained about 11 times. He recognised it from the top spinning on it. 

The moment he began swimming towards it, he heard the ancient power past owner’s voice.

–you sons of bitchs!

–oh fuck. Another potty mouthed one. Wasn't cale enough?

‘Hear yourself you old shit!’

Cale, who couldn't talk, frowned at rok soo’s comment.

–why is it a sin to steal something they sacrificed people to create? Especially when I was going to return it to the people? You trash bastards! Why do bastards like you have such power!?

The owner of the sound of the wind was the thief the sailor talked about. Cale and rok soo heard the ancient power vent her anger while cursing.

–it wasn't really a divine item if they had to sacrifice people for it.

To Cale's surprise, the glutton was the one to comment about it. He and rok soo had the same thought but she had voiced it out first.

The sound of the wind seemed to ignore them, too busy cursing at everything she was angry with.

–this stupid water! If my friend’s lightning was here, it would burn it all! Do you know why lightning is so scary? It's because all it takes is a single strike! JUST ONE STRIKE!

Rok soo paid more attention to what the ancient power was saying now.

–hm, could she be talking about the fire of destruction? It's the last power I was going to tell you about. Its attribute is fire but also lightning.

‘Probably.’

Cale couldn't respond outloud and settled to paying attention to what the ancient  power was saying, but the sound of beeping alerted him. It was the scuba mask declaring he had 3 minutes left. He focused on digging the top out of the boulder.

Not long passed before most of the top was exposed, he pulled it out with his hand.

–If it is a sin that I stole it, why do they claim not to be sinners when they lied to the humans? This is a rotten world! Its a rotten world where those in power can do whatever the fuck they want! 

–it is.

Cale couldn't help focus on what the thief said, he agreed with her. People in power do whatever the fuck they want. Rok soo agreed as well.

Cale returned his focus on the spinning top in his hand, he backed away a few steps from the boulder that was now leaning to one side. He let go of the top, then stepped on it, breaking it in the process.

There was a sharp noise while a whirlpool surrounded cale.

--you have the power of recovery, so don't get caught like i did, got it?

The thief had not noticed rok soo, unlike the ancient power rok soo was almost sharing a soul with cale, that was why god of death had weakened the connection. If he had not the two souls would have fused together, allowing them not only to talk but to switch bodies whenever, that would have caused great imbalance to both worlds getting the god of death into bigger trouble. 

Because of the way the souls were connected when they should not have, the connection was not noticeable to even the ancient power only noticing it when cale had gained it allowing it to actually see the connection. 

–go back, ron probably noticed you missing.

“No shit. He’s been all over the place, i cant hide anything if he stays around.”

–telling him about anything he wants to know instead of feeling and knowing he’s watching your every move would be a much better choice.

“No. if he wants to know something, let him figure it out. Why would I tell my secrets to an assassin?”

The dragon had remained silent while hearing cale talk. He didn't know what cale was talking about but he could vaguely understand that it was about ron.

“Hey, let's get back.”

The dragon noticed cale looking at him and knew he was talking to him so he replied.

“Don't call me hey!”
“Then what should I call you?”

“Figure it out yourself!”

The dragon quickly cast flight magic on cale and led him back to the residence, he was embarrassed because he was indirectly hinting for cale to name him.

‘He really wants me to name him’

Cale picked up on the dragon’s hints and confirmed his thoughts of it before. Luckily, he already came up with a name thanks to the help of rok soo. It was a unique name only for this dragon to have, words that have a meaning but are still unique that no one would be called the same.

‘He’s a unique dragon after all.’

He read about dragons in the book given to children of the Thames family about different races and creatures, they were said to be arrogant, preferring isolation only acting if something intrigued them enough to raise their curiosity.

Compared to what he read, this dragon was social and energetic. He preferred staying with his hyung and noona while exploring new places. He was curious about many things and wanted to learn everything he could.

Cale finally arrived at his window, only to see Ron standing there while the  kittens hissed and took a defensive position in front of him.

***

Done. sorry about the somewhat late update, the phone i was using as a spare after losing mine stopped working. It was old and already lagging so it's no surprise, I'll buy one soon. Plus, I began reading lord of mysteries so I was distracted from writing. 

I feel like my writing style changed too. It wouldn't be so noticeable since it's only applied to the last few paragraphs, it would probably be more noticeable in the next chapter. I blame that on reading the lord of mysteries. Each time I'm engrossed in a story for too long my writing style improves or changes a bit. Lord of mysteries has a lot of advanced words causing me to remember words i would've ignored before and my vocabulary to grow I guess.

Chapter Text

Chapter 21

Cale entered the room, glaring at Ron.

“What the fuck do you think your doing? I told you not to come in.”

“I was just worried for the young master after hearing the explosion. Looks like I shouldn't have worried about it.”

‘There is no need to worry about a grown puppy anymore.’

Ron thought to himself about how much cale had changed, he learned to keep secrets, save people and cause explosions. The more he learns about the young master the more he can't hide his curiosity. 

A puppy who liked to bark seemed to only do it when needed after all, never exposing his real self being as quiet as a cat observing its prey before pouncing on it. 

He saw great potential in cale for assassination, fooling a whole country even an assassin that lives with him and follows him almost everywhere was not an easy deal. 

“Young master, did you see what caused the explosion?”

He decided to play dumb, Ron knew it didn't fool Cale. He wasn't stupid enough to think cale didn't pick up on it, after all it takes one to know one, cale who fooled an entire kingdom can definitely recognise someone else trying to fool him.

The kittens ran to cale who was standing in front of the window right across from the door behind Ron.

“Get out. If you do this again I'll make sure to fire you. I'm not going to be as lenient as I was before.”

Ron smiled, the same cursed benign smile cale had engraved in his memories. the smile so familiar to his eyes, recognising that it's the same exact one he saw ever since he could remember. But now it felt different looking at, he recognised how fake that smile is after so long, why did it take so long to recognise?

“Don't waste my time, and don't enter the room again today.”

“Are you going out again?”

Ron immediately asked, knowing full well the answer. He didn't know why cale would come back when he wasn't done with whatever he was doing, it was inefficient that he did so, time is a very important thing when doing things like this.

“I don't have to tell you. Get the fuck out!”

Cale didn't hold back anymore, he held the nearest thing he could reach and threw it towards Ron, not caring if it hit the floor, door frame, or directly at Ron unlike how he usually aims at a specific place near his target.

Ron avoided the glass that nearly hit his leg.

“Call me if you need me, Young master.”

Cale watched Ron walk out the door behind him and close it before he relaxed and picked up the two kittens. The Dragon had at some point made his way on Cale's back, his head appeared on one of Cale's shoulders while his body was hidden by Cale.

“That old man is suspicious!”

“I want Hans back nya!”

The dragon commented on his dislike towards Ron followed by hong's.

Cale sighed, he didn't like it anymore either. He always tried to hint at Ron before to try and get him to notice something wasn't right, that maybe all of that stupid act was fake, but he hadn't even suspected it until cale put himself in danger and fainted, he only considered it after seeing cale cry, and confirmed it right now after he caught cale sneaking out.

–it's no surprise he's acting like that. I don't expect an assassin to care about another person's opinion if he is interested in a secret.

Rok soo had asked the ancient powers to tell him if something serious happens, so the glutton told him what happened right now as she considered it serious enough.

“pfft, I know now. previously I didn't know he was an assassin, but even after that it was stupid to hold onto the thought I might have been more than just a job to an assassin who only cares for his blood family. I know him just as much as he knows me.”

The thief hadn't said anything trying to process what was going on. She didn't expect to be able to keep her consciousness any longer. She finally decided to speak.

–can someone explain what the fuck this is?

–none of us knows. but what I know is rok soo is another worlder, and the bridge can get you to the other world for confirmation. other than that, me and the vitality of the heart are just like you. 

the thief didn't waste a second to cross the bridge to confirm, the glutton who explained the situation regrettably didn't follow her. cale wasn't done with his escapade and she had to help.

–darn it all! cale get this over with, I want to eat!

–I'm not eating, glutton. you already made me eat enough, I don't have the time to either. I told you I have a meeting to attend soon.

“ok. shut the fuck up everybody! I've had enough! let's get this over with so I can sleep!”

–shouldn't you wait until amiru is done investigating the explosion? if you had followed what I told you to and went later when I actually have the time to focus on you maybe we would've been done so much earlier.

cale frowned, rok soo had suggested not to start until late in the night after he's done with the meeting but cale refused, not wanting to wake up amiru to investigate an explosion.

“would you like to wake up right after you've begun drifting to sleep? I don't think so. Plus, I want to sleep too.”

–do what you want but I'll have to go at some point, my meeting is going to begin soon and I can't focus on you or talk.

“I know, it's nearly 8:30 now.”

–darn it, I haven't even finished the paperwork…I blame that on you.

“What did I do?! Hey, don't lie! I didn't do anything, you're the one who decided to help!”

–you're the one who needed help!

Their bickering was stopped by a knock on the door.

“young master cale, Young lady amiru is here.”

‘She came personally?'

Cale was confused why she came by herself instead of just sending someone to inform him. He opened the door.

“what is it?”

“you heard it too, right? I wanted to make sure you're ok and inform you that we are investigating it.”

Cale nodded, he knew Amiru would investigate something like that right away. all he has to do is wait for them to finish so he could get the ingredient for the other power in the ubarr territory.

“When will you be done investigating?”

“ah, I'm not sure. could be after another half an hour.”

“half an hour?”

Cale repeated to make sure rok soo would hear, he won't be able to talk to him while getting the ingredient for the second ancient power.

–haah, if only you listened to me. we will revise the plan for this one now then i will get ready for my meeting.

amiru said some pleasantries before leaving, cale played down on his bed and heard rok soo recite the plan over and over again.

–Once you enter that cave there will be a small puddle, you have to gather the water in a glass. It's a special water called fire suppressing water. you told lock to bring that item right?

“Of course.”

–Once we mix them together you will have an artifact that could almost be called an ancient power, except it is limited.

rok soo repeated the plan over and over, making sure cale wouldn't forget the glass or where the cave was or that the puddle was at the end of the small cave.

Cale was grateful after he heard rok soo start his meeting, he was finally released after hearing the plan 5 additional times other than the 10 times from before.

“Are we going now, weak human?”

Cale checked the time before confirming half an hour passed and looking out the window to check if anyone was still out investigating. 

amiru seemed to have given up on the matter after not finding any clues.

“Yes, we can go now. on, Hong. Can you keep watch like before? this time I won't take long and with the warning Ron shouldn't get in.”

“that Ron wanted me and hong to learn assassination from him nya!”

on couldn't hold it anymore, she wanted to tell him after he was done with whatever he was busying himself with but she couldn't wait to tell him about it as Ron offered for Hong to be taught as well. She didn't want her brother to learn assassination. if she could, she would get him as far away from blood and killing as possible unless he wants it.

cale silently looked towards on, she wanted to learn assassination but she doesn't seem to like Ron and he doesn't really trust him either.

“I promise to talk about this once I'm done, on. keep an eye out and stay safe. Both of you.”

cale emphasised the last words, he recognised the familiar look in on's eyes, he has the same ones when it's related to his family after all. He knows she's ready to do anything to keep Hong safe and away from Ron.

cale felt conflicted about Ron, he knew him ever since he could remember so there was a small hint of trust he couldn't let go of. but at the same time, he doesn't trust him anymore, how could he when Ron left him and never told him about being an assassin? Ron hides too many secrets to be called trustworthy.

For now, he will trust him at least in the same building as the children, but he can't guarantee he could leave him alone in a room or training ground with the children.

the Dragon used flight magic again flying with cale to the cliff of the winds, cale walked around searching for a boulder, it was quite easy considering the boulder being the largest rock in the cliff of the winds.

he walked behind it and confirmed that the cave was there, he went in with the Dragon.

‘thankfully the cave isn't as small as the one that had the cry baby.’

he was thankful he didn't need to crawl in again, rok soo described it as a small cave but the entrance was large enough for him only to bend down a bit to enter.

–human, there is someone who will soon turn into a corpse here!

at the same moment the dragon was warning him he heard the sound of scratching and struggling, he saw a blue haired man with blue eyes bloody crawling and begging for help.

“please, s-save me!”

cale stared coldly at the dying man, he had never seen a corpse but three times in his life, his mother dying, the mermaids on the shore and today, but he felt numb looking at someone dying in front of him again.

“I c-can't die here! I have something i must do..”

he couldn't care less about a stranger, he already has a load he has to carry and save his family, he doesn't care about what someone else has to do. 

he had set his morals however fucked up they may be, if it doesn't concern him he isn't going to do anything about it. his main concern is his family, he helped Taylor because he actively took the only hope Taylor had, if he hadn't he wouldn't concern himself with anything that isn't related to him unless it was a child suffering like the dragon or on and hong.

he wanted to turn away, he didn't like seeing someone dying in front of him, it reminded him too much of the time his mother was on her death bed convulsing and groaning while trying to give him advice and tell him some secrets.

he looked away, intending to get what he wanted from the end of the cave then return to his residence, but the Dragon's words stopped him.

–are we not going to help him?

–’save who? Is there someone in the cave?’

rok soo who heard this as well was questioning what was happening with cale but he had to focus on his meeting, not being able to mutter and question if cale is alright having too many people sitting around him, all with pretty good senses.

‘it would be cruel to let a child see someone dying painfully in front of him…’

cale sighed and looked again at the man who was almost a corpse, he inspected him more focused on finding the reason for his injuries.

he could clearly tell that the man's features were similar to that of a whale, he had seen it in the Thames family book, it was said that the head of the whales had ocean blue hair and eyes, similar to the one in front of him. 

the fatal injury that is killing the whale was the deep wound on his leg.

‘It looks poisoned, is it mermaid poison?’

cale thought of the closest possibility of what could've hurt a whale, considering the war between them now and the fact rok soo said mermaids are getting stronger he could tell that the strongest possibility was that he killed those three mermaids, getting injured in the process.

‘A whale shouldn't be intimidated by 3 mermaids especially if the fight happened near water, basically giving him the upper hand from the start. Whales are the strongest creatures underwater.’

cale put aside his observation for now, he had to act fast as to not kill the whale by accident.

“rest now. you will be able to do what you have to do later.”

the whale's body seemed to relax after hearing those words, it gave him hope he would be able to see his sister again.

cale watched the whale turn limp and close his eyes, having relied fully on the words cale had said.

“dump him in the water and bring a mermaid arm from the corpses we saw before.”

rok soo couldn't help get distracted from the meeting, in the end he will have to rely on his records later. He made sure to record the meeting and focused on what cale was saying, although he couldn't speak either way. He just wanted to confirm if something had happened.

“are you trying to drown him!? human no! I want to save him!”

the dragon wanted to save the man just like cale had saved him before, a part of him wanted to understand why cale saved him so maybe he will if he saved a person too.

“we will, I promise to explain later, he will die soon if we don't act quickly.”

“i-i believe you!”

the dragon reluctantly agreed to do what cale instructed while cale focused on what he came here for in the first place.

‘the whale should be able to hold on for a little longer with the help of the ocean water until I get the fire suppressing water.’

it didn't take long for him to get to the end of the small cave, there he saw a small puddle of water just like rok soo said.

cale took out the bottle he brought with him and filled it with the puddle’s water.

‘with this and the ingredient I told lock to bring, rok soo said I'll be able to make the fire suppressing water.’

cale had told lock to bring him an item before he left, rok soo had failed to tell him while he's talking to lock and Rosalyn, only telling him afterwards, so cale called lock late at night and told him to bring that item. he decided it was better to tell lock alone than possibly getting questioned about it by choi han later

He exited the cave and saw the dragon sitting in front of the ocean with the whale in the water and a mermaid arm beside him. He didn't want to be away for too long from cale so he quickly brought the arm and waited for cale.

“let's go back.”

the dragon used flight magic on cale and entered their room through the window, he also cast the spell on the injured whale, getting him in the room as well.

“who is that nya?”

the dragon had put the whale on the ground while cale went to the bathroom with the mermaid arm to dunk it in water.

“Me and human found him in the cave! he was injured and human promised to save him!”

hong quickly went to get a closer look on the intruder, making sure to stay away from the injured leg and blood, on followed and inspected the person herself too before they saw cale carrying the arm and scurried away into a corner. they looked terrified at seeing a detached limb.

“Is it really that scary?”

cale looked at them confused but quickly looked down at the whale scared that the poison would spread further.

in the Thames book at the mermaid section the way to deal with mermaid poison was mentioned, jour had mentioned for him that it's not common knowledge and almost no one knows of it so she told him not to mention it out in the open if there was no need to, the cure for it was in mermaid blood.

after the mermaid arm had been refreshed by the water in the bucket, cale held the knife to slice it open, the whale opened his eyes at that unfortunate moment seeing a human holding a knife right beside him.

“human put away the knife, the man woke up!”

cale finally noticed the awake whale he sliced the arm open then held the whales head up, cale who was worried about the poison spreading further, shoved the blood into the poor whale's mouth without explanation, then poured the blood into the whale's injury.

the whale gasped after the bloody arm was pulled away from his mouth and poured into his leg, which surprisingly caused him to feel a lot less pain, and his leg started to heal slowly.

the man slowly sat up and stared at his slowly healing leg before looking at the man who forcefully made him drink the blood, he didn't know if he should be thankful or frightened

“I-”

just as he was about to talk the dragon jumped towards Cale's direction with no invisibility spell, he didn't want to hide from the man he had just saved and instead sat on cale's lap completely visible for the man's eyes.

“the great and mighty me and my human saved you!”

cale sighed and petted the dragon, he wasn't going to stop him from revealing himself if the dragon wanted to, plus this man wasn't human anyway and whales never get involved in anything on land so it was a bit safe.

the whale stared at the dragon, his mouth gapped and eyes wide.

“return to the ocean soon, it would be safer for you to do so”

the whale stayed silent before taking the question that has been circling in his mind.

“how did you know?”

“that you're a whale? how else would you be able to kill the mermaids? Plus, I saw the whales in the ocean just the day before.”

the whale stayed silent, he was thinking of how kind this person was but as well how frightening he was just a second ago when he was force feeding him the blood.

cale ignored the whale that was still sitting in the ground and went over to the kittens, he didn't want to urge the whale to get up while his leg is still injured. he sat on the floor next to the kittens and begun talking to on.

“Do you want Ron to teach you? he is quite good in assassination, you know.”

“he's scary nya!”

“I don't like him nya!”

both hong and on answered, cale who didn't have much options continued to convince on.

“what if I stay with you when training?”

“...nya.”

on nodded her head, she knew there was not much better options for her to get stronger, and if cale, the Dragon and her brother are there then she feels safe enough to train with Ron.

“hong, I will search about poisons for you. Ron probably knows about them, but I'd like to deal with the poison teaching for you.”

cale had remembered one of the Thames books about poisons, his mother never let him read it because he was too young, and he had forgotten about it for quite a while only remembering it not long ago.

“this great and mighty dragon wants to learn about poisons and read about magic with human too!”

the whale was staring at cale talking with the children as of he wasn't there, he looked at the peaceful moment for a while reminding him of his own family waiting for him back home. he quickly stood up and jumped through the window going into the ocean and ignoring the pain in his leg, it wasn't as strong as before and he could walk on it.

****

done, it's so hard not to write raon instead of the dragon each time. I know raon seems to be ooc but this is the main reason i put that tag there, I did it on purpose as I changed cale's personality and I think the people around cale would say or act differently depending on it too, especially the children. I will try not to make them too ooc tho. rok soo is ooc but that's mostly because of his complicated character and my incompetence to write it.

Chapter Text

chapter 22

cale had put the children to sleep when he noticed the whale gone then went to sleep himself. He hadn't bothered explaining anything to rok soo who was still stuck in the meeting even then and the ancient powers had to take on the job while cale was asleep.

He woke up to the children's voices talking, he sat up and looked at the children.

“good morning.”

the three of them went to the bed at hearing his voice on and hong took his lap while the dragon sat beside them, hong and the dragon continued talking while cale pet on.

–good morning

“i wasn't talking to you old man”

–so? 

cale who didn't know what to say to that just returned the greeting.

“...good morning to you too, old man.”

–were you planning to never tell me about the whale? Why the hell didn't you mention anything?

“you didn't ask, why should I tell you everything?”

–I guess you don't want my help then brat.

cale immediately switched his attitude and told him an excuse.

“I forgot, I was occupied with the kids and wanted to sleep…”

rok soo sighed.

–...how did you know about the cure for mermaid poison?

“hm? oh that, it was in one of my maternal family’s books, it doesn't matter.”

–cale, it's basically considered an incurable poison so it does matter.

Cale thought for a while, he had never tried to question the Thames family’s way of gathering information, for one he was too young and even now he had never thought of it.

His mother hid a lot of secrets, she herself told him about it, she said his uncle may just come visit someday to tell him when he finds it necessary to.

“I don't know, as long as I had the information does it matter where they got it? it's basically free info so why do I need to question it so much if it's from a reliable source?”

–...it doesn't matter then.

rok soo decided to ignore it, it wasn't any of his business and he doesn't want to get involved in that family’s secrets he's already involved because he knows cale's future he doesn't want another problem to worry about.

cale heard a knock on the door, he got up to open the door. Amiru was standing there, she looked happy, she had some attendants with her and toonka.

“good morning young master cale.”

“you seem to be having one, what do you want?”

amiru ignore the rude words, knowing to expect it from cale and continued to what she wanted to say.

“The whirlpools have vanished overnight! I wanted to share the news with you, I wonder if it would be possible to go sightseeing to a clearer ocean?”

Cale couldn't help the smile on his face, it had been a long while since he hung out with his past friends, he was a little happy that amiru had still tolerated him enough to ask for them to hang out, even if it was probably for formalities.

“If there is wine, I don't mind.”

Amiru wanted to sigh but kept it in, cale had proven that even with alcohol he wouldn't cause a ruckus for no reason when they met last time. He had only sat down quietly drinking, it wasn't something that would stop her from reconciling with a childhood friend she hadn't seen in a while.

“How disappointing I wanted to jump into that whirlpool, should I jump into a different one instead?”

Toonka commented, reminding amiru to introduce him.

“this is the person I told you about, Mr bob this is young master cale henituse.”

“bob? couldn't he come up with a better alias?”

cale who had recognised toonka thanks to rok soo’s description murmured what he thought of, no one heard but rok soo.

–stop shaming others naming sense when yours was to name the black dragon black or blacky.

–pfft he really was gonna name that dragon with such a stupid name?

–yeah thankfully he was smart enough to consult me on it.

‘god, do you never forget?’

cale's ears had a shade of pink, he wanted to hide his face but amiru was in front of him, he decided to ignore rok soo and the thief who were talking shit about his naming sense.

“Is he coming with us sightseeing?”

cale asked, trying to ignore the voices in his head, not expecting a positive answer.

“yes.”

He changed his mind on going, it didn't seem fun to go sightseeing with the commander of the whipper kingdom's crazy non mage faction at all.

cale ended up on a walk with toonka and amiru, they were talking as they went towards the seaside.

“bob is from the whipper kingdom, he is from a small seaside village and was out fishing when he somehow ended up shipwrecked.”

“that is correct, I live a simple life in a village hahaha. I don't know how I ended up like this.”

cale was flabbergasted, the commander of the whipper kingdom's non mage faction, the one that's called a tyrant, is saying he lives a simple life?

‘what part of killing mages and fighting natural disasters is simple?’

rok soo had told him everything about toonka when they arrived, he told him how toonka loved fighting strong people as well the fact that toonka faced literal natural disasters to train his body not to get injured by magic.

“I heard you stopped an explosion using a strong shield, that's why I asked to meet you”

toonka's eyes sharpened, it was obvious he was considering fighting cale

‘shit, get this fighting maniac away from me!’

“that's why I am recovering from my internal injuries.”

“...recovering?”

toonka had a disappointed face, but cale sighed in relief, toonka seemed less interested in him.

“yes, Young master cale is recovering because he coughed blood when he used the shield.”

cale nodded at amiru's words

“my shield is very weak, it is hard to keep it up.”

–hey! I am not weak!

the glutton felt offended, it was not her fault cale's plate is weak!

–the only reason you coughed blood was because I was healing your weak plate sob…I had to get the extra blood out

–your plate is pretty weak.

the ancient powers continued to talk about cale's weak plate pointing out it was his weak plate that cause him to cough blood and the glutton wasn't that weak

‘I know I know, now can you shut up?’

the annoyed cale couldn't say anything as toonka and amiru were right beside him walking.

“that is weird, I smell a strong person nearby…”

the disappointed toonka was sensing the dragon, causing him to be confused about the strong scent he can smell.

–I do not smell!

the dragon was offended, he hugged cale's head from behind while sitting on cale's shoulders, he was in fact pouting.

‘why does he always sit like this?’

cale felt the dragon hugging his head and couldn't help but think of the many times the dragon did this, it seemed to be his favorite spot to sit.

eventually the three of them arrived at the central island near the whirlpools, toonka was standing by the fishermen and the people who came to construct the naval base. it was chaotic and loud, especially with the rest of the whirlpools that are still in the ocean.

cale frowned, not wanting to be out here any longer than necessary because of the chaotic atmosphere.

“We are investigating the reason for the whirlpool's disappearance, my father and some investigators are coming to figure out what happened and stop the other whirlpools.”

cale, who is the reason the other whirlpools haven't disappeared yet, felt a bit regretful, but it was for the best.

they were supposed to disappear by now, but rok soo advised him to keep it for at least another year, it was because it would be suspicious for all the whirlpools to disappear overnight, it also provided additional defense until the naval base is built. it would be harder for an attack to happen with whirlpools around.

“don't worry too much about it, think about the advantages of it.”

“the whirlpools? they're dangerous, even if there are advantages won't the disadvantages be higher?”

cale acted as if he was deep in thought before responding to amiru.

“No, won't it provide defense until the naval base is built? it will be a bit harder to build the naval with them around but a lot safer as well. the villagers are already used to them and can avoid them when needed.”

amiru's eyes sparkled, she felt enlightened and looked at the situation in another perspective. she was amazed at cale's ability to look at this dangerous situation this way.

“maybe its not that bad, thank you cale, it really eased my worries.”

cale smiled slightly when he saw amiru's happy smile, he had missed his friends quite a bit, although he would never admit it.

“I'm tired, I will sit under the shade.”

cale walked away without waiting for amiru's response, she didn't feel offended by it and only smiled while telling him to rest. she saw it as him being embarrassed by being complimented just like he used to when he was young.

cale went deeper into the central island's forest, he was planning to head to the other end of the island to escape the loud noise of the people and whirlpools.

the dragon noticed where cale was heading, he was flying now and got off of cale's neck.

–aren't you afraid of the corpses?

“they died because they dared to challenge whales, I don't know them either, so why would I worry? it's none of my business I just want to get away from the noise.”

–are you going to the dead mermaid's corpses? 

rok soo who picked up on the conversation, asked to confirm his thoughts

“yeah, it's the opposite side of the naval base construction.”

–you sure can't stay around people.

cale frowned, that was not true, he used to have so many people around him and he had fun with them, just because he doesn't anymore didn't mean he can not be around people 

“it's not that, I just hate the noise!”

–you don't have to lie to yourself.

“you can't talk when you're living alone!”

–says the one who doesn't know how to talk to any of the people he lives with

“Hey, you can't use that! I am trying! don't you remember when I talked with my father and basen?”

cale was planning to talk to his father once he got back home, he had already tried once and it went pretty well even if it was only because he wanted to go to the plaza. it was still a full conversation he started. 

he was also planning to get a gift for lily, he had decided to at least talk to his siblings, he had already cried in front of basen and ruined his trash reputation for him, might as well go along with it, it's not like he will stop acting entirely just because he may have a good relationship with his siblings later.

–promise me you'll follow up on conversing with your father then.

cale huffed, but promised rok soo.

“Fine, I promise I won't back out this time. happy?”

–yes

cale finally arrived to the other side of the island only to find the boulder the three mermaid corpses were leaning on destroyed.

“what the hell?”

–what happened now?

cale walked closer to the previous location of the boulder, it had only dust in its place, no evidence of there ever being any mermaid corpses.

“this was where the mermaid corpses were right?”

cale asked the dragon, he almost believed he was lost.

–yes, someone crushed them to dust with the boulder!

the dragon said what cale was suspecting, he wasn't really surprised if the whale did it out of rage after he went back.

“whales sure are strong…”

rok soo shuddered while hearing the conversation, he couldn't be more thankful he wasn't in cale's world.

–The whale you saved was probably the half blooded whale mentioned in the book too.

“He was half blooded? Was he the one to destroy it? then how strong are whales?”

–I don't want to think about that…just keep your distance cale, he is the whale king’s son.

cale's eyes widened, but soon enough got over the shock and had a sly smile on his face.

“can't we borrow their strength for the battle in the henituse battle then? I better take what I can after saving the whale if he's the whale king's son”

–they would probably refuse because of the contract between the sea and land creatures. they aren't allowed to meddle in conflicts outside of the ocean 

all of a sudden, cale heard the splashing of water, he turned his head to look at the ocean.

–something is coming out of the ocean.

cale could see a whale in all its glory and huge size appear from the water, he could feel the killing intent of the whale. He stepped back slowly once he realised the whale seemed angry.

–What is this dumb whale trying to do?

the dragon was also getting irritated, he was releasing his mana to the point that even cale who doesn't have a drop of mana could feel it.

“I am not here to fight.”

the whale, sensing the mana, made sure to fix the misunderstanding 

–then why are you lifting your head? after all that, you say you're not asking for a fight?

cale stretched out his hand to the mana, he held the dragon and brought him closer.

“There is no reason to be angry, nothing happened yet, so stop before you hurt yourself.”

the whale looked shocked once she saw cale's hand pass through the mana.

the dragon lowered his mana as he let cale pull him closer.

–I'm great and mighty, I won't get hurt.

“I know, but fighting is still tiring isn't it?”

the dragon didn't say anything and only wrapped himself around cale's neck like a scarf.

Once cale calmed down the four year old angry dragon he looked back at the whale who obviously had many questions.

“I want to ask-”

Just as she was about to talk to cale, another whale appeared swimming frantically towards them yelling.

“noona, don't bite and kill him!”

Cale was drenched by the splash of water the smaller whale caused once he stopped beside his sister.

cale's hair and clothes were dripping water as he was frowning, he moved even further away from the whales.

–what the hell is happening?

–the whales are here to chat and the dragon got angry

–human, someone else is coming.

cale turned to the rustling of the leaves where toonka came out laughing and yelling.

–and now the crazy barbarian is here…

the glutton explained the situation to rok soo, cale was annoyed by the voices in and out of his mind.

“hahaha, I knew I smelled someone strong nearby!”

“fucking hell, can't I get a break?”

cale couldn't help but swear, he came here to rest away from everything and gain an ancient power. How did he end up in this situation?

toonka rushed towards the whale, Witira, with a bat in hand, he jumped into the air. Witira raised her tail and flicked it towards toonka, making him hit the ground with a grunt while his bat was destroyed to dust.

“hahaha I knew I shouldn't have used something useless like a bat!”

the smaller humpback whale, Paeston stopped in front of Witira.

“noona, if you continue fighting you will hurt that generous man!”

paeston pointed at cale with his fin, splashing droplets of water at cale.

witira's eyes shook as she saw the drenched cale standing behind a boulder looking up at her.

she who lived with the principle of protecting the weak was shaken upon seeing cale. she transformed to her human form, with blue hair and eyes.

cale looked shocked at the beauty of the whale tribe, humans looked as plain as rocks compared to her, no forget rocks humans looked like cockroaches in front of her

“he was the one who found me dying and saved me from the mermaid poison!"

her eyes shook even more, she felt bad about drenching her little brother's saviour.

at that moment toonka interrupted.

“that puny whale can talk?”

“you dare call my little brother puny?”

the angry witira glared at toonka, and held a whip made of water in her hand, she first made a water shield to protect her little brother and cale before clashing her whip with toonka's fist.

“ugh this is nothing! haha”

toonka who faced natural disasters before didn't seem to mind the simple pain of the whip, as he charged for another attack.

witira captured him using the whip but toonka didn't stop and tugged at the whip.

“hahaha a competition of strength? that's my specialty! haha”

he somehow managed to break the water whip, but that wasn't nearly enough to come close to the strength of a whale.

witira threw toonka flying towards the forest using her whip.

just then amiru, the investigation squad and the knights came out of there as toonka was thrown their way.

“what is going on here?”

Witira’s eyes widened as she quickly created a strand of water but she was going to be too late.

“put up your shields!”

amiru ordered the knights defend once she saw toonka flying their way.

“you better protect properly! my body is strong muahahaha!”

“for fucks sake, cant i for once not get fucking involved?!”

cale sweared as he put up his holy looking shield protecting amiru and the knights.

he was not happy he had to use this dazzling silver shield at all, it was too eye-catching and the last time he used it wasn't the best time in his life at all.

witira pulled back the water string once she saw toonka hit the holy looking shield that was slowly turning transparent and disappearing after protecting amiru and the rest, she looked towards cale, although he was swearing he looked calm and collected with only a frown on his face.

Chapter Text

chapter 23

Cale continued cursing quietly at having gotten involved, all eyes were on him. He leaned on the boulder beside him, his legs felt a bit tired after standing for too long.

Amiru misunderstood, she hurriedly went over to check on him

“Young master cale! Are you alright? Why did you use your shield? Do you feel any discomfort? Will there be backlash like before?”

The worried amiru bombarded cale with questions, the shield reminded her of the plaza incident, she couldn't help but feel worried considering that cale was already in recovery from using it in the Plaza.

“aigoo, you're drenched too…young master cale aren't you supposed to be in recovery?!”

Witira and paeston felt ashamed, they were the reason he was drenched, besides the fact he was supposed to be in recovery that they only just learned of.

“Are you alright?”

Paeston stood beside cale with a worried expression.

“Who are you?”

Amiru's gaze deepened while eyeing witira and paeston, in the end she was responsible for this territory. she couldn't allow what happened today to go by with no repercussions.

“And bob, who are you?’

She began doubting Bob's identity once she saw his true self, he said he was a normal fisherman living in a small village despite his build looking like one of the whipper kingdom's non mage faction.

“achoo”

cale cursed his bad timing causing the attention to return back to him. it was getting cold, and he was uncomfortable with his wet clothes.

“I'm leaving, solve this shit by yourselves, I don't want to be involved.”

cale glared at everyone there, he walked away with the invisible dragon resting on his neck

–seems like you're getting a cold after all that water soaking you

the thief snickered. From the incidents the glutton mentioned, being with him sure will be fun with quite a bit of chaos.

“Crybaby can deal with it”

–all you do is make me work…sob

–by the way, you will have to report the situation considering you are a witness.

cale grumbled in disdain, all he wanted was to steer away from the noise, he couldn't understand what led to the situation escalating that quickly.

“I know, amiru will come by to question me whether she likes it or not, it's a protocol that should be abided to after any conflict. a third party witness has to be the one to report the incident.”

he heard amiru's voice behind him

“young master cale!”

cale stood in his place allowing amiru to catch up to him.

“I ask you to cooperate with the protocol, I know you do not want to be involved in anything troublesome, but you also know that this is a protocol I have to act on. i have to ask what you have seen from the incident.”

cale nodded, even though he is trash, he didn't want to trouble his past friend, even if she may not think of them as friends anymore.

amiru led the two whales, toonka and cale to a guest room, she began talking.

“how about you introduce yourselves first?”

“I'm sorry for the trouble I caused, I'm witira from the whale tribe…”

witira was the one to start, she excluded the fact she was the future whale queen, not wanting to draw attention to it.

“it was my fault we came into the land, im sorry, I'm from the whale tribe as well. my name is paeston.”

amiru sighed and looked over to who she knows as bob.

“Mind telling me honestly who you are?”

“I'm toonka!”

silence followed, they were waiting for more explanation to no avail, that was all toonka decided to say.

“toonka from the whipper kingdom?”

Amiru mentioned the whipper kingdom in hopes for more explanation, she was praying it was not the toonka she knows of, that is waging war on the mages.

“you know me?”

“....are you a commander?”

“yes!”

Amiru hated that her thoughts were confirmed to be right.

“Then yes, I know you.”

–human he's the one you talked about with rok soo then! didn't you say he's a crazy tyrant? you said tyrant meant a crazy bastard too.

–cale why the hell are you teaching the kid swear words?

‘I didn't know how to explain the word tyrant, alright? it's not my fault!’

cale kept his thoughts to himself, if the kittens were able to hear him, then the whales who are sitting right next time him definitely can, not to mention rok soo wouldn't accept his excuse and would probably get angrier

Amiru started the questioning.

“young master cale, can you please start with what you witnessed?”

“she first came out of the water, she seemed to want to tell me something before the other whale came yelling not to kill me.”

paeston and wirira had an awkward apologetic expression.

“then that stupid barbarian came running out of the forest looking for a fight, he attacked her and she defended. the other whale stopped her to point out that I could be hurt in their fight, she stopped until the idiot insulted the other whale then put up a shield for me and the other whale to continue her fight without hurting anyone. but you and the team came and got caught up in the fight.”

“so you stepped in and used your shield…”

Amiru continued the explanation, cale nodded.

“she had taken into account that people could get hurt then?”

“that's what I said.”

amiru returned her gaze onto the two whales.

“Depending on young master cale's explanation your penalty would be lessened to only a warning, you will be banished if you are involved in another incident.”

the whales nodded without complaining, even though it wasn't their fault the fight started but witira had actively engaged in it in someone else's territory.

amiru's gaze sharpened when looking at toonka.

“you would be banished and asked for compensation, we have not received any damage thanks to young master cale therefore the compensation will be decided by him.”

Cale thought for a moment, he didn't wish to be involved, however if he could get compensation then he has an idea as to what.

‘Though I want to consult with rok soo first…’

“I wasn't hurt either, banishment is enough.”

“young master cale are you sure you're okay?”

amiru unconsciously asked again, it was the third time, cale assured her again that he's alright.

“yeah, I wasn't hurt thanks to the whale's shield.”

Amiru still looked worriedly at cale.

“If we're done, you two, come with me.”

cale looked towards the whales, both followed without question until they stood in front of his carriage.

“Why did you tell us to come with you?”

they only thought of questioning him now.

“it's getting late. So where do you think you will stay?”

“can we really come with you?”

“am I not the reason you two came on land?”

Cale replied with a question before entering the carriage, he kept the door open waiting for them to come in.

Both stared blankly at the open door, until they realised it was kept open for them and came in.

the carriage begun to move, paeston was looking around for something before the dragon released his invisibility magic startling both of the whales.

"I'm a great and mighty dragon, and he is my human!”

witira stared in shock at the little dragon, Cale studied both of their faces, he wanted to make sure they weren't going to be hostile even if the chances were small he would rather not take risks.

‘The little dragon is revealing himself to so many people, aren't dragons supposed to be arrogant and isolated? He sure is weird.’

“I am four years old and I am angry because you let human use his shield! He gets hurt when he uses it!”

the dragon was slightly glaring at the whales sitting across him and cale.

“I was the one who told human to save you and you let him use his shield to cough blood!”

cale pet the dragon trying to calm him down, it did nothing to calm the little dragon

“human is weak! he should not use the so-called ancient powers he has!”

The dragon continued to reprimand the two guilty whales while cale decided to ignore the situation and let the dragon do what he wanted.

he checked for the last time for any changes in their expression. Once he was sure the whales weren't going to have any violent reactions he stared out the window, thinking of what he has to do next.

‘the crown prince sure is in on a surprise soon.’

He was planning to tell the crown prince about buying the magic tower soon. Based on how rok soo explained what the crown prince was like, he would be overjoyed but it's definitely going to be a surprise for him.

cale had a small mischievous smile on his face while thinking of the fake blond crown prince making a flabbergasted expression, he tried to hide his mischievous smile by leaning into his hand.

A while later they finally arrived at Cale's residence.

Ron was the first to greet him with the children and beacrox not far, Ron took a quick glance at the two whales then to cale, he smiled benignly.

beacrox had a frown on his face once he saw the drenched and dirty clothes of cale, contradictory to his father's benign smile.

“young master cale, I will be preparing a shower for you, a room for the unexpected guests should be prepared by other servants..”

cale watched Ron leave.

‘He seems to want to talk to me, what does he want?’

cale had noticed the slight glance towards the whales, Ron wasn't happy to have guests right now and the only reason cale could think of is Ron wanting to tell him something.

The ten wolf children greeted cale before the oldest began talking.

“young master cale, are you alright? they told us that you were involved in a fight…”

“I didn't fight anyone, just got a little wet, don't worry about it maes”

cale said it with soft tone, witira, who has yet to meet cale when children are involved, was a little surprised.

The rest of the wolf children surrounded him asking if he's alright just like maes, cale patted them one by one and assured them he didn't get hurt.

–why the fuck does he have so many children?

the thief hadn't met the wolf children yet, she was a bit overwhelmed with the sea of children surrounding cale.

–I watched him pick them up, there is another one that is supposed to be working for cale as compensation to take care of them. Although, that child, lock went with his friend to help her with something.

the glutton vegan updating the shield on what happened to lead to so many children.

–I warned him taking in children is hard when he went and picked up the kittens but here he is with 12 more including the dragon.

‘they talk as if I don't hear them..’

cale was annoyed but ignored it.

–human, I want to see noona and hyung, come on to our room!

After assuring all of the ten wolf children, he went to his room as the dragon suggested.

The dragon instantly turned off his invisibility and sat with his noona and hyung to update them on what happened in detail, cale went to shower. He was done the moment the dragon was telling the kittens of the last thing that happened, which was him revealing himself to the whales

cale sat on his bed, the kittens didn't waste a second to jump on his lap, he pet them with a smile he couldn't hide.

“why didn't you take us with you nya!”

“It was boring alone in the room! maes and the others came to play but it was boring when they left, nya!”

cale was definitely glad he hadn't brought the kittens along, they would have gotten wet and they hated the water.

“I was going near the ocean, you told me you don't like the ocean.”

the dragon added

“It was not fun! human got into too much trouble!”

cale's smile twitched, worse of all he couldn't retort at all, because he does get in too much trouble, but the voices laughing in his head weren't any better.

–pfft, I knew it would be amazing being with him, it has only been a day since I came here too!

–to be fair, it has only been…let me count, 1 when he stole the dragon, the second was with Taylor, he kept saying he won't get involved then sent a letter telling him how to heal his legs and smuggled him into the capital-

–he did what?! that is definitely illegal, I didn't take him for one to do such a thing! 

the crybaby interjected.

–The only reason he got involved is because he took me when Taylor was searching for me

–didn't you hear rok soo and cale talk? you were useless for him, only false hope that didn't last after getting you.

–cale is way too good.

‘Where the hell does good apply here? I took the hope of Taylor’

–Anyway, the third incident was the plaza, right? Well that definitely was interesting. You missed out on too much! 

–wait what happened?

–because he overused me the crybaby had to step in and he coughed blood, the idiot didn't even think of telling them about the crybaby.

kim rok soo interjected in the glutton and thief's gossip

–to be fair, telling them he has another ancient power would have brought more attention to him. He is avoiding that. Also the fainting didn't help

-he fainted?! 

–that bastard wanted me to starve to death with him, he was literally malnourished, that's why he only eats soup now until he gets better.

cale finally had enough.

“Shut up, how shameless can you be? couldn't you had this conversation while I was fucking asleep? At this point you are going out of your way to make me hear you gossip about me!”

–Do you want the thief to stay in the dark? I'm bored, the only thing we can do is talk. 

cale heard a knock on the door before he could retort. He got up and opened the door to see Ron.

“What do you want?”

“Young master, can I please go on a little vacation? It won't take long, I just want to hunt some foxes.”

cale looked at Ron coldly, he understood ron was probably going to hunt down someone, possibly from arm.

–Rok soo, cale's butler is going to kill someone and is asking for a vacation.

the glutton instantly reported to rok soo, he promised to introduce her to new food each time she updates him on anything important. She was not going to miss this opportunity.

–it's probably someone from arm, its better to let him go. You don't want him following you around anyway right? 

“true…”

cale mumbled but Ron heard it since he was standing right in front of cale. The senses of an assassin weren't that easy to avoid.

‘is he talking to himself? could that be another habit of his I missed?’

“I don't care what you do as long it doesn't affect me.”

Ron bowed as a sign of gratitude.

“Thank you, Young master. I will ask for hans to come as fast as possible, you seemed comfortable with his service.”

–is shameless hans going to be back?

the dragon already had a nickname for hans, the children were sometimes annoyed when he barges in but they also liked him way better than Ron who makes cale mad.

‘Hans is indeed quite shameless’

Cale's mouth twitched upwards slightly,  he remembered the jokes hans would make, it was a breath of fresh air from the acting and everything else.

“young master, the guests have asked if you could have a meeting with them”

cale thought for a moment if he should go to a guest room or just shamelessly meet them in his room, one glance at his bed made him reply instantly.

“bring them here.”

‘I'm too tired right now, plus, I'm trash. Why should I care what they think as long as I feel comfortable?’

Ron didn't question it, he went to inform the two whales to head over to cale's room.

cale sat on his bed waiting for the whales to arrive.

–you do know you still have things to do right?

“You mean the whirlpools? They should be done tonight so the mages amiru brings tomorrow won't stop them.”

–that's what I mean, shouldn't you start with them now?

“A little delay won't hurt. I want to rest after all this shit, I'd rather be done with everything i have to do at once”

--I guess that's true, having more time to rest is the best.

There was silence for a few seconds before cale started to speak.

“Glutton, can you tell rok soo of everything that happens?”

–Now I'm a video recording device for you?

“Yes, you are.”

Although the glutton was complaining she actually didn't mind. It was boring when all she could do was talk.

A knock was heard, cale said to come in and the two whales entered.

Chapter Text

chapter 24

The whales stood in their place, they didn't know where to sit or what to do as they don't usually use a personal room as a meeting room

“What are you waiting for? sit wherever you like. it's useless to keep up pleasantries and etiquette when it's really not needed.”

“...if you say so”

whitera sat on the edge of the bed while paeston sat on the floor. 

cale took a glance at paeston then looked back at witira.

“So why are you here?”

“the whales are going to war with the mermaids, at first we thought it was another attempt of the mermaids to-”

cale interrupted witira before she could continue.

“No absolutely not, I refuse to hear any useless information. What I want to know is how and why should I help. let's help you understand how to get straight to the point. Why did you come to me?”

witira was speechless for a few seconds before she responded.

“...I want to make a request, we need to visit the forest of darkness in your territory.”

“why?”

“at first we didn't know the reason but the mermaids were getting stronger so-”

cale cut her off again.

“I don't need all these details, you're not asking me to go to war with you. So the reason they're getting stronger is related to something in the forest of darkness I presume?”

witira was shocked at the blatant disrespect of cale, but considering he didn't know she's a royal, it could be the reason. Witira wasn't annoyed by it, it felt much more comfortable talking like this.

Little did she know, cale in fact, knew exactly who she was.

“yes, paeston was chased by mermaids because he got ahold of this info.”

–what do you think? either way this shouldn't affect you or your family, so whatever you chose to do try to get the best benefit you think you can get from the whales.

the glutton has been explaining the conversation to rok soo as they agreed to.

“...what would I benefit from this?”

witira immediately answered, she had already prepared what she will give him

“permission to use a sea route.”

–hmm…if it's the forest of darkness then she would need a guide. Choi han is the best option for a guide but I doubt he'd agree for a request from you.

‘obviously. Plus I really don't want to talk to him.’

cale couldn't say what he was thinking out loud. He isn't willing to explain anything about rok soo to strangers, he doubt they would even believe him. They aren't like the children after all.

–I should be able to lead you then. I am the second most informed person of the forest of darkness other than choi han thanks to the birth of a hero.

“the birth of a hero?”

cale couldn't help but mumble out loud, he could guess that it was the name of the book of choi han's life.

“excuse me?”

witira heard him and was confused at the random choice of words

“I'm just thinking, give me a minute.”

–what your thinking is probably right, it's the book I've told you about. Anyway you will be putting yourself in danger by entering the forest of darkness so a sea route that you wouldn't even be the owner of, is not enough.

‘ha, I didn't think about the fact she would need a guide…that's why having a strategist is important, I'll be sure to use him as much as I can.’

cale had a mischievous smile on his face.

“No, you would need a guide, I know the forest enough to be a guide and that would put me in danger. You don't think permission of a sea route is worth my life now is it?”

“...”

“but, I will agree if you add another benefit. I just need the strength of the whales twice.”

it was the best option to cale, he isnt stupid enough to think he has the strength to go to war. Rok soo had already explained wyverns is what's going to infiltrate the henituse territory, so what's the possibility of there being more cards up the enemies sleeve?

‘I don't think they would be so stupid to reveal their biggest card at the very beginning, I'm not a strategist but I still know it's stupid not to prepare for accidents in advance.’

cale has always been quite careful with every decision he makes, he would rather know the negativity of his decision before acting upon it, even after that he wouldn't do anything if he didn't make sure he thought of every bad possibility and prepared for it before doing anything.

Although his overthinking of negative possibilities has limited him quite a bit, and it shows in his relationship with others. he would rather not take any unpredictable actions, people's reactions are unpredictable making him avoid any kind of interactions most of the time.

He had thought of talking with his family a lot, but never had the strength to do it, afraid his thoughts of his family hating him becoming true.

 He can't guess what his family reaction to revealing what he has been doing would be, and it's making him nervous and on edge all the time especially at home. Nor could he keep his relationship with his past friends for similar reasons.

“young master cale, you have to understand, creatures of the sea can't get involved with the land”

“if so, I can't help you with your war either.”

witira couldn't say anything to refute him, he used her words against her and it was a fact her request was a hard one to accept because of that agreement between the land and sea.

paeston interjected, still sitting on the floor.

“sister, the mermaids were the ones who broke the agreement first by working for that organisation called arm. young master, I know you don't want to be involved so you don't want any details but I think this is important to this deal.”

cale finally gave up and agreed.

“fine, then.”

“the mermaids have been getting stronger, you know that the reason is in the forest of darkness. They have made an alliance with the organisation arm that provides them with dead mana, it's what made them stronger. I have found out arm is getting the dead mana from a swamp in the forest of darkness.

the glutton repeated the explanation word for word, she was getting tired.

–there is exactly two lakes in the forest of darkness, one choi han visited frequently the other he avoided. It should be obvious which one it would be then

“hm..”

cale hummed agreeing with rok soo, but the two whales thought he was still contemplating the deal.

“then the mermaids were the ones who broke the agreement between land and sea, then it shouldn't be a problem for me to request your tribe's strength twice as one of the conditions anymore. Obviously, you can refuse if there is a reason to.”

“alright…”

witira reluctantly agreed.

“before you go, I'm not as kind as you think. the only reason I saved your brother is because of the dragon. I’m selfish and that means I'd never accept a request unless there is compensation”

on shook her head in disbelief, she couldn't understand how oblivious cale can get about anything related to him.

Unlike on, the dragon and hong weren't so quiet in expressing their disbelief.

“human, your lying again! you're a weak, no the weakest human I met but you were the one to save me!”

“I don't like when you lie, nya, you're not selfish!”

the dragon and hong jumped on the bed to smack cale.

He looked at them baffled.

–the kids are calking him out on his act.

the glutton relayed what the kids said to rok soo

“but I'm not lying?”

– just don't talk, idiot.

“...”

cale felt wronged on so many levels but just shut his mouth like rok soo told him.

He hated the way witira looked at him, it was as if she pitied him.

cale misunderstood witira's intentions, she was actually quite happy and pleased with the way he acts, she had a smile on her face. She saw him as a good person who can be trusted, but cale couldn't comprehend the fact anyone could be satisfied and happy after talking to him.

“just get out.”

cale kicked the two whales out of his room and locked the door.

He sighed.

“haah…can I not deal with the whirlpools tonight?”

–No, tomorrow inspectors are coming and if they manage to figure out a way to stop them you won't be able to use them as defense later. 

“yeah, yeah, I know. But im only going there to make sure they last for at least a year, so it can wait till morning.”

–No, its already late. There is no way you would be able to wake up at dawn to deal with them when you're already going to sleep so late.

“I can!”

–No means no, cale. Do you remember what happened last time you hadn't slept properly?

one of the reasons cale fainted at the plaza was that he hadn't slept properly nor eaten, so the vitality of the heart couldn't heal him without causing him to faint.

–cale listen to rok soo please sob… you won't get enough sleep if you wake up at dawn and sleep now, I can use the energy from the soup you eat every day but your body desperately needs it elsewhere…sob

The vitality of the heart didn't want more work and sided with rok soo.

Cale knows he isn't the healthiest he could be, but he is still trying like they wanted him to. He isn't trying to discard his bad health, he very much intends to live and planning to keep himself alive.

“I've been drinking that soup daily like all of you wanted, I'm way healthier now.”

–A few days of soup is not enough for years of malnourishment.

Cale started to get irritated, he knew none of them were going to listen to him.

“Forget it, I'll just get ready to strengthen the whirlpools.”

he got up to change into his black robe

“human, are we going to strengthen the whirlpools?”

Cale pet the dragon who flew by his side.

“No, not we. I'm going alone this time, I'm planning to make this fast, and I have wind power now. I can fly alone.”

The dragon did not want cale using his ancient powers at all.

“No! Human is not allowed to use powers that hurt him!”

cale sighed and held the dragon in his arms.

“I promise, I won't get hurt this time. I got hurt before because there was an explosion. But now I will only use it to move around so don't worry.”

the dragon still had a pout on his face, not approving of it at all, although he didn't say anything else.

“Are you going now, nya?”

“Yeah, if someone comes in let the dragon tell me telepathically.”

Cale didn't want to come back to see Ron here again.

He used his newly acquired ancient power and flew through the window onto a boulder in the ocean.

All of a sudden he saw someone swimming his way, he frowned once he realised who it was.

‘seriously? I'm already in a bad mood.’

Toonka was making his way over.

“I knew it! You are strong!”

He had seen cale flying over. 

Toonka climbed onto the boulder and came closer to cale.

“Is that magic? Are you a mage?”

Toonka seemed vicious and excited.

‘why hasn't he left yet?’

“No, this is an ancient power.”

Cale was aware of the hostility of toonka against magic and his resistance of it thanks to rok soo, so telling toonka it's an ancient power should be enough to erase the suspicion of him.

After all, no mage can acquire an ancient power, it's simply impossible because the mana and ancient power would clash with each other. They cannot exist within the same plate of a body.

A body that is born with the ability to hold mana, doesn't have the space to hold an ancient power. That's something his mother taught him, there were specific lessons for the Thames his mother used to teach to him. 

For some reason most included ancient powers and ancient times, as well as a plate which is the space in a body that holds the owner's powers. Although, it's not a separate thing all together and is connected to the soul and body.

 Meaning, if a plate breaks the soul and body would be damaged and the body won't be able to keep the damaged soul, leading to death. It could be said that a plate kind of holds the soul.

Cale drowned in his thoughts of his time and lessons with his mother only to be startled into reality by a touch from toonka who had been calling him.

He was startled into using the sound of the wind to throw toonka into a whirlpool.

“what the fuck are you doing?”

“So, you are strong!”

Toonka quickly swam back to cale, who took a deep breath calming himself down.

–kim rok soo, cale seems to have gotten himself in trouble again!

–I figured, who is he talking to?

–toonka, cale was startled so he threw him into a whirlpool. 

–you may really be a trouble magnet…

“Shut up, how is that my fault? it's not like I want to get in trouble!”

once toonka reached him, Cale stopped talking to rok soo.

–anyway, we want to destroy the magic tower right? it's an opportunity but the choice is yours if you want to make a deal. 

cale began thinking about what to do.

‘hm…a deal with toonka who wants to destroy the magic tower wouldn't have any negatives, it would be easier to get into the magic tower as well…it's a bit one sided too, it could even be called a scam from how one sided it is, since they don't know of the hidden room rok soo told me about…’

Cale had made his choice after a long and careful thought. He crouched near toonka and smiled a mischievous smile. His mood started to get a little better now.

“how about a deal, commander of the none mage faction?”

–cale he may seem dumb, but he is a commander for a reason. He's a tyrant who would leave the injured to die, and he does jump into natural disasters with only relying on his physical strength but he knows how to differentiate good intentions from bad.

‘I'm not one to let my guard down rok soo. No matter how uneducated and stupid the person seems to be. After all, I know how easy it is to fool people.’

cale shifted his attention back to toonka who had yet to answer him.

“if you're not a mage how do you know of the non mage faction?”

Most nobles are informed of a civil war that's about to happen in the whipper kingdom, but little know about the non mage faction. Amiru guessed toonka was a commander that is involved in the war and would bring conflict, but she had no idea about the non mage faction.

“That's a little secret of mine, lets not delve into each others personal life shall we? Now then, how about I purchase the magic tower?”

–you could've easily come up with a half assed explanation than try to act mysterious, cause its definitely not working.

cale's smile twitched.

“...crazy bastard, are you saying you're siding with the mages?”

“Let's not misunderstand, commander, I wouldn't have made a deal with you then would I? This is on the premise you win the war, of course.”

toonka couldn't understand what cale wanted, the tower would be destroyed by then.

–ah right, cale. since you're already doing this, make sure to keep some mages alive for a mage brigade. Strengthening the kingdom is equivalent to strengthening allies.

Cale didn't want to stop talking suddenly so for once he didn't overthink a decision and trusted rok soo’s decision. He continued talking only after a small pause.

“you're planning to destroy it aren't you? Well this deal is quite simple. All I ask is not to destroy it too much and kick the mages out because I'm purchasing it from you.”

“you really are a crazy bastard, hahaha!”

“you hurt me, how could I compare to you? The crazy bastard who is killing mages left and right?”

cale was offended by toonka's words, he admits and knows he does unusual things, some could be called crazy but he always has a proper reason.

“Hey, are you really a noble?”

cale turned the question back to toonka.

“Are you really a warrior?”

“hahaha! purchase it personally then!”

toonka's laugh seemed exaggerated and annoying to cale.

“ofcource, this is supposed to be our secret shouldn't it?”

“hahaha”

toonka only responded with more laughter.

“do you even know how to keep a secret?”

cale mumbled under his breath, but his worries seemed to ease when he saw the determined and curious look on his face.

‘his curiosity is the only hope I guess’

cale sighed internally.

“hey, throw me again into that whirlpool!”

cale was flabbergasted.

‘crazy bastard! No he's not just a crazy bastard, he is a lunatic!’

–I say give him what he wants, if he dies it wouldn't be your fault cause he asked.

The thief didn't have an inch of sympathy for Toonka after hearing what rok soo said.

–don't worry, he jumped into natural disasters willingly and now he's immune to magic. Just let him play with the whirlpool for a bit and continue what you came out for.

cale almost dropped his act from shock, he had thought rok soo was exaggerating when he said toonka once threw himself in a volcano.

his shock disappeared quickly once he saw toonka come closer.

“alright, go play with it and don't bother me. I won't throw you again if you do.”

cale quickly used the sound of the wind and threw toonka back in the whirlpool, then he went on strengthening the other whirlpools around.

cale hurried to go back, worried Ron would barge into his room like last time, after all he doesn't know if Ron would leave tonight or in the morning.

He entered through the window to see the children sitting on his bed the dragon and hong were reading while on was laying down on his pillow.

A soft and relaxed smile appeared on his face, he was happy and tired.

“human!”

Before the dragon could come his way, cale threw himself on the bed and pet the three children.

His smile didn't falter at all, his expression relaxed at hearing the two kittens purr. Even though he was tired, he didn't want to sleep and leave this moment behind.

“hey, dragon.”

“don't call me that!”

“then what do I call you?”

cale chuckled, he knew what the dragon would say next but he wanted to hear the dragon say it again

the dragon felt strange when he saw the smile cale had on his face while asking him.

“...figure it out yourself!”

“do you want a house of your own?”

–ah, dragons are said to look for a lair for themselves early on in age. Even though the dragon seems to act strange his instincts as the strongest beings in your world should still be there.

there's little to no signs of the arrogance a dragon should have of their power in the little dragon.

 it was obvious to cale that it was the affect of the trauma the little dragon experienced, cale wanted the dragon to live properly like an arrogant dragon.

 “are you kicking me out?”

“No, mm, you can think of it like a villa, somewhere to visit together…”

the three children's eyes lit up, the dragon seemed to hate the thought of living alone, it was contradictory to everything he and rok soo knows about dragons, nonetheless cale had already decided he's giving these three children whatever they want.

“Alright human, I will choose the place of the villa in return, choose my name for me!”

the dragon seemed to give up on only hinting to cale his want for a name.

“as you wish, great and mighty dragon.”

the soft smile returned on cale's face when he saw the dragon puffing up his chest.

his eyes seemed to become heavier, he couldn't keep himself awake for much longer but he managed to say goodnight to rok soo before drifting to sleep.

“goodnight, old man…”

–Goodnight to you too, idiot.

Chapter Text

Chapter 25

Cale finally for once in a while had nothing to do, he woke up very satisfied and very late.

“human you slept for a full 10 hours! Are you ok? you never sleep that long!”

The three kids sat around cale on the bed once he woke up.

“what are we going to do today nya?”

“Take us with you this time, nya!”

On and hong were curious, cale had been taking their dongsaeng out to help him on many things ever since they got in the ubarr territory, they missed cale since they didn't have as much time with him.

With a smile cale replied to on’s question, he had many things planned and none of them concern getting out for too long to talk to anybody other than the kids.

“We have nothing to do, so I thought we could go to the library and pick out some books for you.”

Hong was curious, he was the first to jump onto cale's lap followed by his sister, cale pet them both.

“more magic books for dongsaeng?”

“mm, maybe. But for you too. I told you before, didn't I? we will learn more about poisons for you. If we find any new magic books I'll borrow it for the dragon too.”

–you have two days to actually rest now, before heading back to the henituse territory.

Rok soo was happy cale was getting to rest with the children.

“yeah, hmm, old man, can you read me some books about poisons from your world too? Maybe we can find something similar. since I know nothing, having something specific to search for would be a good starter.”

Cale wanted to know of types of poisons, it would give him a better idea where to start his search, because he surely isn't going to find a book titled poisons in the ubarr library.

The children knew cale was talking to rok soo and so they listened.

“does he have different poisons than here, nya?”

“No, he's in a different world so of course he wouldn't.”

Rok soo sighed, even though cale had the chance to relax for two days he started his search for the children as soon as he woke up.

–how about you start tomorrow and rest for today?

“But I'm already resting? I will be in bed for most of the day, I will only get out to borrow the books and come back here to read them with the kids.”

Cale didn't consider this work, if it's for the kids then how could it be work? He considered it spending time with the kids, while rok soo had a completely different opinion as he prefered staying in bed doing nothing to rest.

–I have work to do, I can't-

rok soo was cut off, it seemed like his attention was driven somewhere else.

–I have to get this done today…why would I?

rok soo was having a conversation with someone so cale asked the glutton

“glutton, what's happening there?”

–rok soo is getting lectured by his coworkers. there seems to be a couple who are telling him to get out of the office.

–There was a break out just yesterday, so work got delayed…that's not the point, I'm fine I can rest after this is done

cale tried to ignore rok soo like he usually does when he is working, but curiosity got the better of him. Plus, now they have the glutton to convey what's happening and rok soo always interferes with him so why couldn't he?

“ what is he arguing about?”

–from what I'm hearing today is his day off, but he's in the office working…

the glutton stopped to listen a bit more before she continued talking.

–He also injured himself in a battle yesterday because monsters were seen near the edge of the city and near where he lives again. It really doesn't look safe where he lives..

“yeah, he's definitely overworking himself again.”

--pfft… he got kicked out of his own office.

the thief chimed in, she was also with the glutton in rok soo’s body.

–haah, I'll never win an argument with these two for some reason…

“Who are they?”

–hm, kim min ah and bae pah rum. She's the assistant leader of the company.

“just go back and rest you workaholic old man, it's your day off, your telling me to rest when you've been working ever since I started hearing your voice, I didn't even think you had a day off.”

–of course I do. I usually stay in bed during it or read, I had one on the same day I heard you get beat up, you just woke up the next day when I had work so you never heard of me taking a break.

“its been weeks since then, you're still a workaholic, go rest!”

kim rok soo still didn't understand why everyone is telling him to rest, its not like hes not going to once he is done with what was delayed the day before because of the outbreak.

–haah, whatever, she said she will take care of it…

he was a bit hesitant to leave, he didn't want kim min ah to be forced to do his work for him, he stayed standing in front of the door for a bit before slowly walking away, still troubled about it.

–its not like i have anything else to do or any plans so why wont she just take the extra time off and leave the work to me each time? 

Rok soo mumbled, he had told kim min ah to leave any delayed work like this to him, so he couldn't understand why she wont just take the break and always ask for his well being.

Delayed work isn't uncommon at all and he always is the one working overtime for it because he doesn't have a family or anyone to spend time with, strangely enough kim min ah was determined to get him out of the office for her to take the delayed and extra work this time.

“well, now you have. Go to a library or something to borrow books about poisons. if you have nothing to do, I’ll give you something”

–no need, I have some records of poisons.

Hong was getting impatient with all the talking cale is doing with rok soo.

“cale nya, you said we will search about poisons for me, how are we going to search for poisons if we stay inside all day?”

Cale pet hong.

“we aren't going to search for poisons just yet, we are going to read about them first. But i'm going to have to talk to rok soo, give me a minute.”

Hong and the dragon begun talking about the books they're going to read with cale.

“can we also bring stories? if we don't find new magic books I want stories to read!”

On had mentioned the library cale has in the henituse mansion and the many novels in it, so the dragon wanted to read a story.

Although the dragon hadn't mentioned it to cale yet because he was still talking to rok soo

“so, what types of poisons do you have information on?”

–hm…you want basic information on where you can find poison naturally to know where to start searching without making it obvious right?

Rok soo was recalling every bit of information he had on poisons and piecing together what would be useful to cale and what wouldn't.

–by the way the air of itself has a type of poison that could cause trouble breathing, I don't think your world has advanced in studying such things though right?

Kim rok soo recalled that carbon dioxide taken in large quantities is in of itself poison, and it's colourless. 

–...this kid's power sure is powerful if used correctly, he basically ingested carbon daily, if he understands the concept of it he could use it easily to choke the enemy to death without lifting a finger.

Cale was horrified by what he heard.

“you mean to tell me I'm ingesting poison right now?”

–you should know that the smoke that happens during fires or bombs can cause trouble breathing and kill someone if exposed for long periods of time, the process of breathing creates a similar gas

Rok soo tried to simplify the meaning and relate it to something cale knows and has experienced to help him understand.

“you mean to tell me that I'm breathing that same gas right now?!”

–mm…not exactly. I said similar not the same, the one caused by explosions is far more dangerous, although it has almost the same effect if you're looking at it as if it's poison but you'd need to take in far more of what you normally breathe than the ones from fires.

Cale was getting interested in the results of the research the people of rok soo’s world had done, although he was still horrified a bit about the fact he was ingesting poison every waking moment and second in his life.

“so, it's hard to take effect right?”

–yes, but it is possible to start feeling dizziness and shortness of breath if you stay too long in a cramped room with no way of air getting in or out. Especially if there is too many people. 

“so it could happen in banquets!”

–yes, if everything is closed and you stay for about half a day or more it could also take less time. The time it takes depends on the amount of people.

cale had stayed silent, he was thinking if it was a good idea to tell such things to hong, he was a child, would he be scared to breath? 

considering he was immune to poison maybe not, but the dragon and on might.

“You said a considerable amount is required for it to take effect right? I don't want Hong to use it. If so, it would tire him out.”

The children were discreetly eavesdropping, when cale said that hong jumped in.

Hong and the dragon only understood that the poison was some type of air while on discerned a little more of the conversation.

“cale nya, I want to learn more about it! what is that air? Did I ingest it before? where does it come from?”

On wanted to confirm what she picked up from only cale's part of the conversation.

“Is it air that comes from breathing, nya?”

cale sighed but explained what he learned anyway.

“yes on, but it isn't that harmful or deadly”

–it actually is, but it isn't possible to accumulate enough of it to be deadly unless intentionally

“...”

Cale had a moment of silence, he decided he wasn't going to mention that to the children for now, because the thought of breathing deadly poison daily is terrifying even to him.

“cale nya?”

“hong, are you sure you want to learn this type of poison?”

Hong didn't waste a second to reply.

“yes nya!”

“you will need to use a lot of it for it to be effective.”

–that's why I wanted to recommend carbon monoxide instead. Did he come close to the smoke of the bombs in the Plaza? if not you can always burn something to use the smoke, it's the easiest poison to get your hands on.

“Are we sure it's safe? hong have you ever tried breathing in smoke? Did you feel any discomfort during it?”

Hong thought about it, he didn't exactly try it before. He knows that ingesting poison allows him to use it and not be affected but he hadn't had the opportunity to question if he would be affected by poison in the form of gas.

on chimed in

“with my fog, we basically create poisonous air, it should be the same isn't it? Hong isn't affected by it.”

“mm…fine we will give it a try, but if you feel any discomfort you will tell me right away!”

Cale reluctantly agreed.

“Now then, the air we breathe isn't going to be effective unless you use considerable amounts so we will try the replacement.”

“can't we do both? I'd use the other one to weaken enemies!”

hong was excited to try this new thing and wanted everything he could get his hands on, cale sighed and agreed.

“By the way, old man, could you mention it in greater detail?”

–you mean the poison produced from breathing? it happens when you exhale, basically when you breathe you take the fresh air and get rid of harmful air.

cale explained to hong what rok soo said, hong decided to use his human form. He put his hands on his mouth and breathed out the hot air.

“Is this it? but if it came from inside me that means I already ingested it right?”

hong tried to understand what the hot air he breathed out was to try and create large amounts of.

“...it's not working, nya! I can't get a hold of it, the poison is so little and can't stay in one place!”

Hong was getting frustrated, each time he produced some using his ability instead of breathing it disperse into the air, he didn't know how to keep it in one place.

On found it a bit similar to her fog, she could create it but had to control it, hong's ability needed a bit more of a physical solid form as he wasn't able to control the air he creates.

“what if after he creates it I control it like I do with the fog? fog isn't invisible but if I can control this no one could notice it because it's invisible, nya.”

Hong's ability allowed him to create poison not control it, he created a large amount of it and on tried to concentrate it into one spot.

“..I can feel it, I know it's there. It worked nya!”

Hong cale and the dragon didn't see or feel anything different in the surroundings but on could feel a different type of air in a specific spot she kept it in.

“it's right here nya!”

On pointed at it, still focused on keeping it in place, cale held out his hand towards the place on pointed at, the air had a different temperature.

“...it's really there.”

The dragon didn't waste a second and approached the spot, pushing his whole face into the spot.

“human it's warm! It feels stuffy too! it's hard to breathe like you said.”

“then get the fuck away from it!”

Cale freaked out and pulled the dragon away from the spot.

“don't worry weak human, didn't you say it wasn't that harmful? aren't we basically breathing it right now too? it's just not cramped in one place!”

Cale heard a knock from the door, hong jumped down and transformed into his cat form right away while hiding behind the bed, the dragon had cast invisibility magic on the three of them.

–why are you so scared? the great and mighty me can make even your human form invisible, hyung!

the dragon talked telepathically to the embarrassed hong.

cale chuckled, Ron said he was going out last night and no servant had the courage to burst onto the room without cale calling out to them, so hong didn't need to freak out as much as he did.

“come in.”

hans walked in with a bright smile.

“I missed serving you, young master!”

cale's mouth twitched at hans loud voice.

“Did they have to send you out of all the servants?”

–what's wrong with annoying hans? He cuts us off a lot, but he's not mean like Ron!

The dragon liked hans much more than Ron who made both cale and on uncomfortable, Ron also barges into the room without even knocking. 

The dragon was remembering the time he and cale came back to see on and hong hissing at Ron, even though hans annoys cale, the Dragon had noticed it doesn't actually make cale angry or uncomfortable more so confused.

“I came to give you the cold water you like, do I heat up the shower?”

“there's no need”

–human, can I reveal myself to hans? He seems trustworthy!

Cale was surprised by the Dragon's question, he was worried because hans used to tell everything he did to his father, he didn't want his father to know about the dragon.

It's not that he doesn't trust his father but it could make things complicated.

“Hans, can I trust that you won't tell what I'm going to tell you to my father?”

Hans seemed surprised, he wanted to joke about it but when he saw the serious look on cale's face he changed his mind.

“you knew after all. the count only wanted to know your whereabouts because he was worried, nothing more. I don't understand what you could want to entrust me with, but it's an honor to me. So, as long as the secret doesn't hurt you I have no reason to mention it to the count.”

Hans was telling the truth, all the count asks about was cale's whereabouts and the commotions he causes to repay the owners of the bars cale destroys. But if the count doesn't ask him about cale's secret then he wouldn't be lying by just keeping it quiet.

Cale was still hesitant, he pet the dragon before blurting out the words.

“...do whatever you want”

Hans was confused

“excuse-”

Hans was speechlessly staring at the baby dragon sitting on cale's lap

“hello, I am a great and mighty dragon, I am 4 years old!”

Hans got over the shock after hearing the words of the cute dragon.

“dongsaeng us too, nya!”

Hong said out loud for the dragon to remove the invisibility magic on them.

“I'm hong nya!”

On quietly observed hans expression just like what cale was doing.

“can I pet you?”

Hans was excited, he didn't bother questioning cale, he just wanted to pet and adore the three children in front of him.

“what's your favourite food? breakfast should be ready in a bit, I wanted to bring it over.”

The dragon and hong jumped at the opportunity.

“steak!”

“cake!”

cale frowned at what hong asked for.

“Cake is not a meal, you can have some after eating your breakfast.”

Hong's eyes sparkled, he would get to eat cake today.

“what is cake?”

When hong realised his dongsaeng didn't know that many types of food he decided to teach him and they begun talking about different kinds of sweets

“on do you want something?”

“...cookies?”

“I will tell the chef to prepare everything!”

Hans ran out to bring the food and deserts for the children.

“he seems more excited to serve you than me”

Cale chuckled, he was relieved nothing bad happened.

–did you tell hans about the children?

“Yes, it turned out alright.”

–you overthink things too much, trust the people near you more cale.

“He was spying on me, I think my cautiousness was reasonable this time.”

“noona, can we practice more of the poisonous air?”

“old man, what's the name of the poisons you mentioned? it's weird to keep calling it air”

–carbon dioxide for the light one and carbon monoxide for the one produced from fires and explosions.

“why are the names so long? I'll just call them dio and mono”

–that sounds weirder than just calling them air

“I need to differentiate them, dio and mono it is.”

rok soo sighed

–fine whatever, name them what you like.

hong tapped cale's lap to get his attention.

“what are you talking about, what is dio and mono?”

“names for the new poisons, dio is the one you learned to do, mono is the much more dangerous replacement made from fires and explosions.”

“can we continue practicing here?”

cale thought about it, rok soo said its only dangerous in cramped places where the poison wouldn't get out.

“I guess you can do them in the room but keep it beside the window and open the window.”

on jumped from the bed to the window and urged on to come.

She controlled whatever dio hong made, they were experimenting to see if it is harder to control the more amount hong creates and how much hong can create at a time.

“on don't push yourself if it's getting harder.”

cale was worried on would push herself to the limit 

“It is way easier to control it than fog, it's not as dense as fog, nya. It would only be a bit tiring if i controlled them to be in two places at once. I can't do it with fog but with something this easy to control I think I can.”

“can we try, nya? please!”

cale sighed for the third time today, he was making risks all day by allowing them to experiment and reveal themselves.

“Only once, don't push yourselves.”

hans came back with trays of food and sweets.

“hans, go to the library and fetch a few children's stories and magic books. Ah and a book about plants and animals if you find any.”

cale had heard hong and the dragon talk about wanting to read stories while talking to rok soo.

“Yes, just a moment.”

Hans put the plates on the table before going to the library.

–I guess you're not going out of your room anymore?

“why would i if hans knows now?”

cale got up and took his plate of soup while telling the children to stop their training and come eat.

 By the time Hans had picked out a couple of books and came back, they had finished eating.

“hey, come here.”

“don't call me hey!”

The dragon grumbled but sat with cale on the bed while the two kittens practiced some more.

“I haven't been able to teach you how to read properly, so I ordered hans to bring a couple of stories and magic books, so sit down.”

“don't tell me what to do!”

the dragon sat down beside cale despite his words and begun reading the stories with cale correcting him or teaching him about new words.

***

the two peaceful days passed just like that, with the children and cale reading or training, cale wasn't willing to let then learn the monoxide poison before they fully mastered the dioxide one first.

hong was disappointed but he continued training with his sister during these two days or reading about some poisonous plants and animals in the books hans brought.

Chapter Text

chapter 26

Cale woke up earlier than the kids this time. He looked over at the three children sleeping in the pillow next to him.

“I told them not to stay up too late…”

–good morning.

“sigh, my break is finally over huh?”

–well you do need to go back home and help the whales with what they need. You can't procrastinate helping them forever.

“I wasn't procrastinating! I was just on vacation like I told everyone, I wasn't supposed to be working anyway!”

–keep lying to yourself, it won't change a thing.

It was true that cale never meant for this to be for work and intended to act alone only getting the ancient power before resting, but rok soo wanted to tease him a bit.

cale ignored rok soo’s attempt to anger him and changed the topic.

“Had I known Hong would overexert himself, I wouldn't have tried to train him now.”

cale looked at Hong, for the two days they were supposed to rest, Hong kept training, not missing a second of the day unless he was eating. 

At meal time he would tell cale his progress happily while rushing his food to continue training.

Hong wanted to train in controlling the poison with his sister quickly so cale would allow him to use the more dangerous one, so he never stopped training excited to move on as he found a new poisonous gas no one thought of using before.

Cale wanted to stop him from overexerting himself but each time he saw hong excitedly talk about his progress with a wide smile on his face, he couldn't say anything other than smile and praise him.

“I should've stopped him, haha, I guess I still can't take care of them.”

cale didn't feel like he was being a good guardian for the children for so many reasons, now that he couldn't even reprimand them for over exerting themselves he wasn't sure it would be good for them to stay with him

-cale are you seriously questioning that now? was venion better at taking care of the dragon? Or was it the tribe who left the kids of their tribe to travel so far from them while they were still kittens, Young and inexperienced?

“I'm not stupid, I may be better than those bastards, but it doesn't mean I'm a good guardian just because I'm better than some sadist bastards who enjoy seeing children suffer.”

Rok soo didn't know what to say because what cale said was true, just because someone is able to do the bare minimum after someone else did much worse doesn't mean they are good.

But rok soo knew one thing about cale, no matter how bad cale treats others, he still cares and will blame himself for it, and that doesn't apply to just his three kids. 

Rok soo thought that was enough of a punishment for anything bad cale did while acting, not to mention the compensation he always makes sure he can give.

–that doesn't apply to you. so stop this bullshit, because you are nowhere near bad to those kids. you try your best to keep them safe while growing their strength and giving them all their necessities. you gave them somewhere to return to, and that is enough to call you a good person and guardian.

Cale was smiling, he doesn't think he can believe he's a good person yet, but it was still nice to hear another person saying it. He was happy but he would never, in his life, admit that to rok soo. 

“you sure are persistent and stubborn old man”

the thief who was in cale's body and saw his smile laughed.

–pfft, and you still can't admit when you're grateful.

“you better shut up, thief.”

The tip of cale's ears were red, he quickly got off the bed and went to change, not wanting to be stuck in that embarrassing moment any longer.

on, who was pretending to sleep, watched as cale walked in the bathroom.

‘what was he talking about?’

She was curious as she couldn't pick up much of the conversation from only cale's side, but it was obvious he was undermining himself.

‘as long as he feels better then…’

on had a small smile that resembled cale's as she kept her eyes on the bathroom door cale walked through.

When cale walked out of the bathroom he saw on waking her dongsaengs while refusing to train with Hong just when he woke up.

“you didn't stay up too late did you?”

“on didn't let us nya”

“we did stay up for a little longer, human!”

at that moment the door of the room slammed open.

“Young master, i missed you!”

han's disrespectfully barged in, even though he said he missed cale he had ran to the children.

“you woke up early! I am very thankful to you, cute children, you wake up cale early each time. I don't need to worry about a bottle being thrown at me while waking cale up!”

cale felt offended, he hadn't touched a single bottle in so long.

“Shut up, I want a bottle with my breakfast this time.”

he had missed the taste of alcohol, he'd rather avoid it when the children are around but one bottle couldn't get him half drunk.

–you've been doing so well without a sip of alcohol, why ruin it now? all that progress for nothing.

“exactly I haven't drunk in so long, one bottle doesn't hurt”

cale mumbled as hans was in the room.

“I want steak!”

“cake, nya!”

“cookies, nya!”

“I will bring it all here soon!”

hans pet the three children and went to bring breakfast for the four in the room.

cale sighed.

‘I just remembered why he annoyed me so much.’

“After breakfast we will be going home with the whales. since none of you hid yourselves when they came over, you can remove the invisibility spell in the carriage.”

cale went over and sat on the bed next to the children.

“The trip will be long, so go prepare your bag to sleep in the way if you want.”

“it's ready nya!”

“The pillows are still in the bag nya!”

While waiting for the food the dragon brought one of the magic books to cale so they can read them while Hong wanted to show cale his progress to see if he can now train with the more dangerous gas, monoxide poison.

cale was too busy with the children to notice hans coming in, or the time passing.

the moment hans came in he saw on sitting in cale's lap while he pet her, meanwhile hong sat on cale's shoulder while peeking on the book the dragon was reading while the dragon was asking cale for help every now and then.

it was the first time hans saw cale so calm with a warm smile on his face he had never seen before.

‘he looks so much like the portrait.’

hans had seen the family portrait with the late countess in cale's study many times as he was required to clean it even if no one was using it. At that moment, cale's warm smile resembled the countess's in the portrait greatly.

He found himself feeling relaxed, he didn't feel like he was working anymore, although he always acted carefree no one is truly comfortable in their job, especially if it included a grumpy noble kid.

hans was speechless, the smile on cale's face was beautiful and peaceful, anyone would've felt just as safe, comfortable, and peaceful just by looking at it, he didn't want to disturb them. 

He knew a smile like that would disappear the moment cale noticed him, but once the dragon looked at him concerned and stopped reading, cale looked over the smile fading off his face and his eyes turned as cold as what hans was used to seeing.

‘I guess that smile is a privilege only granted for his cute little children.’

he sighed internally wishing to be able to see the young master who never seemed happy, just as peaceful again.

hans smiled.

“Young master the food is ready!”

he put the food on the table in the room, then excused himself.

“human hans was acting strange earlier! why was he looking at you like that?”

“don't worry, I'm used to people staring.”

the dragon didn't understand what cale meant, but he ignored it, putting it off as something normal just like cale said it was

–but hans isn't scared of you anymore, right? There's no reason for him to stare at you with contempt or fear.

“why else would he have kept staring quietly to the point I didn't notice? if it's not fear it's contempt, maybe it's because I ordered alcohol again.”

the three children looked at cale at the same time. On, who noticed hans, was not about to let this misunderstanding fester more than this. cale already didn't have the best impression on himself.

“no nya, he didn't look scared or annoyed, he was more shocked than anything!”

“but he was smiling, he didn't look shocked, nya?”

Hong had heard hans coming in but didn't really look over until the dragon stopped reading and looked at hans, so he didn't have a good look at his face and only saw him smile.

cale had also saw that smile, but he didn't expect it to be real, just like all Ron's benign smiles that he used to naively think were kind.

“Sometimes people hide what they truly feel and put a smile on, even if they are annoyed.”

“No, human, I agree with noona, he looked shocked before he put on a smile!”

“why would he be shocked?”

“I told you he was acting weirdly”

now cale was just as confused as the children.

–he was shocked? What were you doing?

“I was just sitting with the kids.”

–has he never seen you with the kids?

“No, he's my butler now, of course he had seen me talking with them.”

rok soo now didn't have an answer either, all of them were baffled by hans weird reaction.

the kids and cale started eating, cale noticed his soup was mixed with vegetables.

‘I guess now I'll have to slowly get used to food again after only drinking soup all the time.’

He was starting to feel better, at least the thought of eating had not nauseating him these past few weeks.

He felt weird chewing something after so long, but he didn't hate it. A part of him was happy he could eat normally without feeling the need to throw up.

Even though he ate normally, he felt full before finishing even half of his soup this time.

‘is it because of the vegetables in it?’

He decided to stop and focused on wiping the mouths of the three children, they were getting food all over their faces.

he sipped on the alcohol while waiting for them to finish their food

Once they were done with their food and it was taken away, cale changed his clothes to get ready to go home.

“Are you sure you're all ready? did you check if the bag is comfortable? the ride back home will take at least a week.”

The children confirmed this, so the dragon cast invisibility magic on the three of them and went to meet the whales waiting outside the carriage.

“Thank you again, young master, for agreeing to our deal. It may be a simple thing for you but it truly will help us greatly.”

“cut all that crap, I don't care about a few words of gratitude if it can't be shown. You already allowed an exchange to happen and that's enough, got that?”

cale truly meant it, he wasn't just acting rude for his persona, but he did think a thank you could never show true gratitude. It was just two words that wouldn't help him with anything, he doesn't need such gratitude with no meaning behind it.

The whales smiled despite the rudeness of cale's words, because what he meant was clear nonetheless.

“then does saying I'm happy to have gotten the chance to agree on a deal with you, make any difference?”

cale laughed.

“pfft, who wouldn't be happy to make a deal that is beneficial to them? at least that I can believe.”

Once the carriage began moving the dragon released the invisibility spell, revealing the three children all around cale.

 The kittens had ignored the bag right next to cale they were supposed to sleep in when they're tired, they instead sat on cale's lap while the dragon was on cale's shoulders.

It took a week for them to arrive.

cale's family was the first to greet him, cale looked at his father.

“Is your condition ok?”

Although Deruth was asking of cale's wellbeing, his eyes wore a distant look and his eyes were going back and forth to cale and then the carriage behind cale.

 his eyes never stopped at cale for more than half a second each time, causing him to only see a blurred cale that looks no different than jour to deruth's eyes.

“I'm fine.”

cale answered his father, he noticed how paranoid deruth seemed so he avoided looking at him.

‘Is he worried? But I called and he saw that I was ok, why is he still so paranoid? is it something else?’

cale was a bit worried of his father's condition, when he called his father was just as uncomfortable and anxious as now. He wondered if he was the reason for his father's odd behaviour.

It reminded him of the past, the days before the funeral when his mother was bedridden and after the funeral. 

Deruth was acting just like today while staying beside jour on her deathbed, and after that he wouldn't leave his room but once, he was trying to improve but it proved futile as that day he didn't stay more than a minute sitting on the dinner table with cale.

cale remembered those memories locked away but etched into his heart to never forget even if he wants to.

seeing the awkward silence that stayed no more than a second or two, violan stepped in.

“I see you have brought guests with you?”

Violan was talking about the wolf children and the two whales with their hair dyed with magic to hide their beautiful long blue hair.

“yes.”

cale wasn't comfortable or happy to be back unlike what he expected, after seeing his father relapse into old habits he didn't want to stay here any longer.

rok soo sensed something wrong because of cale's unusual short answer.

–’maybe it is just because he is talking with his family? he has never been comfortable sitting or talking with them for too long because of his persona’

rok soo played it off as something normal with cale and decided to ignore it for now.

“I heard the terrorist hasn't been caught?”

“I guess so.”

“that will do for now..”

cale walked over to Basen and lily.

“hans, give it to me”

hans handed cale somethings and cale handed them to his siblings.

“here.”

both of the children in front of cale looked astonished and confused on what was happening. cale who noticed their confusion tried to clarify.

“That's a sword for you, lily. I noticed you've been interested in training.”

Once Lily held the wooden box with the sword still confused about what was happening, cale looked at basen.

“And that's a fountain pen, I don't know what you like but you like studying.”

basen was just as bewildered as lily at the moment when he held the fountain pen.

‘it's real?

he couldn't help but be surprised when he touched the box of the fountain pen to find it still in his hands.

lily broke out of her trance, she had sparkling eyes as she happily looked at cale 

“thank you orabeoni, I will protect everyone in our territory!”

basen followed soon after lily.

“thank you hyung!”

Cale's mouth twitched, he was fighting himself not to smile, but he still couldn't help petting his siblings head.

“It's fine, I bought it at the last minute on the way home anyway.”

it was rok soo’s idea to bring something for them, he kept nagging cale to improve his relationship with at least his siblings and said to at least bring them something.

cale was slowly warming up to the idea of doing so, all he wanted was someone to notice and tell him to stop acting like an idiot all these years, that's all he needed to hear.

“I'm going to rest now.”

–but human, didn't you say to rok soo you will be going to tell that sly crown prince something?

cale ignored the dragon and continued caressing his siblings' hair.

he went into his room only to see beacrox waiting there.

“what is it?”

“my father sent this, he said it was a report.”

“...”

cale silently held the envelope, he hadn't told Ron to contact him while he was gone, so why did he send a letter?

“ah, I made it so the wolf children will help you out in the kitchen.”

beacrox's shoulders slumped after hearing what cale had to say, although he was good with the 10 wolf children they were too strong to be placed in a kitchen.

cale showed a radiant smile to beacrox, both knowing it was a mocking one.

once beacrox weakly walked out of the room cale opened the letter.

There was only one sentence written in the letter.

“I am still alive, are you alive too, young master?”

“ha, this darn assassin.”

–rok soo I think that servant sent a threatening letter to cale.

the thief couldn't help but snitch to rok soo about the letter, if anyone saw it they would think it's a threatening letter too.

“No no, don't spread lies now, you're a thief not a liar. It's just weird.”

the glutton who was in rok soo’s body because he was eating snacks went back to cale to see the letter.

–it definitely looks like one. 

the glutton read the letter to rok soo.

–what a vicious old man.

–and you aren't? after all that fighting and bleeding, while also strategizing the fall of every guild that doesn't help you?

the glutton who spends the most time with rok soo couldn't help the shock after hearing him say it was vicious while she saw him work.

“what the fuck? You are the vicious old man, hypocrite!”

–sigh, can you just go to the mage office now? don't forget you need to tell him about the tower you're planning to buy with his money.

Rok soo changed the subject avoiding talking about his work.

“sure, sure.”

cale cold out to hans.

“Hans, prepare a carriage. we're going to a mage's office.”

hans who came in with a bunch of snacks for the children, put what he had on the couch in the room then went out to prepare the carriage.

the Dragon's ears pricked up at the word mage.

Chapter Text

chapter 27

–Human, are we going to a mage?

the dragon had decided to follow cale instead of playing with on and hong because he was interested in the mage cale was talking about.

“yeah, but I'm not going to do much. The mage will only be activating the communication device.”

cale went into the mage's office. The mage looked over.

“Young master-nim? I haven't seen you before, it's nice to meet you.”

The mage looked a bit nervous, but not because of cale's past reputation but because of the mage's excitement at meeting the young master silver shield.

“it's my honor, where do you need to connect to?”

“the palace.”

“the pa- the palace?”

the mage stopped midway then repeated what cale said.

“yes”

cale confirmed for the mage what he said.

“But young master, you will probably have to send a message instead because of the flood of calls to the palace.”

“that's fine, just get started”

the mage hurried at the impatient words of cale, just as they expected the call hadn't connected.

“you can leave your message, press that button when you're done.”

the mage pointed out the button on the communication device then excused himself out.

“your highness, it is cale henituse.”

rok soo stopped cale from talking.

–you better not be as blunt as you are with the kids, you're not trying to get close to him or get beheaded remember?

Cale's eyes twitched but he decided to not be blunt as usual just as rok soo instructed.

“I had just wanted to inform you that I'm planning to buy the magic tower. And I won't be able to contact you for another week”

cale clicked the button, with that alberu should hear it by tomorrow 

–I don't think that makes it any better…

the glutton commented, after all they were going to buy the magic tower with the poor crown prince's money, she felt a little bad for him.

–somehow i feel bad for him

and the dragon seemed to share her sentiments.

–you two are devil incarnates. How could you trick the poor man into giving you a golden plaque to empty all his treasures?

ironically, the thief was the one who said it.

–aren't you the thief here?

“Exactly, how could you judge us? I got this fairly and didn't scam or steal from anybody!”

–he trusted you with a golden plaque, he thought you had enough courtesy not to spend all his money!

rok soo and cale both ignored the thief and changed the subject.

–call the mage in.

once cale called the mage in and checked that the message was sent, he sat in the carriage going back home.

–cale don't you think it would be better for the wolf children and the dragon to live near the forest? how about rebuilding Harris village?

cale frowned.

“you know I hate that place, I don't want to step foot in there let alone make the children go.”

–cale, you know it's not the fault of the village for what happend, you can't avoid it forever.

“I can, and I will.”

–rebuild it, do it for the kids. They're beast people, they need to train daily, the forest of darkness is perfect not only for the wolf children but for the dragon and on and hong too.

cale stayed silent, rok soo knew what's inside the forest of darkness better than anything and if he says it's better for the kids cale trusts him. 

Even though the forest of darkness is one of the forbidden areas it wasn't even what made cale hesitant. he wasn't afraid of going in with the Dragon by his side.

cale sighed.

“I need another drink…”

–so you're doing it.

“What choice do I have? Those kids are my responsibility, I can't just selfishly refuse that!”

–what are you talking about, human?

cale looked at the dragon and pet him, he had a conflicted expression, no matter what he will always hate the place his mother was injured in, but he had the children to take care of, he couldn't not do it just because of some selfishly childish feelings he has for the village that will help them.

“don't worry about it. would you like it if you had somewhere near you where you could hunt monsters as much as you want?”

the dragon perked up at the idea.

–I'm great and mighty! I will hunt all the monsters!

–looks like the kid is excited.

‘I'm really doing it…’

cale couldn't believe he's going to step foot in the place he despised the most, the place he blamed for his mother's death for a whole decade. he will be rebuilding it.

He knew it wasn't the villagers fault, he knew the place itself isn't as dangerous because it has been 150 years since any monsters went out of the forest nothing indicated his mother's injury was caused by the village but what else could he do? 

He was a child, his mother didn't want to tell him how she was hurt, a parent would rather die and make their child hate them than show themselves in a weak state in front of their children, cale knew that. 

but he still wanted to know what was the cause of his mother's death, until then the hatred for the whole village isn't going to disappear anytime soon 

They had arrived and cale ordered hans to bring another bottle for him while he went to his room

cale sat on his be, the wine in his hands.

–shouldn't you inform your father that you want to go to harris village? 

“I'm trash, I'm not supposed to follow etiquette or what I need to do nor follow orders, so I'll just walk out like I always do. plus he's probably busy again.”

–so you're still not dropping the trash act? you do know some people see you as their hero now don't you?

cale drank from the wine before answering 

“hero? pfft as if, even if they do, hitting a scammer or blowing up something should be enough to bring my reputation back.”

on sat next to cale on the bed, she figured a little of what the two were talking about, she shook her head.

–are you sure you don't want to report to your father first?

cale sighed and called hans.

“where is father?”

“ah, I'm sorry if you want to talk to the count, he's currently busy and ordered no one to enter his office.”

Even though cale had expected it given how his father had been acting the few times he had seen him, cale knew his father was slowly relapsing back to old habits or overworking himself and locking himself in his office.

At first it was just a passing thought, cale had hoped what he thought wasn't happening but at last it was. Something triggered deruth, cale had no idea what could've been the reason when he's been coping well, even seemingly forgotten his past grievance. 

Because of that, cale wondered if it was something else rather than grief for his mother.

“it's fine, just get out”

disappointment was evident in cale's voice, even hans could recognise it, cale wasn't even trying to act.

“See old man? I told you he wouldn't have time for that, let's just go.”

cale looked over at Hong as he remembered something.

“Actually I may have something to do now, let's postpone that for tomorrow.”

–you're trying to procrastinate going there because you don't want to, aren't you.

“Hey, this is more important than that stupid village!”

Rok soo sighed but didn't say anything knowing well cale wouldn't do anything bad to the people living in the village even if he hated it.

He wasn't stopping the rebuilding of the village nor is he hating on the people of the village that was enough for rok soo, he wasn't going to force cale to like a village when he's not doing anything wrong.

“hong, you're still interested in using that monoxide poison right?”

Hong jumped on cale's lap, excitedly looking directly at cale's eyes.

“Can I, nya? please?”

cale smiled and pet hong.

“are you sure you and on can control the area and amount of poison you release?”

Hong nodded.

“yes, nya, noona controls it like her fog and it's easy for her, and I know how much of it I can release before getting tired, and how much noona can control at a time!”

cale looked at on who confirmed what her brother said.

“yes nya, i can control it easily and make multiple small spaces that contain it for now it's only 3 small areas and a room the same size as this one, having windows open doesn't matter since I block it from moving.”

once on had finished telling her part of progress, hong added on.

“but this is more helpful to noona nya, she won't need me to even make it since everyone makes that poison through breathing, that's why I wanted to learn monoxide faster nya.”

In the end the dioxide poison ended up being something that on could monopolies way better than hong, so it was more of something for on rather than hong.

He was happy his noona found something that made her stronger but he also wanted to improve and learn a poison he can help his noona and cale with.

once cale realised the potential that this poison gave to on, he had many theories and questions on it.

“on, you said you can make 3 small spaces to contain the dioxide at once right? have you tried making spaces so small that it only covers the mouth and nose of anyone?”

On nodded, it was something she kept to herself. She thought of it and trained to do it alone with her fog, it was harder to separate the fog into small compartments and it leaked a lot while using her fog since it was thicker and harder to separate but the smaller the spaces the less fog leaked out, but it still leaked out.

 She hadn't told hong about it as the poison was his to train with and wasn't meant for her anyway, so she decided to focus on his training and didn't mention wanting to try her theory.

“I can make smaller spaces but I'm not sure I can contain it properly for it to be effective, nya.”

hong looked at her in excitement, he realised why cale asked that question, on could easily cause someone to faint if she holds the dioxide they release and stop air from entering the space around the mouth and nose.

The weakness of dioxide is because of the demand of space with no fresh air going in or out.

 hong can't control his poison so it's impossible for him to be able to use it alone, but for on it was easy as her ability allows her to control fog which is a type of gas just like air and dioxide.

“noona, you can use poison like that just like me! let's try it! we can't try it on someone for now so I will make it for you nya!”

on nodded and hong released some dioxide, she had contained it within a certain space making it as small as half of cale's face.

“it's done, hong add more to it so you can see it.”

on pointed to the place she made.

“oh oh! I can see it, I didn't even add half of what we used to add before!”

cale pet on and complimented her progress.

“you did great, if you train to make multiple at once without it leaking and holding them for long enough you can make multiple people faint from their own breathing.”

on's nose twitched, she jumped on cale's lap and curled herself, hiding her face with her tail.

cale chuckled and petted her.

“now hong, I'll bring a book that has notes on poisons from my library, but you won't be learning any of them before understanding everything about each one you want to learn.”

originally what cale wanted to mention to hong, was this book. he had remembered the secret library his mother hid in his library, other than all the blackmail, cale was sure he could find at least one book about poisons maybe even little samples he could feed hong.

‘I remember mom saying uncle comes to update the information every 5 years or so, I wonder how he sneaks into my library without anyone noticing…’

cale brushed it off, as he wasn't using his library anyway so it would've been easy to sneak into it, although he was a little worried about the safety of the henituse mansion considering it had been broken into at least twice in the past decade maybe a little more if his uncle decided he needed to add something urgently.

‘mom could've made for him a hidden entrance too, since she dealt with the security of the mansion when I was younger…anyway as long as my uncle isn't doing anything wrong it can't be bad for us right?’

“I'll be going somewhere so stay here okay? you too dragon, stay to help them hide if workers come here.”

cale made an excuse for the dragon to stay while he went off to get the book from the hidden library.

–where are you going to get that book?

cale pondered over telling rok soo or not, it wasn't that he didn't trust rok soo it just wasn't his secret.

“It's something for my mother's family, maybe I'll tell you later, for now just know that it's in my library.”

the worker's eyed cale as they saw him enter the library.

cale ignored them but made sure the door of the library was closed so no noisy workers could peek in without him hearing them opening the door.

He walked to his mother's portrait and stood there looking at it.

“No matter how much time has passed it always annoys me how fake the smile in this portrait seems. What annoys me even more is that I can't remember my mother's real smile but I can remember how the one who drew this portrait looked at me with scorn and told my mom how uneducated I was.”

Rok soo stayed silent recognising the need to do so as cale was grieving for the first time in a while as well as telling rok soo moments that cale felt nostalgic to.

“You know, mom had never acted like herself in front of others so as to not ruin the family’s reputation but she told me many stories of her past actions hoping I would defend myself cleverly just like she did if someone wronged me. she was a mischievous person, filled with too many secrets and too many burdens for one person to carry.”

–you seem to slowly be growing into someone just like her.

A dry laugh came out of cale, he knew that, many told him of it and his father jokingly commented on how hard it would be to cover his tracks when he grows up and to deal with two jours.

“I haven't heard that in a while, I guess some things never change.”

–you're just as mischievous and filled with secrets while holding onto the burden of protecting your family even when no one appreciates it or even knows how much you've done for them, not even they themselves know.

“and I don't think I'll ever tell them, even if I take your advice and show them how much I care just like you told me to.”

rok soo sighed.

–I know you little rascal, no matter how much it burdens you, you're still adamant to keep it to yourself.

“yeah, I guess I got it from my mother.”

cale shook his head and moved the portrait, it opened like a cabinet revealing a hole in the wall just big enough for a child to walk through.

cale lifted himself up with his hands and crawled through the opening, not forgetting to put the portrait back before moving on to the end of the way, there was a slide there that led to a door.

–that looks so fun to slide through!

–there's a slide?

the thief commented on the slide while rok soo asked confused.

“Mom liked to be a little playful, and she made it for me because when I was younger I hated the stairs, and she used to make me get here often.”

There was a pattern on the door, straight lines were randomly scattered all over with only one being bent to look like a snake.

the straight lines were movable, cale moved them to make a certain pattern, it wasn't a complicated one, he just lined four of them at the end of the door horizontally while what was left was made to be vertically above the horizontal ones.

Just as cale was done the snake shaped pattern moved and it's head looked like the doorknob, once cale held out his hands to open the door the snake bit him causing blood to come out.

He flinched.

“No matter how many times I do this, it always feels a little weird, why couldn't it be like a normal lock and have me give out the blood myself instead of it biting the blood out of me?”

-thief what the fuck is happening.

–your guess is as good as mine.

“don't worry, it's just the mechanism of this thing, it's for protection, a snake like shape bites you to confirm the blood to be of the Thames family, mom said she made it like that to scare anyone who finds it away, there's also a tracking thing this snake implants into anyone who doesn't have Thames blood when it bites them.”

rok soo said what all the ancient powers thought at that moment.

–vicious

The bite on cale's hand healed instantly as the snake head turned into a real doorknob, he opened the door revealing a room as big as the whole Henituse mansion including the front and back garden.

Chapter Text

chapter 28

the library shelves didn't only contain books and documents but also contained potions and bottles, they were samples of different things, either poisons and their respective antidotes or healing potions. 

There were also recording devices in the blackmail section of the library.

cale didn't want to stay here for too long so he ignored his curiosity to explore the place like he did each time he came here. He knew how dangerous this place is and that's exactly why his mother always emphasized to never get too curious and only visit when he needs something.

She had told him this place contains everything he may need so whenever he's in trouble to visit it but strictly to only do so when he's in major danger.

cale still remembers how adamant and serious his mother sounded when talking about this place, it was the first time in his life to ever see her so serious, it scared him and became a memory he will never forget, so no matter how curious he was he never dared to look at anything just for pure entertainment.

cale had been hesitant to bring the book for Hong, but he saw no other way to gain anything about poisons any other way, and now that Hong is under his care and his responsibility he had to make sure he excels in his speciality.

–this place seems full of important and very valuable things! Hey, wouldn't it be better to explore a bit? What if we found something that would help with the so called war rok soo kept mentioning? 

cale frowned, war was a dangerous thing but if he wasn't searching for a specific thing then it wasn't allowed to explore the place or rummage through it.

“No, no matter what, most things here are not to be taken lightly nor should anyone look through them, it's too dangerous. I can't do that if I don't know what I'm looking for.”

cale headed directly to the poison section ignoring the thief's disappointed comments.

–it's such a waste having all these valuable things but not knowing what any of them contain…

–Thief shut up, if he says it's dangerous then it's not happening.

Rok soo didn't want cale to take unnecessary risks and agreed that it would be best to ignore everything else and just to bring what he came here for.

–but cale, if it's as dangerous as you say, is it really okay to bring anything here outside?

“It's only a book I'm borrowing, so it should be fine, mom herself borrowed one for me before. plus, the books are classified of what is dangerous and what's not, the dangerous ones even have spells that doesn't allow them to be taken out of the place I'm in”

–you said you're going to your library right? don't you think it's too easy to find the hidden door then? Even if it's impossible to open without Thames blood just knowing of the secret place is dangerous isn't it?

cale finally reached the books in the poison section and looked around in the classified section of weak poisons.

“well, I guess if someone ran out the moment they see the door but the portrait in my library itself has not only a recording device but a spell to notify someone when it's moved, and if it doesn't move in a certain direction illusion magic activates and the space behind the portrait would be blocked by a metal door.”

cale picked up one of the relatively smaller books and opened the index which had some of the types of poisons and their names.

–I see, your family sure is meticulous in hiding things.

“unless it's not a dragon who comes here there is no way for anyone to see through the illusion magic because the door that closes behind the portrait also holds something to block the eyes of normal people from seeing it. it's a kind of artifact that only someone who holds the heart and mind of a dragon can see through, so it's not only magic.”

Once cale confirmed that the book he held had only contained poisons found in nature, and no deadly chemical poisons that needed to be concocted, he closed the book and looked to the right, ready to get out.

“Who are you talking to, you little trouble maker?”

cale heard the voice of a man to the left, his eyes widened and he moved back, he instinctively wanted to activate the shield but the glutton had been with rok soo as none of them thought anyone could break through the defenses.

–glutton get your ass here fast!

The thief quickly called the glutton who went back to cale the moment they heard the man.

Even though cale moved fast, he couldn't see the man, he had moved faster.

cale activated the shield.

“Come on, why so scared? How could I hurt my little niece? I just want a talk with whoever you brought with you. didn't my sister teach you that no one is allowed here unless they are family or a family friend?”

cale was shocked at yet another reason.

“you're my uncle mom talked about?”

his uncle replied sarcastically.

“aw, how did you know? my niece sure grew up to be smart. Yet here he is bringing a stranger strong enough to hide his presence here.”

cale hesitantly let go of the shield, he still was on guard but he at least trusted his mother, and so he trusted the uncle his mother said to look for if he faces trouble he can't handle while she isn't around.

“What are you talking about? and can I see you? it's getting pretty weird talking to nothing.”

“was it weird when you were talking with nothing before then? Cale, you better not be wasting time to let them run, there's also a rule that someone who hasn't given their blood to the snake can't exit alone, don't you know about that too?”

cale smiled nervously, he really didn't know what to say, it was obvious his uncle wasn't going to believe a lie like he was talking to himself, especially when his uncle's voice was close enough for him to know he heard him talk about the security of the place.

“...”

“don't worry, kiddo, I at least know your mother raised you with manners, especially since you mentioned to that guy you brought in about the rule of not exploring around. I just want to talk to the guy you brought in. my niece's friend is my friend too, right?”

cale sighed.

“you won't believe me even if I tell you"

“why not? you know I have seen many unbelievable things, you can trust me. or atleast trust your mother, yeah?”

“old man, can I tell him? it doesn't seem like there's a way out of this…”

cale still asked rok soo because this wasn't only his secret.

–he's your uncle right? since I know of your family’s secret, therefore his, it's only right to tell him.

cale stayed silent for a few minutes before looking at the ceiling wondering what to say.

“...how do I even explain this? old man can you help me here, from where do I even start?”

“how about starting with him revealing himself?”

his uncle chimed in getting impatient.

“I will talk to you when I figure out what to say so shut up!”

cale courageously cursed his uncle who put him in this situation.

–mm, how about for starting from when you woke up?

“isn't that too long? can't I just say you're an ancient power?”

cale's uncle who heard that chuckled.

“planning to lie to me out loud I see.”

–any chance of doing that is gone because you said it, so maybe an introduction first?

“fucking hell, whatever. Hey, you sly uncle. I'm only saying this once! who I'm talking to is someone named kim rok soo, he isn't actually here, but talking telepathically with me.”

–wow, you actually remembered my full name, from how much you call me old man I thought you forgot.

“shut up this isn't the time for this!”

the uncle walked over in front of cale, finally allowing him to see what he looked like, his hair was the same shade of red as cale's with red eyes the same shade as cale's mother, he had short hair.

“I guess you weren't talking to me right now?”

cale held his head and ruffled his hair.

“yes yes, let me continue, this stupid old man is from another world-”

his uncle cut him off.

“He came here from another world?”

“If one of you cuts me off one more time I'm not talking.”

his uncle smiled, at that moment cale reminded him of jour

“Alright, sorry.”

cale continued.

“To answer your question, no, he's not in this world. I just woke up one day to his voice in my head. He can't hear anything other than me and the same goes for me. we don't know much about the situation either.”

‘he doesn't seem to be a wanderer, its too early to tell though, he may have deceived cale.’

“and before you ask, I came here for a book about poisons, for a little kid I'm taking care of”

“then why did you have to tell that rok soo about this place if he can't hear or see what you're doing?”

“that…”

cale was taken aback by the question, he had originally planned only to tell rok soo it was in his library but once the thief revealed the slide and he was preoccupied with searching for the book he didn't think of what he was saying and didn't mind it because rok soo was in a different world with no way here.

“That was because my ancient power that doesn't know when to shut up and shares my senses revealed the slide and from there the old man already figured that I was entering a secret place and was just concerned about it's safety.”

cale's uncle raised an eyebrow.

“and you never thought to question why he was concerning himself with the security?”

Once cale realised his uncle was suspecting rok soo, he looked away.

“He didn't pressure me to say anything, I just naturally answered his questions because I was distracted.”

–I don't think that helps my case

rok soo who also expected cale's uncle to suspect him, was right about it not making the man any less wary.

cale sighed when he saw his uncle still not satisfied.

“look, even if he knows all that there's no way to open it because he's in another world, and he'd need Thames blood anyway, I haven't told him any information here, the only reason he knows is because neither of us really has a choice!”

‘I can't sense the power of a wanderer either, but how could this have happened? is it related to the change of time jour said will affect cale?’

cale's uncle still had many questions, but as long as he couldn't communicate with rok soo there was no way for him to get proper answers or figure out if he was lying.

‘cale isn't a kid anymore, he can know not to do anything dangerous, and if it's like he said there is no way for rok soo to hurt cale.’

The uncle decided to brush it off for now and watch cale's behaviour from afar.

“Fine then, I'll trust what you say cale. Still, be careful of that man.”

“I will, thank you.”

cale's uncle pet cale's hair.

“call me uncle Rogue, kid.”

cale moved Rogue's hand away.

“Fine, can I go now? I made sure the book I picked was okay for an outsider to know of, it's easy to get information about poisons out in nature right?”

“well, seems like you were actually smart after all.”

cale huffed and tried to walk away, but his uncle stopped him.

“by the way, what did you mean when you said your ancient powers told him?”

“I'm surprised you didn't question that earlier.  I don't know, the ancient powers never told me”

–do you think we know?

“and they don't know either.”

‘haah this unique niece of mine is going to make me so busy…’

“hm, you're a real mystery kid.”

cale rolled his eyes.

“can i go now?”

the uncle waved and smiled letting cale go to his room.

“that fucking crazy uncle…”

cale walked into the room cursing his uncle.

the children looked at him confused.

“human, did you meet someone on the way?”

the dragon flew to cale and clung onto him letting cale carry him instead of flying.

“just family, you don't have to worry about it.”

cale carried the dragon to the bed then ushered hong and on to come over

“I brought the book for you hong, but it's already late so you can read it later.”

hong listened to cale and agreed but wanted to keep the book near him. He put his head on the book like a pillow.

the kids settled and snuggled until they felt comfortable and went to sleep with cale.

***

cale could see in front of him the village he hated the most, it was in ruins and the ground was black from ashes. 

he felt numb while looking at the sight, he wasn't happy or satisfied to see the place turn into ruins to the point it can't be recognised nor was he sad or angry about it being destroyed.

he looked away to the two brown haired whales beside him

in addition to the children cale brought the two whales disguised as his bodyguards.

there was a wall in front of them, it was a wall that separated harris village and the forest of darkness from the county.

cale walked to the carriage where the three children and wolf children were.

“maes”

The wolf children were getting off the carriage.

cale took note of the shaking eyes of the wolf children.

‘the old man said their village was attacked too.’

he could guess what the children was thinking about.

“I plan on rebuilding this place once I gather enough money, i want you to be able to live here with your siblings.”

“isn't it dangerous?”

cale couldn't help the snort that came out of him.

“are you serious?”

he looked around him, the two kittens that were discussing ways to kill someone with poison just yesterday had gotten out of the carriage, then he felt the dragon hang onto his back. He looked at the disguised whales inspecting something.

‘it's going to take an adult dragon for us to be in danger.’

cale held back on saying what he was thinking and looked back to assure the wolf children.

“ this place will help you grow into strong wolves and since I promised your brother to take care of you it's my responsibility to make sure you're strong enough to protect yourself.”

–seems like you got a soft spot for the wolf children too.

‘what the fuck is he talking about?’

cale was annoyed and confused by kim rok soo’s comment but ignored it and continued talking to the wolf children.

“I want to build a villa here for you and your siblings, this forest is the best way for you and your siblings to train in. After all you have to grow into the strong wolves you are supposed to be.”

The wolf children stayed quiet, they were thinking about this village that would be their new home.

cale watched the quiet children with a frown.

“do you not want to live here?”

maes quickly answered.

“no! I want to get stronger, and fight the monsters!”

cale smiled, relieved and happy they liked the idea, after all it's the only way he can train them properly and take care of them to grow into proper wolves.

‘haah, what went so wrong that now I have a a bunch of beast children I have to take care of? I don't know the first thing about taking care of a human child how the fuck am I supposed to take care of 14 kids of different races?’

cale was thinking of his choices these past few weeks that led to where he is now, how did he ever think he was responsible enough to make that deal with lock?

 He was already struggling to find ways to focus on growing the three children following him everywhere.

cale made his way over to the disguised whales.

“The wall looks pretty thick.”

“the forest seems to be pretty unique for it to be guarded with a strong wall.”

witira pushed her finger into the wall only to make a hole in it, she quickly pulled back.

“haha…”

cale looked at her flabbergasted.

‘I know whales are strong but what the fuck?’

–that's a whale for you…

the glutton sounded bewilderment as well

“it's not that unique.”

witira looked at cale

“what?”

“the forest, you said it was unique but it's just a forest with monsters and dangerous plants.”

–you're right, the plants and animals are all mutated and herb used for healing could be poison instead. there are monsters that are generally found in the eastern continent as well.

‘why would there be eastern monsters when we are in the western continent?’

cale kept the question to himself as he walked away from the wall, taking note of witira following.

“Young master nim!”

hilsman called out to cale before turning to talk with witira.

“please take care of the children.”

‘huh, since when has hilsman been so accepting of me? usually he would've been skeptical of why I'm here’

witira answered hilsman.

“of course, there are quite a lot of young beast people.”

cale grimaced at witira's words, knowing that he is the reason for that many beast children being here, remembering that he's basically their guardian.

Chapter Text

chapter 29

cale avoided witira's eyes because of her comment, menawhile his eyes accidentally landed on the graves of the villagers, the knights were standing in front of them.

he couldn't help but mutter out what he was thinking.

“the graves are too shabby”

Even if he didn't like this village it annoyed him that graves can be this ill maintained.

“fix them soon.”

cale ordered hilsman to work on the graves. No matter how much he hated this village, having a grave that was neglected didn't sit right with him. After all he would never like for his mother's grave to be seen as neglected either, so how could he leave other graves to look like this?

–seems like you don't hate this village as much as you said you do.

“No, I still hate it. But I don't like seeing an improper grave. The way they were buried couldn't even be called graves. It's just corpses in a shallow hole.”

–not everyone can get the privilege of getting a grave, let alone their corpse being buried

Cale stayed silent.

‘I guess the situation in the old man's world is worse than I thought.’

he didn't want to imagine a situation like that happening in their county, the dead deserve a grave to be visited by their loved ones. That was the least they deserve.

hilsman looked wide eyes at cale, it wasn't a secret that cale hated this village so even him looking at the graves seemed uncharacteristic of cale. The surprise of cale's comment overshadowed the weirdness of cale's muttering.

“Yes, of course, we will get to it as soon as possible, young master!”

hilsman saw cale in a different light, he had decided to show cale more respect as the incident at the plaza had already made him change his views on the young master but he couldn't help being a little skeptical, after all a change of heart that fast is suspicious but now that he had heard his young master's order to fix the graves he started to believe cale's change a bit more.

“go work on them now. I will go somewhere with those two alone.”

hilsman looked at the two disguised whales suspiciously, before turning a determined gaze towards cale.

cale stared at hilsman's eyes realising what he was about to say.

“if you don't get the fuck out of my face like I ordered i will make sure the rest of your stay in the henituse household to be hell. Do not dare defy what I ordered. Get the fuck out of my face.”

–I told you it will be easier to inform hilsman of your plan and who's around you. This will get you nowhere.

“This is much easier.”

cale murmured, making people lose trust of him is way easier than trusting them.

‘this is an opportunity to get rid of hilsman's stupid thoughts of me.’

cale had noticed how hilsman had been acting differently towards him since the plaza incident and he didn't like it. He saw no point in trusting someone that can change their attitude towards him that fast. he wasn't the good person hilsman was starting to think he is, and if hilsman realises that after cale trusts him, the consequences isn't something cale wants to deal with.

unlike how cale thought, this just made it easier to trust cale's goodwill in the Plaza because hillsman didn't believe someone could change that fast which made him believe that what cale did in the Plaza and what he said moments ago were the true feelings and actions of cale.

‘Although I don't understand what he's planning, I don't trust these two either but the young master has his shield too, I will trust the young master.’

hilsman decided to trust cale, but was still skeptical of the two whales. He left the three alone and stood next to the guards that were avoiding cale.

--forget that, he's out of your way now right?

“yeah”

–then don't forget to explain about the two lakes I told you about. They still don't know where to start or what you're planning, don't forget that.

cale started to speak to the disguised whales.

“There are two lakes in the forest of darkness, one monsters live in and another that nothing approaches. So you should know where we're going.”

paeston worriedly looked at cale.

“didn't you say the kids are coming? isn't it too dangerous?”

although paeston couldn't see the invisible kittens sitting on cale's shoulders, he had known cale would be bringing them.

on jumped from cale's shoulders to paeston's and whispered as to not let the guards hear them

paeston was startled but once he realised what was happening he calmed down while still being a little tense after the scare.

“searching is our speciality, and cale promised to protect us.”

witira who heard on's words hadn't expected it.

cale frowned.

“on come back.”

he didn't like having the missing weight from his shoulders, he knew logically nothing would happen to on and she wouldn't wander off, but he was getting anxious as he couldn't see her either. he didn't trust this village and they are entering a dangerous forest in addition to him not being able to see them it got him paranoid having her off his shoulders.

on that noticed Cale's nervousness jumped back on his shoulders and rested her face against his purring.

hong seeing that cale didn't like on jumping off just said what he wanted in a quiet voice without jumping.

“cale said it can make me stronger nya, poison is my specialty!” 

The whales heard him anyway as their hearing was stronger from humans, they still looked worriedly at cale.

‘did they really think I'd let defenseless children into such a dangerous place?’

cale felt a bit annoyed as he was worried himself but considering the time it got hong and on to control a poison they never knew about he had trusted their abilities. 

“they aren't as weak as you think.”

the whales nodded not saying another word.

“let's go.”

cale carried the two cats as he felt himself float with the sound of the dragon's wings flapping. The dragon had used floating magic as they flew up the wall and into the forest of darkness.

“wow”

hong was amazed by the sight of the forest he could see no end to it, it was as large as 2 or 3 average kingdoms.

‘too bad its a forbidden area, so much could've been gained from it considering what the old man said about it.’

the dragon made sure to carefully put cale on the ground as the two kittens jumped up from cale's shoulders to the ground.

cale looked at where he thought the dragon could be from the sound of flapping wings the second the two kittens jumped up.

“hey, I want to see you three also lift the magic off of the whales.”

 He wanted the dragon to lift the magic for both the whales disguise and the kittens invisibility along with the dragon's own invisibility both to make sure the kittens are still around him and to let the dragon rest his magic a bit as he has been using magic since the morning to disguise them and make himself and his hyung and noona invisible.

“I was gonna do it anyway!”

the dragon huffed but did as he was told.

kim roksoo had realised what cale was thinking and sighed.

–you worry too much about them. they are not normal children cale, they have the strength to defend themselves

“Non-human or not, they are children that get tired.”

–focus on what you're doing for now but you will have to let them tire themselves out at some point cale. let them learn.

“I know.”

“young master?”

witera cut off cale's mumbling, cale turned to look at her as a response to her calling.

“if you're thinking about the monsters then their would be no need to avoid them.”

she wanted to say that she and paeston could take care of it but cale cut her off.

“ah, yes we aren't avoiding the monsters.”

rok soo had told cale about the inner region and outer region of the forest of darkness, he said that the monsters would be weak enough for even cale to try out his ancient power, he gave him tips on how to use his wind powers as a way to attack.

cale smiled as he remembered it, he was excited to try out the new ancient power.

“the mana is dark here.”

the dragon began to talk about what he had observed.

“There's also a strange smell I'm familiar with but I don't know what it is.”

he was confused about it and kept trying to remember if he smelt it before.

cale looked worriedly at the dragon.

“old man, I swear if you forgot to tell me something I'm not letting you sleep tonight before you tell me each and every detail of the book.”

–I didn't, I told you everything I know of the forest and everything choi han knows who lived in it for years. 

the dragon heard cale as he was close by so he decided to calm cale's worries.

“its not dangerous, but an old smell.”

–is something wrong? 

The glutton who was forced to stay in cale's body because he was in a dangerous place told rok soo the situation as cale started to notice the whales giving him strange looks and couldn't answer his question.

–no, the dragon just said there was a strong smell but just confirmed that it was safe.

the two whales who had almost the same hearing ability as a dragon had heard every mumbling of cale but didn't know what to say as they had not understood what cale was talking about each time although they understood he could be talking to someone unlike what it appeared to be.

witera ignored the mumbling she heard and asked

“what do we do now? how do we get to the swamp?”

“I have a way.”

“...you memorised the way?”

“No.”

“...”

cale had decided not to explain more than that as he continued mumbling like a madman to himself.

“old man, where do I go?”

–didn't I tell you to draw the map before sleeping yesterday?

“you did? all I remember is my uncle barging in the library and the children sleeping.”

–...you fucking brat. you did it on purpose didn't you?

“I was too tired and decided to just rely on your ability. Now where do I go?”

kim rok soo too tired of cale's antics just decided to do this and make sure cale prepares accordingly next time, he sighed and told the glutton to focus on the terrain to tell him where they are to figure a way to guide cale.

–its not very detailed or accurate anyway, if you walk in a straight line for now its the fastest way to reach the border. the first area would be the one filled with bushes, just cut through them for now. don't forget to cover every corner of skin, especially your ankles. the insects are dangerous.

cale carried on once he remembered what rok soo told him before about the insects, he wasn't worried about hong as he was immune to poison. 

on was confused before cale began talking to the whales.

“did you make sure to cover all skin because of the poisonous insects?”

cale had told the whales on the way here and gave them long sleeved clothes just incase, in the end they only needed the cloth he bought for the ankles and the gloves as they were already wearing the proper clothes.

witira and paeston nodded.

“witira, you take the lead. I will tell you what to expect for every area for now it's just bushes and poisonous insects.”

“okay.”

although witira had begun to worry that they would get lost at cale's response earlier he seemed to know what he was doing now and it was too late to back out of trusting him now.

cale could hear the sound of insects, roars of animals and birds chirping even strange monsters. It almost seemed like a normal forest.

“aren't dangerous places usually quieter?”

paeston asked the same question that was on cale's mind but he didn't know the answer so he turned to his personal information recorder.

“old man, the forest isn't quiet, why?”

–you're asking because dangerous areas are usually quiet right? That's only the case when there's a leader over the area. It's not the case here.

“It's because there isn't a leader in the area.”

cale answered paeston's question after he got the answer. 

paeston nodded in acknowledgement of the answer.

both he and witra had heard cale's mumbles. they figured he was talking to someone long ago, but since cale had been doing them favors ever since they met and never showed other suspicious actions that could indicate danger to them they kept quiet respecting the fact it was a secret he wasn't willing to share with them.

–hey, thief, describe to me in more detail the surroundings. I will try to draw the map of the forest of darkness since that brat is stupid enough to go in without one. 

“That's not fair! you told me to get it done so late, why do I get called stupid because you only mentioned it while I was trying to sleep? who the fuck mentions such an important thing at the very end of the day when the kids are already asleep?”

–well if someone didn't procrastinate going to the village and let me explain what the plan was maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament now would we? 

–there they go doing it again.

the glutton remembered when they were arguing while giving her bread for a while it had been quiet between them only focusing on work but it seemed that didn't last long.

cale and rok soo ignored them as they continued arguing.

–sob they are even ignoring us all over again.

the crybaby complained as he remembered how they completely ignored him while he was talking of his past and how he came to be an ancient power but they ignored that too to continue the argument 

“I told you I didn't procrastinate! the children are more important to me than this fucked up village and forest, I promised to teach them!”

–how the hell were you planning to lead tthem and complete the deal without a map if I wasn't around huh?

“why would you not be around?”

–what if I fainted again in a breakout last night or I was in a meeting?

cale frowned at rok soo’s words, he didn't like rok soo’s implication it was possible he would faint again.

“don't say such vicious things you're not allowed to faint again.”

–well if that ever stopped monsters then there wouldn't be so many dead bodies now would there?

“I said don't say such vicious things! you are not dying rok soo!”

this time cale didn't mumble he said it in a volume it couldn't be called a shout but couldn't be called a normal volume either, his voice was shaking almost. he remembered the time he spent anxiously waiting for rok soo to reply while he was out, he didn't want to imagine a day where he would wake up to rok soo’s voice disappearing the same way it appeared.

The whale siblings looked behind them worried, cale's face looked angry, the friendly banter he was having with whoever he was talking to seemed to take a wrong turn.

cale ignored them, although he knew they heard most of everything at least he did not care at the moment.

“we will talk later, thief tell him the map like he wants.”

–sure.

the thief didn't argue as she immediately started telling rok soo what she sees, while rok soo seemed confused as to why cale was angry.

–’Why did he say something so vicious? why would I die?’

cale cut the conversation with rok soo short knowing well rok soo would just dismiss his concern one way or the other.

“look forward. the bushy area seems to have ended.”

“yes..”

paeston awkwardly agreed.

“The small monster area is up ahead.”

as if responding to cale something was thrown their way as witira grabbed it, once the monster was on sight he walked to the front of witira.

--the monsters look like mutant goblins they look a little weirder with blue and purple spots.

the thief conveyed what she saw to rok soo.

–ah, they aren't goblins, those are most likely honta. creatures of the eastern continent. they are dumber than a goblin and more aggressive

“I'll take care of them”

witira and rok soo were talking both at once.

“whatever the fuck they are named l’m killing them.”

“...excuse me?”

witira and paeston looked confused.

“I said I will take care of them.”

‘do the superhuman ears on your head only work for eavesdropping?’

what cale thought was left unsaid because he knew that these thoughts were coming out of his frustration so he held them back knowing the whale siblings had nothing to do with it.

on had jumped off of cale once she heard cale say he was going to fight, she prepared for battle alongside hong.

“don't worry, nya! even we can take care of them easily!”

fog started to appear it surrounded cale without touching him 

the dragon put shields up for witira and paeston.

“the poison is strong and on can only focus on keeping it away from one person because cale told her not to overdo it.”

“what poison?”

only when the fog started to redden did they notice.

cale wanted to take out his frustration on the honta creatures, he didn't want to end up taking it out on someone else, nor on rok soo even if he was the reason for it.

he used the wind just as cale taught him, as fast as he could control it the wind had moved to cut one of the honta's hands then he went for the neck.

he used the wind to carry himself as he summoned the shield above the hontas and crushing two of them, then he used the wind to move the poisoned fog around another two hontas

witira and paeston was watching cale make short work of the hontas, although they were weak there was ten of them.

“didn't you say he was weak..?”

“weak human is weak.”

cale slashed the rest of them using the wind even when he could've made short work of them by crushing them with the shield like rok soo instructed him to do.

Once he saw none were left he returned his shield that he put around him after crushing the two hontas with it.

the two whales approached him after on and hong dispelled the poisonous fog

“are you hurt?”

paeston wanted to make sure cale was okay.

“yeah. I will fight the small monsters.”

witira and paeston agreed, saying they would protect him if it ever came to it.

“great then. Let's advance, we have a lot to go through.”

***

after the sun set they prepared to camp while they took turns to guard so they could continue the next day.

“human, you wont guard the camp”

“why?”

“because the great and mighty dragon said you wont.”

witira agreed with the dragon.

“yes, you were fighting the monsters we confronted every time stubbornly.”

“yes nya”

“no guarding, nya”

with everyone agreeing cale had no choice but to do as they said, he went in to sleep.

“you will not die old man, you will live a long life whether you like it or not. you will live longer than me. I will make sure of it.”

–pftt how will you even do that when you can't even see me?

“I don't care. I will make the gods save you if I have to.”

–...go to sleep cale, you need it after all that fighting you did.

“old man, you're an idiotic fool.”

–how am I the fool when we have an idiot right here who walked into a restricted area without even a map?

“will you let that go already? I admit it was a little stupid.”

–well at least you admit it for once.

Chapter Text

chapter 30

two days has passed by since they entered the forest, they were getting close to the border between the inner and outer region.

cale and the whales were watching as the kids killed off some monsters, they had told him to relax and stop fighting after the first day where he killed every monster on sight. so now he had nothing to do as he watched the children kill off monsters.

kim rok soo had been drawing the map with the help of the ancient powers, although he had no idea if it was accurate or not each night thief and glutton would check it over and tell him it was and not to worry about it.

–you'll need to draw the map yourself later with my instructions cale, don't you think you're getting out of doing this so easily.

“why do I need to draw it if you have it though? you can just guide me through the path whenever.”

cale started mumbling again, witira's ears twitched.

paeston was concerned and confused on what to do. he didn't want to eavesdrop on his saviour's conversations but its not like he can control his hearing.

he looked towards his sister.

‘should we say something?’

witira had been trying to ignore the conversations cale has with himself. she knows he's talking to someone else but from how he shouted last time he seemed to know that she hears all of it or at least some of it, but since he had not explained yet, she guessed its best to leave it alone as cale didn't seem keen on others prying his secrets

she shook her head knowing what her brother was probably thinking, although she was a little curious. But maybe she can question that after they get out of the forest.

–do you think of me as your fucking GPS?

“I'm guessing that's some of the weird shit like a phone you mentioned that your world has the first day we met?”

witira turned her head back to cale as she heard a clue about who cale is talking to or at least something related to the person.

‘it can't be the dragon since he said the name rok soo before, but what does he mean by ‘your world’?’

as cale continued bickering with whoever he's talking to witira decided to pay more attention to try and guess who and how he's talking to this person as the words ‘your world' intrigued her

–don't you dare remind me of the headache you caused me the day we first heard each other. You couldn't shut up about anything and everything you heard me talk about that you didn't know what it meant.

“yeah I remember that, it was a pretty interesting day. now what is a GPS exactly?”

–...

“come on, or you want me to do the same as before?”

rok soo sighed, he definitely wasn't in the mood to hear the word GPS repeated over and over again in his mind while working.

–haah, it is my fault for mentioning it… whatever. a GPS is a kind of technology that locates any place you want, its basically a map of the entire world that others use to locate their destination if they don't know the way it tells you how far along you are, where to go, and so on.

“something like that actually exists?! how the fuck could that even work?”

–well its connected to something outside of the world and this something is able to detect where some devices are. the map is not detailed at all and just has names of streets and places that are added by people.

“what do you mean-”

the dragon shoved his face near cale to get his attention

“human! we are done fighting!”

cale finally started to look around and be more mindful of his surroundings, he was still in the forest of darkness with the kids. monsters were scattered everywhere on the ground about 20 fox like monsters were either struggling in pain of poison or dead on the ground.

“oh, you've grown stronger.” cale smiled as he admired their strength, ignoring the bloody view

the children were growing stronger from experience, he was happy for it. He didn't want to be the reason the kids are growing weaker than kids of their species are supposed to and considering the safe privileged life cale lives he was doubting he could help them grow properly.

cale pet each one of them, the kittens purred while the dragon flapped his wings excitedly at the compliment.

“maybe i should fight too.”

everyone gave cale wary disapproving looks.

“I'm great and mighty and I refuse.”

“we're strong enough nya!”

“we want to fight nya”

“It's best not to young master cale, you fought enough the first day we got here.”

“I agree, you did enough for you to need a week of rest in one day.”

–experience is a good way to raise your strength, especially if you have safety measures then using it to train isn't a bad idea.

everyone had agreed not to let cale fight except rok soo who supported cale's idea.

“mm since everyone doesn't want to, I guess i can rest a bit…”

–why would they not want to?

“well we're almost near the border anyway its not like I can handle those monsters.”

the whales perked up at cale's comment as they guessed it would be their turn then, they were getting quite restless and bored.

“does that mean it's finally our turn?”

cale looked back at witira.

‘they're getting more and more shameless about eavesdropping. Well I guess its not like they have a choice not to hear, plus they know that I'm aware of the fact they hear me.’

cale took out the masks rok soo told him to prepare before answering witira.

“yes, but we will have to wear those before going forward, there will be a lot more poison.”

he gave one to each of the whales then helped the dragon and on wear theirs before wearing his. He didn't give one to hong as he's immune to poison.

“human, there's still a weird familiar smell”

“why is the smell still there? don't you know what is it?” cale asked the dragon with a worried tone, it wasn't unexpected to find something weird in a forbidden region but he was still cautious.

kim rok soo figured cale would be talking about the smell he told him of the first day they entered.

–it could be the smell of poison or rotting plants.

cale frowned, he knew it was possible it would be something like that but he would rather to be unnecessarily cautious than not being prepared for something worse.

“I don't think its poison or plants, the dragon said it was familiar and he couldn't have known about anything in the forest, although it's not like I can do anything about it.” cale mumbled, the dragon heard and hurriedly to comfort him.

“Human don't worry! it's not such a trivial scent but it's not dangerous, and I the great and mighty dragon can protect you from whatever!”

cale smiled, he pet the dragon

“Yes, you are great and mighty.”

–make sure everyone has their masks on tight enough before advancing, the poison is so strong even choi han used to avoid it.

cale's mouth twitched at the mention of choi han. rok soo had been using him to describe how dangerous something is each time they start planning about anything. Obviously, cale wasn't happy he was reminded of that bastard each time he was trying to focus so every planning session went to hell from there as he'd start an argument with rok soo.

After a lot of arguing, they'd be forced to take a break by the ancient powers or the kids when they start worrying about why cale is arguing.

Both of them never liked taking that break, but cale was not about to let rok soo use choi han as a danger scaling measure each time and until he stops there's no end to the arguments.

“if you mention him one more time I'm swear I'm finding a way to fucking hit you. I will hit you with one of the so-called guns you told me about.”

rok soo grinned, although the first time he did this he hadn't meant to annoy cale but every other time he either used it to tease cale or to get him to take a break as kim rok soo found it was the most effective way

–Well, Choi han is strong.

cale was very aware of the fact kim rok soo always uses it to tease him, how could he not notice the obvious teasing tone in kim rok soo’s words. but he couldn't do anything about it.

‘If only I can hit that bastard old man, he'd see what trash like me can do’

cale never wished more to have the old man in front of him than now.

“you fucking bastard, abusing your information like that is not fair! I don't know about anyone you hate. I barely know anything about you, this isn't fair!”

cale pouted, he always lost in those arguments because of that fact, he couldn't really do anything about it but he still starts the arguments.

–its not my fault I have the book, I never asked for it so it is a fair coincidence.

“No it's not!”

–yes it is

“No, its not.”

–yes it is

“No its- ouch!”

on had hit Cale's leg as strongly as she could with her paw, she wanted to stop this here before they go on forever saying no and yes, she just wanted to get this trip over with and go back to the comfortable bed in the mansion.

“let's get going, nya.”

on stared unimpressedly at cale.

“...okay.”

cale stayed silent as he saw the judging eyes of on and agreed to do as she said.

they finally continued walking.

“...are there really only two lakes?”

paeston finally said what has been bothering him since a while now, a forest this big can't just have two lakes it wouldn't make sense.

“It is a bit weird there's only two lakes, but there's really only two.”

‘At least old man says so, and if choi han is the one who found them in that book, then it should be true. after all old man said the bastard has been here for years’

–its not as unbelievable as you think, you'll see once you get there.

“I guess they're big enough then? but how big does a lake have to be that only two is enough for such a huge forest?”

paeston heard what cale said and took it as his answer. The two lakes are big enough for the forest.

cale finally could see the boundary between the outer and inner region he stepped back letting the two whales lead in front of him as monsters began to come out.

“should we fight now?”

witira looked at cale, she mostly asked because she thought the dragon would like to fight a bit more.

cale raised an eyebrow at the question.

“What do you think?” he replied sarcastically as the whales awkwardly nodded.

witira took out her water whip while paeston held out his water sword as they lunged towards the monsters.

one after the other monsters dropped dead before they could attack them, some sneaked from behind courtesy to their numbers but paeston and witira would take care of each other's backs as if it was nothing, hell even then they didn't really need each other's help witira sometimes would just flick her whip behind her slicing a monster in half.

“they sure work together well, although I doubt both need to fight considering their strength.”

although cale's words seemed uninterested his eyes sparkled each time he saw a monster drop, he was amazed by their strength, witira had even crushed a monster's skull with her bare hands.

the whales were killing the monsters in such speed that they didn't even have to stop and wait cale just leisurely walked behind the two while watching.

“how beautiful.”

instead of being scared, Cale was thinking how beautiful the whales looked fighting with their amazing strength while creating a blood bath

–I don't want to understand your idea of what's beautiful

–sob why did i end up with a crazy person like you..

“if you don't like it then shut up, not everyone can get whatever they want, after all its not like I wanted to hear your voices either.”

–stop being rude to the power that heals you brat, be grateful you have it.

–sob at least someone appreciates my work..

–vitality has been working since he came to help with your malnourishment. He's even working non stop right now, cale you cruel bastard take care of your health at least if you want to curse him out!

-exactly, he works the most because of you.

cale frowned.

“why am I being attacked right now?! i have been taking care of my health really well lately. what even brought that shit up?”

–you haven't slept well since coming to the forest. don't you remember what happened when you haven't slept properly for a week in the Plaza?

“That isn't my fault! plus ive been eating like all of you told me to and I haven't drank anything in a while that counts!”

–you think i don't know what you're planning to do once you have some free time?

that made cale shut up, because he wasn't going to argue about something he knew damn well he was going to do as well.

–I fucking knew it, you were planning on going back to drinking as fast as you could once you go back home, the only reason you didn't drink before was because you weren't in the henituse territory and the kids were around.

“you told me I could act as trash again to fix my reputation.”

–first of all that's not fixing your reputation, second of all cale do you want to die because of starvation?

“I wasn't starving!”

and that caused a round of sighing and scoffing from all the voices in his head.

–cale, one of our backlash other than coughing up blood is that we use the energy in your body, meaning you will get hungry.

–sigh, at least I have rok soo to feed me, but cale if you want to use any of our powers you have to eat. at this point even when you use us and get hungry your body will refuse to replenish the energy by eating and even vitality can't save you.

although thief hadn't been there at the worst of it, she can see how thin cale is and if he had been any thinner than this then she wondered how he was even moving.

cale really had been getting better, but drinking soup only didn't help him gain weight properly or get all the nutrients he needs.

beacrox was experimenting on adding some vegetables or other things to the soup, but cale would always avoid it like the plague while eating and return the plate with whatever was inside the soup. He would sometimes accidentally eat some of it but it always didn't feel good for him. It felt weird eating it and he was still afraid of puking if he did eat too much.

kim rok soo wasn't aware of the fact that cale did that while the glutton was almost always with rok soo nagging him to eat many different things every meal time so she doesn't know either while the thief just thought cale didn't like vegetables and hadn't found it worth mentioning and vitality although tried to mention it was threatened by cale.

“Let's talk about this later, I can see the lake up ahead, I think we arrived.”

cale quickly avoided the conversation knowing that if rok soo knows that he has been avoiding the cooked vegetables in his soup and that was the reason his body had yet to digest any proper food he would be in trouble

kim rok soo frowned as he sensed something was wrong but he couldn't exactly continue when cale started talking to the whales

“this is the lake region, its going to be much more dangerous with more poisonous stuff around so be sure not to touch anything”

the lake was huge, it was pitch black with black and brown plants, the colour made it look like they were decaying but they were as vibrant and strong as any plant in the forest.

once cale saw them he tightened his own mask then wore gloves as he offered gloves to the whale siblings as well, they took it and followed suit tightening their masks and putting them on as well.

cale carried on worried about her touching the plants as his gaze went to hong, he was looking at him with a pleading look.

“sigh, go on.”

the moment hong heard the word go he dashed towards the poisonous plants, eating the darkest ones first.

“hong!”

witira shouted calling out to hong, both her and paeston looked at cale in shock as he was the one who agreed for Hong to go.

cale decided to ignore them as he walked closer to home with on in his arms.

“don't eat too fast, you'll choke.”

“its delicious!”

paeston looked horrified as the colour and smell of poison and rotting filled his senses, he tightened the mask as he remembered the mermaid poison, cale's conversation with hing also reminded him of when cale saved him, he shivered at the memory of cale holding out a knife so close to his head.

“what are you waiting for?”

cale looked back at the two whales, paeston flinched and looked away with a stiff expression, he knew he was stronger than cale but he still couldn't get the memory of cale shoving blood into his mind away, he knows cale saved him but it was still a little scary almost choking on the blood.

witira still had kept glancing towards hong worried, she walked as paeston followed closer to the lake.

****

done, I'm so happy I was able to write this chapter this fast.I found a way to help with my writing and to give me more time to write. At first I would've just written like 1000 words a day or written the whole chapter in one sitting once I found the time, but I decided to try writing small parts of the chapter, like 400-500 words a day only. its such a simple way but it worked so well

I found it much easier with less burn out from writing. I found myself even getting just as excited as I was when I was first writing this. I can't believe I didn't think of this. Honestly at first I was unsure if it would even work from how simple it seemed but it did even better than I imagined. So from now on I will let updates be weekly, maybe a day or two longer than a week to get a break from writing, but for now I think this is going to work.