Work Text:
Cale was invited or rather forced to come by his sworn brother to a ceremony to completely celebrate the end of the White Star War. The war ended a few months ago now. In the meantime Alberu had managed to take power as emperor of Roan and the reconstruction work was completed with the help of all his allies, everything was finished very quickly.As he had nothing left to do, Cale decided not to leave the villa in the forest of darkness but Alberu had forced him to come by promising him that if he came tonight, he would never have to appear again in public. So here he is, getting ready to go to this damn party with Eruhaben for some reason, he absolutely wanted to accompany him.
The golden dragon's thoughts were. « We can't leave him alone, not even for a minute before he causes trouble.»
All their family knew about it, except the person concerned.
Once they arrived in front of the palace, they entered after Cale's name had been shouted. The golden dragon always followed him at a distance to ensure his safety, once inside everyone present turned to him, these looks made him uncomfortable. He wished he could go home already. He repairs Alberu from afar and approaches him.
"Good morning your majesty, it's an honor to be invited in person by the brightest star in Roan's empire."
"It is also a great honor for me to welcome our dearest hero of two continents."
After this fraudulent exchange, the two walked away from each other, after brief exchanges on various uninteresting subjects.Alberu decided to declare the start of the party, announcing the course of the evening with a buffet then Cale's speech, followed by the presentation of the medals of honor. His speech was greeted by cheers from the audience, followed by the opening of the buffet. Everyone headed to the tables except Cale, who was just waiting for the show to start so he could leave and go home. Eruhaben stayed with Cale in his guard disguise.
«When does it start? I miss my bed.» Cale decided to wait patiently in a corner of the hall for the celebration to begin. He hoped no one would come to disturb him, of course his wishes have been ignored as always.
Some nobles tried to approach him to speak, but were mostly repelled by the vicious gaze of the dragon at his side. Despite this, some still managed to offer to marry off their daughters, to talk about possible bills to improve the empire's quality of life or just for their own power. Eruhaben would have liked to use some of his dragon fear, but that would have alerted everyone to his presence, and Cale certainly wouldn't like that.
After a while he noticed that Cale was trying to look at him subtly. He then decided to speak to him in his mind.
-"Is there a problem?"
He could read on his lips "tired" he decided to force him out of there to fend off those annoying flies.
"I'm sorry but I have to talk to him." He said nothing more before taking Cale by the arm and guiding him onto an empty terrace. He couldn't see the incredulous and slightly shocked look on the nobleman's face, who couldn't believe the audacity of this guard with a nobleman. If Eruhaben had seen him, he would surely have shown him his place.
Arriving at the quiet corner, the dragon was finally able to speak to the redhead.
"How are you?"
"Huh? I'm fine, I just hate all these nobles."
Cale was really exhausted, all he wanted to do was run away.
"Wait I'll call Alberu he'll be able to find you a quiet room in the palace so you can rest."
"No there's no need, just give me a few minutes to-"
Cale thought he was exaggerating a little, since the end of the war they were all like that. At the slightest sign of fatigue or even a slight tremor, they react as if they were going to die in a second! He really didn't understand why they were all like that.
One wonders...
Of course Eruhaben didn't listen to him, he already knew what Cale was going to say. In the meantime, he sent a telepathic message to the Emperor, asking him to join him.
Alberu arrived fairly quickly, practically in the know.
"Has something happened?"
"Not really, I'm just tired, the nobles were a bit clingy."
The two now had a vicious look on their faces, they clearly wanted to go and hit those idiots.
"Perhaps you have a room or a quiet corner where he can rest and get some sleep?"
"You don't have-"
"Of course I'll take you there right away."
He just sighed it doesn't look like they're going to listen to him so might as well do what they say anyway he was tired.
Alberu accompanied them to an empty room in the palace.
"You two can stay here. I'm going to make an announcement to tell everyone that you won't be able to make the speech and that you're tired."
"No, you promised that after that I could have my lazy life, I would."
"I don't think you're good for doing this, we can-"
"If, I would."
They knew very well that he was stubborn and that they wouldn't be able to change his mind, especially as his dream of being a lazy had been mentioned.
"*sigh* Well but rest at least 1 hour, we'll just delay it."
This time he didn't try to negotiate he listened to what he was told and lay down on the bed to fall fast asleep.
"I'm going back to, do you need anything else?"
"Perhaps some food and something to drink for him would be nice."
"Go to the palace kitchen and speak directly to the chef, say you come on behalf of the emperor."
"Agreed, but I don't want to leave him alone..."
"The palace is safe here and dark elves are posted in the corridors there shouldn't be any problem."
After that Eruhaben left for the palace kitchens and Alberu returned to the party. While Cale slept in the bedroom.
While all was quiet someone managed to get into the room despite the guards who apparently weren't present. A nobleman had overheard the conversation on the terrace and followed the commander here.
He thought this was his chance to take his place he'd always wanted a place in power but because of this trashcan's achievements, he'd been completely erased. He was even more disgusted by this guy, how could such a trashy person have done all ? A few years ago he was still known by everyone as the worst person who could exist. He certainly didn't deserve his title or all those awards he received. He would have done a better job than him, he at least had a noble education, he was just lucky, it was a real miracle we managed to survive all that war.
The more he thought about it, the more greed gnawed at him, and as he searched his pockets he found the paper cutter he'd used this morning to open his the letters. He looked at it before making the stupidest decision of all.
He approached the young master with the knife in his hand and brought it close to his neck. Cale didn't move at all he was too tired to even sense the guy's intentions.
Seeing no reaction from the person in the bed, he struck a fairly deep blow to the redhead's neck blood instantly spurted onto the bed and some onto himself.
Cale woke up with a start from the pain, put a hand on his neck and could feel the blood flowing. His gaze fell on the person standing beside his bed, but he couldn't quite make out his attacker, his vision still blurred by the nap he'd just had. He could only hear a few words before fainting again from blood loss.
"Die trash!"
Once he saw he was unconscious he slipped out of the room before anyone else arrived to discreetly return to the party. Not forgetting to hide the evidence of his crime. He felt more powerful and intelligent than this piece of garbage. Although it didn't last long...
Meanwhile, the golden dragon was returning from the royal kitchen and could smell blood as he approached the room where Cale was sleeping.
He made his way towards him. Once he entered he could see a scene of horror. There was blood everywhere, on the bed, the floor and part of the redhead's body. He could also see her extremely pale skin. He approached him.
"Cale! "He was panicked, what could have happened in the short time he'd been gone?
Once next to him he could see the cut on his neck and put his hand on it to stop the bleeding. At the same time he tried to wake Cale.
"Cale! Wake up, please!"
No matter how many times he called to him he didn't budge. Then he checked his pulse and breathing.
«It's weak, very weak! he needs a doctor immediately!»
-«Alberu, call the doctors right away it's urgent!»
He was surprised to hear the dragon's panicked voice, but faced with the urgency in his voice, he did so at once. At the same time, he rushed to her side, leaving the party.
Once in front of the open door, like the former dragon, he saw a scene filled with blood.
"What happened?!"
"I don't know he was like that when I arrived, but he has a wound on his neck I think made with a knife!"
"What? but there were guards no one could have come here."
"Have you called the doctors?!"
"Yes, they're on their way."
"They'd better hurry, he's losing a lot of blood !"
A few minutes had passed the situation was still critical they were both panicked and very angry how could anyone have done this to Cale? Whoever it was they would certainly kill him.
"Alberu do you have any healing potions?! That might help him a bit."
"Of course here."
He handed her three potions.
"Thank you-, I can't feel his breath he's stopped breathing and his heart is very weak!"
He hurried to help Cale with his magic, supplying him with air and getting his heart beating.
"Alberu come help me!"
The mixed blood rushed to his side.
"The potions pour them over the wound and try to get him to drink some of them."
Alberu immediately did as he was told.
Meanwhile, the doctors arrived and began to look after him, taking over from the dragon.
One of the doctors gave the redhead an oxygen mask walking with mana.
"Her pulse is very slow, I'll give her something."
Another examined the wound on his neck.
"It looks like he was stabbed in the artery. It's lucky you acted quickly."
As he spoke, he bandaged the wound with a healing potion to speed up the process.
"It's okay his pulse is back to normal."
Eruhaben and Alberu sighed in relief.
"Is he going to be all right?"
"Apart from the significant blood loss, he's doing pretty well but I think he'd need a transfusion to fully recover. Do you have his blood type?"
"No but his family is present in the palace. Alberu can you go get them ? I won't leave him again."
"Of course. But right after that we need to find the culprit and see where the guards have gone. I'll ask my tent to watch the exits from the palace so no one can escape."
“Judging by the wound, it's highly likely that the culprit is covered in blood even though I think he must have disposed of the evidence.”
"That's not a problem for me I can smell Cale's blood on anyone."
"I'll check with the guards at the door to see if anyone has come out since. Otherwise once the duke or someone is here to be with Cale you can take a look around the room to examine those present."
A nod came from dragon Alberu as he headed back to the party, discreetly notifying the Henituse family.
Basen Henituse, who had just arrived, wondered where his brother was, he must have arrived much earlier. For the preparations with His Highness. He approached his father.
"Father, where's Huyng?"
"I don't know, he should be here by now. He looked around at the crowd of people, but he couldn't even see the Emperor. "A cold sensation passed through his body.
The two stayed together waiting for someone to appear who might know where Cale was.
Almost 1 h had passed before they spotted his highness. He looked pale and stressed, as if desperately searching for someone. Once their eyes met, he put on his princely smile and approached calmly, unlike his previous demeanor.
"Hello Your Highness, thank you again for the invitation. The party is truly grandiose."
"Good morning duke. As one of your most valued nobles, it's only natural to invite you to this kind of event. I'd like to discuss something important with you. Young master Basen, you may also come with us as a future duke, of course."
His expression changed slightly to concern, but soon became bright again, but this didn't escape Deruth, who knew full well that the discussion was just an excuse to meet him alone. He was becoming increasingly afraid of what might have happened.
"Of course, Your Highness, I'll follow you."
The three of them headed for Cale's room. Once in the corridor away from the party, Alberu explained the situation to them.
"Duke, I think you already know, but I've called you here for another reason."
He didn't answer, waiting for him to continue talking, Basen remained silent next to his father.
"There's them problems with Cale-"
"Is my son all right?"
"Please let me explain, for the moment his condition is stable even if it's still critical, which is why we need your help."
"Very well, I'm listening."
"It all started with Cale, who was on the verge of collapsing at the party, the nobles wouldn't leave him alone..."
The more the duke and his son listened the angrier they got, they'll make those nobles pay.
"I took him to a room so he could rest. I'd gone back to the party and Eruhaben, who'd come with him, had gone to fetch him some food and someone took the opportunity to attack him with a knife-"
"How's his condition? Have you found the culprit?"
"I'm telling you his condition is stable but still critical, he needs a blood transfusion he's lost a lot of blood that's why we need you. And we're looking for the culprit right now we'll find him very quickly."
"Can we go and see him right away?"
"Of course."
They quickened their pace until they reached the bedroom. Once inside they could see his condition.
"Has anything changed since then?"
"No, his condition is still the same. He needs blood to recover fully.
"I've brought his father in to help us."
"Hello sir, I'm the palace's chief physician. Let me explain..."
Deruth and his son left for the lounge area to speak with the doctor. The dragon and Alberu stayed to discuss what to do next.
"Have you had a chance to speak with your aunt yet?"
"No, I haven't had time yet. Can you contact someone at the villa so they can watch the room ?"
Eruhaben agreed, summoning Ron and Choi Han and explaining the whole situation. Both were furious and eager to get their hands on the culprit, they would certainly make him regret his gesture.
Once the two had teleported, Alberu and Eruhaben left the room.
Alberu went to check on his aunt and the guards who were supposed to be there. As for the dragon, he set off to inspect the palace in search of the culprit or any traces he might have left, at the same time scattering his mana all over the surrounding area.
He quickly came across a knife covered in blood hidden behind a palace decoration, as if the person hadn't even made an effort to be discreet.
Eruhaben was furious. The knife was not far from the reception room.
« He surely returned peacefully to the party.» A cruel smile appeared on his face.
He re-entered the room and observed everyone around him. Of course, he didn't see any blood or stains on anyone's clothes in the room. But he did notice the smell of blood on one particular person who was chatting with another nobleman, a completely ordinary person who dared to touch his son.
As he approached the individual in question, some of his dragon rage escaped from him, making everyone around him shudder. The people let him pass in fear, no more noise could be heard in the tense atmosphere. Even the nobleman in question turned in his direction and saw that the dragon was looking directly into his eyes, his eyes shining in their reptilian form. He wanted to run away and hide, but was unable to move.
Eruhaben approached him until he was right in front of him.
"All young Master Cale's companions want to talk to you, you know, and we can't wait to find out what stupid reason you had for doing this! Do you even know what I'm talking about?"
Everyone was curious at what the man was talking about, but they were too afraid to ask.
"Tell them, explain to all those flies, what you've done so that it serves as a lesson to the others, that no one has the right to touch Cale and even less to hurt him."
Under pressure he had no choice but to speak up.
"I...I attacked young Master Cale with a knife...there was a lot of blood...I..."
"No, he's very much alive. Don't you dare say otherwise." The former dragon became even angrier. The room became almost unbreathable.
"You all heard".
He turned back to the other people in the room and waited to see their reaction. Once he'd seen what he wanted, he continued talking.
"well now I'm going to take this thing with me, and treat it with care... if anyone else ever tries to hurt my son again, I'll kill them but not before making them suffer until I'm satisfied... and it doesn't matter what their rank is I don't care, am I clear?"
He saw a lot of nodding and left on that note with one hand clutching the culprit's throat.
Everyone in the room was finally able to breathe, many shocked by what had just happened. But there was only one thing they remembered. The young master is protected by a lot of scary people. They could only turn white with fear as they imagined the suffering the nobleman would endure.
nce he left the reception room he immediately returned to Cale still dragging the guy.
He sent a telepathic message to Ron to come out and meet him in the hallway outside the room.
"I caught the culprit, he had blood on him I can smell it. Can we talk with him ? I will let Alberu manage the palace."
With that they immediately teleported into the basement of the duchy, the duke had already given them permission to come.
As soon as they arrived, Eruhaben violently threw the person who was still in his grip, his head hitting the ground, blood was already flowing from the wound. He raised his head and looked at them in fear.
"Well, now that we are alone you will tell us your real motivations. Avoid lying to us anyway you are going to die so speak one last time."
He began to tremble under the intense gaze of the two, he couldn't help but speak.
"I...I was just jealous of him as a..."
Eruhaben grabbed his throat again before he continued making him look straight into his eyes.
"Be careful of the words you say in front of me, poor human."
"This trash, how can such a useless person be so loved and have so much power!"
Eruhaben tightened his grip his pupils were now glowing.
“You're lucky I don't cut out your tongue for the words you say, after all, don't you think hearing yourself beg and scream for someone to stop torturing you isn't better than just having silence?”
The dragon became smiling at the noble's now white face.
"Do you really think that we were going to let you die peacefully, you will die for sure but before that we are going to make you live through hell. A lot of people in our family want to talk with you you know, they can't wait."
With that he left the basement and went to join Alberu at the castle, he did not forget to ask the assassin to keep him something from the noble, his anger still has not been appeased.
He is then teleported to the palace. Alberu still hadn't left the room where Cale was.
"Were you able to speak with our aunt?"
"Yes, she found who were supposed to be there to watch the place."
" So ? "
"It turns out that the guards had left to talk with the new team and that the noble had slipped away during the few minutes when no one was there."
"So... it was just a stroke of bad luck... this bastard is going to be the death of me." Eruhaben dropped into the chair next to him, he was tired.
"You were able to speak with the nobleman?"
"Yeah, he was just a jealous idiot of Cale."
"What are you going to do with it? "
"Kill him of course but we'll all have a little chat with him before that."
"Save me a seat."
" And Please don't let this happen again, otherwise I will forbid Cale from coming to see you at the palace. I'm even sure he will agree with that."
"I will do my best. I still can't believe it was just down to bad luck."
The dragon didn't answer him right away, he just sighed even though he was of the same opinion.
"Cale has always been very lucky... how is he anyway? "
"He is completely out of the woods although he now needs to rest."
"Fine, I'll take him back to the villa, it will be safer for him. Ah one more thing, clean up your nobles before I decide to do it myself."
"Of course Eruhaben-nim."
Eruhaben returned to the villa with Cale, he quickly teleported him to his room.
It took a few days for the redhead to fully recover. The nobleman was tortured for almost a month before he died, each person in his family was able to play a little with him. On Alberu's side several nobles whom he had discovered to be corrupt or jealous of his brother mysteriously disappeared without a trace... these sudden disappearances scared every person on the entire continent... all promised never to come near again of the redhead.