44 – How much mischief in a place without water?
Once airborne, one could feel the changing scenery of the world. It was only after soaring high above the Duke’s mansion that Tina looked back at her actions.
“Why am I doing this…?”
Somehow, her emotions seemed heightened. What might have been easily brushed off under normal circumstances led to an accident due to the wind of sorrow blowing her way.
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“I could have quietly waited for just one day…”
It was undoubtedly the case, but emotional control proved difficult. It felt like she was acting arbitrarily like a child. Truly a regression into childishness.
Otherwise, how could she have…
[Daddy, I hate youuu!]
… shouted while causing a commotion and kicking off from the Duke’s mansion.
Of course, the only one who understood her cry amid the dragon’s wailing was her father. But that made her feel even more sorry. It would have been better not to understand at all, not knowing the words she raised while upset.
“Should I go back…?”
She pondered that for a moment. However, the view of the high sky and the untouched landscape below captivated Tina’s attention.
“It’s going to be fun…!”
It had been a long time since the topic of running away had been pushed to the back of consciousness.
In fact, Tina’s current tendency was to think about things out of curiosity. It was as if her body transformed into a dragon, and the area in her mind where instinct took over was larger than where reason resided.
Of course, Tina had realized this only recently, as she had lived a short life.
Since it had come to this, she decided to play to her heart’s content before returning in the evening. Then her body would quickly return to its original state.
With this mindset, Tina leisurely began to roam the sky, which was a beautiful shade of blue.
◈
The place where Tina first spread her wings was the palace. It had been so long since she had seen Yurian that his face was becoming blurry. Therefore, Tina observed the ground from the sky of the palace, partly to catch a glimpse of Yurian’s face and partly to see the surroundings.
However, the palace was large, and if Yurian was indoors, there was no chance of finding him. So Tina lowered her altitude and carefully surveyed outside the palace windows. Of course, she made sure to keep her head hidden so as not to be seen.
“Ah…! You’re here?”
Tina quickly found Yurian.
Currently, Yurian was in the middle of a meeting with his subordinates instead of following her. There were difficult words being exchanged, but Tina didn’t understand any of it. So she quietly listened, lying flat under the window sill.
“It seems that the eldest brother has successfully identified some of the spies.”
“But isn’t it strange? There are many demons who are difficult to distinguish from humans…”
“He’s too fast and he has exposed many of them. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, yes… That’s right, Your Highness.”
Yurian’s voice was cold and sharp. He wasn’t the same Yurian who would raise his voice like a seizure whenever Harte made a sarcastic comment at the orphanage. To Tina, Yurian’s unfamiliar appearance seemed different.
“I know what you’re suspecting. There is a way to think of it because they resemble humans. And… if you’re the queen, it’s the most obvious possibility to consider.”
“…You manipulated the spies. That’s what you’re convinced of, Your Highness.”
“It seems that the eldest brother has quite the ambition. So it’s only natural that he can’t properly follow my mother’s tricks.”
Yurian rested his chin on the desk and spoke.
“If she were the empress, she might have tortured you for information and created a spy, at best… But my brother would have been anxious. He must have been. Because I created it that way.”
“Did you deliberately leak false intelligence?”
“Correct. I intentionally leaked inflated achievements. My brother knows that the empress, who is also our mother, doesn’t trust him. It becomes a matter of pride, so he would try to do something more.”
“A fishhook without bait, used as a key, it seems.”
In the midst of the nobles’ admiration, Yurián nodded calmly.
“If you’re not sure of victory, tearing apart your opponent is also a strategy. But this is beyond that. In the end, I provoked my brother and only increased the number of innocent victims. So, all of you, hurry up and put your efforts into restoring the victims’ lives by stepping on the tail.”
“Yes! Understood.”
People crowded out of the conference room in a rush, expressing deep admiration for Yurián’s actions. It was hard to believe he was still a young child.
In the mostly empty conference room, Arwel, the chief chamberlain, confronted Yurián alone.
“Your Highness, did you act like this after careful consideration?”
“I thought about it. I followed the methods I learned.”
“You learned? To whom are you referring?”
“The Chief Commander.”
“Lady Elphicia Luminel…!”
“That’s what he said. The way to defeat the opponent is very simple.”
Arwel, the chief chamberlain, asked with a curious expression.
“What is that method?”
“If you can’t become stronger immediately, repeat the actions your opponent dislikes. That’s the essence… or so he said.”
“Unpredictable…!”
Arwel, the chief chamberlain, felt a shiver. It was difficult to imagine how deep the darkness had settled in Elphicia, who had never shown her true colors in the social circles until now.
A truly unreasonable disciple.
Today’s strategy revealed by Yurian was just like that, and the methods taught by Elphicia were all the same.
“I understand what you’re worried about. When you look into the abyss, you naturally become immersed and accustomed to it.”
“Your Highness…”
“So promise me. This will be the last time I walk the line.”
Yurian, with Chungbok standing in front of him, smirked and let out a chuckle.
“Because if I’m going to resemble anyone, it would rather be the Director than the Deputy Director. The Deputy Director is quite scary, you know.”
Finally, Arwel, the Palace Treasurer, relieved his worries and revealed a faint joy.
“hehehe… This is it. The choice I made to entrust you to Harte Gyeong is the greatest achievement of my life.”
“Hmph, it’s just a meaningless coincidence. I’m preparing to be promoted to the head of the Information Department soon.”
“I will support you.”
Arwel deeply bowed and walked away. Now Yurian was completely alone, sitting roughly on any chair. Although he had emotions that did not suit his age, it was tiring for a child who was just beginning to grow up to lead a meeting.
Yurian relaxed his neck and glanced briefly out the window. The scenery of the palace was so beautiful that it brought a little peace to his heart.
However, there should have been a green garden in Yurian’s field of vision…
Blink.
Blink.
A vertical pupil embedded in blue irises appeared behind his eyelids. Yurian thought for a moment that he was seeing things and blinked his eyes. But the sight did not change, and he finally realized the reality.
“Oh my god!!! It’s a monster!!!”
“Eek?!”
In an instant, Tina, with her back against the conference room door, screamed and pounded on the glass window. Yurian realized something was wrong at that moment.
Upon closer observation, a sense of familiarity arises.
When I made the previous change, the appearance of the dragon who had kidnapped Tina had some common features.
“You… Could it be, Tina?”
“Kuu, kuuu…”
Nod, nod!
Tina vigorously nods her head up and down. Finally, Yurian opens the window and lets Tina in.
“… Ha. You’ve been through quite a lot. Every day entangled with the director is a series of surprises.”
“Kkiing…”
“Well, well. What’s with that disappointed whimper? Can’t you speak?”
“Moo…”
Tina cries out, pouring out her sadness. In response, Yurian hurriedly makes excuses with a remorseful expression.
“Hmm, the Bloody Dragon we met before could talk, right? So naturally, I assumed you could too.”
“Piik?”
“… I don’t know what you’re saying. Did you ask the director to turn you back into your original form?”
Yurian’s question brings to Tina’s mind the incident with the peacock.
She remembers being asked to endure for just one day in a serious situation, all because she was cute.
After transforming into a dragon, Tina became more instinctive, and she once again felt sorrowful about it. Therefore, she gestures and mixes her words with gestures to express her grievances and explain the situation.
“Piik, kweeutt… Piiik, kkiing, kkiyii… Meeuuu… Kkikking…”
“I really have no idea what you’re saying.”
“Bbaeng?!”
“The writing… looks unusable at a glance.”
Tina felt saddened as if the time she had spent so far was being invalidated. Moreover, she disliked Yurian, who was convinced that writing was impossible without even being asked to do it.
“Umm… hmm…”
‘Yurian is really bad…!’
Fortunately, Yurian couldn’t interpret Tina’s irrational condemnation. Instead, he hesitated and suggested to Tina with difficulty.
“Well, I’d like to play as my heart desires, but my schedule is tight. How about visiting the second prince? He should be in the mansion by now, I suppose…”
“Kkyuut?”
Why suddenly to the second prince? What’s the reason for sending me?
As Tina pondered this question, Yurian answered by hanging a note around her neck.
“The second prince has changed quite a bit. You must have noticed. I’m talking about the prince who used to be chubby.”
“Piit!”
Yeah, I noticed! I was worried every time I saw him.
“Probably, he will welcome you as the director’s daughter. I wrote on the note roughly about the situation and mainly advised to treat him with strawberry cake… At least you won’t go hungry.”
‘Strawberry cake!’
Drool.
Water overflowed from Tina’s salivary glands. As she couldn’t close her mouth in time, drool dripped down from her still open mouth. Yurian looked at the puddle made of saliva and flickered his thick eyebrows.
“Dirty, filthy… No, nothing.”
It was a possible disgrace due to Tina being instinctively overwhelmed.
Yurian didn’t know the details, but he could roughly guess. Moreover, as Tina exhibited strangely beast-like behavior, speculation gradually turned into certainty.
“… Hurry up. The prince is staying at the Yeonhwa Palace. When you go out through the window and go straight to the left, you’ll see a pond full of lotus flowers. That’s the prince’s palace, so keep it in mind.”
“Squeak!”
Tina nodded eagerly, her tail wagging. Instead of expressing gratitude to Yurian for showing her the way, her mind was completely consumed with the thought of being treated to a strawberry cake.
Plop!
Yurian bid farewell to Tina, who was wagging her tail familiarly, with a weary look in his eyes. Once she had completely disappeared, Yurian turned his gaze to the saliva of an unripe dragon.
“… Disgusting. This is no joke.”
It was unbelievable that such watery saliva could be used as medicine. When Yurian imagined someone actually consuming it, he suddenly felt repulsed.
That feeling was intertwined with the typical disgust that siblings had for each other.
“Look here. Is someone outside?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Just as a servant passing by opened the door and entered, he greeted with a bow. Yurian pointed at the saliva on the floor, poking it with his finger, and gave an order.
“Clean this up. Make it as clean as possible.”
“…”
“What are you doing?”
“… Ah, yes! Yes! I heard you, Your Highness!”
“Hmm? Well, alright… understood. Carry on then.”
“Yes… I apologize for my negligence.”
After Yurian left the meeting room, the servant found himself deep in thought. It was because there was not a drop of water, let alone a glass, anywhere in the room.
“To have this much moisture in a place with no water…?”
This is simply a confirmation, nothing more.
It may be an act that goes beyond the duties of a servant, but it is only a confirmation task.
Upon it, Sijong lowered his body flat and sniffed through his nose.
“… A foul smell?”
As expected, it wasn’t water. Then, where did this foul smell, like this, emerge from the water? He pondered for a moment.
There was only one answer.
“Getting all rowdy at a young age…! The Third Prince is vividly emphasizing his eccentricities! I must quickly report this to our master!”
In reality, he was an information source for the First Prince. He had planted a spy in the palace where Yurian resided, with the purpose of uncovering his weaknesses.
So, Sijong quickly wiped Tina’s saliva with a rag, concealed it in his arms, and hastily departed. The intention was to present the evidence to the First Prince.
“Hooray! Life is full of surprises!”
Sijong, delighted as if leaping to deceive his master, disrupted his master’s plans. Truly, it was a rural play containing the subtleties of Yi Jei’s humor.
The time was when the sun was directly above the fool’s head.
It was noon.
Wait, I’m getting a sense of deja vu. Does Tina then apologize to harte with the help of elphina (wife) or Julian. Have I read something like this before.