Shadowless Night

sweets from Isserion as his way of showing his sincerity.
The cookies came from Raymond’s pocket, anyway.

 

Raymond looked at the robbed sweets foolishly but decided to move on.
In the first place, all the snacks he always carries in his left pocket were for Rosaline.
Isserion was still looking at Rosaline with satisfaction.

 

“Sir, don’t be like this next time.
Do you understand?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“In the future, get permission before stealing.”

 

“So, I should tell the owner first?”

 

‘If you tell the owner first, can it still be called stealing?’ Ricardis laughed, letting out a whistling sound.

 

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“….
No.
It would be best to ask His Highness, but if there’s an unavoidable situation, you may ask the people around you as well.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You have to ask first before you act.”

 

‘I think I’ve heard this somewhere…’ Rosaline replied that she understood.
Isserion nodded his head.
However, he still felt anxious, so in an instant, he added, “You must.”

 

It was pointless to think about what they should do if they got caught stealing something.
Livita’s palace didn’t even show a sign of disturbance.
Of course, there was no guarantee that the silence meant they had not heard anything.
Strict control was still required in the future.
The senior knights severely cracked down on every single act of the knights so as not to get caught doing something fishy.
While Rosaline ate her delicious snack, the other members were working hard.

 

The week’s schedule, in any case, was over.
Prince Haqab went out to see them off right in front of the palace.
Then he kissed Ricardis on the cheek again.
Compared to the first greeting he had given, Haqab was a little more insistent, and Ricardis was eventually forced to return his greeting to the cheek.
Diech laughed upon seeing the friendly appearance of the two but soon received the same ‘greeting’ from Haqab.
Diech had a look similar to that of Ricardis from a few days ago.
Haqab burst out laughing as he looked at the rotting faces of the two men.

 

“May the spirit of Hiksala be with our distinguished guests of Illavenia during your journey.
I wish you peace.”

 

Haqab made eye contact with Rosaline one last time.
He smirked and moved his mouth.

 

‘I wish you good luck, Rosaline.’

 

Rosaline didn’t answer that.
Under Haqab’s relentless gaze, she held her index and thumb in her mouth and blew hard.

 

Piiiiiiii—

 

Her warm breath squeezing through her fingers made a high-pitched noise.
An eagle circled over the heads of the delegation, who began to depart towards the opposite side of the palace.
As if in response, Macaron made a sharp cry that rippled in the air.

 

***

 

“Get out of Balta as quickly as possible.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

The decisive battle would definitely take place on Baltan land.
No matter how strong the Black Moon was, they would not be crossing the border and directly bumping into the forces of Illavenia.
Fortunately, everyone’s stamina was in perfect condition.
They had to leave the land of Balta as soon as possible.
They should reach the border in two days.
Macaron followed the delegation, circling them in the sky.

 

As the sun went down, the group stopped moving.
The blackened forest covered the eyes of allies and hid the enemy’s face.
Moreover, the possibility of getting lost was hard to ignore.
The delegation busily erected tents and fences.
Their vigilance strengthened as they could not move at night.
While sneaking into Ricardis’ tent, Rosaline was caught by Raymond and dragged away.

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“…”

 

Only Ricardis’ entourage remained in the barracks.
Isserion spread the map in the center, and Deputy Commander Nathan wiped his chin and opened his mouth.

 

“Thillac, Tsavo, Darion.
I thought it would be the point where the three villages intersect…”

 

“Prince Haqab likes to catch others off guard.
It’s in his nature.”

 

“I suppose he’s not going to touch us on the first day when we’re the most vigilant.”

 

“As the Prince says.”

 

Starz picked up stones from the ground and placed them one by one on the map.

 

“Here, and here.
These are two places where you can hide a lot of people.
Due to the nature of Prince Haqab, he will not come fairly.
There is a high probability of an ambush.”

 

“Should we turn around?”

 

Ricardis shook his head at Nathan’s question.

 

“Our path will become longer if we turn around.
Besides, those are such obvious ambush points.
Haqab would think we would have noticed.
There’s a good chance he has planted an army behind us.”

 

Isserion groaned.

 

“A battle will be unavoidable.”

 

Ricardis nodded.
Black Moon’s new poison, ‘Fragment’.
A method to detoxify the powerful poison had not been found yet.
The difference between the number of soldiers and their strength was also evident.

 

‘There is no way to win! If you can’t win, you have to avoid it.
The only way out is the border crossing into Illavenia.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the defensive like this.’ Ricardis smirked. 

 

“I just hope that the border will come to us on foot.”

 

Everyone laughed bitterly.
The place where Starz placed the stone was not far from the delegation’s current location.