I cried inwardly, clasping Lissandroâs arm in a hurry, shaking it.
âL-Lithandwo. Why ith he twied up like dat. It hurts!â (Lissandro. Why is he tied up like that. It hurts!)
âUm, uh. Your Majesty. Itâs dangerous!â
Xavier, flustered, hugged me tightly.
For a moment, my hand, which lost its place, caught Lissandroâs back. Now that Iâve caught him, I shook his head.
Lissandro patted my hand.
âHowever, without that much restraint, we wonât be able to keep him, Your Majesty.â
âIth cwuel. Lithandwo ith de devil!â (Itâs cruel. Lissandro is the devil!)
âI didnât even do it, so whyâŚâ
Lissandro was upset, but I wasnât listening to him.
âNobody should provoke Devlinâs Devil.â
I clearly remembered the sight of the boy sending a man flying without touching him. If I hadnât stopped him, then the knight who was about to touch him wouldâve died.
That man was a dangerous creature. However, since he decided to join Ermano, it was better to give him a carrot than a stick.
I was the one to get him into joining Ermano, but-.
âThis isnât right!â
I understood that he was put in jail and that heâs the cause of all the damage to the Ermano border. I didnât even wish to serve him to the fullest. But the stand-in-Emperor tied him to the limbs.
âIs he mad? Iâm sure he isâŚâ
What if he changes his mind and attacks Ermano?
I shivered and plucked up my courage, turning back to the cage.
And as if they were waiting, my eyes met with red eyes.
The Devlinâs Devilâs eyes, without any expression, caught mine. I couldnât guess what he was thinking.
I apologized first. I hope you will be relieved of your anger.
But they boyâs reaction was calmer than I was expecting.
âItâs okay. I havenât even been tortured.â
âYou thouldnât be totued. Youâ de geuth I bwought.â (You shouldnât be tortured. Youâre the guest I brought.)
I got embarrassed after speaking. Treating someone whoâs tied up like a customer.
âSigh.â
I was greatly relieved that Devlinâs Devil didnât seem very angry at the unkind treatment.
Itâs said he would lose his reason and would kill enemies and allies, but the boy was so calm that I doubted whether the rumor was true.
I was convinced that a conversation would be possible.
âI hav a quethion.â (I have a question.)
âAsk.â
âWhy did you thay youâ gwoing to exthile?â (Why did you say youâre going to exile?)
âI didnât want to go back to Devlin.â
âHow cwome?â
âBecause I didnât want to be swayed by other peopleâs will anymore.â
Did that mean that he had only lived on the will of others until now? I couldnât figure out what his gaze at me meant, but he didnât seem to be lying.
âOf course I donât completely believe him.â
âWho awe those people?â (Who are those people?)
âVeron Arthur Devlica.â
I was flustered when I heard the name of the Emperor of the enemy Empire.
âEmpewor?â
âYes.â
âThen did you puposey dwag your fowces to kill dem to get rebenge on the Empewor? (Then did you purposely drag your forces to kill them to get revenge on the Emperor?)
âThatâs right.â
âHuuâŚâ
âLook at this guy.â
I was overwhelmed with the colossal idea. Usually, you would only think of asylum and not pretend to strike an enemy country to annihilate your own troops.
I was right in my judgement that I should find a way to give Devlinâs Devil a carrot.
âUm. Iâm not going to touch a crazy guy.â
If heâs irritated, you wonât know when an accident could occur.
Xavier and Lissandro both spoke with tired faces.
âItâs amazing.â
âI see.â
Xavier took a step back with an uneasy look. He looked scared.
But I didnât care and asked a question again, âI hav anoder quethion. Why Ehmano?â (I have another question. Why Ermano?)
I didnât know that much, but there were many other countries he couldâve gone to.
Ermano was the most powerful country; however, we were hostile towards Devlin. I was sure he didnât expect to be hospitable.
âIf Devlinâs Devil were to switch sides to Ermano, the one who would hate it the most would be Veron Arthur Devlica.â
I didnât know why Devlinâs Emperor hated the stand-in-Emperor so much, but I was able to understand why he chose Ermano.
âAfter killing my own soldiers, I have no place to go back to now. If you donât take me, that is.â
While saying so, the boyâs face was devastating. I was sure heâs a killer who had killed so many people, so why did I feel sorry?
âLetâs get it together. Donât fall for beauty.â
There were too many mischievous looking children.
Oscar, Enrique, and Devlinâs Devil.
Of course, the stand-in-Emperor and Lissandroâs appearance were also great, but-.
âNo, no. Focus, focus.â
After waking up, I looked at Devlinâs Devil. One of the biggest questions was remaining.
âWhy awe you gething rebenge?â (Why are you getting revenge?)
âVeron Arthur Devlica pushed me into the border deliberately to drive me into a rampage. When I wake up, I donât want to see bodies around me anymore.â
ââŚâ
âI donât want to go back there again.â
The question was light, but the answer was heavy.
âHeâs making him go crazy on purpose?â
How could that be possible? No, I can communicate with animals, but thereâs no way I can make them run amok.
I could feel his sincerity, but I couldnât fully trust his words. Itâs difficult if all his actions were to infiltrate Ermano.
My plan was like this: pretend to gloss over it completely, but donât let my guard down.
âHm. I gwet it for now.â
âDo you believe me?â
âUng.â
Of course itâs a lie.
It would be better to release some of the restrictions to prove that I believed him.
I tugged on Xavierâs hem.
âXabie.â
âYes, Your Majesty.â
âI think itâll huwt to be tied up lwike dat. Canâ you rewease them?â (I think itâll hurt to be tied up like that. Canât you release them?)
At my words, Lissandro replied instead of Xavier.
âYou cannot.â
His determined will was seen from his sternly nailed expression. In the end, he didnât bite the bait.
âLithandwoâŚâ
âYou cannot. As I always say, heâs a dangerous person. So you cannot just let him go. Thatâs why heâs shackled and handcuffed.â
Some of the functions of the spirit mine were to cut off mana and neutralize it. Perhaps the power was cut off by that ability.
But I couldnât let it pass over like this. It didnât matter if the handcuffs and shackles werenât released until the end. Actually, this was a kind of show.
âI have to show him that I think about him this much.â
I spoke confidently.
âOpen it.â
âI cannot, Your Majesty. Itâs too dangerous.â
âOpen it. Ith an owder!â (Open it. Itâs an order!)
Of course, Lissandro didnât listen to my orders.
âThis should be enough, right?â
It was time to pretend to give up.
But the voice of Devlinâs Devil was heard.
âItâs okay.â
Thud.
âhuhâŚ?â
The handcuffs, which were made of mana stones and had the function to block mana in the body almost completely, snapped from the boyâs gestures.
Thud.
The shackles on his feet were broken helplessly and rolled on the floor. Except for the boy, we looked at the wreckage.
âJust what the hell is he?â
Why would he stay tied up like that when he could cut them off that easily. Why on earth?
âIt must be insulting to have your limbs bound, so is there a reason to put up with it?â
To our astonished eyes, Devlinâs Devil spoke, âAre you at ease now?â
âU-ungâŚâ
He spoke as if heâs able to stay tied up but cut them to ease my heartâŚ
âYour Majesty. We need to go back now.â
âAlweady?â (Already?)
âHis Majesty-.â
âA-ah gwot it.â (I-I got it.)
If he comes here, Iâll just get even more tired. I put my arm around Xavierâs neck and waved at Devlinâs Devil.
âAhâll gwo now. Deblinâs Devil.â (Iâll go now. Devlinâs Devil.)
I was about to turn around, but I heard a low voice.
ââŚAiden.â
âHuh?â
âYou can call me Aiden.â
I met his red eyes again. I couldnât keep the gaze, as if the heat from his calm red eyes were contagious.
I looked at the boy as if I was possessed. After getting to my senses, I nodded.
âOkway, Aidwen.â (Okay, Aiden.)
âŚstupid pronunciation!
***
Back in the bedroom, I sat quietly waiting for everyone to leave. Soon enough, the nanny who was the last to leave, left.
âGood.â
I was cautious of my behavior, as Lissandro, who was outside, might feel suspicious.
I crept along the window and slowly tilted the door a little.
âLittle mice. Come here.â
The mice soon appeared when I whispered in a small voice.
When they were about to be eaten by owls, I got quite close to the squeaky guys since I gave the owls an earful.
âCwome hewe.â (Come here.)
[Hellow, squeak.]
âBwig mouse.â (Big mouse.)
The biggest mice answered curtly.
âGwo to the jail-.â (Go to the jail-.)
[Donât like the jail.]
My request was flatly rejected even before I finished speaking. I looked around at the mice in fluster.
Everyone seemed to want to leave since they were all turning around.
âYou said youâd do anything I asked whenever.â
Thereâs not one mouse you can trust in this world.
In the end, I had to take out my ace.
âAhâll give cheethe.â (Iâll give cheese.)
[I like jail, squeak.]
âTheyâre guys who donât know anything but cheese.â
I breathed a deep sigh of opportunism. Yes, I understand because I like delicious food, too.
I decided to put aside their ridiculous feelings and asked for my request immediately.
âGwo to de jail and keep an eye on de kid whoâth twapped ath de bottwom.â (Go to the jail and keep an eye on the kid whoâs trapped at the bottom.)