A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

The tense and menacing atmosphere suddenly turned a corner, and almost everyone's movements froze for a moment.

Not to mention the knight commander who was still lying on the ground, even Shulos, who had drawn his bow not far away and stared intently at Heymos ready to shoot the arrow at any time, trembled.

This development...doesn't seem to be right?

Almost all the knights who had already prepared that 'Heymos will injure Garlan out of control, and they will rush forward to save Prince Garlan' were stunned.

Seeing Heymos holding Garlan tightly in his arms, and scanning them sharply and vigilantly, why does it look like they, who are bent on saving people, have become bad people?

Even Garlan, who was being protected by Heymos, was a little confused.

He rushed up just now and desperately pulled Heymos back. He was ready to fight the mad Heymos and be beaten to the ground by him...

Who knew that before he could do anything, Heymos stretched out his right hand, grabbed him, and was hugged.

Because he was hugged too tightly, Garlan's whole body was tightly attached to Heymos' body.

Still a little dazed, he just pressed his face against the other's chest, blinked, and blinked again.

"...Heymos?"

Garlan raised his head and shouted.

Heymos looked down at him, and seemed to answer him subconsciously with a hum, but the expression seemed a little absent-minded.

The pupils were also slightly scattered, as if looking at an extremely distant void, unable to focus on one place.

Garlan saw the eyes of Heymos. The originally golden-red pupils were much more colorful than usual, and the tone seemed to be dyed red by something. The storm-like hostility surged in the depths of the eyes, turning the shallow The light gold was all suppressed.

The eye sockets were shrouded in the shadow of scattered jet-black forehead hair, and there was a hint of darkness in his eyes.

That look is too terrifying, just looking at it makes people shudder.

Garlan was also shocked for a moment, but it wasn't because he was frightened by Heymos' eyes at the moment.

He was terrified because Heymos's eyes at this moment already looked five or six points like the eyes of previous lives.

Before he had time to think about it, Garlan subconsciously stretched out his hand to hold Heymos' cheek, wanting to hold the other's face so that the two could look at each other.

"Heymos."

Cupping Heymos' cheek with both hands, he whispered again.

"Can you recognize me?" He tentatively whispered, "Do you know who I am?"

Heymos's pupils were still a little slack, but at the moment when he was held by Garlan, their faces were facing each other, Garlan's shadow was reflected in the pupils, and the pupils seemed to shrink a bit.

There was a cluster of fire burning in his heart, and the fire burned his internal organs, as if it was really burning his flesh and even his bones and blood. It burned him so painfully that he just wanted to vent it regardless.

When Garlan touched him at this moment, the coolness of the fingertips holding his cheek seemed to seep into his skin, making the crimson in his eyes dissipate a bit.

"……I……"

His mind was still a little confused, so confused that he didn't even know who he was and where he was. He only knew that the guy named Earl in front of him was his hated enemy, and he wanted to kill him crazily.

But just now, when he turned his head and saw Garlan being grabbed and pulled out by others, his body moved almost instinctively.

No matter what, no matter who it is, it is not as important as this young man in his arms.

His body was telling him so.

Thoughts were in turmoil, but his body was warning him not to hurt the boy.

He looked at Garlan in some confusion, only feeling that his mind was flickering, and countless fragments were churning inside, making him have a splitting headache.

"Heymos."

He heard the voice calling his name softly, his confused mind suddenly dispersed, and those fragments disappeared without a trace.

He lowered his head, fell on Garlan, and lost consciousness.

Heymos suddenly fell on him, and Garlan hugged him subconsciously. The weight of Heymos' whole body was on him. It was so heavy that it was impossible to hold him up. I can still hold on.

He turned his head to look at the knight commander beside him, who had already stood up, but his eyes were still looking at them in astonishment, as if he didn't understand the situation.

"Did Heymos give you an order before?"

Garlan asked him.

The knight commander finally came to his senses and quickly answered.

"Uh, yes, yes, Your Highness."

"You just follow his previous orders now, and wait for him to wake up."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The sober knight commander bowed his head to salute Garlan, then turned his head and moved quickly.

Earl, the former Lord of Meneste, was pressed to the side by two knights. He will be temporarily detained in his room and will not be allowed to go out or meet anyone. The same will be true for his son Buck.

And the middle-aged general also hurried out after saluting Garlan. He still had a lot to do.

Issuing the royal decree of King Kamos, announcing the news that Earl was abolished as the city lord in the city, and at the same time, uniting with the forces in the city on his own side to suppress and monitor the forces not on his own side, put the whole city under martial law, to avoid chaos, etc. , he has to deal with these things.

Earl looked very calm at the moment, completely gone from scolding Heymos excitedly just now.He stood there with an indifferent expression, showing no emotion.But for some reason, before leaving, he suddenly turned his head and took a deep look at Garlan.

Garlan still maintained the posture of hugging Heymos who had passed out, and exchanged glances with Earl.

He didn't understand Earl's eyes, because Earl's eyes contained too many and complicated emotions.

"I say……"

Schulos, who had been stunned for a long time, finally came back to his senses.

"What did you call him just now?"

Before Garlan could answer, he asked and answered by himself.

"You just called... Heymos?"

As soon as Schulos spoke, the knight commander next to him raised his thick eyebrows.

"Presumptuous!" He stared at Shuluosi coldly, "Who are you? How dare you call His Highness's name so presumptuously?"

However, Schulos didn't seem to hear his scolding at all, with a sleepwalking expression on his face.

"Ah... I knew... I should have known..."

"It's that...that Highness...I should have thought of it a long time ago, seeing how you get along..."

Schulos read in a trance.

"I was so stupid as to think he was your confidant knight, so... ah, why didn't I think of it earlier, it was actually the 'Black Knight'."

"I'm so stupid, really, I only knew that there was a prince by my side, but I didn't expect..."

Too lazy to care about the bard who had completely fallen into his own world due to excessive shock and couldn't extricate himself, Garlan turned his head and said a few words to the knight commander.

The knight commander responded, leaned over and carried Heymos on his back, and sent him to a nearby room.

"Leave the matter here at Heymos to me. There should be a lot of things to come. You can deal with it."

Garlan said so.

He didn't know what the purpose of Heymos came here, if he made the decision or ordered without authorization, he might accidentally disrupt Heymos' plan.So he didn't plan to go out and command blindly, just let Heymos' subordinates go by themselves.

The knight commander nodded, turned around and left after saluting.

After only he and Heymos were left in the room, Garlan turned his head to look at Heymos who was lying on the bed, and heaved a long sigh of relief.

Finally caught up.

he thinks.

At this moment, his heart that had been hanging high since the moment he knew Heymos was coming to Meneste City finally fell.

He came here after a long journey, and now he was thirsty and tired. Garlan moved a wooden chair, poured himself a glass of cold water, and sat down beside the bed. While drinking, he looked at the person on the bed. .

Heymos lay there quietly, his eyebrows stretched out, his face was handsome and calm, and he was almost like two people from the angry man just now.

The fine black hair was scattered at the corners of his slightly upturned eyes, intertwined with the slender eyelashes, and Garlan couldn't help but reach out and stroke his forehead hair when he saw it.

The black hair was delicate and a little cool.

It feels so good.

Although Nirga's hair is thicker and fluffy and warm, it is a bit rough, not so soft and smooth, like velvet.

Thinking of this in his heart, Garlan couldn't help flicking the tuft of hair twice.

Sitting here is boring anyway, so while thinking about the reason why Heymos was strange just now, he subconsciously twirled Heymos' hair.

But he was already exhausted because of the overnight journey. He was only thinking about things in his heart and was so nervous that he didn't feel sleepy. Now that the matter was over, his hanging heart fell, and the relaxation brought the tiredness. come up.

In the end, he fell asleep on the edge of the bed in such a daze, but his fingers were still pinching Heymos's hair.

And not long after Garlan fell asleep, Heymos opened his eyes.

He stared at the roof in a daze for a long while, and then his eyes became clearer little by little.

As soon as he turned his head, he saw Garlan lying beside him, soundly asleep, his heart softened suddenly, he raised his head and wanted to get up, but his hair hurt, as if being pulled by something.

Looking again, it turned out that Garlan's right hand was holding onto a tuft of his forehead hair, and he did not let go while he fell asleep.

Heymos was taken aback for a moment, then laughed, his eyes became softer.

He held Garlan's hand to free his hair, got up and sat on the edge of the bed.

Garlan lay prone on the bed, his long golden hair slipped from his shoulders, exposing the back of his neck.

As soon as Heymos, who was sitting, lowered his head, he saw the white nape of the young man, and a pink trace like a cherry blossom came into his eyes.

The memory of his childhood flashed in his mind, his eyes moved slightly, he stretched out his hand, and stroked the mark with his fingertips a few times.

However, as if it wasn't enough, Heymos leaned over and bowed his head deeply.

The slightly cool lips landed on the pink trace, and kissed him extremely tenderly, with indescribable affection.

At this moment, Garlan, who was in a light sleep, suddenly raised his hand.

with a snap.

It was surprisingly clear in this quiet room.

"Why are there still mosquitoes..."

The mumbling boy opened his eyes sleepily, and when he looked up, he saw Heymos staring at him with narrowed eyes and a dark face.

Garlan's mind turned, and he remembered the itchy feeling on the back of his neck just now, as well as the slap, and he understood it instantly.

"Deserving it."

He guessed right away that he probably fell asleep just now and accidentally slapped Heymos, but Garlan said that he didn't feel sorry at all.

He stood up, touched the nape of his neck that still seemed to have a little touch, and looked down at Heymos unhappily.

"You bastard who takes advantage of others."

It just deserves it.

If it wasn't for Heymos who took advantage of him when he was sleepy and tired and fell asleep, it wouldn't be so easy for him to slap him that way.

Heymos sat on the edge of the bed, looked up at Garlan for a few minutes.

He didn't refute, just pursed his lips, then lowered his eyes.

His lips were originally thin, but they became sharper when they were tightened.

"I saw a very strange picture just now..."

"what?"

Garlan suddenly remembered what he wanted to ask.

"Speaking of which, what happened to you just now, you suddenly seemed crazy, so a bunch of people can't stop you?"

Heymos frowned.

"I don't know very well, but at that time, I seemed to only have the idea of ​​killing Earl, so..."

"Heymos, I know you hate Earl, but Earl is your uncle. Of course, I don't mean that he can do whatever he wants to you as your uncle. I just want to say, Since Brother Wang has issued an imperial order, he is destined to be useless, why do you ruin your future just to vent your anger on this useless person?"

Garlan said, word by word, with deep meaning.

"It's not worthwhile to use a jade bottle to smash an earthen jar, don't you think?"

Amused by the young man's lecture-like tone, but also afraid that he would make Garlan unhappy if he laughed, Heymos could only hold back his smile, and his expression was a little weird.

And Garlan took his strange expression of suppressed laughter as unwillingness, and then remembered the shitty things Earl had done... Let alone the abuse of Heymos who was still a child, he forced Heymos to leave After entering the city of Meneste, he still refuses to let him go. From childhood to adulthood, he has made various small and big moves, trying to put Heymos to death... Garlan also vaguely guessed that the framing incident not long ago may be It was also secretly arranged by Earl.

Thinking about it this way, it seemed understandable that Heymos wanted to kill Earl with such hatred...

Looking down again, Heymos was sitting quietly by the bed with his eyes downcast. No matter how he looked, he looked like a pitiful little boy, so he couldn't help reaching out and patted Heymos' head to comfort him.

"It's your right to take revenge if you want to."

he exhorted.

"But, promise me, you must never do anything to Earl yourself."

In fact, there was no sadness at all, Heymos, who was just looking down and remembering the scene at that time, raised his head to Garlan after being touched in this way.

Garlan quickly withdrew his hand.

"At that time, I saw a very strange picture."

He says,

"I saw that time many years ago, you didn't push me away, the charcoal fire fell on me, and the fire burned on me."

Garlan's breath stopped.

"That feeling is very real, as if it really happened... Most of my body was burned, and I almost died. In the end, although I survived with difficulty, my body became like a monster... Even... my future..."

Heymos stopped after speaking the last sentence, as if unwilling to continue.

"That scene was like a nightmare, and the nightmare seemed real, so I couldn't control my hatred for Earl at all."

He was a little dazed, looking down at one of his hands.

The palm of his hand lost the palm prints due to the original burn, but it was still intact, and it looked like an ordinary person from the back of the hand.

But in those flashing images, his entire arm was as ugly and ferocious as a devil's claw, and he felt disgusted to look at it, so he had to wrap it in a bandage all the time.

"That feeling...was terrifying."

He murmured, just thinking about that scene, he felt like he was shrouded in darkness, no matter how frantically he struggled, he couldn't see hope or future.

The feeling is almost suffocating.

"I don't know, if I really become like that, what will I become... lingering like a monster? Or..."

... Or, from body to mind, really become a monster?

"It won't be like that."

Someone interrupted him.

Heymos raised his eyes and met Garlan's gaze.

"I will not let things become like that. Do you remember? I said that time, I will take care of you, I will protect you."

Garlan looked at him and said.

"I said it, and it will be done."

The boy's eyes were astonishingly bright.

"Trust me, I will protect you," he said.

Looking at those bright golden eyes, the corners of Heymos's lips suddenly raised a little.

Then, he suddenly stretched out his hand.

He just sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out his hands to Garlan.

He looked up at Garlan, his eyes were slightly bright, as if there were stars flickering in his eyes.

Garlan was stunned for a moment, seeing Heymos's action, he couldn't help but complain.

"I said, do you think you are still a child? Do you want to give you a hug and a hug?"

The upward arc of Heymos' mouth became even stronger.

"Ah."

He still maintained the posture of extending his hands to Garlan.

He said, "I want a hug."

He is obviously a big man, but he said these three words with confidence and candidly.

Gallan: "..."

Is it too late to take back what I just said?