Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
In the government affairs hall, on the high platform, King Camos sat on the throne and spread the parchment handed over by his subordinates on the table.
Sweeping his gaze over the paper, he frowned.
“The situation in Vernal City became more serious?”
A middle-aged minister standing on the lower side had his back arched slightly and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It was my negligence, I…”
The minister, who seemingly intended to confess, was interrupted by King Camos’ raised hand.
“I don’t want to listen to this now.”
“Tell me the truth. What is the current situation of Vernal City?”
The courtiers below glanced at each other and once again bowed their heads.
“Ever since Vernal City suffered an early flood due to the monsoon season some time ago, according to your orders, I did my best to prepare and sent all the food and medicine for disaster relief.”
The oldest minister among them continued, “But with the current situation, the results were not good.”
“Yes. It is said that there are countless casualties and there are many who went missing,” a medical officer spoke.
“King Camos, I’ve received a report from the medical officer in Vernal City saying that the situation is dire. There are signs of a plague emerging and medicine is very scarce.” He continued, “Request to send large quantities of food and medicine from nearby cities as soon as possible.”
Another sheriff also spoke. “I’ve also received a report that there were a large number of kidnappings in the City of Vernal. Many women and children were abducted. The people living in the city are panicking because of this. The governor has requested your command to dispatch the army.”
The golden-brown eyes narrowed slightly. This was a sign of the beast’s anger.
However, the King of Aaron Landis, who was sitting on the throne, just squinted his eyes and did not show an angry expression. His gaze swept across the ministers in front of him, with an expression of unknown meaning.
“I understand,” Camos replied in a very calm tone.
“All of you are dismissed.”
King Camos listened to the requests of the ministers but did not give any solutions. Instead, he got up and left under the gaze of everyone.
That night during dinner, King Camos, who ate in his bedroom, invited Ziemuer on the basis of wanting to know about Prince Garlan’s recent study situation.
The confidants in the bedroom were those that Camos could trust, and it was here he could express his plans without any scruples.
“Ziemuer, get ready. I’ll be going to the City of Vernal.”
Putting a piece of roasted meat covered with dipping sauce into his mouth, Camos gave a secret order to Ziemuer while he chewed.
His tone sounded relaxed. It was as if it was as easy and simple as telling Ziemuer what he wanted to eat for dinner.
The priest of Shamash frowned.
But knowing King Camos, he didn’t intend to discourage him. In any case, it was useless to dissuade him.
With this King’s temper, Ziemuer had vaguely guessed King Camos’ plan when he saw him so calm during the day.
“Yes, Your Majesty. How many warriors do you plan to take with you?”
King Camos stroked his chin. “Eight hundred…no, five hundred should be enough.”
He wanted to secretly sneak in. If he brought too many people, it would easily be found out.
He continued, “Find some excuse and arrange for five hundred warriors to leave the city in batches within these three days and gather outside the city.”
“Yes.”
King Camos had asked Garlan to accompany him to have dinner every night. Today was not an exception.
The conversation between Camos and Ziemuer was obviously not hidden from Garlan. The young boy heard it from the beginning to the end at the side.
“Brother King, are you going to the City of Vernal?” He couldn’t help asking.
“Hmm? Do you want to go?”
“…”
The joking tone of King Camos silenced the child.
Although Garlan had been reborn in this world several times, in order to guard against Heimos, Garlan had been closely protected by his subordinates and had spent most of his time in the palace. Even to the Imperial City, he had only been there a few times.
It could also be said that he had not been to the Imperial City.
Thinking of this, he whispered, “…want to go.”
After speaking, he thought for a while, raised his head and repeated.
This time, he raised his voice.
“Brother King, I want to go.”
As the blond-haired child raised his head and spoke, his small face revealed an expression full of expectation, and his big amber jewel-like eyes looked at King Camos with eagerness.
The young King smiled and patted his little brother’s head, while the young child kept looking at him.
“Okay.” He said, “Brother King will bring you along.”
“King Camos!”
Camos easily gave his promise but the priest next to him was not calm.
“We’re not going there to play! We might even be going to war!”
“Hahaha, it’s okay. I’ll be there, what are you afraid of?”
Ziemuer, “…”
Although he wanted to refute, he didn’t know how to do so.
Indeed, there were people like King Camos who were as powerful as a lion, coupled with hundreds of brave and fighting soldiers. In Aaron Landis, they didn’t need to fear anyone.
“As a man, there will come a day where he is needed on the battlefield. Although Garlan is still young, as the Prince of Aaron Landis, it is time for him to experience it.”
“…If that’s the case, King Camos, how about you also bring Prince Heimos to experience it?”
Both princes of Aaron Landis needed to grow up as quickly as possible.
Therefore, Ziemuer would not let go of any opportunity for the princes to develop.
King Camos covered his mouth with a ‘tsk’. It was obvious that he was reluctant based on his expression, but he just scratched his brown hair and nodded.
Ziemuer said, “That’s convenient. The reason is practical. King Camos, you want to take your two brothers to the royal ranch to hunt.”
“Okay.” Camos replied simply, “Just tell that to outsiders.”
“Also, if you wear light and simple clothes, then the five hundred warriors cannot wear steel armor, but preferably leather armor…”
Camos and Ziemuer continued discussing the details, however Garlan at the side had no intention of listening.
After being reborn several times, he had always stayed in the Imperial palace, and under the heavy protection of his subordinates, he had never taken a step out.
He was under one person and above ten thousand1, the young King Brother. Despite that, occasionally, he felt like he was imprisoned in this huge Imperial City cage.
That might be one of the reasons why he wanted to escape from the Imperial City in this life.
…
In any case, this time, he was finally able to set foot on the land outside for the first time.
…
Time quickly flew by and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Since the female officer serving Garlan knew that the young prince was going to the royal ranch to hunt with King Camos and would stay there for a while, she busily packed two entire carriages full of his belongings.
When Ziemuer took a look, he rejected the two carriages and only asked Garlan to bring a small bag and pack a few simple clothes.
Garlan carefully put in a few pieces of underwear that he had asked the maid to make for him, and then under the worried gaze of the middle-aged female officer, carried a small bag and followed Ziemuer.
The priest of Shamash had also changed into a white robe and put on a riding outfit that was easy to maneuver in. The shoulders, chest, waist and other vital parts were covered with brown-black leather armor.
When they arrived, they heard the neighing of horses. Thousands of cavalry2 stood in the spotting field, each comforting their horses. They were also wearing dark brown leather armor similar to that of Ziemuer.
As soon as Garlan arrived, King Camos’ tall figure greeted him.
He laughed and carried Garlan with one hand, letting him sit on his arm, and stuffed Garlan with something with his other hand.
Garlan looked down and found that King Camos had given him a block of white candy.
“Brother King, I’ve just finished breakfast…”
“Hahaha, it’s not for you. Hold on to it.”
After Camos finished speaking, he took big steps and took Garlan to a steed.
It was a tall, pitch-black horse, and its fur was like satin, shining black and glowing under the sun. The mane and tail on its neck were honey-like golden brown and when the wind blew, it shimmered like a wave, with a touch of metallic luster.
It was an extremely beautiful steed, and at the same time, very majestic. The shape of the tendons on the slender legs were extremely distinct, and the muscle lines on the chest were clearly textured and slightly bulged, giving a robust and powerful feeling.
Among the sea of horses, it was so outstanding that everyone’s first glance fell on it.
At this moment, amidst the successive neigh of horses, it stood there quietly, leisurely, giving people a sense of unapproachable aristocratic calm and nobleness.
King Camos carried Garlan and walked over. The horse immediately turned his head and when he saw Camos, he changed back to a leisurely appearance.
“Tuck.”
Camos touched his mane, then pointed to Garlan in his arms.
The black horse snorted lightly, leaned over, and smelled Garlan as if he wanted to remember his scent. But when Garlan stretched out his hand and tried to touch it, it swung its head and avoided his touch.
The mighty horse raised his head and looked down at the child in front of him with big eyes, seemingly judging him. His body and aura were much heavier than ordinary horses and gave others a great sense of oppression.
Garlan blinked, smiled at the horse who was looking down at him condescendingly, and then stretched out his hand.
The white candy in his hand melted a bit because he had been holding it tightly. At this moment, it exuded a sweet smell.
As soon as the dark horse with his head held up smelled the candy, he couldn’t pretend anymore. The big horse glanced at Garlan and hesitated a little when he saw the child holding the candy and smiling at him sweetly. After a while, he lowered his head and began to lick the candy in Garlan’s hand.
Camos smiled and nodded at Garlan, indicating that he did a good job.
After Tuck licked the candy clean, Camos raised Garlan and put him on the back of the dark horse.
The dark horse turned his head and glanced at King Camos while standing still.
The king of horses, who refused to let anyone ride on his back except King Camos, seemed to agree with Camos’ behaviour. He turned his head and shook his beautiful honey-coloured mane.
Camos roared with laughter.
He braced with both hands, jumped up on the back of the horse and pulled on the reins.
The pitch-black steed raised his hooves and let out a long neigh, which was like the roar of a dragon and a tiger, suppressing the neighing of all the other horses present.
“Set off!”
King Camos shouted loudly, his voice resounding across the sky.
In the next second, the black horse under him rushed out like an arrow from the bow, taking the lead.
Behind him, thousands of cavalry followed.
The horses galloped fiercely, rolling up heavy dust and shaking the ground.
…
What the ministers knew was that King Camos took the two princes to the king’s ranch for hunting activities.
It was an activity often held by King Camos, and this time it was to teach the two princes. Everything seemed normal, so nobody took it seriously.
In any case, King Camos took three thousand cavalry with him, just outside the city. It wasn’t considered far, so the safety of the king and the two princes was not something to be worried about.
But what they didn’t know was that after King Camos led his confidant warriors to the King’s ranch, he sneaked out together with the two princes, Ziemuer, and five hundred cavalry.
He left the remaining two thousand five hundred cavalry in the pasture to guard the four sides tightly, creating the illusion that they were still hunting.
Just like that, King Camos took five hundred cavalry along the remote road, avoiding people’s eyes and ears, and set off toward the City of Vernal.
Garlan was naturally taken by Camos and sat in front of him.
In actual fact, he knew how to ride a horse. But everyone assumed that he was too young to know, and with such small arms and legs, he couldn’t find a horse suitable for him to ride. Thus, Garlan obediently pretended that he couldn’t and let Camos help him.
He sat in front of Camos and rode all the way. For the whole day, he ate ashes and dust.
At night, the group finally stopped when they found a creek as a temporary camp. Garlan’s entire being was filthy with grime. He felt that he didn’t need to eat dinner, because his stomach was full of ash from the ride.
Therefore, after Garlan was carried down by Camos from his horse, the young prince didn’t care about other things and just hurried towards the stream not far away.
As soon as he got to the stream—well, he knew it.
The one who came to the stream to wash before him was naturally the Lord Shamash priest, who had a habit of cleanliness. At this moment, Ziemuer was squatting by the stream, using a small square handkerchief to carefully wipe away the dust on his face.
Garlan squatted down beside him. He didn’t bring any handkerchiefs, so he directly splashed water onto his face with his hand.
The cool water on his face felt very refreshing. While washing off the dirt, it also took away the hotness in his heart, which made Garlan a lot more comfortable.
Ah, my butt hurts.
After spending a whole day on horseback, if Brother King hadn’t put a soft cushion for him, he would probably be lying on his stomach the whole day.
As the water dripped down from his cheeks, Garlan raised his hand and wiped his face casually with the back of his hand, shaking off a couple water droplets, and then got up.
“Your Royal Highness.”
As soon as he stood up, the person next to him called out.
Garlan turned his head and saw Ziemuer holding a wet handkerchief in his hand, looking at him.
“Please come here, Your Highness.”
The child glanced at Ziemuer, who was staring at him, and then at the wet handkerchief in the other party’s hand.
He raised his hand to wave and wanted to refuse.
“No…no, it’s alright, Ziemuer.”
It was a pity that Garlan’s refusal was useless. Ziemuer grabbed him, bent down, and then began to wipe his hair, sideburns, auricles, corners of eyes, sides of his nose and other places carefully with a wet handkerchief.
Then, holding Garlan’s hand without allowing the other to refuse, he wiped the fingers of the two little hands clean.
When the square handkerchief in Ziemuer’s hand turned gray, the little prince of Aaron Landis also changed from a little drab child back to his original fair and delicate appearance.
Looking at the little King’s Brother who was wiped clean in front of him, the priest, who was obsessed with cleanliness, nodded in satisfaction.
…Garlan had given up struggling in the middle and was at the mercy of Ziemuer.
The familiar laughter rang from the side. It was King Camos who also came to the stream to wash up.
He looked at his lovely little King Brother who had been wiped clean, and for the first time, felt very satisfied with Ziemuer’s hygienic obsession.
He strode over and hugged little Garlan, habitually leaning his face in and rubbing his little brother’s soft cheek.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts— It really hurts—
Being stabbed by King Camos’s rough stubble, Garlan resisted an urge to shout.
After rubbing his little brother, Camos was content and put Garlan down. Then, he squatted down by the stream, just like Garlan did, took the water in his hand and splashed it on his face. He then used his hand to forcefully rub his face a few times, treating it as washing his face.
Ziemuer stood by and watched, suddenly frowned, and asked, “Did you come out today without shaving?”
He saw a lot of green stubble on King Camos’ chin, with uneven length, one area had hair while another area had none. It made him look a little bit unpleasant.
“It seems to be.”
Camos caressed his chin, it was indeed a bit thorny, but he didn’t care.
“Why do men have to shave so cleanly? A little beard is good.”
He said while touching his chin again.
“Simply just don’t shave anymore and keep it. I’ll look even more impressive.”
Ziemuer said nothing.
Anyway, the matter was decided by King Camos. No one could persuade him. If he wanted to grow a beard, so be it.
…
Wait, so was this the reason why King Camos had a thick beard and a hairy face in the future?
Garlan had just figured out the reason, and when he couldn’t help but vomit inside, he suddenly saw a familiar figure approaching him not far away.
The black-haired boy was like a black wolf silently appearing from the woods, walking up to him without making a sound.
“You really did come.”
Garlan continued in surprise, “I didn’t see you this morning, so I thought you didn’t follow.”
“I was assigned to a team of cavalry on the side to move with them,” Heimos replied.
He looked down at Garlan and suddenly frowned. He then stretched out his hand, pinched Garlan’s chin, raised his small face and unblinkingly stared at his face.
Garlan, whose chin was caught and raised guardedly, when he reacted, he immediately slapped Heimos’ hand away.
“What are you doing?” he asked unhappily.
The young golden-red eyes moved, revealing a thoughtful look. Heimos didn’t answer Garlan’s question but turned to look at King Camos on the side.
Over at the side, King Camos had almost finished washing his face, and he wiped his face indiscriminately with his big hand, shaking off droplets of water.
Then, he looked at Garlan again and stretched out his hand.
“Come, Garlan. Brother King will take you to eat barbecue. Haha, Brother King will cook it for you himself.”
Just when King Camos stretched out his hand to hug and carry Garlan and then rubbed his little brother’s face again, an arm suddenly stretched out and stopped in front of the young child.
Garlan was taken aback for a moment and looked at Heimos who was in front of him in astonishment.
“Please stop this behaviour.”
Looking at the young boy who stopped his action, King Camos became upset.
“Hey, you brat, you better not overstep your boundaries.3“
“Heimos… what are you…” Garlan couldn’t help but ask.
Facing King Camos, the young boy, who was shorter than the other, didn’t flinch and continued to confront Camos.
“Your4 behaviour hurt Garlan. Don’t you know that?”
“What?”
“His face is covered with red scratches from your beard, haven’t you noticed it?”
“…”
Camos subconsciously looked at Garlan’s face.
He saw several red marks on the child’s soft cheeks that were rubbed off by a hard object, which were especially conspicuous on the fair and delicate skin.
Suddenly, King Camos frowned.
“Hey, Ziemuer.”
“Yes?”
“Give me a razor blade!”
Others may not have, but Camos knew that Ziemuer would definitely carry those kinds of things with him.
Ziemuer, “…Yes.”
The expressionless priest handed over a thin blade that was half the size of a palm, and then continued blankly watching King Camos hurriedly take the blade and squatted by the stream to shave his beard.
What?
Beard? The pride of a man?
Pei! How was that more important than my little brother!
Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
In the government affairs hall, on the high platform, King Camos sat on the throne and spread the parchment handed over by his subordinates on the table.
Sweeping his gaze over the paper, he frowned.
“The situation in Vernal City became more serious?”
A middle-aged minister standing on the lower side had his back arched slightly and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It was my negligence, I…”
The minister, who seemingly intended to confess, was interrupted by King Camos’ raised hand.
“I don’t want to listen to this now.”
“Tell me the truth. What is the current situation of Vernal City?”
The courtiers below glanced at each other and once again bowed their heads.
“Ever since Vernal City suffered an early flood due to the monsoon season some time ago, according to your orders, I did my best to prepare and sent all the food and medicine for disaster relief.”
The oldest minister among them continued, “But with the current situation, the results were not good.”
“Yes. It is said that there are countless casualties and there are many who went missing,” a medical officer spoke.
“King Camos, I’ve received a report from the medical officer in Vernal City saying that the situation is dire. There are signs of a plague emerging and medicine is very scarce.” He continued, “Request to send large quantities of food and medicine from nearby cities as soon as possible.”
Another sheriff also spoke. “I’ve also received a report that there were a large number of kidnappings in the City of Vernal. Many women and children were abducted. The people living in the city are panicking because of this. The governor has requested your command to dispatch the army.”
The golden-brown eyes narrowed slightly. This was a sign of the beast’s anger.
However, the King of Aaron Landis, who was sitting on the throne, just squinted his eyes and did not show an angry expression. His gaze swept across the ministers in front of him, with an expression of unknown meaning.
“I understand,” Camos replied in a very calm tone.
“All of you are dismissed.”
King Camos listened to the requests of the ministers but did not give any solutions. Instead, he got up and left under the gaze of everyone.
That night during dinner, King Camos, who ate in his bedroom, invited Ziemuer on the basis of wanting to know about Prince Garlan’s recent study situation.
The confidants in the bedroom were those that Camos could trust, and it was here he could express his plans without any scruples.
“Ziemuer, get ready. I’ll be going to the City of Vernal.”
Putting a piece of roasted meat covered with dipping sauce into his mouth, Camos gave a secret order to Ziemuer while he chewed.
His tone sounded relaxed. It was as if it was as easy and simple as telling Ziemuer what he wanted to eat for dinner.
The priest of Shamash frowned.
But knowing King Camos, he didn’t intend to discourage him. In any case, it was useless to dissuade him.
With this King’s temper, Ziemuer had vaguely guessed King Camos’ plan when he saw him so calm during the day.
“Yes, Your Majesty. How many warriors do you plan to take with you?”
King Camos stroked his chin. “Eight hundred…no, five hundred should be enough.”
He wanted to secretly sneak in. If he brought too many people, it would easily be found out.
He continued, “Find some excuse and arrange for five hundred warriors to leave the city in batches within these three days and gather outside the city.”
“Yes.”
King Camos had asked Garlan to accompany him to have dinner every night. Today was not an exception.
The conversation between Camos and Ziemuer was obviously not hidden from Garlan. The young boy heard it from the beginning to the end at the side.
“Brother King, are you going to the City of Vernal?” He couldn’t help asking.
“Hmm? Do you want to go?”
“…”
The joking tone of King Camos silenced the child.
Although Garlan had been reborn in this world several times, in order to guard against Heimos, Garlan had been closely protected by his subordinates and had spent most of his time in the palace. Even to the Imperial City, he had only been there a few times.
It could also be said that he had not been to the Imperial City.
Thinking of this, he whispered, “…want to go.”
After speaking, he thought for a while, raised his head and repeated.
This time, he raised his voice.
“Brother King, I want to go.”
As the blond-haired child raised his head and spoke, his small face revealed an expression full of expectation, and his big amber jewel-like eyes looked at King Camos with eagerness.
The young King smiled and patted his little brother’s head, while the young child kept looking at him.
“Okay.” He said, “Brother King will bring you along.”
“King Camos!”
Camos easily gave his promise but the priest next to him was not calm.
“We’re not going there to play! We might even be going to war!”
“Hahaha, it’s okay. I’ll be there, what are you afraid of?”
Ziemuer, “…”
Although he wanted to refute, he didn’t know how to do so.
Indeed, there were people like King Camos who were as powerful as a lion, coupled with hundreds of brave and fighting soldiers. In Aaron Landis, they didn’t need to fear anyone.
“As a man, there will come a day where he is needed on the battlefield. Although Garlan is still young, as the Prince of Aaron Landis, it is time for him to experience it.”
“…If that’s the case, King Camos, how about you also bring Prince Heimos to experience it?”
Both princes of Aaron Landis needed to grow up as quickly as possible.
Therefore, Ziemuer would not let go of any opportunity for the princes to develop.
King Camos covered his mouth with a ‘tsk’. It was obvious that he was reluctant based on his expression, but he just scratched his brown hair and nodded.
Ziemuer said, “That’s convenient. The reason is practical. King Camos, you want to take your two brothers to the royal ranch to hunt.”
“Okay.” Camos replied simply, “Just tell that to outsiders.”
“Also, if you wear light and simple clothes, then the five hundred warriors cannot wear steel armor, but preferably leather armor…”
Camos and Ziemuer continued discussing the details, however Garlan at the side had no intention of listening.
After being reborn several times, he had always stayed in the Imperial palace, and under the heavy protection of his subordinates, he had never taken a step out.
He was under one person and above ten thousand1, the young King Brother. Despite that, occasionally, he felt like he was imprisoned in this huge Imperial City cage.
That might be one of the reasons why he wanted to escape from the Imperial City in this life.
…
In any case, this time, he was finally able to set foot on the land outside for the first time.
…
Time quickly flew by and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Since the female officer serving Garlan knew that the young prince was going to the royal ranch to hunt with King Camos and would stay there for a while, she busily packed two entire carriages full of his belongings.
When Ziemuer took a look, he rejected the two carriages and only asked Garlan to bring a small bag and pack a few simple clothes.
Garlan carefully put in a few pieces of underwear that he had asked the maid to make for him, and then under the worried gaze of the middle-aged female officer, carried a small bag and followed Ziemuer.
The priest of Shamash had also changed into a white robe and put on a riding outfit that was easy to maneuver in. The shoulders, chest, waist and other vital parts were covered with brown-black leather armor.
When they arrived, they heard the neighing of horses. Thousands of cavalry2 stood in the spotting field, each comforting their horses. They were also wearing dark brown leather armor similar to that of Ziemuer.
As soon as Garlan arrived, King Camos’ tall figure greeted him.
He laughed and carried Garlan with one hand, letting him sit on his arm, and stuffed Garlan with something with his other hand.
Garlan looked down and found that King Camos had given him a block of white candy.
“Brother King, I’ve just finished breakfast…”
“Hahaha, it’s not for you. Hold on to it.”
After Camos finished speaking, he took big steps and took Garlan to a steed.
It was a tall, pitch-black horse, and its fur was like satin, shining black and glowing under the sun. The mane and tail on its neck were honey-like golden brown and when the wind blew, it shimmered like a wave, with a touch of metallic luster.
It was an extremely beautiful steed, and at the same time, very majestic. The shape of the tendons on the slender legs were extremely distinct, and the muscle lines on the chest were clearly textured and slightly bulged, giving a robust and powerful feeling.
Among the sea of horses, it was so outstanding that everyone’s first glance fell on it.
At this moment, amidst the successive neigh of horses, it stood there quietly, leisurely, giving people a sense of unapproachable aristocratic calm and nobleness.
King Camos carried Garlan and walked over. The horse immediately turned his head and when he saw Camos, he changed back to a leisurely appearance.
“Tuck.”
Camos touched his mane, then pointed to Garlan in his arms.
The black horse snorted lightly, leaned over, and smelled Garlan as if he wanted to remember his scent. But when Garlan stretched out his hand and tried to touch it, it swung its head and avoided his touch.
The mighty horse raised his head and looked down at the child in front of him with big eyes, seemingly judging him. His body and aura were much heavier than ordinary horses and gave others a great sense of oppression.
Garlan blinked, smiled at the horse who was looking down at him condescendingly, and then stretched out his hand.
The white candy in his hand melted a bit because he had been holding it tightly. At this moment, it exuded a sweet smell.
As soon as the dark horse with his head held up smelled the candy, he couldn’t pretend anymore. The big horse glanced at Garlan and hesitated a little when he saw the child holding the candy and smiling at him sweetly. After a while, he lowered his head and began to lick the candy in Garlan’s hand.
Camos smiled and nodded at Garlan, indicating that he did a good job.
After Tuck licked the candy clean, Camos raised Garlan and put him on the back of the dark horse.
The dark horse turned his head and glanced at King Camos while standing still.
The king of horses, who refused to let anyone ride on his back except King Camos, seemed to agree with Camos’ behaviour. He turned his head and shook his beautiful honey-coloured mane.
Camos roared with laughter.
He braced with both hands, jumped up on the back of the horse and pulled on the reins.
The pitch-black steed raised his hooves and let out a long neigh, which was like the roar of a dragon and a tiger, suppressing the neighing of all the other horses present.
“Set off!”
King Camos shouted loudly, his voice resounding across the sky.
In the next second, the black horse under him rushed out like an arrow from the bow, taking the lead.
Behind him, thousands of cavalry followed.
The horses galloped fiercely, rolling up heavy dust and shaking the ground.
…
What the ministers knew was that King Camos took the two princes to the king’s ranch for hunting activities.
It was an activity often held by King Camos, and this time it was to teach the two princes. Everything seemed normal, so nobody took it seriously.
In any case, King Camos took three thousand cavalry with him, just outside the city. It wasn’t considered far, so the safety of the king and the two princes was not something to be worried about.
But what they didn’t know was that after King Camos led his confidant warriors to the King’s ranch, he sneaked out together with the two princes, Ziemuer, and five hundred cavalry.
He left the remaining two thousand five hundred cavalry in the pasture to guard the four sides tightly, creating the illusion that they were still hunting.
Just like that, King Camos took five hundred cavalry along the remote road, avoiding people’s eyes and ears, and set off toward the City of Vernal.
Garlan was naturally taken by Camos and sat in front of him.
In actual fact, he knew how to ride a horse. But everyone assumed that he was too young to know, and with such small arms and legs, he couldn’t find a horse suitable for him to ride. Thus, Garlan obediently pretended that he couldn’t and let Camos help him.
He sat in front of Camos and rode all the way. For the whole day, he ate ashes and dust.
At night, the group finally stopped when they found a creek as a temporary camp. Garlan’s entire being was filthy with grime. He felt that he didn’t need to eat dinner, because his stomach was full of ash from the ride.
Therefore, after Garlan was carried down by Camos from his horse, the young prince didn’t care about other things and just hurried towards the stream not far away.
As soon as he got to the stream—well, he knew it.
The one who came to the stream to wash before him was naturally the Lord Shamash priest, who had a habit of cleanliness. At this moment, Ziemuer was squatting by the stream, using a small square handkerchief to carefully wipe away the dust on his face.
Garlan squatted down beside him. He didn’t bring any handkerchiefs, so he directly splashed water onto his face with his hand.
The cool water on his face felt very refreshing. While washing off the dirt, it also took away the hotness in his heart, which made Garlan a lot more comfortable.
Ah, my butt hurts.
After spending a whole day on horseback, if Brother King hadn’t put a soft cushion for him, he would probably be lying on his stomach the whole day.
As the water dripped down from his cheeks, Garlan raised his hand and wiped his face casually with the back of his hand, shaking off a couple water droplets, and then got up.
“Your Royal Highness.”
As soon as he stood up, the person next to him called out.
Garlan turned his head and saw Ziemuer holding a wet handkerchief in his hand, looking at him.
“Please come here, Your Highness.”
The child glanced at Ziemuer, who was staring at him, and then at the wet handkerchief in the other party’s hand.
He raised his hand to wave and wanted to refuse.
“No…no, it’s alright, Ziemuer.”
It was a pity that Garlan’s refusal was useless. Ziemuer grabbed him, bent down, and then began to wipe his hair, sideburns, auricles, corners of eyes, sides of his nose and other places carefully with a wet handkerchief.
Then, holding Garlan’s hand without allowing the other to refuse, he wiped the fingers of the two little hands clean.
When the square handkerchief in Ziemuer’s hand turned gray, the little prince of Aaron Landis also changed from a little drab child back to his original fair and delicate appearance.
Looking at the little King’s Brother who was wiped clean in front of him, the priest, who was obsessed with cleanliness, nodded in satisfaction.
…Garlan had given up struggling in the middle and was at the mercy of Ziemuer.
The familiar laughter rang from the side. It was King Camos who also came to the stream to wash up.
He looked at his lovely little King Brother who had been wiped clean, and for the first time, felt very satisfied with Ziemuer’s hygienic obsession.
He strode over and hugged little Garlan, habitually leaning his face in and rubbing his little brother’s soft cheek.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts— It really hurts—
Being stabbed by King Camos’s rough stubble, Garlan resisted an urge to shout.
After rubbing his little brother, Camos was content and put Garlan down. Then, he squatted down by the stream, just like Garlan did, took the water in his hand and splashed it on his face. He then used his hand to forcefully rub his face a few times, treating it as washing his face.
Ziemuer stood by and watched, suddenly frowned, and asked, “Did you come out today without shaving?”
He saw a lot of green stubble on King Camos’ chin, with uneven length, one area had hair while another area had none. It made him look a little bit unpleasant.
“It seems to be.”
Camos caressed his chin, it was indeed a bit thorny, but he didn’t care.
“Why do men have to shave so cleanly? A little beard is good.”
He said while touching his chin again.
“Simply just don’t shave anymore and keep it. I’ll look even more impressive.”
Ziemuer said nothing.
Anyway, the matter was decided by King Camos. No one could persuade him. If he wanted to grow a beard, so be it.
…
Wait, so was this the reason why King Camos had a thick beard and a hairy face in the future?
Garlan had just figured out the reason, and when he couldn’t help but vomit inside, he suddenly saw a familiar figure approaching him not far away.
The black-haired boy was like a black wolf silently appearing from the woods, walking up to him without making a sound.
“You really did come.”
Garlan continued in surprise, “I didn’t see you this morning, so I thought you didn’t follow.”
“I was assigned to a team of cavalry on the side to move with them,” Heimos replied.
He looked down at Garlan and suddenly frowned. He then stretched out his hand, pinched Garlan’s chin, raised his small face and unblinkingly stared at his face.
Garlan, whose chin was caught and raised guardedly, when he reacted, he immediately slapped Heimos’ hand away.
“What are you doing?” he asked unhappily.
The young golden-red eyes moved, revealing a thoughtful look. Heimos didn’t answer Garlan’s question but turned to look at King Camos on the side.
Over at the side, King Camos had almost finished washing his face, and he wiped his face indiscriminately with his big hand, shaking off droplets of water.
Then, he looked at Garlan again and stretched out his hand.
“Come, Garlan. Brother King will take you to eat barbecue. Haha, Brother King will cook it for you himself.”
Just when King Camos stretched out his hand to hug and carry Garlan and then rubbed his little brother’s face again, an arm suddenly stretched out and stopped in front of the young child.
Garlan was taken aback for a moment and looked at Heimos who was in front of him in astonishment.
“Please stop this behaviour.”
Looking at the young boy who stopped his action, King Camos became upset.
“Hey, you brat, you better not overstep your boundaries.3“
“Heimos… what are you…” Garlan couldn’t help but ask.
Facing King Camos, the young boy, who was shorter than the other, didn’t flinch and continued to confront Camos.
“Your4 behaviour hurt Garlan. Don’t you know that?”
“What?”
“His face is covered with red scratches from your beard, haven’t you noticed it?”
“…”
Camos subconsciously looked at Garlan’s face.
He saw several red marks on the child’s soft cheeks that were rubbed off by a hard object, which were especially conspicuous on the fair and delicate skin.
Suddenly, King Camos frowned.
“Hey, Ziemuer.”
“Yes?”
“Give me a razor blade!”
Others may not have, but Camos knew that Ziemuer would definitely carry those kinds of things with him.
Ziemuer, “…Yes.”
The expressionless priest handed over a thin blade that was half the size of a palm, and then continued blankly watching King Camos hurriedly take the blade and squatted by the stream to shave his beard.
What?
Beard? The pride of a man?
Pei! How was that more important than my little brother!
