Chapter 10: Antares (4)

　　“You should’ve come to me first.”

　　“You’re right. Now that I think about it, that would have been best.” Luina paused, then added, “I spend so much time with you that I keep forgetting you’re a prince.”

　　Seeing her smile so lightly, Rowen could not help but sigh.

　　How could she smile at a time like this? After provoking the captain of the crown prince’s guard! And where had Ferken gone?

　　Hamelek needed to understand that House Alios stood behind Luina as well. Otherwise, there was no telling what vindictive stunt he might pull in the name of retaliation.

　　“So about these Wolbrines… What evidence do you actually have?”

　　“None,” Luina admitted. “The climate and terrain here are similar to what Sharon described, so I thought there was a chance, that’s all. If I’d been completely certain, I would’ve thrown myself down in front of the crown prince to stop him.”

　　Luina had never seen one herself. If Wolbrines truly appeared, she would just have to start cutting them down. If they didn’t, so much the better. She explained it all in her usual matter-of-fact tone, while Rowen’s stomach twisted with anxiety. Either way, they were in serious trouble.

　　Worse still was the way Hamelek was glaring at Luina. If no Wolbrines appeared, he would not let this pass. He would seize upon it and accuse her of creating a pointless disturbance with an unfounded claim. And if they did appear, that would be horrific in an entirely different way.

　　This isn’t the time to take things personally, you fool! Rowen frowned at Hamelek. If there really were Wolbrines out there, the whole unit would be wiped out.

　　Under Rowen’s steady stare, Hamelek finally dragged his eyes away from Luina, though the displeasure never left his face.

　　Rowen sighed again.

　　Hamelek had more than enough power to crush a military academy student who did not even yet hold an official commission. There were also rumors that he associated far too closely with politicians for a military officer.

　　If it were true that he had risen this high through patronage rather than merit, then, like most opportunists, he would be merciless toward anything that threatened his position.

　　What was he to do? Rowen bit his lip, trying to decide how to handle the situation, when Ferken, who had disappeared somewhere, staggered toward them with blood dripping from his shoulder.

　　A strained noise escaped Rowen’s throat. What now? What was wrong with everyone today?

　　“Ferken!”

　　Luina rushed to him and pressed a handkerchief against the wound. The cloth soaked through almost immediately, but the bleeding did not stop.

　　Her face went white. “What happened? Were you attacked by a monster? Here?”

　　“A few days ago. I put too much strain on it, and the wound reopened. It won’t close.”

　　“From the Piniros?”

　　“Probably.”

　　Just then, Crown Prince Enzo emerged from his tent, settling his cloak around his shoulders. At the sight before him, his brow furrowed.

　　“What happened here? He needs proper treatment immediately. Where is the medic?”

　　“All the medics are at the main camp, Your Highness.”

　　“Then take him to the nearest village at once.”

　　Before the crown prince had even finished giving the order, Ferken’s eyes slid shut. His knees buckled beneath him.

　　Luina caught him and pressed a hand to his forehead. Her face drained of what little color remained as she looked up at Rowen.

　　“He’s burning up!”

　　“Sir Hamelek, arrange for them to go down to the village. Now!”

　　“Yes, Your Highness.”

　　Ferken might have been only a trainee, but he was also Marquis Alios’s only son. If anything happened to him here, the consequences would be disastrous.

　　Why did this have to happen while he was here? Had Enzo simply continued on his way, they would have reached the capital by now. This was all because of His Highness’s needless whim.

　　What cursed luck.

　　Hamelek did his best to conceal his irritation as he brought two horses himself, though he could not quite hide the sour look on his face.

* * *

　　Ferken, who had remained unconscious throughout the descent, fortunately began to recover by the time they reached the outskirts of the village.

　　The village was too small to have a resident physician, so all they could do was obtain a few medicinal herbs from the inn. Even so, once they cleaned his wound with fresh water and laid him in bed, his complexion improved considerably.

　　Luina, who had worried the entire way down, finally let out a long breath of relief.

　　Rowen, however, remained unconvinced. Something about this smells fishy, he thought.

　　When Luina stepped outside to wash the blood from the towel, Rowen began removing Ferken’s shirt so he could apply the finely ground herbs to the wound. Then he froze.

　　His brows shot up. “What is this?”

　　“What is what?”

　　“You said a Piniros did this.” Rowen stared at the wound. “But this is a sword wound.”

　　Ferken said nothing. Monsters, needless to say, did not use weapons, which made it nearly impossible to suffer a sword wound while fighting one.

　　There had been neither the time nor the circumstances for a duel, and more importantly, Luina was the only person in the entire unit with enough skill to cut Ferken Alios with a sword.

　　Wait. Rowen’s mouth fell open. Had this bastard done it to himself?

　　Rowen stared at his friend in disbelief. “Why would you…” He paused. “Don’t tell me you know something. Are there really Wolbrines up there?”

　　“How would I know?”

　　“That answer would be a lot more convincing if everything about this weren’t suspicious.”

　　Rowen began counting the oddities on his fingers.

　　“You had a wound that was perfectly fine for days, and then it suddenly reopened. You’ve barely caught a cold in your life, but you suddenly came down with a raging fever. Then the fever disappeared almost immediately.”

　　He stopped.

　　There was no avoiding the conclusion now. He had to drag back into the light the absurd conclusion he had forcibly buried a few days earlier.

　　Why did everything insist on pointing in this direction?

　　Rowen clutched his head in anguish. After hesitating for a long moment, he asked Ferken the same question he had once asked years ago.

　　This time, he sounded far more certain.

　　“You like Luina, don’t you?”

　　“I told you, no.”

　　“Then why did you curse when you saw she was hurt?”

　　“I did not.”

　　“You went after the Piniros because of her as well, didn’t you? You were afraid they would attack Luina because she was the closest to the cliff. And the reason you never called for help, even while being torn apart up there, was because you knew Luina would come after you if she heard.”

　　Rowen leaned closer and added, “No sane person would fight six Piniros alone.”

　　Ferken, who had been listening to him with a bored expression, finally looked directly at Rowen. His eyes sharpened slightly.

　　Rowen caught the minute crack in his expression and openly scoffed. “You seem to believe you have an incredible poker face. But you make it obvious when I hit you where it hurts. Painfully so, in fact.”

　　“You didn’t hit anything.”

　　“Don’t make me laugh. You might be able to fool Luina, but you can’t fool me. You knew the Wolbrines were there. You also knew the entire transport unit would die if they encountered a pack of high-grade monsters, so you found a way to get Luina out of there.”

　　Rowen paused, then said, “Tell me I’m wrong.”

　　Their gazes clashed fiercely when the door opened with a quiet creak, and the two immediately looked away.

　　Luina entered carrying the freshly washed towel. She checked Ferken’s temperature once more, then finally smiled in relief. She seemed completely unaware of the awkward tension filling the room.

　　“Want me to wipe your face again?” she asked kindly.

　　“Yes, please.” Ferken obediently closed his eyes.

　　Shameless bastard. Rowen clicked his tongue softly. How dare he try to deceive him? Rowen might have fallen for Ferken’s act once, but he wasn’t going to be fooled again.

* * *

　　“Ferken! Rowen!”

　　Rowen had only just begun to doze when frantic pounding on the door wrenched him awake. Ferken was already sitting up in the bed beside him, his hair disheveled and his expression faintly startled.

　　“Luina? What is it?”

　　“There’s a fire! It’s coming from the direction where the crown prince went!”

　　“What?” Rowen tore the curtain aside. Flames blazed crimson against the night sky, bright enough to be unmistakable even from this distance.

　　Enzo…

　　Rowen’s breath caught in his throat. “Rowen, Rowen!” He thought he heard someone calling his name, but the voice sounded far away. He could not move.

　　Luina strode over and struck Rowen sharply on the shoulder. “Snap out of it, Rowen! Get dressed! The unit must’ve run into a massive horde of monsters!”

　　“Luina, wait.”

　　Rowen shook his head hard, forcing himself back to his senses. He caught Luina by the wrist as she tried to rush away.

　　Of course he was terrified for his brother. But at that moment, Luina’s life mattered more to Rowen than Enzo’s.

　　“We never saw that fire.”

　　Luina’s brows drew together sharply. “What the hell are you talking about? If they’ve resorted to fire, it means they’re completely outmatched. The Wolbrines might really be there.”

　　“Exactly. If there really are Wolbrines up there, we are already too late. You said they live in packs of at least a hundred. There were only a hundred and thirty people in the entire unit, including my brother’s guards. A transport unit is not equipped for battle. If they encountered roughly the same number of high-grade monsters, it’s already over.”

　　“But there might still be survivors—”

　　“No,” Rowen cut her off. “Even you can’t defeat a hundred Wolbrines, Luina. Neither can all three of us together. If we go now, we’ll die for nothing.”

　　Luina opened her mouth to argue, then let out a short, frustrated groan. Rowen glanced at Ferken, who had not said a word throughout the exchange, then turned back to Luina.

　　His suspicion from earlier had hardened into certainty.

　　Luina was not going anywhere. That silent bastard had even driven a sword into his own shoulder for her. And now he was pretending nothing had happened.

　　“But if you insist on going,” Rowen said, “we’ll have no choice but to follow you.”

　　No other argument could have stopped her more effectively. Luina’s face contorted in anguish. Slowly, she lowered her sword.

　　Just then, faint hoofbeats sounded in the distance. Luina rushed to the window. Her eyes widened.

　　“A white horse is coming toward us.”

　　Enzo’s horse? Rowen knitted his brows.

　　“There are fewer than ten other horses with it…” Luina leaned farther out the window. “And more than thirty wolf-like creatures are chasing them. They’re almost as large as the horses…”

　　Her breath caught.

　　“They’re Wolbrines!” Luina snatched up her sword again without hesitation.

　　“Luina! I told you not to go!”

　　“This isn’t the time to weigh our options anymore! If we let them reach the village, the villagers will die!”

　　Too impatient even for the stairs, Luina leaped straight out of the second-story window. Ferken immediately threw himself after her.

　　Rowen pressed a hand to his forehead and muttered a curse. He grabbed his sword in irritation.

　　“I swear, those two will be the death of me.”