Chapter 3

Same Bed, Different Dreams

A husband comes home after finishing work.

If he found his wife on the bed, sweating profusely and exercising vigorously with an unfamiliar man.

What kind of expression would the husband make?

Wouldn't it be exactly like Sieg's?

“...”

Sieg couldn't say anything for a while.

I didn't do anything either, aside from covering Ardel's underwear-clad body with the blanket.

“...I thought of you as no different from my own brother.”

A sturdy man with a muscular build.

His eyes were thoroughly reddened, and his voice trembled.

Guilt slowly began to well up inside me.

For a mage, maintaining peace of mind was more important than anything else, one of the fundamentals emphasized so often at the Magic Tower that your ears practically wore out from hearing it.

I did serve as a link between them.

So wouldn't it be hard to say that I'd completely broken my promise to bring them together?

I thought I'd done about as much as I reasonably could.

Even if people called me human trash, it couldn't be helped.

For now, I decided to shamelessly accept the situation.

‘...How much further am I supposed to help you? And I don't even remember whether we actually did it, so am I supposed to apologize? Let's say we did. So what? Is Ardel your girlfriend? No, she isn't.’

Useless emotions like guilt could be felt later, so I neatly folded them away in a corner of my mind.

“...Carniel.”

Sieg lowered his voice heavily as he called my name.

“Explain to me why the hell you're on that bed.”

“I don't really know either.”

“...You don't know?”

Sieg's face twisted.

“Are you trying to mess with me right now?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then you expect me to believe that pathetic excuse?”

“I drank the alcohol Ardel gave me, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.”

“A man and a woman drank alcohol and slept together in the same bed...”

Sieg let out a low, bitter laugh.

“I bitterly regret ever believing in my promise with you, even for a moment...”

His hand trembled faintly as it moved.

He tried to draw the Holy Sword at his waist.

‘...Excuse me. Didn't you just say you thought of me as your own brother?’

As expected of a romance fantasy world where people were driven mad by love.

The guy who was supposed to be a hero, the very icon of justice, was trying to draw his sword against a mage wearing nothing but underwear, without even a staff or wand.

For an ordinary mage, this would be the point where he dropped to his knees and begged for his life.

But.

Not me.

I focused my mind and opened my palm.

The Holy Sword flew into my hand in an instant, as though being sucked into a black hole.

Sieg's hand grasped at empty air.

“Y-you used magic in the same way as the demons!”

He looked at me with considerable surprise.

It was a method of using magic that I had learned from the demons while fighting the Demon King.

I'd never shown it to the members of the Hero's Party, so his surprise was understandable.

‘...Were you seriously trying to cut me down?’

Sieghart was a hero and the male lead of a romance fantasy novel.

I thought that once I'd taken his sword, he'd apologize for briefly losing his reason.

Instead, his entire body trembled in frustration.

...This bastard.

He's seriously insane with love.

“Carniel!!”

Sieg shouted at me like a hero about to deliver the final blow against the Demon King at the most desperate moment.

He clenched his fist and charged at me.

He was so full of determination that I almost had the illusion that I had become the Demon King.

“...!”

I traced a circle around Sieg with my finger, and Sieg became trapped inside an air bubble.

His body floated into the air just like that.

“To think I'd end up using demon torture magic on my friend...”

“What do you have left if you take away your magic, Carniel? Nothing!”

—Thud!

Sieg tried to smash the air bubble apart with his fist.

“You'll never break it without the Holy Sword or Sernil's buffs.”

—Thud!

“I, Sieghart von Helicion, swear on my name.”

—Thud!

“No matter what it takes, I will definitely make you... Ghk!”

Sieg clutched his throat and struggled.

“I'll let you out after you pass out from suffocation.”

There was a rustling sound from the bed.

“C-Carniel. What exactly is going on right now...?”

Ardel pulled the blanket tightly around herself to cover her body.

Her eyes were wide open and her lips pressed firmly together as she waited for my answer.

I scratched my cheek with a finger as I thought.

I carefully chose what words I should use.

But.

No matter how carefully I thought about it, I couldn't come up with anything that could explain this complicated situation.

I didn't want to say the wrong thing and make Ardel hate me.

And because there was a chance that we really had made love, looking at Ardel's face felt a little embarrassing.

“Sieghart was trying to do something strange to me, so you're protecting me right now, aren't you?”

____________

There had been an unpleasant commotion since morning.

I issued a summons to the ministers and the Hero's Party.

‘...How dare he touch my daughter!’

Carniel.

He stood before me with both hands sealed by mana restraints.

To think he was bound by an object he himself had created.

It was an item capable of preventing even demons from using magic.

Even the greatest mage on the continent should be unable to use magic.

And yet.

‘As expected of a mage, his arrogance reaches the heavens.’

That calm and composed attitude, as though displaying reckless bravado.

I cannot stand the sight of it.

I have never liked mages who behave as though they possess all the knowledge and wisdom in the world and try to lecture me.

But.

I am the king.

Their advice has improved the lives of my people.

Remembering the teachings of the previous king, I put aside my personal hostility.

As king, I could endure that much for the sake of my people.

‘...But as a father, I cannot tolerate what you have done.’

Ardel.

Of all my daughters, she resembles my late wife the most.

Whenever I missed my wife, I went to see Ardel, and seeing Ardel's face brought me peace and comfort.

The pure flower blooming in my garden.

A flower that should give warmth only to me.

‘...To think you laid your hands on a flower that even I could not touch.’

______________

I was surprised.

No matter what happened, he never became angry.

My father's appearance.

He feels especially unfamiliar today.

“Lock Carniel in the dungeon immediately! A trial will be held this evening!”

Father is enraged right now.

There is no way the trial will proceed fairly.

I have to stop it.

Carniel has always been the one helping me.

This time, it is my turn to help him.

“Father. Please reconsider!”

“Ardel. This is not something for you to interfere in.”

“How is this not my concern? Carniel and I were in the same bed...”

“Enough!”

Father clenched his fist.

The veins stood out clearly on the back of his wrinkled hand.

“Nothing happened between you and that lowly commoner!”

“Then why is Carniel wearing restraints, and why are you trying to hold a trial...”

“It concerns affairs of state.”

“I need a more detailed explanation than that...”

“Do not ask any more questions!”

Father gestured with his hand.

“Captain of the Knights, what are you doing?! Take the princess, who was attacked by a scoundrel this morning, back to her room immediately so she can rest!”

The captain of the knights approached me.

“Don't even think about touching me.”

The captain hesitated and stepped backward.

I shifted my gaze to Carniel.

His expression gave no clue what he was thinking.

But whenever I looked at Carniel, I remembered how he would smile and tell me not to worry whenever something difficult happened to me.

“Father. Do you remember what my favorite flower is?”

“Was it not the Canavin?”

“No. Ever since Mother passed away, I've liked Tulivins the most. Do you know why I like Tulivins?”

“...”

“Because they resemble my late mother's green eyes.”

“...”

“I've never told anyone that I like Tulivins. But Carniel always gave me Tulivins.”

“...”

“The day I was severely scolded during etiquette lessons, I missed Mother especially badly and went to visit her grave alone. Do you know who I met there? Carniel was there. Without asking me anything, he told me that anyone could make mistakes and that I shouldn't be too upset, then handed me a single Tulivin.”

“...”

“When the brooch Mother left me broke, Carniel fixed it without saying anything.”

“...”

“On days when I wanted to cry, he stayed silently by my side until I finally burst into tears.”

“...”

“He even knew that I like to let my tea cool a little before drinking it, and he always cooled it with magic without me having to ask.”

“...”

“When I fell seriously ill, Carniel obtained medicine that no one else in the kingdom could find, and after taking it, I recovered as though it were a lie.”

“...”

“From the smallest things to matters involving my life, Carniel has always taken care of me.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“Carniel didn't do anything wrong. I've wanted my first time to be with Carniel for a long time, and although I don't remember it, I'm glad that what I wanted came true.”

“Enough!”

Father's voice thundered.

—Thud!

He slammed his fist down on the armrest of the throne.

“Did I not tell you to stop talking about that?!”

He breathed heavily.

His body trembled almost like he was having a seizure as he glared at the captain of the knights with bloodshot eyes.

“Captain of the Knights. Did I not order you to take Ardel back to her room?!”

“Your Majesty. But the princess...”

Father savagely drew the sword decorating the throne.

“Anyone who refuses to obey my command will lose their life here and now.”

______________

Maybe it was because I was locked in the underground dungeon of the Kingdom of Fernia.

It reminded me of the old days when I stole bread and milk.

‘How has no one come to visit me?’

There wasn't much time left until the trial.

Was it because they could see me during the trial anyway?

Five years preparing for the war against the demons.

One year with the Hero's Party.

We had spent a total of six years together, so how could not a single one of them come visit me?

Was it because my personality was that awful?

I didn't think I was that bad.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel disappointed.

—Step, step.

I heard footsteps approaching from beyond the iron bars.

It was Cheliana, the alchemist of the Hero's Party.

“Master. I came because I was worried.”

“I was just getting thirsty. You even brought something to eat.”

Cheliana was my junior at the Magic Tower and a student I had taught when I briefly worked as a part-time lecturer to earn living expenses after graduating from the Magic Tower.

She had no talent for magic.

She seemed to have a talent for alchemy, so I suggested that she try alchemy, and now she had become the greatest alchemist on the Solios Continent.

“This foolish disciple has one request to make of you, Master. May I say it?”

“I keep telling you that you can speak comfortably whenever you want. There isn't even much of an age difference between us.”

Maybe it was because I was both her senior at the Magic Tower and her master.

Cheliana always treated me with strict respect.

That tiresome culture of rigid seniority at the Magic Tower.

No matter how often I experience it, I can never get used to it.

“Master. Please run away with me.”

Cheliana took a small key out from inside her clothes.

“You know what will happen if you stand trial without me having to tell you, don't you? You'll lose the magic you've spent your entire life mastering.”

Cheliana shook her head.

“I simply cannot stand by and watch that happen. There is beauty within your magic, Master. As your former disciple who once studied magic, I cannot simply allow that magic to disappear.”

Cheliana held the key out to me.

“Carniel. Let's go somewhere no one will ever find us. Forget about the kingdom, the Hero's Party, the demons, and everything else. I'll spend the rest of my life watching over your magic.”

I intended to refuse Cheliana's offer.

The restraints weren't a problem at all.

There was another reason I was quietly waiting in this prison.