2. Hishar, I’ve Come to Help You
2016.01.07.
The Sultan’s bedroom was lavishly decorated, befitting the ruler of the desert.
The room, adorned with all kinds of valuable objects, had no empty space. Even the corners were filled with intricate carvings and paintings.
Curtains and carpets in vivid red, embroidered with gold thread, made the room even more splendid.
On the large red silk spread across the bed were dazzling golden embroideries. It looked so magnificent that an ordinary person would likely feel intimidated and unable to lie down properly.
“Phew……”
Hishar, stretched out lengthwise on the silk, let out a slow breath. The defined muscles across his bronze skin subtly moved with each breath.
A dreamy fragrance filled the room. The faint grayish smoke carried a heavy yet sharp scent that lingered in the mouth.
On either side of Hishar sat beautiful women. With gentle hands, they massaged his shoulders and arms.
Despite their diligent movements, their eyes lacked focus. All of them wore dazed expressions, as though under a spell.
One woman began to sway repeatedly, then rolled her eyes back and collapsed sideways.
Hishar narrowed his eyes slightly and said,
“Remove her.”
At his brief command, the soldiers guarding the room quickly dragged the collapsed woman away. Even as she was carried out unconscious, she let out an inexplicable, giggling laugh.
The remaining woman’s hands trembled slightly. Noticing her fear, Hishar smirked and asked,
“Are you unable to endure it any longer as well?”
He gently brushed her hair. Unable to hold herself back, she let out a moan and clung to him.
“Ugh……”
Her eyes gleamed. Her hands, filled with desire, tried to grope him, but he showed no mercy.
With a casual wave of his hand, black smoke emerged and coiled around her body. Lifted into the air by the smoke, she screamed.
“Kyaa!”
She was thrown cleanly out of the bed. Soldiers rushed in and dragged her away as well. Hishar watched her being taken out with indifference.
Alsned, the vizier of Alshatra standing beside him, cautiously spoke.
“Your Majesty, there are reports that Emir Ahad’s movements are unusual.”
Hishar, lying back, only gave a slight nod at the words Alsned had finally gathered the courage to say. After hesitating, Alsned added,
“There is credible intelligence that he intends to betray the empire…”
“Enough.”
“….”
Hishar looked at him with a languid smile, still reclining. His black hair spilled across the red silk, and his eyes—deeper and more crimson than the fabric itself—were not something one could grow accustomed to, no matter how often seen.
Alsned lowered his head, avoiding Hishar’s gaze. Hishar let out a quiet chuckle.
“At the banquet, I shall ask Ahad myself whether he intends to betray me or not.”
“Your Majesty…”
“So do not disturb me now. Even I am entitled to moments of rest.”
Tapping lightly on the silk with his fingers, black smoke swirled around Alsned’s feet and pushed him back toward the door.
“Withdraw until you are summoned.”
At Hishar’s dismissal, Alsned had no choice but to retreat. Once even the soldiers were dismissed, the room fell completely silent.
In the bedroom filled only with faint gray smoke, Hishar murmured,
“How tiresome…”
Should he kill Ahad at the banquet? Among the emirs loyal to the Alshatra Empire, Ahad held the greatest power, making it difficult to eliminate him recklessly.
Despite his delicate appearance, he possessed a keen instinct for money. He had amassed immense wealth and controlled the commercial networks of the southern continent. Even other emirs were wary of him.
Just thinking about it gave Hishar a headache, so he shook his head slightly. Instead of dwelling on Ahad, he inhaled the faint gray smoke drifting through the room.
For him, the only pleasure in life—the scent of Caligula—never grew tiresome.
As he slowly savored the smoke, he suddenly sensed a presence.
“…?”
At that moment, black smoke coalesced in midair. Sensing its nature, Hishar frowned.
“Impure power…”
It was teleportation using impure power. Hishar, who disliked anyone else using such power, found it deeply unpleasant.
Watching closely, the condensed black smoke wriggled like a cloud and suddenly spat something out.
“Ah!”
A dark figure fell sharply from the smoke, landing on the floor beside the bed.
“….”
Though the floor was carpeted, the fall from that height onto the marble floor must have been painful. The person now lying and writhing on the ground appeared to be dressed as an assassin.
An assassin entering in such a foolish manner!
Even Hishar, who had faced countless assassins in his bedroom, was momentarily taken aback. This one was not just unusual—it seemed almost insane.
“Your Majesty! Are you alright?”
The guard outside, alerted by the commotion, shouted in concern.
The assassin on the floor suddenly lifted her head and looked at Hishar. Then she hurriedly approached and placed a finger lightly over his lips.
“Shh…”
Her finger hovered just short of touching his lips, never quite making contact. Hishar examined her closely at such close range.
The first thing he noticed was her pale skin. The exposed skin not covered by her mask was as white as snow from the northern lands.
Her cool, pale ice-blue eyes were refreshing to look at. The dense, smoky air filled with the Caligula scent seemed to clear momentarily in her presence. In the dim, hazy room, she stood out vividly.
Should he kill her or not? As Hishar pondered, she whispered,
“Hishar, I’ve come to help you.”
“….”
Ridiculous words. Who would dare claim they were here to help him? Yet her unusual appearance and oddly clumsy behavior piqued his curiosity. Killing her could be done at any time.
Perhaps he would let her live a little longer. Without taking his eyes off her, Hishar addressed the guard outside,
“There is no issue.”
—
To infiltrate Hishar’s bedroom, all members of Dekarim did not need to act. It was Illsia’s role to infiltrate his chamber.
However, there was always the possibility that Hishar would be uncooperative, or that he might discover Illsia’s identity.
For Illsia, the Dekarim were her everything—and likewise, she was everything to them. They were deeply obsessed with protecting one another.
To avoid even the possibility of Illsia being harmed, all Dekarim members came prepared for combat and accompanied her.
Illsia used Shukri’s power to teleport directly into Hishar’s bedroom, while the Dekarim hid in the garden just outside the chamber.
Calling it a garden was almost an understatement—it was vast enough to be considered a forest, offering plenty of places to conceal themselves.
Everything up to entering the garden with the Dekarim had gone smoothly.
“Please be careful.”
“I’ll be back.”
Seeing her off, Illsia teleported into Hishar’s bedroom. So far, so good. But something had gone wrong after that.
The plan had been to make a graceful, impressive, and mysterious entrance—but for some reason, Shukri’s power had destabilized.
And Illsia had fallen straight to the floor.
“….”
Ah, how embarrassing…
Overwhelmed with humiliation, she couldn’t even lift her head. To make matters worse, the commotion had alerted the guards outside.
If Hishar so much as opened his mouth, she would be dragged out immediately. Illsia quickly rushed toward him and said,
“Hishar, I’ve come to help you.”
Hishar’s gaze swept over her. Feeling his suspicious eyes, Illsia grew nervous. It had been eight years since she last saw him.
She recalled a fragment of the past.
—She had been a child then.
Illsia had been kneeling before Hishar, her entire body bound tightly, trembling like freshly captured prey as she looked up at him. She had thought she would die that day. Yet his seemingly cruel red eyes had been warm.
—“Even beasts release their young… Release her.”
Still youthful himself, Hishar had spoken those words. Without his mercy, the Illsia of today would not exist.
But compared to eight years ago, he had changed greatly.
The boyish, doll-like youth had vanished, replaced by a well-built, handsome man. His sculpted features carried a rugged, masculine aura.
Hishar resembled a sleek beast. A dangerous, intoxicating presence surrounded him—faint traces of blood in the air, his now deeper crimson eyes…
Illsia, who had been staring at him absentmindedly, snapped back to reality when she heard him speak to the guards.
“There is no issue.”
Only then did she take in her surroundings. The room was filled with the scent of Caligula.
To lighten the atmosphere, Illsia waved her hand, dispersing the gray smoke, and asked,
“Don’t you think you should ventilate this place a bit?”
Hishar narrowed his eyes. His gaze sharpened as if catching something.
“…You have resistance to the scent of Caligula.”
He continued slowly,
“An assassin trained to endure such an expensive fragrance… that’s no ordinary assassin. And with impure power as well… Perhaps I underestimated you due to your clumsy entrance.”
Ah, this wasn’t going as planned.
A chill ran down Illsia’s spine.
Smiling faintly as if making a joke, Hishar said,
“Shall I kill you now?”
Startled, Illsia waved her hands frantically.
“W-wait! I’m not an assassin—I really came to help you!”
At this rate, she might die without even being able to speak properly. Illsia quickly delivered her prepared message.
“Emir Ahad has betrayed you.”
Hishar raised an eyebrow. Looking into his red eyes, Illsia continued calmly,
“He has allied with the Caliph and plans to kill you at the banquet. The banquet must be canceled.”
“….”
Despite the mention of death, Hishar showed no reaction. He remained composed. His low voice followed.
“Hmm… kill me, you say.”
Illsia flinched under his gaze. His deep voice brushed against her ears. His eerie, magical red eyes seemed to examine her thoroughly.
Though she wore a mask, it felt as though he could see through everything.
“I’m more curious about you than that.”
Things were not going as Illsia had expected at all. Hishar seemed uninterested in Ahad or the Caliph. What intrigued him most was Illsia herself.
‘Wait, this isn’t how it’s supposed to go.’
Cold sweat began to form.
Originally, she was supposed to mention the Caliph and Ahad, shock Hishar, deliver her line, and make a dramatic exit.
But instead, Hishar was the one unsettling her.
“Now then…”
Hishar leaned back leisurely, reclining among the red cushions and licking his lips slowly. Illsia swallowed hard.
“Shall we first find out what kind of person you are?”
She was at a loss for words. Hishar reached out toward her. Sensing that he was about to use impure power, Illsia quickly stepped back.
If he touched her, something would happen.
Denied what he wanted, Hishar looked at her quietly. Illsia forced an awkward smile and said,
“Beautiful flowers have thorns… so if you touch them carelessly, you might get pricked.”
She was afraid of his gaze. He looked like he might seize her with claws and tear her apart.
“Even if my fingers are pricked…”
His low voice rumbled,
“I can still pluck the flower.”
A chill ran down her spine. He was not joking. His sincerity made him all the more dangerous. Illsia realized it was time to flee.
She bit down hard on a hidden pill inside her mouth. The special energy released from it would signal Shukri.
Things hadn’t gone exactly as planned, but she had delivered her message. That had to count as success. Now she just needed to escape before he used his power to restrain her.
Illsia looked at Hishar.
‘There’s nothing more to say, right?’
She had come all this way to warn him; surely he would prepare accordingly. Yet inexplicably, a strange heaviness settled in her chest.
Perhaps it was because she felt she might never see him again.
To Illsia, Hishar was a dangerous existence. If he learned of her abilities, he might do something terrible. She should be running away without hesitation, yet for some reason, she felt a lingering reluctance.
Using what little time she had left, Illsia decided to bid him farewell. After a brief hesitation, she spoke.
“I just came to warn you…”
Her inner thoughts became clearer when spoken aloud. Without realizing it, she addressed him in a soft, almost affectionate tone.
“So… be careful.”
A growling voice seized her from behind.
“Stop.”
And with that final word, black smoke surged around Illsia. Hishar rose abruptly, his face contorted. He reached out quickly—but a split second too late, Illsia vanished completely.
“…Ha.”
Now the empty bedroom held only Hishar. He let out a hollow laugh, as if in disbelief.
Was this what it felt like to be struck? Even though he had precisely controlled his power, he had missed. It was the first time in a long while that he had failed to obtain what he wanted.
“To think you would escape using impure power right in front of me… You’ve got quite the nerve.”
However, the ruler of the desert would never lose his prey twice. Hishar was someone who knew how to wait for a second opportunity.
His red eyes flashed as he murmured,
“How bold.”
And if that opportunity did not come… he would create one himself.
