CHAPTER 123……………………………………
I sent Riccia, who seemed reluctant to go out and was hesitating, away with the words to wait outside, and I faced the Great Chieftain.
“When you were with me, you wanted to leave so badly.”
The Great Chieftain’s expression looked hollow.
“This is the first time I’ve seen that child pay so much attention to someone else. What did you do?”
It was the same question as Kichef’s.
“I served her with sincerity, so she must have taken a liking to me.”
I answered casually, and he muttered with a puzzled expression.
“She’s not someone who would take a liking to just anyone.”
Was this what you’d call firm belief?
“Hmm, anyway, you’ve done well with my request. Good work.”
I fixed my gaze on one of the Great Chieftain’s clear eyes. The careless demeanor from just moments ago was gone, replaced by resolute eyes that allowed no opening at all.
Clink. He set down his glass and looked at me.
“To be honest, I was surprised. I thought you would fail.”
“……”
“Still, the reason I sent you to Riccia was because I wanted to confirm something.”
The air felt heavy. I couldn’t take my eyes off his piercing gaze. I felt a sense of danger—as if looking away would invite an attack.
When he had been sipping alcohol earlier, he was just an elderly man with a good build, but now his eyes were sharper than those of an assassin.
I sensed he was trying to pressure me, but I neither lowered my head nor deliberately tensed my gaze.
Deep wrinkles formed at the corners of the Great Chieftain’s mouth.
“You really don’t get intimidated easily. Your courage is greater than most warriors.”
“There’s no reason for me to be intimidated when the Great Chieftain is treating me well.”
“What? Hahaha!”
At his hearty laugh, the cold tension vanished in an instant.
He downed his drink and shook the glass in admiration.
“It really is delicious. I’m even looking forward to when you’ll come find me again.”
The Great Chieftain set down his glass and looked at me with a calm gaze—neither hostile nor warm.
“I wanted to see what kind of person you are. I was curious whether you have the power to shake this stagnant board.”
He stood up.
Though alcohol flushed his face, his movements were perfectly fine—impressively disciplined, even.
Unlike me, who used my ability to dispel intoxication, he was a true heavy drinker in every sense.
Thinking he was about to pour another drink, I stood up as well.
“Do you need anything else? I’ll bring it.”
“No. I’ve had enough to drink.”
Then he turned away.
“You should head back safely as well.”
“……?”
“I need some rest.”
‘That’s it?’
My eyes met his, still slightly hazy from alcohol. The confusion in my mind cooled all at once.
I sat back down.
With my mind, my thoughts also turned cold.
“I was expecting to hear anything you had to say today.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you. But my judgment isn’t finished yet.”
“When will that judgment be finished?”
The Great Chieftain, who had been turning as if he had finished speaking, paused.
“Before the country collapses under a wrong leader, I hope.”
His head tilted slightly toward me.
“He’s not that incompetent of a leader.”
It was a response implying that if Lord Rakki gained too much power, it would be dangerous—but that it wouldn’t come to that.
After speaking, he disappeared behind a draped partition into a separate space.
Apart from feeling irritated, a sliver of doubt arose in me.
The Great Chieftain had clearly been favorable toward Giovanni.
On top of that, he had even accepted my request.
But today, that same warmth had vanished, replaced by a cold distance.
‘What’s going on?’
“The guests have left. They seemed quite angry.”
After dismissing the servant who was watching his expression, the Great Chieftain was left alone and let out a deep sigh.
Igrein’s intoxicatingly exquisite alcohol had clearly brought him a moment of happiness. As always when he saw something good, Riccia came to mind.
That was why he had made that request. He hadn’t expected much, but if Riccia truly came to see him, drawn by the taste of the drink, he intended to help her in some way.
Not that he would have done anything as underhanded as before.
But a single letter had made him hesitate.
Lost in thought for a moment, the Great Chieftain pulled out an old parchment.
The yellowed paper, worn from traveling long distances, was filled with cramped, hard-to-read writing.
It was a letter from his subordinate and close friend.
His gaze stopped on that single line.
Even for a tribal chief, there was one problem he could never escape: the oasis.
The oasis that had sustained his tribe for over 200 years was no exception.
He had held onto hope upon hearing the priestess who could summon rain.
Could she revive the oasis?
When Lord Rakki asked whether he was considering that possibility, he had pretended otherwise but listened closely.
[How long can that rain fall?]
[Could it rain for a week—or even a full month?]
If there were no limits to her ability, reviving the tribe’s oasis would not be impossible.
[It depends on the priestess, but pushing that far would cause problems. She would go out of control.]
It was a disappointing answer.
Even the kingdom’s priestesses were not helpful. They would have to migrate before the oasis ran dry. Before it was too late.
The problem was that there was no suitable place to migrate.
In the desert, it was common for tribes to form alliances through marriage or go to war to seize oases as they dried up.
It required drastic change. As he faced this troubling situation, Lord Rakki had extended a hand just recently.
[I will provide you with a new oasis as a settlement. In return, help me.]
It meant sealing the succession struggle.
He would have normally rejected it outright—but his heart had wavered.
As a chieftain responsible not for warriors, but for his people.
Yet he also knew well enough what kind of person the bloodthirsty Lord Rakki was, which made the decision difficult.
“Ugh…”
Pressing his temple, he continued reading the letter to the end.
At the end, it detailed an abnormal situation in Liorsa.
The Great Chieftain’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“The kingdom is collapsing?”
Merchants leaving.
Nobles seeking asylum in foreign lands.
Bandits running rampant everywhere, and the kingdom unable to stop them.
A once-prosperous nation was no longer what it used to be.
‘Come to think of it, no tribute has arrived for months.’
A groan escaped him.
“What is happening?”
The reason the kingdom’s flow had dried up. Today, Riccia had implied that the cause was a priestess from the kingdom.
[The Fifth Prince must become Khan.]
She had been certain.
[The position of Khan must follow destiny.]
[…]
[And that destiny belongs to the Fifth Prince.]
Saying so, Riccia had smiled brightly. In that moment, he felt as if he had returned to his youth—not the Great Chieftain, but the fiery Ruhan he once was.
It was her first genuine smile in forty years.
[A noble one walks with him, and all things shall proceed in accordance with fate.]
‘Perhaps Riccia, as a shaman, saw something different from me.’
As her words connected with the kingdom’s situation, his mind became unusually complicated.
‘A noble one… could it be the priestess from the kingdom?’
Blue eyes and hair. Pale skin marking her as an outsider from the kingdom.
The tribe’s dwindling oasis.
Lord Rakki’s tempting proposal.
Riccia’s joyful smile.
Giovanni entering the succession struggle.
The outsider who met his gaze so boldly.
The Great Chieftain closed his eyes.
His thoughts were chaotic, but in times like these, he had to return to principles.
“The Khan of the Great Empire must be the one who can enrich this barren land.”
A land where children of the tribe, desperate as their oases dried up, could live in peace.
Lord Rakki, who would aggressively draw all surrounding wealth into the desert, and Giovanni, who thought of even the lowest of his people.
Who would truly be fit to become Khan?
The Great Chieftain’s 고민 deepened further.
I was in a rather irritated mood.
‘There are no proper doctors in Amtein.’
The closest thing to a doctor was a quack apothecary named Kei.
Because of that, the residents of Amtein learned to handle basic first aid themselves. I was no exception—but unfortunately, I was especially bad at bandaging.
That was probably why I was irritated.
“Are you angry?”
No, that couldn’t be it. It wasn’t like I suddenly became angry over something I’ve always been bad at.
“No.”
“You haven’t looked at me since earlier.”
Giovanni’s stiff fingers brushed my chin. I glanced up.
Deep, dark eyes like a swamp were staring at me.
Giovanni was injured.
Yes. There was no need for any other reason. That was the root of my irritation.
“I need to look at your wound.”
I answered shortly.
I applied the medicine Riccia had given and wrapped the bandage thickly. It looked sloppy. I tore it off again irritably.
“Igrein.”
I focused on the bandaging.
“Look at me.”
“……”
“That kind of wound is nothing.”
At that, I looked up.
After meeting the Great Chieftain and the next day, I had been in a bad mood. It felt like I’d gone through pointless training for nothing.
That alone was fine—I would have another chance.
But hearing that Giovanni was injured was something I couldn’t handle.
“Nothing?”
It wasn’t even my own injury, yet my chest boiled.
“Your hand was pierced, and that’s nothing?”
Giovanni casually clenched and opened his hand. I panicked and grabbed his wrist tightly.
“The bone isn’t damaged. It’ll heal quickly.”
Unbelievable.
What am I supposed to do with this man?
Anyone would think he just tripped and got scratched—but he’d been shot through by an arrow. There was a hole in his palm.
‘How can that be nothing?’
People need to have some sense of pain!
Under his intensely fixed gaze, I let out a sigh.
“To be honest, I’m a little angry.”
“……”
“I’m angry at Lord Rakki for making the prince like this, and I’m also angry at you for coming back injured like this.”
