TCNS 18

Chapter 18: King Kayden Ram

“Is that so?”

When I showed no interest, Catherine looked disappointed.

“Why aren’t you asking who it is?”

“I’m not particularly curious.”

“Oh, come on! Hurry up and be curious!”

Catherine looked like she might throw a tantrum and lie down on the floor if I didn’t ask right away. Really, this palace is full of troublesome people.

‘I should have just left her in the storage room.’

I sighed shortly, imagining Catherine’s reaction if she knew what I was thinking.

“Who did you see?”

“The Wolf King!”

The Wolf King? I don’t know who that is, but the title alone makes me cringe.

“You don’t mean you haven’t heard of him, right? He’s the most famous person on the continent right now!”

Catherine was shocked by my indifferent reaction.

“He’s the young king of the newly founded Kingdom of Adamant! The Knight King! The Conqueror of the West!”

The newly founded Kingdom of Adamant?

‘I never heard of such a name before I died.’

For me, who knew every corner of the continent, it was strange to hear of a kingdom I didn’t know about.

“When did this country come into being?”

“Probably about a year ago.”

It was a truly new nation—so new that the ink on the map probably hadn’t dried yet.

“Is that person really that famous?”

“Of course he’s famous! He’s the one who destroyed the Kingdom of Lionel and nearly unified the west!”

This time, I was genuinely surprised.

The western continent was a place riddled with the lairs of monsters and bordered by the land of the barbarians, constantly plagued by conflict. Many kingdoms had risen and fallen there like mushrooms after rain, none lasting long.

Only one had endured for even a hundred years.

‘Lionel, the ruler of the west.’

To hear that the Kingdom of Lionel had been destroyed and a new kingdom established…

My gaze shifted to Edwin and Emilia, playing in the distance.

The Kingdom of Lionel was the homeland of the Third Empress, their mother’s family. For it to vanish from the map meant that those young ones truly had nothing left to lean on.

“They say he can kill a hundred monsters all by himself! They say he came to the Empire this time for a monster subjugation!”

Kill a hundred monsters by himself? There should be limits to exaggeration.

‘Monsters’ were evil, powerful beings born of magical energy.

No matter how skilled a knight was, facing even one monster meant putting one’s life on the line.

Claiming that a mere human could deal with a hundred monsters was an utterly ridiculous statement.

‘Wait.’

Suddenly, a memory flashed through my mind.

‘That king is staying in the Imperial Palace?’

I recalled the mysterious man I had seen not long ago—the man clad in jet-black armor, standing by the Emperor.

“Does the so-called Wolf King have golden eyes, by any chance?”

“Oh my, how did you know?”

Catherine’s eyes widened at my question.

“People say those eyes make him even scarier, like looking at a monster.”

My brow furrowed at that. Turning my head, I saw Edwin and Emilia playing in the dirt in the distance.

“Brother, what’s this red one?”

“A ladybug. Haven’t you seen one before, Lia?”

“No! It’s pretty! Like a ruby!”

The children were still smiling innocently. Yet somehow, I felt an uneasy sensation in my heart.

I couldn’t say why.

***

Slash—.

Blood splattered, the monster’s hide split, and its entrails spilled out. The soldiers of the Empire stared at the sight, mouths agape.

‘He’s certainly impressive.’

Even Emperor Cavelius III, watching from the rear of the subjugation force, was intrigued.

‘A former mercenary, after all.’

It had been three days since Kayden led his knights in eliminating the monsters that had appeared near the borders of the Empire of Ventrume. The number of monsters, which had not decreased even after deploying half of the Imperial Knight’s forces, was cut in half in just two days. It was an impossible feat made possible by none other than Kayden, the king and knight commander of Adamant.

Slash, thud, slash.

The sound of slashing flesh and sinew filled the air, chilling to the bone. While the spectators grimaced, Kayden remained expressionless.

“Sire, I told you to leave the dissection to us!”

Kayden’s aide, Oliver, hurried over. He, too, was covered in the monster’s blood, looking fierce.

“I’ve already taken care of the tendons that were hard to cut, so you all can handle the rest.”

Kayden smiled lightly at his aide’s flustered face, then jumped down from the monster’s carcass.

“Yes! What are you all standing around for? Get moving!”

Under Oliver’s command, Adamant’s knights busily moved among the corpses of the slain monsters. The knights and soldiers of the Empire eventually joined in, though they looked clumsy compared to Adamant’s skilled knights.

“If things continue like this on the second day, we should be able to return home sooner than expected.”

“Eager to go back already, Sir Oliver?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t want to go home? Unlike you, Sire, I have a wife like a rabbit and three kids like foxes.”

Oliver grumbled as he wiped the blood off his face.

“Oh, and I almost forgot. Since we’re in the Empire, I should buy some rose oil.”

“Why rose oil? Do your daughters say you smell like blood?”

“No, it’s a gift for my wife. And my daughters don’t know anything about blood, thank you very much. I always wash thoroughly at the barracks before going home.”

Oliver was complaining but quickly changed the subject.

“Why don’t you buy something as a souvenir too, Your Majesty? I’m sure they have jasmine oil for sale.”

Adamant’s young king used jasmine-scented soap, an unusual choice. Jasmine was generally a scent favored by women, making it even more peculiar.

“Doesn’t using the same scent for so long ever bore you?”

“Not at all.”

“My goodness, is there a reason you like jasmine so much?”

“There is.”

Kayden smiled as he wiped the blood off his face and hair.

“The scent makes me feel like I’m home.”

It was hard to understand. He hated the laughter and seductions of women wearing jasmine perfume.

Oliver frowned, then shrugged. He had long since given up on understanding his liege.

“It seems the rumors about you have underestimated you. You truly deserve to be called the God of War.”

Kayden nodded slightly at the Emperor, who had approached him.

“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”

“Adamant’s skill in dealing with these monsters is indeed impressive.”

The Emperor smiled warmly as he looked at Adamant’s knights moving diligently.

“It makes me wonder if that sharp blade could deliver the same result if pointed at people instead of monsters.”

The Emperor’s face looked harmless, like that of a countryside farmer, but the words leaving his mouth carried clear barbs.

“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that.”

Unlike his sweating aide, Kayden responded with a bright smile.

“My men are not mindless monsters but humans who understand chivalry.”

“Haha, is that so? Well, that’s a relief.”

The Emperor slightly tilted his head, his sky-blue eyes momentarily cold and harsh.

“I believe well-trained humans can be far more dangerous than mindless monsters.”

“Is that so?”

Kayden met the Emperor’s frosty gaze without losing his smile. He casually wiped the blood off his armor.

“But a human should always know where their power should and shouldn’t be used.”

“Where it should and shouldn’t be used?”

The Emperor looked intrigued.

“So, where should power be used, and where shouldn’t it?”

“Power should be used to save lives, not to take them.”

Kayden gave the Emperor a gentle smile.

“One must learn to respect the lives of others if one is born human, after all.”

At his lord’s words, Oliver’s eyes trembled.

There wasn’t a soul on the continent unaware of the fact that Emperor Cavelius III had slaughtered all his half-siblings to seize the throne. And yet, here was his lord implying that those who didn’t respect human life were less than human.

“Haha, the King of Adamant is quite the amusing fellow.”

The Emperor offered a brief, ambiguous comment, his expression unreadable.

“Your Majesty, the Minister of State Affairs has arrived at the outpost. It’s time for your departure.”

“Ah, indeed.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Emperor soon left for a state meeting, leaving the subjugation site without even saying farewell to Kayden.

“He must despise you now. Why did you say something so unnecessary?”

Kayden frowned as he wiped his hair with a new towel. “He started it, so I only responded in kind. What’s wrong with that?”

“Plenty is wrong! He’s the Emperor of the Empire!”

Kayden made a pitiful face at his aide’s words. “Well then, I’ll have to become king of a grand kingdom quickly, if only for our Oliver’s sake. Or maybe I should declare myself Emperor instead?”

“Sire, this is the Ventrume Empire! You can’t say such things here!”

“My apologies for my loud voice.”

“And where on earth did you even hear that line?”

“What line?”

Oliver frowned and asked again, “That power should be used to save lives. You don’t really believe that, do you, Sire?”

If it bothered him, he’d just kill everyone—that’s how Kayden had always operated.

The Emperor and Kayden were no different at heart; rulers were all the same.

“Ah.”

Kayden sighed briefly and let out a small laugh.

“Actually, that line.”

The young king squinted playfully and added, “It’s something I once heard from an assassin who came to kill me.”