Chapter 99: Long Voyage, Part 2

Ulot took the two items without a word. From Shus’s expression, he could see at once that they were no trivial things, and since they were meant for Lia and the others, he had no intention of touching them.

The few vials Shus had left were concentration draughts. If the Bors siblings ever came back, they could use them; if they didn’t need them, that would be fine too.

The scroll contained the first-rank defensive sorcery pattern Shus had obtained earlier in the Shadow Ring, called Blessing of Life. He had prepared it before leaving the Shadow Ring. Both Bors and Lia had relatively high affinity for the plant element, so this pattern suited them perfectly.

Shus did not know when he would be able to see them after he left this time, so these were gifts for them, in a way.

“In two days a convoy of merchant ships is coming in. If you’ve decided, then leave now,” said Ulot, glancing at Shus’s thoughtful face.

“Hm. I don’t know when I’ll be back again next,” Shus replied to Count Ulot.

“Leave, leave. Who’s worried if you come back?” Ulot snapped, waving him off impatiently as soon as he heard that.

“I only hope you’re still alive and well when I return,” Shus said as he stood up to go. It was a joke, but he could sense a trace of reluctance in him.

“Get out! I’ll be alive and well all right!” Ulot pretended to rise as if to strike Shus, and Shus, playing along, shut the door and ran.

“That fool,” Ulot laughed softly at Shus’s retreating figure, then looked at what Shus had left behind, his eyes clouding for a moment.

“I wonder when those two little ones will return,” Ulot said as he gathered each of the things left by Shus and prepared to hide them in a secret chamber of the castle.

After walking around for a while, Shus felt his mood had lifted considerably. He checked the time and decided he should go back.

“Master Shus, Master Shus!” Two guards at the gate said together as he came back. Their voices shook; they had all heard about what happened that morning.

“Mm.” Shus answered coolly. He knew they feared him.

Two days later, Shus slipped away quietly. Aside from Count Ulot, he told no one else and left nothing behind.

He saw several merchant ships, all from different places, each coming only to Sotto City to replenish supplies. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he went straight to a captain and cast a spell before the man, who at once understood Shus’s identity and agreed at once.

At the castle, Count Krey had ordered him to dine. After calling several times with no answer, he felt uneasy and forced the door open. Inside the room was empty except for a single note on the table.

“I’m gone!”

Count Krey stood at Shus’s desk, the note in his hand, silent for a long while.

At last he stepped out with the paper, planning to go find Ulot. All he seemed to want was wine.

By then, news of Shus’s departure had already spread through the castle.

When it reached Henry’s mother and son, a smile appeared on their faces. Henry’s succession seemed sealed in their eyes.

After Count Krey left, Henry threw himself into sword practice with even greater effort. Lady Bejan watched her son’s silhouette and smiled with quiet relief.

Midway through his training, Henry suddenly sat upright.

For a moment he remembered his mother’s description of Shus’s power. Shus had already left, and his father was not in the castle.

“What if…?” Henry’s gaze flashed. He suddenly wanted to check whether Shus had left anything in his room.

With no further hesitation, and finding a moment when the castle was empty, Henry went to Shus’s chamber, slipped in once he saw no one around, and closed the door.

He examined everything in the room and then began searching. Carefully he moved each object, not too roughly, fearing that Count Krey would notice someone had rummaged through there.

“Could there be nothing at all?” After circling the room, Henry, drenched in sweat, slumped to the floor.

“Ah, right!” Henry dropped himself flat and looked under the bed.

His eyes swept beneath it—and there it was.

“So it was hidden there,” he muttered, reaching in with his arm and pulling it out.

“Is this the thing?” He looked at the wooden box in his hands with burning eyes. For the past two days, every time he recalled his mother’s description of that power, he had longed for it. He wanted that strength so badly; then he would never have to bow his head and beg again.

“Mine. All of it is mine,” Henry said, and without waiting, he opened the box. A black light shot in and entered him.

He had no time to understand what was happening. His eyelids began to flutter wildly, his awareness dimmed, and he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Lady Bejan grew frantic when she could not find Henry. She had thought of asking the castle guards to help search, but she knew her son’s temperament all too well: if he had searched Shus’s room, Count Krey would not spare him a scolding when he returned. So she pretended to be calm and wandered through the castle, hoping Henry would appear.

“Could he really be in there?” she thought of the one place she least wanted to go.

But the thought of Henry possibly being inside pushed her on. She grit her teeth and decided to find him. If Count Krey came back and discovered Shus’s room disturbed, Henry might be blamed.

With heavy steps and keeping to avoid notice, Lady Bejan made her way to Shus’s room.

To her surprise, when she pushed the door open, she did not see Henry there.

“Then he isn’t here—where else could he be?” She stepped in slowly, and then suddenly saw Henry lying on the floor.

“Henry! Henry! Henry, what is this? Wake up! Wake up!” Lady Bejan cried, hurrying down and shaking him.

“What happened, my lady?” asked several servants from within the castle at her cries.

“Quickly—quickly, find Lord, bring Count Krey back at once!” she shouted to those by the door.

A soldier hurried out immediately. The others, as carefully as they could, carried Henry back to his room.

“Where are you going?” Captain Rael had just finished drilling with some soldiers and called out to a guard racing out in panic.

“Captain, Master Henry fell unconscious in Master Shus’s room. Lady Bejan sent me to summon Count Krey.”

He listened, then repeated it to Rael, who was just as alarmed.

“Fainted? Could this be a leftover trap Shus meant to leave behind? That’s not like Shus.”

Rael knew Shus well enough to know he would not do such a thing.

“Go,” Rael said, sending the soldier off after a moment’s thought.

“Still, we should check,” Rael added, turning his gaze toward the castle.

Back in Henry’s room, after the soldiers had carried him away, Lady Bejan noticed the box lying on the floor. She knew her son’s nature all too well and instantly understood he had found Shus’s things. Yet at once, the dreadful rumors about sorcerers surged in her mind, and she became afraid that Shus had cast a curse on him.

“Lady, how is Master Henry?” Rael came over and asked quietly, seeing her distress.

“Rael, Rael, please check Henry at once. See whether anything is wrong with him.”

To Lady Bejan, the moment Rael appeared she took it as though a rescuer had arrived; she stepped aside and let him examine him.

Rael could not refuse. He knelt and inspected Henry.

“There’s nothing,” Rael said after a careful look. Henry looked no more than asleep.

“How is it? Rael, is Henry all right?” Bejan kept asking as if expecting something terrible.

Just as Rael was about to shape his words, Count Krey returned from outside at that moment.