When he opened his eyes, it was inside the luxurious ceiling that jumped into view. I exhaled relief when I could understand that was the excessive decoration of the bedroom set up for me. That was a dream.

"It was a long time ago, but was it even a bad dream?

He closed his eyelids quietly to the woman's words, which he neither intended to respect nor care for. Silence could have been accepted as affirmation, but it doesn't matter. I have palpitations and my whole body is sweating. I definitely had a horrible dream. I forgot what my dream was about, but that's fine. I can't help remembering nightmares and such.

"That's all I said when I slept in the dark, I had bad dreams"

A woman laughed with her face buried in his chest.

Leongand touched the woman's hair, nothing. A woman doesn't move a thing. It will always stay this way, but it will remain. I never wonder if that's her own resistance, but it doesn't matter. We don't love each other. They're just in agreement with each other's interests. A woman asks Leongando for a mouthful of emotion, and Leongando holds a woman to maintain her mental equilibrium. That's all.

Somewhere in my heart I was burdened to try to be the heir of my predecessor, the bright king. Burdens become distortions, driving the equilibrium of spirit crazy. Sometimes I realize and scold myself for trying to fall into the outer path, but that doesn't stop me. That's when, when you hold a woman, your heart regains its composure. Most importantly, that's not a complete response. It's just a slight reversal of the collapsed equilibrium. In some situations, it went crazy immediately.

Don't wonder how easy it would be to behave foolishly. It must be easier if you act like Gandhia's “dumb ass” rating for deceiving the public. But I can't do that. That's never all.

Leongand bit his lip. The taste of iron spreads over my tongue.

"Still missing something?

"No... fine"

"I'm satisfied, too."

That said, the woman's weight disappeared from the top of the leongand. Leongand's hand, which was stroking her hair, cuts the sky and falls over her chest. The usual. There is no emptiness. Your temperature is already cold.

Patrol your gaze. The indoors are closed to darkness and barely visible. I know you're lurking somewhere in this darkness, but I have no idea.

He called his name because he had no choice.

"Arya."

Then her figure rose to darkness. He wraps his sheet around like a dress and stands with his back to this one. Maybe even the painting on the wall looked at it. Wang Du far-sighted. He made famous painters paint it, but he wasn't interested in Leongand. I like the work itself. When I think of the panoramic view of the Wang capital, it's exactly enough that this painting comes to mind.

Leongand continued his words, keeping an eye on her. In the back of my brain, there is a sight.

"One thing I need to ask you"

"What is it?

Women don't even try to turn this way. I don't have the idea of being disrespectful to the king. And Leongand is allowing it.

"Why did you do that?"

"Well."

Arya tilts her little neck.

Leongand understood that his question was bad, but he did not reflect. The intense sight burned on the retina was created by her. The royal palace-sponsored dinner party was about to be ruined. Fortunately, he wasn't injured, and he was safe.

Black spear martial arts.

The lightness of the words that came out with your mouth. There's no reason to use him for such absurdity.

"... you tried to kill Setuna"

"If you were lucky enough to kill me, that would be nice."

She doesn't even do bad things. The reaction is as expected. That's what she would do. You look like that, and you'll have that attitude. It's not even a short relationship. Her thoughts, to some extent, could be read. But I couldn't imagine what happened that night.

"Why"

"For two reasons"

The woman looked back at this one. I could clearly see the woman's face in the dark. Maybe it's because my eyes are getting used to the dark. She would be a good woman. He looks like a man. Always a wet eye seems to be looking for an emotional stigma. Dark hair is to the extent applied to the shoulder. Grey eyes look to Leongando. Stabbing eyes. But the animosity and hatred that should have been in that gaze disappeared like the illusion I had seen one day.

There was also a feeling of emotion.

"One, because he has recognized me"

"Recognition? When is this about? You will have no direct knowledge of him."

Even so, she continued to be the shadow of Leongand. Her abilities continued to function without being perceived. No one noticed her presence and she was thorough enough to forget even Leongand. There shouldn't have been any problems.

"It was about a month ago. I ran into him when I was a refugee on my way to Krebourg."

(a month ago...... Krebourg......)

Leongand explored his memory. There was only one answer to be derived from those two words, but this past month has been too busy. Took me a few seconds to remember.

(back then)

Bendell-Klein, the finance minister during King Siuscloud's time, was found to be on the run, and he had sent her away to cut her off in secret. It was decided that the gold pulse that had been kept secret by the former Minister of Finance should not be put on the table. If you put it on the table, the inevitability emerges to look into the previous flow of gold. That's good. But crushing the Fantasy of the Predecessor can involve the morale of Gandhia as a whole. The Balsar Fortress recapture operation should not have had any morale loss at present.

Nevertheless, where we captured him, if we kept him alive, we might one day be exposed. For the sake of humans who are no longer worthy of old age, there is no care or use of finite abilities.

Let's kill him first.

The decision was quick.

He died by Arya, and his legacy was hidden in darkness. And the funds generated by that mineral vein were the driving force behind Gandia's repeated military operations.

Are you saying that you were encountered just before that?

Leongand went to pack.

"Why did you keep your mouth shut?"

"No matter how much Your Majesty may be, it is cruel to be ashamed."

"Shame... shame on you"

"It is not worth it to exist without even an alien, such as us, born at the end of the foreign law. If we expose ourselves to shame, the value of alien powers and our significance will disappear. Your Majesty, let's think so, shall we?

To the glossy laughing woman, I didn't even see any words to give back. It is also true. Because of their peculiar powers, they protected and used her, Ur and the Lerga brothers. I can't deny that.

Arya has the ability to become unrecognizable from anyone. Ur presided over spiritual domination, and the Lerga brothers had the alien power of unrestricted willingness communication in space. At the end of the pre-emptive period, the darkness nested in Gandhia created them.

Foreign law institutions.

of Sius Cloud falling ill, a product of raw obsession and madness.

"... I feel like I did a little bit of a shame that night if I had killed him, I might not have had to expose myself to this shame"

Liar or true, Arya's going to be rude.

Leongand glanced at her.

"Kill Setuna and I won't let you."

"You think you'll take him more than I do?

"... no, we need both"

Sigh, admit it. That's for real. Setuna was imperative given Gandia's future, as was Aryan presence. She's holding me back as a shadow, so I can be unscrupulous on the battlefield. Being jumped by the Imperial Devil is something I could do because there was a shadow called her. I'm not barbaric.

The woman narrowed her eyes satisfactorily.

"Your Majesty is very honest. Then it will be hard to survive the world of manipulation."

"Would you be satisfied if I lied?

"No. Women don't like liars."

The woman laughs. It's as if darkness is mocking you. Whatever it is, it can't reach her. She is darkness. It is the darkness of Leongand's heart itself. I guess that's why. By holding her, Leongand was able to be himself. There's also a reason I can't let her go.

It's too early to lose sight of yourself.

"And the other, because I am the shadow of His Majesty."

Arya has told me in a playful tone. Leongand says back in anger.

"Shadow acts against my husband's will."

"Really, do you think?

"What do you want!

"Your Majesty, you are a wise man. You must really be aware of it. to myself, who is jealous of him."

"It's ridiculous"

Though I kicked her ass, her words stabbed me in the back of my ear.

"Having played“ Ugly ”more than a child, you have been accustomed to being mocked and ridiculed, controlling yourself so that you can't think of anything. Bloom out as a hero one day and jump onto the war scene. Now is the time to get laid. By continuing to think so, you were you"

Words as if they were words that would expose Leongand's mood.

"How is he? A rare and brave man who appears like a meteor and gets the attention of countries as well as Gandia. The long-awaited recapture of the fortress, as well as Logner's suppression, would have been only if he had existed. Only he shined on stage, and you were nothing but a terminal. Because of this, I returned my name and was about to rise to the stage of a crowded war. He was the only one who spread his name. Let's not just be jealous."

"Crap. You think I'm going to kill Setsuna for that much? Ridiculous."

"My advice to Your Grace, my dear."

The woman's eyes were colorful enough to remember the chill. I'm not laughing. I'm not even mocking you. Really imminent. So I can understand that's just the word of advice. But that doesn't mean it's honestly acceptable. It's nothing but humiliation, such as exposing a mind you don't even understand to others.

But it wasn't anger at Arlia that sprang up in Leongand's chest.

"Setuna the Black Spear... If there is something that kills him, can it be anything but that you go mad jealously and drive him to the dead"

Arya's figure blurred. I tried to dissolve from the contour into the darkness and disappeared. It can be called extinction. The signs, the smell, disappear. I don't recognize him anymore. That's her psychic powers, and that's why Leongand shadows her. On Leongand's side, there was always Arya. I was following him as a shadow and protecting him from all threats.

Leongand was flashy. The back of my chest is twitching.

"Jealous...?

Crunch towards the void where no one should be anymore. She may still be somewhere indoors, but it doesn't matter. Whether you're laughing at this reaction or feeling sorry for me, I don't care. She is the shadow of Leongand.

(Different......)

Leongand remembered with dismay the content of the dream he had just had. It's a horrible dream. Just imagining it shook my heart. A nightmare is this. This was the first time I felt from the bottom of my heart that I was happy with my dream.

He was, in his dreams, confronted by a black spear warrior.

The place is in some palace. It resembled the Lion Royal Palace, but it was subtly different. The opponent was Setuna alone and the black spear's tip was pointed at Leongando. He was just struck by a sense of despair, in front of a calamitous and vicious killing spirit unleashed by a pitch-black spear. There is no way that the kingship of a single country can rival that black spear. The arms of the sword are a good place to be second-rate, and I am proud that I cannot do anything without being protected by shadows.

If I had dreamed like that, I would have been killed by a black spear.

(It's horrible... he is)

So I gave it my status and my honor at all costs. Let's do whatever we can for him. Let's have whatever he wants. Gold, women, status, honor, fame - cheap if that's what he can keep. He is a black spear user, a thousand warriors a horse. As long as he is there, he can cross with any enemy. So trustworthy.

(Dog...?)

Lancaine, who accompanied him to Logner in Setuna, described him as a dog. He says he's a running dog who swears absolute loyalty to his husband.

Leongand was initially convinced of the theory. Setuna, who had Leongand in front, was like a puppy who had his owner in front. The way I behaved so hard to undermine my husband's mood is just something I learned to be healthy and even bully. It's not like what you look like on the battlefield. That's why Leongand assumed he could rule.

But.

(Are you sure?

Isn't Lancaine wrong about his nature?

The scene at the Royal Palace dinner party comes back to mind. The appearance of a boy antagonizing Arya, who was going to kill her if he had the chance, while being careful not to cause harm to the guests of the venue. I can't overlap the dog figure there. Running dogs. It's not that simple. Something scarier.

The incarnation of power.

devastation and the righteousness of killing.

Those words bury the back of my brain.

But maybe that's why we need him.

Only by dominating and serving forces like him can we confront the giant beasts who sleep on the continent.

(Arya...... you are making a mistake)

Leongand went against the woman's last words.

I'm not gonna kill him.

Drinking down anxiety, he swore to the darkness.