Cale was about to get in a carriage with the crown prince. The crown prince was asking Cale for a performance until the end. Naturally, the carriage Cale was on was the crown prince's carriage that was urgently brought over to the plaza.
"Mister Cale, please get on first. For today, you deserve this honor."
The crown prince had a smile on his face that was completely different from his stiff expression from earlier. The crown prince knew that other people were now watching, and needed to keep up the act.
"How could I do that? I cannot get on the carriage before you, your highness. You are the star that shines down on citizens like myself."
– …Human, is your head okay?
Cale just ignored the Black Dragon's question. The crown prince patted Cale's shoulder and started to speak.
Pat. Pat.
The crown prince was patting his shoulder quite hard.
"It is an expression of my respect for you. Go ahead."
"If that is the case, this lacking citizen will get on first."
Crown prince Alberu was the only one from the royal family who was still at the site of the terror incident. He stayed at the plaza even after the rest of the royal family had gone back in order to command the knights to take care of everything and to show care for Cale. Next to him was Cale Henituse, the man of the hour and the one who will remain etched in the people's minds about this incident.
The sight of the two of them standing together was like a beautiful painting, and it made people think highly of both of them.
Cale got onto the crown prince's carriage and peeked to the side.
The nobles were near the carriage, with the citizens being right behind them. Cale lightly gestured with his eyes to say goodbye to Eric, Gilbert, Amiru, and Taylor before smiling to Neo Tolz, who was blankly staring at him.
Neo Tolz flinched after seeing Cale's smile while Venion, who was standing next to Neo, stiffened up. It was not just him. All of the high-ranking nobles were observing Cale.
'How could that trash gain such a power? No, how could that trash act in such a way?'
They were all sending him gazes that seemed to imply those statements, but Cale ignored them and continued to stare at Neo until Neo flinched and turned away.
'I guess I can get rid of one of his evil minions.'
That was what Cale was thinking as he got on the carriage. His smile then disappeared as soon as he was inside. Crown prince Alberu entered behind him and then ordered his servant.
"Treat the lady over there as a VIP."
Alberu was, of course, talking about Rosalyn. The carriage door started to slowly close and Cale made eye contact with Rosalyn before the door closed completely. Rosalyn's smile seemed reliable.
Click.
The carriage door finished closing and Cale leaned back on the chair.
'The royal carriage really is a different quality. Where do they get such leather for their seats?'
Cale felt the comfort of the seat before turning to look at Alberu, who had also gotten rid of that fake smile from earlier and now had a stoic expression, just like Cale.
"Do you need any healing?"
Cale bluntly responded back.
"My body is healthy, but shouldn't I get the best doctors and priests to take a look? I want to just lay around for about three or four days."
"Ha."
The crown prince's laugh sounded like a sigh. However, he then nodded his head.
"You're right. That will be good. The noble who saved everyone is hurt, and the crown is giving him the best treatment possible to nurse him back to health. Very nice."
The crown prince did not keep up his act now that he knew he and Cale were of the same type of people. That was why he got right to the point.
"Mr. Cale, are you involved with them?"
Them. Alberu was talking about the people who appeared at the plaza today. Cale made eye contact with Alberu as he thought about how the Black Dragon was probably following him right now in his invisible state.
This was what the Black Dragon had said as Cale got into the carriage earlier.
– Why did the crown prince not do anything when the other humans were dying? He is strong.
The crown prince was hiding his strength. He did not do anything, even when one of his servants died and a young knight lost his arms and legs. He just pretended to be weak and hid.
'I thought he was a good person, even if he had a tendency to use people.'
But that was not the case.
That was why Cale comfortably responded. He had a bright smile on his face.
"Your highness, why would I do something so annoying?"
"Indeed."
The crown prince immediately agreed. There was no way someone who was hiding as a trash would do such a thing. Furthermore, Alberu could tell that Cale only stepped in because there really were no other alternatives.
"The crown may try to uselessly investigate you."
"You will protect me, right, your highness?"
"Why are you asking such an obvious question?"
Alberu was going to protect him. Alberu opened the curtains in order to see the crowd of citizens outside. He put his smile back on and continued to speak.
"Let's finish our conversation when I visit you later to check on how you are doing."
The crown prince was going to go visit a healing noble and wanted to talk. There was quite a lot to talk about. Cale thought about Rosalyn, the ancient power, and his reward, as he started to speak.
"Your highness."
"Yes?"
"If it is for a conversation with the star of our nation, this Cale is always available."
The corner of Alberu's smile started to turn into a frown.
"I don't want my actions to be exaggerated when you package it up for the public."
"I will only package it up a bit. I just need enough for people to not complain about the crown."
The crown prince continued to speak while casually saying the next part. It sounded a bit glib, but it was the truth.
"Anyways, thank you. The number of people injured was lower thanks to your help."
It was difficult to tell whether crown prince Alberu was a good person or bad person. No, Cale didn't even know if he was human. However, Cale did not care about any of that, and just said what he needed to say.
"I look forward to my reward."
"Ha."
The crown prince shook his head, but did not say anything like, 'don't look forward to a reward.' It meant that he will make sure Cale was rewarded handsomely for his efforts.
That was how Cale entered the palace once again while receiving a much different treatment than previously. The fanciest and most luxurious room in the palace, that was reserved for foreign royal visitors, was provided for Cale.
'Choi Han's group stayed here in the novel too.'
Cale laid down on the extremely luxurious bed that was worlds softer than his own bed, and started to eat grapes one by one.
Another person who was staying in the palace came to visit at this time.
"Young master Cale."
It was Rosalyn, and, as expected, she was not alone.
"Cale-nim."
Choi Han was with her. On, Hong, and Lock were standing behind Choi Han with pale expressions on their faces. However, Cale started to frown after looking at the last person behind all of them.
"Y, young masteeeeeeeeer!"
It was deputy butler Hans. Hans looked like he wanted to cry. Hans, Choi Han, and Lock were able to enter the palace as Cale's servant and guards. Cale put his hand up toward Hans, who looked like he was going to rush toward him.
"Stop."
That made Hans stop moving, which gave Cale time to get up from the bed and start to speak to the others.
"Come on in."
He was very relaxed, as if he was the owner of this palace.
Cale had a conversation with Hans first. Hans checked Cale's condition before reporting like normal, as if the teary face from moments before had never existed in the first place.
"I have contacted master-nim back home. I thought it would be better if we contacted them before the crown did, so I hired a mage to open a communication port. In doing so, I ended up spending a lot of money."
"Good job."
"And."
Hans peeked toward Rosalyn.
'Of course he knows.'
The corner of Cale's lips went up just slightly. Hans was a great butler candidate and knew more about the nobles than Cale did. There was no way such a person would not have other information as well.
"Continue."
Hans reported after getting Cale's permission.
"I told everyone in the residence to remain quiet about Rosalyn-nim for now."
"Thank you very much."
"You did well."
Rosalyn and Cale praised Hans. Since they have not had any time to discuss, it was better for Rosalyn and Cale that they remained quiet about her for now.
"Excuse me, young master."
"What?"
"I did give a report, but I think you should contact home via a communication port in the near future. If you don't, I believe master-nim will personally travel up here."
His father, Count Deruth, would definitely do that. Cale was busy thinking about how he could take care of this situation without jeopardizing Basen's position as the successor, so he just nodded his head. Hans got up after seeing Cale nod.
He was a sharp one.
He knew that he needed to leave for Cale to speak with Rosalyn, Choi Han, and Lock.
"Then I will go look for the caretaker of this palace to discuss a few things."
"Sure."
Hans had left the room, so the Black Dragon finally revealed himself. He then headed to Cale's bed and started to eat the fruits located there as he started his report.
"There are no video or audio recording devices in here."
He really did a good job with whatever Cale told him to do, even if he did not look like he would do so. That was what Cale was thinking as he looked around this room that he was staying in.
It was a room for foreign royalty. Doing something like placing recording devices in such a room would easily be a cause for war. That was why the royalty in all of the different nations worked to hide video and audio recording devices in hidden locations around common areas, like the dining room.
This meant that they could say anything they wanted to in this room. However, Rosalyn still cast a noise cancellation spell.
"It's better to be safe."
"Miss Rosalyn, that side of you is wonderful."
Cale agreed with Rosalyn's decision and then looked toward Choi Han. Choi Han has had his head down since he entered the room. Cale had a pretty good idea about what happened after seeing Choi Han like this.
He did not manage to kill Redika.
"Tell me."
Choi Han lifted his head up.
"That mage appeared in the location you told me. I tried to kill him, but his subordinates rushed toward me."
"I'm sure they were ready to die."
"…Yes."
The secret organization valued Redika quite a bit for some reason.
"So they escaped?"
"…Yes."
Choi Han lowered his head again as he continued to speak.
"I only managed to cut off his left arm."
'Hmm?'
"I then burned the arm up in case he came back for his arm to put it back together. Ah, his left eye should be injured as well."
'Isn't that a death sentence for a mage?'
Mages needed to cast magic with both hands for their mana to be balanced. Losing an arm would end up affecting that quite a bit. Cale looked toward Choi Han with a stiff expression.
Choi Han was standing there with his head down and fists clenched.
"I was supposed to kill him. I'm sorry."
"No need to be sorry. You did well."
Cale looked toward Lock, On and Hong who were sitting next to Choi Han. On and Hong did not move toward the Black Dragon like usual. They were stiff in Lock's arms. Lock was looking at Cale with a desperate gaze.
'Did he go berserk?'
Cale looked toward Choi Han and asked.
"His subordinates?"
"I thought it was better to kill them, so I took care of them."
That made the red kitten Hong rub his face on his sister On's body. Choi Han had used his black aura to completely get rid of them without any traces. This was the first time Hong realized that you could melt a person with aura.
"It's best to be thorough to prevent any future issues. You didn't break any buildings or anything like that, right?"
Cale was worried that Choi Han went berserk and destroyed some other things. Harris Village and the Blue Wolf Tribe incident were both traumas for Choi Han. Cale was worried that he would go crazy when seeing the people who caused those traumas standing right in front of his eyes.
'If he goes berserk, I may end up having to clean up the mess.'
Since Choi Han was staying with him, Cale would need to clean up the mess. However, Cale did not want to do such a thing.
"Yes, of course. As Cale-nim mentioned, I made sure not to damage anything around the area."
The kittens remembered what Choi Han said to the subordinates as he killed them.
'All of the important people in my life were killed or almost killed by you. Including today!'
The buildings were not damaged, but the look on Choi Han's face as he melted the secret organization members alive was quite scary. He did not go berserk, however, that made it scarier. On and Hong finally moved toward the Black Dragon to get a sense of relief by the dragon's side. The strongest, cutest, and nicest individual in this room was this Black Dragon.
Cale observed the kittens heading to the bed before speaking to Choi Han.
"I see, you worked hard."
Cale's words made Choi Han look up at him. Cale looked at Choi Han and everyone else as he continued to speak.
"All of you did something amazing today. It is thanks to you that all those people lived. Miss Rosalyn, you worked hard as well."
Choi Han's tightly clenched fists loosened up a bit. Rosalyn looked at Lock, Choi Han, and the kittens that were wagging their tails, before finally landing her gaze on Cale. An odd sense of cohesion surrounded her.
The Black Dragon started to speak at that point.
"You worked hard too."
This made Cale start to smile as he nodded his head.
"Indeed. I worked very hard. That is why I will be rewarded."
And the time to have their first discussion about his reward soon arrived.
"You can head out now."
"Yes, your highness."
Crown prince Alberu sent out the priest who just sat there filling the time without doing any actual treatment on Cale before turning to make eye contact with Cale. Cale had an expression of awe that the crown prince came to visit, until the door closed and Alberu started to speak.
"That expression of yours is giving me the chills."
"Thank you very much."
Cale returned to his usual relaxed expression. Alberu seemed to find that more bearable as he sat on a chair next to the bed Cale was laying on looking like a patient.
"I have said that you are currently resting. I said that you got up at the plaza even though it was difficult so that you could help calm things down like a proper noble."
Alberu started to smile before adding on.
"Since you revealed that you possess an ancient power at the plaza, I played along and said you have a defensive ancient power that is not very strong. That is what you wanted, right?"
"Mm."
Cale pretended to contemplate as he responded back.
"A young noble who is weak but stepped forward for the kingdom. It's nice."
"Indeed."
Cale preferred it this way that people thought he was 'not very strong.' It wasn't a lie, he really was weak.
"By tomorrow, any information about rumors about you and the current situation will be delivered to you through your butler. Make sure to take a look."
Prince Alberu was definitely treating Cale differently than he had treated Choi Han in the novel. He didn't have even an ounce of a warm smile and just had a stoic expression. It was as if he was dealing with someone he didn't want to deal with because he needed to do so.
That was how Cale wanted it to be.
Cale made eye contact with the crown prince who was staring at him. Prince Alberu started to frown after seeing Cale's relaxed demeanor and started to think for a bit before he finally said what was on his mind.
"…By the way."
This extremely hesitant attitude made it seem like he was expecting something. Cale just waited patiently as this was rare to see from the crown prince.
While Cale was waiting, the Black Dragon who had woken up from his nap underneath the bed started to talk to Cale in his mind.
– Now I am certain. He is not human.
The crown prince asked his question at the same time.
"…You are human, right?"
What was going on? A straight and a hook landed on him at the same time. Cale suddenly wished he really was hurt.