"You're amazing..."
Ian said with a look of reverence on his face as he looked at Corner. He genuinely wanted to keep Corner by his side forever, after what he witnessed moments ago.
"I can't believe you didn't leave that bastard behind and actually brought him with us..."
The bastard Ian was talking about was none other than Neil, one of the organisation members. Even among that crowd of explosion all around them, Corner hadn't let go of that bastard or leave him behind to die. Seeing his work efficiency, Ian was simply in awe.
"Young master... Why are you doing this?"
Asked the knight with an almost teary face. Corner thought that he was being teased like that(Ian praising him) because he always used to praise Ian. Well, Ian's words did have a sarcastic tone to it. But it was only a habit of his, he did actually mean it when he praised others.
Seeing Corner suffer like that, Ian decided to praise him eve
"What a troublesome Prince...haah.."Ian sighed again as he opened the letter. Water dripped down his hair into his face, rolling down his cheek. He had a slight reddish glow on his skin and looked slightly pale.As he sat down on the couch leisurely, opening the letter and reading it, one could paint an amazing portrait out of him at that moment. But sadly for him, there was no artist nearby." 'My dear young master Adrian..' heh.. What 'my dear' is he talking about?"" 'In the beginning of my letter, I wish you good health and quick recovery.' What recovery? I'm completely fine.."Ian chuckled as he continued reading the letter."' You cannot imagine how hurt I was when I heard that you went through something so cruel.. Thinking about it still gives me goosebumps!' What's his point? So many useless things.."Ian kept reading in between the lines as he tried to understand the summary of the l
"Sorry. I don't want to be your secret friend." Ian said with a stern expression. Seeing how the prince's eyes grew bigger in shock, he could confirm that his doubts were right. The prince didn't make an official visit and instead came to meet Ian in a disguise. It was all due to political reasons. Prince Albert was actually being considerate towards Ian's situation. The Dicarious duchy was a neutral household. A prince giving them a personal visit would put the duchy, Miller and his whole family in an awkward situation. People would gossip and the nobles would become alert. As such, Prince Albert decided to visit in disguise. Even now, he only wanted to be Ian's friend. It was his honest intentions. And he also had no intention of making their friendship public, all for the sake of giving Ian a peaceful life away from the Royal fight for the throne. And Ian, the target
"Are you crying?"Ian asked as he placed his hand on Albert's shoulder. He didn't mean it literally, since there wasn't any tear in the Prince's eyes. He just felt like Albert's expression was weird when he looked at him. And the surprised expression the prince made at his question was more than enough as an answer.'This guy... He's so happy with just this much?'Ian felt a sense of regret and helplessness as he looked at the young prince. He wasn't even twenty years old and yet he had to face so many hardships. Not even having a place to call home after fighting enemy's all day long, it was such an exhausting feeling, and Ian knew it very well."Who's crying? Have you finally lost it?"Albert tried to avoid the topic by making silly jokes and Ian also went along with his jokes."I lost mine years ago, you didn't know that?""You really are crazy.""Haha.. alright alright.. Let's
"I forgot about the kids!"Ian sprang up from his almost asleep state as he shouted. He was so shocked and distracted by Albert's presence that he forgot to ask Miller about the kids.Ripler, Kio and the other's from the island were supposed to come with him. Ian slapped himself in the cheek at his own carelessness and got up from bed."Where are you going?"Came a voice from behind him. It was Albert, he was rubbing his eyes as he looked at Ian with a sleepy gaze. He looked to his right. Ash and the maze was sleeping peacefully there. The four of them were sleeping at the same bed since none of them wanted to leave the room."Oh.. I forgot I had an important matter to check up on.""Right now?"Albert asked, a little surprised. It was almost midnight. The pin dropping silence around them was giving them an idea of exactly how late it was. The whole world was asleep by then."Umm.
"They're here!"Ian excitedly went down the stairs followed by the others. As the carriages stopped in front of the gate, a few knights came out first and led the children behind them.Ian went forward and received them from the knights. The knights bowed their head and left, letting the kids and Ian finally meet."Welcome.."Ian smiled as he welcomed them into the mansion. Although they looked a bit hesitant at first, seeing Ian acting like his usual self, they soon became comfortable."Aren't you all tired? It must've been a long journey.."Ian said as he signalled them to follow him inside."It was fun.""We used a teleportation portal for the first time!""The knight uncle said that they were there to guard and protect us."They spoke as they followed Ian like baby ducks following their mother."Of course. It's important we make sure that
"Young master, are you close with the prince?" Asked Arthur after Albert left. Corner was in charge of escorting him back to the royal palace, which left Arthur with Ian. "Hmm... We became friends yesterday." "Yesterday? But you guys seemed so close..." Ian wondered if Arthur also wanted to become friends with Albert. In the original novel, they did became quite close aquintances after the incident at the Lancaster duchy. But since Ian was the one who took the credit this time, Albert's attention changed as he focused on Ian instead of Arthur. "He's seems like a friendly guy. Oh, he also mentioned you yesterday. He wanted to get to know the knight that saved him." "Did he?" Arthur couldn't hide the slight excitement showing on his face as Ian put him on the spotlight. There was very few people in the world who didn't like be
"what-ugh!""Oof-""Uwah!"The knights gathered in a circle all jumped up in shock as the water dragon disappeared and drenched them in water.It was cool and refreshing but since none of them was ready for the sudden drenching, they all looked like wet rats as they stood there hopelessly."Pfft...hahahaha..."Among that crowd of shocked people, Ian was the only one who burst out laughing at the scene in front of him. He was finally feeling better after drenching them.It was a petty revenge for the constant stares he received from them everyday which made him self conscious."Young master..."Their admiring gazes were gone and was filled with puppy like stares full of complaint as they looked at Ian. Ian couldn't help but laugh even harder as he faced those gazes."Ahahaha... Pfftt.. what the hell.. hahaha.."As they tried to shake off the w
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"Albert asked Ian who was wearing his usual mask and robe."I apologize for not getting your permission beforehand. I felt like this would be the safest spot if we're meeting up in secret, you see."That was indeed true. There was no other place in the kingdom as godforsaken as this palace, the one of the deceased queen. If it wasn't for Albert sending his own servants once in a while to take care of this place, it would've turned into a playground for the wild animals.'To think this would be the fate of the queen of a kingdom...'Ian couldn't help but sigh at the thought of it."You still haven't answered my question. Who are you? Remove your mask.""Oh! I cannot do that, I apologize once again. As for my identity, I'm Noah, a prophet.""A what?"&n
Ian returned. After wondering the continent for half a year, he came back with a 'Bang!'. Right when the nobles all around the country gathered to 'show the hero his place', Ian returned. Crazy hypothesises such that Ian being a Devil worshipper, betraying the country and being on the run or that he's actually a demon etc etc all came to an end as he openly took Arthur's side and threatened the other nobles.Of course, most of those rumours weren't too far off the mark. Ian did prefer villains over heroes, demons over angels, he had no love for their country and lastly, he was a darkness ability user with a twisted moral sense. And! To top it all off, he also preferred these rumours over ones that would hail him as a hero. he'd rather be on the run after being called a demon rather than be called a hero and worshipped. Again, twisted morality. But he couldn't do that this time. There were too many people using his name so he couldn't just let it be as those people got treated bad
"It's been a week since young master lost consciousness."Rob wrote in his diary as he sighed. There was a heavy atmosphere surrounding the duchy ever since the day Adrian fell down from the roof and went into a coma. How or why it happened was still a mystery around the duchy but speculations about an attempted suicide was slowly spreading around. Rob didn't believe them though. The Adrian he knew was too selfish and arrogant to do something like that. Yet, even when he was so sure, a small part of his mind kept lingering over that quiet and motionless room where Adrian was."Ah.. It's been a while."With that, Rob went to take another look at the sleeping Adrian for the 36th time that day. Although he was telling himself that Adrian's situation wasn't that serious, that he'd wake up soon, as he tried to remember all the bad things Ian did in his short lifetime just to mask his worry, he didn't even realise that he was unconsciously heading towards Ian's room again. After worryin
Things Ian did(Unintentionally or intentionally) that influenced the future of Arthur's world: First of all, although the effect wasn't that eye-catching at the moment, Ian was going to be known as the figure that erased racial discrimination. Due to him giving shelter to people of all age and race, and the humans around him having constant changes in their views and perspective, it was going to be the seed that erased all future discrimination and racial profiling. Secondly, he was going to be known as the bridge between Humans and the Demons. The Queen of the Demons, Ash's mother who had gone back to the demon world to deal with some 'internal affairs' would soon return with an actual offer of friendship between the demons and the humans. It was Bela's way of showing gratitude to the people who had taken care of her son in his times of need. Ian's love for Ash was plain as day and the care and gentleness he showed when dealing with him was no different from what a parent woul
"What..?""That's absurd!""Is that sorcery? Does he think he can fool us so easily?!"There were looks of disbelief, shock and confusion on everyone's faces as they looked at Ash. But no matter how tough they acted or how oblivious they tried to be, the bone chilling aura coming from Ash that slowly filled the room was undeniable. It was an aura that was impossible for any human to manifest, dark and scary."It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not.""I'm not the one behind bars looking at lifetime imprisonment and possible death sentence."Ian shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner as he signaled for Ash to stop. He was only here to give these people a chance. A chance at repentance. If they refuse to grab it, he didn't care less whether they died or lived inside a cage forever. 'Human resources are valuable after all.'That was one of the other reasons why Ian was here. He wanted to bind all these people under contract and have them serve the country. It didn't sit right
"You're gonna let them go?" Arthur asked, conflicted, as he looked at Ian. They were currently in an underground prison, the biggest prison that was made on Ian's request under the Duchy. The war criminals, the cult members, were being held here. Seven days had already passed since Ian's soul returned to his body. He was forced to have complete bedrest this whole time by his parents and the kids. They finally let him go after he managed to manipulate them emotionally with everything he had. It was a difficult job indeed. But nothing was impossible for Ian. "Let them go? NO?" Ian asked back in utter shock instead. But it wasn't Arthur's fault that he misunderstood. Ian did indeed say something that could be easily misinterpreted. "But you just said 'It's time to go out.'..?" That's what he said. To the criminals. Not that he meant it literally. "To the hall. TO.THE.HALL." Ian repeated himself twice, once for the criminals and once for Arthur. Everyone captured already had
Ian's time with the kids were cut short as the Dicarious couple arrived in a haste. A part of Ian was happy to see them again after so long. But a part of him was also wondering if they really were there for Ian. What if they were expecting their son to come back? What if the person they expected to see coming to his senses was Adrian and not him? How disappointed they would be. With a mixture of these various emotions coursing through his mind, he failed to make any type of expression when faced with those two people. Neither could he smile wholeheartedly nor apologize and cry. The kids were guided outside by Arthur and Albert, giving Ian and his parents the room to themselves. Ash was reluctant to leave seeing Ian's expression, but the atmosphere was too heavy for him to interfere. So while everyone else went to another room, he stayed, waiting while standing outside Ian's room. The others also didn't force him to leave since they didn't know which was better. "Are you
"YOU!"Smack!"THOUGHTLESS!"SMACK!"BAS-! JER-!! PERSON!"Ian had to wake up from his peaceful sleep with the sound of someone's shout along with the obnoxiously loud yet not so painful smacking of the pillows."Ow ow ow.. what the hell...?""Huh?""I'm back?"Ian woke up rubbing the back of his head that was the victim of continuous battering and looked around. The changed bedroom and the familiar faces made him aware of the fact that he had indeed come back. "What?""What are you talking about, young master? You didn't go anywhere."Both Albert and Arthur looked concerned as they checked Ian's status for any abnormalities. Only after multiple checking did they finally sigh in relief. "Ah no.. ""Hey guys.. Long time no see?"Ian greeted the kids and the Prince and the Knight all together while leaning back on his bed. The one responsible for the ruthless battering from before still had a massive pout on their face as they silently glared at Ian. "Are you angry? I'm sorry. How lo
Ian enjoyed the tea from hell while having a long and informative conversation with death, or at least that's who he assumed the other person was. He learned about the past that he had locked away and the people he had forgotten. But it all felt distant, like he was viewing the life of somebody else. "Why did I do that? Lock my memories?"Ian was curious. Just by watching the memories of Noah's future, he could tell that he lived a pretty okay life. The daughter he adopted also turned out to be great. She became his family. These were precious memories. So he couldn't understand why he'd lock them up like this. "After I presented you with my request, this is what you told me."Death continued showing Ian another set of completely different memories. An old man, wrinkly hand, white hair, hazy eyes. The room looked similar to the one he was in right now, and so was the person in front of them. "The me right now cannot save a world.""The blade has already lost it's edge.""I've grow
"What do you mean by welcome back?"Ian asked, confused. As far as he could remember, never before in his life did he see this man or these scenes. And these weren't circumstances that he'd forget 'by chance' either. "After your first death, you came here.""First death.. Ah.. When I jumped down the bridge?"Ian remembered his last moments as Noah. The music that played, the scenery he watched on top of that bridge, they were all very memorable. Yet, he had no memory of coming to this place.But unlike Ian's thoughts, the guy in front of him shook his head in denial. Not understanding exactly which part he was denying, Ian tilted his head to the side slightly."What death are you talking about then?""You didn't die back then."The guy sat down on the bed, facing Ian and the endless hell behind him as he spoke. "When you were at the verge of losing consciousness, you heard a childs cry.""A child?""Yes. It was the final monster outbreak." Ian wondered what this guy was talking abo