The Duke’s Madness

The moment he finished speaking, Leon Madrid knew something had touched his stomach.

‘hand. But it is sharper than a knife.’

Turn your gaze while thinking.

The prediction was not wrong.

At some point, Arthur’s outstretched hand pressed the center of my abdomen exactly.

So it was amazing.

It wasn’t even a sword or any special magic, it was just a hand, but I could clearly feel that it was being pierced.

‘With just the momentum… . Did I plant the illusion that I could die?’

Along with the thought, Leon burst out laughing.

How on earth can a 17-year-old handle this momentum?

Then Arthur opened his mouth and asked a question.

“Did you see in my head then, Prince?”

Leon answered, raising a corner of his mouth.

“I saw it. Above all, I hypnotized myself.”

“It is dangerous. I’ve felt it since the first time we met… . You are dangerous in many ways.”

Arthur raises his head, which was lowered.

“So I have to kill him. I will not hear your resentment.”

With these words, Arthur’s fingertips dug into Leon’s abdomen.

Leon gave strength to his eyes at the sensation so vivid.

‘Did you really dig? Bare-handed?’

At the same time as the question, Leon belatedly recalled.

It was Arthur Bavaria’s unique lineage ability.

‘ah… . sh*t! You used that ability to pierce it!’

Letting out a breath between a sigh and a sigh, Leon quickly opened his mouth.

“I am the same.”

“… ?”

“I have the same purpose as you. Cannes Madrid. Killing that man is my goal.”

The digging fingertips stopped.

Feeling that sensation, Leon urgently explains.

“Isn’t that what you said? You and I are destined.”

“… .”

“Would you like to take this hand off and have a conversation? If I fall like this, it won’t be very good for both of us.”

Arthur’s gaze sinks low at the suggestion.

Leon felt impatient, but he did not move hastily.

The Arthur Bayern I’ve seen so far was an unpredictable human being.

It was rather poisonous to urge such an opponent.

And this judgment worked.

Arthur pulls out the hand that he had put in without warning.

“Kuk!”

Leon let out a moan and stumbled into his seat.

Fortunately, people around him did not pay much attention to Leon’s behavior.

In the meantime, Arthur muttered as he licked Leon’s blood on his hand.

“Imperial imperial blood has no taste.”

“… ?”

“It has no nutritional value. It looks very attractive from the outside… . Do you feel that it tastes worse than garbage?”

Leon’s eyebrows trembled slightly.

‘This is genuinely scary.’

If that statement is correct, doesn’t it mean that Arthur Bavaria tasted the blood of another member of the imperial family?

Leon muttered, forcing himself to hold his slightly confused mind.

‘That’s why I think I need to hold onto it more… .’

At that time, Arthur sits down and asks a question.

“Why do you want to kill Khan Madrid, Prince? They are blood relatives, and they are older brothers.”

Leon twists his lips.

“There are many reasons, which I cannot tell you.”

“…”

“I haven’t seen everything in your head either. So, if you stand by my side, I will tell you the truth.”

Arthur exclaims.

“Are you making an offer in this situation? The prince is really amazing.”

“Seize opportunities in the worst situations. That is my credo.”

“Hmm… . I can’t agree The worst is literally the worst. If the prince dies right here, you won’t get a chance, right?”

Leon replies with a puzzled expression.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“well. I’m thinking… . My head tells me not to kill you.”

Arthur, speechless, laughs.

“My heart tells me to kill you. Usually in this case, I go where my heart tells me… .”

“… .”

“So, tell me something plausible. That’s why I won’t kill the prince.”

Leon shuts up.

He has managed his expression well so far, but he couldn’t hide his emotions in this answer.

Arthur opens his mouth while looking at his face, where the embarrassment is clearly revealed.

“Tick tock.”

“… ?”

“It’s time, Prince. Please answer me.”

Leon muttered, sincerely astonished.

“You really always break expectations… .”

“Is that the prince’s answer?”

“Oh no! no! wait a minute! I should think about it too… .”

Leon, speechless, snaps his fingers.

“I’ll give you a high-level command. how is it?”

“It should be given.”

“… ?”

“You originally meant to give it as an apology. It is against the law to put it on the table.”

Leon shouted in bewilderment.

“Wh-what are you talking about!? That’s a gift I’ve prepared to give when you and I share the same will!”

“Oh yeah? But I’m not satisfied with this.”

Arthur smiles softly.

“So try something else. You can’t just trust this high-level command and trust the words of the prince.”

At Arthur’s urging, Leon ponders again.

But no plausible solution came to mind.

‘I thought that if I honestly disclosed it, even if it wasn’t cooperation, I would get a positive opinion, but I never thought it would come out like this.’

Along with the thought, Leon let out a groan.

I don’t know if it’s because of the pain I feel, but my head doesn’t turn well.

No matter how hard you try in this situation, no good solution will come to mind.

Because of that, when Leon was sweating profusely, Arthur Bayern, who had been silent, suddenly got up from his seat.

When Leon, startled by surprise, backs down without realizing it, Arthur bursts into exclamation.

“Oh sh*t. I forgot class time.”

“…?”

“Prince, I think I need to go, so please let me know next time we meet. Then it won’t go over like this time.”

Arthur stretches out his hand with a warning.

At that moment, a refreshing energy flows out and surrounds Leon.

At the same time, the pain gradually stopped, and Leon muttered in surprise.

‘Is it the spirit of Arthur Bavaria?’

Along with his thoughts, while Leon was breathing out the breath he had been holding back, Arthur greeted him while holding a high-level order.

“Enough then.”

And really left and disappeared.

“… .”

Leon, who had been staring blankly for a while, murmured.

“… Is that guy really crazy?”

Concerned, Leon nodded.

‘It’s not really crazy, it’s just crazy.’

Along with the thought, Leon burst out laughing.

“under… . In the end, only the senior command was taken away, right?”

A high-level command that I obtained with difficulty on the condition of being on my side.

But that was just taken away.

Leon groaned, but immediately shook his head.

‘It’s not just damage.’

Through today’s meeting, one thing became clear.

Arthur Bayern.

For some reason, he wanted to kill my brother with all his heart, just like himself.

And this fact was more meaningful to Leon than Arthur thought.

‘also… We are destined to be friends, Arthur Bayern.’

Leon raised his eyebrows and rose from his seat.

“But you’re late.”

I didn’t know because I was talking to Arthur, but I was 10 minutes late for class.

Concerned, Leon shrugged.

“Well, once or twice late… . I should take a nap.”

* * *

After finishing all the lessons, Arthur thought as he rolled the advanced command in his hand.

‘I knew there must be a reason, but… . You said you were aiming for Can Madrid?’

Leon Madrid.

An industrial spy who was the prince of the empire and stole the empire’s secrets.

Of course, there were few reasons for the imperial prince to steal the secrets of his country.

So Arthur thought it was a light power struggle, but he never imagined that he would do something like that to kill his brother.

‘that’s interesting… . Is that why we were able to survive in the future?’

Khan Madrid killed all his brothers after ascending to the throne.

It was a bloody purge to block any signs of rebellion in the first place.

However, the only one of his brothers to survive was Leon Madrid, and now we know why.

‘It’s not that I didn’t purge, it was that I didn’t. Leon Madrid was prepared for it.’

I don’t know yet if the range of contrast was because I knew everything about the future like myself, or if it was a guess I found out through small clues, but at least this was certain.

Leon Madrid was feeling the danger from Can Madrid.

Whether for a broad reason or a narrow reason.

‘In that situation, Leon Madrid asked for my cooperation… .’

Arthur, who had been stroking his chin, raised an eyebrow.

‘I don’t know if it’s the same side, but I think I can use it at least once?’

Because of that, I made excuses for class and left my seat.

I needed time to think, and it was difficult to kill the prince because of my mental illness.

‘I would have killed me if I was insane… . A sane person shouldn’t do that.’

There are enough places to use if you are the prince of the empire.

Arthur nodded and looked at the high-level order in his hand.

“By the way, the high-level spiritual group really existed.”

The small pill, which emits a subtle blue light, has been spewing refined mana non-stop for a while now.

Even if you take a guess at the amount, you can easily make one circle.

So, Arthur was able to immediately recognize that this blue pill was a high-level order of the rumor.

‘If you just eat in the current state… . I might be able to move up to the 3rd circle right away.’

If successful, it’s only been 3 years since I’ve held the sword.

It is to achieve the 3rd circle in 3 years.

Because of that, Arthur did not hide his expectations and hid the spirit in his arms.

After telling Undine that something might break, Arthur came home with the protective shield on and asked Anna right away.

“Anna. It’s dinnertime, so please don’t let anyone into my room until tomorrow night.”

“… yes? What do you mean, Gongja?”

“I have to do something important. So, never let anyone into my room.”

Anna blinked her eyes, belatedly discovering Arthur’s extremely serious expression, and nodded.

“I understand, Gongja. I won’t let anyone in.”

At her answer, Arthur immediately enters the room.

And as soon as he took out the elixir he had hidden a while ago, he called the spirits.

“Mr. Undine Gnome. Take a look around while you consume the spiritual altar.”

[Yes Arthur!]

[…] okay!]

In response to the spirits’ reply, Arthur threw the advanced decree from his palm into his mouth.

That moment.

Anger-!

A savory aroma occupied the mouth.

It had a scent similar to that of mint, but as the scent entered the stomach through the esophagus, it became an unknown hot energy and began to rise violently.

‘Mana. It’s also high-purity chunks of mana.’

Along with his thoughts, Arthur tried to seize the mana at once.

However, the mana hidden in the elixir did not move smoothly according to its will.

Rather, he ran wild and tried to escape Arthur’s will.

At that violent movement, Arthur raised the corners of his mouth as if he was having fun, concentrating.

That moment.

bang-!

With a small explosion from within Arthur, the existing mana began to devour the mana contained in the elixir.

At that sudden movement, the mana contained in the elixir hurriedly tried to escape, but Arthur was not willing to let go.

Cuckoo-!

Arthur’s mana, which came like a wave, ate away the mana of the elixir.

The mana of the elixir struggled, but to no avail.

On the contrary, the longer he struggled, the more harshly Arthur’s mana dealt with the elixir’s mana.

Ugh-!

And as the amount of mana devoured increased, the two rings engraved on Arthur’s chest sent a louder echo.

The moment the echo went beyond his ears and shook his brain, Arthur opened his eyes.

Anger-!

a sinking silence.

In the midst of it, Arthur burst into a sigh.

“and… . That’s a lot. Is this much more than I expected?”

I thought it was the amount of mana that could be a 3rd circle, but the amount of mana hidden in the advanced commandments was more than that.

‘It’s not an amount that can be a 4th circle… . Right before the 4th circle. That amount could be enough.’

As proof of that, I could feel that even with the exception of the amount that could create 3 circles, there was still a huge amount of mana hiding in my veins.

At this level, it is safe to say that it has completed almost 4 circles.

So Arthur had no choice but to raise the corner of his mouth.

‘If you reach 4 circles, now you only need to complete one circle… .’

It is finally reaching the level of handling swordsmanship.

As Arthur trembled at the sense of accomplishment he hadn’t felt in a long time, a thought suddenly came to his mind.

“hmm… . Do you think we can start soon?”

Arthur turned and opened the bookshelf.

At that moment, I came back to the past and saw a scrapbook with the information I had gathered so far.

Arthur picked up the book and muttered, raising the corner of his mouth.

“Blood revenge… . Can we start working on it now?”