A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

When you are asleep, you always dream.

Dreaming about scenes from the past.

From a very young age, when he met Heimos for the first time after his rebirth, when he was held in the arms of the king's brother, Shermer scolded him with a straight face.

He had countless dreams.

He seemed to be experiencing his entire life over again in a dream.

When he woke up, Garlan opened his eyes.

The sun shone in from the skylight and fell on the golden hair of the knight kneeling in front of his bed, reflecting a faint luster.

Garlan narrowed his eyes, raised his body, and tried to sit up.

As soon as he moved, the knight kneeling below stood up immediately, as if wanting to help him.

But Garlan raised his hand to block Caihos's outstretched hand, held it up with his other hand, and sat up.

Caihos was startled. He looked at Garlan with a slight curve on his lips.

The smile was very shallow and flashed by.

His eyes fell on Garlan's pale face and thin figure, and his pupils suddenly trembled.

However, when Garlan raised his head and looked at him, the pain in his eyes was deeply hidden, but the corners of his eyes curled up, looking at Garlan with a smile.

The blond knight's face, which became more handsome and charming as time went by, stretched out and gave Garlan a gentle smile.

He held Garlan's hand, lowered his head, and glanced at the pale hand.

He closed his eyes and kissed the hand.

"I'm back, Prince."

The knight said, just as he had said countless times before.

That was what he would say every time he returned to his prince after an expedition.

No matter where he goes, no matter where he fights, he will never forget the place where he must return, to his prince's side.

The frost that fell on the battlefield could only be dispelled by the warmth from the hand held in the fingers.

Only when you see those golden eyes looking at him with a smile can you feel the reality of having your feet on the ground.

That is his eternal harbor.

"Kayhos, I just had a dream."

"Was it a good dream?"

Cayjos asked with a smile.

Garlan glanced at Kehos, his golden eyes curved like the curve of a crescent moon.

"Um."

He smiled so hard that his eyes curled up.

"I dreamed that when I was very young, I told you not to follow me, but you just coaxed me and became my guardian knight."

"Your majesty, what you said is a bit too much, and it's very hurtful."

Kehos pretended to be dissatisfied.

"Are you dissatisfied with me as a guardian knight?"

He said, sounding like I was hurt.

That tone immediately made Garlan laugh.

After finishing laughing, Garlan raised his head and raised his hand to touch the dark blindfold on Caihos's face.

The golden eyes looking at him were very bright, so bright that Caijos was dazzled for a moment.

Time seemed to go back a long time ago. On that dark night, the young child stood in front of him covered in blood. He touched his face with his little hand and asked him if it hurt.

In the dark night, only the eyes of children are brighter than anything else.

Just like now.

Time seems to have never changed anything.

Time keeps changing something.

Everything seems like just yesterday, but we can never go back to the original moment.

"Kayhos, thank you for your hard work."

Pressing his fingertips on the dark blindfold, Garlan said, looking deeply at his knight.

"I'm very happy that it's you, Caihos, who has been protecting me until now."

He raised his head and kissed his guardian knight's forehead.

"My knight," he said.

My guardian knight.

Thank u

Protect me till now.

Caijos did not answer. He lowered his eyes, and his slightly long golden forehead hair was scattered sideways on his dark eye mask.

The shadow of his forehead covered his eye sockets, and the light in his eyes seemed to go out for a moment. Only when he looked at Garlan again, the light that went out for a moment lit up again.

"...I will protect you until the end."

he answered gently.

"My prince."

The knight replied with a smile.

He was smiling, just like always, and it seemed like nothing had changed.

…………

The moment Keyhos lifted the veil and walked out of the inner room, the smile on his face had completely disappeared.

He stood in the empty hall, pressing one hand on the snow-white stone pillar.

He closed his eyes tightly and clenched the fingers of his left hand tightly on the stone pillar with so much force that his white knuckles crackled.

His chest was heaving violently, like a person about to drown, sinking endlessly in the water, unable to breathe again.

[Kayhos, the next person you have to protect is Aaron Landis. 】

The words seemed to still echo in his ears, pressing firmly on his chest.

After taking several deep breaths, Caihos finally felt the eyes staring at him.

He turned around and saw Tapti standing not far away.

However, after not seeing her for just a month, the female official's appearance was no longer radiant. Her eyes were dim, with almost no brilliance visible.

Their eyes met for a moment in the air.

Just for a brief moment.

Cayjos looked away.

Tapti lowered his eyes.

Caijos walked forward quickly and passed by the female official who was still standing there.

As if they didn't want to be infected with the pain in each other's eyes, they avoided looking at each other.

…………

The sun was about to set below the horizon. Under the fiery red sunset, Emma panted violently. Sweat continued to flow down her cheeks and into her eyes, blurring her vision.

She no longer remembered how long she had been at the martial arts training ground, nor did she know how many arrows she had shot.

Her arms were so sore that she could no longer lift them and could only hang softly.

Aielson's delegation had already left, and the others could not defeat her, so they could only return with the letter she wrote to the queen, leaving her alone here.

What she heard in the palace was always the worst news.

She still went to see Garlan from time to time, smiling as much as possible in front of Garlan without showing a worried expression. But her heart was so heavy that she could only run to the training ground every day and vent all her uneasiness here.

After breathing for a while, Emma finally calmed down a bit and turned around and left the archery range.

However, before leaving the martial arts training ground, she suddenly heard a strange sound coming from another place.

She followed the sound and saw the young knight commander in the training ground.

That guy named Novi.

As soon as she took a look, she rushed over in a few steps. When Novi struck the training stake in front of her with his sword, she raised her bow arm to hold the opponent's sword hard.

Then, she snatched Novi's sword and kicked him to the ground.

"That's enough, idiot!" she said angrily, "If you continue, your hand will become useless! Can a general with disabled hands still be called a general?"

I don’t know how long he has been training here. The young man’s hands are bloody and he doesn’t know how much flesh has been worn away.

He seemed to be a little unconscious after being kicked by Emma and fell to the ground. He just raised his head and looked at her in a daze.

"King Garlan definitely doesn't want a useless general!"

The little princess yelled at him.

Novi seemed to wake up a little after hearing that name. He looked at the little princess and slowly lowered his head.

"I said……"

he said, as if mumbling to himself.

He buried his head in his arms on his knees.

"I told him that when I grow up, I will dedicate the royal city of the Gastad people to him."

"But there's no time."

He said, "I can't do it anymore..."

The little princess said nothing.

She stood in front of the young knight who buried his head in his knees and raised her head.

Summer was coming to an end, and the hot wind blew over, lifting up her long wavy brown hair, and a few messy strands of hair passed in front of her eyes.

She looked silently at the setting sun on the distant horizon.

The setting sun reflected her face red.

The sun is about to sink into the earth, taking away all its light.

…………

Garlan fell asleep again. He didn't know how long he slept. He only knew that when he woke up, it was already late at night.

The stars in the sky scattered on the earth from the dark night.

He opened his eyes to look, and the starlight seemed to fall into his pupils, dyeing his eyes with bright starlight.

"The stars are bright."

The man holding him whispered in his ear.

Garlan raised the corner of his mouth.

He didn't answer, but turned his eyes from the starry sky to the face of the person holding him.

In the warm yellow light, the dark hair cast tiny shadows on that handsome face.

In the interlaced fragments of light and shadow, the golden-red eyes staring at him flickered, and his brown cheeks seemed to be swaying between light and darkness.

Only the gaze that fell on him was always soft.

"Heimos."

Gallan leaned into Heimos's arms, stretched out his hand, smiled and shouted softly.

Heimos stared at him, lowered his head along his hand, and brought his face close to his.

Garlan closed his eyes and kissed the person in front of him.

This person's lips have always been pliable, with a bit of coolness, and the edges of his lips always give people a sharp feeling.

He kissed him, opened his eyes, and touched his cheek again.

He said, "Heimus, I have something to tell you."

The face of the person in front of me vaguely overlapped with the violent face from the previous times.

"There are many things I want to tell you."

he said with a smile.

"Didn't you ask me before why I hated you so much when I was a child? Actually, I..."

Halfway through his words, Heimos, who had been looking at him quietly, suddenly lowered his head.

The lips were kissed.

The next words were stuck back in his throat.

Heimos hugged Garlan and kissed him gently.

Extremely gentle, extremely affectionate.

The lips of the two were entangled for a long time. Heimos rubbed and licked every inch of Garlan's lips with attachment, almost turning the bloodless pale lips back to a bright red color.

It wasn't until Garlan's breathing quickened that he let go.

The golden-red eyes seemed to have no trace of waves, and they were quiet, reflecting Garlan's shadow.

He said: "I know."

Gallan was still panting rapidly. When he heard this, he was suddenly startled and raised his eyes to look at Heimos in surprise.

Heimos raised his hand and gently smoothed the long strands of hair scattered on Garlan's cheek.

"In the royal city of Kanal, when I was dying, I dreamed of many things in a trance."

he whispered,

"When I was little, half of my body was burned because you didn't have time to find me."

"Also, I killed you with my own hands...several times..."

Therefore, when Garlan came to the royal city of Kanal, he did not go to see him immediately.

Those fragmentary but extremely real memories overlapped in his mind, giving him a splitting headache and unbearable pain.

It was as if he had personally experienced everything that 'him' encountered, and felt 'his' madness and despair empathetically.

At that time, he was in pain and hesitation.

He felt like he was split into several people, with chaotic memories mixed together. Reluctance, hatred, and anger seemed to exist in his body.

At the same time, the feeling of 'his' hands being stained with the blood on Garlan's body emerged so real in his memory that it was difficult for him to face it.

That feeling almost made him collapse, so at that time, he did not go to see Garlan.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Garlan asked.

Heimos looked at the person in his arms and raised the corners of his lips.

He lowered his head and placed his forehead against the forehead of the person in his arms.

Scattered black hair and golden forehead hair are intertwined.

Heimos closed his eyes and felt the warmth on his forehead.

He smiled and said, "Because that's not important."

The moment he saw Garlan fall from a high altitude and almost die, all the struggle and confusion disappeared.

…

That's when I understood.

Nothing matters except you.

only you.

only you.

…………

The night wind blew from the window, the lights swayed, and the shadows of night swayed in Garlan's eyes.

His eyes were dazed for a moment, just for a moment, and immediately became clear again.

The wavering disappeared in an instant, and his eyes were firm.

"No, there are still many things you don't know."

He shook his head and said,

"About my past, about why that happened, about you killing me."

Without waiting for Heimos to answer, Garlan continued.

From the moment Chamir brought him to the ruins from the future, he came back again and again, until the last time, everything he experienced.

His purpose of coming back again and again, the resurrection of the gods, everything Camos has done for him and Aaron Landis.

One by one, one by one, he told them all.

Heimos just listened to him quietly at first, until Garlan talked about the meeting with Shameer, the truth behind it, and the destined fate path, his face suddenly tightened.

He stared closely at Garlan who was talking about all this, his eyes like daggers.

"Why are you telling me this?"

What Heimos said was not in a questioning tone.

As smart as he is, he has actually figured out Gallan's purpose in telling him everything.

He just didn't want to admit it.

Garlan smiled.

"It's revenge."

He said,

"I was killed four times by you, so this time, it's my revenge on you."

"…………"

"I do not want you."

Garlan said, his eyes crinkling.

Wanwan smiling eyes, like a child.

Even the words he speaks now are like those of a child, willful and cruel.

He said: "I don't want you anymore, Heimos."

The bedroom was very quiet, and Heimos didn't speak for a while.

He lowered his head, with most of his face buried in Garlan's neck.

The black hair hanging down blocked his cheeks, making it difficult to see his expression clearly. Only the corners of his pursed lips could be vaguely seen, almost turning white.

He hugged the person in his arms very tightly, as if as long as he held him tightly like this, the person in his arms would never leave his arms.

I don't want you anymore.

So, don't follow me.

The so-called heart-breaking pain is nothing more than that.

Suddenly, Heimos opened his mouth and bit Gallan's neck fiercely.

The skin on the side of the neck that he bit was extremely pale, and traces of light blue blood vessels could be seen under the almost transparent skin.

Heimos bit hard, hard.

Bright red traces seeped out from the tips of his teeth, quickly staining his lips red.

He seemed to pour all his madness and despair into it.

His Adam's apple squirmed, swallowing a mouthful of blood into his throat and into his own body.

"good."

After a long time, he finally spoke.

This short word seemed to use up all his strength.

The last lingering sound was vaguely trembling.

He said, OK.

…………

Garlan lowered his eyes, and the stars fell down and danced in his slender eyelashes.

He could feel the side of his neck being bitten, he could feel the sharp teeth piercing into his body, and he could feel the hot blood gushing out and flowing into the other person's lips.

But he felt no pain.

Because his body no longer feels pain.

...Except for the place deep in my chest.

He raised his hand and pressed it on the dark hair in front of his eyes.

………………

[Prince, this is the last chance. 】

If this time, fate still cannot be directed on the right track, Aaron Landis will be completely destroyed.

In the wrong destiny, the twisted thread of fate will lead everyone to a bleak ending.

Be it anyone else, or Heimos.