VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 32

VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 32

Shortly after Princess Vivienne returned to the royal palace, Lark, who’d been resting in the villa provided to him by King Gram, also heard news of her arrival.

The promised two days were nearly up, and Lark was actually about to leave the kingdom. But since the Princess was already here, he decided to meet her at least.

As though afraid that Lark would leave the Kingdom of Thornforge, King Gram sent a messenger immediately to the villa.

“King Lark, His Majesty, King Gram, asks that you stay for a while longer,” said the messenger. “In a couple of hours, he will personally come here with the princess.”

“I understand,” said Lark. “Please tell His Majesty that I’m looking forward to my meeting with Her Highness.”

“We are grateful for your patience. I shall do so,” said the messenger. “We have servants at your beck and call nearby. If you need anything, please ring the bell and they’ll come. Please have a comfortable rest, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you,” said Lark.

The messenger bowed his head. Without turning his back to Lark, he walked backward until he reached the door, then gently closed it.

Silence returned to the room.

Although there was hardly anything to do in this place, Lark didn’t mind the change of pace.

Doing absolutely nothing while waiting for a guest was, in a way, productive, too. It allowed him to rest his mind, which had been in frequent turmoil recently.

Although he’d been wondering about the results of the investigation regarding the stolen bloodstone fragment and the progress of the floating castle in the Dwarven Kingdom, Lark purposely decided not to think of those things as he sat there.

He emptied unnecessary thoughts from his mind, relishing the calm and quiet of the villa.

‘This is a nice place. Although it’s inside the capital, it’s surrounded by a small forest.’

Lark planned on living in such a place once he handed the throne back to King Alvis in the future.

It didn’t have to be inside a major city like the kingdom’s capital. Even a villa in the middle of a forest or a mountain would do.

He would plant trees and cultivate his own vegetable garden. And if the space was ample enough, he’d like his own backyard pond where he could raise fish.

Or better yet, he’d just find a place near a natural lake.

‘A lakeside villa. That’ll be good, too.’

He wouldn’t mind waiting all day by the lakeside, fishing rod in hand, until a fish finally decided to bite.

One of the things Lark learned when he was close to his deathbed in his previous life was that quiet stillness wasn’t wasted time. It was, in fact, a way of listening to the world breathe.
In waiting, one would learn that the world moved even when you didn’t. And sometimes, that was enough.

‘Maybe add some chickens for eggs, and a pair of goats for the milk.’

Lark contentedly smiled. He could already envision how warm and comfortable it would be to live that lifestyle.

Back when he was Evander Alaester, he didn’t really have the leisure for such things. He’d always been busy roaming various continents and realms and fighting numerous battles—most of them unnecessary when he looked back on them.

It was an exciting life, he had to admit, but it was far too chaotic.

He was so invested in his goal that he often forgot to appreciate the journey to get there.

Since Kel’ Vual was nearing the end of his lifespan, he could also invite him to live in the lakeside villa and spend the remaining years of his life peacefully there.

Of course, judging by the Arzomos Tribe leader’s personality, the chances of him agreeing were slim.

Kel’ Vual would probably prefer to roam the continent instead, visiting Lark’s villa every now and then to share stories about his travels.

He could also invite Lady Alice.

‘That’s not bad, too.’

Hours slowly passed by.

The ticking of the old clock in the room and the sound of leaves rustling in the small forest outside served as the only background.

Eventually, Lark heard footsteps approaching his room. Shortly after, the same messenger as before knocked on the door.

“King Lark, His Majesty, King Gram, and Her Highness, Princess Vivienne, have come to meet you.”

It felt strange that the royal family ruling this kingdom were the ones visiting him instead.

They were even asking him, the guest, for permission to enter the room.

“Please let them in,” said Lark, standing.

Soon, the door opened and a man with an ashen beard and a woman with golden hair and emerald eyes entered the room.

‘That person is…’

Lark immediately recognized the woman before him.

Although she wasn’t wearing a mask and a hooded cloak, Lark was certain that she was the same person he’d met before arriving in the capital.

Still, although Lark was surprised to see her here, his expression hardly changed, and he managed to hide the surprise on his face perfectly.

On the contrary, Princess Vivienne couldn’t hide her shock upon seeing the man standing next to the couch.
She froze like a statue, her jaw slack, and her eyes widened, almost popping out.

Lark almost chuckled in amusement when he saw this. He had the urge to tease her but contained himself in the end.

He knew this wasn’t the time and place for him to be playing pranks.

After all, although he hadn’t informed them beforehand, this was, in a sense, an official visit from the Kingdom of Lukas.

“Your Majesty,” said Lark. “It’s been a while.”

King Gram didn’t notice the stupefied expression of his daughter. He laughed heartily. “Indeed. It’s been a few days since we’ve met. I hope you enjoyed your stay in our humble villa.”

It was apparent that King Gram was in a good mood after finally realizing his goal of letting Lark meet his daughter.

“As promised, I’ve brought my daughter today to meet you! This is my daughter, Vivienne, the kingdom’s one and only princess!”

Seconds passed, and receiving no response, King Gram turned to his side, only to find his daughter staring dumbfoundedly at Lark.
Her eyes remained wide, her lips slightly parted, as if words had abandoned her. There was no fear in her gaze—only disbelief, confusion, and a strange, almost reverent awe.

“…Vivienne?” said King Gram. “Vivienne!”

Hearing her father’s urging tone, Princess Vivienne finally snapped back to reality.

“…Ah.”

Hurriedly, she curtsied and introduced herself.

“I-It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Majesty. I am Vivienne Rossandra Thornforge, princess of the kingdom.”

After her introduction, she sneakily observed Lark’s expression.

Seeing that there was no change, it seemed the man didn’t recognize her.

‘What a relief,’ she thought. ‘If he recognized me, I don’t know how to explain everything to Father.’

Various thoughts started running through her mind as King Gram began supplementing her short introduction.

While King Gram busily boasted about her beauty, education, and achievements, Princess Vivienne reminisced about the day she first met Lark—the supposed leader of the Phantom Castle.

‘Is he really the King of Lukas? But… it doesn’t make sense. The captain and the mage said he’s probably the leader of the notorious criminal group, the Phantom Castle.’

The mere fact that he one-sidedly defeated the Elder and the bandits gave that theory even more credibility.

Only a monster like the leader of the Phantom Castle should be capable of subjugating those bandits that easily.

‘Did Father make a mistake? Maybe… he’s not the King of Lukas, but the leader of the Phantom Castle?’

Princess Vivienne started worrying that there was a great scheme involved in this political meeting.

She was worried that the Phantom Castle was moving behind the scenes and that they wanted to manipulate King Gram through her.

‘But now that I think of it… blue eyes, silver hair. He matches the description of the King of Lukas.’

It took some time, but Princess Vivienne slowly realized that the young king probably wasn’t trying to deceive them. They had simply come to that conclusion on their own back then.

‘Ah, but… wait! Didn’t he mention before that he’s a member of the Phantom Castle?’

She remembered the line he’d spouted before—something about culling all evil in this world as the duty of a Phantom Castle member.

Princess Vivienne frowned.

Thinking that the man before her was plotting something sinister against her father, the fluttering sensation in her stomach vanished entirely. She looked at Lark suspiciously.

So what if he’s handsome and powerful?

If he was pretending to be King Lark, she would make sure he paid the price for deceiving them!

Even if he was attractive, she would never let him harm her father!
In a short period of time, numerous theories had already formed in the princess’s mind, and her distrust of Lark grew more and more.

“Hahaha! Beautiful, isn’t she?”

King Gram wasn’t done boasting about her yet.

“I know she’s my daughter, but I’m telling you, King Lark, there’s no woman finer than her! When she was young—”

“—Father.”

“Hm? Vivienne?”

“Can you leave us alone, please? I want to talk to King Lark on my own.”

King Gram was taken aback by the sudden request.

Although his daughter had stated before that she didn’t mind marrying the King of Lukas if that would benefit the Kingdom of Thornforge, he never expected her to be this proactive in this meeting.

He didn’t know whether he should be happy or sad that she’d become this bold.

King Gram cleared his throat. “Kuhum… of course. Then I’ll leave the two of you here. If you want to go somewhere else, say… for a date, just tell the servants outside. They will do their best to assist you.”

Before King Gram left, Princess Vivienne whispered to him, “Father, please ask the royal guards to be on standby. Especially Swordmaster Rinsho. Please do not leave his side.”

King Gram frowned. “What do you mean?”

It felt as though his daughter was about to go into a battle. Hearing her request, for a moment, King Gram wondered if he should really leave her alone in this room with King Lark.

Even if Lark was a king, in the end, he was still a stranger.

“Just do what I say, please,” said Princess Vivienne.

King Gram didn’t miss the pleading tone in her voice. He nodded once and reassured her that he would follow her advice.

After leaving the room, King Gram ordered the Shadows to monitor the villa for any unusual scenarios. The moment his daughter screamed for help, he ordered them to charge into the room and retrieve her.

The door shut.

Finally, only Princess Vivienne and Lark remained inside the room.

The first thing the Princess did was ask the guest a question.

“Pardon me for asking this, but… who are you?”

Lark’s lips curved into a smile. He immediately realized what the Princess was worried about.

Indeed, he’d gotten carried away and role-played a bit back then.
It was only natural for her to feel distrust upon learning that the so-called Phantom Castle member was actually the King of Lukas.

It would be stranger for her to trust him immediately after seeing through his lies.

This princess was quite brave, Lark had to admit.

She was willing to take on all the risks by staying here on her own, even going so far as to ask her father to leave.

“Ah, I haven’t introduced myself properly,” said Lark. He understood what the princess was truly asking with that question, but he decided not to answer it right away. “I am Lark Marcus, regent king of the Kingdom of Lukas.”

Princess Vivienne bit her lip.

She pondered whether or not she should reveal that she was the Saintess he’d saved back then.

Revealing her identity would make this conversation easier.

“That’s…,” she hesitated. “…That’s not what I meant, Your Majesty. I don’t mean to sound rude, but… are you really the King of Lukas?”

“What do you mean, Princess?”

“I mean exactly that. The Kingdom of Lukas isn’t exactly near this place, and we have no way of confirming if you’re the real King Lark or an impersonator.”

Lark chuckled. Seeing that the Princess was becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second, he decided to just tell her everything.

It wasn’t as though he had role-played back then with malicious intent.

“Are you worried that I’m someone else? Say… a member of the Phantom Castle.”

“W-W-What… so you knew! You recognized me at first glance!”

“Hahaha, I’m quite talented at recognizing people’s aura, Your Highness.”

Princess Vivienne was speechless.

She couldn’t believe that despite looking like a gentleman, this person was quite shameless.

He had even purposely not revealed his identity immediately!

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Lark playfully. “You’re equally guilty, Your Highness. You also didn’t tell me your identity immediately, right?”

It was true, and Princess Vivienne couldn’t find any way to refute it.

In the end, she sighed, rubbed her brows, and asked, “So, are you really the King of Lukas? Or are you the leader of that criminal group?”

“So, the Phantom Castle is a criminal organization?” said Lark. “Princess, you should word your questions more carefully next time. If I were really a member of that group, you would have died the moment those words left your mouth.”

Princess Vivienne felt chills crawl down her spine, but she didn’t show it on the outside.

“Since I’m still alive,” said Princess Vivienne, “can I safely assume that you’re not part of the Phantom Castle, but are actually the King of Lukas?”

“I already told you,” said Lark, still smiling. “I am Lark Marcus.”

Princess Vivienne sighed again. She stared at Lark for several seconds.

“Haah… can we sit?” she said. “I suddenly feel dizzy with all these revelations.”

“Of course. Do you want some tea?”

“The renowned Lark Marcus brewing me tea. I’m honored.”

Lark didn’t miss the sarcastic tone in her voice.

It seemed he’d started on the wrong foot in this meeting because of his prior impersonation.

Well, he didn’t really mind.

Honestly, it felt more amusing and interesting this way.

At least their first meeting didn’t feel bland.

After Lark served them both tea, the Princess decided to continue with the topic.

“Please be honest.” Maybe it was because the tea was quite good—her voice had become a lot softer than before. “If you’re really King Lark, what were you doing in that forest?”

“It was pure coincidence, Princess,” said Lark. “I was on my way to the kingdom’s capital when I noticed the commotion in the forest.”

“But that place is in the southeast. If you really came from the Kingdom of Lukas, you wouldn’t have appeared in the forest.”

“That’s true—if I came directly from my kingdom. Before coming here, I went first to the United Grakas Alliance, then to the Dukedom of Mauko, before finally reaching the Kingdom of Thornforge.”

Hearing the explanation, one of the princess’s questions was finally answered, and her suspicions lessened.

Of course, since the safety of her family and kingdom was on the line, she had to make sure that the person before her wasn’t an impostor.

She asked a question that only someone who’d really been to the Dukedom of Mauko would be able to answer.

“Then you must have met Duke Ricardo.”

“Of course.”

“Please tell me about him, Your Majesty.”

“You’re still suspicious,” laughed Lark.

“Weaklings like us have our own little ways to survive. And making sure the person before us is not a threat is one of them. Please understand.”

“You remind me of someone. That person was also like that when we first met—full of suspicion and distrust. But she’s… a bit fiercer, though? Despite her gentle appearance, she’s like a rabid animal when angered,” said Lark. “I was so surprised that I didn’t even move to dodge when she punched me in the face.”

“Someone punched you in the face?”

The Princess found it hard to believe that someone was bold enough to punch the renowned Lark Marcus.

Who was that person, and what gave them the confidence to attack someone so famous and powerful?

“It was a long time ago,” said Lark.

Princess Vivienne didn’t miss the longing in his voice. Whoever that person was, Lark deeply missed them.

Lark started talking about Duke Ricardo—his appearance, his manner of speaking, and the other things Lark had observed about the man during their meeting.

Princess Vivienne seemed to have met Duke Ricardo before since she was able to easily verify the information.

“If you still don’t trust me, how about this one, Princess?”

Lark pulled out a plaque from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“The insignia of the Kingdom of Lukas,” muttered Princess Vivienne.

In an age where information flowed slowly, Lark had decided to bring this plaque as proof of his identity.

Of course, not everyone was as distrusting as Princess Vivienne, and Lark didn’t have much opportunity to use it.

Most people didn’t even dare question Lark’s identity, afraid that it would cause a rift between their countries.

Presented with sufficient evidence, Princess Vivienne had no choice but to acknowledge that the person before her was indeed the renowned Lark Marcus.

There was no way the leader of the Phantom Castle would go around carrying that unique plaque with him.

“I apologize for my rudeness,” said Princess Vivienne, bowing her head. “I simply did it to ensure the safety of the royal family… and this kingdom.”

“Of course,” said Lark, nodding in understanding. “Even I would be suspicious if I were in your shoes. But I’m glad we’ve cleared up the misunderstanding.”

“Yes…”

Now that she was certain the young man was really King Lark, the fluttering sensation started returning in Princess Vivienne’s stomach.

She started getting conscious of her appearance and of the things she’d spouted before.

Looking back, she’d been quite aggressive in her interrogation—probably even rude.

Fortunately, King Lark was lenient and didn’t seem to mind.

“Your Majesty,” she said.

“Princess?”

“About… before…”

“?”

“T-Thank you for saving us back then!”

Now that she thought of it, she probably wouldn’t be here if Lark hadn’t saved their group from the Eye Collector Clan.

Even if she somehow managed to escape, it would have been at the cost of her escort guards’ lives.

Just for that fact alone, she was truly grateful.

“You should probably lower your voice, Princess,” said Lark. “You’re hiding it from your father, aren’t you?”

“How did you…”

“Someone has been listening to our conversation for a while now. Although they’re politely stationed far enough not to overhear everything, if you raise your voice like that, they’ll know about the things that transpired that day.”

Princess Vivienne was stunned when she heard this.

She was aware that an elite group was working for the royal family behind the shadows, and those people had probably been tasked by her father to watch over this villa after her warning.

She wasn’t surprised that those people were nearby.

She was stunned that Lark easily saw through their concealment, and he even seemed to know their current positions.

Once again, she was reminded that this was the same person who one-sidedly defeated the Eye Collector Clan Elder.

Lark said knowingly, “Let’s keep the events of that day between the two of us. Of course, if you want to let your father know, that’s fine, too.”

“Definitely not!” said Princess Vivienne.

The last thing she wanted was for her father to learn that she was the Saintess who had been gaining fame recently.

She didn’t want her activities to be restricted in the future.

She still wanted to go around the kingdom, helping those who’d been abandoned.

Lark raised his pinky finger. “Then, let’s make a promise.”

Although the gesture might look childish to others, there was something warm and comforting about it.

Princess Vivienne unknowingly smiled upon seeing this side of Lark. Without hesitation, her pinky finger twined with his, and they promised to keep the events of that day between the two of them.

“It’s a promise.”

Of course, the Second Prince would definitely learn about it in the near future.

But the important thing was that it wouldn’t reach the ears of her father.

Lark looked outside the window. Although it was already late in the afternoon, it was still bright outside.

“Your father asked me to take you out on a date,” said Lark.

“A-A date?”

“Yes. I promised King Gram. With your permission, of course,” said Lark. “I think we still have enough time to roam the capital. How about it, Princess? Want to grab some food with me outside?”

Princess Vivienne felt her heart beat loudly.

Although she was ten years older than King Lark, she felt that he was far more mature and composed than she was.

In the end, Princess Vivienne nodded, agreeing to the date.

The two boarded a carriage, left the villa, and roamed the streets of the capital.

When King Gram heard that his lovely little daughter had gone on a date with King Lark—

“What?! They decided to go out on a date today? Quick! Make sure to light the fireworks! Make sure the capital’s night sky is filled with glowing flowers for several hours!

—He immediately ordered for fireworks to be lit that night.