Fortunately, Rainer grew up without being broken.

When Darian, greatly weakened by illness, had to hand over the throne, he called Axel and said Rainer was more suitable for the throne.

‘You have no interest in anything.’

Axel agreed and then disappeared to prevent unnecessary conflict.

However, Regina did not agree. Already half-mad, she could not accept anyone as king other than Darian, or Axel who resembled Darian. To the point of trying to kill Rainer with the help of the Savelli family.

Sometimes even trivial reasons can lead to bloodshed.

Eventually Darian died, and a struggle for the throne began without the consent of those involved. The nobles of the El Sion Kingdom were divided and began to fight.

When Rainer, pushed to the defensive, fled to a certain castle, Axel suddenly appeared and led the northern knights to occupy the capital Siena. After months of siege, he beheaded Marquis Savelli and rescued Rainer.

Despite such achievements, he showed no desire for the throne. He proclaimed Darian’s last will to the world and put Rainer on the throne.

Afterwards, he erased his name from all records except one, then disappeared into the Athanase Forest.

Having witnessed the entire process, Rainer never distrusted Axel.

“When did I ever smile so warmly.”

“You did! Like feeling relieved to dump work on someone, that kind of feeling.”

Axel chuckled.

“That’s convincing. But you still need to fix that way of speaking.”

“Give up. I’m the king so I’ll do as I please. Anyway, seeing you doing well makes my heart ache.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m going to drag you out of this boring forest.”

Rainer slapped the table confidently and smiled broadly. Axel tilted his head sideways with folded arms.

“Drag me out, you say.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t think I’ll come out willingly, do you.”

The king cocked his head.

“Can’t I use force? Didn’t you see who I brought?”

Axel recalled the faces standing behind the king. Two useless magicians, three knights. They were people who remained in his memory too. But well, it didn’t seem too difficult.

Seeing Axel absentmindedly rubbing his chin, Rainer laughed like a sigh.

“Oh my, I guess I’ll have to try persuading you with words.”

The king composed himself and laid out his story:

“Do you know the Kingdom of Jisen is in turmoil?”

Axel recalled the information he had heard from the hunter. A neighboring country was hit by a great famine, he said. And that caused monsters to increase.

“The situation in Jisen was bad even before I came in. Has it gotten worse?”

“Very much so. The country is on the verge of collapse.”

His dark eyebrows furrowed. Rainer whispered in a low voice.

“The king and nobles have fled to the coast, and the army has been defeated with more than half scattered. The biggest problem is that injured soldiers and unprotected citizens have become delicious food for monsters.”

“Monsters that have consumed humans…”

“Grow bigger and stronger. That’s right. Now Jisen is full of terrible beasts.”

“Is El Sion’s border in danger too?”

“We’ve relocated most citizens not living within proper walls and send subjugation teams regularly. But, yes. It’s not safe.”

Axel now understood the part where Jade said she ‘had quite a bit of experience participating in subjugation teams’. All sorts of magicians would have been mobilized, so she must have had to go too.

“It’s unfortunate, but another country’s despair can be an opportunity for the Kingdom of El Sion. As you know, El Sion has wide and fertile plains blessed by God, but…”

“It doesn’t have much coastline.”

Rainer nodded.

“If we could share Jisen’s coastline, it would be an enormous gain. Also including the mines near the border. The most important thing is, of course, Razulight.”

The large hand twitched. Razulight.

Axel now wanted to hit himself on the head. Don’t associate someone with just one word as if having a fit.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing the fingertips twitching unable to contain desire, Rainer asked with a puzzled face.

“…It’s nothing.”

“Hmm. Anyway, magic is no longer confined to battle-related areas.”

It seemed the world had developed a lot during the years Axel was holed up in the Athanase Forest.

“Magicians are engraving magic on Razulight to maximize convenience for people. Dillidot was too expensive to commercialize, but Razulight is not. This is becoming quite a big business.”

“You want to secure the technology first, I see.”

“Haha. For that, the more Razulight mines the better, right? I hear Jisen has plenty of them!”

I’m greedy, aren’t I? The king smiled innocently as if he knew nothing. Axel narrowed his eyes.

“So that’s why you came here? That’s foolish.”

“No. That’s not it. I need very powerful strength. Strength to lead subjugation teams, defeat monsters on the border, and win the hearts of Jisen’s people.”

The king leaned forward and spoke with fervent eyes.

“When they come to their senses, Jisen’s land will have already become El Sion’s land. I, as king, will make the contract to devour the country. Axelion, you just need to lead the army.”

“An army led by me who abandoned my title would only be ridiculed.”

“The ridicule of those who don’t know Axelion’s reputation is not worth caring about, and those who know that reputation dare not ridicule. And of course, as king, I will bestow a new name upon you.”

Despite the earnest persuasion, Axel shook his head.

“Even so, the chaos outweighs the benefits. My value as a knight is not greater than the country’s political stability.”

His will seemed as solid as a wall. As someone who remembered the mess that lasted over a year due to the succession to the throne, it might be a natural attitude.

But Rainer missed Axelion both as a brother and as a king.

Axel was one of the continent’s top knights at just eighteen years old. The skilled knights of El Sion Kingdom who had experience on the northern border missed knight Axelion, not heir Axelion, terribly.

Even Rainer’s guard knight, who once considered Axel an enemy, admitted with a very frustrated attitude.

‘To be honest, Sir Axelion is indeed the right person for this job.’

Rainer felt the same. He already knew Axel had no greed whatsoever, so he really wanted to entrust this task to him. But Axelion seemed very reluctant….

But wait.

The king blinked. Something caught his eye over Axel’s shoulder.

Something stuck on the wall.

A paper with something intricately drawn around a house shape in the center. The flowing handwriting and signature mixed in like a drawing….

A light flashed in Rainer’s mind.

“I have a question. What is that?”

What the king pointed to was left behind by Jade. It was what Axel had stupidly failed to remove and left there.

“Well, a map. Someone left it behind.”

Your Majesty need not concern yourself with it. The nonchalant answer somehow contained a hint of wariness. The king keenly noticed that part.

“Doesn’t seem like much.”

“That’s right.”

“Then I can go closer and take a good look, right?”

Rainer smiled with the most harmless face possible. Axel hesitated, then after a long silence, barely nodded.

The king quickly stood up in a most undignified manner and ran to that wall. Then he confirmed the small signature left at the bottom. Though blended in like a drawing, the king who had often seen it on documents could recognize it.

Jade.

Rainer held back his laughter. Good heavens, Jade Broen.

‘A handsome man with a good body.’

You’re probably the only one in the world who would describe Axelion like that.

The king couldn’t take his eyes off the vegetation map, struck by this chance fortune. He was spinning his head, analyzing and interpreting this situation.

That strange signature shape was said to be exactly copied from Jade Broen’s childhood handwriting. Rounded, stretched out, rounded again, then elongated.

Thanks to the signature shape difficult for anyone else to imitate and the content as a magician, the king could be somewhat certain that Jade Broen had stayed here.

But that was just an interesting anecdote enjoyed at the castle. My elder brother happened to meet my subject. What a curious twist of fate!

But why is this still stuck here? It’s been almost two months since the Broen heir returned to the outside world.

He was confident he knew his brother fairly well. There are things that don’t change even after being apart for a long time, an unchanging essence.

Axelion tended to be cold, or to be more precise, indifferent. He didn’t give even the slightest attention to people he wasn’t interested in.

A woman who shyly dropped her boutonnière in front of him probably imagined the scene of the man picking it up and pinning it to his chest. And the exciting emotions they would share.

But she had to watch the petals get trampled. Axelion didn’t even notice and walked right past.

When a woman expecting soft, low whispers befitting his handsome face struck up a conversation with “It’s cold today,” he left her with “If this is cold to you, you should eat more. Go to that table and have a meal” before briskly walking away.

It was the worst if unintentional, and even worse if intentional.

But this strange vegetation map was here, stuck up now!

It might be an overinterpretation. But what if this was a valuable token of friendship or a sign of something about to blossom into more than affection?

Whichever direction the emotions were heading, there couldn’t be anything better for the king of El Sion. A meeting between the most outstanding knight and an excellent magician.

‘You don’t think I’ll come out willingly, do you.’

If so, all he could do was pray that the bait he was about to throw would be very appetizing.