Before thinking about anything else, I flew to Nathaniel’s side at once.

I didn’t forget to activate the ring’s magic.

“What, what is it?”

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

The people in the room were startled when the smoke cleared, and they realized that Nathaniel and I had disappeared.

I spoke with a voice that did not tremble, now accustomed to it.

“It seems His Highness is ill, and his magic is running wild.”

“Gasp!”

It was a plausible lie.

Everyone rolled their eyes and looked terrified.

“Everyone get out. And do not let anyone into this room until I tell you to.”

“Yes… Yes!”

Watching the doctors and maids leave the room as if they had been waiting, I sighed heavily.

I descended from the bed and released the ring’s magic, revealing a baby dragon lying and whimpering.

“I have to feed it medicine first.”

I dissolved the powdered medicine that the doctor had left in water.

‘It’s a bit bitter since it’s powdered, but it can’t be helped.’

I gently lifted the baby dragon’s face.

Its reptilian body, which was normally cool, had become warm with fever.

I carefully opened the baby dragon’s mouth and gave it the medicated water.

It looked pitiful, flapping its wings and arms, as if the taste was terrible.

But I didn’t let go until the water in the cup was all gone.

After taking the medicine, Nathaniel blinked his large eyes weakly.

“How does your body feel?”

Even the writing looked weak.

I took a wet towel and wiped his body.

As the coolness touched him, it seemed to feel good, and Nathaniel’s eyes blinked slowly.

“If it hurts a lot, let me know. I’ll get some other medicine.”

At my words, Nathaniel shook his head.

I rolled his body around, wiping it here and there.

At first, Nathaniel tensed his body, but it seemed to feel good, probably because of the coolness.

Soon he fell asleep, probably because of the medicine, and I slightly opened the window.

“They say even dogs don’t catch summer colds…”

That Nathaniel would faint from a cold, of all things.

Surely, it must have been because he got wet last night.

A sigh came out involuntarily from a sad heart.

“Beep―.”

At the faint sound, I went over to Nathaniel.

I felt his forehead to check his temperature, and it seemed a little lower.

I decided to contact the emperor first.

“Nathaniel is sick?”

The emperor’s eyes widened in surprise at the servant’s words sent from the crown prince’s palace.

In over 20 years, Nathaniel had never been sick once.

So the emperor had never even imagined Nathaniel being sick.

No matter how he thought about it, Nathaniel being sick seemed like a lie.

‘The crown princess must be madly in love since getting married.’

So the emperor thought whimsically.

After all, it was the honeymoon period when they would feel lovestricken by just looking at each other.

“How pathetic. He was saying he’d get first place before departing.”

The empress, who had been secretly listening, seized the opportunity to intervene.

Looking at the time, he probably didn’t catch any remarkable animal.

If he had, his knights would surely have told him.

“Your Majesty, this.”

The servant took out a magic stone from his bosom and handed it to the emperor.

The transparency and size indicated that they were all highquality.

“What is this?”

“It’s a trophy obtained from the monster Your Highness caught.”

The emperor looked down at the magic stone silently.

If Nathaniel’s words were true, it meant that there were monsters living in that forest now.

The monsters that once occupied this land had been driven out of the country a long time ago.

But how could a monster be there?

The emperor felt a chill run down his spine.

“Didn’t you pick this up somewhere? How can a monster be in a forest managed by the royal family?”

The emperor remained silent, even at the empress’s cynical response.

He knew that his son was not so idle as to play such a prank.

“Call off the competition for now. Let’s rest today, and I’ll explain the reason at the banquet tomorrow.”

“Your Majesty, you believe this unbelievable claim?”

The Empress abruptly rose from her seat and chased after the Emperor, shouting.

The Emperor stopped in his tracks and turned around.

Annoyed and irritated, he asked the Empress, “If it’s true, who will catch the monster?”

“What?”

“Who among us here can catch a monster without sacrificing a single life?”

“……”

The Empress was unable to answer the Emperor’s words.

Some monsters were able to kill dozens of knights on their own.

There were few in the empire who could face a monster without shedding a drop of blood.

And one of them was Nathaniel.

“So it’s better to retreat for now and ascertain the truth. Empress, please announce that the banquet is postponed until tomorrow.”

Having finished speaking, the Emperor climbed into his carriage without looking back.

Left alone, the Empress tightly clutched the hem of her dress.

“Thomas.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”