Episode 14: Underground Prison
“I’m Muriel Storm. Your Highness, you have to trust me.”
The blue-haired woman spoke into the air.
The nameless man had seen women calling him prince or Your Highness before. Most of the women who were dragged into the dungeon on the darkest nights were disgusted by him, calling him a demon.
However, some women were not afraid of him, whether they were strongly influenced by a drug or simply unaware of the danger. At the end of the night, they were excited by the fact that they could have the man with Sharan’s blood, without knowing that they would die.
As soon as the women realized that the man was Sharan’s brother, their eyes changed, and they rushed at him. They tried to please him, calling him prince or Your Highness, as if trying to cater to his preferences – as if there would be another day after this night. As if he could leave the underground prison after the night passed.
They only wanted the power that Sharan possessed. They licked his neck, kissed his lips, and scratched his shoulders at will. Without ever asking him for permission.
But asking him to believe in them… this was the first time he had heard such words. It was also the first time someone who had touched the power of Ur had spoken to him. The woman was acting like she’d used the power of Ur to speak to him.
“I will definitely come to save your highness. To do that, I have a favor to ask of you.”
A favor?
That was also a new word to him. What could he do for her when he had never learned anything and only ever lived in a place where there was nothing?
The man became afraid that his brother might have prepared something like this to test him.
If this absurd play was prepared to check if he was truly reporting what he was seeing through Sharan’s eyes, then the man should no longer listen to the woman’s words. He needed to quickly confirm the woman’s location and inform Sharan of her.
The man used the power of Sharan and confirmed where the woman was. Although it was a dark mountain, he could immediately see where the nearest portal to it was. It was a portal connected to the Storm territory, one of Dachini’s vassals.
Now he just needed to tell Sharan what he had seen… He had to tell him about the girl with blue hair and challenging eyes to send a pursuit team…
The nameless man could not help but turn his gaze back to Muriel, who whispered quietly into the air.
He was able to use Sharan’s eyes after a long time, so he just wanted to see the world a little more. It was his first time hearing someone call him without a damp, sticky breath or pants, so he just wanted to hear a little more of what she had to say.
The man moved Sharahn’s eyes and followed Muriel’s gaze, even though he knew their eyes would never meet.
For someone who asked to trust her, Muriel showed no sense of urgency or desperation, her tone blunt, and a cold expression on her face. Still, her eyes were calm. It felt as if her gaze, hovering in the air, was looking at him, beyond space and time.
“Tell Sharan that you heard the saint’s prayer and saw a fragment of Ur.”
It was a ridiculous lie. Sharan’s eyes couldn’t see the shattered bead of Ur’s sculpture. Contrary to the kingdom’s belief that Sharan’s eyes could monitor Ur’s power at all times, the divine treasure had limited abilities.
After the bead of Ur shattered, Sharan’s eyes only caught Ur’s power twice. One time was when a vassal of Pendragon, Sean Fusco, imitated Ur and absorbed another’s Pacio.
Then, for the first time, it was discovered that anyone, not just Ur, could absorb someone else’s Pacio as long as they had a piece of Ur. However, this fact was kept strictly secret. Ur was supposed to be the sole evil that coveted Pacio. If everyone knew that anyone could seize Pacio, the kingdom would fall into chaos, lose its public enemy, and crumble.
For a while, Sharan’s eyes were in the dark. This was because the knowledge of how to properly use Ur’s fragments spread secretly.
It was said that if the fragments of Ur are used like Talisman, they lend you magic power instead of absorbing pacio. The consumed Pacio was said to be only as much as needed to use the magic. It was said to lend unimaginably strong magical power compared to the Pacio one possessed.
The instructions for using the scattered fragments of Ur that Kaiton spread were effective, and Sharan’s eyes couldn’t detect those who used Ur’s fragments for quite some time.
Then, the second person they captured was Sandra Moss. She was a wizard living in the southern desert beyond the kingdom’s borders and was a follower of Ur. She was a lunatic who praised the utilization of the Pacio found by the black wizard Ur.
She inserted the fragment into her Pacio source, and offered it to Ur. The Pacio wasn’t stored in the fragment but was immediately delivered to Ur. At that moment, Sharan’s eyes were able to capture the power of the sculpture once again.
Muriel’s case was also one of putting the fragment in her Pacio.
“Please make him think that a saint is needed to find a fragment of Ur. Since it’s the first time after the bead has been broken, Sharan won’t be able to tell if it’s a lie. Besides, Sharan Kasal doesn’t have Sharan’s eyes anyway. I can’t explain much right now, but… it’s not really a bad thing. Help me just this once, Your Highness.”
Sharan’s eyes darkened again. The prince’s eyes, which had been in the vast mountains, were dragged back into the familiar underground prison. However, Muriel’s final voice continued to echo in the prince’s ears.
‘Wait. I’ll be there soon.’
Sharan’s annoyed voice entered the dazed prince’s mind.
“Where is it? Who dared to use Ur’s sculpture?”
“…I didn’t see.”
“What? You didn’t see? I’m only keeping your filthy life alive for Sharan’s eyes, and you couldn’t even do that properly?!”
The prince had his eyes covered with a black cloth again, but he could tell that the woman who had been freely using his body was dead. It was the first time someone had died next to him, but he wasn’t afraid.
He had a vivid imagination.
Knowing that the women who escaped from the underground prison would eventually die at his brother’s hands, he sometimes had the illusion that the moving corpses were touching his body.
Since his life had practically been dead from the moment he entered the dungeon, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he lost his beating heart a little early.
“The… sound of the Saint’s prayers stopped, so Sharan… his eyes have darkened.”
The prince once again demonstrated his excellent imagination. In his mind, the scene of Muriel’s voice had already been reproduced.
“The person who had Ur’s fragment… When I heard the sound of the Saint’s prayers, I could see them. This time, they weren’t becoming a demon by having their pacio sucked up, nor were they inserting it inside their body. They just held the fragment in their hand and seemed to be drawing a magic circle… I saw that while hearing the sound of the Saint’s prayers.”
The prince reprised his fine imagination. In his head, Muriel’s voice has already become a reality and has been vividly reproduced.
Sharan narrowed his eyes, trying to see if the prince was lying.
His older brother, who had long, snowy white hair spread over his face shamelessly, was still holding his head down due to weakness. Sharan wondered if the aphrodisiac had caused mental confusion… but his eyes, which did not react to light, were clearly using Sharan’s eyes.
Perhaps sensing that Sharan was scanning his repulsive body with a sharp gaze, the prince lifted his rag-like clothes to cover himself. His cheeks, usually pale like a ghost without a trace of color, turned red.
It was probably because he was nervous at his first lie, but Sharan didn’t notice.
“You really saw a fragment of Ur?”
“..Yes.”
“The Saint’s prayers? Ha. Since when did prayers have any effect? Can you swear on the peace of the kingdom and the name of the gods? Answer properly. Did you really see Ur’s fragment?”
“I can swear on the name of the gods who protect the kingdom’s peace and the treasure of God. I saw Ur’s fragment while hearing the Saint’s prayers.”
Sharan had never heard of Sharan’s eyes being influenced by something. However, Sharan Kasal had no ability, so there was no way to confirm whether his words were true or false. Sharan glared at his creepy, demon-like brother.
His brother, who had been obedient so far, would dare to lie to him? Sharan thought even if his brother was mistaken, he would never lie to him.
‘Was this the meaning…?’
Suddenly, Sharan felt happy.
This must’ve been what the Oracle that had mentioned the Saint saving the kingdom with the help of Sharan’s eyes meant. To have the eyes awaken through prayer… he liked the idea. Afterall, catching Ur would be Sharan’s own achievement. In the end, the hero would be none other than Sharan.
“Hahaha…! Well, I guess it was obvious.. How could those things eliminate a demon king?”
Sharan recalled Muriel and Rovelia, who had terrible Pacio and no prophetic powers. In the first place, he’d felt ridiculous for having to go to the trouble of confirming the saint among the two powerless young ladies.
“I’ll let the saint’s prayers resound every morning and evening. TYou’ll properly be able to find Ur then, won’t you?”
“…Yes.”
The prince’s voice was uncharacteristically excited, unlike usual, but Sharan, who was in a good mood, didn’t notice the difference.
Using magic, Sharan swiftly burned and disposed of the corpse lying in a pool of blood, then elegantly escaped the foul-smelling underground prison.
As Sharan left, the familiar silence returned to the underground prison. The nameless prince stood in front of a small window facing the sky.
Even though he knew there was no moon tonight, he lowered the black cloth and opened his eyes. The artificial light shining brightly from behind made his eyes hurt, but stubbornly, he stared at the empty night sky. His eyes stung and tears flowed down, but he didn’t mind.
His mind was filled only with Muriel, the blue-haired girl he had seen through Sharan’s eyes.
“Wait for me.”
The prince recalled Muriel’s voice and cautiously recited her words, rolling his tongue. She said she’d come soon. There was no way to find this place. Even if she did, he didn’t think she could break through Sharan’s strong defense barrier. However, if waiting was what it took, the prince could do it.
“…Wait.”
He was used to waiting. He waited for the moon, the only friend he could see with his eyes, and he waited to see the outside world through Sharan’s eyes. It was disappointing that there was only one thing he could wait for. Now he had one more thing to wait for. He couldn’t help but be happy.
If Muriel doesn’t get there fast enough I’m going
I’m already emotionally attached to the prince. If no one wants him, I’ll take him thank you very much.