Chapter 18
Harumasa returned to the camp where the soldiers were stationed and informed them that the Aku Empire's knights had retreated. Everyone was happy, and decided to hold a celebration party when they returned to the palace.
While everyone was excited, Harumasa was busy helping other high-level magicians heal the other soldiers. He couldn't revive the dead, so he could at least make their corpses look clean and as if they were alive.
That way, their relatives wouldn't be too heartbroken. Because if they left the corpses as they were, their relatives would be heartbroken to know how painfully they died.
After being busy for a while, it was finally time to return to the palace. Harumasa offered to let him activate teleportation magic to bring them back to the palace. But Lycaon knew that he was tired from using a large amount of magic power, so he suggested that he rest. However, since there weren't enough horses, Wise suggested that Harumasa go with him.
"Prince... Isn't this a little weird?"
"Hm? It's not weird at all."
Harumasa blushed slightly, he was sitting on the same horse as Wise, but he was sitting in front, Wise was sitting behind. To hold the reins, Wise had to put his arm between Harumasa's arm and waist, or Harumasa had to sit close, making it easier for Wise to hold the reins. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like Wise was hugging Harumasa.
"We slept together. This isn't unusual."
"I know that.... But I still feel embarrassed...."
Wise smiled, this was priceless. Harumasa often teased others and rarely got teased in return. Wise's current angle was also quite interesting, he could see the back of Harumasa's neck.
He curiously touched Harumasa's back, surprisingly, his personal butler was startled. It seemed that the nape of the neck was a rather sensitive spot for Harumasa. Wise gave a sly smile, enough to make Harumasa feel a chill down his spine.
"Prince? What are you thinking...?"
"Nothing~"
There was definitely a problem.
But Harumasa didn't know how to solve the problem.
Since Wise was the problem, he couldn't deal with Wise.
.
After returning to the palace, Belle jumped up and hugged Wise and sobbed. She knew that Wise was seriously injured, so she was very sad. She clung to Wise like that for a long time, after all, they were twins, so they loved each other very much. Harumasa took advantage of the moment when Wise wasn't paying attention and returned to his room.
Harumasa took off his butler outfit and put on a set of civilian clothes to avoid attracting attention. As soon as he put on his hooded cloak, Wise appeared behind him.
"Where are you going? Don't you want to explain to me?"
Harumasa pursed his lips slightly, slowly turning back to face Wise, "I'm just going back home to take care of some family matters. They need me."
Wise looked at Harumasa for a moment and sighed, "How long will you be gone for?"
"Half a year."
"Half a year?!"
Harumasa nodded, "Maybe when I come back, it will be my 18th birthday. At this point, I'm a year younger than you."
Wise paused for a moment, that's right, even if Harumasa was the first great mage, his current body was only 17 years old, still not old enough to officially get married and start a family.
"Then I'll wait here for you to come back. Remember to be careful."
Harumasa nodded, he took his high-ranking butler's brooch and placed it in Wise's palm, "Help me keep this until I come back?"
Wise nodded, watching Harumasa use the teleportation magic circle and disappear from the room. He just hoped that Harumasa wouldn't be gone longer than planned.
.
Harumasa returned to the palace in the Aku Empire, the place was still gloomy. He went to find Princess Miyabi, she finally decided to stand up and investigate the abnormality of the empire.
Originally, the Aku Empire wasn't like it is now, it was also a beautiful country even though the magicians researched black magic. But ever since someone appeared, claiming to be the magician who inherited the magic knowledge of the great magician Haru, everything changed completely. Mind manipulation magic became more popular, inhumane experiments were also carried out.
Strangely, even the emperor, Miyabi's father, did not object when someone reported it. He completely listened to the magician's suggestion. Harumasa did not know the man's name, only that the magician called himself Arthur, which was probably just a fake name.
It was unclear where he came from or what his background was, but everyone knew that he was good at using black magic, especially the kind that affected the mind. Perhaps Arthur had used mind control magic on the emperor and used him as a puppet. Because Miyabi's mind was not easily controlled, he could not take advantage of her.
Last time, she was not confident enough to fight Arthur, because he had already grasped many things in his hands. But this time, Harumasa had returned to his old memories. He would not escape.
Harumasa quickly found the center of the Aku Empire, which was a forest, so it was easy to hide from other people's eyes. He began to set up a magic circle. Arthur's mind control magic was currently strong and widespread, so confronting it directly was like seeking death.
So he decided to secretly use his own magic power to silently set up a magic circle, waiting for the right time to cast it, completely erasing the traces of mind control magic. After that, he had to help Miyabi and the emperor restore the empire.
Half a year...
He hoped this wouldn't last more than half a year.
.
Time passed quite quickly, Wise heard some news from Lycaon. It seemed that the Aku Empire was in a civil war, the situation was quite tense when Princess Miyabi began to overthrow the magicians who used black magic, punishing those who conducted experiments on human bodies. It was unclear when it started, but it had become quite tense now.
Wise was worried about Harumasa, but he believed that Harumasa would be fine. In any case, all he could do now was wait for Harumasa to return.
After half a year, Wise heard that the Aku Empire wanted to sign a cooperation agreement with the Eridu Kingdom, and their envoys were on their way to the Eridu Kingdom.
The envoys had five people, all wearing cloaks and hoods, almost covering their faces. They brought a letter from the Aku Empire's emperor. It seemed that the person who brought the letter was the duke of the Aku Empire.
Wise could not mistake that person's face.
"I am Duke Asaba Harumasa, an envoy from the Aku Empire, pleased to pay his respects to the emperor of the Eridu Kingdom."
Harumasa was dressed in noble attire, looking completely different from when he was a butler. Wise knew that Harumasa had a high position in the Aku Empire, but he didn't expect him to be a noble, and a duke at that.
According to the Aku Empire's proposal, they would cooperate with the Eridu Kingdom to develop together, and they also apologized for what happened in the past.
And they sent Asaba Harumasa, the duke of the Aku Empire, as an apology gift.
Asaba Harumasa: "?!"
Wise accidentally laughed when he saw Harumasa's face when a messenger from the Aku Empire read the list of gifts. Harumasa wanted to make sure he hadn't misheard, so he secretly asked again, but confirmed that Harumasa's name was indeed on the list.
Seeing that the handwriting was slightly different from the Aku Empire's emperor's, Harumasa knew right away that Princess Miyabi was up to something. They were already eager to send him to the Eridu Kingdom again.
They even noted that this gift was for Prince Wise.
So after the other messengers left, Harumasa complained about it to Wise. He really didn't expect that he would be gifted to the Eridu Kingdom.
"But I like this gift.", Wise still chuckled, observing Harumasa after half a year of not seeing him, he still looked the same, only his hair was longer than before and was tied with a yellow ribbon.
"Humph, they should have told me in advance."
"Alright, don't be angry anymore.", Wise massaged Harumasa's shoulders a bit, then lowered his head close to the other's ear, whispering softly, "You're 18 years old today. It's about time we get serious about getting married, right?"
"Damn it, it can't be helped in the end.", Harumasa laughed, then wrapped his arms around Wise's neck, "What kind of title are you planning to give me?"
Wise smiled, reaching out to hug Harumasa's waist, "Hm... The Queen of the South, is that okay?"
"Of course, can I refuse?"
"Then I won't hold back tonight. You better be mentally prepared~"