I thought the horses would keep flying in the sky, but the horses continued to run on the ground while flying.

There were colorful jewels around the reins, and it was clear at a glance that they were magic stones.

As the horse soared, I swallowed my saliva whenever the deafening air pierced my ears.

Lea, dressed in riding clothes, was running alongside the Crown Prince with her maid in the back, followed by Marco, who hugged Elizabeth, and Belfry and other knights.

“Leave your worries at Lindbergh!”

“What?”

“Aren’t you worried right now? I am afraid that Lindbergh will take this issue into account.”

Even when the wind brushed against my ears, the prince’s voice reached my eardrums accurately.

“Uh, how did you know?”

The Crown Prince shrugged as if he didn’t know how.

“That’s how we think and move. The prince and princess only want to avoid Lindbergh’s riot, preferring to entrust themselves to Heneken. I’ve taken measures like that, so don’t worry unnecessarily.”

“Yes?”

What action? What do you mean?

“Or did you have any other intentions?”

The Crown Prince’s voice was moderately low, so it was pleasant to hear.

I don’t think I’d suddenly write to him and say, ‘Please take us away,’ unless I had some other intentions, but I didn’t want to be suspicious and rude.

“That’s not it! It’s true that I called you for help.”

Slowly descending the horse, he acted as if he would drop me at any moment, so I shook my head and held the crown prince’s waist tightly.

“I’m glad then.”

The horses that had been flying and running for a long time came all at once in a forest a little far from the Lindbergh Royal Capital.

The horses standing with their feet on the ground purred.

“From here on, we will use a magic circle and go to Heneken.”

“Magic circle, so this is a magic circle.”

Six of Lindbergh’s soldiers stood guard in an open space surrounded by rocks engraved with intricate formulas.

“Although it is prohibited from being invoked recklessly because of the agreement, Lindbergh’s defense is too lax, so there is still a blind spot that makes it easy for other countries to invade.”

He said this after seeing the condition of the soldiers who were skinny enough to make their swords look heavy.

I really agree.

Compared to the knights of Heneken, who did not show any signs of hardship even though they wore heavy armor, they were a mess.

The crown prince suddenly bent down and drew his lips close to my ears.

“Of the Lindbergh nobles, there must be some rat who steals the budget used for defense.”

I agree with that very much.

The breath that touched my ears tickled me, and I rubbed my earlobe and sighed, and the Crown Prince chuckled.

Belfry gestured to the knights.

The knights who got off the horse took the reins and went inside the camp.

As I moved inside with the Crown Prince, I carefully examined the stone inscribed with the formula.

There was something I really wanted to check.

A door that can go anywhere! Only those with the magical power to activate all twelve formulas can open this door.

“What’s this?”

I laughed unknowingly.

I’m not joking, what is this?

In fact, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen this magic formula.

Back then, I couldn’t believe it, so I turned away. As expected, I got it right.

The magic formula of this world was composed of ‘Hangul‘[1].

Is this a novel written by a Korean? It’s nice to have you, but what’s with the name of the portal?

“Can you decipher the magic formula?”

The Crown Prince asked in a subtle tone.

Surprisingly, at that moment, I could read the suspicion behind his expressionless face.

He was born with the temperament of a king when he was young, but he basically had an expression that I didn’t know what he was thinking except when he was laughing.

I felt like he was whispering, ‘I’m suspicious of you right now, so if you don’t answer properly, you’ll be in trouble.’

“Um, no?”

For now, I’ll feign ignorance.

The language used here and Hangul are completely different. It would seem strange to say that I can read the formulas when I can’t even use magic.

“As expected, I see.”

I got a little heated by his subtle dismissive tone, but I just laughed like a fool.

The Crown Prince squinted his eyes and pulled the corners of his mouth to smile.

“Originally, the difference between a genius and a madman is the difference between the palm and the back of the hand. I wonder if the prince has been hiding his genius by pretending to be a madman.”

The Crown Prince must have thought of Prince Carl Lindbergh as a “madman.”

And yet, thank you for coming.

“Will you believe me if I say so?”

I said nervously, but the Crown Prince had a cold face on his face as if the needle wouldn’t go in any time.

“No, technically, the prince was not a madman, but a fool.”

It was clear that Carl Lindbergh’s absurd conduct was also widely known in Heneken.

It was all because of the severe puberty.

The reason Carl Lindbergh became a jerk is because of a lack of parental education. How fortunate I am that I have come to my senses now.

However, the situation was not appropriate to explain in detail.

Belfry said bluntly from behind, “Hurry up and activate the circle.”

As soon as we left Lindbergh Castle, the gracious and polite young man at the castle was strangely indifferent.

Maybe he was polite because he didn’t want to embarrass his master in front of other Lindbergh members.

Even though Belfry complained, the crown prince remained motionless.

“I was intending to do it now. You don’t have to rush me like that.”

“It’s already been two hours since we left the castle. I mean, Kitchener would be running towards me, beating my ass to the point of blood.”

Belfry, who said that, snapped his finger at the knights.

The knights came out in perfect order and built a wall around the Crown Prince, Lea, and Belfry.

It seemed that he didn’t want the other soldiers around to listen to us.

Belfry lowered his voice.

“After three hours, the rioters would decide to withdraw again. If the prince is caught before then, there will be neither porridge nor bread.”

“Wait a minute, did you really cause a riot?”

I asked, unable to conceal my agitation.

The Lindbergh people didn’t want to riot, so they stayed quiet.

They were in a hurry to make a living every day and didn’t have the strength to even lift a shovel, so they stayed still.

Whether or not I meet the two main characters in the novel, the people of Lindbergh, except for the nobles, should not shed a drop of blood.

That’s why I did such a reckless thing.

Does that mean they instigated a riot?

“It’s not a real riot.”

Belfry took out his single eyeglass from his pocket and put them in one eye.

It seemed to me that what I mistakenly believed to be the main character was actually a typical intelligent character.

When he added a monocle with a silver cord to his full-colored hair, it felt like the black flame dragon[2] was wriggling inside me.

It wasn’t that, but the inside of my stomach was wriggling because of worry.

“So what if it’s not a real riot? Haven’t I mentioned in the letter that I want to reduce the damage to the citizens, or ordinary people, as much as possible?”

I was so disconcerted that I couldn’t even think of the word commoner.

Belfry sighed softly.

“The rioters are trained elite soldiers. All they do is grab a sickle and knock on the walls, clamor and raid a passing carriage. It won’t hurt anyone, but it will do some property damage. With the exception of the North, we have decided to initiate action in the East, West and South at the same time.”

The north is close to the royal road, and it is said that they left it as our way to travel.

I was rather ashamed of their thoroughness.

“When did you prepare all that?”

At the same time, it was even more surprising that Heneken’s forces had infiltrated Lindbergh to do such a thing.

It’s like having dozens or even hundreds of spies plugged in.

It’s not even a troop dispatch.

Lea looked sick and tired of thinking the same thing, and I took a step back, shuddering at Belfry’s confidence in revealing military secrets casually.

“You don’t have to be so scared. I’m going to do bigger things in the future, so how can you get scared already? The prince is the one who wrote to me, right?”

The Crown Prince shot back and I forgot what to say.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about the future, but I was moving blindly.

I’m so embarrassed that I don’t know where to put myself.

It also felt uncomfortable that there were problems that could only be solved by relying solely on the protagonist.

Belfry, who noticed my atrophied heart, spoke in a slightly softened tone.

“Just by the prince stepping forward like this, there will be a big change in Lindbergh. More than that, let’s get moving.”

Belfry, who had a sullen expression on his face, even pointed at the prince and urged him to open the door quickly.

But the Crown Prince was relaxed.

He seemed to be deliberately taking it easy and trying to see my reaction.

“What if they catch up with us, we’ll have a last-minute war, what are you going to do?”

No, there should be no war.

TL Notes:

          [1] Hangul is the Korean alphabet.

          [2] 흑염룡 : literally, black-flaming dragon; a superpower that is normally hidden deep within someone.