BL: The Northern Grand Duke’s Hamster (Novel Translation)

"No!"

Kyle immediately opposed it. He seemed genuinely angry; his face flushed red, then paled, before he grabbed me by the shoulder.

I felt a tingling pain, as if he hadn't controlled his strength, but before I could utter a word, he startled and quickly withdrew his hand.

"Don't talk nonsense, Shu. Do you really expect them to be trustworthy? Besides, to sell you out and beg for our lives? I can't do that; it would be a humiliation."

I couldn't answer right away.

Was it because I had been forced to recharge my luck earlier? A stuffy, burning sensation still lingered near my solar plexus. I managed to endure the subtle nausea by holding my breath, then replied, trying to sound firm:

"...I'm fine."

His pride would crack. However, if you thought about it calmly, pride didn't save lives.

Moreover, this was a much more profitable deal for us. I just had to dig up information about him and turn off 'Load'. I only had a few minutes left.

Kyle wouldn't be unaware of that. Hadn't he seen them fall off a cliff and come back alive? But was there a need to oppose it so fiercely? I was somewhat confused.

Of course, I didn't want to be dissuaded. Not only Kyle's life, but also the knights' lives were at stake.

I looked at him and parted my lips.

"If every single one of these people gets out of this mine alive, I'll follow you."

"Do you want a guarantee?"

"Of course. I said I would follow you obediently. Look, our Grand Duke doesn't like it. And neither do you, I suppose..."

Desperately clinging to him wasn't my style. However, we couldn't demand trust from him.

What words held weight with someone who acted purely out of self-interest and convenience? I thought about it for a moment, then said:

"Show your sincerity, and I'll be obedient."

The white wraith tilted his head.

"Based on your personality? Impossible. But it's always amusing to see them cramming their limbs into clothes that don't fit. I like it. It's not hard to be generous."

In the cold silence, the man raised his hand.

With a precise, cheerful sound of thumbs and middle fingers colliding, the mutant goblins that had been holding their breath around the canyon collapsed all at once. The sight of their unnatural disintegration, like marionette dolls whose strings had been severed, was a little creepy.

They all died. Not a single one was left.

It was something he did without much effort. I didn't look closely, but they melted and disintegrated, leaving no trace. At least, it didn't look like it would happen again.

That was the sincerity the white wraith showed me.

"..."

The knights drew their swords, but then hesitated and withdrew, as if they were weary. It was because the man approached me.

A wizard from a lawless area who only listened to words. Among them, he was quite strong. Their instincts seemed to warn them of his presence.

"Let's see...."

The man stood up and came to stand before me.

He was large enough to call me a "kid." I looked up and saw that he was taller than Kyle. He was almost a head taller than me, but he was slim and thin, so from a distance, he looked smaller than his actual height.

His blue eyes flashed from beneath his white hair. I thought his eyes might be the same color as the Heart of Winter.

It was a strange impression. He looked polite yet despicable, beautiful yet evil. Above all, his exterior was as white as snow, but his interior seemed as black as ash.

He grabbed my chin and turned it around. It was as if he was appraising a product.

Kyle was clenching his teeth, his sword clenched in his hand, enduring the whole process. It was as if he wanted to draw his sword and confront him at any moment.

"...It's strange."

The white wraith muttered, then his hand descended on my chest. By then, I was inwardly cursing and frowning.

The man clicked his tongue lightly and pressed a finger against my cheek. The thick, unpleasant heat that had pooled in my chest surged, and soon another handful of black blood spewed out of my mouth.

I thought I had vomited it all out, but it seemed the side effects hadn't ended. It was unpleasant, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I sighed, rubbing the back of my hand against the corner of my mouth.

"It's definitely not a wizard's vessel. They use strength similar to ours."

"..."

I didn't respond to him. I didn't have any obligation to answer such questions.

What was important to me now was Kyle's safety.

[Kyle Jane Meinhardt, about 0 days away from the estimated time of death.]

I needed to raise this damn number first.

I said in a subdued voice:

"Your Highness. Give the order to withdraw."

"..."

"Your Highness!"

I turned to Kyle. At the same time, my gaze met his red eyes, which had been fixed on me all along.

His face looked as if he was hurt.

Kyle resisted until the end.

Looking back, his reaction wasn't entirely incomprehensible. He wouldn't have wanted to choose the option of blatantly sacrificing one person for everyone's safety.

However, the situation didn't improve at all. The goblins were dead, but there was no guarantee that the white wraith wouldn't bring anything else. The drivers grew increasingly nervous due to their anxiety. Some were even injured while exiting the mine.

Even James said that it would be better to step back with caution. As he stopped Kyle, James looked at me, a hint of apology in his eyes for my predicament at the wizard's side.

Of course, if I didn't have 'Call', it might have been a perfectly reasonable choice. However, since there was an alternative, I decided not to blame them. After all, it was my choice in the first place.

"...Ugh."

Kyle contorted his face like someone who had bitten into something incredibly sour.

But I couldn't ask the knights behind me to fight a battle they didn't understand, just to save one person. Since he had personally witnessed the power, he would have had no choice but to be more cautious.

After a long period of opposition, Kyle finally stepped down, and kept looking back at me. It was then that I realized he had deliberately insisted on the part about 'Call' so that the white wraith wouldn't find out.

If they left, it would be enough, but if I were suspected by the wraith, it might be dangerous.

"..."

Even though I knew it, it was more painful than I thought to see Kyle in such pain. I thought I knew how cruel I had been to force him to make such a choice.

I had vomited enough blood, but why was my stomach still stuffy?

"A kid, indeed."

When the people disappeared completely, only a cool and damp silence enveloped the canyon. Meanwhile, the man, standing upright, looked into the distance and said:

"You hid the count?"

The voice, which seemed friendly at first glance, was eerie.

"Oh, I thought I acted well. I got caught."

I looked at him casually.

"After all, no matter how much you try to deceive, it's not enough, is it? My Highness isn't the type to just turn around and leave me."

"..."

"I don't think you've brought more goblins, or anything like that."

No matter how freely you can control them, you won't be able to create a large number of demonic nuclei at once. It was quite a bitter defeat in the political battle a few months ago, and the goblins brought in today weren't a small number.

"You're going to have a lot of trouble making them, so it's hard to waste them anymore."

"How did you know that?"

"Well, if you could make them to your heart's content, I don't think you would have walked around the northern part of the country offering 'greetings' or 'gifts'. Wouldn't you have simply unleashed everything you wanted to make for hunting?"

"Your perception is faster than I thought."

He walked, clutching my arm. It was as if he was wary of me running away at any moment.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't run away now. I followed him with a resigned expression and said,

"But hey. Have we ever met?"

A bright and ominous smile appeared on the face of the sincere madman.

"Are you working now?"

"You don't mind making a noise that even a passing mouse would laugh at."

He slightly lifted his grip on my arm. The bracelet, which was loosely tied around my wrist, tilted and the blue jewel sparkled.

"There's one similar to this in my room."

"A similar bracelet, you say...?" Are you referring to the germanium bracelets sold in Hwangseong? I went out and bought Kyle one, that's all.

Thinking about it, a sudden memory came to mind.

"It really has magical power."

A white-haired man standing next to me.

He was clearly looking at the bracelet with great pleasure. It was amazing how he could tell if it had magical power or not, I thought to myself.

I got goosebumps all over my body.

I didn't expect him to come into the territory so openly. Was he mixed in with the merchants? Or was it a disguise? A forged identity? Teleportation magic?

As if he didn't understand my distress, he looked around with a little interest, still holding my chin. He also wiped the bloodstains from my mouth with his gloved hand, as if scrubbing dust from a new item.

"What kind of hidden move is this? Your magic abilities are poor. It doesn't seem to have much power, let alone the ability for teleportation. What do you believe in to be so confident?"

His blue eyes, glistening with interest, even looked a little tenacious.

"It would be great if we could catch you and dissect you."

"Hey, you crazy... No, Your Excellency. I don't have a hobby of lying quietly in your lab, so don't count your chickens before they hatch. Let's make a statement right now. What do you think?"

It was clearly an attempt to dig up information. Even though he had looked into my heart, he spoke as if he would tell me as much as he wanted.

"Nox."

Nox.

It was a name that didn't suit such a white-haired man.