The Hidden Dagger

Was it like seasickness? In my past life, I had never been prone to motion sickness, so I didn’t take the warning too seriously.

“Approaching the first Warp Gate!” a knight shouted from outside, tapping on the carriage door.

Curious, I peeked through the window and saw a massive circular structure. In the center of the frame was a transparent, iridescent film that looked like a giant soap bubble. It seemed that passing through that membrane would warp us to another region.

Chase looked just as curious, poking his head toward my window. I leaned back to give him a better view. The carriage didn’t slow down; it charged straight through the film. In that instant, the scenery outside transformed completely, and my stomach gave a sudden, violent lurch.

“Urgh.”

“Yo-Your Highness?”

“Are you alright?”

I quickly covered my mouth, fighting back a wave of nausea. Is this the ‘sickness’ he mentioned? Having never experienced motion sickness in my life, I felt as if a heavy gas had suddenly filled my stomach and throat. My insides felt like they were sloshing around, threatening to spill over. It was a revolting sensation.

“I am… fine.”

“It seems that because your Divine Authority is so strong, your body is reacting viscerally to foreign supernatural interference,” Viscount Travie observed, assessing my condition.

Chase, who had looked frightened by my sudden reaction, seemed to relax a little after hearing the explanation. Viscount Travie instructed the coachman to slow down and explained the situation to the approaching knight.

“His Highness is suffering from Warp Gate sickness. Slow the pace.”

“Understood.”

The knight pulled away, and soon the entire procession slowed to a more rhythmic, gentle trot.

I was bewildered by this first-time experience with nausea, but unlike lingering seasickness, this felt like a sharp, intense wave that lasted only a minute or two. I figured I could endure it.

‘I didn’t know about this setting.’

Well, in the original novel, the Crown Prince and Chase never traveled through a Warp Gate together, so there was no way to know from the text alone. Even though the author had released setting files outside of the book, small personal details like this weren’t included.

Once the spinning in my head subsided, I turned to Chase.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine, Your Highness.”

To my eyes, Chase did look perfectly fine. However, his face still appeared gaunt from his time in the dungeon. I’d heard that motion sickness often depended on one’s physical condition, but perhaps Warp Gate sickness ignored such variables. As I pondered this, I noticed Viscount Travie watching us with a peculiar expression.

He avoided my gaze for a moment before murmuring softly.

“I must say… um, you two appear much closer than I expected.”

He had clearly chosen his words with extreme care. I was momentarily taken aback, but I understood his reaction. It had only been six months since I started keeping Chase by my side; before that, I had been vocal about wanting him dead.

Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no regular contact with me, it was natural that he wouldn’t know how much I had changed during those six months. I could see the “What on earth happened?” written all over his face.

Having no specific excuse to offer, I simply replied that things had turned out this way. The Viscount looked thoughtful for a moment but didn’t press further.

‘What is it?’

A strange sensation gnawed at me. First Mayril a few days ago, and now Viscount Travie—it felt as though they weren’t exactly lying to me, but they weren’t telling me everything either. They seemed to be maintaining a deliberate silence regarding a certain fact. It was an odd vibe, but since I couldn’t exactly interrogate him without cause, I remained silent as well.

The distance to the next gate was considerable, so we traveled for a long time. Fortunately, the roads were well-maintained, making the ride bearable.

‘The more I see of this world, the more it feels like a weird hybrid—modern convenience powered by magic, yet they still use carriages.’

The thought that all of life’s problems were solved through supernatural means wouldn’t leave my mind. Not that I could exactly ban magic.

Eventually, we reached the second Warp Gate. Just like before, my stomach turned.

‘This is strange.’

It felt slightly different this time. However, judging it to be merely the unfamiliarity of the sensation, I dismissed the thought. After a period of rest and more travel, we finally arrived at the third and final Warp Gate.

“This is the last Warp Gate.”

As before, a knight approached the carriage to alert us. The prospect of feeling sick again soured my mood, but I resigned myself to it. The moment we crossed the threshold—

“Guh!”

“Your Highness?!”

A sudden, gut-wrenching pain exploded in my chest. I reflexively clamped my hand over my mouth. Something surged up from my stomach—not the acidic taste of vomit, but a thick, metallic tang that filled my mouth and nose.

‘Blood?’

Panic flared. I thought this was just motion sickness. Did people vomit blood from Warp Gates? I had never heard of such a thing. Fearing I had imagined it, I stole a glance at the palm of my hand.

There was no other explanation for the dark crimson smear.

‘What is happening to me?’

“Are you alright, Your Highness?”

I hurriedly wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, hoping I hadn’t left a trail. Viscount Travie asked if I was okay; I forced myself to swallow the pool of blood in my mouth and nodded.

“I’m fine—”

“Your Highness!”

Suddenly, the world spun. In the midst of the dizziness, the figures of Viscount Travie and Chase split into doubles and triples before my vision finally inverted. I felt my head hit the carriage seat, and my consciousness snapped to black.

“Your Highness!”

Viscount Travie screamed as he watched Ailen collapse, his face turning paper-white. He knew the Prince had been struggling with each gate, but he hadn’t expected him to lose consciousness like this.

‘Hardly anyone passes through three gates in a single day.’

Warp Gates were expensive to operate, so unless it was a dire emergency, people rarely used multiple gates in succession. Even for those with severe sensitivity, it usually ended at nausea; the Viscount had never seen someone simply black out.

Fortunately, Ailen had wiped his face well enough that no trace of blood remained on his lips.

“What happened?!”

“The Prince has fainted!”

A knight rushed to the carriage and peered inside. Upon seeing the unconscious Ailen, he immediately signaled the procession to a halt. Chase, who had been too stunned to make a sound when Ailen first fell, was now trembling violently as he reached out to him.

“Your Highness…”

Viscount Travie watched with that same inscrutable expression as Chase gently laid Ailen’s limp body down, letting the Prince lean against him.

He had heard their relationship had changed, but seeing it in person was surreal. As a palace official, he knew their history well. Being a lower-ranking noble himself, he understood exactly how cruel a superior could be to an inferior.

The Crown Prince, despite his youth, was notorious in high society for his coldness, and Chase had been nothing more than a sacrificial lamb to him.

‘And yet, they don’t seem… to hate each other at all now.’

It was bizarre. How could he care so much for the son of the woman who tried to kill him? It would have made more sense if this were their relationship before the poisoning attempt, not after. It was as if he were looking at a completely different person.

‘Is it because they aren’t brothers anymore?’

Royals, like nobles, often fought bloody succession wars. Perhaps now that Chase was no longer a rival for the throne, Ailen felt no need to be cruel?

The Viscount couldn’t fathom the truth. But as he watched the two of them, his heart grew heavy.

The reason was simple: the secret command he had received from the Emperor before they departed.

The Viscount had been chosen to verify the prophecy and facilitate diplomacy with the Great Forest. During their final audience in the imperial study, the Emperor had stood with his back to them, staring out the window, his voice low and languid.

“If the prophecy given by the Great Forest is proven to be undeniably true…”

“…”

“Kill the boy immediately. Do it before the Crown Prince has a chance to interfere.”