* * *
Kaindel believed everything was progressing smoothly.
He had repaid the family’s debts, and the temple had officially recognized his achievement in subduing the Great Calamity.
His companions were set to be acknowledged as comrades of the hero.
Except for the king’s proposal to marry Kerelona, there were no major red flags.
His relationship with Isa was good.
Perhaps it was the experience of having been apart for a long time, but Isa openly expressed any concerns to Kaindel, and Kaindel, in turn, made every effort to share everything with him.
After all, that was what Isa wanted.
Of course, not everything was perfect.
Problems occasionally arose.
Maintaining relationships with business partners, essential for repaying the family’s debts, sometimes led to situations where Isa felt neglected.
It couldn’t be helped.
Those sacrifices had allowed him to repay the debts early and solidify his position in society.
In the grand scheme, it was a beneficial trade-off. Kaindel trusted Isa would understand.
Time passed, and Kaindel attended a banquet hosted by the king with Isa.
The banquet, held for the first time in a long while at the royal palace, was to officially recognize the hero and his comrades for their efforts in subduing the Great Calamity.
No matter how much Kaindel disliked attending, he had no choice but to go.
As soon as they arrived, Kaindel left Isa with Sehir.
Given his role as a hero, it was difficult for him to keep Isa by his side while mingling with various attendees.
After instructing Isa to stay with Sehir until he returned, Kaindel approached the key figures to greet them.
He interacted with business partners and briefly socialized with their children.
Trouble began when the heavy scent of perfume, sharp enough to sting his nose, started giving him a headache.
Kaindel had been leaning against a wall for a moment to rest after exchanging greetings with countless people—most of whom he couldn’t even remember—when Sehir approached him.
Seeing that Sehir was alone without Isa, Kaindel’s sharp gaze bore into him.
“Kaindel.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t find Isa.”
“……What?”
Kaindel straightened up at the unexpected news, his once-relaxed shoulders now tense.
“Wasn’t he with you just a moment ago?”
“He was, but he said he wanted to rest, so I brought him to an empty lounge.”
“And now he’s gone?”
“Yeah, he wasn’t there when I checked the lounge. He’s not in the banquet hall either.”
“Sehir.”
Kaindel swallowed the curses rising to his throat.
Why leave him alone after saying you’d stay with him?
Why check only the lounge and the banquet hall?
And why mention this only now?
His mind spun with jumbled thoughts, which he carefully untangled one by one.
This wasn’t the time to lash out at Sehir.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault.
Still, knowing that didn’t make it easier to stay rational.
Rubbing his creased brow, Kaindel stepped away from the wall, letting out a deep sigh instead of the expletives lingering on his tongue.
“I’ll look for him. In the meantime, stall for time.”
“Stall?”
Kaindel gestured toward the king’s seat with his chin.
It didn’t take long for Sehir to grasp the meaning.
The banquet was reaching its peak, the perfect moment for the king to make an official announcement.
For Isa to be recognized as the hero’s comrade, he had to be present for that moment.
Understanding that he was to delay the king’s announcement, Sehir nodded.
“Got it. Go ahead.”
As soon as Sehir responded, Kaindel moved.
He could feel the stares following him, but they didn’t matter.
What mattered was finding Isa.
Moving quickly, his neatly combed hair began to fall out of place.
“……”
He started by checking the lounge where Sehir had last seen Isa.
After confirming it was empty, he searched the nearby rooms and wandered the hallways.
Eventually, he headed to the lower floors and found Isa in a dimly lit corridor.
Kaindel was about to call out, “Isa,” but his voice caught in his throat.
Isa’s flushed face, leaning limply against a man’s back, made Kaindel’s expression harden.
The sight of Isa unconscious, his body slack, was far from normal.
The man, struggling to keep Isa from slipping off his back, began walking in the opposite direction of the banquet hall.
Kaindel clenched and unclenched his fists, his insides boiling.
Stay calm.
Suppressing his rising anger, Kaindel approached the man.
“Urgh!”
“Who are you?”
Despite his attempt at restraint, Kaindel grabbed the man’s wrist with enough force to make him wince.
The man looked up at Kaindel in shock, his eyes widening as recognition dawned.
Realizing he was facing the hero, the man’s expression softened, as if assured Kaindel wouldn’t harm him.
“I-I didn’t do anything! He was drunk, and—he approached me first—”
“I asked what you did to him.”
Kaindel cut off the man’s rambling.
The man’s nonsensical excuses grated on him.
“I was just trying to help—”
“Do I need to tear that filthy mouth of yours open for the truth?”
“W-what? He’s just a lowly—”
Kaindel’s glare silenced him mid-sentence.
As Kaindel held his wrist tighter, he finally realized the gravity of the situation.
The man, whose urgency was unmistakable in his trembling voice, stared at his own pale hand with a fearful gaze.
His expression was one of sheer bewilderment, as though he couldn’t fathom what he’d done wrong.
“He’s just a male whore, so what’s the harm in indulging together… Ack!”
“Shut your mouth.”
‘Male whore.’
Kaindel’s voice dropped to a dangerous pitch at the mention of that word.
Up until now, he had managed to maintain a facade of calm, but that was no longer possible.
If the man kept running his mouth, Kaindel would not be able to resist tearing it apart.
Disgust and irritation boiled over into a dangerous impulse, one that even Kaindel himself found unfamiliar.
The man flinched, shrinking under the murderous intent simmering in Kaindel’s green eyes.
“I’m sure people would love to know what kind of hero you really are.”
“Go ahead, say it.”
“…”
“But know this—you’ll pay for what you just said.”
“…”
Kaindel growled, finally releasing the man’s wrist, and pulled Isa closer into his arms.
The moment the man mentioned “people,” a wave of cold reality crashed over Kaindel.
He suddenly became acutely aware of where he was and why he had come here.
The cravat around his neck felt suffocating, and the gold embellishments on his shoulders weighed heavily.
For now, securing Isa was more important.
This wasn’t the place to decide the man’s fate.
Suppressing the emotions churning in his gut, Kaindel burned the image of the retreating man into his memory.
His grip on Isa’s thigh tightened protectively.
Whatever punishment awaited the man who dared to call Isa that vile name would come later, once Kaindel uncovered his true identity.
Later—after everything was over.
Kaindel calmed himself with that thought as he forced his reluctant steps forward.
Kaindel placed Isa gently inside the carriage, the man’s words echoing in his mind like a poisonous refrain.
‘He’s just a male whore…’
He removed his coat and draped it over Isa before turning to the waiting coachman.
“I’ll be out soon. Be ready to leave.”
“Understood.”
The coachman nodded briskly, his neutral demeanor betraying no curiosity.
Kaindel glanced back at Isa, lying motionless under the coat.
“…Make sure he doesn’t wake up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kaindel’s instincts urged him to abandon the banquet and return home immediately.
But leaving abruptly without properly concluding the evening could create complications for the future.
Isa’s condition suggested he’d been drugged, likely in connection to the looming calamity.
That matter would have to wait.
Kaindel clenched his trembling hand, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.
The urgency of finding Isa had dulled his fear, but now it mingled with memories of an incident from a year ago, amplifying his unease.
He resolved to inform the king of the bare essentials and leave as soon as possible.
* * *
