The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away

“Have you accepted a Guardian Beast?”

“Ah…”

Startled, Leslun whipped his head around to look at Kailos, forgetting their close proximity. But this time, Kailos didn’t look at him; instead, his eyes shifted away.

“Or did you mean something else? For example, were you wondering whether I’m someone with compassion and consideration?”

The words struck right at the core, leaving Leslun at a loss for what to say. Seeing his flustered reaction, Kailos gave a dry chuckle.

So much for hiding his thoughts.

“You don’t even deny it.”

“……”

“Seems like my aide prefers kind-hearted people.”

Kailos narrowed his eyes.

“I only chose you based on your abilities, yet you dare to weigh your superior’s character…”

Though the Crown Prince’s tone carried a trace of playfulness, Leslun’s face kept flushing white, then paling blue in cycles.

“I suppose I’ll have to consider what exactly makes a person ‘good.’”

Kailos leaned close to Leslun’s ear and whispered, then naturally sat down beside him. Normally, an aide was supposed to stand behind their lord.

They must never block their master’s way, and standing on equal footing was, of course, forbidden.

This was a rule that applied to all aides, regardless of whom they served.

Yet the Crown Prince was deliberately sitting alongside him. Leslun felt so unsettled he wanted to get up immediately.

His grip on the chair tightened until his fingertips turned white. Noticing this, Kailos rested his chin on his hand and gazed at him.

“Tell me—was the one you served before a good man?”

At the sudden mention of Count Robert Camilo, Leslun’s eyes trembled violently. The Count was not someone who could be called “good,” even as flattery.

Because Leslun was born in his domain, loyalty was expected of him. Yet at times, it was unbearable to accept the Count’s orders without question.

Whenever that happened, the Count would bring up Leslun’s parents back in the territory. At first, it was a passing remark, but afterward, depending on his mood, he would invoke them more deliberately.

The Count’s reputation was far from good. Perhaps because he kept a male lover, there was something peculiarly unsettling in the way he laid his hands on Leslun.

Those moments accumulated and compounded, and by the time Leslun realized that Count Camilo was a true villain, he had already been ensnared by too many of the man’s traps.

His family was in the Count’s grasp. Their lives and deaths could be determined by a single misstep of his own—a shackle that bound him tightly.

Even so, when he freed Lady Miroi, that had been purely an impulse.

He couldn’t stand the thought of endangering another person just to save his family. Having seen her face directly only made it more impossible to look away.

“Count Camilo was…”

The moment Leslun began, Kailos’s gaze gleamed with keen curiosity. He seemed to be dissecting Leslun’s expression piece by piece.

“…not a good man.”

It was a rather plain answer, given how long he had hesitated.

“And that’s why I was even more curious.”

Though Leslun knew nothing good would come of speaking further, he could not suppress the impulse.

“I wondered whether the one I now serve would be a good person.”

He had spoken words that could easily offend to the man’s face. Surely, he would be punished for it. Perhaps Kailos would regret taking him in and throw him back in prison.

How foolish. Saying he didn’t want to die, only to act this recklessly.

The old Leslun would never have dared to utter such a bold statement. Anyone who knew him before would probably laugh in scorn.

“A good person… So that is your measure.”

Kailos murmured with his gaze cast far away, as though looking into the void. His words carried a faintly twisted undertone.

Before Leslun could fully grasp the change in atmosphere, Kailos spoke again.

“Then what of me? I found your parents, yet I have not brought them here. In your eyes, how does that make me appear?”

Kailos’s smile was distorted. His eyes flickered with an emotion somewhere between challenge and mockery.

“When I considered bringing your parents here, I realized how bothersome it would be. Should I knock them unconscious and drag them back, or simply watch over them from afar? I haven’t decided yet.”

He had deliberately prodded Leslun with those words. That was why his tone had turned coarse.

And now, he fell silent—waiting to see how Leslun would respond.