Romeo had no peace after hearing his father's words. The image of the monsters hiding inside the cave kept repeating in his mind.
He made his decision.
Silently, he walked through the palace corridors and stopped in front of Lucen's door. He hesitated for a moment, then opened it.
"Brother… are you going somewhere?"
Lucen, who was fastening his armor, turned around and gave a faint smile.
"Yes. Father asked me to assist the Sword Knight on a mission."
"What mission?"
Lucen paused briefly, then said,
"Last night, twelve hunters were killed. The ogre that was imprisoned escaped. We're going to find her."
Romeo's heart tightened.
"Brother… I need to tell you something."
Lucen looked straight into his eyes.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"How did you know?"
"There was too much darkness left around the wounds. I think only I noticed it."
A few seconds of silence passed.
"If you did it, you must have had a good reason."
"I saved that ogre girl."
A faint smile appeared on Lucen's lips.
"I thought so. And now you're here to ask for my help, right?"
"Yes… I'm asking you—if you find her, let her go. Don't harm her."
Lucen took a deep breath.
"I won't hurt her. But I can't promise anything about the Wind Knight or the Sword Knight."
"As long as you don't hurt her, that's enough."
"Good. I should go. They're waiting for me."
"Take care, brother."
"May divine light watch over you."
Romeo vanished at once, melting into the shadows.
Inside the shelter, Berg smiled when she saw him.
"Romeo? Welcome back."
"I came to warn you. The king's army—two knights and the Prince of Light—are searching for you."
"I expected that. But they won't be able to find this place, so don't worry."
Romeo hesitated.
"I heard you're a candidate to become the Ogre Queen. They say each candidate lives for thousands of years. How old are you?"
Berg laughed softly.
"That's true. I'm the last candidate for the throne. A candidate can live up to five thousand years, and during that time… can have up to twenty husbands."
"Twenty?!"
"I'm kidding."
Then she grew serious.
"I'm fourteen. I was the youngest among all the candidates. The oldest lived for one thousand two hundred and eighty years… and before becoming queen, she was killed by King Eldaric."
Romeo clenched his fists.
"I heard the Elf Queen holds the Eye of Thunder and passes its power to another every thousand years. Do ogres have a power like that too?"
"No. The only power ogres have is their physical strength. One ogre has the strength of twenty strong men."
"Really…"
"If I die, there will be no one but you who can become king of the destroyed Black Land of the ogres."
"As long as I'm alive, no one will be able to harm you."
He stepped back.
"I have to return to the palace. Goodbye, for now."
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
Berg let out a quiet sigh.
"He really is fast…"
Romeo returned to the palace.
What should I do…
If she isn't found, Father will attack the Ogre lands again.
And if she is found, the Ogres will be wiped out anyway.
There was only one choice left.
He had to speak to his father.
King Aldric stood by the tall window when Romeo entered.
"What is it, my son?"
"Why do you hate the Ogres so much?" Romeo asked quietly.
The king's gaze hardened.
"This is war. They started it. I warned them what would happen if they disobeyed me."
"But it isn't right to wipe out an entire race for your own benefit."
A heavy silence filled the room.
"I should learn good and evil from you now?" the king said coldly.
"How dare you speak to your father—no, to your king—this way?"
"Mother always protected the weak," Romeo replied.
"That is exactly why she died," Aldric snapped.
"She died because she cared too much about others."
"…Father," Romeo said slowly, "are you crying?"
The king turned away.
"If your mother hadn't been so foolish, she wouldn't have needed to die.
Do you even know what the power of the Eyes truly means?"
Romeo said nothing.
"It means you can never have children. Queen Amelia knew that.
And yet, she still chose her own will… and left me alone."
The king's voice trembled with suppressed rage.
"And now, I can do whatever I want."
Romeo's heart sank.
"…Mother died because of me, didn't she?"
"So you heard last night's meeting after all," the king said.
Then his eyes narrowed.
"Interesting. I also felt someone listening from the shadows."
His voice dropped.
"You filthy, insolent wretch…
How dare you spy on your own father."
The king spoke coldly.
"Take the prince to his room immediately. I need time to decide what to do with him.
And assign a guard to him—make sure he doesn't use shadows."
"Yes, Your Majesty," the soldier replied.
Romeo closed his eyes as he was escorted back to his room.
What can I even do now…? he thought.
At the same time, deep within the forest—
"This is where the twelve hunters were killed," said the Wind Knight.
Lucen narrowed his eyes.
"I can feel it. From this point onward, they used teleportation. That's why we can't trace their direction."
"How can you be so sure?" asked the Sword Knight.
"This entire area is under my observation," Lucen answered calmly.
"With the sunlight, I can see everything clearly. No matter how much we search this forest, we won't find them."
"I see… Then where do you think they went?" the Wind Knight asked.
"I don't know," Lucen replied. "Perhaps they returned to their homeland."
"I doubt it," said the Wind Knight.
"Nearly one hundred thousand soldiers of the Sun Kingdom are already stationed there, ready for war."
Lucen paused.
"Bring me the map."
The map of the surrounding nations was spread out before them.
"They don't have enough magic to teleport across two entire countries," Lucen said thoughtfully.
"So they must be somewhere nearby."
He pointed one by one.
"This is the Sun Kingdom.
To the north lies the Giant Mountains—enemies of the ogres.
To the south is the Elven Kingdom, our ally. If the ogre were there, the elves would hand her over themselves.
To the east lies the land of dragons and powerful monsters—too dangerous. I doubt they'd choose that place."
His finger stopped.
"That leaves only two possibilities: the Ogre Kingdom… or the northern mountain caves."
"They couldn't have gone there," the Wind Knight said grimly.
"When the queen fought the three-headed dragon, that entire region was annihilated. Only those caves remained.
Anyone who entered them never returned. Even now, the residual magic there is strong enough to kill Sacred Knights."
The Sword Knight nodded.
"The only way in would be to use light magic to tear open the sky itself with a sword—creating a passage."
"But that would require at least ten percent control over light," the Wind Knight said.
"Lucen is only at two percent. And we need
to find them quickly."
He clenched his fist.
"Then we must report to the king and request assistance with his fire power.