"Is this that terminal kid?" An unfamiliar voice asked with confidence.
Ray took his eyes off the glowing screen and slowly turned his head toward the direction the voice came from.
Two young men twice his size stood just a few steps away from him. Both were drenched in blood. Judging by the way it was dripping from their blades, it didn't seem like the blood belonged to them.
"Judging from his icy-blue hair, that's definitely him."
The other man beside him spoke casually. His fiery-red hair almost looked unnatural under the dim moonlight. Ray had never seen someone with red hair before, but right now that didn't matter.
Because the man in front of him had deep cobalt blue hair, which confused Ray. Every shade of blue hair was an indistinguishable trait of the royal bloodline, and as far as he knew, there were currently no imperial family members with deep cobalt blue hair.
"So..." the red-haired man spoke lazily.
"Are you going to kill that kid?"
He asked with no concern for Ray, who was most certainly listening to them.
The man who appeared to be his leader turned his gaze toward Ray. His eyes were cold and empty. He looked at Ray with complete indifference, as if he were looking at an object rather than a human being.
Ray studied both of them for a moment. They certainly seemed like they could kill him at any moment. And judging by how unfazed they were by the machine in his hand and neck, they were definitely on par with high-ranking nobles.
Because to most people, such machines were nothing more than rumors whispered among nobles and scholars. Things like this were so rare that even most nobles in the kingdom had never actually seen one before.
"No."
The man finally spoke.
"There's no need to kill someone who's bound to die soon."
He said it with a faint smile.
Ray sighed in relief.
While he didn't care whether he lived or died, Ray still had a duty to fulfill.
The two men left just as quickly as they came. Ray suppressed a cough as he watched them leave without so much as glancing at him. He sat quietly on the bench, wondering what had just happened.
Before he could process it all, a blazing light caught the corner of his eye. Ray turned his head toward the side where the main palace stood.
At first, he thought the palace was covered in lanterns.
Then he looked closer.
It was fire.
The Imperial Palace was burning.
Something was happening—that much he could tell.
"Your Highness!" someone shouted nearby.
Ray slowly turned his head. It was the butler, running frantically toward him.
"Your Highness!"
The butler finally reached him and fell to his knees.
"Your Highness—you—you have to—" He couldn't speak properly, gasping for air.
"Calm down," Ray said patiently. "Breathe. Everything's fine for now. Now speak. What happened?"
"You have to run, Your Highness," the butler said urgently. "You have to run away as far as possible."
Out of everything Ray was expecting to hear, that was definitely not it.
"Why?" Ray asked cautionly.
"There has been a rebellion, Your Highness. The Emperor, along with the rest of your siblings... have all been killed."