“I’ll give it a try!”
A man among the onlookers raised his hand.
As the people around him cheered, he stepped forward with a confident face.
“Now, there are ten little arrows. This is all you can use to get your best score.”
The merchant handed the man some small arrows. As the cheers of the people grew, Rosena became nervous.
Yerhan, who had been paying attention to Rosena before, narrowed his forehead lightly.
When she saw the music box that came out as the first prize, Rosena’s face was unusual. Apparently, Rosena wanted that music box.
While stretching his arms slightly, Yerhan said,
“Actually, I like playing darts.”
“Really?”
Rosena looked at Yehan in surprise. As Rosena’s eyes turned to Yerhan again, he asked.
“Would you like to see it?”
Rosena nodded her head in confusion. Then the merchant’s voice rang out.
“Is there no one else to challenge?”
However, challengers did not come out easily.
“No one?”
The merchant raised his voice with a sad face.
It was then.
“Wait a minute.”
Yerhan, who was among the spectators, raised his arm. When everyone’s attention fell on Yerhan, he stepped forward.
“I’ll take the challenge.”
The merchant, Hant, was a professional trader who toured festivals all over the country.
Hant hired a decoy to pretend to be a customer and throw darts, and gave real customers a slightly curved dart.
So far, there have been many customers who have tried to win the first prize. However, none of them could beat the man Hant had hired.
At this rate, he will be able to wipe up the entry fee without any loss.
Until that man walked out.
“I will try.”
Hant looked at the man who came forward.
It was dark at night, so he couldn’t see his face well, but he could tell he was a very handsome man.
Hant stood idly for a moment, distracted by his appearance, then came to his senses and induced applause.
“A new challenger!”
The spectators cheered. Hant smiled inwardly and looked at the new challenger.
He seemed to be quite confident in darts, but it would be difficult to score more than 3 points with the prepared arrows.
A man hired by Hant and a blond man, the challenger, stood side by side.
The decoy took a position first, then grabbed a small arrow and threw his arm forward. Then, along with the light sound, an arrow was struck at the 9th point.
“Hmm, I could’ve gotten 10 points, but I made a mistake.”
The decoy who threw the dart first commented. People around them started to applaud and murmur.
“Isn’t he the one who won the prize before?”
“It looks like he’s going to hit another high point.”
Everyone had no doubt Hant’s man would win. But the blond man touched the arrow with an unperturbed, calm face.
“Then right away…”
At the same time as Hant opened his mouth, there was a squeaking sound followed by a crackling sound.
A popping sound echoed all over the place.
While everyone blinked, a new arrow was stuck in the dart board. It was the highest score of 10.
“No, no way.”
Hant rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
Obviously, the arrow was slightly curved, so it would have been impossible to align it. But 10 points?
While Hant stood dumbfounded, the man raised a new arrow.
Then there was the sound of arrows being stabbed in succession. All were 10 points.
Both the people watching and Hant looked at the dartboard with a shocked face.
There was no more room for a small arrow to pierce the 10-point area, which was the size of a fingernail. But the blond man did not stop.
The sound of breaking the wind was heard again, and an arrow was stabbed. The arrow that had been inserted at the 10th point was pushed out and a new one was inserted.
A decoy hired by Hant also lowered down his arrows, speechless.
All of them got 10 points, so no matter how well the decoy threw, it was a defeat.
“Is it done?”
The man asked Hant.
Hant was confused for a moment, wondering if the wingman he had hired was that man.
While Hant was silent, the man muttered as he walked towards the merchandise.
“Then I’ll take the music box.”
The appearance of the man who twisted the corners of his mouth into a smirk was nothing like a villain.
***
Yerhan, who won first place in an instant, grabbed the music box, took a step.
Then Rosena, who was watching from behind, hurriedly approached Yerhan.
“I didn’t know you could play darts so well.”
Rosena’s face was still stunned, as if she couldn’t believe it. Yerhan smiled faintly and held out the music box.
“Please take it.”
Rosena, who stood idly for a moment, belatedly accepted the music box.
Rosena slowly looked at the music box. It had been well maintained, so it’s not much different from when she sold it 10 years ago.
As she turned the mainspring, a familiar song came out. It was a song she heard at her bedside when she was a kid.
Along with the song, the memory of her father’s large hand stroking her head came to mind.
Rosena lowered her head, clutching the music box with both hands.
“…Thank you, really…”
A faint, watery voice rang quietly.
Yerhan lightly wrapped his arms around Rosena’s shoulder. The palms caressing her shoulders were large and warm.
After a while, Rosena lightly rubbed her eyes and opened her mouth.
“Let’s look at something else.”
“I saw earlier that there’s a play over there.”
“I want to see it.”
As Rosena hurriedly moved, Yerhan, who was standing tall, also followed.
A round stage made of wood and a cheap cloth tent took the place of the theater. Still, it was so popular that there was no room to set foot.
Looking at the children sitting in front, Rosena regretted not coming with Illian.
While waiting for the play to start, a cheerful laughter appeared and led to the reaction of the people. The little kid playing in the theater started to circle the audience, holding a big hat.
Rosena stared at the child who looked two or three years older than Illian.
For some reason, she thought of Illian, and her heart ached a little.
As the child approached Rosena, Yerhan opened his pocket.
Yerhan tucked a shiny gold coin into his hat. Then he took another gold coin and put it in the child’s hand.
The boy nodded his head in a bewildered face.
“…Tha, thank, thank you.”
Seeing the stuttering child, he reminded Rosena of Illian even more.
“You are so kind.”
Yeerhan laughed at Rosena’s praise.
“You are the only one who says that.”
No way.
Rosena thought it was absurd. Yerhan’s expression is usually a little stern, but his actions and tone are kinder than anyone else’s.
“Okay, then let’s get started!”
The tent began to rise with the loud sounds of laughter.
Rosena stared at the stage with a face full of anticipation.
When her family was in good shape, she often went to see plays with her father.
It was the first time she saw an outdoor play like this, because at that time she watched it in a luxurious theater mainly used by nobles.
The stage curtain rose and an actor stepped forward.
The man, wearing a red cloak and a fake crown, grabbed a sword and took a dignified pose, and shouted loudly.
“I am the Crown Prince of the Empire who inherited the power of the divinity!”
The crown prince?
Rosena remembered the face of the crown prince she knew and let out a laugh for a moment.
The sense of disparity between that actor and the prince was so great that it was difficult to immerse herself in it.
However, the audience had already fallen into the play as if they had met the real crown prince.
The actor who played the role of the crown prince came out as an all-rounder who could do anything well.
Then the actor who played the third prince appeared, but he was ugly and hunchback. The third prince was filled with a sense of inferiority and that made him jealous of the crown prince.
From then on, Yerhan started watching the play with his arms crossed.
Rosena glanced at Yerhan. He was watching the play with no expression on his face.
As the play unfolded, monsters invaded the capital. The people knelt before the crown prince and cried.
“Oh, Your Highness, Crown Prince. The only person who can face the monsters is only the Crown Prince!”
Eventually, the prince exaggeratedly raised his sword.
“I will protect you.”
The prince took up his sword and began to face the monsters.
Actors dressed as monsters pretended to collapse immediately when the crown prince’s sword flew. Everytime that happened, the cheers of the audience leaked out.
While the crown prince was dealing with the monsters, the third prince hiding behind him murmured.
“I can’t believe he really killed the monsters, does the Crown Prince truly have God’s blessing? If I harm the Crown Prince, that power might be mine!”
At that line, Yerhan’s expression became increasingly strange.
The third prince, engulfed in jealousy, became increasingly uglier. Every time the third prince appeared, he spat out the lines of a cheap villain.
The crown prince was the sun, and the third prince was the monster of the dark.
The third prince began to commit all sorts of evil deeds, and the immersed audience swore at the actor who played the third prince.
And the play ran towards its climax. Finally, all the evil deeds of the third prince were exposed.
The third prince, who committed irreversible acts, eventually died at the hands of the crown prince.
The play ended with the crown prince grieving over the death of his younger brother, and peace came to the empire.
At the end of the play, Rosena stared blankly for a moment. She watched it for over an hour, and the conclusion was that the third prince was an ugly and bad person, and the crown prince was a great and noble person.
Rosena looked up at Yerhan cautiously. He still had an expressionless face.
“…Don’t take it too seriously.”
Upon Rosena’s words, Yerhan called out to Rosena with a serious face.
“Rosena.”
“Yes?”
“Do I look like that in your eyes?”
At his serious words, Rosena shook her head.
“No.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Yerhan had his usual expression as if he didn’t care about anything else other than that.
After the play, the audience scattered one by one.
Yerhan tried to take a step first to see something else. But he paused and looked down at Rosena.
“Please stay here for a moment…”
“Yes? Yes…”
Upon hearing Rosena’s answer, Yerhan immediately took a step.
As Yerhan headed toward the less crowded side, footsteps could be heard from behind.
Yerhan, who had been separated from Rosena to some extent, slowly turned his back. There were large men standing a short distance away.
Yerhan looked at them with an expressionless face. He found Hant, the merchant who operated dart betting, among the men.
As Yerhan made the same expression as he did, Hant rushed closer.
“Give me the music box.”
Yerhan stood still, looking down at him coldly.
When Yerhan did not answer, Hant shook his head. The big men standing behind him all rushed towards Yerhan.
“!”
It was really in the blink of an eye. To the point that they were not worth their size, the men began to be beaten by Yerhan.
The men, who had been beaten from head to toe, immediately knelt down and begged to be spared.
Yerhan set the men aside and slowly approached Hant.
Hant, who had been watching the scene, began to tremble.
Yerhan’s face, looking down at him, looked like a God of Death.
“Karlan.”
Yerhan quietly called Karlan. Then Karlan, who had been hiding behind him, appeared.
Hant’s face turned white. He began to beg, ready to grab Yerhan’s pants.
“Take care of it quietly.”
Yerhan immediately turned his back on him. Karlan stared at the back of Yerhan and clicked his tongue at the merchant begging him for his life.
“You have to touch someone on your level.”
Behind the merry festival, someone’s scream rang out.
“I’ll give it a try!”
A man among the onlookers raised his hand.
As the people around him cheered, he stepped forward with a confident face.
“Now, there are ten little arrows. This is all you can use to get your best score.”
The merchant handed the man some small arrows. As the cheers of the people grew, Rosena became nervous.
Yerhan, who had been paying attention to Rosena before, narrowed his forehead lightly.
When she saw the music box that came out as the first prize, Rosena’s face was unusual. Apparently, Rosena wanted that music box.
While stretching his arms slightly, Yerhan said,
“Actually, I like playing darts.”
“Really?”
Rosena looked at Yehan in surprise. As Rosena’s eyes turned to Yerhan again, he asked.
“Would you like to see it?”
Rosena nodded her head in confusion. Then the merchant’s voice rang out.
“Is there no one else to challenge?”
However, challengers did not come out easily.
“No one?”
The merchant raised his voice with a sad face.
It was then.
“Wait a minute.”
Yerhan, who was among the spectators, raised his arm. When everyone’s attention fell on Yerhan, he stepped forward.
“I’ll take the challenge.”
The merchant, Hant, was a professional trader who toured festivals all over the country.
Hant hired a decoy to pretend to be a customer and throw darts, and gave real customers a slightly curved dart.
So far, there have been many customers who have tried to win the first prize. However, none of them could beat the man Hant had hired.
At this rate, he will be able to wipe up the entry fee without any loss.
Until that man walked out.
“I will try.”
Hant looked at the man who came forward.
It was dark at night, so he couldn’t see his face well, but he could tell he was a very handsome man.
Hant stood idly for a moment, distracted by his appearance, then came to his senses and induced applause.
“A new challenger!”
The spectators cheered. Hant smiled inwardly and looked at the new challenger.
He seemed to be quite confident in darts, but it would be difficult to score more than 3 points with the prepared arrows.
A man hired by Hant and a blond man, the challenger, stood side by side.
The decoy took a position first, then grabbed a small arrow and threw his arm forward. Then, along with the light sound, an arrow was struck at the 9th point.
“Hmm, I could’ve gotten 10 points, but I made a mistake.”
The decoy who threw the dart first commented. People around them started to applaud and murmur.
“Isn’t he the one who won the prize before?”
“It looks like he’s going to hit another high point.”
Everyone had no doubt Hant’s man would win. But the blond man touched the arrow with an unperturbed, calm face.
“Then right away…”
At the same time as Hant opened his mouth, there was a squeaking sound followed by a crackling sound.
A popping sound echoed all over the place.
While everyone blinked, a new arrow was stuck in the dart board. It was the highest score of 10.
“No, no way.”
Hant rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
Obviously, the arrow was slightly curved, so it would have been impossible to align it. But 10 points?
While Hant stood dumbfounded, the man raised a new arrow.
Then there was the sound of arrows being stabbed in succession. All were 10 points.
Both the people watching and Hant looked at the dartboard with a shocked face.
There was no more room for a small arrow to pierce the 10-point area, which was the size of a fingernail. But the blond man did not stop.
The sound of breaking the wind was heard again, and an arrow was stabbed. The arrow that had been inserted at the 10th point was pushed out and a new one was inserted.
A decoy hired by Hant also lowered down his arrows, speechless.
All of them got 10 points, so no matter how well the decoy threw, it was a defeat.
“Is it done?”
The man asked Hant.
Hant was confused for a moment, wondering if the wingman he had hired was that man.
While Hant was silent, the man muttered as he walked towards the merchandise.
“Then I’ll take the music box.”
The appearance of the man who twisted the corners of his mouth into a smirk was nothing like a villain.
***
Yerhan, who won first place in an instant, grabbed the music box, took a step.
Then Rosena, who was watching from behind, hurriedly approached Yerhan.
“I didn’t know you could play darts so well.”
Rosena’s face was still stunned, as if she couldn’t believe it. Yerhan smiled faintly and held out the music box.
“Please take it.”
Rosena, who stood idly for a moment, belatedly accepted the music box.
Rosena slowly looked at the music box. It had been well maintained, so it’s not much different from when she sold it 10 years ago.
As she turned the mainspring, a familiar song came out. It was a song she heard at her bedside when she was a kid.
Along with the song, the memory of her father’s large hand stroking her head came to mind.
Rosena lowered her head, clutching the music box with both hands.
“…Thank you, really…”
A faint, watery voice rang quietly.
Yerhan lightly wrapped his arms around Rosena’s shoulder. The palms caressing her shoulders were large and warm.
After a while, Rosena lightly rubbed her eyes and opened her mouth.
“Let’s look at something else.”
“I saw earlier that there’s a play over there.”
“I want to see it.”
As Rosena hurriedly moved, Yerhan, who was standing tall, also followed.
A round stage made of wood and a cheap cloth tent took the place of the theater. Still, it was so popular that there was no room to set foot.
Looking at the children sitting in front, Rosena regretted not coming with Illian.
While waiting for the play to start, a cheerful laughter appeared and led to the reaction of the people. The little kid playing in the theater started to circle the audience, holding a big hat.
Rosena stared at the child who looked two or three years older than Illian.
For some reason, she thought of Illian, and her heart ached a little.
As the child approached Rosena, Yerhan opened his pocket.
Yerhan tucked a shiny gold coin into his hat. Then he took another gold coin and put it in the child’s hand.
The boy nodded his head in a bewildered face.
“…Tha, thank, thank you.”
Seeing the stuttering child, he reminded Rosena of Illian even more.
“You are so kind.”
Yeerhan laughed at Rosena’s praise.
“You are the only one who says that.”
No way.
Rosena thought it was absurd. Yerhan’s expression is usually a little stern, but his actions and tone are kinder than anyone else’s.
“Okay, then let’s get started!”
The tent began to rise with the loud sounds of laughter.
Rosena stared at the stage with a face full of anticipation.
When her family was in good shape, she often went to see plays with her father.
It was the first time she saw an outdoor play like this, because at that time she watched it in a luxurious theater mainly used by nobles.
The stage curtain rose and an actor stepped forward.
The man, wearing a red cloak and a fake crown, grabbed a sword and took a dignified pose, and shouted loudly.
“I am the Crown Prince of the Empire who inherited the power of the divinity!”
The crown prince?
Rosena remembered the face of the crown prince she knew and let out a laugh for a moment.
The sense of disparity between that actor and the prince was so great that it was difficult to immerse herself in it.
However, the audience had already fallen into the play as if they had met the real crown prince.
The actor who played the role of the crown prince came out as an all-rounder who could do anything well.
Then the actor who played the third prince appeared, but he was ugly and hunchback. The third prince was filled with a sense of inferiority and that made him jealous of the crown prince.
From then on, Yerhan started watching the play with his arms crossed.
Rosena glanced at Yerhan. He was watching the play with no expression on his face.
As the play unfolded, monsters invaded the capital. The people knelt before the crown prince and cried.
“Oh, Your Highness, Crown Prince. The only person who can face the monsters is only the Crown Prince!”
Eventually, the prince exaggeratedly raised his sword.
“I will protect you.”
The prince took up his sword and began to face the monsters.
Actors dressed as monsters pretended to collapse immediately when the crown prince’s sword flew. Everytime that happened, the cheers of the audience leaked out.
While the crown prince was dealing with the monsters, the third prince hiding behind him murmured.
“I can’t believe he really killed the monsters, does the Crown Prince truly have God’s blessing? If I harm the Crown Prince, that power might be mine!”
At that line, Yerhan’s expression became increasingly strange.
The third prince, engulfed in jealousy, became increasingly uglier. Every time the third prince appeared, he spat out the lines of a cheap villain.
The crown prince was the sun, and the third prince was the monster of the dark.
The third prince began to commit all sorts of evil deeds, and the immersed audience swore at the actor who played the third prince.
And the play ran towards its climax. Finally, all the evil deeds of the third prince were exposed.
The third prince, who committed irreversible acts, eventually died at the hands of the crown prince.
The play ended with the crown prince grieving over the death of his younger brother, and peace came to the empire.
At the end of the play, Rosena stared blankly for a moment. She watched it for over an hour, and the conclusion was that the third prince was an ugly and bad person, and the crown prince was a great and noble person.
Rosena looked up at Yerhan cautiously. He still had an expressionless face.
“…Don’t take it too seriously.”
Upon Rosena’s words, Yerhan called out to Rosena with a serious face.
“Rosena.”
“Yes?”
“Do I look like that in your eyes?”
At his serious words, Rosena shook her head.
“No.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Yerhan had his usual expression as if he didn’t care about anything else other than that.
After the play, the audience scattered one by one.
Yerhan tried to take a step first to see something else. But he paused and looked down at Rosena.
“Please stay here for a moment…”
“Yes? Yes…”
Upon hearing Rosena’s answer, Yerhan immediately took a step.
As Yerhan headed toward the less crowded side, footsteps could be heard from behind.
Yerhan, who had been separated from Rosena to some extent, slowly turned his back. There were large men standing a short distance away.
Yerhan looked at them with an expressionless face. He found Hant, the merchant who operated dart betting, among the men.
As Yerhan made the same expression as he did, Hant rushed closer.
“Give me the music box.”
Yerhan stood still, looking down at him coldly.
When Yerhan did not answer, Hant shook his head. The big men standing behind him all rushed towards Yerhan.
“!”
It was really in the blink of an eye. To the point that they were not worth their size, the men began to be beaten by Yerhan.
The men, who had been beaten from head to toe, immediately knelt down and begged to be spared.
Yerhan set the men aside and slowly approached Hant.
Hant, who had been watching the scene, began to tremble.
Yerhan’s face, looking down at him, looked like a God of Death.
“Karlan.”
Yerhan quietly called Karlan. Then Karlan, who had been hiding behind him, appeared.
Hant’s face turned white. He began to beg, ready to grab Yerhan’s pants.
“Take care of it quietly.”
Yerhan immediately turned his back on him. Karlan stared at the back of Yerhan and clicked his tongue at the merchant begging him for his life.
“You have to touch someone on your level.”
Behind the merry festival, someone’s scream rang out.
