The Hidden Monster of House Vale

Chapter 105: Chapter - 105 - The Prince Who Lost His Way

In this world, Realm Masters were like gods to mortals.

Yet even gods had weaknesses.

A Realm Master could use astral energy freely only while remaining true to themselves. They could not be afraid of who they were, run away from their desires, or allow their emotions to spiral out of control. Their Astral Pool had to remain extremely calm, like a still lake without even the smallest ripple.

The moment their emotions became disturbed, waves would spread across their Astral Pool.

And those waves would disrupt their astral powers.

For most Realm Masters, controlling their emotions was therefore just as important as cultivating their strength. Fear, hesitation, confusion, anger, guilt—any of them could become fatal weaknesses at the wrong moment.

Lucien had never suffered from such a problem.

He always knew what he wanted.

He was not afraid to take what he wanted, and morality had never been enough to stop him. He loved wine and women, obsessed over power, and when boredom struck, he did not mind playing with people simply for his own amusement.

More importantly, the knowledge of the original Lucien was like a holy grail to the new Lucien.

He had never needed to wonder who he was.

He had never suffered from the confusion that came with suddenly waking up in another person’s body. He knew the memories, the relationships, the habits, the ambitions, and the personality of the person whose life he had inherited.

There was no identity crisis.

No fear of the unknown.

No moral dilemma strong enough to shake his resolve.

His Astral Pool remained as calm as ever.

But right now, Lucien was watching a man surrounded by beasts in an unfamiliar part of the forest.

That man was Prince Rumil.

’So this is Prince Rumil. Erion told me he is extremely strong.....did that fucker lie to me? No, he doesn’t have guts for that....he is strong, I can see it with my Divine Inspection...but it seems like he was never taught to control emotions as a Realm Master. That’s too bad. No matter how much he can cultivate, if something like this stupid situation can disrupt his emotion, he is useless.’

Lucien watched the struggling prince from his hiding place, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

’Good thing there were so many beasts that were closer to here. I was able to distract them and send them on Prince Rumil’s way....what a retard...hahah.’

Prince Rumil’s breathing had become ragged.

”What....what’s going on....am I going to die.....by some mere beast?”

His voice trembled as he looked around.

Several beasts surrounded him, their monstrous forms shifting between the trees. One of them suddenly lunged forward and slammed into him.

Rumil was thrown to the ground.

Blood immediately spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Before he could recover, another beast rushed forward. Its body was covered in rough scales, while a long serpent-like tail dragged across the ground behind it. It latched onto Rumil’s arm and sank its canine teeth into his hand.

Pain shot through him.

”Anyone....help....help me...fuckk....., where the hell am I? How did I even reach here?”

Rumil desperately tried to pull himself free.

Lucien remained hidden among the trees, watching everything.

’Well, true, these beasts are not something you are familiar with. I used my Void to teleport you very far and very deep into this forest.....well, I think it’s time.’

Rumil barely had time to look up before another beast charged.

His heart raced.

The pressure became unbearable.

Yet, somehow, he managed to force himself to calm down.

Astral energy began gathering around his body.

” Elarith Vein.”

A powerful, tentacle-like vein of lightning suddenly burst outward and wrapped around one of the beasts.

Electricity surged through its body.

The creature convulsed and collapsed, stunned.

Rumil immediately took advantage of the opening.

He moved.

His body shot forward at incredible speed as he dodged the claws and fangs of the surrounding beasts. His movements were fast and experienced. He had spent a long time hunting beasts, and his instincts had been sharpened through countless encounters.

But there was a problem.

His Astral Energy was already severely depleted.

After fighting beasts for so long, his Astral Pool was almost empty.

If he used everything remaining in it, he would collapse.

And collapsing in the middle of an unknown land surrounded by beasts was no different from waiting for death.

So Rumil had no choice but to run.

He suppressed his astral energy consumption and used only the smallest amount necessary to increase his speed.

The beasts chased him relentlessly.

He kept running.

Branches whipped against his clothes. Roots rose from the ground beneath his feet. His breathing became heavier with every passing moment.

Then he suddenly stopped.

There was nowhere else to go.

A dead end.

Rumil stared ahead in disbelief.

There was no path.

No escape.

Nothing he could use.

’How did I even end up here? If I use my Astral Pool, I’ll collapse, and if I don’t, they will kill me.’

One of the beasts slowly approached.

Its long tongue slid from between its jaws. Thick saliva dripped from its mouth and hissed when it touched the ground.

Acid.

Rumil’s body stiffened.

The beast suddenly attacked.

Its tongue shot toward his face.

Then—

Someone stepped in front of him.

The attack stopped.

Rumil froze.

’Who...who is this person? He doesn’t look like an elf...and I can’t sense his astral energy. Is he stronger than me?’

A blonde young man stood calmly between Rumil and the beast.

He looked only slightly older than Rumil.

”Are you okay? Seems like you need help.”

Rumil stared at him in confusion.

”Wh-who are you?”

”We can talk as much as you want, but I think we should deal with these monstrosity first.”

”Ye-yeah, but my astral energy pool is depleted and I won’t be able to help much.”

”That’s fine, just stay behind me.”

Lucien immediately pulled out his halberd.

Without another word, he jumped toward the nearest beast.

The creature reacted instantly. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Its serpent-like tail whipped through the air, aiming directly for Lucien’s head.

Lucien bent his body backward just enough for the attack to pass over him.

Then he straightened.

In the same smooth motion, he stepped closer and swung his halberd.

The blade tore through the beast.

Its body split cleanly in two.

Rumil’s eyes widened.

The remaining beasts noticed it as well.

For a brief moment, they hesitated.

They could sense that Lucien was different.

But beasts did not think like humans.

Their instinct to attack overpowered their instinct to survive.

They became even more aggressive.

Several opened their mouths.

Fire erupted from one.

Acid sprayed from another.

The attacks came toward Lucien from different directions.

Yet Lucien moved through them with ease.

He slipped between the flames, stepped around the acid, and turned his body just enough to avoid every attack.

His movements were precise.

Effortless.

Rumil watched him in a daze.

There was only one word he could think of.

Graceful.

Lucien raised his halberd again.

The next moment, another beast’s head flew through the air.

Then another.

The creatures were simply too weak to threaten him.

Some of the beasts that had joined the herd finally realized the difference in strength and attempted to flee.

Lucien raised one hand.

The ground trembled.

Vines covered in sharp spikes erupted from beneath the soil and shot after the fleeing beasts.

They wrapped around their bodies.

The beasts struggled.

The vines tightened.

Their bodies were torn apart.

Silence returned to the forest.

Lucien looked around at the corpses scattered across the ground before letting out a quiet sigh.

”Seems like that was it.”

Prince Rumil finally felt safe.

The tension that had kept his body moving finally disappeared.

Everything that had happened to him caught up with him at once.

His exhausted body could no longer hold itself upright.

He collapsed onto the ground and immediately lost consciousness.

For an ordinary person, that would have been the natural result of finally feeling relief after surviving a deadly situation.

But Rumil had made one mistake.

He had trusted the wrong person.

While Rumil was running, Lucien had attacked him.

Rumil had never noticed.

When the snake-like beast had bitten his hand, the pain had been so intense that his entire focus had been on the fangs buried in his flesh.

He had not noticed the tiny needle Lucien had used to poison him.

Lucien walked over to his unconscious body.

A smile appeared on his face.

”Well, Prince Rumil, you shouldn’t fall unconscious in front of a stranger.”

Prince Rumil was the only male heir of Azurefall.

His entire life had been shaped by protection.

His mother loved him so much that she had rarely allowed him to leave the palace. Even as a child, he needed a bodyguard whenever he went outside.

He had watched other children running freely through the streets.

They played.

They fought.

They wandered wherever they wanted.

Rumil could only watch.

His sister, Princess Lysandra, had lived a completely different life.

She was rebellious.

She learned sword fighting.

She learned how to control her emotions.

She went into fights.

She played with other children.

She was free.

Rumil was not.

Over time, the difference between them created a rift.

Rumil began to hate his sister.

Everyone constantly reminded him that he was the future ruler of Azurefall. He was protected because his life was supposedly too important to risk.

But no one had ever asked him whether he wanted to become the ruler.

Rumil loved hunting.

Whenever he entered the wild, he felt free.

Killing beasts gave him a strange sense of control over his own life, even if that control lasted only for a short time.

His marriage had also been arranged by his father.

With Aelene.

He had loved her from the moment they first met.

But when they began talking, Rumil often found himself unable to know what to say.

He had spent his entire life being protected.

He barely knew anything about his own kingdom.

He had no real hobbies beyond hunting.

He had never been taught the things everyone expected a future ruler to know because he had always been told that he would be protected.

Then Aelene entered his life.

For the first time, Rumil’s loneliness began to disappear.

He finally had someone he could talk to about almost anything.

But Aelene was often busy in the Healing Sanctuary, helping people.

Rumil did not hate the fact that she helped the poor.

But he did not like it either.

Someone who had spent his entire life isolated from ordinary people could never truly understand the role they played in his world.

Eventually, Rumil’s consciousness returned.

His eyes slowly opened.

The first thing he noticed was warmth.

A fire burned nearby.

Lucien sat beside it, calmly roasting meat.

Rumil blinked several times.

”Finally woke up? How was the sleep? Don’t try too hard. I had the antidote, so I gave it to you, but you’ll still be in pain for few days.”

Lucien continued staring at the fire as though nothing unusual had happened.

Rumil slowly pushed himself up.

”Who are you and why did you save me?”

”I’m Axel, just a traveller. I’m just a guest in this country, and as for why did I save you, I think it’s a common sense to save anyone I can...here...eat this.”

Lucien handed him a portion of roasted meat resting on a leaf.

Rumil hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

”I’m Prince Rumil, the prince and future ruler of Azurefall. You’ll be rewarded you save my life.”

”Prince, well I guess I was lucky then, but Prince Rumil, please don’t give me reward. It feels like you are putting a price on your life. I was just happened to be here in the middle of the forest.”

Rumil looked around.

”Middle? I was very close to palace when I entered the forest.”

Lucien reached into his belongings and pulled out a broken teleportation stone.

”Here I found this on your clothes.”

Rumil’s expression changed.

”Teleportation stone? What’s this doing here?”

”How would I know? But if you are the prince I guess someone wanted to kill you. Isn’t that normal for royalties to have a few assassin on them?”

Lucien laughed.

Rumil stared at him for a moment before laughing as well.

”Hahaaaha... That’s true...never I thought I would be eating with a human.”

”Well...everything happened for a reason and everything has a first time. This is your first.”

Rumil smiled.

”I like you....you are funny and strong as well, so what are you doing here Axel in Azurefall?”

”I heard it’s a beautiful place, so I thought I should look it myself.”

”Well...enjoy it...so when we are going out from this forest?”

”Tomorrow morning. Right now there will be lot of beasts might be waiting. I create the barrier so we would be safe here.”

Rumil looked at the barrier surrounding their temporary camp.

For the first time in a long while, he felt completely safe.

”Th-Thank you for saving my life. When I became closer to death, I realised how precious life can be.”

Lucien looked at him.

”Seems like you’ve been reborn. Maybe you should enjoy life a little, prince. It’s not that bad.”

”I’ll try.”

The next morning, Prince Rumil and Lucien immediately began walking toward Valtheria.

The entire Azurefall Empire was surrounded by the Dark Forest.

The closer one got to the settlements, the safer the forest became. But deep within the Dark Forest, there were no human settlements for thousands of kilometres.

Entering such a place was practically the same as choosing death.

Every year, the people of Azurefall would gather together to hunt as many beasts as possible and expand the area where humans could safely live.

But that had stopped for the past few years.

Life inside the existing settlements had become luxurious.

There was little reason for people to risk their lives fighting beasts simply to expand territory.

The result was predictable.

The beasts became bolder.

They became more aggressive.

And slowly, they began moving closer and closer to the human settlements.

Lucien and Rumil spent more than two days walking through the forest before finally reaching Azurefall.

During those two days, something unexpected had happened.

Lucien and Rumil had become friends.

It did not matter that Lucien was a human and Rumil was an elf.

When someone had spent most of his life alone, even a little kindness could feel like deep friendship.

The moment they arrived, a soldier noticed Rumil and immediately rushed toward them.

”Prince Rumil, I’m glad you are safe. We all were looking for you, but we didn’t had any clue.”

Rumil looked toward the soldiers gathering nearby.

”Leave it, I’m safe now thanks to my friend. And what’s going on there?”

His eyes settled on a group of soldiers standing together.

At the center of them stood a woman.

The soldier followed his gaze.

”It’s Lady Aelvera. She’s waiting for you. She has some questions regarding her father’s death.”

Lucien quietly observed the woman from a distance.

’So that’s Aelvera, daughter of Baldwin, who wanted her daughter to marry Brant.....interesting.’