Deruth finally made up his mind. He stood up and dashed after his children. He should have prepared his heart before approaching them with that question. He'll never be able to forgive himself for forcing them to say such hurtful things. He thought it would be fine, he thought he was scared, but leaving him behind is what scares him the most.
He'll apologize, even if it means begging them to say those words with that sad expression on their faces.
"Rok! Cale!" he yells to them, but he is hit from behind. Screw him! Why did he let his guard down?!
His entire world was spinning. His head is dripping with blood.
He witnesses his children being loaded onto a sack and dragged away.
His vision was blurry as he struggled to stand up.
Damn it! Damn it!
He curses himself for making this mistake.
He was reaching for something when he was hit in the head again. He came to a halt. His vision became hazy and dark.
No... no... don't... don't take them...
He was crying in his head while trying to reach out.
His children... his children...
Then he lost consciousness.
.
.
.
"What did you say?!" Adin's voice thundered when he received the missive from one of his informants in the Rowoon Kingdom.
"The... Henituse Twins that you ordered surveillance where kidnapped."
"Which guild?"
"It's... the assassin's guild from the eastern continent."
Adin looked angry right now. He hasn't been a good friends with the twins and someone dared to lay their hands on them.
He shut the communication device and signaled for his secret troop.
"I want them back." he ordered, "a single scratch on them. It's your head I'll take, got it?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
.
.
.
Alver Crossman slammed his hand on the table.
"What did you say?"
He panicked. The twins are not easy to approach, as their guard is always up.
"Aunt!"
"I'm on it!"
He wore his coat. He can't leave it all to them. They were his very first friends. He can't entrust it to anyone just like this.
.
.
.
"You know what, only idiots would go kidnap us," Rok exclaimed as he looked at the assassins. They couldn't possibly compare to Ron. That old man is the very definition of a true assassin.
They aren't even afraid of them. They appeared to be idiots because they were still discussing matters that were normally planned ahead of time.
Cale just stood there and watched as his brother openly insulted them. Rok is correct in saying that they cannot be compared to old man Ron. The vicious old man is in a league of his own, especially with that legendary lemon tea, which even enemies would go to war to eradicate.
They can't use any of the ancient powers because their hands are bound. They still couldn't fully control them, and most of the time, they gave commands through signs.
"I wonder if our hubby would find us?" Rok inquired of his brother, clearly enjoying this nonsense.
"Don't forget about your concubine, Hyung-nim," Cale pouted and leaned on him.
"Who the hell is my concubine?"
"Of course, Adin," Cale said, as if he wasn't saying the name of the Mogoru Empire's Crown Prince.
Rok shook his head. Cale has already figured out how to have a good time. Rok desired his innocent younger brother, who would rather laugh at his older brother.
"Very funny."
"What are you two talking about?" one of the idiot assassins asked.
"About our spouses."
Marriage discussions between noble children are commonplace.
The assassins stopped and looked at them.
"We can ask for ransom then."
"I wouldn't recommend it," Rok said, "and if my Hubbies found out, it's kingdom come."
"Who the hell are they?"
Cale: Oh my God! They're a complete moron! I miss Ron! That vicious old man should stand in for them! I might go play kidnapping with Ron!
Rok: Same here, little bro... same here... I wish they were Ron. While Ron is serving his poison tea, I might as well piss in my pants.
"Who else?" Rok asked, a smile on his face, "First Prince Alver and Crown Prince Adin will be furious if they find out."
The assassins immediately turned pale. At the same time, the carriage came to an abrupt halt.
"Leader... there are knights at the checkpoints," the phony coachman reported. "Knights of Rowoon."
The assassins' leader turned to face them. They're sitting there nonchalantly doing nothing.
The mana-disturbing device of the Ubar Region was already activated, so they couldn't use the teleportation magic.
"You're not afraid at all, are you?"
Rok and Cale exchanged glances.
"Why would we?"
Eight years old should be crying and bawling right now.
"When we knew a much more terrifying and vicious grandpa assassin than you...," the twins said with a vicious smile.
At the same time, the carriage traveling to the other side abruptly came to a halt. Rok and Cale lean back and watch as the vicious old man they were discussing comes to their aid.
"So I'm vicious?"
"This voice— hyup!" shuddered the assassins' leader, who scurried away even before the assassin's knife made contact with his neck. He jumped out of the carriage, and the wide open door soon revealed a white-haired grandfather with a benign smile. "You..."
Even before he can say a thing, a whiplash meets his mouth.
"Molran's," the assassin sobbed as he watched his people be slaughtered without making a sound. He expected his family's assassin's guilt to come to light after the destruction of the Molran Household, but he never expected to see this man and his heir serving someone.
"What a disgrace to an assassin!" serving someone is an assassin's disgrace.
Ron gave him a hard stare. "I serve no lord," he said as he carefully took the twins in his arms.
"He's bound by promise to us... It's different than what you know," Rok and Cale said, smiling.
However, even before the Molran'sc could make a move. They were pushed back several meters by powerful aura. The bound twins clung to the red knight's hands, getting choked while their hands remained bound.
"Useless assassins."
Vicross immediately stood up, but men in black, dressed in the same clothes that had destroyed their family, pressed their weapons against him.
"Now I know why the great wizard wants these twins."
The red knight smiled like a madman.
Soon, the red knight jumped off and landed on a wyvern's back.
Cale: Hyung!
Rok gazes at him. He may have been a slacker, but protecting Cale is his top priority.
He kicks the red knight's hand with mana, causing it to lose strength for a short period of time. "HYUNG!" Cale is thrown into the water by the red knight's grasp. He was about to follow when the red knight pins him on the back of the wyvern, channeling a massive amount of mana and rendering him powerless. In his waving consciousness, he saw Vicross pulling his brother back to the shore while he was taken by the red knight somewhere.
It's fine.
Yes, that's fine.
Cale's in a safe place.
That's all that matters to him.
He closed his eyes and finally loss consciousness.
TBC