Alaric knocked twice on the door.
Knock!
Knock!
He had barely opened his mouth to announce himself when Javier’s voice came from inside.
“Come in, Alaric.” His hand remained on the doorknob for a moment as confusion crossed his face.
How did His Highness know it was me?
He had not spoken a single word.
After a brief hesitation, Alaric pushed the door open and stepped into the chamber.
“Your Highness, I have taken Dolan to the underground prison.”
“Good.” Javier sat behind the desk, surrounded by the documents they had examined earlier.
Alaric nodded, yet instead of leaving, he remained near the doorway.
His eyes shifted toward Javier several times as though there were something he wanted to ask but could not decide whether it was appropriate.
Javier allowed the silence to linger for a moment before addressing him.
“Alaric.” The former commander immediately straightened.
“Yes, Your Highness?” Javier rested one hand against the desk.
“You must be wondering how I knew that Dolan was not the culprit, correct?”
Alaric hesitated before lowering his head.
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but yes.” Javier rose from his chair and walked toward the large window overlooking the streets surrounding Srome.
He stopped before it, turning his face toward the city beyond the glass despite the black blindfold covering his eyes.
“Alaric, look down there.” Alaric approached the window and followed the direction Javier indicated with his hand.
“Do you see the fishmonger desperately calling out to customers?” Alaric searched the street below until he spotted the man standing beside his nearly empty stall.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Javier shifted his hand slightly.
“And the little boy begging for bread at the edge of the market, the one wearing ragged clothes?” Alaric’s gaze moved farther along the street until he found a thin boy sitting near the roadside, his body curled inward as he watched people pass without acknowledging him.
“Yes.” Javier pointed toward another part of the street.
“There is also a mother carrying her baby while trying to sell her goods, even though no one seems interested.”
Alaric’s expression slowly changed.
Everything Javier had described was exactly as he could see it.
The fishmonger desperately calling for customers, the starving child at the edge of the market, and the mother carrying her baby while struggling to sell what little she had.
None of Javier’s descriptions had been vague guesses.
He had known where they were, what they were doing, and even details about their movements and clothing.
For years, Alaric had watched over Javier.
He had known him from infancy and had witnessed the boy grow into the young man now standing beside him.
Never once during all those years had Javier behaved as though he possessed ordinary sight.
Alaric had seen him struggle, adapt and learn to navigate the world without it, yet what had just happened before him could not be explained by hearing alone.
He slowly turned toward Javier, unable to hide the disbelief on his face.
“Yes, Your Highness. I see everything exactly as you described.”
Javier lowered his hand.
“Then tell me, Alaric. Do you truly believe that I am incapable of knowing when someone standing before me is frightened or desperately seeking help?” Alaric remained silent as the meaning behind Javier’s words gradually became clear.
Dolan’s trembling confession, the fear surrounding the officials, the subtle changes in their breathing and movements.
Javier had been perceiving far more than any of them realized.
“Your Highness…” Alaric stared at him.
“How?”
Javier remained silent for several seconds as the candlelight flickered softly across the chamber.
Eventually, he raised one hand, and a faint pulse of mana spread outward from his body.
“My Mana Heart has reached the Sixth Stage.” Alaric’s eyes widened immediately, but Javier continued before he could speak.
“Mana Detection… Echolocation.”
The pulse travelled across the chamber, touching the walls, furniture, floor and every object within before returning to Javier.
“By producing sound and sensing the echoes that return after striking the objects around me, I can reconstruct my surroundings through Mana Detection. Distance, shape, position and movement all produce information I can interpret.” Javier slowly lowered his hand as the faint mana surrounding him faded.
Alaric stared at him in disbelief.
Reaching such a level was extraordinary enough, but the realization that Javier had concealed it for years disturbed him even more.
“For years, I have kept this ability hidden from everyone in the palace,” Javier continued.
Alaric’s expression grew serious.
“Why, Your Highness?”
Javier turned his face back toward the window and listened to the distant sounds of Srivi.
“Because a prince who is believed to be powerless is far easier to overlook.” His answer was simple, but it caused years of memories to rearrange themselves inside Alaric’s mind.
The nobles who pitied Javier, those who whispered that a blind heir could never inherit the throne, and everyone who had dismissed him before ever discovering what kind of man he had become.
Javier had heard their doubts and endured their pity without correcting them.
All this time, he had allowed the palace to underestimate him.
Alaric slowly lowered himself onto one knee and placed a hand over his chest.
“There is no longer any reason for me to question your actions or decisions, Your Highness. I, Alaric Draco, swear that I will remain loyal to you, Javier Sylvaris. Whatever lies ahead, I will gladly risk my life in your service.” Javier remained silent for a moment before approaching him and resting a hand upon his shoulder.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Thank you, Alaric.”
Alaric raised his head.
The young man standing before him was still the prince he had protected since childhood, but something in the way he understood Javier had changed.
For years, Alaric had believed Javier needed protection because of the world he could not see.
Now he understood that Javier had spent those same years quietly learning how to perceive that world in a way almost no one else could understand.
The Crown Prince had never been powerless.
He had simply allowed others to believe that he was.
Javier withdrew his hand and turned back toward the desk.
“Alaric, keep an eye on Elena.” The change in subject immediately brought Alaric back to the investigation, and his expression became serious.
“Don’t let her know you’re watching her,” Javier continued.
“And if anything happens, protect her.” Alaric nodded without questioning the reason behind the order.
“Understood, Your Highness.”
“As for Srome, investigate every department and administrative office.” Alaric glanced toward the documents scattered across the desk.
“Every one?” Javier returned to his chair and rested his hands upon the wooden surface.
“Every one. I want to know what has been happening here, who has access to these records, where the city’s money has gone, and what happened to the supplies that were supposed to reach the people.” The faint warmth that had appeared in his expression earlier was gone.
“What we found today is only the beginning.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Alaric bowed before turning toward the door.
He paused briefly as though still processing everything Javier had revealed to him, then stepped into the corridor and quietly closed the door behind him.
Javier remained alone among the documents.
The room fell silent again, but his thoughts continued moving from one discovery to another.
Something about Srome still bothered him.
The falsified records, the missing medicine, Dolan’s confession and Gardo’s behavior all pointed toward corruption, yet Javier could not shake the feeling that he had only uncovered what someone had allowed to remain near the surface.
Whatever was truly happening inside Srivi had not yet revealed itself, and until he understood how deeply it had spread, he had no intention of trusting appearances.
Night
The moon hung high above Srome, casting a pale glow across the rooftops and narrow streets below.
Most of the city had fallen silent, leaving only the occasional footsteps of someone returning home, the distant barking of dogs and the soft rustling of trees beneath the night breeze.
The suffering Javier had witnessed during the day had not disappeared with the sunlight, but for a few quiet hours, Srivi seemed to have withdrawn into itself.
Inside the guest residence prepared for the Crown Prince, Javier sat quietly on the edge of his bed.
A single candle burned upon the table beside him, its flame flickering whenever a breeze slipped through the wooden window and disturbed the curtains.
He had already removed his royal coat and changed into a simple sleeping robe, though the black blindfold remained firmly in place.
For the first time since arriving in Srivi, no officials surrounded him, no documents waited to be examined, and no frightened voices demanded an immediate decision.
Javier slowly lowered his shoulders, allowing some of the tension accumulated throughout the day to leave his body.
A faint sound disturbed the silence.
Tap. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Javier’s head turned toward the window.
He remained still, listening as the candle continued to burn beside him and the curtains brushed softly against the wall.
The wind passed through the trees outside, carrying the distant sounds of the sleeping city with it, while the wooden window frame gave an occasional quiet creak beneath the night breeze.
Nothing immediately seemed unusual.
Then he heard it again.
Tap.
This time, there was no mistaking it.
Javier’s posture changed immediately.
He remained seated, but every trace of relaxation disappeared as he directed his attention toward the window.
His mana quietly spread throughout the room, moving across the floor, walls and furniture before extending beyond the window itself.
At first, he detected only the familiar shape of the residence and the empty space outside.
Then a disturbance emerged within the range of his Mana Detection.
Someone was there.
Javier slowly rose from the bed.
His bare feet touched the cold wooden floor without making a sound as his hand moved toward the sword resting beside him.
His fingers closed around the hilt while he focused on the hidden presence outside the window.
Whoever it was knew how to conceal themselves.
Their breathing was slow and controlled, each breath carefully measured to avoid producing unnecessary sound, while their body remained almost perfectly still.
Javier tightened his grip around the sword.
The window began to move.
Creeeak…
Javier did not move.
Through his Mana Detection, he sensed the stranger’s weight shifting against the wooden frame as they carefully began climbing into the room.
One hand found support against the window, followed by the subtle movement of a leg passing over the frame.
Their breathing remained controlled throughout the movement, but they were close enough now that even the smallest disturbance became clear to Javier.
The distance between them continued to shrink.
His thumb pressed lightly against the guard of his sword, ready to draw the blade the moment the intruder moved within striking distance.
The stranger lowered themselves farther into the room.
Knock!
Knock!
Javier froze.
“Your Highness?”
Alaric.
At almost the same instant, the presence near the window disappeared.
Javier immediately released a wider pulse of mana, searching the entire room before extending his Mana Detection beyond the window.
He traced the wall, the ground outside and every nearby movement he could reach, but the presence he had sensed only moments earlier was gone.
No hurried footsteps followed.
No rustling came from the trees.
There was nothing to indicate where the intruder had escaped.
Only the curtains continued to sway gently beside the open window.
Another knock came from the door.
“Your Highness?”
Javier still did not answer.
His fingers remained tightly wrapped around the hilt of his sword as he stood in the darkness, listening for even the faintest sound that did not belong.
His Mana Detection swept across the area once more, but the result remained the same.
Nothing.
Yet Javier knew what he had sensed.
Someone had been inside his room.