Confession (2)

"Your what?" Alexander couldn't help but frown at the sudden revelation. "Are you making a fool out of me?"

"I wouldn't dare deceive you, my lord. I... I couldn't believe it before as well. But this is a fact. It will never change should your highness choose to believe me or not." Cedar met the Crown Prince's cold eyes with his determined gaze, and as he lifted his head, Cedar noticed the sword in Alexander's hand.

It was a thin, flat sword which has a blade no wider than his thumb, akin to a fencing sword when seen from afar, and its crystal-like appearance stood out, with the soaring dragon that was carved on its blade.

'That's it!', Cedar's eyes lit up. 'It seems like Caerus' blessing really is my passive skill, huh?' as of this moment, he couldn't help but be thankful that he had the god of opportunity on his side. 'And that guy too...'

Before their journey, Yrhan had given him a small hexagon jade amulet with an image of a rising phoenix with three small dark gemstones in it. The Priest said that it was a gift given to her by Thanatos, the god of death. It seems that the latter was really repenting on his mistakes and wanted to do her a favor. Therefore, he gave him this amulet. Although he can't revive him if he ultimately died, he could at least make Cedar avoid death three times by using this artifact. This could save him in times of emergencies.

With that in mind, Cedar steeled his resolution. "To prove that I am indeed Cedar, I beseech your highness to use the sword of truth to test me." He pleaded as he clenched his fist, trying to calm his nerves.

The sword in Alexander's hand was none other than the sword of truth. As what the name implied, it was a sword that could allow the wielder to determine whether someone is lying or not. In Gale's original world, it's like the perfected version of the lie detector test.

Although this product was actually labeled as a defective one. It was accidentally produced by the Yv empire's first emperor in his younger days, but since it was such a beautiful sword and the only one of its kind, it was passed down to the country's crown princes ever since, as an accessory.

Besides it being a fancy sword that could detect lies, its use was only just that, and the damage that it can inflict--if it's not the target's heart, was just on a level of an ordinary sword. Plus, the lie detection could only be used once in every 100 days. Not to mention that to use this sword, the wielder must directly pierce through the target's heart while being interrogated.

For this reason, upon hearing Cedar's request, Alexander's frown went even deeper as he was in a dilemma.

He wanted to know the truth as to why the Cedar in front of him had a different, yet similar trait to the Cedar he knew. That's why although it was unheard-of, he deemed this person's excuse as a possibility.

If it so happens that this Cedar was the real one, Alexander could never forgive himself if he died, since the wound in the heart inflicted by the sword of truth, although it won't be painful and wouldn't kill the target as long as the sword wasn't drawn out, it can't be cured by magic, and would only rely on the person's physical strength and natural recovery with the help of herbs.

On the other hand, if that excuse was indeed a lie, Cedar's life might be in grave danger and Alexander was afraid that he'll be too late to save his only friend if the imposter refuses to tell him the truth before dying.

So whichever he choose, he would still put Cedar's life on the line.

"Even so, I still have a third choice..." Alexander seriously contemplated on what to do. After all, he can't afford to be careless.

It only took a second or two for Alexander to make a decision.

Who knew that in such a short time, Cedar would actually grab the sword with both hands and tried to make the sword pierce his heart!

Alexander, without knowing about the amulet given by Thanatos, panicked.

Thankfully, his sword mastery was of a much higher level than Cedar's.

In a blink of an eye, Alexander forcefully pulled the sword that already penetrated through Cedar's skin, missing the heart by only a hairsbreadth. The Prince then twisted his wrist to free himself from Cedar's grasp and threw the sword away from them. The sword of truth then stabbed the thick wooden wall like it was tofu, only leaving the hilt unburied.

Gale was shocked by the quick turn of events and just blinked blankly as if she couldn't feel her wound.

"Are you crazy?!" Alexander yelled at his knight as he held both of Cedar's shoulder. "You could have died! Stupid!"

"Bu-but... It was the only way that I-"

"Can't you wait for a minute before deciding things on yourself? Didn't you even consider that I might be willing to listen to you, you dolt?!" As the prince scolded Cedar, he started to apply a basic no-cast healing spell to close his knight's wound. "Shit! Just be thankful that it didn't reach your heart. Or else, no magic would be able to heal you, moron!"

"Wait... did you just called me an idiot three times?"

With that question, Alexander couldn't help but stare at Cedar with a dumbfounded expression before yelling, "That was your problem?! Seriously? After almost dying, that was the thing you're concerned about?!"

"Ugh... er... sor--huh?"

Gale was surprised again as Alexander abruptly hugged him tightly in his arms as the latter also kneeled on the floor.

"Really... you'll be the death of me..." as if his strength were drained, Alexander muttered those words in a whisper with a tone of relief as he buried his face on Cedar's neck.

At the same time, Gale's face was beet-red!

'Holy macaroni!!! Stop it! Your breath tickles my ears and neck!... Ah... and that voice... why is it so sexy?... I wanna hear that voice calling my name in bed... hmm... hmm...' Truth be told, even though she just experienced a nerve-wracking situation where her life could be lost, whenever this prince touches her, she can't seem to think straight.

"With that kind of decisiveness to the point of being recklessly stupid, I'm now sure that you're Cedar..." While Gale's mind was wandering about, Alexander's sentence brought her back.

"Your Highness, if I remembered correctly, you pointed your sword at me first." she reminded the prince.

"That was only for caution, airhead."

"Please don't call me that."

"I'll call you anything as I please..."

"Of course you will..."

"..."

"My lord, remember the poisonous armagunda?"

"Nn..."

"That... that actually killed the old Cedar."

After saying those words, Gale felt that Alexander's body had tensed up. However, he didn't respond to her.

"Your Highness?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear what I've just said?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"...anyway, why are you still hugging me?"

"..."

"My Prince, this..."

"Shut up. Let me recharge first before you give me the rest of your ridiculous story."

"...but we still need to resume our travel to Timbreford. We need to talk about this now."

"I said shut up. Let me think first."

"Your Highness... I'm not against about you trying to sort your thoughts... but we're both male and this position is kind of..."

"Can't friends offer their shoulder to one another?"

"T-they can..."

'But definitely not in this way! Damn you! What about my own thoughts? What about my heart?'

However, Gale could only rant inside her head and let the prince rest on her shoulder. After all, even if she and the past Cedar was of a single soul, the entity who was alongside the prince in all those years was already gone.