Chapter 2
Carlston frowned for a moment. A strange sense of déjà vu paralyzed his reason. Swirling platinum blonde hair, blue eyes gazing at him above rosy cheeks. The sight of a lone white woman in this natural setting seemed unreal.
Am I seeing things? An angel, or perhaps a fairy? Carlston was just beginning to form these thoughts.
“On second thought, let’s kill him.”
The woman opened her mouth. Then, with a motion too large for her seemingly delicate frame, she pulled out the sword embedded in the tree trunk.
“Destroying evidence is the most basic principle of a perfect crime. Prince or not, once dead, we all return to dust equally. If we save him, we’ll end up on the wanted list as accomplices, and it’s too late to just leave, so it’s better to silence him for peace of mind…”
The woman raised the sword, poised to plunge it into Carlston at any moment.
“W-w-w-wait a moment, Miss Sian!”
The men beside her frantically tried to stop her.
“Calm down, Miss!”
“There’s a huge difference between letting him die and killing him!”
“That’s right! No matter what, he’s still a prince!”
Carlston was too stunned to say anything. The woman who had been exuding an otherworldly aura alone now appeared to be a grim reaper with an angel’s face.
“Did my brother send you?”
As Carlston spoke again with all his might, Sian twitched her eyebrow and adjusted her grip on the sword.
“…See that? He’s already trying to pin it on us. That’s why we should silence him…”
“No, no, you’re misunderstanding the situation, Miss! And quite actively at that!”
“What are you talking about, when did I…! Mmph!”
Skull covered Sian’s protesting mouth with both hands.
“Are you His Highness Prince Carlston Klaus?”
In the meantime, Max stepped forward and spoke quite gentlemanly. Despite the polite tone, Carlston narrowed his eyes, filled with wariness, instead of answering.
“We are a mercenary group passing through this area, and we’ve chanced upon meeting Your Highness like this. It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”
“Though the circumstances of our meeting aren’t particularly honorable.”
Bill and Skull were in the midst of expressing admiration with oohs and aahs at Max’s dignified words. The one who threw cold water on the situation was Sian, who had roughly pushed Skull away.
“The treasonous prince who allegedly assassinated His Majesty the Emperor’s dragon.”
As Sian spoke with her arms crossed, Carlston’s expression twisted hideously.
“Watch your tongue.”
The prince’s darkened eyes suddenly flashed like those of a beast.
Carlston’s turquoise irises flickered golden for a brief moment. The eyes shining distinctly in the darkness were no illusion.
“Your Highness should be the one watching yourself. Are you trying to advertise your location to His Highness the Crown Prince by carelessly flaring up your magic?”
Sian said with a slight snort. Carlston furrowed his brow at her words, looking confused.
He seemed unaware that his eyes were changing or that magic was pouring out of him.
After a momentarily bewildered expression, Carlston squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them. His eyes, which had been flickering with a golden hue, had returned to their calm turquoise color.
“The Dragon King’s assassination… it wasn’t my doing.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t.”
As the calmed Carlston struggled to speak, Sian answered with a casual smile. Carlston’s expression became subtle.
“But whether I believe you or not isn’t the big issue. The problem is that the world, the Imperial family, believes so.”
“…”
“Where is Idelin?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“If Your Highness were to die here, naturally your companion dragon Idelin would rampage in anger, so I’d like to establish a direction and plan for dealing with that beforehand.”
Sian spoke in an icy tone.
Carlston fell silent for a moment, seeming lost in thought. Then, after staring seriously at Sian for a while, he gritted his teeth as if finding some resolve and struggled to sit up.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
“What’s with that outdated pick-up line? Your life is hanging in the balance here.”
“Pick-up…”
Carlston tried to protest against being accused of using a pick-up line, but ended up groaning as he clutched his side.
“Miss Sian. I don’t think that’s the important issue right now. Shouldn’t we help him first? He really might die at this rate.”
Max’s expression hardened as he observed Carlston’s alarming condition. Bill and Skull simultaneously turned their attention to Sian.
“…It’s not an easy decision to make. We could end up on the wanted list too. If we’re seen as accomplices in the Dragon King’s assassination, they’ll surely hand down severe punishments.”
Sian said with a sour expression.
“Isn’t it just a matter of us keeping our mouths shut? Anyway, Miss Sian, you also think His Highness isn’t the real culprit behind the Dragon King’s assassination, right?”
“Max, His Highness only has Idelin, but the Crown Prince has three dragons at his disposal – Nathan and Marquis Daniel’s Alma, and Knight Antonio’s Brita. Don’t underestimate a dragon’s abilities, or you’ll regret it. What if we’re discovered during a search?”
“That’s…”
Just as Max was about to argue again with Sian’s words.
“…Help.”
The prince opened his mouth.
“What did you say?”
As Sian leaned closer, thinking she had misheard, Carlston spoke.
“…Please help me.”
* * *
‘Help me, Lady Sian. I’ll repay you in any way.’
“Haah…”
Sian sighed deeply as she recalled the memory. She suddenly remembered that she had been in the middle of painting her nails.
Oops, when she came to her senses, the pink polish she had been applying to her nails was already a messy, crooked disaster.
“Ugh, damn it.”
Seeing the nail polish smeared chaotically outside her nails suddenly made her furious. Sian spat out a vicious curse in anger and threw the nail polish bottle.
“Ah, right. This table was borrowed too.”
Sian muttered to herself as she hurriedly searched for a handkerchief to wipe the spilled polish off the table.
As she scrubbed the table vigorously, a wave of pitiful thoughts suddenly washed over her. Ugh, Sian felt a surge of emotion and threw the cloth away again.
After heaving another long sigh, Sian crossed her arms and leaned heavily against the chair’s backrest.
‘Help me.’
This is cheating, Sian thought, recalling Carlston’s soft voice.
Even if he wasn’t the second-in-command of the Empire, he was still a high-ranking prince who could easily be third or fourth. How could any woman possibly say, “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I can’t help you. Die if you must, haha,” when such a man looked her straight in the eye with that face and that gaze, and softly called her “Lady Sian”?
Even the other men melted at that pitiful voice and appearance, shooting Sian looks that said, ‘You’re not human if you refuse this.’ Carlston, supported by Max, glanced at the atmosphere around him and dropped his head even more pitifully.
Sian let out a hollow laugh, utterly dumbfounded. Of course, she couldn’t refuse anymore; it was the inevitable course of action.
What on earth?
Prince Carlston Klaus was known as the master of Idelin, a dragon of good bloodline and pure blood, the lord of Ivarid, and the third prince of the Empire.
Not only was he of high status, but he was also so nobly handsome that he always ranked first or second alongside Crown Prince Hendrick Klaus in the “Nobles Worth Playing with Fire” rankings.
Moreover, unlike the Crown Prince, who was said to have the utmost aloof charm, Carlston was known as the ultimate pushover who, during an incognito outing, offered his right cheek to a beggar who had slapped his left, telling them to slap that one too.
For such an accomplished man to take such a humble attitude towards her, who was associating with men of unknown origin. She couldn’t help but assist him, even knowing the risks involved. It truly was the epitome of cheating.
“Miss Sian. May I come in?”
As Sian was groaning and lost in thought, Max’s voice was heard from outside the tent.
“Come in.”
Sian hastily swept the table clean. Soon, Max entered the tent.
“How’s the prince?”
“Dr. Zivago has treated him for now. He seemed quite shocked by the amount of blood on His Highness’s body, but after the treatment, Zivago said that half of it wasn’t human blood, but something else.”
“…Something else?”
“Dragon’s blood.”
Sian’s brow furrowed slightly at Max’s concise answer.
“It can’t be Idelin’s blood… A mixed-breed like Nathan couldn’t possibly harm the pure-blooded Idelin. Then is it Nathan’s blood?”
“That’s unknown, but… please refrain from using the term ‘mixed-breed’.”
Max made a displeased expression. Sian tilted her head, wondering why.
“That’s the kind of language used by uneducated riffraff. How dare you call the Crown Prince’s companion dragon a mixed-breed? Such an irreverent word…”
Max clicked his tongue and spoke seriously. Sian looked at him with an exasperated expression before snorting.
“What, so if it’s the Crown Prince’s companion, a mixed-breed is no longer a mixed-breed? Then I suppose even a stray mutt would become ‘Lord Dog’ if the Crown Prince kept it.”
“Miss Sian!”
“Ah, I’m not deaf, speak softly. …I’ve heard that the Crown Prince would cut off the limbs of anyone who dares to call it a mixed-breed or whatever in front of him. But it’s just you and me here, so what does it matter if I call Nathan a mixed-breed or pure-blood?”
Sian frowned irritably and waved her hand dismissively at Max’s shout.
“Were you some kind of royal lackey before?”
“Lackey? How can you say such things? As a citizen of the sacred Dragon Empire of Igrion, it’s only natural…”
“Alright, alright, I get it. …Ugh, I’m sick of this nagging.”
Sian went so far as to plug both ears with her fingers, as if refusing to listen.
“Anyway, so? What’s Dr. Zivago’s conclusion? Will the prince live?”
“He says we need to observe for a few days. As I mentioned earlier, the rest is dragon blood, and the most fatal wound is a stab wound on the left side, which hasn’t healed at all and has festered for days. While treating it, he had to cut away the infected area, and this came out.”
Max approached and placed something in front of Sian.
midori
thanks! lolol the concept in fiction of “ladies are weak against a man who shows weakness” is fully in play here! when he was being uppity, she wanted to kill him, but when he became soft, she softened up too hahahah