Chapter 5
Sian thought as she roughly pieced together the situation. No matter how significant the presence of a companion dragon, it shouldn’t be more precious than one’s own life.
The prince nearly died trying to protect Idelin. If he had summoned Idelin despite knowing it was futile, he might not have won, but he wouldn’t have sustained such severe injuries.
Is it foolishness or devotion? Sian shook her head.
“Then it was Brita who attacked you, Your Highness?”
“…Why? Are you planning to avenge me?”
The prince asked in return.
“What? With what ability? …No, before that, why should I do that?”
Sian retorted, her eyes wide. She couldn’t see the prince’s expression under the towel. But for some reason, Sian felt as if she had seen the prince’s beautiful turquoise eyes shooting her a disappointed look.
“…Then why do you keep prying into such matters?”
“I might ask because I need to know. Why are you trying to use high-quality personnel for free? You have no conscience.”
This time, even Sian hadn’t anticipated it, but beneath the towel, the prince was biting his lip hard at the woman’s continued rudeness.
In all his life, he had never been insulted like this. From being called shameless to having no conscience…
“Do you remember how, or what you were stabbed with? That information might be necessary too.”
“If you’re not going to help, I won’t answer any more questions.”
The prince, judging that further conversation would only lead to more insults rather than help, pressed the towel down firmly.
“…What, are you sulking?”
Sian asked after a moment of silence, looking at the prince.
The prince abruptly pulled off the towel.
The prince, who seemed about to speak urgently, couldn’t even open his lips before curling up with a pained groan. Sian clicked her tongue.
“If you have something to say, say it slowly. Even someone of good bloodline can be hot-tempered. Didn’t I say recovery comes first?”
Sian said as she gathered up the wet towel.
That mouth of yours… The prince trembled, his fists clenched. It was unclear whether the tremor in his desperately clenched fists was from anger or pain.
“Hey, Lady.”
“Yes?”
Sian smiled brightly. It was an automatic response.
The prince’s face was right in front of her as he removed the towel and raised his head. Of course, his face was haggard and soaked as if he had been water-tortured for days, and his lips were swollen and in terrible condition, but even so, the neatness of his features that asserted their presence was astonishing no matter how many times one looked.
Sharp, turquoise eyes brimming with light were right before her. Sian was well aware that more than 80% of the emotion in those eyes was irritation, but separately from that, she couldn’t help but feel admiration.
Harsh words that were about to come out were swallowed back.
“Just what on earth are you?”
A low voice pierced Sian’s ears as she stood transfixed, admiring the face before her once again.
“You clearly said when we met in the forest that you would establish countermeasures based on Idelin’s movements. You noticed my magic flaring up before anyone else. How do you know so much about dragons?”
“Aren’t you underestimating mercenaries too much? Basically…”
“Don’t evade the question. If everyone knew as much about dragons as you do, the Imperial family would need to put more effort into security.”
The prince’s lowered eyes flashed even more fiercely. It wasn’t so much that she had nothing to say, but rather that Sian found herself closing her mouth unconsciously due to the intimidating aura.
“Be honest. The only ones who know that much about dragons are dragon masters and dragon priests. I haven’t heard of any dragons choosing masters recently, so you must either be a long-lost dragon master or one of the excommunicated priests. Which is it?”
The prince darkened his eyes and lowered his voice. Sian involuntarily twisted the corners of her mouth.
…Well, look at this?
She had been completely off guard, distracted by his dazzling appearance that seemed like some sort of camouflage.
They said he’d offer his right cheek when slapped on the left, but he wasn’t a pushover after all.
“What would you do if I were a dragon master or an excommunicated priest?”
Sian brazenly asked in return. The prince’s eyebrows twisted slightly.
“Either way, it’s not something for Your Highness to be concerned about. You might have been able to exert some influence when you were the lord of Ivarid, but look at your current state.”
Sian deliberately gripped the prince’s left shoulder tightly. The prince grimaced, gritting his teeth to suppress a groan. Just the touch with a bit of force seemed to make him dizzy, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
“Isn’t it polite to first express gratitude for saving your life, regardless of who I am?”
Sian snorted softly, as if to prove a point.
“Also, in any noble family of some renown, children are taught about dragons, whether they’re boys or girls. It’s basic knowledge that any citizen of the Dragon Empire should have. Your Highness, having been driven from the Imperial Palace to a well, seems unaware of the world outside that well.”
“…You’re saying that’s just common noble knowledge?”
“Impossible,” the prince muttered lowly, mixed with a groan. Sian pouted and shrugged her shoulders.
“Believe it or not, that’s how it was when I was a young lady of a noble family.”
The prince’s eyebrows shook greatly.
Young lady. She said young lady.
A very faint muttering reached Sian’s ears. What noble young lady would use such vulgar curses so fluently… It seemed more shocking to him than the fact that nobles received more detailed education about dragons than he thought.
I can hear you, I can hear everything. Sian pretended not to hear the prince’s dazed muttering.
“Then why is a… young lady from a noble family working as a wandering mercenary?”
Having just heard Sian’s fluent cursing, it seemed hard for him to say ‘young lady’. The prince asked painfully, with pauses between words. It wasn’t because of his physical wounds, but because of his wounded soul.
Although he had been driven from the Imperial Palace, he had long reigned as the lord of Ivarid, surrounded by refined ladies. It must have been quite a shock for him to learn that this woman who wielded a sword, casually shouted “Ah sh*t!” when startled, and either intentionally or accidentally water-tortured his face, was of noble birth.
Sian inwardly decided to nod and understand. As the elder, she would yield a hundred times. That’s how a boy from inside the well would grow up.
“It seems a bit much to share personal details at our first meeting. Isn’t it too early for us to know each other that well?”
The prince frowned, full of dissatisfaction. While he had much to say, he seemed unable to directly deny Sian’s words.
“Are you really neither?”
“If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t.”
Sian smiled brightly and crossed her arms leisurely. The prince closed his mouth and seemed to sink deeper into suspicion, but he didn’t press further.
A natural silence fell between Sian and the prince after the subtle tension had subsided. The prince seemed unable to let go of his suspicions due to Sian’s nonchalance, which made it difficult to read her thoughts, while Sian was wondering if she had underestimated the prince too much.
“Ah, Sis. You were here.”
Just as footsteps were heard from outside, someone opened the tent and entered.
“Why, Your Highness, why are you up?”
It was Dr. Zivago. Having barely opened the entrance of the tent, he looked back and forth between Sian and the prince inside, his eyes widening.
“Lie down immediately. Even if you’re a dragon master, it’s dangerous to overexert yourself after having a rotten wound completely cut out.”
“Come on, come on,” Zivago said, laying the half-risen prince back down. The prince, who had been glaring sharply at Sian with a pale face, suddenly looked as if he might collapse at any moment and lay back down obediently at Zivago’s words.
Sian blinked.
…What is this? What’s this detestable, annoying feeling?
“Now, now, Sis. His Highness needs to rest thoroughly, so even if you have business, let’s do it next time. Out, out.”
Zivago issued consecutive orders for Sian to leave. ‘Eh?’ An unintended strange sound escaped Sian’s lips.
“What? Don’t you see that towel? I was nursing His Highness in my own way… Why are you treating me like I’m in the way?”
“…Nursing? You?”
Dr. Zivago’s expression became one of having heard something absurd.
“That’s not what’s socially called nursing, Lady. …Torture, perhaps.”
The prince quickly added from behind Zivago. Sian opened her mouth towards the prince hiding behind Zivago’s back, but closed it just before speaking, by a hair’s breadth.
No matter what, telling the prince “Your Highness, shut up” seemed too harsh.
Ahem, Sian cleared her throat loudly to shake off the words hanging on the tip of her tongue, and instead let out a light sigh.
“I didn’t come to interfere. Of course, nursing wasn’t my main purpose either. Max said the doctor would be here, so I came to hear about His Highness’s condition, but where have you been until now?”
“Where have I been? I need to eat to live too, don’t I? I just went out for a quick bite.”
Tsk tsk tsk, the prince clicked his tongue loudly at Zivago’s words, as if for everyone to hear. Was it just her paranoia that it sounded like criticism of a terrible employer who doesn’t take care of their employees’ meals and lodging? Sian fell into serious contemplation for a moment.
“As for His Highness’s condition, as you can see, his consciousness is clear and the bleeding has mostly stopped, so there’s no major problem. Provided he doesn’t overexert himself from now on.”
“…I see, he looks unnecessarily lively.”
Sian said with a light snort. The prince narrowed his eyes from behind Zivago.
“Well then, Your Noble Highness, this vulgar girl of unknown identity who practices torture will now withdraw for the sake of your wellbeing. Please preserve your precious self until we meet again.”
Sian deliberately spoke in a soft, elegant accent and slightly bent her knee like a noble. The prince twitched his eyebrow in displeasure at Sian’s sarcastic words.
“I’m at a loss for words at your gracious concern. When I’m better, I’ll be sure to repay your kindness a thousand, no, ten thousand times over.”
The prince also replied in a soft voice, but even Zivago, a third party, could clearly tell it was equally sarcastic.
Zivago looked back and forth between Sian and the prince with a bewildered expression at their subtly charged atmosphere.
* * *
midori
thanks! -taps fingers- so… the naive prince and a mercenary leader trope. -rolls eyes- can a refined, noble-acting female mercenary leader get any respect from males below her? i see him acting weak and making the others think bad of her, i don’t know if i’m a fan of this. i understand, of course, that he is doing this to ensure his own survival.