Chapter 72
“…My lady, just a moment.”
Sienna approached the prince and murmured softly.
“[Fly].”
Right after the quiet voice echoed, the body of the collapsed Third Prince floated into the air.
It was magic.
Alice’s eyes widened at the sight of this unfamiliar magic.
Sienna’s magic lifted the Third Prince’s body as lightly as a feather, moving him from the street to the grass.
Sienna strode over to the Third Prince, easily lifting his upper body and dragging him to where there was a tree.
After comfortably propping the Third Prince’s body against the tree, Sienna returned to Alice with a bright smile.
“That should ease your mind, shouldn’t it, my lady?”
“…Yes. He looks very comfortable.”
Alice nodded reluctantly as she looked at the Third Prince leaning against the tree.
“Then let’s go now. You don’t look well at all.”
“…Alright. Sir Ruyd, please take care of him.”
How could she insist any further after this?
If she pushed to take the Third Prince with them now, they would find her behavior strange.
“Yes. Don’t worry, my lady.”
Alice cast a lingering gaze at the Third Prince before turning away, her steps hesitant as she left with Sienna.
* * *
After Alice and Sienna had completely left the alley, Ruyd quietly stared at the entrance.
He didn’t go to call the security forces, but instead seemed to be waiting for someone.
Soon, a tall man appeared at the alley entrance.
The man walked quickly to where Ruyd was standing.
“Your Grace.”
As the man stopped in front of him, Ruyd bowed respectfully.
“Rise.”
The voice of the tall man, Kylus, echoed softly through the alley. Kylus passed by Ruyd as he stood up and approached the man leaning against the tree.
He then lowered himself in front of the still unconscious man.
Grabbing the fallen man’s chin and lifting it up, the man’s face became clearly visible from the shadows.
Though there was some dried blood scattered under his curly blonde hair, it couldn’t hide his rather handsome features.
He looked to be barely 18 years old.
Though his build was slight, the balanced bone structure revealed the body of a man who had come of age.
“…Just who are you?”
Was it you Alice was chasing?
Kylus had been secretly following Alice since she left the duchy.
He was curious about her purpose in going out with Helkin’s sleeping pills.
Although Alice appeared innocent, she was a woman whose thoughts were utterly unpredictable in that small head of hers.
So he guessed she hadn’t come all this way to Rocfen just for sightseeing.
Kylus’s suspicions were correct.
It was clear that Alice had come here to meet this man.
He thought it strange from the moment she suddenly called out to this man on the street.
She said she had mistaken him for someone she knew, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
On top of that, she even deliberately shook off Sienna and Ruyd to leave the bookstore.
Since Kylus hadn’t taken his eyes off Alice for a moment, he knew she had intentionally ditched Sienna and Ruyd.
Of course, he didn’t expect her to slip out the back of the bookstore, so he had quite a hard time finding her.
In any case, one thing was clear.
She came to Rocfen to meet this man, and shook off the others.
The sleeping pills… she must have intended to use them on this man.
Well, it seems she ended up using them on the other guys unintentionally.
The moment Alice attacked the thugs came to mind again.
Thinking about it again, it was still a surprising and breathtaking moment.
By the time Kylus found Alice, the situation had already begun.
He was about to jump in, but Alice moved first.
When she took down one thug and was facing off against the other, he thought it was truly dangerous and was about to step in.
But even then, Alice was faster in the end.
She precisely stabbed a small weapon into the man’s neck.
Kylus was genuinely surprised at that moment.
He never imagined Alice would take such a bold action.
Until now, the Alice he had seen was a timid and suspicious woman, like a rabbit.
But to attack the thugs like a wildcat…
She really was an unpredictable woman.
And it was only because of luck, if he hadn’t been watching over her, it would have been an extremely dangerous moment.
To think she would risk such danger to meet this man…
“It doesn’t seem like they had a connection in the past…”
The man didn’t seem to know Alice at all.
Kylus stared at the man’s face for a while before clicking his tongue in disapproval.
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t quite figure it out.
Though his clothes were shabby, his delicate features and skin indicated he wasn’t a commoner.
Was there a nobleman with blonde hair and red eyes?
If there was someone with red eyes, there would have been rumors.
Calling it a shame to the family.
But he had never heard of such a person even once.
Is he a hidden child?
Kylus raised one eyebrow as he looked at the delicate man.
At that moment, someone flashed through Kylus’s mind.
“…It can’t be.”
‘But as far as I know… His Majesty the Emperor is said to have one more child… There’s also His Highness the Third Prince, isn’t there?’
She had brought up the Third Prince out of nowhere not long ago.
Most nobles were living as if they had forgotten about the Third Prince.
A prince who exists yet doesn’t exist.
That was exactly who the Third Prince was.
But how did Alice, who came from the countryside, know about the Third Prince?
He thought it was strange that day too, but didn’t dig deeper into it.
But now…
“The Third Prince… was said to be blonde too.”
Kylus realized with his sharp intuition who the man before him was.
Could it be that she knew I was looking for an heir, and deliberately… tried to meet this person?
“…Just what do you know?”
Alice, who knows things that he doesn’t.
At this point, he began to doubt whether her identity as simply the daughter of Count Fordley was true.
And… he felt a little uneasy.
The more secrets one knows that others don’t, the more their life is in danger.
I can’t let my guard down… not for a moment.
Kylus released the Third Prince’s chin and stood up with a hardened expression.
“How should we deal with these men?”
As Kylus stood up, Ruyd, who had been waiting, asked.
Kylus turned towards Ruyd.
And he looked at the bronze brooch lying between them.
A humble but secret weapon that Alice had used.
Following Kylus’s gaze, Ruyd reached out as if to pick up the bronze brooch.
Just before his hand touched the sharp needle, Kylus spoke.
“Stop, if you touch it carelessly, you’ll collapse like them.”
“Pardon?”
Ruyd, who hadn’t seen Alice’s attack, asked with a puzzled face.
Instead of answering, Kylus took out a handkerchief and carefully picked up the bronze brooch.
Then he swept a cold gaze over the two men lying as if dead.
“Where should I start cutting…”
Kylus pondered seriously.
Should he start by cutting off the tongue that spewed filthy words, or the hands that dared to touch Alice? Or perhaps cut off the center that couldn’t control its lust?
Each part of their bodies was made of nothing but trash, so he was deeply troubled about where to start getting rid of them.
“Should we wake them up first?”
At Ruyd’s question, Kylus twisted up the corner of his mouth.
“No need. As we cut them piece by piece… they’ll regain consciousness anyway.”
Shing-
The sound of Kylus drawing his sword echoed chillingly through the alley, and soon after, agonizing screams filled the narrow space.
* * *
“How is he? Is his condition very bad?”
Alice asked Helkin, who was examining the Third Prince.
This was in a guest room of the Dearrut Duchy.
Contrary to Alice’s worries, the Third Prince had arrived safely at the duchy, and she had immediately moved to the guest room as soon as he arrived.
And she had called Helkin to examine the still unconscious Third Prince.
In fact, using her holy power would have resolved the issue quickly, but… there was a reason she couldn’t use her holy power.
The person the Third Prince needed to face when he woke up wasn’t Alice.
If she made a mistake, a disaster could occur where she might end up interfering with the Third Prince and Sienna’s first meeting.
I’ve already shaken things up enough, I shouldn’t meddle any further.
But still, seeing the Third Prince’s condition looking worse than it had in the alley, she couldn’t help but worry.
She was concerned there might be something wrong other than the bleeding head she had seen earlier.
Just as Alice was feeling anxious, Helkin finished his examination and looked up.
“Ah, you don’t need to worry, my lady. Despite the amount of blood loss, there’s no head injury and only minor bruises. Still, with this much bleeding, there could have been internal head injuries. The fact that it’s just external bleeding suggests this person is quite lucky.”
Helkin glanced at the Third Prince with surprise, but Alice let out a sigh of relief first.
She had been worried just in case, but thankfully, it seemed the Third Prince had no major issues thanks to the holy power she had used earlier.
But why hasn’t he regained consciousness yet?
Just as Alice was about to ask Helkin out of curiosity, Sienna, who had been standing quietly beside her, spoke first.
“But why hasn’t he regained consciousness yet?”
“That’s because he’s not unconscious due to his injuries now, but because he’s sleeping.”
“What?”
“He’s sleeping?”
Sienna and Alice asked simultaneously. Alice, in particular, looked at the Third Prince with bewildered eyes.
Could he have been stabbed by the brooch?
No. The brooch had clearly fallen to the ground before the Third Prince tackled the thug.
Then why… is he asleep?
As Alice glanced at the Third Prince with a puzzled look, a quick answer came from Helkin.
