Chapter 73
“Yes. It seems he’s fallen into a deep sleep as he lost consciousness, perhaps due to accumulated fatigue over a long period…”
“Accumulated fatigue…”
“There’s also malnutrition. It appears he hasn’t been able to sleep properly or eat well for a long time. That’s why… his body is quite small compared to his frame.”
“…I see.”
Unable to sleep well and not eating properly…
While it was just a few lines of text describing unfortunate circumstances in the book, seeing it in reality like this was disheartening.
There must have been countless wounds as numerous as the Third Prince’s emaciated body.
It was said that he only began to live like a proper person after meeting Sienna.
Alice now fully understood the meaning behind those words she had simply dismissed as cool dialogue when reading the book.
And she felt a bit sorry.
Alice had only thought about capturing the Third Prince to survive the Empress, without considering his life.
That’s why she had even prepared a brooch coated with sleeping pills.
To catch him.
Alice’s heart grew heavy, feeling as if she was using the Third Prince for her own life, but there was no other answer besides him.
The Third Prince’s existence was extremely important.
Just as the final villain doesn’t change even if the original work gets tangled, the protagonists wouldn’t change either.
When he wakes up… I really need to treat him well.
Is this how it feels to have a younger brother?
As Alice’s face darkened slightly, feeling sorry for the skinny Third Prince, Helkin, misunderstanding her expression, said:
“If… you need to wake him up urgently, I can use medicine.”
Alice shook her head at Helkin.
“No, don’t do that. Instead, prescribe some good nutritional supplements.”
There’s no need to wake him up when he hasn’t been sleeping well.
“Understood, my lady.”
As Helkin left the room to fetch the supplements, Alice let out a small sigh. Then she felt a gaze piercing her cheeks.
Turning her head, her eyes met Sienna’s, as if she had been waiting.
“He seems to be fine, so you should go rest now, my lady.”
Sienna looked at Alice with eyes full of concern once again.
In fact, Sienna had been looking at Alice with worried eyes throughout their return from the bookstore alley to the duchy.
As soon as they arrived at the duchy, she had called for Helkin, fussing uncharacteristically about Alice’s pale face and blue lips.
Only after hearing from Helkin that Alice was fine did she calm down somewhat.
But in reality, Alice’s body had been fine from the start.
She had gotten some bruises from being pushed down by the thug, but that was all.
Sienna had just been overly worried.
So much so that Helkin had applied medicine to Alice’s scratched cheek while unable to hide his skeptical expression.
Anyway, although Sienna had calmed down after hearing that Alice was fine, she still didn’t leave Alice’s side for a moment.
Perhaps it was because Aileen, who usually attended to Alice, wasn’t there.
As if she was afraid Alice might collapse at any moment.
Although there was absolutely no chance of collapsing, Alice didn’t bother to explain.
Thanks to that, she had been able to come to the Third Prince’s side with Sienna.
But she couldn’t leave just yet.
She had brought Sienna to the Third Prince, but there were still things to be done.
First, she needed to find something that would reveal the Third Prince’s identity.
The Third Prince always carried a small dagger, a keepsake from his mother.
And that dagger had the Third Prince’s full name engraved on it.
In the book, it was thanks to that dagger that Sienna discovered the Third Prince’s existence.
Originally, Sienna had found it by chance while treating the Third Prince’s injuries, but… now Helkin had done the treatment.
There was no reason for Sienna to touch the Third Prince’s body.
But his identity needed to be revealed before he left the duchy.
That way, Kylus could properly face the Third Prince.
The fact that the Third Prince had grown up perfectly fine, that is.
“No. I’ll go rest after I see him take the supplements.”
“If you’re really worried, you could ask a butler to watch over him.”
“How could I do that to someone who saved me? I’m really fine.”
Alice sat down on a small wooden chair next to the bed. Seeing Alice’s firm resolve, Sienna hesitated for a moment but then brought a chair over and sat down next to her.
“…Then I’ll stay with you.”
As Alice had expected, Sienna wouldn’t leave her alone.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. I was planning to spend the day with you anyway, so it’s fine.”
Sienna smiled lightly and turned her head towards the Third Prince.
“But this person… I wonder what his status is.”
“Hm?”
“The more I look at him, the less ordinary he seems. Those red eyes, and… His clothes are common, but his face and skin are as fair as nobles’.”
“…You’re right.”
Sienna’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the Third Prince.
“It feels like he might be hiding a high status.”
Gulp.
At those softly spoken words, Alice unknowingly swallowed dry saliva.
Sienna was right; the Third Prince was indeed hiding his status.
Whether it was because she was the female protagonist or because she sensed it fatefully, Sienna’s intuition about the Third Prince was extraordinary.
And why am I getting so nervous?
It’s not like I need to hide the Third Prince’s identity, but Sienna’s sharp gaze made me tense up as if I were the one hiding his status.
In fact, it would be better if Sienna figured out the Third Prince’s identity with her extraordinary intuition.
Alice relaxed her shoulders, which had momentarily stiffened, and slowly scanned the Third Prince’s body.
It absolutely wasn’t a gaze with impure intentions.
Alice was now trying to find the Third Prince’s dagger.
Where could it be?
In the book, it was said that the dagger fell out while Sienna was undressing him. It didn’t specify exactly which piece of clothing it was.
It probably wasn’t in the robe since that had already been removed.
Currently, the Third Prince was wearing a shirt of poor quality and a pilled vest.
It didn’t look like the dagger was there.
Then could it be…
Alice’s gaze moved down below his upper body.
In his pants…?
No. This was definitely an all-ages story.
There’s no way Sienna would have found the dagger while taking off the Third Prince’s pants.
Alice quickly raised her gaze that had been moving downward.
Ahem.
As she was composing herself from the momentary embarrassment she felt alone, Sienna tilted her head.
“…But his posture seems a bit strange.”
“Posture?”
“His left hip is slightly raised.”
Sienna pointed to the Third Prince’s left hip, which was close to her line of sight.
Following Sienna’s fingertip, Alice could indeed see the hip slightly raised.
“It looks like there’s something behind his waist.”
Sienna stood up and approached the Third Prince.
Then, as if drawn by something, she slipped her hand under the Third Prince’s waist.
Alice watched without blinking as Sienna pulled something out from under the Third Prince’s waist.
“…A dagger?”
As expected. It was right.
What Sienna had discovered was indeed the dagger that would prove the Third Prince’s identity.
Alice had scanned the Third Prince’s body several times but couldn’t find it, yet Sienna found the dagger in one go.
As if it were fate disguised as coincidence.
[Sienna picked up something that had fallen from the man’s body. The fallen object was a small dagger made of silver. Sienna discovered a small name engraved on the silver scabbard. She focused on reading the barely visible letters.]
“…Alvin Pentium.”
Just like in the original work, Sienna called out the Third Prince’s name.
And as she realized whose name it was, Sienna’s green eyes widened.
“!”
Sienna, with her eyes wide open, turned her head towards the Third Prince, and Alice watched this brief series of events with bated breath.
It felt like she absolutely shouldn’t interfere at this moment.
The fateful meeting of the original work’s protagonists was about to begin.
Just as she was getting absorbed like when reading the book, a knock sounded as if to wake her from a dream.
“I’ve brought the nutritional supplements.”
Helkin’s appearance as the door opened.
Alice’s tension shattered at the sight of his cheerful toad-like face.
“…Helkin.”
“Did I do something wrong…”
Helkin’s shoulders flinched at Alice’s coldly frozen gaze.
“…No. Hurry and give him the supplements.”
“…Yes.”
Sienna, who had been standing stiffly, quickly hid the dagger under her sleeve as Helkin approached.
Alice saw all of this but pretended not to notice, only watching as Helkin administered the supplements to the Third Prince.
“Since this is a medicine that completely relieves bodily fatigue, he’ll probably regain consciousness soon.”
Helkin said proudly.
“Really? If he’s going to regain consciousness soon… someone should probably be by his side…”
The moment the Third Prince regains consciousness.
At that moment, only the Third Prince and Sienna should be alone.
There shouldn’t be any intruders.
“Shall I stay?”
Just as she was thinking this, Helkin spoke.
“…No. The doctor must be busy, there’s no need for you to go to such trouble.”
“Ah, I’m not very busy today. There’s no urgent matter… Have I done something wrong again?”
This person keeps failing to distinguish when to step in and when not to.
As Alice’s gaze turned cold once again, Helkin scratched his chin awkwardly.
“It’s fine, doctor, you can just lea-“
“Then I’ll stay.”
Sienna’s voice rang out just before Alice could finish her sentence.
