Chapter 77
Since I knew exactly which bookstore the Third Prince frequented.
If I lingered around there, I might be able to meet him again.
Giving up made me feel much more at ease.
Alice spoke calmly to the Third Prince, whose eyes were shadowed.
“Since Your Highness insists so strongly, I won’t say anything more. Instead.”
Alice approached the Third Prince.
She could feel two pairs of eyes following her back, but she ignored them and stood before the Third Prince.
“Your Highness, please excuse me for a moment.”
Alice took the Third Prince’s hand.
“What are you…”
The Third Prince’s hand flinched noticeably at the sudden contact, but Alice closed her eyes quietly, applying pressure to his hand.
And she prayed for his body to be completely healed.
Soon, a bright light spread from her hand, and her holy power quickly seeped into the Third Prince’s body.
About a minute passed.
Feeling the light fade, Alice opened her eyes and looked up. She saw the Third Prince gaping blankly, seemingly very surprised.
Alice smiled brightly and said lightly,
“Earlier, I wasn’t in good condition, so I couldn’t properly treat Your Highness, but now I can.”
What was done was done, but healing was healing.
Although Helkin had given the Third Prince some nutrients, they couldn’t remove the minor bruises.
Thanks to Alice, the Third Prince had no major injuries, but there were still many small wounds on his face and hands.
Having rolled on the ground like that, there were probably many small injuries in places that couldn’t be seen.
According to the original plan, she had intended to have a meal together, chat, and then pass on Helkin’s ointment through Sienna.
She was going to naturally maintain the connection by saying she’d bring more when the medicine ran out.
But with such a firm refusal, what could she do?
He already had a small frame, and having injuries on top of that would be tough.
And it’s not like he could receive treatment at the Imperial Palace either.
Alice smiled faintly as she looked at the Third Prince’s face, now free of minor injuries.
Now there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
There would be no need to toss and turn at night thinking about the Third Prince’s wounds.
Because they were all cleaned up now.
“This feeling…”
“Pardon?”
As if his dazed mind had returned, the Third Prince whispered something barely audible.
His opal-colored eyes, now staring directly at her, were trembling slightly.
Was there some problem with the holy power?
As Alice’s smile began to fade, Kylus approached her side.
“Your Highness, is there any problem?”
The Third Prince flinched and turned his head towards Kylus.
Then silence.
After exchanging indecipherable looks, the Third Prince stepped back.
Smoothly.
The Third Prince’s hand slipped naturally out of Alice’s grasp.
Since she had already used all her holy power, Alice didn’t try to hold onto him.
The Third Prince looked at Alice with a strange gaze and slowly moved his lips.
“…No, there’s no problem. Thank you for healing me, Duchess.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Your Highness. If there ever comes a moment when you need me, please don’t hesitate to come find me. You saved me, so I’ll save you once in return.”
Alice smiled gently.
Of course, she knew he would refuse, but she said it anyway.
Whatever happened in the future, her sincere wish was for his well-being.
The Third Prince’s unfortunate childhood. In the book, it was expressed in just a few lines, but facing it in reality, it wasn’t a wound that could be explained so lightly.
The Third Prince was really frail, and everything from his gaze to his expression instinctively guarded against people.
How could one not be concerned when he was curled up like an abused puppy?
Moreover, if she hadn’t twisted the original story… Sienna would have healed the Third Prince’s wounds.
There was that guilt as well.
Even as Alice’s thoughts deepened, the Third Prince gave no response.
It was the reaction she had expected.
She hadn’t really expected an answer when she spoke, so she was about to wish him a safe journey when the Third Prince’s tightly closed lips opened.
“If the opportunity arises… I hope to meet you again.”
Alice’s eyes widened at the unexpected response from the Third Prince.
Did I just mishear that?
He definitely said he hoped to meet again!
Joy welled up as if she had found a ray of light in the vast darkness.
So much that she wanted to ask the Third Prince to repeat himself.
Isn’t that right?
Fighting with Sienna and drawing a line with the Dearrut Duchy.
The Third Prince, who had been exuding an aura of not wanting to be involved with them again, had just given a glimmer of hope.
Although she didn’t know exactly why, it was clear that the Third Prince’s heart had changed slightly.
Even the way he looked at her had softened compared to before.
As expected of the male protagonist of the original story.
Fate can’t be changed so easily.
Alice was about to speak calmly, trying to suppress the corners of her mouth from rising.
If only Kylus hadn’t pushed her shoulder.
Alice was pushed about three steps to the side by the force on her shoulder.
What in the world.
It wasn’t a rough shove, but Kylus’s arm had definitely pushed her shoulder.
Alice, suddenly displaced from in front of the Third Prince, turned her head towards Kylus, but he spoke nonchalantly.
“Since Your Highness says you’re leaving, I’ll escort you back.”
To the Third Prince, not Alice.
Kylus didn’t even look at Alice. It was quite baffling, but Alice kept her mouth shut for now.
Because of what Kylus had said.
He would escort him back personally.
He had seemed uninterested in the Third Prince, but was that not the case?
His indifferent gaze when he first saw the Third Prince seemed to have changed a little.
“No, you don’t need to escort me.”
“Your Highness, I understand that you feel burdened, but as a loyal subject of the Empire, I must fulfill my duty to the Prince. I’ve already committed a great disloyalty by being rude to you and not properly hosting you. Please allow me to do this small duty.”
“…”
“If you’re uncomfortable entering the Imperial Palace with me, I’ll stop the carriage near the palace.”
As if Alice’s premonition was true, Kylus pushed on despite the Third Prince’s refusal.
“…Alright. Then please, just to near the Imperial Palace.”
Until finally, the Third Prince raised the white flag.
“The sun will set soon, so you’d better hurry, Your Grace.”
Alice urged Kylus, worried that the Third Prince might change his mind.
Glance.
Kylus, after looking at her, said to the Third Prince.
“Let’s go down right away, Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“Please return safely, Your Highness.”
“Then I’ll see you again next time, Your Highness.”
“…”
Alice greeted him with a bright smile, but unfortunately, this time there was no hopeful response.
The Third Prince just looked at Sienna and Alice once each, and left without a smile.
If it were someone else, they might have cursed him for being rude, but for now, this was more than enough.
Because Kylus and the Third Prince were walking side by side together.
That alone was a huge accomplishment.
It’s fortunate that at least one side seems to have succeeded.
Alice thought this as she turned her head, only to see Sienna’s face, which had turned cold.
Sienna was looking disapprovingly at the backs of Kylus and the Third Prince.
No, to be precise, at the back of the Third Prince.
It seems it’s still too early to say it’s fortunate.
Then shall we try to persuade this side now?
There’s a saying, isn’t there?
It’s not over until it’s over.
Alice called Sienna’s name softly.
“Sienna.”
Why don’t we try to rebuild our goodwill towards the Third Prince together?
With such a determined mindset.
* * *
Inside the carriage heading towards the Imperial Palace.
Kylus and the Third Prince sat facing each other.
They were staring at each other, but even though quite some time had passed since the carriage departed, neither of them had spoken a word.
They were just looking at each other.
Of course, it wasn’t just simple staring.
While Kylus’s gaze was emotionless, the Third Prince’s eyes were full of wariness, like a cat with its fur standing on end.
But no matter how much the Third Prince stared into Kylus’s black eyes, he couldn’t guess what was going on inside his mind.
From a young age, he had always had to read the room, so he was quite confident in reading others’ emotions.
However, the man in front of him was not easy to read.
Not a single emotion could be seen beneath those pitch-black eyes.
If he had openly ignored him, it wouldn’t have been so unsettling.
The Duke of Dearrut neither ignored nor despised him for being an abandoned prince.
Once he knew of his status as a prince, he treated him with utmost respect.
Why?
Even commoners knew that the Third Prince of the Empire was treated worse than a dog.
Why would the head of a ducal family show respect to someone like him?
There was nothing to gain from it.
Moreover, it didn’t match the rumors he had heard about the Duke of Dearrut.
Kylus Dearrut.
The War Demon who made enemies tremble, and a war hero of the Pentaum Empire.
He was the one who had single-handedly raised the declining Dearrut Duchy back to the status of an honored house of the Empire.
Of course, recently there had been news of him collapsing after being poisoned, and the Duke’s high prestige had seemed to die down for a while, but with the news of his recovery, his reputation was rising again.
The nobles feared him and the commoners praised him as a war hero who had overcome even deadly poison.
He had heard that His Majesty the Emperor had been wary of the Duke from the beginning, and even the notoriously unruly Second Prince kept his mouth shut in front of the Duke of Dearrut.
He had even stormed into the Empress’s Palace recently.
It was a story he had overheard by chance from his small vegetable garden next to the palace where the maids resided.
According to the whispers of the maids who cleaned the Empress’s Palace, Duke Dearrut had mercilessly beaten the knights of the Empress’s Palace and barged into the flower garden.
Yet the Empress didn’t punish Duke Dearrut and buried the incident.
It’s not that she didn’t punish him, but rather that she probably couldn’t.
Compared to the incompetent Emperor, Duke Dearrut was hailed as a war hero.
He had heard that even the knights of the duchy, who had dispersed when the Duke collapsed, had returned under the Duke’s command.
With both fame and military power, even the Empress couldn’t dare to touch him.
Alvin knew all of this very well.
