Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Rosalyn’s brown hair and pale face, standing by the window, shimmered even more brightly in the sunlight. Theodor stared blankly at Rosalyn standing at the window. Then she beamed a radiant smile at him.
How long has it been since someone smiled at him like that?
Something surged again in his chest. But it felt a little different than when he had been in the dark.
Just then, Rosalyn approached the bed he was lying on, holding something wrapped in a cloth with both hands. She quietly looked down at him.
Theodor’s heterochromatic eyes gleamed like gemstones under the bright sunlight. Now that she could see him in the light, his beauty was even more striking than it had been in the tower. Even his tousled black hair, messily sticking out like a bird’s nest, looked charming.
To think that such a handsome face had been hidden away in that gloomy tower all this time.
‘It was the right call to move him to a sunnier room.’
As she felt quietly pleased with herself, Theodor asked in a low voice,
“…Where is this place?”
“I changed your room. Do you like it?”
Rosalyn asked brightly with another radiant smile. A smile so carefree, as if she had no worries in the world. Theodor quickly turned his head and replied,
“… It’s too bright.”
Was it the sunlight that was dazzling or her smile? Then Rosalyn’s confident voice reached his ears.
“That’s exactly how you’ll awaken.”
At the word ‘awaken,’ he looked up at Rosalyn. He saw her slender, pale neck exposed above her robe. On the delicate nape of her neck was a visible reddish bruise, it was a mark he had made.
The sight of it stirred a vague, uncomfortable feeling within him, one he couldn’t quite describe. He avoided to look at her neck, muttering softly,
“…I’m sorry.”
“Pardon?”
“For the mark… on your neck…”
Rosalyn blinked, surprised by his apology. She had completely forgotten about the bruise. Honestly, she had thought it was a miracle he hadn’t killed her during their first encounter.
Though startled, she answered cheerfully,
“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it. My neck is pretty tough!”
At that, Theodor gave her a strange look, still gazing at her neck. Her neck is touch? No matter how he looked at it, her neck was the very picture of delicacy.
Suddenly, he recalled the sensation of gripping her nape. That slender neck, held in both his hands, had been so soft and it felt so warm, too. In that moment, with her pulse beating wildly beneath the warmth of her skin, even in the midst of uncontrollable rage, he had felt something strange and intimate.
Remembering it now made a sudden heat rush to his face. The sensation unsettled him. Quickly, he averted his gaze from her neck, almost as if fleeing.
‘Why is his face suddenly like that? Is he coming down with a fever or something?’
Rosalyn started to worry as she noticed his reddened face. With how frail his body was already, a fever would only make things worse! If he got sick on top of that, awakening would become even more difficult.
“Your Highness, you should stay under the covers!”
She leaned over to pull the blanket which had slipped down to his lower half, back up. Her pale neck came even closer into his view, making his face turn even redder. He changed the subject, glancing at the cloth-wrapped item she had brought and asked,
“What is that?”
“Would Your Highness like to open it?”
Rosalyn placed the item on the bed. Theodor cautiously lifted the cloth. When he saw what lay inside, his expression stiffened in surprise. On the large tray sat freshly baked rolls, syrup-drizzled pancakes, a warm teapot filled with black tea, and a matching teacup. It was a modest but well-prepared meal.
“Tada! Breakfast!”
But Theodor didn’t reach for his fork.
“Leave it there and go. I’ll send it to Anton when I’m ready for my lessons.”
Trying to skip another meal again?
She couldn’t let that happen. Hands on her hips, Rosalyn declared,
“Lesson? This is your lesson.”
“…?”
To Theodor’s confused look, Rosalyn replied with confidence,
“This is Your Highness’s first lesson: eating a proper breakfast.”
***
Rosalyn picked up the teapot and poured the tea. The deep amber liquid trickled smoothly into the cup, releasing a fragrant aroma. Theodor stared at the sight in a daze.
Ever since arriving here from the palace, he hadn’t properly eaten a single meal. There had simply been no time to waste, not when he had awakening to study for.
“What kind of lesson is this supposed to be? Fine. I’ll eat at the table.”
But she firmly blocked him, “Absolutely not. Eat first.”
Her calm gaze met his squarely. The same gaze he had seen just before passing out in the tower. Is she… not afraid of me?
Strangely, in front of those composed eyes, Theodor found himself unable to speak. It was her who had activated his mana. At least for now, he would follow her lead. Besides, all he had to do was eat. Nothing more.
Yet even in that moment, his mind was filled with the relentless pressure that he ought to be reading through all the awakening research spread on the table. Feeling anxious, he grabbed the bread on the tray and began stuffing it into his mouth.
He didn’t even chew, just swallowing it down. His cheeks puffed up as they filled with bread.
‘He’s going to choke at that rate!’
Rosalyn watched in worry, but he didn’t stop. He kept forcing bread into his mouth as though punishing himself.
Was he really that starving?
‘But no.’
The Theodor she knew had skipped meals obsessively since he was young, driven by his desperation to awaken. He was likely rushing to eat so he could dive back into his training immediately, pressured and haunted by his own expectations. That same anxiety had probably kept him from eating for the past eight years.
‘That’s so sad.’
Though she pitied how consumed he was by awakening, she also deeply understood it. She’d been through something similar in her past life. Though not as tragic as Theodor’s situation, it had also been rough for her.
Back when she was a rookie trainer with no regular clients at the gym, she had lived in constant fear of not making ends meet. She couldn’t eat properly or sleep, and spent all day desperately trying to attract members. Any time she tried to rest, she was overwhelmed with guilt and anxiety while wondering if she deserved it. She even considered quitting.
And then one day, her gym manager had said to her:
[“Take it slow. You’ll get there.”]
Those simple words meant the world to her at the time. Thinking back on that, Rosalyn looked at Theodor as he crammed bread into his mouth.
It felt strange.
That a dying tyrant from a tragic, R-rated fantasy novel and a former trainer like herself would have anything in common.
“Khak!”
Theodor suddenly let out a pained sound. He was choking. He pounded his chest with a fist, trying to swallow the bread and still, he kept forcing more into his mouth. To Rosalyn, the sight looked even more pitiful.
Was this what her manager had felt when watching her back then?
Feeling an odd sense of kinship, she quietly watched Theodor.
Sensing her gaze, he turned toward her.
“Your Highness.”
She handed him the glass of milk sitting beside her and said gently,
“It’s okay to eat slowly.”
At that moment, Theodor flinched. He froze, staring at her.
“W-what did you just say…?”
He couldn’t speak properly with the bread still in his mouth.
“I said it’s okay to eat slowly. You can still awaken even if you eat slowly.”
His heterochromatic eyes trembled. Suddenly, a voice echoed in his head, his mother’s voice from long ago.
[‘It’s okay, Theodor. Someday, you’ll bloom bright like those sunflowers.’]
His mother had always comforted him, saying he would awaken one day. When he walked with her in the royal garden filled with sunflowers, he could forget the cruel words and disdainful glances from his father.
But after she died, that comfort vanished too. When she left, he lost all meaning in life.
He remembered the winter day just after her death. He had gone to the imperial garden they used to visit together.
The frost-covered garden was empty and cold. Anyway, no one would grieve me if I died. I’ll be buried underground with his Mother. I’m a cursed prince who can’t even awaken.
He had pulled out a dagger he had hidden in his coat. The blade, as it touched his thin wrist, felt icy cold.
He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip. Just as the blade pierced his skin…
It’s okay. You can awaken.
He had heard a voice. While still holding the knife to his wrist, he followed the voice dazedly. In a corner of the garden, he found a tiny sunflower.
Despite the frost, it stood firm and upright.
Thinking of his mother, his eyes welled with tears. Can someone like me… really awaken?
To that desperate question, the little flower had seemed to answer in a calm voice: Of course.
He had lowered the knife from his wrist and used it to cut the sunflower’s delicate stem.
Snip.
The thin stem was so soft, it sliced easily. He held the flower close, brought it back, and placed it inside the frame holding his mother’s portrait. Unlike his mother, this flower would never leave him. Ever.
As the memory returned to him, he looked at Rosalyn, who was offering him milk. She was the one who told him it was okay and that he could still awaken. Without realizing it, the question he once asked the flower escaped his lips again.
“…Can someone like me really awaken?”
Rosalyn was startled by the sudden question. His eyes looked desperate. Behind them were pain and despair, just like when he had collapsed in the tower.
He had to awaken.
Not just for him but for her own survival, too.
And maybe, just maybe, he could escape this pitiful fate a little.
“Of course.”
Rosalyn smiled as she replied. A smile calm and resolute, like a sunflower blooming through the winter frost.
With trembling hands, Theodor accepted the glass of milk she offered him. As the cold milk slid down his throat, the lump of bread that had blocked it finally went down.
(TN: You can really see that Theodor was truly depressed having unable to awaken. Hays, poor one I must say.)
