Only after the man’s back was exposed did I notice the dagger still wrapped in fierce sword energy. There were only a few in the Empire who could leave such strong sword energy even after it had left their hand. At the same time everyone’s heads turned, a single silhouette walked forward through the darkness.
“I only left for a moment and vermin have gathered.”
The blonde hair receiving moonlight reflected brilliantly like a jewel. I recognized who it was before hearing the voice, but perhaps because I hadn’t thought at all that he would appear right now, it didn’t quite feel real.
“I came to get you.”
As His Highness, wearing a gentle smile, stepped forward, all the knights knelt. Reacting a beat late, I also tried to kneel and show proper respect. However, His Highness, who had closed the distance in an instant, prevented this by grasping my waist.
“There may still be more assassins hiding, so there’s no need for that.”
“B-but…”
“I’d prefer if you followed my orders rather than observing etiquette.”
Though this had the tone of a suggestion, it was ultimately a command. When I corrected my awkward posture, His Highness smiled with satisfaction.
“How could you come without even disguising yourself…”
“I was in a hurry because I wanted to see you.”
His Highness whispered in a voice small enough for only me to hear. My head turned to mush at words sweet enough to make honey flow.
‘What should I do?’
In those amber-glowing eyes emerged a deep emotion that could be called affection without any inappropriateness. It was an emotion that should naturally bring joy and gratitude, yet unavoidably, fear came rushing in.
‘If I die again, what happens to His Highness? Won’t he suffer again like when I died as Tienas?’
There was an even worse situation.
‘If it’s discovered that I’m Tienas, and I die again just like that, what happens then?’
I couldn’t imagine having to experience the death of the same person twice. Just imagining His Highness dying made me breathless with fear. Naturally, I couldn’t even picture in my mind the situation of losing him twice.
‘Of course, His Highness might never know that I’m Tienas in his lifetime, and he might not have such deep feelings for Aila, but…’
The worry wouldn’t leave that if I stayed by his side and died, wouldn’t it just end up reopening his wounds unnecessarily. His Highness’s embrace holding me was so gentle and warm that it made me feel even more like crying.
His Highness’s attitude toward Aila was clearly different, and I wasn’t foolish enough not to notice that. I only realized after dying that ‘Tiel’ was special to His Highness, but there shouldn’t be a second mistake.
‘It might be better to leave the palace in a way that His Highness can accept.’
There’s a big difference between being able to imagine that someone you care for is living well somewhere and witnessing their death.
‘Then I absolutely can’t let it be discovered that I’m Tienas.’
For that, I had already let too many clues slip. I was inexperienced at hiding things from His Highness, and His Highness was excessively perceptive.
Regret that I shouldn’t have tried to learn about His Highness from the moment I entered this body, and the rebuttal that even if I had known all of this anyway, I couldn’t have just watched His Highness who could only sleep comfortably after keeping me by his side—these thoughts chased each other endlessly.
“Let’s go back.”
His Highness commanded in a firm voice. It was the complete opposite of me, who had only been wavering this way and that since becoming Aila.
‘I need to find a way to leave before the truth is discovered.’
Right now I couldn’t think of that method at all, so for now I obediently nestled into His Highness’s embrace.
* * *
The day after greeting Father and immediately returning to the palace, the day flowed by ordinarily, separate from my noisy insides. His Highness, who had finished his morning duties, looked toward me and spoke. It was the first voice I heard after refusing the suggestion to sit in a chair.
“We’ll have a guest for lunch today.”
I had been spacing out, so I lightly shook my head to quickly regain my senses. Even if I was on the useless side, I couldn’t afford to be spacing out.
“Ah, then will you be dining together?”
“Yes. It’ll be in the reception room of the Crown Prince’s palace, so be aware of that.”
The other knights didn’t move at all, as if this was content they already knew. It was clear he was explaining once more for my sake.
When we finished the schedule as planned and headed to the reception room, the guest who had arrived first stood up from her seat. Following her elegant movements, her long flowing hair swayed beautifully.
‘Lady Serina.’
She was His Highness the Crown Prince’s fiancée. Having committed sins, I found myself deeply bowing my head without realizing it.
“You must have had a hard time coming here.”
“Not at all. Thanks to the guards you sent, I was able to arrive safely.”
She greeted lightly and sat back down. Normally she would have given a greeting of lips to the back of the hand, but today was particularly dry.
“There will be a hunting competition soon.”
Leaving me restless behind, the two began to continue their conversation calmly. Rather, I was fortunate that a conversation topic came up so I could turn my attention elsewhere.
“Will it proceed as usual this year? Has His Majesty perhaps recovered?”
For the past two years, the hunting competition had never been held. When His Majesty the Emperor was in good health, the birthday celebration, sword competition, and hunting competition were all bundled together and held grandly. However, after problems arose with His Majesty’s health, the events were reduced and the scale gradually shrank, and from two years ago, they omitted the hunting competition altogether.
“Unfortunately, His Majesty will only participate in the opening ceremony this time as well.”
The reason for pushing forward despite this was probably to show that the Imperial family was still strong while simultaneously revealing to the entire world that the next person to hold power would be the Crown Prince. It was still heartbreaking that His Majesty the Emperor was unwell, but it was joyful that things were approaching what His Highness desired.
“Then the reason you called me must be because of that.”
“You’re so quick-witted, I really like that about you.”
Unlike me, who couldn’t even guess what ‘that’ was, the two continued their conversation as if nothing was amiss.
“I trust you’ll sufficiently reward me for enduring well.”
When the words “endured” and “reward” came out, various possibilities came to mind.
The first thought that came was, ‘Is His Highness, facing his coronation, trying to have a state marriage?’ I knew well that the Crown Prince’s state marriage wasn’t something that could be moved by heart alone. I knew well that mourning Tiel’s death and the feelings felt toward Aila couldn’t be more important than that.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever disappointed anyone when it comes to rewarding their hard work.”
“I’m well aware.”
Whenever the two stood side by side, I had secretly imagined their wedding. Even with my meager imagination, it would be drawn so vividly it was as if seeing a prophecy.
‘Perhaps my departure might come a bit sooner.’
His Highness was always kind to Lady Serina. There had even been times before when I believed without doubt that he loved the Lady. So if the two became constantly by each other’s side through marriage, it might not be long before she became the most precious person. While my head was relieved, a snake coiled in my stomach crawled around madly. I was gritting my teeth and enduring the pain when—
“Before the hunting competition starts, I’ll announce the broken engagement. The procedures will take a bit more time, but that’s just formalities anyway.”
A story completely opposite to my imagination came out. A broken engagement. Lady Serina had occupied the position of the Crown Prince’s fiancée for a very long time. So finding another marriage partner after breaking the engagement would be very distant. There was also the problem that a person who had been the fiancée of someone who might soon become Emperor would be burdensome, and age was also an issue.
‘What in the world is this…’
Looking at the other guard knights’ quite surprised faces, it was clear this was the first time this matter was being discussed in an official setting. Only His Highness and Lady Serina were calm. The two had maintained quite an ideal engagement relationship until before I died.
‘Since when exactly was this decided? Was it decided after Tienas died? Or was it originally decided and I just didn’t know?’
Just as thoughts were chasing each other, suddenly one of His Highness’s attendants carefully entered. His Highness, rarely frowning, slowly rose from his seat.
“Sorry to interrupt our conversation. An uninvited guest has arrived, so can you wait a moment?”
“Yes. I’ll be drinking tea.”
Naturally, I was about to follow His Highness as well, leaving my complicated feelings behind.
“Sir Aila, you stay here with Lady Serina’s guard knights.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m counting on you.”
His Highness smiled gently and patted my shoulder. Uncomfortably, I was left alone in the room with His Highness’s fiancée. The fact that Sir Ken remained together was my only consolation.
