“You’re reacting excessively.”
His Highness wrapped his arm around my shoulders as if to comfort me, startled by the loud voice. That made hyung’s gaze even sharper.
“Our family simply wanted to fulfill our duty to family.”
“Then can you assert that when Tienas died, you didn’t think about his power even for a single moment?”
A brief silence filled the tent. And some silences reveal more than a hundred words. It was certain that something weighed on hyung’s mind. An emotion too weak to be called disappointment, yet too ambiguous to be called indifference, bloomed.
“At least our attempt to retrieve the body wasn’t with that intention.”
“I’ll give you credit for not lying.”
The reaction was quite caustic. Darian hyung seemed unable to believe that he’d lost control of the conversation by getting caught up in his emotions.
“That duty to family only has meaning if you uphold it while someone’s alive. No matter how well you treat them after they’re dead, that’s just self-satisfaction for the survivors.”
“Isn’t that the same for both of us?”
It was a hostile response, but also the crux of the matter. After all, it was His Highness who showed the most different behavior before and after Tienas’s death. The difference was that although I was confused at first, now I didn’t doubt this person’s heart. It was a newfound realization.
“Right. So this is something I’m saying to myself too.”
A weighty acknowledgment fell. The regret seeping through it flowed even to me. Whether Darian hyung was also influenced by it, he gathered his emotions and regained his original composure.
“Then please allow us to at least have our self-satisfaction. I want to place the family seal and items that protect the dead where Tienas is buried.”
So this was the reason for today’s visit. Inwardly, I thought it wasn’t a bad proposal. Although it was an excessive honor for a bastard to receive, if it made everyone in the family comfortable, it seemed like we could wrap things up appropriately.
“That won’t do.”
His Highness seemed to think differently, though.
“May I hear an explanation for why?”
Hyung maintained a calm attitude now without expressing anger.
“Self-comfort is something only those qualified can have.”
It was a tone as if stating an immutable rule that the sun rises every day.
“Qualification, you say.”
“Yes. That child who was desperate for recognition chose me, not the family. At that moment, your family lost all rights to Tiel.”
For an instant, His Highness’s gaze toward hyung turned menacing.
“Tiel gave all rights to himself to me.”
I nodded inwardly. If His Highness said no, I had no reason to go against that wish. Even if it was what the family wanted.
“We won’t include the family seal. Please permit the other things.”
Hyung didn’t yield his stubbornness easily. If he’d been going to back down after one refusal, he probably wouldn’t have come here in the first place.
“If you get Tiel’s permission, I’ll think about it.”
The other party was equally unyielding. Even hyung, who had regained his reason, couldn’t help but furrow his brow at this impossible command. While I found it fascinating that I was causing hyung’s mood to be so disturbed, I also wished he wouldn’t be.
“Leave.”
Cutting through the silence, an order to leave fell. His Highness gripped my shoulder more firmly. Darian hyung, who seemed to have forgotten my existence for a moment, now stared directly into my eyes.
“Aila. You shouldn’t make eye contact with other men like that.”
On the surface it was words directed at me, but His Highness’s gaze was directed at hyung. Hyung bit down hard once, then soon gave a polite greeting and left.
Now that the hunting competition’s official start wasn’t far off, I thought we’d be able to rest comfortably soon. The foresight unfolded before my eyes, slipping through that carelessness.
Whether it was an attack aimed at His Highness or blind arrows that had missed their prey, I didn’t know, but three or four arrows flew from behind. A magical beast that seemed to be fleeing from another enemy also appeared.
[Protect His Highness!]
The nobles attending the hunting competition bring minimal escorts. As long as they don’t get involved in hunting the magical beasts, defense in this kind of situation was naturally permitted.
[No need to block.]
[Your Highness?]
[That’s an order. Don’t worry about me and only protect yourselves.]
His Highness spoke while lightly deflecting the flying arrows and the powerful acid the magical beast spewed with his sword energy. However, the knights who heard the order to “don’t protect” couldn’t help but be confused. Unable to immediately follow the order, they reflexively checked for traps and formed a defensive formation.
[Fall back.]
Still, they couldn’t disobey the second order, and the knights fell back. The powerful sword energy that burst from His Highness’s sword split the approaching magical beast in two. Following that, the Centran Marquis Family who had been chasing that magical beast appeared and politely apologized for the misdirected attack. It was a clear mistake, but His Highness didn’t blame them greatly. Just when I thought all the attacks had been dealt with, some invisible attack wounded His Highness’s shoulder.
[It’s another magical beast!]
The magic applied to the weapon was so powerful that even after reaching its target, it still hadn’t revealed itself, remaining transparent. However, the blood flowing from His Highness’s shoulder clearly proved the magical beast’s existence.
[It’s a magical beast that can use invisibility magic.]
The knights tensed up again and tried to gauge the position where the attack had come from to swing their swords, but His Highness’s sword was faster. The magical beast seemed to have high magical power but a fragile body itself, as it died instantly. Slowly the magic wore off, and its true form was revealed. It was quite small in size but had sharp metal spikes covering it.
[What a fuss they’re making.]
[We weren’t informed about magical beasts capable of invisibility.]
[Right. Someone either deliberately omitted it or added it.]
Whether it was aimed at His Highness wasn’t clear, but it was certain that malice was contained in it. Perhaps because the magical beast died, the metal spike embedded in His Highness’s shoulder also became visible.
[Your Highness! Are you all right?]
Sir Ken approached with a pained expression as if to provide first aid. His Highness blocked this with his hand and pulled out the spike in one go. The wound that had seemed quite large already began recovering, the bleeding stopping. It was the imperial family’s power.
[No need to make a fuss. In half a day, the wound will disappear without a trace.]
The injured His Highness was rather unconcerned. The knights realized from that reaction that His Highness had deliberately taken the attack. A slight disturbance arose among them.
[Your Highness, you could have punished the criminal sufficiently without taking the attack.]
[I didn’t take the attack for such a trivial matter.]
At the same time those words ended, I returned to reality. After emerging from the foresight, I realized that His Highness was someone who could have blocked it sufficiently even if the attack hadn’t been visible.
‘You took it deliberately…?’
The magical beast would be captured, and His Highness’s wound would heal quickly as he’d said. I knew well it wasn’t a particularly dangerous future.
‘Still, what if there’s poison on that spike?’
Even knowing that poison didn’t work on His Highness, I became anxious. Especially the image of him coughing up blood during the last meal kept flickering before my eyes, and my pounding heart wouldn’t calm down.
“Your Highness, may I ask a favor?”
Words came out before my conclusion. It would be natural for him to find the sudden request strange, but the person holding my shoulder remained gentle as ever.
“What favor?”
“Could I also participate in the hunting competition?”
“Haven’t you already participated?”
He said this knowing that I meant I wanted to be by his side, not this kind of ‘participation.’ This was a gentle refusal.
“Your Highness.”
“It would be difficult to participate in the hunt dressed like that. Wouldn’t it be better to stay safely inside the tent?”
Understanding his meaning, when I requested once more, this time a firm refusal in the form of a suggestion returned. I knew well that backing down here was right.
“I want to be with Your Highness.”
“That’s troublesome.”
This time His Highness didn’t immediately say no, but pondered for a moment. For my part, if he wasn’t going to take me along, I wanted to tell him to at least strengthen his escort. However, I couldn’t say I’d seen a foresight, so it was difficult to explain the reason, and moreover, if being attacked was His Highness’s intention, increasing the escort wouldn’t solve the problem.
‘Then I shouldn’t interfere.’
I absolutely didn’t want to see His Highness getting hurt. Looking down at me as I didn’t withdraw my request to the end, His Highness slowly opened his mouth.
“Did a reason why you must go hunting together arise in that short time?”
Goosebumps rose along the back of my neck.
“Or did you see the future?”
