Once the food disappeared from sight, His Highness’s complexion improved considerably. After reassuring those who were worried, including me, he even received documents and engaged in close conversations with several people.
“I’ve made even you miss a meal for no reason. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes. I’m really fine. I’m only worried about Your Highness.”
As soon as we boarded the carriage for the return, a question came flying. I’m not a child—missing a meal or two won’t cause any great harm. Rather, wasn’t it His Highness whose physical condition was poor enough to be unable to eat? What was strange was that while he seemed extremely sensitive on one hand, his mood seemed good on the other. It was questionable how two completely different states could coexist.
“I’ll say it again, but I’m fine.”
The carriage jolted greatly once. No matter how skilled a coachman was, they couldn’t handle every situation, so it was a common occurrence.
“You must be careful.”
However, this time sharp words came from His Highness’s mouth.
“I apologize for the inconvenience. A small magical beast has appeared, so we will stop briefly.”
“I see. You can handle it well, right?”
“Yes! Of course.”
The sounds of magical beasts howling and swords being wielded mixed together from outside. I was thinking I’d rather participate in the battle too and was about to look out the window. A white hand reached out and suddenly drew the curtain. As if telling me not to look outside.
“Are you all right?”
“Pardon?”
“The carriage stopped suddenly, didn’t it? You weren’t startled, were you?”
Right after hearing those words, I thought perhaps His Highness might be joking. But the way he not only embraced my shoulder but also examined me from head to toe seemed to be genuinely worried.
“Your Highness, this may sound presumptuous, but I’m not an infant. I’m not so timid as to be startled by this much.”
Moreover, I was so stoic even as a very young child that even when I fell and bled, I particularly didn’t cry or get startled. Just because my body changed didn’t mean that temperament changed.
“I must be the timid one. I’m always anxious that you might get hurt or be startled.”
When he spoke like this, it became difficult to say not to treat me like a child anymore. If the cause of that timidity arose from losing ‘Tiel’, then I certainly had responsibility for it too.
“I’ll be careful. At least when I’m by Your Highness’s side, I won’t get hurt or feel pain.”
“Oh my, then I’ll want you to stay by my side constantly. That would be troublesome for you.”
The question of whether this relationship would end after the coronation ceremony didn’t come out. I had an intuition that if I uttered that question now, it would be irreversible.
“We will depart again.”
“Drive more carefully.”
“Yes. I will be cautious.”
Because the carriage moved very slowly, the moon was up by the time we arrived at the imperial palace. The round moon was especially red, like His Highness’s eyes, capturing my gaze.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“The moon is rarely red, so I was just looking at it.”
“Don’t look elsewhere and look at me.”
“I’m sorry for being a distraction. I’ll move my feet quickly.”
The entry to the palace was already delayed beyond schedule and the schedule was disrupted, yet I had stopped walking without any sense. As I tried to hurriedly move, a white hand gently grasped my arm.
“No. There’s no need to move hastily.”
“Then…”
“I can’t be so petty as to be jealous even of the moon, can I?”
“Pardon? Jealous, you say?”
His Highness, who had uttered the word jealousy, was staring at me intently while wearing a subtle smile. Eyes shining red like the moon I had just seen were capturing me.
“You were looking at the moon as if entranced. Even I can’t make the moon fall from the sky, so I should at least turn your eyes to me.”
His Highness and the word jealousy were such an ill-fitting combination that it was bizarre to use them in one sentence. In the past, I would have speculated whether there was something I shouldn’t look at in the direction I was gazing. But strangely, now His Highness’s words that he didn’t want to lose my gaze even to an inanimate object seemed truly sincere.
I couldn’t give any answer in my distant mood. Because I couldn’t express these indescribable emotions with any language I knew. Outwardly, it looked like I had bluntly shut my mouth, but His Highness didn’t seem displeased and affectionately stroked my hair lightly. Instead of creating words with my lacking language, I simply fixed my gaze as this person wished. For me, who had spent my entire life looking only at this person, it wasn’t a difficult task.
“Yes. That’s what you should do.”
“I will do so.”
To others, it might have been an endlessly strange command and also a pathetically blind answer. Still, it didn’t matter.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Would it be all right for you to eat?”
“We barely ate during the day, so we can’t leave our stomach empty until tomorrow morning.”
That ‘stomach’s’ owner was probably me, not His Highness.
‘Right. If it’s not forced eating, His Highness should eat too.’
Though I made that decision, no particular food came to mind. Originally, while I would think ‘I’m hungry’, I had rarely thought ‘I want to eat this food’, so it was difficult to answer. Not just me, but many knights were usually people accustomed to eating whatever was given.
“Any food that Your Highness can easily eat is fine.”
“Don’t think about me. What you want to eat.”
“Then something easy on the stomach like soup would be good.”
“You chose that because it would be easy for me to eat too, didn’t you?”
It was right on the mark. Though I hadn’t particularly tried to deceive, I flinched as if caught in a lie.
“Think about it by tomorrow.”
It was a resolute tone as if giving an assignment. Thinking about what I liked and wanted to do was more awkward than difficult.
“Bring cream soup, bread, and salad with chicken.”
This time His Highness lightly ordered the attendants as if he would do my work for me.
* * *
As if his difficulty eating during the day was a lie, His Highness consumed food without any issue. Though he was busy putting almost everything into my mouth except for tasting the food, at least he didn’t seem disgusted. But before long, I realized that was my delusion.
“Are you all right?”
His Highness’s face, which was already pale, gradually became more pallid. Rather than seeming in pain, he just seemed sensitive, but either way it wasn’t a good sign.
“Of course.”
He answered me so affectionately that it seemed fine for a moment.
“The clinking sound is noisy. One of the knights in the corridor seems to have a loose sword sheath fastening, so tell them to tie it properly.”
He also showed sensitivity that seemed beyond human range. What was surprising was that the sheath knot of Sir Sepiel, who was standing near the door, was really loose. Since he was a skilled knight, he would have been standing upright without much movement, yet His Highness immediately identified the strange sound even from very slight movements.
‘He’s not someone who would be bothered by sounds from beyond the door, not someone close by.’
It was clear something abnormal was happening to His Highness. I was anxious because I felt it was a sign that something was wrong with his body.
“We should call a physician.”
“I’m fine. If you’re really worried, would you release your pheromones a little?”
“Would that help?”
While doubting, I released pheromones bit by bit. I had become quite skilled at controlling them so no scent came out at all, but I was still somewhat clumsy at regulating and releasing pheromones. Since it was a task of skillfully handling an organ I had never used in my lifetime, I released pheromones very gradually, trying not to pour them out suddenly.
“It smells good.”
Satisfied even with that small scent, His Highness buried his face in my neck and stroked my nape with his fingers. The ticklish sensation that bloomed there spread to my heart and reached my fingertips and toes.
“It-it tickles.”
“Mm. I feel like I’ll live now.”
His Highness acted as if he hadn’t heard my words. I stiffened rigidly, unable to do this or that.
“If people who fainted smelled this scent, they would wake up. Then we wouldn’t need priests separately.”
An absurd impression followed. Aila’s pheromones couldn’t be a panacea, and even if—no, even if one in a hundred thousand times it had such an effect, it wouldn’t work on His Highness, would it? Still, I repeatedly released pheromones bit by bit, hoping His Highness would stabilize.
“I have one wish.”
And only after confirming His Highness’s complexion improved a little did I utter the words I had been holding back.
“What is it?”
“If you promise to grant it, I’ll say it.”
“It’s like making a pillow plea.”
“I apologize.”
“I can’t ignore the first pillow plea. What do you want?”
“I want you to be examined by a physician and priest. Even if you say nothing hurts, you might be under someone’s curse.”
A brief silence passed.
“You really won’t move as I wish.”
I thought perhaps it might be uncomfortable to make a recommendation that had already been refused.
“But I can’t go back on my word. Call both a physician and priest.”
“Understood.”
Sir Ken’s face, who had been worried about His Highness just like me, brightened. And 30 minutes later, an unbelievable verdict came from the priest who rushed over.
“It’s imprinting.”
