The Crown Prince was still magnificent even while sick. Even now. He doesn’t tell me the details about his situation but expects me to explain everything.
Even when people just go to see a doctor, they’re honest during examinations. He asks for help, but the moment this side crosses the line even a little, he immediately notices and growls.
Anyway, the Crown Prince is always like this…
There had been one gaze bothering him since a moment ago.
“So.”
Veil Khalid suddenly supported Nigel’s waist with his arm and deeply lowered his upper body.
“You came out in secret?”
Mischief flickered in the golden eyes beneath the half-mask decorated with red jewels. As if asking what this sudden change of topic was, one of Nigel’s eyebrows shot up sharply.
“It doesn’t seem like it was ‘in secret’ at all. Your Highness Nigel.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The back of my head feels like it’s being drilled through while I’m dancing with you. What exactly did you tell Rowen Ashfield before coming out?”
“…What?”
Nigel’s fingers clasped with his twitched. Veil’s gaze was fixed on one spot as if making eye contact with someone. As if Rowen Ashfield were right there.
“Don’t joke around.”
Nigel deliberately denied it and pushed away Veil’s shoulder that was blocking his view. He allowed himself to be pushed back by Nigel’s hand and said.
“Well. When have I ever played such unfunny jokes?”
Look. Veil gestured with his chin toward the back area that had been hidden from Nigel’s view until now. He pointed toward the deck where crowds had gathered near the ballroom on the lake.
“Why don’t you check for yourself?”
Veil released the hand he was holding and spun Nigel around.
Spin. The world turned. Brilliant lights and laughter scattered dizzily. And the moment the rotation stopped, Nigel’s gaze landed on the spot Veil had pointed to.
“…!”
Just now… did our eyes meet?
Nigel blinked once beneath his mask in that brief moment. Among the countless crowd, the only person not wearing a mask stood there.
Rowen Ashfield.
Nigel immediately looked at Veil Khalid. With a message full of reproach—you said no one would recognize me if you changed my hair color.
Brazenly, Veil spread both palms in the air.
“Ah, I changed it properly. I just didn’t know that bastard Rowen had eyes this sharp.”
“……”
Rowen was frowning as he looked in the direction where Nigel and Veil were dancing. He wasn’t dressed to participate in the eve festival. Rowen’s shoulders were heaving greatly, as if he had run all the way here wearing just Kaiserion’s regular uniform.
‘Don’t tell me… he stopped by my room.’
Nigel’s mind spun rapidly.
He had definitely told him he would rest, and despite Nigel refusing like that, Rowen would have attended his room instead of the eve festival. Naturally the room was empty, and thinking his sick friend had disappeared, he probably turned pale and searched this vast school like crazy. Worried he might have collapsed. Worried something might have happened. And at the end of that frantic search, what he witnessed was.
Damn it. Nigel made an expression of dismay. It wasn’t just that he lied to that guy. He had definitely tried to tell the truth at first. This happened because he unnecessarily lied on impulse.
“…Focus on the dance, Nigel.”
Veil whispered in his ear while strongly embracing Nigel’s waist.
“If you don’t dance properly, other people will misunderstand. That I didn’t force you here.”
“…Let go.”
Nigel said more in a voice so low it was almost a murmur.
“Let go, Veil. I need to go explain properly first…”
“Go and do what? Make excuses? ‘I was really sick but suddenly got better so I came out to dance’?”
Veil smiled bitterly and didn’t let Nigel go. Rather, he pressed even closer as if to show off. Even knowing Rowen was watching.
“It’s already too late. That guy saw everything, and you’ve just become a liar. But so what? You and Rowen aren’t really in love anyway, are you?”
It was cruel but true.
“So just leave it. Okay?”
Rowen disappeared into the crowd without looking back.
“Rowen…!”
Nigel lifted his foot to catch him.
Urgh. But his body collapsed before he could even take a single step. Pain like someone crushing his heart consumed his entire body. The headache that felt like it would split his head returned.
I need medicine. The conversation with Veil Khalid had lasted longer than initially expected.
“…Let go.”
Nigel’s voice was tattered like wet paper.
But far from letting him go, Veil embraced his waist crushingly and let a low voice flow into his ear.
“I can’t let go. I said it’s a breach of contract, Prince.”
The body heat felt from Veil’s palm was much hotter and rougher than usual. Nigel’s consciousness grew hazy from that heat.
Why does the body heat feel so hot?
The perfectly slicked back black hair fell messily onto his white forehead, soaked with sweat. Urgh. He gritted his teeth with all his might against the splitting headache. The neckline revealed below the silver mask trembled with pain, and between his tightly closed lips, white teeth bit into red lips, beading droplets of blood.
Move aside. After murmuring, Nigel pulled out the medicine bottle he’d kept in his pocket. And just as he quickly opened the cap to take a sip.
Bzzzzt— Thump, thump, thump!!
The bracelet on Veil’s wrist vibrated as if screaming. The red jewel blinked madly, seeming to dye even the surrounding air red.
“Urgh, huh…!”
Nigel staggered and grabbed the lakeside railing. Because of that, the medicine bottle, from which he’d barely swallowed one sip, rolled away across the lake surface. All the medicine inside the bottle spilled out.
Damn it. Resting all his body weight on the cold marble railing, he gasped for breath. His vision flickered red and tinnitus rang in his head like tens of thousands of bells ringing simultaneously.
“Nigel! Hey, snap out of it!”
Veil, who had rushed over belatedly, caught Nigel’s shoulder. But Nigel didn’t even have the strength to shake off his hand. He just gripped the railing crushingly and forcibly moved his burning lungs to inhale air.
Hm? Veil deeply frowned when a certain feeling swept past. Right now, the artifact’s energy inside Nigel’s body was beginning to activate again.
A terribly familiar coldness surged up from deep within Nigel’s lungs. The creepy sensation of skin shrinking and joints becoming abnormally soft.
‘…No, not now. Don’t tell me, right now?’
It was the exact same precursor he’d felt a few days ago when he transformed into a frog again.
Nigel tried to put strength into his fingertips gripping the railing, but the sensation between his fingers was already growing distant.
“Hide me…”
Nigel spat out as if coughing blood, his forehead pressed against the railing. His unfocused amethyst eyes, rippling with tear-filled heat, caught Veil’s gaze.
“What did you say?”
Veil instinctively realized. Even without Guardian’s Eye, which keenly detected the body condition of someone the wearer liked, he could tell at a glance that Nigel’s current state was abnormal.
“Hide me, Veil Khalid…! Right now…!”
Before that desperate scream could even finish, Nigel’s body collapsed at an unrealistic speed. The last thread of reason supporting him snapped.
Ssshhh—! Thud! Clatter—
The silver mask rolled across the floor making a sharp clanging sound, and the suit Nigel had been wearing fluttered on the railing like shed skin that had lost its owner before spilling down.
Just as surrounding gazes were about to pierce like arrows, Veil Khalid moved faster.
Whoosh!
Without a single moment’s hesitation, Veil spread his red cloak wide. He swept up the pile of Nigel’s clothes falling to the floor and the ‘something’ inside them with his cloak like catching them, embracing them and pulling them strongly into his arms.
Then the wide velvet cloak draped down like a curtain, perfectly blocking all sight.
“…Ha. What on earth is happening…”
Veil’s rough breathing filled the enclosed space inside the cloak. With trembling hands, he slowly looked between the loosened shirt collar inside his arms that had lost its owner.
There, a fist-sized green creature was trembling.
Moist skin covered in mucus, and above all else, vivid amethyst eyes. Those eyes contained the light of Nigel Kaiserion, who had been arrogantly glaring at him just moments ago.
…Ribbit.
