CH 96

“……May we go back to the guesthouse now? His Imperial Highness must also be tired, and I think the atmosphere will only revive when we leave.”

“You may.”

Maryam gladly nodded. As soon as she granted her permission, Khalid strode over to Renato. And without giving Renato time to react, the man wrapped his arm around Renato’s waist and led him out of the banquet hall.

“Let’s go back.”

Is he really angry? Renato became restless because of Khalid’s unusually cold appearance. Countless eyes followed the two’s backs as they left the banquet hall. After coming out, Khalid just walked without saying a word. The man only opened his mouth again after getting on the carriage heading to the guesthouse.

“I’m sorry. Because of my incapability, you had to go through something unpleasant.”

Having given a signal to start the carriage, Khalid apologized in a low, sinking voice. Renato, who was nervously looking at him, had a blank expression in response to the unexpected apology.

“Originally, I was going to step up immediately when Marquis Ishbart argued with Nasir. The Marquis is not someone Nasir can face. But noonim……”

Unable to finish his words, Khalid closed his mouth. Before he could take action to stop the Marquis, Renato had already come out of the balcony.

‘Let’s see how the Prince responds to that.’

When Renato had friction with Marquis Ishbart, Maryam stopped Khalid from going to the two. At first, he tried to ignore her, but when seeing Renato fiercely putting pressure on the Marquis, Khalid didn’t think of intervening anymore.

Renato’s response was excellent. He sharply pointed out the Marquis’ fault while also making use of the weapons he had to relentlessly drive the man into a corner.

“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone even if Her Majesty called me……”

Together with his trailed-off words, Khalid’s face also darkened. It was fortunate that Renato successfully suppressed Marquis Ishbart, but it was his role to prevent this from happening in the first place. Because of that, he felt apologetic toward Renato.

“Please don’t apologize. But I didn’t overreact, right? It’s the first time I have done something like this, so I don’t know if I did it right.”

“You did very well. From now on, everyone will be careful with their actions. They would have known that you aren’t someone easy to deal with.”

Khalid emphasized his words to tell Renato not to worry. He then hesitated for a bit before adding some words in a slightly smaller voice than before.

“……You were very cool earlier.”

Khalid proudly smiled at Renato, whose eyes opened wide because of his words. Then, Renato’s cheeks slightly became flushed.

“Marquis Ishbart spoke disrespectful words in front of others partly because he was hot-tempered, but also because he had secretly looked down on me and you, Your Imperial Highness. He probably didn’t expect you to protest so strongly.”

Khalid recalled how Marquis Ishbart called out to Renato with a pale face and let out a chuckle. Truthfully, it was quite a refreshing sight to him.

Over the past few years, the noble faction had downplayed Khalid’s achievements and consistently raised issues about his origin as an illegitimate child. Marquis Ishbart was a leading figure when it came to defaming Khalid. He would often quarrel with Nasir and Amavand.

The way he made the mistake of calling Nasir ‘the grand prince’s dog’ was just his usual behavior. The only difference from usual was that Renato pointed out that behavior and took issue with it.

Since Khalid’s national marriage must have been investigated from the moment it was confirmed as the truth, there was probably no one among the kingdom’s nobles that didn’t know how Renato was treated within the Empire.

Considering the habits of the nobles who were weak to the strong and strong to the weak, they must have looked down on Renato, who had no right to the throne and had no experience in government affairs until 20 years old, and thought that they would be able to deal with him as they pleased.

Renato’s gentle appearance also contributed to that. People of the Khan Kingdom living in cold regions had thick body lines regardless of gender or traits, dark-colored hair, and pale yellow skin.

On the other hand, people of the Fleurette Empire had delicate body lines, light-colored hair, and milky-white skin. Among them, Renato particularly stood out.

Silver hair with a light purple tint, clear and flawless skin, eyes reminiscent of violets in full bloom, a tall nose and beautiful lips, a delicate jawline, slender body lines, together with a graceful and elegant aura.

Among the people of the Khan Kingdom, Renato was like a small flower that bloomed alone on the harsh and rough snowy field. A delicate flower that was beautiful enough to attract anyone’s attention, but could also crumble if held in one’s hands.

‘As expected of the Fairy King’s bloodline…… He has some kind of a mysterious aura. I can’t help but look at him.’

‘Hoho. Didn’t his highness the grand prince, who never had a relationship rumor, passionately court him because he is such a beauty?’

‘But I heard he is not treated well in the Empire…… Hmm, I don’t understand how they can treat such a person like that. Why would a person’s innate trait be a sin? Tsk tsk.’

‘If a Beta has that level of beauty, I wonder what the imperial family members born as Alphas and Omegas will look like. Come to think of it, the 2nd Prince is an Alpha, right? It’s a pity that he wasn’t attending today’s banquet because he was young.’

Khalid was in a bad mood during the entire celebration banquet because of people evaluating Renato. They whispered in quiet tones, but Khalid, who had much more sensitive senses than ordinary people, could hear everything.

But he couldn’t show his displeasure. Since Renato was born with noble blood, it was unavoidable for him to be people’s target of calculations and evaluations. If he showed any reactions to that, the strange one would only be Khalid.

However, starting tomorrow, the gazes toward Renato would change. Everyone would realize that he was a formidable person. Khalid decided to be content with that.

“I’m sure everyone thinking that you were easy to deal with just by looking at your appearance would have been surprised, Your Imperial Highness. ……It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was a bit like that, too.”

“You too, your highness?”

“Yes, it was quite a shock to me, too.”

Khalid honestly answered and rubbed his nape with an awkward expression. To him, Renato had always been someone he needed to protect. That thought became stronger when he helped Renato with hypnosis treatment. But it wasn’t the case a while ago.

‘I don’t want to make connections with people who disrespect my fiancé.’

His lips’ corners secretly went up as he recalled Renato’s words. ‘My fiancé’, it wasn’t a bad word. It had also been a long time since Khalid felt protected by someone.

Khalid swept his hand around his twitching lips to hide his expression. At this moment, he didn’t want Renato to see his face.

“It seems like today is the day I only receive.”

“A day you only receive……?”

Renato, unable to understand Khalid’s words, tilted his head. Khalid softly smiled at him instead of answering. The strange excitement Khalid felt when he came down from the sanctuary rose up again in his heart.

* * *

“Agh……”

Slowly coming out of the bathtub, Renato briefly groaned. He was fine until he immersed himself in hot water, but when he tried to come out, his whole body ached. When the tension disappeared, the fatigue and muscle aches came up all at once.

I guess I won’t be able to get up tomorrow.

Renato rubbed his stiff arms with a worried face. In the past, this kind of muscle pain would have gone away when he woke up from a nap.

But not anymore. Renato accepted that his body was not as healthy as in his previous life. In the past, thanks to the fairy blood, he did not easily get tired and his body quickly healed from sickness, but now it was the complete opposite. Since he never consistently trained, his stamina was weaker than that of an average person.

However, it was bizarre that his fairy blood was still functioning properly. If there was a problem with his blood, the efficacy of the medicine made by Marquis Medus would also decrease, but Renato didn’t hear anything like that.

Instead, the Marquis asked to draw Renato’s blood once more before he left for the kingdom, saying that more and more people were looking for the Snake’s Breath recently. At that time, Renato also wanted something from the Marquis, so he willingly offered his blood.

“I will have to call Baikal……”

Renato sighed, realizing that it was time to deal with what he had been delaying. Without the fairy blood’s help, he realized how hopeless he was. When he was contemplating whether to ask Louis for another painkiller, he heard Khalid’s voice along with a knock.

“Did you finish washing up?”

“Ah, yes……!”

Renato answered in surprise, nibbling at his lower lip while looking at the closed door. What greeted the two as they came back to the guesthouse was a different room from yesterday. Count Horam, who was in charge of the guesthouse, led Khalid and Renato into a couple’s bedroom.

‘In our kingdom, couples share the same bedroom. It is a custom to share body temperature for a warm sleep in the cold weather. We thought that you two would be sleeping together since you had an official engagement ceremony today…… Her Majesty also told us to prepare according to custom.’

Renato, who thought they would sleep in different rooms just like yesterday, couldn’t hide his surprise. Count Horam noticed his expression and explained why he had led the two to the same bedroom.

Eventually, Renato and Khalid entered the bedroom prepared for the two. Renato couldn’t refuse because it was the kingdom’s custom and Maryam’s order.

“Huu……”

Standing in front of the bathroom door, Renato deeply inhaled, then exhaled. From the moment he heard Khalid’s voice, his heart strangely fluttered.

We are just sleeping in the same bed. We slept separately last night, but didn’t I sleep together with Khalid for the past week? There is no reason to be nervous now, none at all……

Renato hesitated, repeatedly grabbing and letting go of the blameless doorknob. He couldn’t understand why he was so nervous.