CH 91

The lively eyes were empty again.

Looking at the eyes that I had planted with desire to live lost its liveliness again, I reached out my hand without realizing it.

He was silent instead of rejecting my hand brushing his hair.

“It must have been very hard.”

“The emperor, perhaps because he thought about my brother, he didn’t give any affection to me, and the imperial consort . . .”

As if his throat was tight, he stopped.

From some moment, instead of using the word ‘mother’, he naturally addressed her with the imperial consort.

“I wondered if I should at least fight, so I told His Majesty that I want to learn swordsmanship.”

He skipped what he had been talking about and changed it to another topic.

“His gaze staring pitily at me is still clear.”

A prince learning swordsmanship from the palace’s imperial knight could be seen as an opportunity to lay the foundation for authority.

If he gained authority, the one who would get his life in danger was the second prince.

Thus, perhaps that was the reason he entrusted it to Orion, who was politically neutral.

“Master is really a unique person.”

For the first time, the prince’s voice was mixed with a bitter tone.

“That day when I held the sword on our first meeting, I rolled around the drill hall and fainted.”

“Sorry?”

“He said I, who was less than ten, to have such dead eyes is because I haven’t gone through much hardship.”

The prince, who was treading his memory with Orion, suddenly had his hand trembling.

I was dumbstruck at his reaction that obviously wasn’t only caused by the cold.

Orion, what did you do?

I recalled Orion Miller’s face while he was shyly fiddling his fingers in front of me.

Of course, he, who made achievements at a young age and an honorable captain of a knight order, wouldn’t be completely soft and gentle, but wasn’t the other party only a young prince yet?

“Will you continue to learn? I answered yes to the emperor who asked that. I held the sword just like I wanted, but that’s all.”

Even if he gained achievement, there was no one to pay him attention.

Since the crown prince, whose position was already made perfectly from the start, couldn’t be his rival, he had no one to learn together and compete with.

The children of high-ranking nobles wouldn’t make an effort to be seen by the second prince, a child of the imperial consort and not even the crown prince.

Without saying anything, I paid attention to the prince’s story that was told in a low voice.

“I thought Master was a fair person to everyone. How he pulls no punches in fighting his opponent in training, how he avoids private talk, how he always keeps his distance, I thought all his behavior to keep his neutral position as the heir of the Miller Family to be natural. I thought he did that not because it was me in particular.”

“. . .”

“However, today, I realized it when I saw his gentle smile and treatment of you.”

Something strange flashed on the prince’s eyes that was looking at me.

He continued his words in rage.

“Master was simply hated me. He was forced to be my teacher following the emperor’s order.”

“No. That . . .”

I reflexively refuted the prince’s words, but because I couldn’t think of a suitable word, I turned stiff.

I felt like seeing ears and tail that kept drooping behind the young prince, who was pretending to be calm.

“People tend to be strict the more they have expectations.”

“Master didn’t treat me strictly but harshly.”

“. . .”

I silently resented Orion.

I was only breathing, but I felt like I became the worst villainess who snatched the last expectation and hope of the pitiful young prince, who grew up walking on eggshells since he was young.

“It’s fine. After witnessing everything in person, it was easier to admit it.”

What did you witness, though?

I couldn’t bring myself to ask that, so I reached out to pat him, but suddenly,

“There’s no one who cares about me in this world. It’s rather comfortable now that I’ve emptied my heart.”

A disheartened smile came over the scruffy face of the boy.

While he drew a soft smile as if he would go to the side of God right away, I grabbed his shoulder.

“Prince, that’s not it.”

There was a sadness beyond reckoning inside the smile that took a philosophical view in life.

I wanted to pull my hair when I looked at his tearful eyes.

Why do people always become tearful when they see me?

What kind of wrong did I do in my past life?

I felt like I seriously needed to have a serious conversation with Orion after I got rescued and returned home.

In particular, an in-depth discussion about Orion’s training method and his attitude toward the young prince was needed.

“No matter how, I’ll make Orion’s heart-”

Before I could finish saying that I wanted to return Orion’s heart to him, a flapping sound came from the deep part of the cave.

The prince, who was drawing a faint smile, was shocked and then sticked close next to me.

“It’s fine. It must be a winged animal. Judging by its sound, I think their size is not big enough to threaten us.”

He tried to hurriedly step back with an awkward face.

I grabbed his shoulder then carefully said.

“It’s fine. For now, it might be better for us to stick together. It is important to maintain the temperature.”

After faking a cough out of embarrassment, he looked at me and nodded.

“I will stay next to you until master comes to pick you up.”

“He will come not for me, but ‘the two of us’.”

“. . .”

He silently lowered his gaze.

Then, I added to him, who seemingly changed from a pessimist to a fatalist.

“If you could return safely despite this kind of situation, it means that at least the goddess of fortune is with you.”

“Well, that’s right.”

The prince nodded and gave a positive answer for the first time.

“When master trained me hard, I also thought that I’d soon die, but I survived. He always finished the training before my breathing stopped.”