CH 123

After hearing what she said, Olivier burst into laughter, but he soon placed a large slice of bread in Radis’ hand.

Catching the bread’s scent, the swans waddled towards her.

Radis readily crouched down and reached out to them, and she exclaimed.

“Their beaks are so ticklish!”

Olivier smiled as he watched Radis gushing excitedly, happily surrounded by swans.

A passing wind, carrying winter’s deep scent, blew in.

The wind carried laughter as well, of the children running along the riverside as they were in a good mood after receiving silver coins.

‘Ah…’

As Radis was laughing freely, a thought suddenly came to her.

‘I… I’m happy right now.’

Whether it was her unfortunate past, her uncertain future, or her reluctant secret—at this very moment, the happiness she was feeling in the present was enough to forget about it all.

Radis slowly stood upright. And, she looked at Olivier.

Olivier was looking at her as well.

His face was red, and his gaze was infinitely warm.

When she saw the smile on his lips, she could feel the throbbing of her heart growing louder.

Olivier’s lips opened, and he called her name.

“Radis…”

There was a tremor in his voice.

The short silence that followed felt ever so long, as if an eternity had passed.

Radis wanted to know.

What words would follow eternity?

So, she took a step forward and stood right in front of him.

But right then—

Something flew straight at them.

“……!”

Without having the leisure to find out what it was, Radis immediately deflected it.

Unconsciously, she pulled up her mana, and—clang!—a metallic sound rang out.

Olivier’s face turned pale at once.

“Radis!”

A commotion ensued.

Five knights, who were stationed nearby, split up.

Two of them ran to chase after the attacker, and the rest ran towards Radis and Olivier.

“Your Highness! Are you alright!”

“I’m fine.”

Still with a sickly pale face, Olivier grabbed Radis’ hand and inspected it.

Overshadowing his concern however, Radis’ hand was perfectly fine.

“I’m fine, too.”

Radis pulled her hand back and picked up what she had struck.

It was a sharp dagger.

There’s a chance that it was laced with poison, considering that it was shiny around the blade.

“Your Highness, there you are!”

Olivier winced and took the dagger.

And he immediately gave it to the knight.

However, it looked like the knight had yet to grasp the importance of the item.

The knight chucked the dagger into a bulging satchel, which certainly looked like it was already carrying a variety of other items.

Shocked to see this, Radis spoke urgently.

“It doesn’t have any special features of note, but that item is a significant piece of evidence, Your Highness!”

“Radis, it’s dangerous here. Let’s go back to the carriage first.”

“Ah, yes!”

Radis looked around, her eyes wide open for fear of yet another weapon being thrown at them.

Olivier urged Radis into the carriage, close behind her as though he was covering her. After they’re finally in the safe confines of the carriage, he let out a heavy sigh.

“That could have been a disaster.”

“Your Highness, that was an assassin, right?”

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

Olivier examined her hands and arms again, gingerly touching them. Then, as if relieved by Radis’ words, he let out another sigh.

“What a relief. You were lucky. Please don’t do that again.”

“What do you mean, Your Highness? If it happens again, of course I’ll do the same thing.”

“No, you can’t. You mustn’t!”

His reaction was unexpectedly strong, and at this, Radis’ eyes went wide.

There’s something wrong.

Despite being the third prince of the empire, he was telling her that she shouldn’t protect him. It also didn’t seem like he was surprised by the assassination attempt thrown at him not long ago.

And Olivier was more concerned about Radis’ wellbeing rather than his own. This was, above all, the strangest thing.

Olivier explained briefly.

“This happens all the time. I’m used to it, but please don’t try to stop it on your own. You’ll get hurt.”

“All the time…?”

Radis unconsciously grabbed Olivier’s arm.

“This happens all the time?”

When Radis asked, Olivier’s lips became a straight line.

As if he was a plaster statue that had been forced to harden.

He spoke in a quick cadence, as if he was handing in a report.

“Not all the time… My escort knights are always alert, so any assassins are usually stopped by the knights before they could even try. I went out of the Imperial Palace today, and they’ve made a great effort to put up countermeasures in case another assassination attempt happens.”

“Your Highness.”

“But I didn’t think that you could be put in danger. It’s all my fault.”

“Lord Olivier.”

Radis firmly called his name.

And, she spoke slowly, keeping her eyes locked on his.

“I’m fine. This isn’t your fault, Lord Olivier.”

Even considering these circumstances, his violet eyes seemed truly unshakable.

‘But it doesn’t look like that to me.’