"You're driving me insane. Why do you have to keep doing this to me? Did you suddenly decide to change the way you harass me? Everything is so strange because of you. It's like I'm the only one going mad!" Spit was almost flying out of his mouth as he finished and he took a deep breath as if trying to calm himself down. The Prince, who never broke a sweat even when next to a roaring fire was now sweating, bowing his head and breathing harshly. His tight grip on my shoulders were painful, but I couldn't say anything.
I tried to be as blunt as usual, but I was overwhelmed by his reaction.
…My, what have I done? I relied on my past memories about the Prince, but I didn't know he would actually burst out in anger like that.
…I really didn't know!
In this sticky situation, I may have been harsh when I told the Prince about my health but it was still a hundred times better than what the old Celebi would usually do. However, when the Prince who was known for his warm and good personality to suddenly explode with anger just like that there must've been something that went wrong.
I started to reach towards the Prince's hands that were shaking my shoulders and I shakily opened my mouth. But as soon as I touched his hand, the Prince shuddered as if he touched a dreadful worm.
It was an unconscious reaction, but he didn't forsake my hands. It seemed like he knew that I didn't have any sexual intentions.
"I… I'm sorry…"
“…”
I didn't know why I should apologize, but I just hoped apologizing would calm the situation. Even with my apology, however, the Prince said nothing and only dipped his head.
Do your contemplations by yourself!
I didn't want to interfere with his thoughts, but now it was getting hard to endure. I whimpered, "I, I think… my bones might break…"
At my words, he looked confused and took his hands off my shoulders. The Prince seemed to have been so absorbed in whatever he was thinking of that he didn't notice he was still holding onto me.
My shoulders were throbbing with pain thanks to him. Even though the Prince is 14 years old, his grip was far stronger than that of an average adult male. I didn't want to show any weakness so I tried to be quiet, but I couldn't help but let out a small groan of pain.
For a long time the Prince didn't say anything, but then he faced me and said decisively, "…Do you remember?"
“…”
"The day you first killed a person."
There was no emotion on the Prince's face as he said that. He was so cold that it was hard to believe that he was the same person who exploded at me in anger earlier.
I couldn't face his dead eyes so I bowed my head without saying anything. The moment Celebi committed her first murder…
As for the cause, of course it was because of the Prince. Unfortunately, the author never wrote the name of the victim but they did write about the incident. Celebi had a misunderstanding as she saw Prince Raven and another girl together, so she rushed towards the lake and pushed her. Although the incident was handled as an accident, the Prince felt responsible for the poor girl's death for the rest of his life.
And after that incident, Celebi became aware of her feelings and started to obsessively stalk the Prince. Kidnapping, confinement, violence, drugs… All possible means were used but they all resulted in failures.
With a deep sigh as if he was thinking about all the hardships Celebi troubled him with, the Prince said, "Now… okay. I'll listen to you this time. If you die because of me, I won't follow you."
He had a very tired and resigned look. "…My men have said that you're done with your old ways, but I don't believe it. People don't change that easily."
"…"
"No matter what you do, I will never ever like you." That sounded more like a pledge for the Prince than a declaration to me.
“…”
On another note, even though I hated being in Celebi's body, I was glad that I ended up in a country under the Prince. She probably wouldn't be able to hear me now, but if she did I wouldn't be alive anymore for talking well about her beloved Prince.
As for this situation right now, I didn't know what to say. I kept opening and closing my mouth until the Prince sighed and stepped away.
"…Excuse me," he muttered and disappeared out of the room.
I was left to my own thoughts in that empty room.
There are actions in this world that can be forgiven, and those that cannot. The deeds done by Celebi belonged to the latter. Besides, in this world full of justice, the righteous Prince would never be able to forgive Celebi for committing murder.
If the Prince were to like me, even just a little bit, that could only be considered a miracle.
Since that day, the Prince showed up at mealtime as promised. It took a lot of effort, but I'm glad he kept his promise. That didn't mean we were getting along however. Rather, a cold wind blew even more than ever.
In the first place, Prince Raven wasn't someone who would outspokenly push someone asking him a favor away. The only exception was of course, because of Celebi and her previously actions.
Even if I were to try to see him again, I don't think I should because of all the people that the old Celebi hurt.
Despite my personality being different than the old Celebi, the Prince didn't know that yet. I was still at risk of being treated as a psychopath if I shared my circumstances and I had no right to explain them to the Prince anyway.
It was a relief just to act as usual despite the Prince having high morals. Anyway, since that day, I haven't tried to reach out to the Prince anymore. He hates 'me' and I don't want to further hurt him when I know he doesn't like it. If I approached him with pure intentions, without any doubt the Prince wouldn't believe me and that would make things difficult. In fact, I was as good as in a state of abandonment now. But now that I know how much he hated me, I can't help but be disappointed at how much time I wasted.
It can't be helped anymore since it seems like the Prince would always hate me.
After a long while, I was able to go on holiday. Because I went through so many things, I felt like it was a good time to take advantage of this day to relax.
I left early in the morning to avoid the eyes of the servants.
As a noble, I usually had two bodyguards sticking to me, but I didn't like having people attached to me and I wanted to be alone. So in order to hide the fact that I was a noble, I put on a cloak with a hood covering my face.
I decided to go window shopping today and rest at a coffee shop. I also stopped by the bookstore and later bought ingredients for work before leaving town.
I walked while keeping my head down, but I couldn't help but hum and have a beat to my steps. On the way home, I heard a loud noise and I stopped to look around. The commotion came from a child running into a moving carriage.
"This fucking commoner!" A man who looked like a noble got out of his carriage and started kicking the child on the floor. I felt nervous at how much force he put into those kicks.
It was obvious the noble was at fault so why was he so angry?
“…”
It seems this man has a lot of trouble understanding 'noblesse oblige'. As I thought that I took a step away. I wasn't on the side of justice. By nature alone, I was close to being wicked. I also never killed people like what the past Celebi had done, but I didn't have a personality who couldn't tolerate injustice like Prince Raven. Rather, it was annoying to associate myself with trouble, so I tried to ignore the commotion and turned around.
But then the child ran towards me and grabbed me. They looked up at me with hope of being saved in their eyes. "P-please help me…"
“…”
I glanced down at them. The knight escorting the carriage soon approached us and looked alternatively between the child and me. With my hood on, they couldn't see my silver hair that wasn't common with the commoners.
It seemed that the noble wasn't a high-ranking one either. He had no servants or any other knights accompanying him.
The knight looked at me and asked, "Do you know this child?"
"…Yes I do. What happened?" I let out a little sigh and answered while hiding the child behind me. I don't have a righteous personality, but I can't ignore someone who asked me to save them.
"Hand them over."
"Why? I watched what happened and it was an accident. You hit them first. Please don't hesitate to let the child go."
"That's not going to happen. The Baron has the same hair color as this child and feels disgusted that they having something in common."
"Ah." I spat out lightly in understanding.
Right. How ridiculous… This accident was probably staged.
Translator: Cenetta
Proofreader: Arie Bee
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