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Don’t Pull the Sleeping Dragon’s Scales (5)
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
By the time Caesar’s left arm was almost healed, the summer solstice festival began in the Northwest Alpentus, where the duke’s residence was located.
Caesar looked excited a week before the festival. He heard from Hamilton that the summer solstice festival is the festival that everyone is most looking forward to.
“You’ve been to a festival, right? How was it?
Sword class with Leonard.
Caesar, who was hanging himself over the thick branch of the garden tree, asked Leonard and me, who was in the middle of class.
“Don’t disturb the class and go.”
“No way. You don’t want to go to a festival?””
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s annoying.”
“Why is it annoying?”
“There are only three kinds of people who like festivals. A child, a pickpocket, or a child pickpocket.”
“Aren’t you a child too? You’re the youngest among us three.”
Caesar screamed in annoyance. I don’t think he knows that he is the one who acts like a child the most out of the three.
“Anyway, Alpentus is a rural town, so even if there’s a festival, there’s not much to see, Your Highness.”
Leonard paused the sword he was wielding and accepted Caesar’s words.
“But I am curious. Somehow, I want to see the messy and noisy festivals of the common people.”
“Wow, you’re annoying.”
If I weren’t a princess now, I would have hit him.
“If you’re so curious, you can go there.”
“Hamilton won’t let me go.”
Well, I understand. Release an energetic child on the street during the festival? Whew, how can you control that?
“If the three of us say we will go together, wouldn’t the Viscount allow it?”
“Whoa, what’s that? Leave me out. I’m lazy and it’s too troublesome.”
“What kind of things don’t count as troublesome to you?”
“Teaching my brother swordsmanship.”
“Ugh, I feel sorry for Leonard that you are the master.”
“No, Your Highness. Our Helena is a very good teacher.”
“Did you hear that? My brother can’t lie”.
“These siblings are really…!”
Caesar frowned as if tired of it.
I pointed at Caesar with my wooden sword and said as if warning him.
“Anyway, I’m not going to a troublesome place like a festival. I won’t go even with a knife in my throat. So, don’t even think about putting me in. okay?”
***
But two days later.
“Why the hell am I here…?!”
It’s so frustrating that I’m slowly getting used to this pattern.
In front of the stalls on the festival street selling souvenirs, I was in despair, standing with Leonard and Caesar on either side.
The store owner giggled and said to me, “I’m jealous that you have handsome young men on both sides.”
Hey, you don’t know anything. The reason these bastards are standing on either side of me is to prevent me from escaping!
“To mislead even the Viscount, the nagging of this incident will last an hour or two.”
Just 30 minutes ago. Under Caesar’s leadership, we have left all of our servants, including Hamilton.
The last face of Hamilton, who had been weeping at us running away like squirrels, kept flashing before my eyes.
“It’s okay. Even if we turn on Hamilton and blame him instead, he won’t be able to refute because he is the one who lost us in the first place.”
“Wow, how did you develop your intelligence in such a bad way?”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“That is an insult.”
“It’s because you don’t know Hamilton. Do you know how nagging even the smallest things can bother people?”
Well, I think I know what that is.
He was timid and straightforward, so he was restless about small things. It must have been quite tiring to hang out with him.
‘But I’m nervous because I’ve felt a strange presence since before.’
I thought with my eyes lowered on the souvenir badge on the stand.
In fact, after breaking up with Hamilton, strange signs followed. Since I lived in a peaceful environment after reincarnation, my gut feeling has become very dull. However, it is by no means an illusion.
‘Pervert or pickpocket? A kidnapper?’
Three well-dressed children are walking around unaccompanied. It’s natural to be the target of bad guys.
How annoying. This is why I didn’t want to come out.
I grumbled inwardly and looked back slowly. I was thinking of looking at which direction the sign is coming from.
‘Huh?’
But unexpectedly, I found a man staring at me at the entrance of the alley.
A young blond young man was staring openly at me, regardless of whether or not he was caught.
‘Is this the person?’
After a while, the young man disappeared into the alley.
“Oh!”
“What’s wrong, Helena?”
“Sorry, I’m going to go somewhere for a second. Both of you, wait here.”
“What? Helena! Helena?”
Leonard called me urgently, but I left them alone and headed toward the entrance of the alley where the man had disappeared.
But even though I thought I had run pretty fast, I couldn’t see the man.
“What? What did he do?”
“My name is Noe.”
“…!”
The voice came from behind my back.
I was startled, then instinctively widening my distance and looking back. Behind my back was a polite blond man standing and looking at me.
How strange. I saw him go into the alley. How did he stand behind me?
“I really wanted to see you. You have grown up really well.”
What is this guy doing?
A pale face and a wretched body. Green eyes that look weak. Age is around mid 20’s.
No matter how much I look back on my memory, I’ve never met a man like this. But the man seems to know me well.
The man even knelt down on one knee in front of me.
It doesn’t seem like they have any intention of attacking me. I couldn’t feel any malicious intention. But why? There’s this bad feeling crawling all over my body.
“I’ve been waiting for you to be born. My treasure, my god, my savior. My one and only king.”
“… What?”
“How does time pass so slowly? This collapsing body is just mean.”
“What are you saying? Please speak properly so that I can understand.”
What’s with this guy? Is he crazy?
The man bowed his head to my frowned expression. What? Are you crying? You’re crying?! Are you kidding me?
“Helena!”
While I was standing there, confused, Caesar and Leonard came running from the other side, calling me.
“Your companions are coming.”
The man got up and wiped his tears with the back of his hand.
“I will see you again soon. Before my breath runs out, I will make sure to do it again.”
“What? Hold on!”
The man quickly disappeared into the alley as if running away.
I tried to follow suit, but soon I failed because my arm was held by Caesar, who was standing by me.
“What are you doing?!”
The furious Caesar soon caught and stopped me.
In the meantime, the man completely disappeared from my sight. Literally disappeared. No matter how fast you walk, can you disappear so quickly?
No, let’s calm down Caesar, who is angry at me now.
“Why are you mad at me?”
… Well, speaking out, the remarks just now seem to have little effect on calming down. Maybe I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
Sure enough, Caesar was even more angry and shouted with veins on his neck bulging.
“It’s dangerous to go around alone! Who the hell is that guy?! What did he do to you?!”
“He didn’t do anything.”
“If he really didn’t do anything, the atmosphere wouldn’t be like that!”
“Really. He just asked for directions and I taught him.”
Caesar’s eyebrows narrowed even more. Leonard’s expression is also strange. It means they don’t believe me.
Well, it’s strange to think of an adult crying while asking a child for directions. In this case, it is better to move on from the topic quickly.
“More than that, let go of my hand before talking. It hurts.”
I grimaced, and only then did Caesar let go of the hand he was holding on to.
I know he was worried about me, but Caesar is too hot-tempered.
“That… How about going over there and resting for a while?”
As an awkward current flowed between me and Caesar, Leonard, who was standing by, stepped forward as if to intercede.
In the end, the two of us nodded vigorously to the well-timed offer.
***
We moved and sat down on the stone steps.
“Listen, Helena. Even if a stranger asks you to buy a cookie, you shouldn’t follow them recklessly.”
“What… I know that much.”
I replied graciously to Caesar’s advice. I can’t believe I’m being advised not to act like a child by young children.
‘By the way, that guy.’
He called himself ‘Noe’. Since there is no last name, there is a possibility that it is an alias.
Anyway, me.
He called me the ‘king’.
‘In addition to that, he called me god, savior, and all kinds of names that gave me goosebumps.’
Still, the title ‘king’ is bothering me. Even saying that he waited for me to be born.
Is he, by any chance, someone who knows about my past life?
“Helena, you don’t look good. Did you hear anything unpleasant from that man earlier?”
Leonard’s, who was sitting next to me, worried voice made me raise my head.
“Huh? No, it’s nothing.”
I shook my head and smiled brightly on purpose. Talking to the two does not solve the problem, and there is no need to make them worried.
Moreover, the unpleasant feeling is still all over the place.
‘I’m sure he’s still nearby.’
If we meet again, I’ll have to ask him properly. Whether the man is crying or not, I can’t panic and have to do it right.
“As expected, we can’t do this. I think it would be better to have Hamilton.”
Even though I said it was okay, Caesar said so. He is the one who suggested leaving Hamilton first, after all.
“But we don’t even know where he is?”
“He will be waiting at the place where the carriage stopped. If I bullied him, he usually waited in the first place.”
It is not his first time to be misled. No wonder the man [Hamilton] was so good at it.
“Then I’ll be back, Your Highness.”
Leonard stood up, but Caesar shook his head.
“No, I will go. If Helena and I are left alone, we will definitely fight again.”
“Why don’t you and Brother go together?”
“Heh, if you wait by yourself and another stranger gives you a cookie, are you going to follow along?”
“I don’t do that!”
“Wait for me. It’s not that far from here, and it’ll be quicker if I run.”
Well, even if it’s such a small countryside, it will take at least 10 minutes to get there. What do you mean it’s not that far?”
Eventually, Caesar went out to find Hamilton alone.
Hmm, somehow, it looks like our brothers and sisters are bullying the prince. …Isn’t this bad?
After Caesar left, Leonard asked me.
“By the way, nothing happened, right, Helena?”
“That’s right. There was no sign of harm.”
He was a bit of a bad guy, but he certainly wasn’t hostile to me.
“I was worried. I thought something was going to happen because you had to overdo what you hated.”
“Well, it’s true that I was too lazy to come out.”
“I knew it. You seem to be very close to His Highness these days, so I thought you’d be okay.”
“I look close? To Caesar? No, how could you say that?”
It was ridiculous and I laughed out loud. We keep raising our voices at each other. Where did he see the closeness?
“You talk informally with His Highness.”
“He said it was okay for Brother to talk casually with him, but Brother refused.”
“Mm, I’m feeling pressured. If we look at that, Helena is amazing.”
Leonard laughed bitterly.
This is what Caesar said. The other side had a hard time even if he told him to speak casually.
“You look like you are treating each other mercilessly.”
“You’re slandering without fault.”
“Anyway, umm, I may have felt a little alienated. Ahaha, is it childish?”
Leonard scratched his cheek with his finger in embarrassment.
Oh my gosh. Brother, you’re the cutest in the world to be jealous of your sister. I hugged my brother’s neck tightly.
“My favorite is my brother. I like Brother a lot more than a bad-tempered prince with horns on his ass.”
Of course! You’re such a kind, cute, shy older brother. I’ll protect you forever!
“And the guy earlier was really nothing. You don’t have to worry at all.”
Yeah, he was just a weirdo.
Now that I can’t feel any signs toward this side, He must have gone somewhere far by now…
‘… Oh?’
Come to think of it, when did the signs disappear?
There was definitely a sign a while ago.
‘Did he give up and go back?’
No way.
If he wandered around with the intention of approaching me again, now would be the right time when one person around me disappeared. He shouldn’t have given up and gone back.
Then there is only one option left.
It means that the ominous sign was not directed at me.
‘Maybe it was Caesar…!’
I came to my senses as if I had been hit in the back of my head.
Damn it.
I was complacent.
If you think about it for a bit, it’s only natural.
A 10-year-old princess who is still nothing, and a prince who has lost power but is still the number one successor. Of course, who are you going to target?
I got up and said to Leonard.
“Brother, I don’t feel so good. I need to pick up Caesar.”
Please, I hope you are my blessing.
If something goes wrong with Caesar here and now, our family will be destroyed as well.