Episode 85

“Yvonne…! Ah… Yvonne…”

Hildebrandt pressed his ear to her chest, desperately trying to determine if she was still alive.

Fortunately, she wasn’t dead. Her heartbeat was faint, and the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed was almost imperceptible.

“Summon the royal physician! Quickly, call the royal physician!”

Hildebrandt’s panicked voice rang out, but the gazes around him remained cold and detached.

“Please… Please, someone, bring the royal physician…! I beg you…!”

He poured his magical energy into Yvonne, hoping that it might help restore her strength. For a moment, he wished desperately that he could manifest a healing ability. But for a royal child to manifest their ability before reaching adulthood was exceedingly rare.

Even so, he thought that if he could stop growing at thirteen to gain the power to heal her, he wouldn’t mind.

“What a situation, Prince.”

“Your Majesty…!”

The emperor appeared, carrying a bow over his shoulder. Behind him stood many attendants. At a gesture from the emperor, they approached the bloodied Yvonne and began channeling healing energy into her.

As Yvonne’s color slowly returned, Hildebrandt placed a trembling hand under her nose. Her breath was returning, and her breathing grew steadier.

“You said you didn’t like your fiancée.”

“…”

“And now, look at the trouble you’ve caused.”

“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“There’s no need for the Duke of Ferrite to apologize. The prince is no longer my child.”

The emperor patted his older brother’s shoulder with a strained smile. The Duke of Ferrite, meeting Hildebrandt’s eyes, glared at his son with cold, severe anger. Hildebrandt used to fear that look, but now he felt only relief that Yvonne was alive.

“Still, since you’ve harmed the daughter of the Marquess of Le Meredin so grievously, there must be consequences.”

“…”

“Confine the prince to the west tower.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Make sure he doesn’t take a single step outside until I give my permission.”

“Understood.”

“As for his meals…”

The emperor glanced mockingly up and down at the Duke of Ferrite before speaking.

“One meal a day should suffice.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Take him away.”

At the emperor’s command, the guards dragged Hildebrandt away to the west tower.

* * *

In the tower, Hildebrandt refused even the meager meals he was offered.

Knowing that Yvonne was hurt because of him, he stopped eating altogether, curling up in the darkness as he waited.

“Well, you haven’t eaten again, have you?”

“…”

The maid who initially tried to encourage him to eat had grown accustomed to his silence and lack of response. It was becoming clear that if this continued, the prince might die.

But the emperor showed no concern. He was well aware that Hildebrandt had stopped eating.

Most parents would have been frantic if their child, regardless of their wrongdoing, was starving themselves to death. They would have berated their servants until the child was forced to eat.

But even Hildebrandt’s own father, the Duke of Ferrite, seemed to have entirely withdrawn from his son. And the emperor, of course, followed suit.

“If that child dies, it’s not the servants’ fault. It’s his choice, isn’t it?”

He had even said those words with a twisted sense of mercy. The ministers were already proposing new candidates for the prince’s position.

Everyone knew why Hildebrandt refused to eat.

Everyone understood that it wasn’t truly Hildebrandt who had pushed his fiancée off the cliff. They knew the emperor’s ability, a supreme power unmatched in the Bricesys Empire.

No one, especially those who knew Hildebrandt had been adopted for his intelligence, believed that he would have shown signs of madness before entering the palace.

Even the lowest servants understood that the emperor had used hypnosis to force Hildebrandt to harm his fiancée.

Yet no one spoke of it. No one cared enough to question it.

* * *

“I will leave now, Your Highness. Just in case you change your mind, I’ll leave the food here.”

The maid, relieved that Hildebrandt didn’t look her way, left the room.

Hildebrandt crouched in the dark, listening to the sound of rain. The steady rhythm of raindrops was oddly soothing. It reminded him of the feeling he had when he first met Yvonne, which made his chest feel unbearably tight.

The reason he hadn’t been immediately stripped of his title as prince was because Yvonne was alive.

But he knew he would never see her again.

The emperor had likely undone the hypnosis on him after that day. It wouldn’t do for traces of such manipulation to be discovered if a powerful sorcerer came to the palace to investigate. It was better to remove it before the body was found.

Even though Hildebrandt’s body was emaciated, he didn’t feel hungry. He thought that if he could die like this, it would be a relief.

Breathing became difficult, and even sitting upright was too much effort, so he let himself collapse to the floor. The gray sky outside the window blurred in his vision.

The one time he had slept peacefully was when…

‘How’s my heartbeat?’

He longed to hear the sound of Yvonne’s heartbeat again, but now he had to press his own wrist to his ear and listen to his own.

* * *

Despite his weakened state, he still lived, perhaps because of the immense magic within him. His stomach ached terribly, and even opening his eyes felt like an ordeal.

Why can’t I just die quickly?

He thought this as he lay on the floor. There was a bed in the room, but he didn’t think he deserved to rest on it.

Knock, knock.

It must be the indifferent maid again. Hildebrandt breathed out in frustration without opening his eyes.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Today, the maid’s persistent knocking was unusually irritating. But he lacked the strength to be angry.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

Clank.

When he continued to ignore it, the door opened by itself. While he had always had the same maid during his time here, perhaps they had finally changed her.

But he was too exhausted to care and kept his eyes shut, pretending to sleep.

The footsteps entering the room were light and cheerful, as if the person took pleasure in checking on the dying prince. A bitter laugh escaped Hildebrandt’s lips. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who wished for his death; he almost felt as if he were being welcomed.

The rain continued to drizzle outside, the scent of wet earth mingling with the fragrance of hydrangeas that filled his lungs.

He heard the clinking of objects and caught a faint smell of food, suggesting the maid had brought his meal again. Yet the scent of flowers lingered for some reason.

When he cracked open his eyes, he saw the new attendant arranging a bouquet of hydrangeas in a vase he hadn’t known was there.

The figure was smaller than the previous maid’s. While the other maid had been an adult, this new one seemed barely old enough to work in the palace.

It was common for slightly affluent commoners to send their children to serve in the palace, hoping they might eventually earn a minor noble title or catch the eye of a baron or viscount.

“Hum, hum.”

The new maid seemed completely unaware of Hildebrandt’s presence, humming a tune as she bustled around the room. She arranged the flowers in the vase, then began wiping down surfaces with a damp cloth, paying no mind to him.

The food she had brought was covered, likely with a warming spell to keep it hot until he chose to eat. The faint magical aura emanating from the cover suggested it was no ordinary item.

“…”

The maid continued to hum her mysterious tune, moving about until she headed into the bathroom.

Crash!

Startled by the noise, Hildebrandt’s eyes snapped open before he quickly shut them again.

“Ouch…”

Her voice was high and clear, a youthful tone. There were more sounds—clattering and shuffling—as if she had fallen and was now getting back up. He had never seen a maid clean the space he occupied. Usually, if he ignored them, they would take the hint and leave.

No one willingly cleaned the tower where the exiled prince was kept. This maid, too, would stop such pointless efforts once she understood how things worked in the palace.

Besides, he was a man on the brink of death. The fact that she was cleaning for someone who was doomed made it clear she didn’t know why Hildebrandt had been confined here.

Remembering his misdeeds, Hildebrandt felt the anxiety rising again, unable to calm down without listening to a heartbeat. He pressed his wrist beneath his ear, pulled the blanket over his head, and curled up tightly.

“Hilde, are you really asleep?”

The scent of hydrangeas filled the air again, making him tense. He felt a hand gently brush his forehead, pulling back the blanket he had pulled over his head. Before he could react to the discomfort, his eyes snapped open.

“Hilde.”

The voice calling to him was unmistakably Yvonne’s.