“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head?”
Serdin anxiously asked while checking my condition.
“…You’re bleeding here.”
He looked at the scrapes on my elbows and knees, feeling upset.
‘It’s not that big of a deal.’
So stop making that serious face.
However, Serdin’s stern expression didn’t seem to soften.
Meanwhile, the children who caused this situation were busy shifting the blame among themselves from a distance.
“What are you doing? You should have been more careful!”
“Oh, no. It looks like the princess is hurt…”
The children were at a loss, nervously shifting their weight from foot to foot.
“Should we take the princess to a doctor… or call someone?”
Derek, who had dropped me, hesitantly tried to approach.
“Step back. I’ll take her.”
Serdin said, shielding me and pushing the children away.
“Who do you think you are, ordering us around?”
“I can’t trust you, who hurt the princess.”
Serdin blocked them from getting any closer to me.
“Then call someone else. I’ll leave if you do.”
Serdin’s strict attitude, treating them as threats, made Zaynan agitated.
“You think you’re something special just because you’re a prince? Everyone knows you’re an outcast in Ilnord.”
Serdin’s eyelids twitched at the blunt remark. His calm demeanor cracked for the first time.
But it was brief. Serdin quickly regained his composure.
“You hurt the princess,”
He said calmly, stating the fact.
Zaynan’s face flushed with anger.
As Zaynan fumed and Derek looked helpless, Miller, who had been silently observing, spoke up.
“Wait a minute. Let’s be clear, you’re the one who refused to hand over the princess.”
“Yes.”
When Serdin firmly answered, Zaynan’s face contorted with fury.
“Let’s just go.”
Miller spoke as if he had been waiting for Serdin’s response.
“What if he tattles on us when we leave?”
“We’ll just say he’s lying. Serdin the prince was already with the princess when we arrived.”
While Zaynan pointed at Serdin angrily, Miller had already calmly calculated the situation.
His gaze was fixed on Serdin.
“Huh…?”
Zaynan blinked slowly, doubt flickering in his eyes.
“You’re right! Who would believe a hostage prince over us?”
Derek, who had been rolling his eyes, clapped his hands in realization.
“Plus, he’s alone and there are three of us.”
Miller added the final word. Confidence surged back into Zaynan.
“You’re right. We were officially invited, but that hostage prince just showed up out of nowhere. Clearly, he’s the more suspicious one.”
Zaynan smirked, looking unusually vile for his age.
Once they felt they had the upper hand, they moved quickly.
“Let’s go.”
Zaynan, who had been playing the leader, turned first. Miller and Derek followed closely.
“…Huh.”
Watching their retreating figures left me speechless. They were more shameless than I had thought.
The children disappeared quickly into the distance.
Honestly, I didn’t feel like stopping them.
Yeah, it’s easier for me if they just leave.
But now, what about Serdin?
When I looked at Serdin, he was just staring at the disappearing children without any reaction.
It didn’t seem like he was planning to leave, right?
What was he thinking?
It was hard to read Serdin’s intentions.
Honestly, it would be best for Serdin to leave too.
“Ugh…”
So I waved at Serdin, telling him to go.
Since it’s not a serious injury, I can go slowly even if it’s uncomfortable.
As I tried to go alone…
“Ouch?”
Ouch. It hurt.
I collapsed on the ground.
My left leg wouldn’t support me. As soon as I stood up, I lost my balance and fell.
‘Darn it.’
It didn’t seem like my leg was broken, but I couldn’t stand up right now.
Great, now it’s even windy.
“Are you okay?”
Feeling a bit sorry for myself, Serdin lifted me up.
“Were you very startled? It’s okay now.”
As he spoke, he brushed the dirt off my clothes.
Despite having fallen while running to me in a panic, Serdin’s appearance was a mess, but he didn’t seem to notice.
He was completely focused on my condition.
“You mustn’t be harmed. Never.”
Serdin’s relief was almost looks so desperate.
‘He must have been really worried about me.’
It was unexpected. Though I hadn’t seen Serdin much, I remembered the look in his eyes when he first saw me.
I never thought he’d be kind to me.
‘No, come to think of it…’
Maybe he never really disliked me?
Serdin had always been good to me.
Was I misunderstanding him?
“No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”
Even now, he promised in a sweet voice that seemed almost excessive.
‘But why is Serdin doing this for me?’
To say it’s genuine without any other intentions… I couldn’t figure it out.
I couldn’t guess. The cautious look he had when he first saw me wasn’t my imagination. But soon, I got my answer.
“I’m going to make you my ally.”
Serdin’s meaningful words weighed heavily on me.
So that’s what it was.
It was easier to understand why Serdin was helping me than I thought.
‘Does he think I won’t understand?’
From a young age, he was trying to make me see him as an ally, so that even after I grew up, I would follow him blindly.
Sometimes, emotions built up from childhood can become everything.
He planned to manipulate me to his liking.
‘A novel idea.’
It was a direction I hadn’t considered, but Serdin’s actions were now clear. It was simpler when the noble children bullied me openly.
He chose a method of enduring until he got what he wanted while hiding his intentions.
A harsh thought for someone around the age I was when I found Delight.
But it also meant that such a young child was that desperate to survive.
‘Did he find his own way to survive?’
For some reason, I didn’t want to blame him. Instead, I found it amusing.
‘But would that work on me?’
There was a significant flaw in Serdin’s plan, one that he couldn’t foresee.
“I will always be on your side from now on. You can trust me.”
With unwavering eyes, the child promised me.
It seemed he would keep that promise, no matter how long it took, as long as I ended up liking him blindly.
That made Serdin’s ambitious plan even more unfortunate.
I wasn’t an ignorant baby. No matter how brilliant and persistent his schemes were, they would end in vain.
I needed to observe Serdin’s actions a bit more.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you there this time too.”
Serdin knelt on one knee to carry me and then knelt on the other knee while looking at me.
“Ouch.”
Now I noticed Serdin’s pants were torn, and blood was seeping through. His scraped knee was pressed against the bare ground, so it must hurt.
Nevertheless, Serdin wiped his leg once and then reached out to me.
“Princess, it won’t do to go like this.”
Serdin was right. He couldn’t carry me with his knee in that condition.
Just as I thought that, Serdin’s hand touched my head.
“Your hair looks so tangled.”
So when he said we couldn’t go like this, he meant my hair?
More than that, what’s with teasing me when he’s supposed to be nice?
“Waaah!”
My tangled hair protested as it got caught between his fingers.
As Serdin combed my hair, my head tilted back, and my whole body almost toppled over.
“Are you okay?!”
Fortunately, before I completely fell, Serdin supported my head and stabilized me.
Worried I might fall again, he firmly positioned himself behind me. Then he resumed fixing my hair.
But then.
‘He’s quite nice, isn’t he?’
Despite never having combed someone else’s hair, his careful touch didn’t caused any tangle on my hair or make me feel pain by his act.
As I admired Serdin’s diligence.
‘Don’t fall for it!’
Even knowing his intentions, I almost fell for it. I needed to stay focused.
All this kindness had a purpose.
Still, his gentle touch on my hair relaxed me.
I naturally relaxed and let Serdin handle my hair. He was diligently moving his hands when he spoke to me.
“I’m better than those kids, right?”
Suddenly, what was he talking about?
“I won’t bother you like those kids. I’ll do everything you want. Isn’t it much more fun and comfortable to you?”
Oh?
“You can look forward to it.”
…This was slightly tempting.
