“Did you have a conversation with Irik outside?”
As Redian entered, I saw Irik standing there. Did the two of them have a conversation?
“No.” But Redian laughed lightly as if it was nothing.
“Have you been close since childhood?” Then he asked me.
“Who, with Irik?”
“Yes.”
Close, what a ridiculous notion.
“We weren’t close. Not at all.”
Talking about family or loyalty now felt uncomfortable. Since when have we been so intimate?
“But they say that spending a long time together inevitably brings people closer.” He seemed to be talking about affection.
“Well, I don’t know.” Even to me, my voice sounded stiff and indifferent.
Affection, love, sorrow, excitement, and so on. Living through repeated lives, these emotions had dulled and were almost forgotten.
“Sometimes, Master, you are exceedingly kind.” Redian, who had been watching me, quietly opened his mouth. “Other times, you’re so cold it’s frightening…”
“So, do you dislike it?”
“I like it.” A peculiar smile briefly crossed Redian’s lips. “Most people can’t endure and fall apart.”
Hearing this, I looked up at Redian. Lately, I’ve been feeling that Redian has become quite blatant. There were moments when his blindness toward me was palpable.
“By the way, Rere, the reason I called you.” I deliberately changed the subject and handed him a letter hidden in my sleeve. “Would you like to read this?”
“What…”
“You’ll see.”
Silence filled the room while Redian read the letter.
Will he feel something?
It seemed like I could only hear my own heartbeat and the pulse of my gaze on him.
Isn’t he surprised? But Redian’s expression remained calm as he handed the letter back to me.
“This is a letter from my mother, Claude.”
Yes, it was.
Since I had assigned the task to the empress, I had to start my preparations. Redian needed to desire the insignia to enter the goddess’s lake and complete the ritual.
“What do you think?”
I thought that if Redian’s hand touched the letter, it might reveal something left by Izel, but that wasn’t the case.
There must be something. The letter returned to me with no change, the same as Redian’s expression.
“…About what?”
“Rere, in our underground castle, there is an heir to the Rixon imperial family among the Norma.”
How long had I waited for the moment to reveal this secret? Having found the evidence, the ‘Claude’s letter,’ I could spoil this much. But I couldn’t yet say ‘That heir is you’ since it was still huge news.
“Do we have someone who can become the crown prince among us?”
Why did he react as if I was talking about some passing dog?
That crown prince is you!
Barely suppressing my frustration, I answered. “Can you guess who it is?”
“No.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“No.”
But in the end, I had to shut my mouth. This won’t do.
To perform the ritual, he needed the ambition to claim the crown prince’s position. Only then would he find the courage or malice to enter the goddess’s lake, where he might melt away.
To make Redian perform the ritual with his determination… Besides the feeling of revenge, what could provoke him?
“If.” Even as I spoke, I glanced into the air. Since I was attaching a condition, it wasn’t a spoiler, just a hypothesis. “What if you, Redian, were the crown prince in this letter?”
“Does Master want me to become the crown prince?”
“What if I did?”
“Then I will.”
Huh?
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I won’t.”
As a knight, it was an incredibly loyal and excellent answer.
“I’m saying you might be the heir to Rixon, Redian.”
The problem was that he wasn’t destined to remain my knight.
“So, this isn’t something you can leave to me. It’s your will and your destiny.”
“Ah… If I become the crown prince.” Then Redian’s expression turned strange. “I will be of higher rank than you, Master.”
I definitely saw the smile that briefly crossed his lips.
Was his goal really to become higher than me? Why? After following me so obediently.
“Yes. I would kneel before you.”
Anyway, it was a predetermined future and my goal to achieve. I had no choice but to push him by any means.
“And I would have to do as you say and follow your every word.”
Of course, once Redian became the crown prince, I would run away so it wouldn’t happen.
“Then I will.”
At that moment, the previously calm blue eyes flashed.
The crown prince of Meteora. He showed little interest in that phrase, even though it would make everyone else go crazy…
What exactly are you planning to do to me? His eyes changed as soon as he heard that he could control me.
“So, you’re considering participating in the ritual?”
“Yes.”
“If something goes wrong, your body could melt in the goddess’s lake.”
“I will do whatever it takes to reach where you are, Master.” His answer was concise.
He is desperate to surpass me. If it sparked any ‘desire,’ it was fortunate.
“It seems you were serious about wanting to surpass me.”
Knowing the future, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why haven’t you eaten anything?” Then, Redian noticed the plate beside me.
Daisy had brought me fruit, but I hadn’t had time to eat.
“I don’t feel like it.”
“Master, do you know you’ve lost more weight recently?” Redian frowned slightly at the untouched plate. “They say you skipped dinner last night and went to bed at dawn.”
“How do you…” I had been troubled by Daisy lately, who said all my clothes had become too loose.
“You collapsed not long ago. But the next day, you were right back in the office. Sometimes, Master, you-”
At this rate, Redian would start nagging too.
Ah, yes. Suddenly, a brilliant idea came to my mind.
“You’re tired from training every day too. Here, eat.” I picked up a red cherry and offered it to Redian’s lips.
“…” Redian, who had stopped speaking, stared at the cherry.
“Hurry.”
The cherry was coated with syrup. Redian, who didn’t like sweet things, was naturally reluctant. He couldn’t scold me for something he wouldn’t eat himself.
“If I eat it, will Master eat it too?”
“Yes. We can share it.”
Finally, his lips, as red as the cherry, slightly parted.
“…”
Unconsciously, I found myself staring at the sight. Having lived through countless lives, the charms of handsome male leads didn’t work on me. But seeing Redian’s lips, whom I had always treated as a baby because he was the youngest… They are pretty…
I couldn’t deny the fact that I flinched for a moment.
“Why isn’t Master eating?”
“Alright. I’ll eat.”
With Redian forcefully eating, there was no escape. As I hastily picked up a cherry, it slipped from my hand and rolled onto the floor.
“Oh, it’s fallen, so I can’t eat it. I don’t want to touch it because it’s sticky.”
It felt fortunate. I came up with the excuse that the sticky syrup coating made my hands sticky. Muttering regretfully, I looked up. “Well, I guess… huh?”
“I’ll give it to you.”
Redian brought a cherry to my lips. The sweet scent and cold touch were close enough to feel distinct.
“…You said you’d eat it.”
It seemed his gaze wouldn’t leave my lips until I ate. Feeling awkward, I opened my mouth.
It’s too sweet.
As the cherry rolled gently into my mouth, his hand lightly touched my tongue before withdrawing.
Maybe it was because of his gaze watching me or the strangely tense air, but it felt like time had slowed down.
“It must be sticky. I’ll give you a handkerchief to wipe.”
I tried to change the unfamiliar atmosphere by turning my head. But,
“I will definitely climb higher than you, Master.”
I couldn’t. It was because Redian calmly licked the fingers that had touched my lips.
“Then…”
The blue eyes that contained me were smiling.
“There will be many things I can do for you, Master.”
Not once did his gaze leave me.
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I- *dies*
this slow burn is killing me ughhhhh