The Lady is a Stalker

Among them, everyone unanimously praised Prince Raven’s personality. He was strong, but he had never once used or abused that power for his own benefit. He was strong, fair, and kind to everyone. But not for the princess…

 

She smiled bitterly without saying anything. Then the second-in-command looked at her with strange eyes.

 

“Oh, that’s right. I have a favor to ask you.”

 

When she asked the second-in-command to give her her spare uniform, he looked at her with a puzzled expression. He did not yet completely trust her and seemed to find her transformation suspicious.

 

“Why?”

 

“I was criticized for my attire, so I need to correct it. Since His Majesty ordered it directly, he probably won’t say anything.”

 

The deputy commander, who heard that the crown prince had given the order directly, nodded in understanding.

 

* * *

 

When he knocked on the door, Prince Raven’s voice came from inside saying, ‘Come in.’ When second-in-command Damian tried to show respect to Raven, he waved his hand as if he was annoyed. The crown prince skipped greeting him and explained the reason for calling him without hesitation.

 

“They said the guys in the north are arrogant and keep climbing up without even knowing the subject. They are acting unruly in my jurisdiction. I needed someone to test a new weapon on, and it just happened to be good. The expedition was set for 7 days. You can use it right away until then. Make sure you prepare as well you can. I think we’ll need about 20% of the troops.”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

 

It was an admirable sight no matter how many times he saw it. The crown prince, who had been explaining tactics without hesitation, befitting his 14-year-old appearance, suddenly looked slightly hesitant, uncharacteristic of him. This was Damian’s first time seeing the crown prince hesitate like this, so he became interested in what he would say.

 

“…Was the meal okay?”

 

“Yeah, well. It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve had real food.”

 

“…okay?”

 

The crown prince’s eyebrows gradually rose upward. It was clearly an expression he made when he was in a bad mood.

 

“Yes, the others pretend not to be like that, but they seem to be satisfied, and even though I deliberately pushed them hard during afternoon training, they all seemed to be in good spirits. After all, people need to eat well.”

 

“…”

 

The more Damian used his mouth, the more the Crown Prince frowned. Damian approached the crown prince with a pretentious smile.

 

“Don’t be so angry, try eating some of this. You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, right? Normally, people become sensitive when they don’t eat well.”

 

Damian forced the cookie he received from the princess into Raven’s mouth. It was an action that could have been seen as extreme, but Damian had no hesitation. This was because he knew that Raven would not get angry at his subordinate whom he cared for by playing around like this. Raven sighed softly and chewed the cookie that had been shoved into his mouth as if he had no choice. As expected, he was a kind and gentle person. Oh, except for just one person.

 

Damian asked with a grin as he looked at the Crown Prince who took and ate the food he gave him.

 

“It tastes okay, right?”

 

“…Yes. It’s not too sweet and just right. Where did you get it?”

 

Wasn’t this a pretty good bakery? He asked casually, thinking that Raven would let his subordinates taste it later. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his lips.

 

“Oh, I didn’t buy that, it was something the princess made. What was its name? …Ah, may I tell you this?” 

 

However, the answer that soon came from his direct subordinate clearly upset him.

 

“What?”

 

Suddenly, the scent of the savory cookie remaining in his mouth felt dull. He got goosebumps to the point where he wanted to vomit right away, but he had already swallowed it.

 

“It’s annoying.”

 

“Why do you hate her so much?”

 

Damian was originally the only commoner knight belonging to the imperial palace, but his abilities were recently recognized by the crown prince, and he was serving as Distian’s second-in-command. That meant it hadn’t been long since he joined this army. He had heard rumors about Princess Seravi so well that his ears were worn out, but to Damien, she was such a stranger that he couldn’t even remember her name yet. Today he finally got to meet her in person, but it felt a little different from what he heard about her. The rumors were always exaggerated, so I half believed them and disbelieved the other half, but seeing her in person made him wonder how the rumors and herself could be so different. Damian once again realized the meaninglessness of rumors. Raven responded to his question with an annoyed tone, as if asking such an obvious question.

 

“She keep clinging to me.”

 

Damian thought.

 

‘Ah, is this crown prince overly self-conscious?’

 

He didn’t know he was that kind of person. He was the type of person who had so much self-esteem that he thought all the women around him liked him. Damian could only think that way. That’s because the princess who he met for the first time today was different of what the crown prince said.

 

“She doesn’t seem to have much interest in you.”

 

“What?”

 

‘Ah, I wasn’t going to say this.’

 

The crown prince, who was suffering from a disease of hyper-self-consciousness, was so unlucky that it ended up coming out of his mouth. At those words, Prince Raven’s eyes widened as if he had heard the most absurd thing in the world. Raven may have reacted unconsciously, but he covered his mouth as he made a loud noise. He soon put down his hand, looked slightly dissatisfied, and spoke in a slightly angry tone.

 

“You’ve seen it with your own eyes. She’s crazy about me. She’s giving me that gooey look and this cookie is suspicious too. She must be trying to trick me. .”

 

If that’s the case, the princess held his hand today and even smiled brightly. It seemed more credible that the princess liked Damian.

 

‘I’m not as self-conscious as others, so I didn’t have that illusion at all.’

 

That’s how much the crown prince thought, ‘The princess is crazy about me’, which sounded like nonsense.

 

“Fucking stalker. She’s such a creepy girl.”

 

Well, don’t men sometimes feel like bragging? Princesses weren’t his style, but her face was flat. He must not disturb the crown prince’s pride any longer. Because it’s annoying. Damian thought so.

 

“Yes, I think so.”

 

* * *

 

Five days have passed since the crown prince began fasting. The reason was, of course, because of her. The Crown Prince did not come out of his commander’s office at all, and he did not appear to be eating anywhere else. But from that day on, kitchen work naturally became her job. This was because no one wanted to do difficult and cumbersome kitchen work. Since she took on the difficult work on her own, no one complained, even if they laughed at her for being ugly.

 

For the first few days, the soldiers ate their food, worried that it might be poisoned, but they knew that she had no reason to poison them. But their trust in her was at an all time low. The first time, only after she tasted the food in front of them before meal time did they lift their spoons. But today, as usual, when she tried to eat first, the soldiers waved their hands as if they were annoyed and put the food she had prepared into their mouths without hesitation. Well, that’s a good thing. Was it safe to say that a very slight relationship of trust has been formed?

 

Still, she only gained the natural trust that ‘food is not poisoned’, and her relationship with them was a trust thinner than a transparent glass film that would shatter as soon as she touched it. Anyway, from that day on, she was unable to meet the crown prince at all. He was always attached to the commander-in-chief’s office. He sometimes seemed to go to the imperial palace, but if he had no business to do, he didn’t bother to stop by. To the crown prince, the royal family with whom he shared blood were not people he had a close relationship with, to the point where he could even call them family. The imperial palace was a place where one could not feel safe, with bloodshed due to secret royal strife 24 hours a day.

 

In particular, since the threat of assassination was always lurking for the Crown Prince, it would be better for him both physically and mentally to be here. Because the Distian military base was one of the safest places in the world. Unless it’s her who was targeting his chastity. Because of what happened last time when she cornered the crown prince in front of his subordinates, her image to him would be the worst right now. Rumors were spreading among the soldiers: ‘The commander-in-chief’s behavior is strange these days.’ ‘Every day, a voice that seems to be cursing Princess Seravi comes from the commander’s office.’ If things continued like this, she felt like he would kill her at any moment before she even became an adult.

 

No matter how generous he was to the whole world, wasn’t he strict when it comes to her? Compared to what Princess Seravi had done, it could still be said to be lenient, but the priority was to get him out anyway. It’s as easy as dealing with a child who threw a tantrum because he didn’t want to eat.

 

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