Khalid’s biggest ally was the Duke of Tessa.
If we recall that Khalid was preparing something until the very end, there must be some hidden power in the Duke’s family.
“Grandfather is truly a man who follows typical chivalry.”
Now that I think about it, when they made Raul emperor, Khalid stepped down very naturally, and Duke Tessa was no threat either. So, at that time, Velia was only slightly wary of Duke Tessa and did not pay much attention to him.
I remember that Raul initially hated talking about Khalid, and the emperor openly supported Raul, so Velia only cared about making the public opinion of the nobles and the people of the empire positive. Because Raul was a man who had a lot.
“What do you plan to do in the Duchy of Tessa?”
“I’m going to look around the knights and meet my grandfather after a long time.”
Velia tilted her head.
Why do you want to meet Duke Tessa now? He must have already passed through the duchy and reached the Kingdom of Ronica. But he plans to stay there again.
‘Are there any special preparations?’
I didn’t know much about Khalid.
Velia, once again surprised by this fact, leaned her body towards Khalid and asked.
“What do you usually do in the imperial palace?”
“what. I just spent time lounging around. “Because no one is interested in the second prince.”
Velia felt a sense of distance from Khalid’s answer. It felt as if he was deliberately avoiding answering. This was my first time doing something like this.
I was embarrassed that Khalid, who always said he would give me everything, was hiding something from me like this.
“Still. “I have a lot of work to do, so it’s not like I just have fun.”
“well.”
“… … “Don’t you want to answer?”
Khalid traced Velia’s slightly stiffened expression with his gaze as if he was amused.
“I’m glad you’re interested in me.”
“… … Khalid.”
“okay. “You just call my name like that.”
Velia sighed as she watched Khalid keep telling different stories without answering the questions I asked.
“I don’t want to doubt you.”
As Velia’s expression turned sour, Khalid’s heart sank.
“Now, when I leave for the empire, the only person I can trust is you, Khalid, but if you hide something from me like this, there is no one I can rely on.”
Velia bit her lip.
She was sad. It’s just that her emotions were infinitely sad.
‘What should I do, you?’
Khalid covered his face with one hand.
“Velia.”
“It might be funny to say this when I have something to hide from you, but… … .”
“no. It’s my fault.”
Khalid stood up and approached Velia.
Then she knelt down on one knee in front of Velia, took her hand, and kissed her.
“… … I’ll tell you everything when I get to the Empire. Really. So please wait until then.”
“okay.”
We’ve already come too far to make a deal with his heart.
It is right to tell everything and prepare together.
That’s the right way.
Velia stretched out her arms and hugged Khalid’s neck.
* * *
Khalid slowly walked down the stairs.
And when we arrived there, Raul, who had already prepared to leave, was talking to King Ronica.
“I will go back and say goodbye to Abama.”
“Thank you. “Please return safely.”
Raul, who was talking intimately with the king, discovered Khalid.
The king turned his head to follow those gazes and said with a warm smile.
“haha. “Then let’s have a conversation between brothers.”
“… … Thank you for your consideration.”
King Ronica disappeared, taking other nobles and attendants with him.
Khalid came near Raul.
“There are only two of us left, Khalid.”
“That’s right. “It seems like it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other like this.”
The two exchanged greetings as if they were not happy to see each other at all.
Because in the empire, we avoided even chance encounters as much as possible.
In any case, the emperor rarely called Khalid aside, and Raul went in and out of the emperor’s office every day to get his face stamped. Although it was a better thing because it freed Khalid’s actions.
“You used your brain quite a bit this time, didn’t you?”
After hearing Raul’s words for the first time in a while, Khalid raised one corner of his mouth awkwardly.
“What really? “If I were to use this as my head, wouldn’t you be disappointed with my hair?”
Raul didn’t like everything from Khalid’s tone to his expression, but he still smiled to save face.
“Don’t think this is the end.”
what the. Takes care of everything.
Khalid smiled similarly, very warmly.
Then Raul’s expression hardens.
“… … “You don’t think that just one gold mine will change anything, do you?”
“of course. “I haven’t even started yet.”
‘It will be me who becomes emperor.’
Khalid and Raul had the same thought in mind and smiled, hiding their sharply sharpened swords in their chests.
For the day when I will plunge this knife into the back of that guy in front of me.
“Princess Velia, the gold mine, and the subjugation of monsters… … . okay. This time you were lucky. “I admit it.”
Khalid felt lucky himself, so for the first time in a long time, he confirmed Raul’s words. Of course, it wasn’t like he was laughing and saying, “Haha, haha, it’s fun,” so he asked a little crookedly.
“I don’t think that’s an attitude of recognition?”
“haha. “What are you talking about?”
Raul laughed heartily.
Leisurely, as if you were no match for him.
Khalid, who hated seeing that, said with a very deep smile.
“If you feel wronged, go and cry and cling to His Majesty. “You’re good at something, right?”
If something happens, I quickly run to His Majesty and tell him.
“Khalid.”
“Being a beloved prince. “Is it really comfortable and good?”
“That’s harsh.”
“Should it be just my brother? “It’s like this because I saw everything and learned something.”
Raul could not bear it anymore and opened his mouth to say something.
“Princess Velia… … .”
“stop. “Don’t talk about my girl like that.”
Khalid was very annoyed that Raul brought up Velia with such a lingering look on his face.
“Hey, brother, you usually get tired of everything quickly. “I don’t like seeing him obsessing over the fact that he wasn’t chosen.”
Khalid sarcastically patted Raul on the shoulder.
So stop paying attention to Velia now.
“… … “Go to the empire first.”
Raul bit his lip in exasperation.
Khalid did not forget to scratch his insides until the very end.
“Take care of yourselves. “Don’t make fun of the life you saved.”
“… … .”
Raul jerked his body around without any response. Then he hurriedly led the knights and left the castle. Khalid watched the scene until the end without taking his eyes off and slightly tilted his head.
There was a bright smile on his face.
* * *
It had been a while since she had gone on a picnic to the forest near the castle, and Velia was very excited. This was her first time here since she regressed. From Velia’s perspective, it was more than 10 years ago that she came to this forest.
“And then I fell.”
Khalid stretched out her hand towards her Velia. Then Velia laughed and took her hand.
“You can’t go beyond this!”
Then she stepped forward with all her might and stepped over the next rock. Khalid shook his head as if he couldn’t stop her and followed her with a smile on his face.
“Velia. “How are you feeling since it’s been a while?”
“I’m really, really happy.”
“Aren’t you happier when I’m by your side?”
Khalid asked playfully.
Then she ran in front of Velia, smiling at her at her bash.
Normally she would have just laughed it off, but she soon smiled brightly and said yes.
“yes. “Thank you for coming with us.”
Khalid thought it was his first time seeing Velia smile so brightly. That expression of smiling, as if he was truly happy, without thinking and just focusing on his emotions, kept coming into my eyes and remained like an afterimage.
After seeing her Velia’s smiling face, I realized that she was not smiling because she was truly happy.
“I wanted to spend time like this before you leave for the Empire.”
Khalid walked with long strides and stopped next to Velia.
Then, when he held out his arm, Velia laughed out loud and grabbed her arm.
“If I had known it would be like this, I would have gone outside more often.”
“I know, right. “I never thought about leaving the castle together.”
“When we get back to the empire, we can hang out together. “I know a lot of good places here and there.”
Velia felt awkward hearing the words “hang out” come out of his mouth. She may have felt even more cheerful because she knew that in reality she couldn’t.
“great. I go here and there to have fun. Leisurely.”
Khalid and Velia walked through the forest holding hands for a while. I watched the sunlight coming down through the trees and creating a pillar of light, and I also quietly listened to the sound of a small stream flowing.
Then, I spread a thick cloth on a small hill and sat down comfortably on it.
“Ugh.”
Velia lay down on her back, stretching her arms.
If her queen, my mother, saw her like this, she would nag her, saying that this was not what a princess should look like, but for now she just wanted to take it easy.
When Khalid saw Velia lying down on her back, he laughed and she lay down next to him.
“Isn’t the sky pretty?”
“okay.”
“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen the sky like this.”
The slow movement of the clouds seemed somehow relaxing. Just leaving it to the wind and letting it flow along.
“The sky was always this blue and clear… … .”
Why was he walking in such darkness?
“Velia?”
“ah. just… … . “I suddenly feel like floating slowly like a cloud.”
Velia laughed heartily.
She said she would tell him everything, but she needed to prepare her heart until then.
Preparation to fully accept the past and become more confident in yourself.
Ready to tell someone about my miserable pain.
Prepare to hold on to the hope that we can create a better future.
It was like that. Velia needed to prepare.
“I have a home in the Empire.”
Then, out of nowhere, Velia turned her head to the side when Khalid said something.
“It’s my own home that I built myself. “It’s not something I received from the imperial family; it’s truly my home.”
“How did you prepare it?”
“There’s a lot of work to do. As a representative example, we are running a top. “At first, I thought it was going to be a waste of money, but somehow I was able to establish myself and make a lot of money.”
“Did you buy a house with that money?”
Khalid grinned.
“okay. “It was the first one I had that was mine.”
A mansion built on the outskirts of the capital of the Ingot Empire.
It is a villa built by a fallen nobleman a long time ago, so it is very luxurious and beautiful. Above all, the garden is much larger than the house, so it is endlessly relaxing. Khalid explained with great effort that it was a great place to stay quietly as it was on the outskirts of the capital.
After talking about the house for a while, he suddenly smiled brightly and stopped talking. Then he turned his body towards Velia and slowly opened his mouth.
“Let’s live there, Velia.”
.
Thank you for this chapters, dear translator Zoya!❤️🔥