[SYSTEM]
This is not how ‘winning favor’ is supposed to work!
Ring ring ring!
A system window appeared consecutively.
[SYSTEM]
Do you really think you can win favor like this? How about doing it properly while you still can?
Nah, not interested.
Ignoring the system windows that blocked her view, Shekina looked down beneath the carpet.
It wasn’t very high, so Benita, who had fallen, probably wasn’t seriously injured, though he must have been quite startled. This might be the first crisis the prince has ever faced in his life.
But Shekina had no intention of stopping here.
He put a hole in Dehan’s stomach, which she had raised with such care—it’s only fair that he pays the price.
Shekina grinned and drew a summoning circle in mid-air. The ground directly beneath the carpet began to tremble loudly. A monster had appeared.
-^@#@$%!*!!
Benita’s scream rang out beautifully.
“This is it.”
Not wanting to frighten the little one too much, she summoned a monster with a basic summoning circle. How kind of her, right? It wasn’t that big, so Benita could probably run away…
Hmm?
-&^*%$#!~@#!
Why isn’t he running?
Shekina poked her head out from the carpet. Instead of running, she saw Benita sitting down and crying, unable to move.
“What’s this? A scaredy-cat.”
Someone like that, acting all pompous as a prince Even though he was still young, Shekina couldn’t bring herself to empathize with him. But she couldn’t torment him further. If she left him there any longer, he might actually faint.
‘If he faints and doesn’t know that I saved him, that’s not good.’
Shekina pulled the carpet forward and began to descend. As she got closer to the ground, she could hear Benita’s voice.
“Mother! Waaahhh!”
In moments like this, he calls for his mother. Shekina suddenly realized that the concept of ‘mother’ was something from a long time ago for her, and she felt a twinge of bitterness. Life is truly cruel, isn’t it?
Thud!
Shekina landed on the ground and shouted while passing between the legs of the moving monster.
“Your Highness! Run! Now!”
“Huh? What?”
“Run, I said!”
Benita, who wasn’t stupid enough to not realize that Shekina had come to rescue him, so he gathered all his strength and stood up then running.
“Keep going! Run!”
Shekina chased after Benita, glancing back briefly. The summoned monsters were still confused, wandering aimlessly. Shekina lightly snapped her fingers, and immediately, the monsters began to walk slowly towards Shekina and Benita.
“Ugh, aaah! They’re coming!”
“Run faster! Faster!”
Of course, Shekina knew the monsters were following her orders, but she pretended not to know as she kept pace with Benita’s running.
She glanced back again. The monsters were closing in at a dangerously narrow distance.
“Your Highness! Over there! Jump down there!”
“What? Jump?”
“Trust me!”
Shekina grabbed Benita’s hand tightly and shouted.
In that moment, Benita could forget the coldness of the white snowy mountain. The hand Shekina was holding was so small and warm.
“I’ll jump!”
Swoosh-
They slid down the hill as though riding a slide. Just before they jumped, Shekina had given an order, so the monsters didn’t follow them. As soon as they slid down, Benita, ready to run again, realized that the monsters were no longer chasing them and slumped down.
“Haha…”
His heart was pounding. He could barely breathe, his tongue tingling. But the fact that he could feel this was proof he was still alive.
Benita patted his chest a few times before raising his head.
He looked at Shekina, whose cheeks were flushed red from the cold, her eyes wide open.
Benita couldn’t be angry about nearly dying because of the monsters. After all, it was Benita who had agreed to go watch the monsters, and the reason for this crisis was because the magic carpet had broken down.
“You could have escaped, but… you came to save me.”
That was why Benita was even more moved by Shekina. After he had fallen, the carpet had returned to its original state, so Shekina could have easily gotten away.
But instead, she had held his hand.
Having grown up in the imperial palace, where people were always eyeing him, Benita had never thought that someone would come to save him in this distant northern land. He felt his heart warming and took a deep breath.
“Thanks to you, I’m alive. If it weren’t for you, I would have died right there.”
She wouldn’t say, ‘It’s the trap I set.’ After all, Sekina was a pro at lying. Instead of answering, Sekina simply gave a sly smile.
“Actually, I was thinking of just leaving you there.”
“…What did you say?”
“Your Highness bothered my subordinate.”
“………”
Benita suddenly realized what he had done wrong. While he was wondering what to say, Shekina opened her mouth again.
“But… well, I can’t just leave Your Highness as you are. It was just a momentary, bad thought. Please keep it a secret.”
Seeing Shekina speak awkwardly, Benita felt a deep sense of shame.
What have I done since coming here? I’ve been holed up in my room, causing a scene after stepping outside, and almost dying on this snowy mountain. Compared to that, Shekina…
It’s embarrassing. I just want to hide if there’s a mouse hole.
“I didn’t properly apologize for that. I’m sorry. I got so worked up at that moment…”
Whether she ignored me or not wasn’t important anymore. What mattered was properly thanking Shekina and apologizing for saving my life. So…
“I’ll apologize to that child as well.”
If Ferda had heard this, he would have clapped his hands in delight at the promise. Shekina could now feel the burden on her chest lifting, and at the same time, she realized that Benita wasn’t as bad as she had initially thought.
‘I was too harsh on such a young kid.’
Shekina scratched her cheek and turned her gaze to the sky.
Then…
Ring!
[SYSTEM]
You’re really taking advantage of this, huh. Annoying.
Through the blurry system window, another system message appeared.
Sub Quest <Win the Prince’s Favor> Completed!
Is this what they mean by giving poison and then giving medicine? Cheers to you for getting craftier by the day!
(Next time, don’t do this again.)
Reward: Imperial Family’s Secret Stories Collection
Failure: Death
Blah blah blah, no need for the noise.
Shekina felt the ‘Imperial Family’s Secret Stories Collection’ in her inner pocket, heavy with reward, and giggled.
“Let’s go back!”
Shekina hummed a tune as she grabbed Benita’s hand and ran, so she didn’t notice Benita’s flushed face.
***
“Wow.”
Arthur briefly admired as he looked out the window. There, Shekina was playing with the twins, and Prince Benita was nervously approaching them. It looked like he was trying to ask to join, in a very submissive manner.
Arthur had been worried about Benita getting into another fight with the twins, but seeing this, it seemed he didn’t have to worry after all.
A few days ago, Benita had almost been seriously injured in a monster attack. Thankfully, Shekina had been with him and saved him, or the prince might have met a tragic end.
‘Well, that monster was probably something Shekina summoned herself.’
Arthur chuckled, recalling what Shekina had said.
– First, I’m going to make him pay.
– I won’t kill him! But I will make him pay!
And she really did handle it… Arthur covered his mouth and barely contained his laughter. He then turned to speak to Yuriel, who was sitting across from him.
“Has Dehan woken up?”
“Ah, yes! He woke up this morning. According to the doctor, he’s fine now. There’s no need to worry anymore. Th-thank you.”
“Well, you don’t need to thank me. You should thank… the King.”
It was so awkward to know that Yuriel knew their true identities!
Arthur scratched the back of his neck and clicked his tongue briefly.
“And, by the way, Prince Benita came and apologized. He said… he was sorry…”
“Ah. A great improvement.”
So there was nothing more to worry about.
It seemed like the situation inside the castle was finally settling down.
“Well, then, we can turn our attention outside.”
“Huh?”
“The Northern Temple.”
Arthur tapped the desk with his fingertip as he spoke.
“First, we need to take control of that.”
That…
Is it really okay for the demons to take control of the temple?
Yuriel felt a little confused.
