Millard was involved in many unusual accidents as a child. He’d fallen into a well, injured himself after tripping somewhere, gotten strange wounds, and was bedridden with a fever from eating something wrong.
Today she could clearly see that Aiden was kind to her, even if it was a mere act. She was a direct princess with a beautiful face and voice, so it was natural for her to be pampered as his best asset that could be sold anywhere.
Since she didn’t know anything, she’d missed out on all the truly valuable things. Alone, Leona cried a little that day.
* * *
In the basement of Prince Aiden’s palace. The smell of blood was overwhelming. As the prince threw down his whip while gasping for breath, Count Dieterand approached and wiped away the blood that’d splattered onto his cheek with a handkerchief. The servants began to methodically clean up the traces. Aiden slumped into a chair and flung off his gloves.
“Is the princess all right? Did she take all her medicine?”
A servant by his side bowed his head in response.
“Yes, she even ate all the candy.”
“Did she not fuss at all?”
“She did pout a bit about your highness being too busy, wondering if it would only get worse once you become the crown prince.”
A sly, pleased smile appeared on Aiden’s face. It was a smile of possessiveness and satisfaction, as if listening to a cherished bird he’d raised sing for him.
“Indeed… Tell the healers to be on standby. The princess will likely develop a fever soon.”
“Yes, your highness.”
The servants retreated with pale faces. Aiden stared intensely at the light illuminating the darkness and then rubbed his brow.
“She’s indeed sweet, but troublesome… Always doing whatever she wants.”
“Though she is beautiful, being willful is not necessarily a flaw.”
“It’s because she’s beautiful that it’s a flaw. She needs to charm Aslan Nautilus with that face and voice…”
“Have you decided to send her Highness off to marry him?”
“I’ve informed his majesty of this.”
“Did the king have any comments about her Highness’s marriage?”
“He willingly agreed. For now, he’s considered the best man in the kingdom of Cor Leonis. He must think whatever happens, he will protect her.”
Aiden nodded, then picked up a goblet of wine that a servant had just brought and sipped from it. His refined demeanor bore no trace of the cruelty of having just killed someone for making too much noise while walking.
“He’s a general who brought victory against the empire, after all. Even if he had a sister, it wouldn’t have been appropriate for her to marry me. Luckily, he has none, and I have one, so it worked out.”
“…That is most regrettable.”
“Enough about that. What’s done is done. Those fools, having captured Meyer’s son and then letting him escape…”
Count Dieterand bowed even lower.
The border of the fertile kingdom of Cor Leonis, adjacent to the powerful Formillas Empire, was always coveted by the vast empire. Aiden made a bold decision. He offered part of this grain-rich land to the empire, and in return, made ‘Crown Prince Aiden’ the subject of the peace agreement. He’d calculated that a defeated kingdom would not be able to refuse the demands of the empire. With this, he wanted to put an end to the endlessly delayed crown prince appointment.
As part of the plan, he’d kidnapped the son of Senis Meyer, one of Aslan’s subordinate officers, and sent him to the Empire. He then incited Senis to poison Aslan, but the plan failed. Senis somehow got his son back and the kingdom was victorious.
However, a victory was still a good outcome. Aiden finished his wine and took a fresh glass. Then he stared vacantly at the now spotless basement.
“This is actually for the best. If the triumphant general becomes my brother-in-law, his majesty can no longer delay my appointment as crown prince. Since the failure of the plan is also the empires responsibility, I’ve also cleared my debt to the First Prince.”
“You are truly clever.”
“But our older brother just doesn’t see it.”
Aiden had only one ‘older brother’—his cousin, Millard Cor Leonis.
With that, Aiden downed about half a bottle of wine, threw the glass, and stood up. The servants around him bowed repeatedly. Aiden picked up the largest shard of glass and straightened up.
“You are dismissed, count.”
“Yes, your highness.”
After Count Dieterand left, Aiden, holding the glass shard, ascended the underground stairs. It was completely dark outside. Aiden walked out of the palace on a deserted path, accompanied by just one servant. The palace of his ‘brother’ was in a secluded area, and it took quite some time to reach it. It’d been quite a while since he last visited.
The few servants guarding the palace recognized Aiden’s face and turned pale as they lined up. One of them, Derek, greeted Aiden with stiff movements.
“Prince Aiden…”
Slap!
Aiden slapped Derek’s cheek with the hand that wasn’t holding the glass shard and waved in dismissal, signaling for those who were near to clear his way. They grabbed Derek’s arms and dragged him to the side. Aiden slowly walked through the quiet and dark palace, straight to the second floor, and stood in front of a familiar door. Aiden’s servant immediately opened it.
“Princess, never come here again…”
“It seems our Leona has already visited her brother here.”
Millard’s face hardened as he looked back. Millard’s delicate features appeared pale in the moonlight. As soon as Aiden entered, the servant left the room and closed the door.
“…Aiden.”
“I remember telling you from a very young age that it would be better for you if you didn’t meet that child.”
Aiden twirled the glass shard between his thumb and forefinger as he stood before Millard.
“It seems you thought she became more free since she was able to leave for months and then return, brother.”
“Aiden!”
Millard’s expression, which had been rigid, suddenly turned fierce.
Aiden grinned. Ever since he was a child, he’d been upset because he couldn’t get Millard out of his sight. Not even by slapping him in the face, feeding him poison, or pushing him into a well. But, as expected, boy Aiden was able to find another way.
And that was his sister, Leona herself.
* * *
Even when Aiden cut his leg with a knife, Millard never gave up and protested, but after seeing the princess in bed with a fever after drinking the tea Aiden gave her, he became completely silent. Every time the princess came to visit Millard, the princess then had to go to her villa. Whenever the princess went to her villa, it was to heal her sick body.
“Today will end with just calling a healer since she only had one piece of candy.”
“She’s your sister! Why, why…”
“Why does brother care what I do with my sister? Leona is indeed beautiful, isn’t she? Considering how brother endures even these situations…”
With that, Aiden stabbed Millard’s forearm with the glass shard. Millard bit his lip, suppressing a cry. Aiden smiled with refined cruelty. It pleased him that this man, who was taller and had a better physique than him, who’d surpassed him since childhood and was said to be more brilliant than him, was frozen by his words and actions.
“Please, Aiden…”
Even in this situation, all Millard earnestly wanted was not for Aiden to remove the shard but to take care of the princess. As long as the princess was in Aiden’s hands, Millard would never rebel.
That’s why Aiden found his sister ever so charming. She was like a songbird singing for him. Naturally precious to him. He wouldn’t treat her harshly; he merely caused a bit of pain occasionally out of love, yet this cousin could do nothing about it.
Just the threat of touching his sister’s neck was enough to make this weak man kneel. What about him was better than Aiden? Aiden pulled out the shard he’d stabbed Millard with and threw it out the window, then turned away.
“The glass was from a cup, so it should be sterilized, brother.”
* * *
Not long after Aiden left Millard’s palace, Derek, the servant, came running in crying.
“Your highness! Your highness, call a healer immediately…”
“That’s enough. Just stop the bleeding.”
Leaning against the wall, Millard sighed as he gripped his forearm. Derek, with tears streaming down, brought disinfectant and old bandages. Millard looked at the blood trickling between his fingers and closed his eyes.
“The princess came, but it wasn’t your will, so why…”
“Derek.”
At Millard’s firm voice, Derek sobbed, clamped his mouth shut, and began to remove Millard’s shirt with trembling hands. His strong body was full of all kinds of scars covering his fine muscles. The scars were from wounds that hadn’t been properly treated in time. Tears welled up in Derek’s eyes again, and Millard sighed mixed with a chuckle.
” Still… it was good to see her after so long.”
“But, your highness…”
“But… no matter what happens in the future, never open the door.”
Derek nodded with a tearful face. The smile had already disappeared from Millard’s face.
