As Ayla was looking at her clothes with startled eyes, the boy asked in an arrogant manner. When she turned her gaze towards him, she saw a boy with his neck stiff and in good shape.
What should she say? Of course, she was surprised and grateful. Just a little while ago, she was worried about her future because her secret outing was discovered, but that worry was resolved in an instant.
But when she saw the boy placing his thumb and index finger on his chin, strangely enough, s he burst out laughing.
“Foot.”
When Ayla burst out laughing again, the boy stuck out his lips in dissatisfaction.
“Why are you laughing?”
“No, that’s… … .”
It was so… … It is not harmless magic.
This is not to say that magic is insignificant. It was a magic that she is very thankful for now.
However, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the boy holding a lot of weight, using magic, and his eyes sparkling as if to quickly praise him for being cool.
“This is expensive. “Washing magic is not easy.”
As Ayla just smiled without answering, the boy made a noise of disgust.
“Oh, no. Of course, you know. You said there was only one left? Thank you so much for writing such precious things to me. “Thanks to you, I survived.”
It was true that it was a great help to her, so Ayla honestly expressed her gratitude. She had been laughing out loud, and her face was still smiling brightly.
“… … .”
She just said thanks to him as she wanted. The boy was just looking at Ayla with a somewhat bewildered expression on his face.
“… … what’s the matter?”
This is the amount of gratitude not enough.
As she was wondering what else to do, the boy spoke.
“I should say thank you. that… …, Because you are the one who saved my life.”
The boy spoke in a sincere voice.
Oh, it was like that.
It wasn’t that long ago, but Ayla, who was embarrassed by her dirty clothes and her mind was blank, remembered the incident again after hearing the boy’s words.
“Well, we saved each other. “Let’s just say I’ve repaid the debt I owed for saving you.”
Ayla nodded and said.
Her clothes got dirty in the first place because she was trying to save the boy’s life so it may have been Ayla’s loss, but in fact, she didn’t save the boy with the expectation of getting something in return.
“What are you talking about? Does that mean you will only accept that in return for saving my life? wait a minute.”
But the boy didn’t seem to think so and hurriedly searched his pockets. Then he took something out of his pocket.
“This is all I have right now, but please take this at least. I will definitely repay the favor I received today someday… … .”
The boy handed her a luxurious pocket watch he had taken out of his pocket and told her what to say, but Ayla was not listening to the boy.
When the boy took the item out of his pocket to give it to her, something came out and fell to the floor.
Ayla, who picked up the item without thinking, froze in place as if she realized something.
It was a simple coin. A silver coin commonly used in the empire.
But she was somehow preoccupied with the coin.
“Hey, are you listening?”
The boy made an incomprehensible expression when he saw Ayla holding the silver coin he had dropped in her hand and looking at it as if she was fascinated.
“what’s the matter?”
“… … lion.”
When the boy asked anxiously, Ayla, who had been lost in thought for a while, opened her mouth.
lion.
The coin had a lion engraved on it. A brave lion, a symbol of the imperial family.
“huh. “Why a lion?”
“lion… … .”
As if she hadn’t answered the boy’s question, Ayla just spits out the same words again.
In that brief moment, countless thoughts passed through her mind.
She didn’t think of it. The lion symbolizes the authority of the emperor.
What if the lion Byron was trying to hunt was a member of the imperial family? then… … Everything was just right.
A huge white wolf, ‘Young Lion’ guarded by the Duke of Weishafen. It was clearly either the emperor or the crown prince.
Ayla closed her eyes and looked through her memories. She got a peek at the imperial family tree when she attended her successor’s class at the Duke’s house. She would undoubtedly be able to remember it because it wasn’t a very ancient recollection.
‘Not the crown prince. The crown prince was only around 20 years old before I returned, so he is too young to be considered young at this point.’
Then there was only one thing left. Emperor.
She got goosebumps.
‘… … ‘You’re a traitor.’
What Byron was trying to do was nothing other than treason.
“Hey, are you okay? Are you sick?”
Ayla opened her eyes at the sound of the boy’s voice. The boy in front of me was looking at Ayla with worry in his golden eyes.
And at that moment, a thought crossed Ayla’s mind. Nonsense idea.
“Are you… … . “Are you the crown prince?”
“… … uh?”
If she is fourteen now, she will be twenty when she turns eighteen. Her age was approximately correct.
And the boy that Byron, who is plotting a terrible plot to kill the Emperor, is trying to kill.
It was a very probable inference.
But… … .
“No, don’t worry. “I asked something strange.”
No way. There was no way the crown prince, who should be in the imperial palace, was walking around like this. It’s also dangerous, alone at night.
Ayla shook her head. She said she had an absurd idea.
It would have been easy to just laugh at it and ignore it, but the boy had a rather solemn look on his face, even biting his lips, wondering what he was thinking.
“… … That’s right.”
“What?”
When the boy opened his mouth, Ayla looked at him with wide eyes.
“No, not exactly yet. “Because I am currently going through the process of being appointed crown prince.”
Really, he was the crown prince.
Ayla slowly blinked her eyes to accept the situation unfolding before her. She said her predictions turned out to be correct, which was why she was so embarrassed.
“… … My name is Winfred Ulysses Vito Peles. “He is the only prince of the Peles Empire.”
The voice of the boy who solemnly introduced his name was serious. The lightness that existed until now was nowhere to be found. There was no trace of arrogance or condescension.
No, rather, he seemed scared.
This was because he was worried that Ayla might feel pressured and run away, or that her attitude would change drastically.
“Yeah, but I wish you could just speak informally. “Don’t feel burdened by the fact that I am the prince and that you will become the crown prince,”
Winfred added urgently. Ayla, who was slowly trying to accept this situation, seemed to come to her senses after hearing those words.
Actually, Ayla had no intention of doing anything, but she was begging the player to treat her the same way she treated him first.
“Still… … .”
“Are you okay? No, please do that. “I like it that way.”
He feels a sense of distance. Winfred pouted his mouth and mumbled.
If she says it that way. In fact, it was embarrassing to change her attitude just because the boy she was dealing with was the crown prince, but Ayla nodded her head because she had no intention of being polite even though she said she wanted to.
“But how did you know?”
“… … just.”
In order to explain how she found out that Winfred was the crown prince, she had to explain in detail who she was and what the situation was, so Ayla gave a vague answer.
“Hey, that… … “Can you take this?”
Winfred seemed awkward, smoothing his black hair here and there and holding out his pocket watch with his other hand.
As Ayla was wondering how to refuse since she couldn’t keep it even if she accepted it, she felt a sign of recognition from afar.
Only then Ayla did realize that she had been talking on the exposed road for too long and quickly climbed up the fence in search of a place to hide.
“… … “You come up too.”
When Ayla held out her hand, Winfred looked at her hand with a puzzled expression.
“Someone is coming. “It could be that assassin from earlier.”
Someone is coming. Winfred, who had not sensed any sign of her, was confused but did as she told him and held her hand and climbed up her fence.
It didn’t stop there, and Ayla jumped once again and climbed lightly onto the roof. Winfred, who seemed embarrassed at first, took Ayla’s hand without saying anything this time.
Not long after Ayla groaned and dragged him up to the roof, an extremely drunk man stumbled into the alley.
“It’s not him.”
Ayla felt relieved when she realized that it wasn’t Cloud. And suddenly she felt a strange gaze on her, so she turned her head towards Winfred, and saw him looking at her with his eyes full of curiosity.
“Why do you look at me like that?”
“It’s just that it’s fascinating.”
It’s amazing. As she slowly blinked her eyes, unable to understand what was so surprising, Winfred laughed and lay down on her roof and looked up at the sky.
“I jump off the roof and land as easily as a cat. Even if I don’t tell them, they know who I am. And I didn’t feel that person coming at all.”
Iced coffee. That the sound was. She wanted to sit down next to Winfred, who was lying down, but she stood silently and opened her mouth as if she were embarrassed, out of fear of getting dust on her.
“is it.”
“How strong is it? “It must be quite heavy, so I just pull it up.”
Ayla’s face seemed to heat up for some reason at his words, and she didn’t know if he was continuing to praise or something else. As she was avoiding her gaze for no reason, her friend, Winfred, jumped up as if he had realized his mistake.
“Oh, right. You shouldn’t get your clothes dirty. wait for a second.”
Winfred tried to take off his cloak as if he were going to take it off and spread it on her, but when he realized that his cloak was also covered in dust, he took a handkerchief out of his pocket with an embarrassed expression and laid it on the floor.
“Sit here.”
