“Oh my.”
Prince Winfred of the Pheles Empire stood up suddenly, emitting an inappropriate sound for a fourteen-year-old boy.
His back was uncomfortable from rolling on the floor, something he hadn’t noticed yesterday. It wasn’t only his back, but there were a few bruises and scratches here and there.
When the chamberlain saw his wounds, he became quite irritated. It was unfortunate that he was in agony, but it was natural that he felt awful for bothering him, but Winfred didn’t.
Normally, the chamberlain would nag like a rapid-fire, saying things like, ‘Uh-huh, this is so cruel!’ and ‘Yes, yes, I committed a deadly sin.’ It was Winfred who was supposed to be chatting with each other, but now he seemed somehow lost.
Even while changing clothes, even now while sitting at the table and eating breakfast.
It seemed like he didn’t know whether the spoon with the soup was going to his mouth or his nose. Sometimes he messed up and put a spoon that didn’t have soup in it into his mouth.
“Your Highness, are you very unwell? Should I call a doctor right now?”
He was very worried that he might have hit his head somewhere while rolling.
“uh? what?”
However, the person concerned could not even hear the words of concern.
It wasn’t like he was hurt anywhere, but his condition was strange to me.
Ayla Heiling. The image of that girl named Ayla kept coming to mind.
It was truly mysterious from the first time we met. The girl suddenly fell from the sky and covered his mouth with sparkling silver hair fluttering as if she were not real.
Because it suddenly appeared and suddenly disappeared, Winfred wondered if the Moonlight Fairy had come and gone.
And reunited after a week.
Also, he was so surprised by the rough hand that suddenly appeared from somewhere and pulled him. It was the first time in his life that he felt a threat to his life.
He felt so relieved when he confirmed the owner of that hand.
It was truly a strange thing. Even though he only met this girl once by chance. Even though it only lasted a few minutes, a fleeting moment.
Surprisingly, he felt at peace the instant he saw her. He had the impression she would never hurt him.
Even though he saw an assassin targeting him, he somehow felt okay.
Despite the fact that she was a little and weak girl – no, she was stronger than Winfred – she felt as if she was being guarded by a thousand devils.
However, on the other hand, he wanted to comfort her because she seemed to have a lot of scars.
He wasn’t referring to evident physical wounds. There appeared to be several undetectable wounds. He felt his heart contract when Ayla made a sad look, and when she smiled, he wanted to protect that smile.
A mysterious girl who makes both the feeling of being protected and the feeling of wanting to protect coexist.
He was unable to think of anything else as that girl’s every gesture and expression kept coming to mind.
“… … “Your Highness, are you really okay?”
Next to him, the Chamberlain was looking like he was going crazy with worry. If he were his normal self, he would have joked mischievously, but Winfred’s condition was so bad that he couldn’t even do that.
Although they were not related by blood, Winfred struggled to shake off the vision of Ayla from his head at the worried expression of the Chamberlain, who was closer to him than his uncle.
It was also time to solve the homework Ayla gave us.
“Uh? huh. “I’m really fine. I’m a doctor. Please call Lord Dexen. There’s something we need to discuss.”
“Yes? Do you mean Lord Dexen? All right.”
The guard commander Alexia Dexen, who is in charge of security for this parade, is the one with the mesmerizing look in his eyes only a minute before and the serious expression on her face presently.
Chamberlain Joseph realized that this was an unusual matter and nodded.
* * *
“Did you call me, Your Highness?”
A tall female knight in her mid-30s bowed politely to Winfred.
Alexia Dexen. The second younger sister of the head of the Dexen family, a vassal of the Duke of Weishafen, was a great knight who learned swordsmanship with Rodrik from the previous Duke of Weishafen.
Since Alexia’s only son, Bradley, is only a few years older than Winfred, Alexia is a bit difficult for Winfred.
She was a strict mother to her son, and she was also extremely strict when dealing with Prince Winfred.
However, it was time to fire that sort of home management. As a prince who was about to become the imperial crown prince, there was something he needed to settle.
“Are you here, Lord Dexen? “I called you because I had something to discuss.”
“Yes, please speak.”
When he mustered up the courage to open his mouth, Alexia answered in a blunt but warm voice. Winfred, encouraged by that, continued.
“It’s no different, last night I… … .”
He mustered up the courage to speak out, but when he tried to confess his deviance out loud, he couldn’t speak well.
Of course, he had his own intentions and was forced to go out.
It was an outing with the grand intention of seeing with his own eyes how the people of the empire were doing and experiencing it firsthand before becoming crown prince.
It was true that every time he went out, he was caught and scolded, which made him angry, but he went out with good intentions anyway.
However, it was true that he was afraid of being scolded by Alexia, who was a classmate of Winfred’s swordsmanship teacher, the Duke of Weishafen, and also the mother of a close friend of his age.
“… … “I heard she went out secretly.”
However, Winfred’s hesitation was meaningless. It seemed that the chamberlain had already told him. Why was he hesitating? Winfred sighed.
“I see. Well, that’s actually… …. “When I went out yesterday, I met an assassin and almost got into big trouble. I haven’t told anyone yet.”
Winfred closed his eyes tightly and opened his mouth. Just going out secretly would have been enough to make his subordinates look down on him, but if he had even met an assassin, they would definitely be upset.
As he expected, Alexia’s eyes widened.
Winfred held the hem of his clothes with his hands as he waited for the command to yell. Deciding to confidently tell the servants that it was his fault and not to punish them.
However, what came back was not an evil spirit.
“… … “Are you hurt anywhere, Your Highness?”
In response to Alexia’s question filled with warm concern, Winfred blinked slowly.
It was true that she had done something that a prince should not have done, but Alexia was looking at the boy in front of her with a mother’s heart.
Because the Empress was too ill to have more children and the Emperor was unwilling to take another wife, Winfred grew up without siblings.
The little boy had a lot of pressure on him from a very young age. He was the only grandchild who would eventually be crowned by the emperor, which must have been very stressful. His life was even endangered when he went outside to play for a short while.
Rather than reprimanding, the priority was to comfort the boy who must have been surprised.
“… … “I’m fine. Fortunately, I was able to escape safely.”
Of course, she thought she would be scolded, but the unexpected warm worry returned, so Winfred scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
“God helped me. They say you’re safe this time, but I’m sure you know how dangerous it is to go out alone at night. So please don’t do that again, Your Highness.”
“I understand, Lord Dexen.”
At his words, Winfred smiled awkwardly and nodded. Now it was time to get to the point.
“… … Actually, there was someone who helped me. He said that. The person who sent the assassin to me was ‘him’.”
“… … “What if you say it’s him?”
“Byron Lionel Vito Peles.”
Alexia wrinkled her eyebrows at the name that came out of Winfred’s mouth. If what he said was true, it was not an issue that could be ignored.
“Who is the person who gave you the information? Is it trustworthy?”
“… … that.”
Winfred hesitated for a moment. He wonders if it would be okay to talk about Ayla. He wonders if Alexia will believe him if he tells her about her.
It wasn’t a question of whether Ayla was trustworthy.
“I can’t tell you.”
Winfred stubbornly kept his mouth shut. Ayla was a girl with many secrets, so he wanted to protect her secrets.
Because he wanted to keep his precious memories with her to himself.
“… … All right.”
Alexia was loyal and did not ask any more questions about the prince who had kept his mouth shut. However, whether or not his information could be trusted was a different matter from loyalty.
The only prince who would become the crown prince. If an attempt was made to assassinate Winfred, it was true that the most likely suspect was Byron. Aside from Byron, Winfred had many enemies.
“Do you by any chance remember the assassin’s face?”
Alexia changed the question to confirm whether the information was true without finding out who the informant was. However, Winfred shook his head at her question.
“It was a glimpse from afar, and even the face… …. “I just remember her having gray hair.”
It’s gray hair. It was difficult to identify the assassin with that much information, so Alexia frowned slightly.
“… … Oh, come to think of it.”
While Alexia was lost in thought, Winfred clapped his hands softly and opened his mouth, as if something had occurred to him.
“The dagger he was holding seemed somehow unique.”
Winfred drew a picture by scribbling with a quill pen on the paper on the desk. The dagger looks unique. Alexia quickly looked at Winfred’s drawing.
