books44 Chapter 21: Your Affection For Your Younger Brother Is Remarkable
Chapter 21: Your Affection For Your Younger Brother Is Remarkable
Chapter 21: Your Affection For Your Younger Brother Is Remarkable
A different deal?
Yes, Your Highness. Just as I said.
I looked up at the Crown Prince, who was looking down at me with a smug expression, and nodded.
Explain to me the complete details.
Bathed in the noonday sunlight, his golden eyes were sparkling with considerable interest.
Rumors are circulating that the culprit who attempted to harm Your Highness is Grand Duke Damian. Furthermore, I heard he is currently being held in the imperial prison.
And so?
Can you guide me to where he is being held?
In response to my request, the Crown Prince scoffed as if what he just heard was absurd.
You want me to guide you to where the Duke is?
Yes.
What will I gain from doing that?
I will show you my healing ability. Right here, at this moment.
I gave him a confident smile as I spoke.
Didnt you turn down my request last time because there had been no one with a fatal injury?
When did I say that my healing abilities are limited to only living people?Follow current novels at novelhall.com)
My answer caused the Crown Princes eyes to narrow as he frowned.
What do you mean?
I can make the flower Your Highness is currently trampling on bloom like a brand new blossom.
Then I pointed down at the flowers that the Crown Prince was carelessly stepping on. The withered forget-me-nots that had been trampled mercilessly by the mans shoe came into clear vision.
It seems that Your Highness doesnt care about plants.
!
The Crown Prince kicked the trampled flowers away out of irritation at my comment. And that revealed the pitiful state of the forget-me-nots, which had now lost most of their vitality.
What once would have been lush foliage couldnt withstand the weight of his boots and crumpled, and the sky-blue flowers that must have blossomed beautifully lost some of their petals and lay helplessly on the floor.
I stood up from the chair, approached the poor forget-me-nots, and knelt down.
What are you doing?
The Crown Princes annoyed voice loomed over me.
Im trying to heal this poor thing.
I completely bent my knees and looked around. Fortunately, the imperial knights were standing far enough away that they couldnt see what I was about to do.
In that position, I closed my eyes and gently placed my hand on a forget-me-not. Since it was a plant, it didnt consume my mental energy. Which also meant that there would be no radiant glow like when I healed the Crown Princes or Cassadins scars.
It was only for a moment that my hand came in contact with the forget-me-not, but the wilting plant quickly regained its vitality.
The frail and droopy leaves transformed into their original, pristine form, seeming to have absorbed the fresh morning dew, and the forget-me-not that had lost its petals and was left in a pitiful form regained its vibrance as if nothing had happened.
I cant believe it
Then I heard the Crown Princes exclamation from above my head, his angry tone now gone. I straightened my legs to stand up, then dusted off the dirt from my dress. In front of me was the Crown Prince, suddenly closing in the gap between our faces with a twinkling gaze.
Are you a mage? How did you do that?
Im nothing of the sort. Youre Highness, Im merely a healer.
A healer?
The Crown Prince crouched down and picked up the forget-me-not, then looked at me with a partially childish expression.
It may get trampled on by another if it stays here, so Ill keep this flower in my room.
He must have suddenly realized the beauty of the blooming flowers in a field, as his attitude became a little different from how it had been earlier. Then with a cheery smile, he gently put the forget-me-not into the pocket of his upper uniform.
Sigh, it isnt much different from trampling it if you pick up the flower like that.
Seeing the Crown Prince puff up with pride as if he just did something incredibly righteous, I once again realized that common sense wouldnt work on this man.
By the way, I have one question.
The Prince tilted his head and asked me.
Please go ahead.
Why are you trying to meet the Grand Duke imprisoned in the imperial prison?
I was just wondering why you, of all people, would need to go see the Grand Duke even in prison.
I did expect him to ask about the reason, but how should I respond?
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Why have you been following us?
I could feel myself getting nervous after hearing his question. Why was it that I couldnt shake off the feeling that this unidentified knight was Cassadin? Maybe it was because Id only seen one person with such an expression in his eyes.
I was about to speak up first, but the Crown Prince started to speak before me.
Was it the Emperors orders? To monitor and report my every move?
The knight in the helmet stood still for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Following me here even with a helmet on in this weather. Thats quite the dedication.
The Crown Princes eyes narrowed as if he were tired of this. He seemed uncomfortable with the Emperors attempt to monitor him wherever he went.
Im fine, so take responsibility and guide the lady next to me through the prison.
The knight quietly came to my side, then nodded to acknowledge he understood.
If anything happens to her, its all your responsibility. Do you understand?
What is your name?
Are you mute? You seem suspicious.
No! I quickly changed the subject before the Crown Prince suspected the knight any further.
Your Highness, I think thats being a little too harsh to the knight who came all the way here out of concern.
Im being too harsh?
Yes, this knight only obeyed the Emperors command. I just thought your words might be too harsh.
The Crown Prince seemed a little upset when I sided with the knight. Though I didnt understand exactly why that would make him upset, the stranger thing at the moment was that Cassadin, who should be at the mansion right now, was wandering around the palace pretending to be an imperial knight.
Do you know why I asked you to come to the palace alone?
Suddenly, the Crown Prince asked me a strange question. And I answered him honestly.
Im not sure.
Its because your younger brothers gaze felt peculiar.
Of course, his gaze felt peculiar, since the person he tried to kill at the risk of his own life was well and alive in front of him. So I smiled and defended Cassadin.
My younger brother is a bit shy. He must have felt uncomfortable after meeting Your Highness for the first time.
Its not his gaze toward me.
I dont understand. Then
Its the way he looks at you.
Wait a moment.
That couldnt have been the gaze one has towards his sister. It was something more primitive. Even if you two are unrelated, from a third-partys perspective, it looked a bit
I couldnt bear to listen to this any longer when the involved person was right in front of us, so I bowed my head and responded.
Your Highness, Cassadin is my precious family member. Speaking of my younger brother in such a way will put me in a difficult position.
Your affection for your brother is remarkable.
Hes my one and only precious younger brother, after all.
Then I bowed my head once again to the Crown Prince. When I deflected the topic, the Crown Prince then smirked and said to me,
Did you know? Since I didnt have a proper banquet for my birthday, I plan to hold another big banquet in the near future.
I beg your pardon?
Until then, I will take good care of this forget-me-not that you have given me. I will send an invitation, so lets meet again soon. Just so you know, there is no option for you to refuse.
As the Crown Prince looked down at the light blue forget-me-not tucked in his pocket, he added,
If you refuse, I will take that as your agreement with the proposal I made earlier.
I was left speechless in disbelief, but then quickly changed my mindset.
It was a shocking proposition to become the Crown Princess, but judging from all of his actions so far, rashly accepting this offer would only make him lose interest in me.
There would be definite limitations to my actions even if I did obtain such power, and if that happened, then it would become completely impossible to approach Damian.
If I attempted to approach Damian as the Crown Princes wife, he would definitely be guarded around me, causing my plans to bring Damian to his downfall to have a higher chance of failure.
It would instead be a better option to maintain a friendly relationship with the Crown Prince while occasionally displaying my healing abilities to keep him interested.
So that the Crown Prince wouldnt lose interest in me, and I could utilize my relationship with him to my advantage.
Having organized my thoughts, I was about to say that I would accept the invitation, but with his three-second patience, the Crown Prince had already vanished after telling me what he wanted.
As I stared blankly at the spot where the Crown Prince had been, a low and quiet voice pierced the silent air.
Sister.
I turned my head towards the voice. A far too familiar voice was coming from the knight with the iron helmet.