Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“No, I won’t die,” I replied without a moment of hesitation.

“You won’t die? But...”

Prince Perez’s gaze instinctively glanced toward the empress’s palace.

Even as a child, he knew. It was the empress who killed his mother and took away everything he deserved, and now she was the one slowly killing him.

Perez looked at me wide-eyed for a moment, then shook his head again.

“No. The people who help me either die, get hurt, or disappear. You should leave. You shouldn’t be here.”

I felt a lump in my throat. This time, I was truly heartbroken.

Shouldn’t he be holding onto someone and asking for help? Asking to be saved?

My emotions urged me to open my handbag and remove the elixir. I felt his reddened eyes watching me closely.

“Don’t worry. They can’t do anything to me.”

“Why not?”

“Because...”

I felt as though harsh words were about to spill out in anger, but I did my best to keep them in check.

“My grandfather is a hundred times more powerful than the person who is torturing you.”

“Grandfather?”

“Yes.”

“You’re lucky...” Perez muttered, his small fingers fidgeting.

I wondered if it had been a mistake bringing up my grandfather to a child who was left all alone. Instead, I decided to be even more nonchalant and lightly patted the prince on the shoulder.

“And I’m going to help you, so don’t worry. Just drink this.”

I poured the prescribed amount of medicine into the cap of the bottle. It was a concentrated solution, made to be diluted in water to lessen the bitterness, but it would have to do for the moment.

Perez stared at the bottle cap for a little while and eventually drank it.

“Hey, Perez.”

“Yeah?”

I knew it was bitter enough to make someone shudder, but he didn’t flinch.

“You know, you shouldn’t be eating things that strangers give you so easily. Of course, it’s okay if it’s me, but... how can you not be suspicious?”

I was deeply concerned about the second-born prince’s complete lack of wariness.

Of course, I knew his past, present, and future. Even though this was our first meeting, it was technically like I had known him my entire life.

But to him, I’m a complete stranger.

Perez tilted his head at my rebuke and replied, “I’m already dying. What would be the difference if you gave me poison?”

Ah, so he did know everything.

I had wondered whether he knew the empress was behind the poisoning all along. I wished he hadn’t known.

“And you said you would help me,” he added.

With every word he said, the soft fabric of my handbag twisted tighter in my clenched fist.

“Nobody has ever offered to help me. Even if that isn’t the case, it’s oka—mpph!”

I shoved a hard candy into his mouth before he could make another depressing statement. I had brought the candy with me to counteract the bitter medicine.

“Kids don’t say such things. Just eat the candy.”

I would have preferred him to act like my cousins Bellezac or Astaliu, total troublemakers. It was harder for me to see him curled up in the darkness and so defeated.

While I stood there grumbling, Perez said, “You’re a kid too.”

He’s right, but...

“I’m eleven. How old are you?”

“I... I’m... eight.”

“You’re younger than me. Here, you have another candy.” I held out my bag to the second-born prince and added, “You might be older than me, but I know more than you, so it’s okay.”

His cheeks puffed up with candy as I continued..

“I don’t have a lot of time so I’ll make this quick. Don’t forget to take this medicine at least once or twice a day. You just need to take the same amount I gave you earlier.”

Prince Perez quietly took the elixir bottle and handbag.

“That elixir will help clear the poison and make you healthy again.”

“This elixir?” the prince asked, examining the shimmering golden liquid. “Is it really okay for me to live?”

His voice shook with uncertainty.

“Mother told me to live. I tried to live... but it’s so hard.”

The boy seemed exhausted. His body was so thin that he shivered in the blowing wind. I felt the urge to comfort him, but I deliberately spoke in a nonchalant tone.

“What’s there to worry about? Of course you’re going to overcome and survive. Your mother said so, didn’t she? Now you just need to do it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

He stood there, silent for a moment, before asking, “What about you? Do you want me to survive? Do you think I should live?”

“Yes. I want you to live. No, I think you need to live.”

Because you will soar more brilliantly than anyone else. Though you might feel insignificant now, like a larva hiding in the damp earth...

When the time comes, you will soar higher than anyone else to become the crown prince of this empire and, finally, exact your rightful revenge.

“I have to go now. There are a few things you should keep in mind until we meet again,” I said.

I stood up and brushed the grass off my clothes.

“First of all, it’s best not to eat food with poison in it, even if you take antidotes. But if you refuse, they might become suspicious. So for now, eat it.”

It felt awful telling a child to knowingly eat poison, but the empress had to think that everything was going according to her plan. That way, she wouldn’t try to harm him some other way that I couldn’t protect him from.

“You know the maid who brings you your meals?”

The prince nodded.

“Always act like you’re sick in front of her. You don’t necessarily have to act. Just look weak and close your eyes.”

“Okay.”

“And... Do you have a wooden sword?”

When I asked, Perez retrieved a wooden sword he had placed some distance away.

“My nanny gave this to me on my last birthday.”

His red eyes filled with fondness, showing how much the gesture had meant to him.

“Good. You might not be able to find a good teacher, but try to practice with it every day.”

Despite his late introduction to swordsmanship, Prince Perez had been able to graduate from the academy as a valedictorian of military arts.

Imagine if he’d had a head start...

Perez swung the wooden sword around a few times after my comment, but the sound was unusual.

“Like this?”

I may not be an expert in swordsmanship, but do a typical eleven-year-old’s careless swings normally produce such a hefty sound?

And he was sick... And it was a wooden sword...

Perez swung the sword a few more times with no change in his facial expression. He didn’t seem to be putting much effort into it. It was like he was playing.

Yet every time the blunt wooden sword sliced through the air, a heavy cutting sound reverberated around it. Even someone ignorant in the art of swordsmanship would recognize the difference.

It was something more than human strength. There was some kind of power coming from the weapon.

He was an eleven-year-old who had never received training and was currently being poisoned. I knew that the second-born prince had grown rapidly the moment he entered the imperial academy, finally out of the empress’s reach.

But I had no idea he possessed such monstrous abilities at such a young age. I thought he had been a self-made man, but no—he was born with it!

“Where did you learn to fight with a sword?” I asked, just in case.

“Nowhere.”

“Did you have another wooden sword before this?”

“No.”

Finding my line of questions odd, Perez tilted his head.

“Am I doing something wrong? Is this not how you do it?”

Without a point of comparison, he didn’t seem to realize just how extraordinary his abilities were. I thought for a moment before answering.

“No. It’s not bad. If you keep practicing, you’ll do well!”

I considered telling him the truth, that he seemed to have an incredible talent.

But if I did, Perez might make different choices than he had in his previous life. A single word could potentially awaken the immense desire for revenge within him.

He nodded.

At that moment, I could hear my father calling.

“Tia! Where are you?!”

Oh, right. I was supposed to rush back.

“I gotta go. I’ll see you next time,” I blurted out.

“Okay.”

The boy’s shoulders drooped as if he were sad to be left alone again.

“I’ll try to return as soon as possible. Take the medicine and do what I told you until then.”

His deep red eyes looked at me with a steady gaze.

I had come to meet the future crown prince and build trust with him, but it felt like I had suddenly become his guardian. However, after seeing what condition he was in, I couldn’t leave him with just medicine.

“I’m off now. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Well, he was destined to become the crown prince even without my intervention. What harm could come from me helping him a little bit so he wouldn’t have to be a sick child?

That was my genuine belief as I turned away, leaving Prince Perez alone in the forest. I did not realize what kind of changes my kindness, which had stemmed from a natural human compassion, would actually bring.

I had no idea that every word I said to him was etched in his mind. I could not have foreseen what my extended hand would mean to Perez.

I did not anticipate any of it.

***

I burst out of the bushes, calling for my father.

“Daddy!”

“Tia!”

My father ran towards me with a startled look.

“Where were you? Are you hurt?”

Fortunately, I hadn’t been gone long, so my father did not seem too alarmed. His eyes were still full of concern as he looked me over.

The two knights who had been searching for me hurried over from the opposite direction.

“Have you found her?”

“Even though you’re within the palace grounds, you shouldn’t run off on your own like that. We were worried,” my father cautioned.

“I’m sorry...”

“Why did you get out of the carriage all of a sudden?”

“Well, because they said to... I thought I had to...”

The knights flinched at my words.

“So I got out, but then I saw a cute squirrel over there...”

In an instant, the second-born prince had become a cute squirrel. My father sighed softly and gave me a resigned, helpless smile.

“Our apologies...”

“We were just following orders...”

The two knights scratched their heads awkwardly as they spoke.

“What are you apologizing for?” a woman interrupted.

She seemed to be out on a leisurely stroll, accompanied by several maids. She now stood before us, smiling.

She was the empress of the Lehmbruck Empire.

Lavini Angenas Durelli.