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Chapter 06
Friedrich still looked bewildered.
It was understandable — in this world, the strongest person alive was asking him to protect her. Of course it would be hard to accept.
“Do you dislike the idea?”
But this was the perfect timing. The entire reason I made him my husband was for a moment exactly like this — to have someone who could protect me.
I spoke lightly, as if it were nothing more than casual conversation, so as not to arouse suspicion.
“I mean, I did take everything from you. It might be a bit much to ask, huh?”
“……If this is meant to make me submit,” Friedrich said quietly after hesitating for a moment, “it’s a meaningless scheme. I stopped being the Prince of Kiel long ago — I’ve been a prisoner ever since.”
He said it calmly.
“I was meant to live and die in a cell anyway.”
“That’s strange,” I said. “You didn’t look so accepting when I asked for you.”
“……That’s because…”
Friedrich bit his lip before finally speaking.
“Everyone knows why Your Highness demanded me. So do I. I thought perhaps even my curse wouldn’t matter to you…”
“What? Just how rotten are people’s imaginations about me supposed to get?”
I cut him off in alarm. I couldn’t believe René’s reputation was that terrible!
“Anyway, you should wash up first.”
I sighed and changed the subject.
“You smell like blood.”
“Ah…”
Friedrich turned his head slightly, as if trying to smell it himself. The movement bared his neck to the moonlight — smooth and pale as polished ivory.
I caught myself staring before quickly snapping out of it when he spoke again.
“I can wash on my own.”
“With those hands? I doubt it.”
I frowned.
“I hate the smell of blood, Friedrich. You’re not planning to make my bedroom unpleasant, are you?”
“……But…”
“I’ll assign a maid to the prince,” Elsa interjected at just the right time. But I shook my head.
“He’s to be my husband. I can’t have him showing his body to some strange woman.”
I looked at Elsa as I said it.
She looked worried for a moment — but then remembered who I was and bowed her head.
Soon it was just the two of us. I gestured for him to come closer.
“Lie down.”
Friedrich’s eyes wavered. He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly set his jaw and lay down flat on the ground.
“What are you doing?”
“Whatever Your Highness commands.”
“No — turn your head toward the stream. How else am I supposed to wash you?”
When I scolded him, he looked utterly flustered and quickly turned over.
His long hair spread out over the stream like a cascade of flower petals. When I carefully touched the ends, blood seeped into the water.
“…You were really in danger, weren’t you?”
A chill ran down my spine at the sight of the battle’s traces. If it weren’t for Friedrich, I might have been dead today. I was truly grateful.
“See? You can’t wash properly with those hands.”
I looked at the shackles on his wrists — the iron was scratched and dented, proof of a fierce struggle.
“How many were there?”
“Five.”
“You took on five assassins alone — with your hands like that.”
Considering how weak his condition must’ve been until now, his ability was astounding. Maybe this was why he’d become a Swordmaster in the original story.
“You’re incredible.”
“I’m used to it.”
“…What do you mean, used to it?”
“I mean the shackles.”
“…You wore shackles even in the Kingdom of Kiel?”
“I told you — I was no longer a prince, but a prisoner.”
He answered calmly.
“I can understand why. A curse that turns you into a child every night — anyone would find that grotesque and terrifying.”
He added quietly, “I can’t blame them for being afraid.”
I didn’t know what to say. I fell silent.
Only the sound of his hair rippling in the stream filled the space between us.
Eventually, I changed the topic.
“…Anyway, defeating five assassins on your own is no small feat. You could probably qualify for the Red Sword Knights.”
“I’m used to that too.”
“What?”
I blinked, confused, but Friedrich only parted his lips as if to speak — then said nothing.
“…Could it be he’s fought off assassins before?” I thought.
In the original story, Friedrich’s past was barely mentioned.
It only said his parents, terrified of his curse, locked him away and treated him cruelly.
But the part about living in shackles — that was new to me.
A sickening thought crept in: maybe my guess was right.
“…Still, washing all this long hair properly must be hard, even if you’re used to it.”
My throat tightened unexpectedly, and I cleared it with a quick cough.
“Ever think about cutting it?”
“Does it displease you?”
“Of course not. Did you forget why I demanded you as my prize?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at how absurd that sounded.
“You’re beautiful, Friedrich. Your hair’s no exception. I just thought it might be a hassle to manage, that’s all.”
Well, there was no need to decide now. Hair can be cut anytime.
“It looks good on you anyway.”
He was silent for a while before asking quietly,
“What’s the real reason you want me to protect you?”
Sharp as always.
I smiled faintly.
“Don’t take it so seriously. I just wanted to know what it’s like — to be protected by someone.”
“By the prince of a country you conquered?”
“Well, you said it yourself — you don’t feel humiliated by it.”
I grinned teasingly.
“So I’ll say this instead: I wanted to know what it feels like to be protected by a handsome knight. It sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Even better if he’s my husband.”
“……”
He didn’t answer — and I didn’t expect him to. I simply pressed my fingers gently into his scalp, massaging as I washed.
The chains rattled faintly when Friedrich tried to stop me.
“It’s fine…” he murmured.
“This is me praising you.”
I smiled and met his eyes.
“It felt nice, you know — being protected by someone.”
It wasn’t something someone like the great and arrogant sorceress René Starde should have said.
But even the strongest person in the world sometimes wants to be protected by someone.
“There, all done.”
I squeezed the water from his long hair until it no longer dripped.
If only I could still use magic — it would dry in seconds!
As I was thinking that, half-worried he might ask me to dry it magically, he suddenly spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology caught me off guard.
“I didn’t leave any of them alive,” he said. “I just wanted to stop them before they reached you…”
“Why are you sorry for that? You should be proud.”
“But to find out who sent them…”
“Oh, forget it. It’s nothing.”
In the original story, assassins had often been sent after René — and every time, she’d brushed it off as nothing.
No one could kill her anyway, she’d say, mocking the ones who tried.
So I’d have to act the same — treat this as nothing more than a minor amusement.
And in the end, she died of illness anyway.
A mysterious sickness from the war — people said her magic had turned inward and consumed her.
At least I didn’t have to worry about that now. No magic, no problem. Lucky or not.
“……You should go first,” Friedrich murmured at last.
I turned my head; he averted his gaze.
“I’ll bathe after you.”
“Oh.”
Right — he still had to wash the rest of his body.
I was about to leave when a mischievous thought struck me. I smirked.
“Want me to help you with that too?”
“……No!”
