LFLH 54

Chapter 54

“Another nightmare again? I’ve told you many times already, those are all just silly dreams.”

“I wasn’t dreaming……”

When Arsen shook his head, Lerajie spread his arms wide, as if to show proof.

“Look carefully. Do you see any injuries on him?”

“N-no… none.”

Arsen’s eyes rolled awkwardly, but he nodded, looking a little dazed.

‘Thank goodness it’s nothing serious.’

Calliope, who had been watching the situation unfold, let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed the young prince had simply had a nightmare while sleeping.

Lerajie skillfully comforted Arsen and held him in his arms.

Perhaps tired from crying and running around, Arsen soon rested his head against Lerajie’s shoulder and fell asleep again.

Only then did Calliope speak.

“You’re going to take the prince back, right?”

“Of course.”

The two began walking side by side. After a while, Lerajie suddenly spoke, still looking ahead.

“Thank you for helping Arsen.”

His tone was unexpectedly earnest when he said those words of gratitude.

Calliope, a little embarrassed, brushed it off casually.

“Oh, well. It was the prince who found me. I just stayed with him for a while.”

“Even so.”

Lerajie fell silent for a moment before continuing.

“Arsen sometimes has nightmares. When he does, he gets really frightened like this.”

“Mm.”

Since she had already overheard earlier, Calliope simply nodded without saying much.

Once again, silence fell between them, and the atmosphere turned awkward.

This time, Calliope opened her mouth first, to ask a question she hadn’t managed to ask earlier.

“By the way, can I ask why the Second Prince called for you?”

For a brief instant, Lerajie’s golden eyes dimmed deeply.

But since it was nighttime and they weren’t looking directly at each other, Calliope didn’t notice.

“It was nothing,” Lerajie answered curtly.

Then, as if realizing that was too little of an explanation, he added,

“Just the usual nagging — telling me to stop wandering around so much.”

‘Just that? But your face looked nothing like that earlier…’

Calliope was certain that anyone who had seen Lerajie’s expression at the time would have been shocked.

“……That’s all?”

“What more do you expect?”

Lerajie turned his head, his lips quirking into the mischievous grin she had grown so used to seeing.

“No, nothing.”

Calliope shook her head.

‘So he doesn’t want to talk about it.’

She fell into thought.

Everyone has secrets they’d rather not share.

She was no different. No matter how close someone was, there were always things that were difficult to confess.

‘Besides, Lerajie and I are only bound by a contract. Trying to dig deeper here would be crossing the line.’

So Calliope decided not to press further.

Though the unease still lingered, she told herself she had no choice.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

Instead, she brought up another topic.

“While you were away earlier, I ran into the Crown Prince.”

‘Not so much by chance, more like he was waiting for an opportunity to approach me, but… anyway.’

Since it was dangerous to speculate too much about a royal’s intentions, Calliope kept her explanation vague.

“What?”

Lerajie suddenly froze in place.

Startled by his abrupt reaction, Calliope also stopped walking.

“Wh-what did… no, what did Lucius say to you?”

“Let me warn you first — it wasn’t anything pleasant.”

Calliope ran her hand through her hair in irritation.

‘Why does even bringing this up feel so unpleasant?’

For some reason, she didn’t want to tell Lerajie that the Crown Prince had made advances on her.

But since the matter of her engagement was at stake, she had no choice but to explain. So Calliope recounted her encounter with Lucius honestly, without embellishment.

“I see……”

At that, Lerajie lowered his eyes halfway and fell silent.

His long, dark lashes cast shadows that made him look as though he were lost in melancholy.

“So about that……”

Calliope began cautiously, trying to bring up the engagement ceremony — but before she could finish:

“Your Highness!”

Suddenly, a group of palace knights rushed over, blocking their path.

They were armed, and perhaps because it was nighttime, some carried torches in hand, which only made the scene more threatening.

‘What’s going on all of a sudden…?’

Though she didn’t show it outwardly, Calliope was inwardly startled.

Lerajie, however, stepped forward calmly, placing himself slightly in front of Calliope to shield her from their view.

“What’s this commotion?”

“We’ve been searching for His Ninth Highness, who left the palace.”

One knight, who seemed to be of the highest rank among them, replied.

His eyes darted repeatedly toward the sleeping Arsen in Lerajie’s arms.

“I was on my way to take him back.”

“We’ll take him.”

Without waiting for a response, the knight reached his hands out toward Arsen.

“U-uwah, no! I don’t want to…!”

At that moment, Calliope’s eyes flashed. She struck the knight’s hand away with a sharp smack.

She had swung her arm with considerable force, so it stung. The knight rubbed his wrist and glared at Calliope.

“Lady, what insolence is this?!”

But Calliope only raised her chin with an arrogant expression, as if to say, So what?

“It seems to me the one being insolent here isn’t me, but you.”

Thanks to Lerajie’s training, Calliope’s skills in verbal sparring had grown formidable — enough to overwhelm most opponents with ease.

“What common knight dares to lay hands on a royal without permission?”

Her sharp retort made the knight flinch.

“You do know that’s grounds for a charge of lèse-majesté, don’t you?”

He swallowed hard before replying,

“I am a knight sworn to protect His Ninth Highness. Of course, my duty is to ensure his safety—”

“But you failed.”

This time, it was Lerajie who cut him off.

His golden eyes gleamed as he spoke.

“The young prince slipped out in the middle of the night, and not a single one of you noticed. Had anything happened to Arsen, you would not have been absolved of responsibility. And yet, instead of showing gratitude to the one who found and protected him, you dare behave so discourteously?”

‘Well said.’

Calliope was impressed.

Annoying as he could be when on the opposite side, when he was on her side, Lerajie was truly unmatched.

She picked up his momentum and added, striking even harder,

“So in fact, you should be thanking me. I covered up your negligence in guarding him, and I even saved you from being guilty of lèse-majesté, didn’t I?”

With these frail arms, no less.

Calliope lifted her arm.

Her sleeve slipped down, revealing a pale, slender wrist.

‘If you claim this blow hurt you, then it’s your shame, not mine. Isn’t that right?’

Her lips curled in mockery.

The knight’s face twisted in displeasure, but in the end, he bowed his head.

“Thank you, my lady. And my apologies.”

“I’ll let it pass this time.”

Calliope accepted his apology, and the matter came to a close.

After that, Lerajie proceeded to return Arsen to the palace, while the knights compromised by escorting them.

However, they were unwilling to allow Calliope, an outsider, to accompany them. This time, she decided to yield.

“Then I’ll head back to the banquet hall first.”

“It’s late at night. Shall I send a knight with you?”

“No need. It’s the imperial palace — what could happen here?”

Besides, I can take care of myself, at least enough for one body.

She swallowed the last part and simply replied. Lerajie nodded.

“I’ll join you shortly.”

“Don’t worry about me. Take your time.”

Lerajie headed toward the palace, the knights following after him.

‘But somehow…’

Watching their retreating figures, Calliope thought,

‘Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t look like they’re escorting him. It looks more like they’re keeping him under watch.’