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~Chapter 23~
After leaving the training ground, Richard headed to the Crown Prince’s palace, where his half-brother, Bastian, was.
The reason Bastian called him was obvious. Whenever Bastian didn’t have a mission and was free during training, he would sometimes call Richard for a light bet or a sparring match just to pass the time.
Richard guessed that Bastian had called him for the same reason again.
“Richard.”
Just as he was about to enter the garden of the palace, Lysa called his name from behind.
“Did your brother call for you?”
“Yeah. What about you? I was on my way back after seeing him when I spotted you.”
“You’ve been called a lot lately, huh?”
“Really? Has it been that often…?”
Richard was confused by Lysa’s reaction. She seemed flustered and avoided making eye contact, which was unusual.
He had known Bastian well since before he officially became the Crown Prince, and the three of them, including Lysa, were like siblings.
They were always careful not to mix business with personal matters, so there was no reason for Lysa to feel awkward about Bastian calling her frequently.
“If he’s bothering you too much, just let me know. I’ll ask him to stop.”
“No, it’s not like that. We were talking about some old academy memories, and we’ve been meeting more because of that.”
“Academy?”
“Yeah. That’s where I met you, and where I first met the Crown Prince. There are a lot of memories there.”
A faint smile appeared on Lysa’s face as she recalled those times. After Amelie Garnet left the academy due to health problems, the time the three of them spent together must have felt even more special to Lysa.
“By the way, Amelie Garnet came to the training ground today.”
“Really?”
But even though it was about Amelie, Lysa smiled brightly. She couldn’t hide her excitement when talking about Amelie, almost as if time had no meaning when it came to her.
“She came looking perfectly fine. Still as stubborn as ever.”
Richard couldn’t help but smile too as he thought about Amelie, who used to be so fiery. But Lysa didn’t notice, too focused on how happy she was that Amelie had returned.
“She must be fully recovered now. I’ll stop by the academy and head out right away.”
“To the academy? Why?”
“I need to find something. Anyway, I’ll go now. You should head inside.”
Lysa hurried off, almost as if she were running. Whether she was eager to meet Amelie or had something important to do, she was clearly excited.
Richard watched her leave and crossed the garden, where he was greeted by a servant who had been waiting for him.
“Your Highness, welcome.”
“Where’s my brother?”
“The Crown Prince is in his study right now.”
“I wonder what kind of bet he’s planning today…”
Richard shook his head and followed the servant to Bastian’s study. In fact, Bastian’s study was more like a small library. Even though there was a separate library in the palace, Bastian had insisted on creating his own, and very few people were invited there.
“Your Highness, Prince Richard is here.”
“Come in.”
As soon as the servant knocked on the door, they were allowed in. Richard entered with a neutral expression, and the servant quietly closed the door behind him.
“Lately, it seems like it’s taking longer to get here,” Bastian said with a playful smile as Richard sat down.
“Since you called someone in the middle of training, I suppose I have to put up with it. Also, I ran into Lysa earlier.”
“I figured as much. I kept her busy until you arrived.”
“Am I not enough to keep you entertained? Don’t waste Lysa’s time since she’s about to be promoted.”
“You always get so serious when it comes to Lysa.”
Bastian clicked his tongue but smiled slightly. He poured some tea from a pre-prepared teapot and placed a cup of tea in front of Richard. Richard took a sip and savored the taste.
“You drink without hesitation. What if there was poison in it?”
Bastian laughed and didn’t even touch his own cup.
“I’m a good and honest younger brother, so I don’t need to worry about that.”
“Just because you’re good doesn’t mean I’m good. Who says I won’t poison you?”
“If you want to kill me, use a sword. I’m no coward, and poison is for the weak.”
“Haha! You’ve improved at this back-and-forth.”
After a hearty laugh, Bastian took a sip from his own cup. After half of it was gone, he finally spoke again.
“Lately, Lysa and I have been talking about the old days. I guess I’ve gotten older because I lose track of time.”
“I heard.”
“It was fun back then. When I was a swordsmanship instructor, the little ones used to challenge me, and now they’ve grown up and are fighting me back.”
“Lysa tried to beat you, but I gave up early. I had already lost many times in the royal palace.”
“Right. Lysa would show up out of nowhere and ask for a sparring match.”
Bastian’s face briefly showed the same smile Lysa had earlier. Richard quietly drank his tea and waited for Bastian to finish reminiscing. He didn’t have any particular memories to reflect on, so he simply listened.
“Richard.”
“Yes?”
Bastian returned quickly to the present and called his name. Richard immediately responded.
“How important is Lysa to you?”
It had been about 20 minutes since Richard arrived at the Crown Prince’s palace.
He left the palace feeling slightly uncomfortable. He had been freed from Bastian much quicker than usual, but the question he asked kept lingering in his mind.
“How important is Lysa to you?”
It felt strange—he had never even thought about it before. So, he hadn’t been able to answer.
Lysa Medinail was a trustworthy companion, a good-natured rival, and a friend who was almost like family. These words to describe Lysa floated around in his mind, but they didn’t seem to help answer the question.
How could he measure how much she meant to him?
Even after thinking about it, it was hard to come to a conclusion.
In the end, he felt like he was wasting energy on a pointless thought, so he decided to change his course and head toward the training ground.
“Meeting with my brother always makes me tired.”
His new destination was a sort of hideaway that he and Bastian used to visit often when they were younger. Bastian had claimed a small forest as their secret base, saying there should be a hiding place somewhere in the vast royal palace.
The place had been abandoned for a while, mostly because it was located on the outskirts of the palace, making it inconvenient. However, for Richard, it was still the only peaceful place where he could truly relax.
“Greetings, Your Highness! No issues during the guard duty!”
Richard waved at the last guard he encountered as he made his way to the hideaway.
Other areas of the palace were crowded with guards, but this spot was different.
The path was so complicated that no intruder would dare to enter, and Richard had given the order to ensure no one disturbed him while he rested.
“!”
As Richard walked through the quiet, overgrown grass, he suddenly stopped, sensing a presence and immediately going on high alert.
Soon, the source of the presence emerged, and he could hardly believe his eyes and ears.
“Richard!”
From the dense foliage, Amelie appeared, calling his name.
