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Chapter : 12
“I… I’m sure you already know this, but I am the third son of the Cassius family…”
“Enough excuses. There’s no need to rattle off information I already know. Say something that will convince me.”
His Highness tapped my neck lightly with his fingers, as if granting me one more chance. Even though my life could end at any moment, strangely enough, my mind felt calm. It was because his face, unlike before, was holding a chillingly rational expression.
“First, I heard you say you would take me with you before I lost consciousness. So when I woke up in an unfamiliar place, I wasn’t surprised, and I naturally assumed Your Highness would return. I swear I had no ulterior motives.”
I didn’t have the courage to lie and say I didn’t know anything about this place. Fear that I would be caught immediately and the burden of lying to His Highness collided within me, shaping my answer.
“You may be lacking as a knight, but you should know what a knight’s oath means, correct?”
The moment a knight speaks the word “oath” before their lord, breaking it allows immediate execution. A formal oath required more procedures, but no sane knight would casually utter the word “oath.” Aila didn’t seem entirely sane, but since Tienas’s consciousness was inside her, she answered obediently, “Yes. I am aware.”
“Good. I’ll overlook that for now… But how did you know an assassin would come to the imperial palace? That information was known only to me and my escort knights.”
His Highness still did not say he believed me, nor did he release my neck. Still, the fact that the topic had shifted was a good sign. I had prepared an answer for this question as well, so it was rather fortunate.
“Cassius family’s ability is to briefly communicate with the dead, so I cannot say anything like prophecy. And the excuse of ‘I overheard it while passing by’ wouldn’t work either.”
As I thought about it, the phrase “brief communication with the dead” felt too closely tied to my current situation, making me uneasy. But I couldn’t afford to get lost in thought in front of His Highness.
“I heard it from a capable information broker. I originally went to ask about who would attend today’s banquet, and I brought more money than expected, so I shared it with them. But the exact details were unclear, so while I was searching for more information, I ended up encountering it.”
I decided to use Kevin as a scapegoat. I had no intention of revealing his name, so I could only hope he wouldn’t resent me too much.
“So you’re saying you came to save me after hearing that? You could have simply reported it to the knight order, yet you wandered around looking for assassins whose location you didn’t even know.”
“I merely did what was natural for someone who would become the sun of the Empire.”
Instead of saying things like, “I thought the knight order wouldn’t believe me,” or “I didn’t think it would really happen,” I chose to act foolish. I responded without considering the implied meaning of his sarcastic words.
“Who taught you how to use a sword?”
“Though my skills are lacking, I learned at the Academy.”
Lacking was an understatement—it was practically abysmal. The instructors at the Academy would likely be insulted if they heard Aila claiming she learned from them.
‘Why is he asking something like this? Is he planning to expel me from the knight order for being unskilled?’
If that were the case, he wouldn’t pressure me like this. He would instead have ordered changes in the knight order’s training methods or quietly removed useless knights.
‘No. I shouldn’t try to analyze him. I’ve never succeeded in understanding this man’s inner thoughts.’
That was precisely why I relied on information brokers—I could not read the intentions of palace figures. Even having died and come back to life, it was only natural that I still could not read the motives of the most noble of them all.
“The way you use a sword doesn’t seem like something taught at the Academy. At the very least, it’s a style I’ve never seen from the imperial Academy I know.”
Strangely, the conversation didn’t end. What I used against the assassins was less swordsmanship and more instinctive movement guided by reflex and precognition, so it was natural that it didn’t belong to any school. Given that His Highness was the finest swordsman in the imperial palace, he might have mistaken my miserable skill for a unique style.
“It was an improvised movement, so it cannot be attributed to any school. Your Highness, were you watching my fight?”
“Well. To say I was watching would be an exaggeration. I only saw you deliberately take a blade at the end and then appear behind the attacker to evade the strike.”
That explanation made sense. He must have arrived at the right moment before I was struck. Hearing the commotion, he would have seen me rolling on the ground heavily injured. My plan to draw out the assassins and buy time had worked.
“Why? Did you resent me for letting you get injured?”
But what came next was so unbelievable that I nearly jumped in place. I barely restrained myself from raising my hands in haste and lowered my head instead.
“Of course not! I was merely embarrassed for showing such an unworthy sight. Is it not the duty of a knight to protect their lord?”
Though I was no longer his escort knight, calling him “lord” was not entirely incorrect since I still belonged to the imperial palace. As I kept my head lowered, His Highness clicked his tongue softly, as if measuring something.
“One last question. Why did you go so far as to risk your life to save me?”
The answer that immediately came to mind was that I was a knight, and it was my duty to protect His Highness even at the cost of my life. Even if my body had died and my direct bond with my lord no longer existed, it felt as though asking me to change the way I lived was like asking me to walk on my hands.
“I believe it is the mindset a knight should have.”
But once I said it aloud, it sounded like a lie. The real reason I had rushed there felt more personal, more shameful, yet precious, and that thought kept rising in my mind. My head lowered even further.
“You’re being vague.”
Though directed at me, it didn’t quite feel like something meant for me to fully understand. His tone was eerie, making me tense as if it were a warning.
“I apologize.”
“No. I can hardly blame such a fine knight. If you have a wish, speak it. Since you’ve located the assassin, I will grant you one request.”
It was not an unreasonable offer, given that His Highness was strict with reward and punishment. However, if he had already anticipated the assassin’s arrival, he must have already prepared countermeasures, meaning my role had likely been insignificant. In that sense, it was a surprisingly merciful offer. It was a gift I might never receive again as Aila. So I wanted to make a request.
“I simply wish for Your Highness the Crown Prince to enjoy peaceful and honorable days.”
I wished for him to step away from Tiel’s shadow and continue the straight path he had originally walked. Or rather, it didn’t even have to be straight. I simply hoped there would be no stones blocking his path forward. My request held no real power, but perhaps even remembering it for a moment might guide him toward a brighter path. I wanted, in my small way, to help.
Because it was such an abstract request, I thought he would gently smile and say, “So be it.”
“It is a presumptuous and impossible request.”
But the answer that returned was colder than anything I had expected. Perhaps he truly regarded Aila as an enemy. Or perhaps, since I was not his person, there was no reason to treat me kindly.
“If you have no other request, I will pretend I did not hear it. You may leave.”
His Highness stopped pressuring me and handed the sword back to the knight. Then he walked toward the bed. There was nothing strange about him heading to his bed—it was his bedroom, after all. However, for me, who knew that Tiel’s corpse lay there, my tongue stiffened.
Sitting on the bed, His Highness gazed lovingly at the corpse whose soul had long departed and gently brushed its cheek. It was a more careful and deeply emotional gesture than anything I had ever seen him show even to his fiancée.
I was here, yet His Highness was pouring affection onto my dead body—affection I had never received while alive. I couldn’t understand where that affection came from, or to whom it was truly directed.
‘If that corpse is being used for some greater purpose, I wish someone would just tell me.’
A nameless sense of misery pressed down on me, and a fire seemed to ignite in my stomach. It was an emotion I had never felt before.
“Do I need to tell you to leave again?”
Still, the only thing I could do was obey his order. Just before the door closed, a clear voice followed.
“If coincidences continue, one can only assume there is intent behind them. If you wish to protect your safety, pray that there will be no next coincidence.”
As if no answer was required, the bedroom door shut firmly behind me.
