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Chapter 10
“I’ve heard he’s ruthless. That he kills people like crushing ants, and only cares about women.”
I swallowed a sigh and looked at Tian’s face, flushed red like a ripe fruit.
“Come on. Or at least undo a couple of buttons so I can check. You might be hurt.”
I intended to check whether there were any bruises on his body.
It was unlikely—no, practically unthinkable—that anyone would treat the Crown Prince that way, but after what I had just witnessed, it no longer felt entirely impossible.
Tian replied, his face burning crimson.
“Hah, I—I’m not hurt! I’m not so weak that I’d get injured just from being grabbed and shoved!”
I frowned.
“Just grabbed and shoved?”
Was that even something you could say about the Crown Prince?
Even a light bump against royalty couldn’t reasonably be described as “just that.”
But I said nothing further and carefully examined him.
There were no visible bruises or wounds on his face.
His neck was the same.
But I couldn’t relax.
Someone could have deliberately targeted areas that weren’t visible.
“What a shy kid. Only eight years old, and so stubborn. I can’t exactly strip him down to check…”
While I was thinking, I suddenly felt the Crown Prince’s resentful gaze.
He was staring straight at me, fists clenched tightly.
Then he spoke sharply.
“You. Don’t you dare think about pitying me.”
He snatched the white cloth from my hand and threw it to the floor.
“And stop doing useless things like this.”
I widened my eyes.
“Huh? I’m not pitying you. I was just angry.”
The Crown Prince fell silent.
“You gave me jerky earlier, so I was just getting angry with you.”
“You… you call that getting angry? Then why are you wiping my face?”
“I told you already… I was worried you might catch a cold…”
“You don’t catch a cold from a little sweat!”
“You do. I came from an orphanage, and there were tons of kids there. When they sweated in winter, they’d get sick soon after.”
The Crown Prince, still fuming, had no rebuttal.
I pressed my advantage.
“And why are you yelling at me when it was that old man being awful?”
The Crown Prince looked momentarily stunned.
“What?”
“If I were you, I’d have paid him back. You have the power to do it, too.”
I quickly stepped closer to him.
Then I spoke very seriously.
“Since it came up…”
“I don’t know your exact situation, Your Highness.”
“……”
“But why are you treated like that? You’re not someone who deserves it. You’re a strong little kid, aren’t you?”
I had at least been happy until I was twelve.
At the orphanage, under Ms. Anne’s care, I grew up bright and cheerful.
After being adopted into the Longton family, I lived in relative comfort until Hiana arrived.
“But who would’ve guessed the Crown Prince himself was being treated like this?”
Moreover, I knew his future.
In my past life, after being dethroned, he was expelled from the palace and found dead a few months later.
“…So I can’t help but care.”
My voice grew slightly louder.
“And also—what about earlier, when you spoke to me like that? What kind of royal family member worries about someone who’s just been called the ‘deposed Crown Prince’?”
I glanced at him and added quickly.
“Of course, I’m a kid, so you should let it slide just this once.”
“…Ha.”
A breath of disbelief escaped Tian’s lips.
I averted my eyes briefly, then froze.
Something had just occurred to me.
“Wait… but there’s the Empress Dowager, isn’t there? I heard she supported Crown Prince Tian until the very end.”
“The Empress Dowager’s support didn’t help the deposed Crown Prince at all. What can an old woman in the rear palace even do?”
My eyes shifted back to Tian.
“Right. There was the Empress Dowager.”
In my past life, she had been the only one who supported the deposed Tian to the very end.
I had also heard that after the Empress passed away, the Empress Dowager observed the longest mourning period.
“Did you ever tell her? The Empress Dowager?”
The Crown Prince frowned.
“What?”
“When that servant bullied you. Did you report it to the Empress Dowager?”
He opened and closed his mouth, then shook his head with a sulky expression.
“…I can’t. I can barely even see her.”
“Why not? Why is it hard to see her?”
His expression darkened.
I slowly nodded inwardly at his reaction.
‘Years of palace neglect really do pay off.’
Even with limited information, I could piece things together.
“Then it’s probably better this way. Maybe it’s not so bad to align with the Second Prince under Consort Karin…”
After Crown Prince Tian was deposed,
the new Crown Prince became the Second Prince—the son of Imperial Consort Karin.
“So the claim that Tian was violent and unruly was slander. This whole thing was a setup.”
And only one person truly benefited from it.
Consort Karin, who made her own son the Crown Prince.
I shrugged casually.
“Strange. Why would it be so hard to see your grandmother?”
The Crown Prince’s expression became complicated.
Of course, I already knew the answer.
‘Consort Karin blocked it, no doubt.’
She must have prevented any contact between the Crown Prince and the Empress Dowager.
Isolation would make him easier to control.
Maybe it was because of the jerky earlier?
My thoughts were racing now.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the Crown Prince’s hand.
“Listen, Your Highness. If that old man ever bullies you again…”
Then I leaned in and whispered something into his ear.
“…do it. Definitely!”
When I pulled back, Tian’s face was red again as he stumbled backward.
I paused to reconsider.
‘Was I too casual with the Crown Prince?’
Then I shook my head inwardly.
‘…No. It’ll still be ten years before he grows up properly anyway.’
A foolish kid.
“What do you mean you couldn’t find Tian?”
Consort Karin’s cold voice made Jacques bow his head in difficulty.
“I-I apologize… he was nowhere in the estate…”
Of course, it was a blatant lie.
He had just fled after encountering the Crown Prince in the east courtyard.
“What are you doing?”
The little girl who had spoken to him so brazenly.
As a close aide to the Consort, Jacques knew the faces of most noble young ladies in the empire.
Yet he had never seen that child before.
“She’s no ordinary child anymore… I wonder when the Prince will finally become fit to inherit the throne.”
Consort Karin muttered under her breath.
Across from her sat Lady Sharon Avner.
“You must be troubled by His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“You know how I feel about Tian. I consider him a son of my heart, yet he keeps straying…”
“I’m sure it’s difficult for you.”
Between them lay a contract for military weapon supply between the Imperial Court and the Avner House.
“Anyway. I look forward to your continued cooperation for the next five years. As long as things continue as they have, I’ll have no complaints.”
“You honor us.”
At that moment, the door opened.
Tian entered.
“I apologize. I got lost in the east courtyard garden.”
Consort Karin’s brow furrowed.
‘Idiot.’
He ran off scared just because she scolded him a little, and now he was getting lost in a duke’s estate.
Annoyance rose within her, but Karin, as always, showed nothing.
Too many eyes were watching.
She lifted her gaze and looked at Sharon Avner.
The head of House Avner was someone entangled with the palace through military contracts, yet she never yielded an inch.
‘When will this old woman finally lose her edge?’
For years, Karin had been locked in a tense standoff with her.
Unshakable confidence before the imperial court.
A disturbingly skillful ability to tilt contracts in her favor.
Still, Karin allowed it.
‘The Avner House needs to grow a little more.’
Karin rose.
“Let’s continue this discussion back at the palace. Prepare to depart.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Servants quickly approached to dress her and straighten her gown.
Karin nodded slightly at Sharon Avner.
“Return for now. Perhaps we’ll meet again at the Emperor’s birthday banquet this autumn.”
“Indeed, Your Grace.”
“See me out is not necessary.”
Jacques opened the door and waited.
As she stepped out of the lavish reception room, Karin said quietly:
“I don’t even want to breathe the same air as the Crown Prince. A separate carriage.”
Then she walked down the corridor lined with dark brown carpets.
She did not notice that Tian’s gaze on her had changed slightly.
