Ch.138Part 1 Complete) Like a Fairy Tale (1)

After Evan left to meet someone, Kaisel stared intently at the woman sitting on his bed.

With a pale face, Kaisel carefully removed a strand of red hair from her cheek and smiled faintly. She was alive. Her heart was beating. Though Mabeth had died… just as he said, Scarlet had come back to life.

However, she hadn’t opened her eyes yet, so he had moved her to his quarters and was simply monitoring her condition.

He had worried about what would happen if she still carried Mabeth’s energy, but Azest had said that no energy could be sensed from Scarlet.

He was slightly displeased to hear that she had even lost her original mana. But what did that matter? It was heavenly fortune that she had survived at all. Kaisel was sincerely grateful to the heavens.

“But…”

When Scarlet woke up, what should he say to her?

As the Imperial Crown Prince, he knew he should interrogate her.

No matter how much he considered her position, she had been possessed by Mabeth, an agent of extinction. Moreover, she had approached him, so if someone accused her of treason, she would inevitably face death.

Of course, he intended to prevent that somehow.

Even if her innocence wasn’t clearly proven, Kaisel trusted his instincts.

He believed in the Scarlet he had met in the Imperial Capital. If that was wrong, then there would be no helping it… but at least for now, Kaisel had decided to trust Scarlet himself.

The problem, however, was that he couldn’t think of anything specific to say to Scarlet.

After staring at Scarlet lying there for several hours, Kaisel rubbed his eyes.

Should he ask how she was feeling? No, wasn’t that too cliché?

The hot chocolate he had prepared had gone cold long ago. If he asked about her well-being with a warm cup of tea…

As he was deeply contemplating this, Kaisel was startled by movement from the bed and jumped up from his chair.

“Mmm…”

“S-Scarlet. Are you awake? If you’re awake, please answer me. Scarlet?”

“…Kaisel?”

“You’re awake. Medic! No, doctor! Azest! Come here quickly!”

Kaisel’s hands trembled as he watched Scarlet rubbing her eyes and waking up.

His pupils shook, and he barely managed to hold back from stuttering.

It was just a woman waking up, yet why did it bring him such relief?

Kaisel covered his twitching lips with his hand and quietly watched as Azest examined Scarlet.

Thinking how truly fortunate this was, Kaisel swallowed those words he couldn’t bring himself to say aloud and let out a small chuckle.

#

After Azest and the doctors left the quarters, leaving them alone, Kaisel rolled his eyes and looked at Scarlet.

She really did seem fine. She appeared tired, but that was just fatigue from having her mind taken by Mabeth.

Scratching his neck that wasn’t even itchy, Kaisel shifted his gaze around before finally settling on Scarlet.

As she sipped her warm lemon tea, Scarlet met Kaisel’s eyes and smiled before speaking.

“I should call you ‘Your Highness,’ right? That’s who I am to you now.”

At the title “Your Highness,” Kaisel’s face turned pale. Of course, it was appropriate given her connection to extinction, but wasn’t it too formal? After staring blankly with his hand outstretched, Kaisel looked at Scarlet and carefully moved his lips.

“…You can call me by my name. It’s more comfortable that way.”

“How could I do that? I remember everything I did. I hurt your body… yes, all of it—”

“It didn’t hurt at all!”

Though he shouted suddenly, Kaisel bit his tongue slightly at the dull pain in his ribs.

To be honest, it had hurt like hell. The wounds hadn’t fully healed yet, and the pain from taking a direct hit from the breath still lingered.

But how could he say it hurt in front of the person responsible?

His tongue hurt from biting it, and he felt embarrassed for shouting suddenly. To hide his reddening face, Kaisel bowed his head deeply, which made Scarlet burst into laughter.

“Really, it doesn’t hurt?”

“It was just ticklish. It didn’t hurt at all.”

“Really? Truly?”

“…Don’t ask when you already know. It hurt.”

Pfft. Normally he might have been upset, but seeing Scarlet laugh somehow made him feel good, so Kaisel slightly shrugged his shoulders.

If it had been anyone else, maybe, but this was Scarlet. Sitting covered with a blanket, she still looked tired.

Her dark circles extending to her cheeks would tell anyone how exhausted she was.

“You can sleep more if you want.”

At Kaisel’s words, Scarlet shook her head firmly. She too had many things she wanted to say.

She wanted to thank him for coming to rescue her, apologize for hurting him. And she wanted to say she had many things to tell him.

But due to the heat rising in her, she couldn’t bring herself to say those words.

Her heart was pounding, and her earlobes felt like they were on fire.

Though she didn’t know why, Scarlet realized that Kaisel sitting in front of her was the cause.

“Your Highness being here—”

“I told you to call me Kaisel.”

“Kaisel being here—”

“You can speak comfortably too. You’re a patient, so formal speech might be uncomfortable.”

“Kaisel, what does being sick have to do with formal speech?”

Kaisel himself didn’t really know the connection between the two.

But he just didn’t like Scarlet speaking formally to him.

He used to be fine with it before, but now… he just didn’t like it. It was really just that.

He still didn’t understand what this feeling was that kept stirring in a corner of his heart.

She’s still not speaking informally? That was a bit disappointing, but Kaisel didn’t say anything more.

But… maybe she didn’t like being told to speak comfortably?

Watching Scarlet’s reaction, Kaisel chewed his lips.

He had told her to speak comfortably, but now he didn’t know what to say next.

If only he had asked Evan for advice.

But regret wouldn’t change anything, so Kaisel finished his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“…I don’t know what to say to you.”

“If it’s about this subjugation, I’m fine… it’s all my family’s fault anyway.”

“No, it’s not that.”

He didn’t want to bring that up in front of Scarlet.

Although they were extinction, the fact remained that he had killed Scarlet’s family.

Without knowing how Scarlet felt about them, he didn’t want to rashly bring up that topic.

Kaisel wasn’t a fool, so he wanted to avoid talking about Terazein as much as possible.

“I just want to have a deeper conversation with you. Just like when we were in the Imperial Capital.”

“…Kaisel, don’t you dislike me?”

“Why would I dislike you?”

Kaisel pouted and grumbled. What did she think of him?

He wasn’t such a petty person.

He wasn’t like others who still thought Scarlet was connected to extinction, and he knew her circumstances to some extent. If anything, she had suffered the most in this battle.

If she had completely lost her mind to Mabeth, wouldn’t Mabeth have used her true power to completely devastate this area?

“It’s not your fault. It’s Mabeth’s fault. If someone blames you for being brainwashed since childhood, I’ll have something to say to them.”

“But still—”

“You only did one thing wrong.”

Kaisel gazed steadily at Scarlet.

Her slightly wet red hair, pale skin, and that foolishly pure nature that remained unchanged despite everything she’d been through.

Kaisel liked that about her. More than any other woman he had ever met, he wanted Scarlet to stay by his side.

Too immature to recognize the feeling of love, Kaisel substituted it with another name and murmured softly.

“…Leaving without my permission.”

That name was possessiveness. It was a somewhat ambiguous name, but Kaisel wanted to keep Scarlet by his side forever. Not to treat her like a tool.

He wanted to walk the streets together as they had before, to open books in the library and chat about trivial things.

He even enjoyed watching her frown while eating sweets, or deliberately choosing spicy foods she couldn’t eat just to see her reaction.

“You should have acted more carefully. Talked to me first, explained your situation to me. At the very least, you could have honestly told me you didn’t want to leave… what harm would that have done?”

“……Kaisel.”

“Honestly, I was hurt. When you left the Imperial Capital without saying anything. I thought you would have at least left me a letter.”

When he learned that Scarlet had already left the Imperial Capital, Kaisel spent the entire day staring blankly at the sky.

He wandered through the banquet hall where they first met and walked alone through the empty streets.

Even when he ordered the same food they had eaten together, it wasn’t sweet, and spicy food only irritated him.

Seeing Scarlet drooping her ears as if apologizing, Kaisel’s lips trembled slightly.

He was suddenly afraid of whether it was okay to say such things to Scarlet.

But if not now, there might not be another chance to say these words.

“I’m willing to overlook it this time.”

“What?”

Seeing Scarlet’s round eyes, Kaisel turned his gaze away.

They reflected everything so clearly that he simply couldn’t meet her gaze directly.

A completely opposite personality to his own. After moving his lips slightly, Kaisel spoke after a brief moment.

“From now on, don’t leave without my permission.”

Kaisel’s dry lips pressed together as his gaze met Scarlet’s.

If Scarlet asked what he meant or said no, what should he say?

Should he just say it was a joke and move on? What he feared most was her taking it seriously.

He was suddenly afraid she might say their time in the Imperial Capital was just a game to her, and that she was going to find a better man.

‘…Should I just be honest now?’

Should he just honestly say that he wants her by his side, that he doesn’t know what this feeling is but he can’t be without her?

Kaisel’s eyes trembled with anxiety, but Scarlet still said nothing and just stared at him.

He couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all. The time waiting for her answer felt like an eternity.

Plop,

When the cold sweat that had run down his forehead fell to the floor, Scarlet’s face suddenly turned bright red and she dropped the teacup she was holding onto the bed.

“Whoa!”

“Scarlet? Ah, this isn’t right.”

Hurriedly taking out a handkerchief and handing it to Scarlet, she accepted it with trembling hands.

Then, hesitantly wiping away the moisture, she glanced at Kaisel and rolled her eyes.

“Um… Kaisel.”

“S-speak. I’m listening.”

“What you just said to me… you mean you want me to stay by your side? Not to leave?”

“I-is that what it means? I’m not… sure. It’s not that I dislike you. Just… yes, that’s right, stay by my side.”

Flustered by the sudden heat, Kaisel nodded vigorously.

Having come this far, he waited for Scarlet’s answer with wide eyes, determined to face whatever came.

As the silence stretched on, seemingly eternal, when it finally broke, Scarlet tapped her fingers together and moved her lips.

“I’d like that… but are you sure, Kaisel?”

“What?”

“No, I mean I’ll leave if you tell me to. Really.”

“Why would I tell you to leave? Are you crazy? So you’re saying yes? You’ll stay by my side?”

“…Yes.”

Whoosh-

In that moment, Kaisel’s fist shot up toward the sky.

With his fist clenched tightly, his arm trembled as he held back the urge to shout.

Thinking this might be the greatest achievement of his life, Kaisel blushed when he noticed Scarlet staring at him blankly.

“Ahem, so. This is.”

Clearing his throat, Kaisel awkwardly rushed to the entrance of the quarters and grabbed the door before speaking. In a crawling voice, very carefully.

“…Rest well. I’ll come back later.”

“Okay…”

After Kaisel disappeared, in the awkward atmosphere that followed, Scarlet held her cheeks with both hands and swayed her body.

“Oh, what do I do? Did I just get confessed to?”

Since being told to stay by his side was clearly a confession, Scarlet’s lips spread into a silly grin as her mind filled with flowers.

Of course, for Kaisel, those words weren’t a confession, but simply an expression of wanting to spend more time together.

But what did that matter?

Lying on the bed and stomping her feet, the clueless Scarlet’s face looked happy. Very happy.