episode_0051

“Your Majesty, another letter has arrived from your home country. This time, they are asking you to return home as soon as possible.”

The boy skillfully turned a deaf ear to the nagging and busily wiped the fruit with a rag.

“It would be natural since the prince’s engagement has lost its meaning. It is difficult to see the royal family of this country as holding real power anymore. It is said that the home country is now attempting negotiations centered around a man named Uriel Duzan.”

The woman with a strict look continued speaking, pushing up her monocle. Her hair had grown white, but her sharp eyes remained the same.

The prince, who was putting shiny, polished fruit into a large basket, frowned and turned his head to look at the woman.

“… … You’re not even trying to hide it anymore? You had that kind of calculation in mind when you first sent me to this country. Without even considering my wishes or feelings. ”

“Even the princess that the prince likes has been missing for a long time now. My lord’s intentions are clearly not simply political calculations. He must have a greater desire to protect the prince. He cannot allow the prince to stay in such an unstable and chaotic place. I, Owen, have been by the prince’s side until now… but my body is not the same as before.”

As someone who had been watching over and supporting the prince since he was a baby, she was always ready to act for the happiness of this small and tender child, and even more so, a precious child, regardless of the international situation or the interests of her country. However, the prince, who was in the midst of a rebellious period, made an annoyed expression, picked up the basket, and began to walk away with brisk strides.

“When you were going to kick me out to a foreign country across the sea as if it was a bother, why are you pretending to care now? And the princess here is already out of my interest. Whether she disappears or not… … Is there anything strange about my outfit today?”

Prince Owen, who was having his outfit checked for the sixth time today, nodded absentmindedly.

“Out of interest? I will listen to you, Prince.”

Owen approaches the prince, who is carrying a basket with both hands, and intervenes.

“Ah, okay. I’ll take it. I found a new love! Not a boring person chosen by others, but a love that I chose for myself.”

The prince shook his head, refusing her help, and pushed open the mansion door with his shoulder.

“A new love? You decided it yourself?”

Owen raised an eyebrow and asked with a suspicious look on his face.

“Yeah! I knew right away what they meant by destined partner. Right, should I introduce you to Owen while I’m at it?”

The prince continued his excited steps, moving further and further away from Owen, who stood still.

“Now, wait a minute, Prince! What on earth do you mean by that!”

Owen ran towards the prince, who had already walked a long way away, without even having time to be shocked. She was the type of woman who would definitely condemn any woman who was not worthy of being called a woman.

Owen, dragging his old body, finally stopped in front of a building made of shiny, angular, pure white bricks. The tall structure, which must have been built not long ago, looked exactly like a large boulder. The prince greeted the woman on horseback while leaving Owen behind, who was catching his breath in front of the strange building that had not a single window.

“Marcus! How are you? Your hat suits you.”

Captain Marcus of the Horse Patrol dismounted from his armored horse and saluted with a friendly face.

“Good morning, Prince. It’s quite windy. Dress warmly.”

“Are you worried? Take this and go to work.”

The prince took a fruit out of the basket with a cheerful face and handed it to Marcus. Owen’s sharp gaze flew at her as she took off her gloves and accepted the fruit. Manners passed, appearance failed, status was precarious, Owen finished analyzing in a short time and raised his monocle and coughed.

“Ahem, hm. Uh… … Prince? The one who is supposed to be my destined partner… .”

“Can we go inside now? My husband will wait.”

Owen’s words were briefly interrupted.

“Oh, of course. You came just in time. Hurry up and open the door.”

Marcus guessed the time by the length of the shadows beneath his feet and gave instructions to the soldiers guarding the entrance to the building. The hinges of the large wooden door creaked open, revealing stone steps leading to a dark basement where the morning sunlight did not reach. Owen tilted his head at the ominous atmosphere.

“Wow, Prince? What on earth is this place?”

“Surprise… … . Owen, what if you follow me here?”

The prince turned to Owen and questioned him harshly.

“Where is it? It’s a prison.”

The prince added briefly and then walked down the stone steps.

“Prison… … ? I’ll follow you. I’m the prince’s aide. ”

Owen, who had a look of disbelief on his face, stopped the soldiers who were trying to close the wooden door and went down the dark underground stairs, feeling his way along the wall. With each step he took, rocks flew like dust, and Owen, who unconsciously held his nose, was overcome with a sense of unease.

“How have you all been? Hey, what about Valerie? Aren’t you on duty today?”

The prince’s voice is heard from afar.

“He’s taking the day off today because he’s not feeling well. Instead, I’m working.”

A woman dressed in a prison guard uniform answered.

“Ah… … I see… .”

Owen, who subtly read the disappointment in the prince’s voice, felt that his uneasy premonition was becoming a reality. The prince, who was engaged to a princess from a neighboring country who was to inherit the throne, was falling in love with a low-level official? At this point, manners, appearance, and personality were all unimportant. Owen, who was dizzy from the shock, thought that he had to somehow talk to the prince.

“Then I guess I can’t help it. Can you let me meet my love soon?”

The prince shrugged his shoulders and then grumbled again. Wasn’t it Valerie who stole his heart? The soldiers stood up, picked up the ring with the keys hanging from it, and started walking down the darker corridor, leaning on the small torch. The prince followed them, humming. Owen, who was overcome with an uneasy feeling and began to sweat profusely, followed them with unsteady steps.

Cancan

“Juaron, it’s an interview.”

One of the guards lightly strikes the iron bars with the club he is holding in his hand and calls out to someone.

“My love! I’m here, I thought I’d die to see you!”

Owen loses consciousness when he sees the prince jumping around, reaching through the bars.

“Juaron, did everything go well while I was gone? The time we spend apart can feel like an eternity! The time we spend together like this feels so short!”

Owen, leaning against the damp, cold stone wall, supported by the guards, sees the prince wooing him with all his dignity put down.

“… Aren’t you coming here every day?”

The annoyed expression, the indifferent answer, and the fact that Christie opened her mouth and yawned made Owen’s heart flutter.

Who on earth do you think you are receiving attention and love from?

An extremely arrogant attitude, sharp eyes dripping with cunning, and a status that was too much to even mention: a prisoner. No matter what tricks that vile woman, who deserved to die a hundred times over, had used, it was clear that the prince had been thoroughly deceived.

“Please eat this quickly. Look at how haggard you are. I told you to eat properly, but still.”

The prince took out various foods from the basket he had brought and pushed them into the iron bars. The guards looked puzzled when the prince glanced at them.

“Well… , as I have said many times, the prisoners’ meals are the same as ours… … .”

The guard who came to patch up Valerie’s case timidly objected.

“That’s not right! A woman with a big distribution like Joa Ron can’t have Charlie’s stomach with that. I told Valerie so earnestly!”

The grumbling prince. The guard, who sensed an ominous force, turned his gaze to his colleagues nearby.

“Surely, the reason why Valerie is sick is… … .”

“That’s right. They keep pestering us. They ask us to put cotton on the floor of the solitary cell… or to bring musicians to the prison. They ask us for ridiculous requests, and there was even a time when they saw the marks on the pillow and went crazy, asking if we had hit them.”

“… … What the heck, I said I’d change it for you.”

The guards who had been whispering shook their heads in unison. Christie, who had not yet digested the meal she had just eaten, knew from experience what would happen if she refused to eat his food. So she glanced at the guards who were shivering at the prince’s appearance, then picked up the cake that had been placed inside the cell and took a bite.

“How is it? I spread a lot of fruit jam on it. I made it with love and joy, thinking of you!”

The prince watched Christie eat her dessert with an expression like he was watching a hamster eat its food.

“… It’s delicious.”

Christie answered curtly. It wasn’t an empty promise, for the prince was actually quite talented at cooking, and the ingredients he used were mostly the same ones used for the royal family’s meals, or for Uriel and her inner circle. Christie had always tried to take just a bite, but before she knew it, it had disappeared from her hands, and she licked the crumbs that remained on her fingers.

“Eat slowly. It breaks my heart to see someone like you suffering in a place like this. All I can do for a loyalist like Juaron is bring him these worthless snacks… .”

Christie couldn’t stand the gaze of the prince who was looking at her with tears in his eyes, so she picked up a fluffy bread filled with cream and put it in her mouth. In the first place, the guards had never received any orders from Uriel to torture them, and since they had not received any additional instructions, they had just kept Christie in custody. On top of that, since the prince visited every day and complained about the welfare of the prisoners, her only real routine was to be locked in the iron bars, eat a little of the food he and the guards brought her, and then fall asleep.

“No, no… … . It really helps a lot. Don’t worry so much… .”

Christie shook her head vigorously. Recently, when she shook her body like this, she started to feel her heart pounding, so even when she was sitting alone in her cell with nothing to do, she would occasionally get up from her seat and run around in place. Every time she did that, she felt a sense of satisfaction and had no doubt that her late growth period had finally come to her.

“I want to hold your hand.”

The prince’s slender hand slips into the iron bars. Christie looks down at her own hands, knocks her palms together to shake off the bread crumbs, and then puts her hand in the prince’s. The prince caresses her hand faintly and interlocks his fingers.

“Juaron… If I can help ease your heartache, even just a little bit, worrying about this country day and night, I will do anything.”

Christie covered her mouth with her other hand and yawned. The prince’s face became even more pitiful when he saw the tears in one of her eyes.

“Even though I am a boy with no talent, I am also a prince of a country. I sent a formal letter to Uriel this morning requesting your pardon. I will do the same tomorrow and the day after. If this method does not work, I will talk to my parents and find a way to pressure them diplomatically, or rather, to get you exiled!”

“Oh… Prince, there’s no need to go that far… … .”

Christie was already confident that Uriel would release her soon. As she had once advised, the guards’ uniforms had all been replaced with new ones made with Segram’s support, and if she had overheard their conversation inside the prison, it was clear that the guards were the daughters of families that she would never have been able to become close with a year ago. It was exactly what she had predicted. Uriel was not as smart as she was, but she would make a wise decision.

“Prince! What on earth is this guy?”

Owen, who had taken a sip of water and regained consciousness, shouted and asked.

“Really! You want to keep surprising me? Owen, have you ever tried to sacrifice your life for the crown? Have you ever had the courage to aim for the heart of your enemy in the middle of enemy lines, or to throw yourself off a cliff?”

If you change the word royal to lust, the meaning would roughly fit. Owen, who had been in that kind of attitude for the prince his whole life, just dropped his jaw and made a dejected expression.

“Enemy camp…? That woman’s crime was clearly written as indecency… … .”

Christie feels stung by the guard’s words. The prince turns to the guard as if he is dumbfounded.

“Of course he wouldn’t want the person who rebelled against him to be treated like a hero! He’s just framing him with dirty words! Well, there’s a limit to what you don’t know. Huh.”

A prince who taps his feet on the stone floor and scolds others.

“But, but treason is definitely punishable by death… .”

“Shouldn’t he be transferred to a death row internment camp… …?”

“I’ll have to ask again.”

As the guards began to murmur at the prince’s words, the one who became the most embarrassed was Christie.

“Hey, wait! Stop right there! The prince is mistaken! My crime is indecent!”

Christie screams.

“Oh my… I feel so sorry for you, who must bear the dishonor of such an unreasonable fate… … ! How nice… .”

The prince buried his face in his hands and began to sob.

“Damn it… … . Stop talking nonsense, Prince! Just wait! Hey! ”

Christie continued to yell at the guard as he walked up the stairs carrying the papers listing her charges.

“What nonsense! What kind of habit is that to our prince?”

“Wow, wow, Joao Ron is so pitiful—”

The tumultuous noise of the dungeon, which seemed dizzying, died down as the large wooden door at the top of the stairs swung open. The door opened so suddenly that one of the guards who was climbing the stairs almost fell down.

Six months ago, atop the walls of the castle not far from this prison, an officer confronting Christie during a hostage crisis revealed a familiar face, unrolled a rolled-up piece of parchment in one hand, and shouted:

“Ahem, … Christie Juaron, you are hereby pardoned as of today. It is the Commander’s order! ”