Chapter 5

“As you can see from my impression, I’m not good at saying bad things because I have a good personality.”

He certainly seemed to be good at lying. As if this reaction was quite familiar, I casually tapped my cheek with the tip of my hand.

Nevertheless, when Ian didn’t answer back, the man tilted his head downwards and jumped onto the terrace.

“You don’t believe me, do you? It’s the first time our prince has seen something like this, isn’t it? I heard that even the lower class people in Rox have good skin?”

…..Prince?

I frowned at his choice of words, it made me have goosebumps.

“Hahaha”, the man laughed loudly and went on talking about things he didn’t even ask.

“But you have to thank me for coming. I volunteered to come with Claude. You don’t know how fastidious he is, do you? As soon as you open the window, you’re the one who’s going to put the sword at the neck, yes?”

He didn’t know who Claude was, but he shook his head as if it didn’t matter.

“A man should be a little flexible, right? Just like me, who came right away because I was worried about how lonely and scared my poor, little prince would be. Oh, I’m glad you are alive. I didn’t think you’d survive though.”

“…….”

“I mean. When I saw our prince bleeding a lot in that carriage, I thought, oh, this is wrong. No, but it’s just! As soon as I thought of it, I was like, gulp! You know, breathing? Sigh. People say it usually works. Huh? No?”

“……”

“Hey, are you even listening to me? Or you’d rather not talk to a low ranking b*st*rd?”

He was speaking with such speed that it was doubtful whether he was breathing or not. Perhaps even if he had not hurt his throat, he would not have responded to that question properly.

Ian, who was a little tired of that man’s face, took a step closer to him.

I couldn’t answer that nonsense, and I didn’t have to. The reason I came out to the terrace even though I knew there was someone in the first place was not because I wanted to talk to them.

It was the moment when the man opened his mouth once again, saying, “Huh?”. After a brief gap, he reached for the dagger at the man’s waist. He immediately noticed and raised his hand, but Ian, who had retreated, acted faster. The man noticed what Ian had taken, and hardened his mouth.

“No, you can’t kill me here to solve one problem….”

The man shook his head like an innocent young master and stretched out his hand. He also asked to return it because it was dangerous, and he even persuaded him that he’d ignore what had happened if he returned it now.

But Ian, who had no intention of doing so, lifted the dagger high in his hand. The pale daylight cut through the sky in no time, and the man’s face looked puzzled.

“It’s not gonna work if you kill me. I don’t know why all the aristocrats are so impatient.”

Ian thought it would be better to knock him out by jabbing the back of his head while he was running. The man, who thought the prince was running towards him, stood where he was.

“…Eh?”

Thud!

The man who stopped with his hand raised up at the drops of blood on the floor laughed bitterly, perhaps because he felt absurd.

“You weren’t stabbing me?”

Looking at Ian’s own wrist, which had been cut deep and bleeding, he remembered the day again.

There was no time to mark unexpected scenarios with question marks. Ian, who cut off his wrist without hesitation this time, looked indifferent to the man. The blood on the ground instantly flowed and the pain was bright and realistic.

“Ha.”

Ian had to admit that he had been worried for the past two weeks.

This sensation that flows through the skin cannot be a dream.

He thought it was ridiculous, but the reality was that no matter how much he tries to wake up from his sleep, nothing would change. Ian, who didn’t really care at first, had no choice but to notice as the day went by.

I was obviously dead, but I still remember it vividly, at that time the blood was still fresh.

When he was lost in his thoughts, the man, who was watching Ian’s actions blankly, suddenly shouted in surprise, as if he had realized something.

“Wait. Wait, wait! No, you could have done it secretly. Why are you doing it with my dagger? It’s like I did it.”

“……”

“Are you going to take responsibility if I get dragged away with such an unfair misunderstanding and get punished? You’ve never been whipped with a stick on your back, right? Oh, that hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”

Then blame your reputation that caused no one to trust you.

“All I did was say what I had in mind, but it was a plausible assumption. I thought most of the people would understand that misunderstanding.”

But these kinds of people originally know themselves the least. There was a voice that was growing louder and louder complaining about the injustice that he’d face. The mumbling was quite an irritating noise, so Ian, who couldn’t stand it, turned around with his wrinkled eyes.

As he strode into the room and flung open the door leading to the hallway, a surprised voice followed.

“What, What is it!”

The men who were guarding the hallway with a bored look turned their heads. I thought they were sleeping quietly, but the door suddenly opened and they seemed surprised.

Regardless, however, Ian lifted the dagger he was holding. The man, who was close to the weapon, took a step back immediately.

“Put that dagger down right now…”

But this time again, there was a certain place for the blade to turn.

As I slit my already scarred wrist, red blood flowed to the floor on the third engraved stab wound.

“Huh?”

For a moment, the men who opened their mouths as if they couldn’t understand the situation let out a surprised roar. Surely anyone would be surprised if a man who looked dead for two weeks suddenly opened the door and put on a show.

“Hemostasis, hemostasis…”

“Hurry and send Ed over here!”

As I turned around looking at the hallway, which was a mess in an instant, the man who was approaching me opened his mouth and laughed.

“Aha, you’re just crazy.”

Ian didn’t expect it at all.

The day after he opened his eyes after receiving treatment, he was calm when the drivers who came into the room grabbed him and dragged him away.

There were many people in the hallway where he first walked. Most of them didn’t know each other, but the expression of looking at this side is cold.

It didn’t matter because it was a familiar look.

I don’t know why, but I didn’t even think of hospitality when I was locked up.

The still burning wrist clung hard and blood leaked out over the white bandage. I knew I did it on purpose, so I walked silently out of the long hallway.

“Oh, you really opened your eyes?”

“Yes. I was afraid that you were going to die.”

The murmur grew even worse as he entered the spacious venue. Unlike the terrace, which was far away, all the sounds definitely came into his ears this time. A giggling sneer returned at someone’s whispered words.

He immediately understood that he was like a monkey in a zoo, and nothing else.

When I looked up, the man I saw on the terrace yesterday was also standing there far away. It was funny that he waved his hand and paled, but he had only said hello.

I now know that Rox is the name of a country. And that people here are very hostile to Rox. Even if I fall into a place where I don’t know what to say, I feel too dirty about being a racist. If you peel off a layer of the skin with a knife, it’s all the same meat.

That is only my opinion though.

The people who stared at me and said something turned their heads towards the entrance in an instant.

Naturally, my shoulders were pulled and I saw someone walking from afar as I turned away.

As soon as he saw the face of the person getting closer, Ian froze as if time had stopped.

It can’t be.

I muttered with the tip of my tongue, but there was no reply coming back.

Anxiety, which had been haunting him since yesterday, crawled up his ankle again and to his head. His pulse was beating so fast that his whole body felt numb.

The man who approached me with relaxed steps looked down at me.

His eyes were like flashes of light, and his slightly disheveled hair was as black as night. Tall, dark skin, long eyes, and a sensitive atmosphere.

“It’s my first time saying hello with your eyes open.”

Ah, you’re the man I’ve already killed.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ