Chapter 12

He lifted me up to the point where I could barely touch the tip of my toes. More pain was engraved on the injured area, shaking my body.

Even though I was used to it and felt it a lot, it doesn’t mean you’re not sick so my arms trembled in pain.

‘What do I do? Should I apologize?’

‘What did you do wrong? Calm down, Arien.’

‘…But–‘

“Calm down!’

Argen grabbed my other arm and flew into rage. The 2nd Prince still had his eyes on the scar on my arm.

‘Why don’t I do what I did to Lulahel?’

‘That’s how it worked…. ‘

‘At least I think it lifted Lulahel’s mood.’

Only then did Argen stop refuting me.

‘Then I’ll tell him, not you.’

Argen held my hand tighter and shouted to the 2nd Prince with an urgent face.

“I… I was wrong…!”

It stopped. The hand that was strongly holding my arm relaxed.

10 years old…… He cruelly lifted me with the strength of an adult, even though there was no malice in the action, I was in pain.

“It’s our fault. I won’t do it again, so if you let me go….”

I closed my eyes unknowingly to what Argen said. When Lulahel was in a bad mood, what I used to say seemed to be already on my lips. Thanks to Argen’s outspokenness, I was able to escape the grip of the 2nd prince.

I fell to the floor when his grip was loosened. I didn’t feel very good because I fell for the second time today.

“….. I didn’t mean to……ha, so……no, you learned that from someone.”

Again, a voice that sank low and crawling on the floor echoed.

I am 5 years old. Only 5 years old.

No matter what I was thinking inside, there wasn’t much I could do with my own strength. I’m at a young age where I can’t afford to do so.

I was living in the emperor’s palace, but one day I will run away to a place where I no longer have to be afraid.

Both of us couldn’t say anything to the forced order. The first thing I didn’t understand was why he was asking that kind of thing.

The 2nd Prince looked at both of us without sweeping up his bangs, and he also shut his mouth. As the wind blew over the garden where the silence had settled down, I got goosebumps.

‘Are you bruised?’

‘No…… When I pulled my arm, it just stretched and hurt.’

The prince seemed to think about something for a while at my reaction and reached out again, but Argen blocked him. The sensation of being stung by a bee seemed to stiffen my facial muscles, so I was busy hiding behind Argen and fixing my facial expressions.

“….. It’s my fault, I’m sorry. I’ll treat you.”

The 2nd Prince said in a calm tone, while clenching his empty fist tightly again.

“You’re hurt. Show it to me because I can cure it.”

“No…no.”

Argen has taken a firm stand.

I just stayed silent because I knew it was for me even though he was rebelling against someone else.

“You’re an imperial family member, so you’ll recover quickly, but it’ll be hard because you’re not of a pure lineage.”

The 2nd Prince faced Argen by talking softly as if he were trying to ease our tension. I had already felt that making eye contact and having a conversation had a significant effect.

‘Pure bloodline?’

‘Is there anything like that?”

I asked Argen when I was puzzled by the words of pure blood from the 2nd Prince’s mouth, but Argen asked me if I knew about it.

“If you are not a high-ranking nobleman above the Marquis, you cannot properly lead the superior lineage of the royal family.”

The 2nd Prince began to draw something on my palm with his fingers. It happened to be the part I was wondering about and it was the first time I heard it, so my ears perked.

“You will have no ‘manifestation’ because of the commoner blood that flows and if you have a disease,  your recovery will be slower than ours.”

I kept putting my first knowledge into my head.

Then, I belatedly realized why the 2nd prince in front of me is so grown-up.

I once heard from the servants what manifestation was.

It is said that after experiencing a period of growth that comes to the royal family before boyhood, they can grow up immediately according to the legal age of an adult. If they manifest themselves at the age of 18, they maintain their appearance until the actual age is 18, then their body will grow older from the age of 19.

Funnily enough, aging stops at the age of 30. That’s why the Imperial family is called a race blessed by God.

One side of our heart ached at the words that there were no manifestation.

Since I was looking forward to it in my heart, the imagination that I could grow a little faster and escape was abandoned.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Arien. Won’t you let me heal you?”

Argen glanced at me as I was still sitting with the bee stings.

For the first time, there was a slight motion when he asked me if I would let him treat it.

It was an inevitable reaction because I grew up thinking that I had to endure injuries and endure everything.

However, we were not so easy to just go through such a thing or would we gently give out one arm.

The 2nd prince apologized to me with a look of remorse about something he thought had made me scared.

“I’ll only treat you.”

“……Arien.”

In the end, Argen called me.

“It’s okay because  it’s easy to use magic.”

Was it magic that the Emperor used to lift me up earlier? The royal family were all aware of how to use magic. After quietly exchanging glances with Argen, I extended my arms while wondering if he would use magic.

Argen had moved aside, standing as if he would jump in if anything happened.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, I won’t do anything bad.”

It was a soothing gesture, but I didn’t give any other answer because it was one mistake that already filled me with distrust.

The 2nd Prince grabbed my wrist and put his hand over my clothes on the area where my wound would have been.

Before I even felt the pain, he spoke unknown words. Light flowed from The 2nd Prince’s hand, as if what he had been drawing in my hand was related to magic.

It was a language I heard for the first time in my life, but my eyes were relieved by the words that captivated my ears.

“It’s all right. It doesn’t hurt anymore, does it?”

He released my hand and gave a harmless smile. I nodded because the throbbing pain had really disappeared.

“Arien, I’m sorry, but can you tell me who did this?”

I blinked to announce that I wasn’t hurt, but he brought up a sensitive subject again. Argen stopped me when I tried to make it obvious that I didn’t want to talk. I was startled and quickly shut my mouth.

‘Let’s just tell him.’

‘Why?’

‘Either you shut your mouth tightly and don’t talk, or spit out because you’re scared, one of the two is childish.’

‘……..’

‘But I told the Emperor earlier that the maids had done it, so… there’s no choice.’

I leaned my head down in dissatisfaction because it was true and spoke quietly as if I could not overcome the continuing questions of the 2nd Prince.

“Lu…… Mother and… The maids did that.”

“…… Since when.”

“Yes, from a long time ago…..”

Why would he ask that? When I was curious, I raised my head and moved my eyes back and forth.

“Do you have any more wounds besides your arm?”

Stop asking me.

There is no consideration. The more I brought out the story, the darker the daylight became. Seeing us like that, the 2nd prince belatedly shut his mouth.

“Wound……. You didn’t know….. Did you?”

Even if it was hidden from others, words should have been given to the princes that their younger brother and sister were born.

In the process, I asked the question, wondering if he knew we were suffering.

Just because he’s nice all of a sudden doesn’t mean that I consider it as a pure intention. We aren’t ordinary kids that could be easily swayed by the little feelings they throw at us.

“Didn’t you know…… About us?”

Argen asked the 2nd Prince again, who had no answer. It’s not a big deal because I already know the answer.

It was because I thought about it.

Maybe we were blaming someone for nothing.

I knew it was unlikely, but I looked forward to it just in case.

I hope we can apologize for misunderstanding.

“I didn’t know.”

“…….”

“……”

No, I thought I was expecting it.

“I just didn’t care.”

If I really expected it, I couldn’t have thought of a small answer as if not to listen to it.

‘Don’t get hurt when he says he’s not interested, Arien.’

‘I didn’t get hurt.’

‘The princes have no interest in us.’

‘I know.’

I raised my head to face at Argen’s words.

“I didn’t know you were full of wounds, but I knew about you.”

After he said it, I thought it was too much so I raised my bent knee and shook my head.

It wasn’t something to say to ordinary 5 year old children.

“5 years old was the age our brother was crowned as the crown prince, and if you’re an imperial family, it’s also when you’ve already entered your adolescence.”

…… Yes, the formula of ‘normal’ to the imperial family seemed inappropriate.

“Argen, Arien. The Imperial palace is a place full of people who don’t even bat an eye even if people die.”

He spoke as if he were advising us.

“At the same time, there are a lot of people who show their loyalty by taking their own lives just from a few words from me.”

The 2nd Prince no longer looked at us. What he was looking at was a servant and maid standing in the distance.

“That’s what it means to be an imperial family of the strongest powers on the continent. A place where you too will have to grow and bear the weight.”

He said a little bit, but there was no lie. Even if we didn’t want to, the moment the emperor forced us into the imperial palace and the moment the maids called us ‘your highness,’ we had a burden to bear.

“….. But you wouldn’t have had to bear this weight.”

The eyes of the prince touched the Argen’s body. He had a face that also expected the wounds to be located in places other than those already exposed.

“Was it too hard to understand?”

“…….”

“In other words, as long as you have been recognized by our father, you have the right to enjoy yourself as an imperial family.”

The second prince began to draw something on my hand with his fingers. Compared to his, a very small hand was held by him.

“You don’t understand yet, you’ll understand when you’re a little bigger.”

“…….”

He took his hand off after he carved something on me. Argen, too, was caught in his hands and had something engraved.

“This is my gift. It’s my first time with my younger ‘sibling’, so I was thinking about what to give.”

It was so natural, like flowing water, that I was giving him my palm without resistance.

I don’t know what he did on my palms since I couldn’t see anything, but it’s a gift, so I quietly clenched my fist.

“It’s true that I wasn’t interested, but…. not now.”

“……..”

Argen gave strength to the hand that grabbed my sleeve.

“Are you…really?”

It may seem strange to hear those words at an age when I couldn’t accept his affection without doubt, but I couldn’t just let it go, so I spat out my words.

“It’s real. In fact if ‘he’ didn’t show up, I wouldn’t be interested in you. However, when I met you, you were so small….. You were smaller than I expected to be treated without care.”

He?? I didn’t get a clue to the vague reference, not even his name.

When I couldn’t keep my hands and eyes still and hurried to ask him the reason, the 2nd prince made something out of thin air and put it in my mouth.

Argen also had to bite something he created.

The sweet lemon flavored candy melted into my mouth.

I just wanted to know what the coming Imperials were thinking, as if they were waiting for Lulahel to die, but he didn’t tell me why.

The 2nd prince, who stood up and turned around, muttered with a bitter face.

“You often say things that don’t sound like children.”

“……….”

“……….”

“Well, it’s because you’re an imperial family. But you’re still small and young, so you might get sick if you stay outside for too long. Ishina, take the children and get inside.”

Saying so,  the 2nd Prince turned around.