Chapter 15

“…… Raccoon?”

A ferocious-looking raccoon ran around the floor waving its plump flesh. Argen and I climbed onto the bed and watched the hideous raccoon’s atrocities with a shiver.

The ribbon on top of Its head fluttered.

“The Bed!! Don’t bite it.”

The raccoon, which was stepping on the toys scattered on the floor and hitting them with its head, began to bite the edge of the bed we climbed up on.

The soft bed bore a hole due to the raccoon’s vicious bite.

As we pulled our blanket up to save our night friend, who was being chewed up and torn by a raccoon, a brown mass came along and invaded our territory as a bonus.

The racoons’s obsession with keeping the blanket till the end forced us to give it back.

“Ishina!”

The maids in the room were also closely attached to one corner to avoid the raccoon running as if it would bite them. Because of this, Ishina is the only one we can trust now, so we eagerly shouted her name.

However, Ishina also retreated after it bit off the hem of her skirt, unable to do anything in front of the raccoon’s sharp teeth.

“I stood up.”

It was a littlel tyrant. It’s cute to see it yawning with its mouth wide open, but what should I do with a raccoon that’s not an animal that can be tamed? At that time, the knight waiting outside knocked on the door since they heard a ruckus.

When the door opened, the raccoon ran towards the knights this time as if it had been waiting. Unfortunately, the knights were wearing solid iron armor, but the raccoon seemed to notice and stopped just before biting and backed away.

‘It’s smart, too.’

‘……It’s smart.’

Unlike the cuteness of the ribbon hanging on its head, the teeth I saw every time it opened its mouth were fierce.

The knights, who saw us on the bed and the maids holding the ragged skirts in the corner, seemed to have roughly grasped the situation .

They reached out their hands to see if they could grab it first, but it was not easy to quickly catch it.

‘Why do I feel like they’re catching it so carefully?’

The knights quickly pulled out their hands when the raccoon clapped out while trying to catch them. We were puzzled when one of the youngest knights cautiously approached us with an expression that he didn’t want to upset us.

“I can’t catch it.”

“Yes…..Yes?”

“It cannot be harmed because it  was a gift from his highness the Crown Prince to both of you. Either way…….”

It seemed that the 1st Prince gave us some curse. As expected, the man I saw yesterday was the first prince.

However, because it was a gift given by the Crown Prince, the knights couldn’t even touch it so there was no resentment against them.

The raccoon kept shaking its head as if there was something it didn’t like. Looking at that, I wondered if it didn’t like the ribbon on its head, so I pointed at the ribbon with my finger.

‘Is it too stuffy?’

‘Huh?’

‘The ribbon may be stuffy.’

‘It looks really stuffy.’

The ribbon above its head was fixed under its chin, with transparent diamond-like jewelry ornaments attached to the part where the ends of ribbons intersect.

It would be difficult to take that off.

Just in time, it came under the bed again and I slipped my hand out as it chewed on the soft blanket.

“Ah.”

Fortunately, I grabbed the ribbon to make sure he didn’t like it and the raccoon twisted his head up. While it was frowning and complaining of pain because the tip of my fingernail was caught on the ribbon, Argen grabbed the other side of the ribbon and pulled it forward.

Shortly thereafter, the ribbon came off.

“……It looks expensive.”

“That’s right.”

I didn’t know whether the raccoon was the present or if the ribbon.

‘It’s quiet.’

As expected, the little villain who struggled because of the ribbon, stopped.

I almost forgot how horrible it was just a moment ago when I saw the lovely appearance of tilting its head.

As the raccoon became alert when it heard the knights carefully approaching from behind.

Although it struggled again like it was dissatisfied with being held, it was significantly different from before. Ishina picked up her skirt and came up to us, while we couldn’t take our eyes off the raccoon, and told us,

“If you want to raise it, I will write a separate message to your Majesty.”

“Uh…… No, it’s okay. If you release it again……”

“I can’t believe you’re sending back a ‘gift’ given by the Crown Prince.”

Ishina shook her head, as if saying it was unbelievable. It wasn’t a gift, but a semi-forced bomb.

“Unless His Majesty says you shouldn’t raise them, it’s inconceivable to send back a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Ishina said a lot about each of our actions that were too unimaginable.

“It seems ferocious, so it will take some time to tame it.”

Unfortunately, it was caught by the 1st Prince and pitifully became our gift. Whenever the child struggled to take off its clothes, his plump flesh was pressed.

“I think it’s going to become stressed……… Can you let it go first?”

Argen recommended releasing the raccoon back on the floor. The raccoon, who had fiercely opened its mouth to show its teeth, was put back on the floor and became calm.

There was one more roommate.

******

Early in the morning, I managed to avoid the eyes of the maids and escaped outside.

I don’t know what happened, but when I opened my eyes, the knights were dozing off and I couldn’t see where the maids that were always waiting outside the door had gone.

I wondered if it was okay for the imperial palace to be this poor since it’s already the second time.

Still, an opportunity is an opportunity, so I woke Argen up and nervously went out for a walk.

Argen was sleeping soundly, but he gladly accepted my request and came out wearing shoes since it was nice to be able to spend time alone after so long.

It was an early morning only for the two of us. As I opened my arms wide, enjoying the freedom after a long time and deeply inhaling the freshness of dawn, I heard a strange voice.

It was just before turning the corner, so I pressed my body against the wall and poked out my head. There were three young men, who appeared to be nobles, talking loudly.

Each of them held a stack of papers in their hands. He stopped, thinking there was no one around him, and began to utter words full of discontent.

“Calling for a meeting so early in the morning.”

“Well, it’s convenient that we don’t do anything other than helping our fathers.”

“It’s not convenient, it was an emergency call so we had to come in a hurry.”

Three men with colorful hair reminiscent of a traffic light, who seem to be friends, gritted their teeth. At the time we just woke up, they were already on their way back after finishing the meeting.

“Well, the continent is in turmoil because of illegitimate children with unknown origins.”

I was thinking about going somewhere else, but Argen and I stopped at the subject that suddenly came out.

“Their blonde hair has value. I can’t believe commoner blood is flowing through those illegitimate children. How do you make such a thing a member of the Imperial Family?”

“To have illegitimate children in the imperial family, it’s a disgrace for our country.”

“It will be the only flaw for no one else but His Majesty.”

We knew better than anyone how flawed illegitimate children were.

Ishina told me to be cautious of every word in the Imperial palace. They were busy venting their displeasure with bright red faces. Our presence seemed to have provoked such anger.

“Is it true they can’t even manifest? They’re no different from ordinary people.”

“It would be helpful for the nation if they just die.”

“They’re flawed, so won’t poison just work?”

“There’s already a big commotion about bringing in illegitimate children from a different country as a royal family member, I don’t know what His Majesty is thinking. They are things you have to kill the moment they are born.”

Tsk. I heard the sound of tongue clicking and the sound of my heart breaking. I didn’t come here to hear this.

My heart throbbed loudly. Holding my chest, I lowered my head slightly and a cold sweat fell across my eyes.

Those people who don’t even know our faces were discussing our deaths…… no matter how much we can take…….

Because I don’t know what might happen, I squeezed Argen’s hand. Likewise, his hands were cold as if he had been quite shocked.

‘It’s annoying……’

Argen spoke to me in a deeply dejected voice.

“I have no idea what His Majesty is thinking.”

“If the lower nobles had illegitimate children, they would hide them from prying eyes and try to kill them, but only His Majesty……Tsk, as expected things that aren’t useful shouldn’t be born.”

‘They don’t know anything about us.’

Argen’s voice resounded in the background. My lips trembled to speak, but my voice didn’t come out.

‘Why are they saying hurtful things like that?

I held Argen’s hand even harder.

“What are you talking about?”

It was at the moment I tried to grab Argen by the arm and drag him away because I thought it would be dangerous for us to stay.

“Your Highness!”

“Ah, greetings to your highness the Crown Prince!”

I covered his mouth reflexively when I heard the Crown Prince’s name.

“I want to ask in case I misheard. Repeat what you just said again.”

“It’s… it’s no big deal……”

“If it wasn’t a big deal, I wouldn’t have asked directly.”

One person’s voice could be heard one-sidedly. In the meantime, there was a voice that trembled like a dying animal.

“I will ask again. Is it true that you have just defiled the imperial family?”

“Your Highness! How dare I do that. I would never.….”

“If you lie to me one more time, you’re shortening your own life.”

“That is…..”

The man’s voice, who I had only heard once, continued to clamp down on my ears.

It was the deep and dark voice of a powerful man who made me feel sick. It was the kind of fear I’ve ever felt with the Second Prince.

As the silence lengthened, the Crown Prince ordered someone to answer.

“You must be kidding yourself. Countess Sissen, Count Lorsel, and Marquis Hagen already have successors, so there will be no need for other children.”

The Crown Prince pointed out names that I didn’t know  of one by one. At the same time as those words came, the pleading voice of the men can be heard.

“Drag them away, the sin of degrading the imperial family will be strictly enforced.”

“Yes, as you command.”

I didn’t even know there was anyone else besides the crown prince and the men. There was a voice that responded resolutely to the prince’s words and the sound of footsteps coming to this way. I was holding my breath while urgently grabbing Argen’s arm and pulling him towards me.

But the other person seemed to already know we were here.

A shadow fell over us who were hiding in the corner.

All the imperial family members were blond. Even if you change your hair color with magic, it lasts only three days at the most. As such Blonde hair was an irreplaceable symbol of the imperial family.

Even if I didn’t raise my head, I can still see the other person’s face in front of me.

He didn’t even have a friendly face like the Second Prince, instead he looked down at us with a stiff face and black eyes contrasting with bright blond hair.

“Alright…..”

I hope he’s not trying to ask us If we’re trying okay.

We’ll say we’re okay, but that’s a lie.

Argen, who came out of my grasp, looked at the First Prince with hollow eyes. An unfamiliar face, a stranger who just doesn’t adapt to the second meeting.

That’s right. He’s a ‘stranger’.

In fact, it was funny to blame. How can we blame them for turning their back on us who share the same blood, when we say we hate having the same bloodline as them.

It’s like complaining to a ‘stranger’ why he doesn’t take care of us, or doesn’t know our sadness and pain.

“You’re all the same.”

“…….”

“We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Argen said bitterly. The child’s delicate voice made me feel the emptiness.

“Is it wrong to be born?”

Still, maybe he could have looked back on us who were born without doing anything wrong. He could have hated us, children born from a woman hiding in the emperor’s bed.

But really, we didn’t do anything wrong…….

He will never know how long we’ve suffered before we gave up hope in Derolina castle.

I felt Argen’s feelings. The dark feelings that burst out of Argen were also inside me. concealed under a false pretense

This is how we lived.

We were desperately struggling to live like ants caught in a spider’s web, but in the first place we……

“You’ll never know what it’s like to be born like this……”

Argen murmured quietly. Argen and I never wanted a world that drove us to the edge of a cliff.