CH 11

It was not a lie. Anyway, it was true that my favorability dropped because I felt sad and felt sorry for Radkiel. This was just hiding the truth a little, and it was not intentionally concealing anything with bad intentions. While pondering these thoughts alone and trying to compose myself, fortunately, it seemed like he understood. He didn’t say anything further.

But as the silence grew, I felt increasingly uncomfortable in this situation, so I opened the basket containing the cake to change the atmosphere.

As Radkiel and I engaged in conversation, he diligently finished the riceball I had prepared for him, and he ate the sandwich with gusto. Would it be okay to bring out the dessert now?

“Radkiel, this…”

However, as soon as I called his name, the red hearts popped up again, many of them. What on earth…?

As he followed my gaze and looked up at the sky together, he bit his lip with an embarrassed expression.

“I apologize, Miss Yuri. Hearing my name after such a long time made me very excited.”

“….Ah.”

“Since my innermost thoughts are so clearly visible, it’s embarrassing. But please, continue calling me by my name. If Radkiel is too long, then… perhaps a nickname would be fine.”

“What? Um… a nickname?”

It was something that often comes up in novels. But in the original, Radkiel was just Radkiel.

Not being accustomed to nicknames or aliases, I hesitated, causing all the hearts floating above to turn pitch black.

“…Rael sounds good! It’s easy to call!”

“Rael.”

“Yes!”

As I nodded enthusiastically, all the red hearts vanished. It seemed like he was pleased… Radkiel took a sip of water and hesitantly spoke.

“I-I also… Is it okay to just call you… Yuri?”

“Of course, it’s fine. Ah, if it’s uncomfortable to speak politely, feel free to speak casually. You said you were a prince, after all.”

Actually, he was an emperor, but either way, it was clear that he held a high status. By the way, why did he lie? I couldn’t think of a specific reason, but I couldn’t ask about it either.

Radkiel lowered his head with a somewhat bitter expression in response to my words.

“No, it’s not that. While I’m not sure about others, I… I feel quite uncomfortable when I’m being condescending or giving orders to someone.”

Hmm, it seemed like the first thing he said when he woke up was, ‘Why did you save me?’ Then it was followed by, ‘Just let me die.’ And in the novel, he was a typical tyrant protagonist who was curt with everyone.

But I didn’t want to probe into that. It would be troublesome if asking such a question caused a decrease in favorability. I wasn’t naturally good at handling improvisation, and I was tired of coming up with excuses.

Just in case, I looked up at my head, and the black hearts appeared, so I quickly brushed them away with my hand. Instead of continuing the conversation, I cut the cake into a new plate and handed it to him.

“I brought the cheesecake I mentioned yesterday. Enjoy it with some coffee.”

I also brought strawberry juice and lemonade, but they were too sweet to have with cheesecake, so I also brought coffee.

I poured the coffee from the thermos into a cup and handed it to Radkiel. He looked at it with interest and said, “This is a beverage made from coffee.”

“Oh, yes. Have you never tasted it before?”

“No, I haven’t. Coffee fruit is a luxury food item traded at a considerable price, and it’s not allocated in the budget.”

I was taken aback by his response. Radkiel was a tyrant and a workaholic protagonist. He often indulged in cigarettes, referred to as cigar in the novel, and frequently consumed sleeping pills, alcohol, and coffee. It was even portrayed as an addiction.

But he said he had never tasted coffee before? It wasn’t allocated in the budget? His words didn’t make sense, and I felt like I was dealing with a different person.

Radkiel lowered his head, focusing on the cup without looking at my face. After taking a sip of coffee, he seemed excited.

“So, this is what it tastes like. I’ve been envious watching my brothers drink it.”

“Oh, you have siblings? I also had an older sister and an older brother.”

I smiled casually and mentioned my sister and brother as if it were nothing.

Radkiel was the 6th prince of the empire. It meant he had five older brothers. Although one of them was said to have died before the start of the original story, he was able to become the emperor because he killed all of his brothers, who stood in his way of succession.

It may seem cruel in a way, but it was justified revenge… or so it was depicted, and I had similar thoughts.

His mother was a commoner, and the noble families relentlessly harassed her. Even if the emperor showed favor to his mother, he couldn’t intervene when the head of the concubine said, ‘The affairs of the harem are all under my authority.’

It was like in historical dramas when the queen says, ‘It’s an internal matter of the harem’ and the king has no choice but to stay silent.

However, my older brother told me that European Kingdoms originally practiced morganatic marriages, where they couldn’t have concubines. Instead, they had royal mistresses called ‘maîtresse-en-titre’ even though they were essentially mistresses without authority and their children were treated as illegitimate.

In romance novels, they rarely make such distinctions, but his mother, although was an empress, was actually treated as a de facto concubine. Moreover, she only received treatment similar to that of a mistress. Even the aristocrats, not to mention courtiers and maids, unknowingly ignored her.

I could overlook other things, but this setting felt somewhat odd. How could even hired workers, who were paid to work for the royal family, ignore an empress like that? She was the woman loved by the emperor at that.

Later, it was explained that the emperor gave up many things to elevate the woman he loved to the position of empress, but it still felt forced and out of place.

Then, my brother told me not to nitpick such things in novels. He said that people who are into romance novels would freak out if they read a novel set in the 21st century and find it unbelievable as well.

Although the example was a bit different, I nodded my head at his advice to just enjoy the novel as a novel.

Anyway, Radkiel’s mother was a very kind person and she taught him not to hate or resent anyone.

And one day, as soon as she lay in bed, she was poisoned under the guise of suicide.

Radkiel held his mother who vomited blood in his arms and asked for help, but his voice was ignored by everyone.

I remember that scene being really tragic and sad, and I even shed a few tears without realizing it. But that wasn’t the end of it, as Radkiel’s brothers, the other princes, made fun of him immensely. They also subjected him to physical abuse.

My brother said he didn’t like that. He said it felt like they filled the person’s life with too much unhappiness to justify the male lead’s actions or make the female lead a savior. Hearing my brother’s words, I realized that feeling was also there inside me, but it passed by quickly. I didn’t pay much attention to it because the novel was interesting.

Anyway, Radkiel remembered his mother’s plea and began to dream of revenge.

When he became an adult, he killed his brothers, the other princes, one by one, and avoided suspicion by pretending to be mentally disturbed due to his mother’s death. And when he finally killed the Crown Prince, he received a curse as the Crown Prince was a mage.

The curse was that he would have to experience the death of his loved one every day for the rest of his life as a punishment for the countless lives he had taken. Having lost his mother and unable to love anyone, Radkiel started having nightmares every night. He dreamed of his mother suffering all kinds of miserable deaths right before his eyes.

And later, he also dreamed of the female lead dying, it was at this moment that Radkiel realized he had fallen in love with her.

That was why he confined her. He was afraid that she would meet such a miserable death in a place where he wasn’t present. The scene where he pleaded and regretted desperately to the female lead, whose condition was deteriorating day by day, was also very good.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Radkiel wasn’t bad. If he performed actions that go against his conscience as a true tyrant, he would usually eliminate them.

The more I think about Radkiel in the novel, the more he seems different from the man in front of me and the other one. But considering the quests and the situation, it couldn’t be otherwise…

I really don’t know. The ‘The Saviour of the Cursed Tyrant’ description and the artwork in the webtoon were different, it didn’t even look like a real person. I couldn’t be sure if the drawing resembled him or not.

Also, Radkiel would have had nightmares every night, but he didn’t seem to lose sleep here. On the first night, I placed a dream fairy’s joyful gem, which was supposed to give him good dreams, next to his pillow, but it was a disposable item and had already disappeared.

Actually, whether he was the main character or not, my attitude and behavior towards him will not change immediately. I was just curious. Was that kindness real, or was it just a pretense due to caution?

First of all, the original Radkiel was in his mid-20s. It wasn’t clear when he ascended to the throne, but based on the timeline, he would have been around twenty or twenty-two years old.

Now, his face clearly looks older than twenty, so he must have ascended to the throne… was he really pretending?

But he doesn’t seek addictive cigarettes or alcohol, and he wasn’t haunted by nightmares or cursed. It was clear that his mental state began deteriorating after that incident…

Lost in thought, I hesitated and then added, “Um… If we continue the conversation we had earlier, I have been in the hospital all this time. My parents busy so I were taken care of by my older sister and brother.”

“I see. I could sense that you grew up receiving love. It seems like you had a very close-knit family.”

“Oh, um, did you really feel that way?”

“Yes. Those who have lived a stable life with a calm body and mind, filled with affection, have a bright and cheerful aura around them. On the other hand, those who have not experienced that kind of stuff tend to be very dark and gloomy.”

His voice felt warm, as if the sun had come out. Even that line seemed familiar from the novel… I swallowed my breath silently and carefully chose my words in my mind.

If I ask about his brothers, what kind of people are they? He might answer, ‘They’re trash.’

If I ask what Radkiel’s brothers are doing, he might respond, ‘Their heads were cut off. Haha.’

If I ask if he got along well with his brothers… No, no. It was impossible to ask such a question when I already know the circumstances.

No matter what I say, the atmosphere will become awkward and strange. Should I ask about something other than family? But when I try to change the topic abruptly, nothing comes to mind.

My appetite has also diminished, and I absentmindedly stabbed at the cake with a fork when Radkiel chuckled softly.

“You said you’re good at cooking, and it’s true. This cake is delicious. It could be a bit sweeter though.”

“Do you like sweet things?”

“I can’t say I’ve eaten enough to say I love them, but I like them. Sugar is also a luxury item that is expensive, so I wasn’t allocated a budget for it, just like coffee.”

“Ah…”

“It was when I was about ten years old. I are the Canelle that my brother wouldn’t touch. It was the first time I tasted something sweet.”

“Um, well, uh…”

Don’t do this. I don’t know how to respond.

With his cheeks blushing red and his eyes shining, I lowered my head deeply.