Episode 152:

I had a lot of conversations with Baan.

In that conversation, I was able to discover many unexpected sides of him.

I found out that he was surprisingly ambitious.

However, he was only hiding his ambition because he did not have the strength to carry it out.

‘I guess it’s possible. ‘It’s unexpectedly useful.’

If you have ambition but no ability or idea, it will be difficult.

Fortunately, Baan has the right idea.

Perhaps because he had lived that kind of life, he knew his situation well and did not have unrealistic imaginations.

I only thought about the things that suited me and found ways to do them now.

I was even happy to see him starting to row well once he got hold of the oar.

“That’s all for today.”

As the conversation flowed, we lost track of time.

I definitely came when the sun was high in the sky, but the sun was already setting.

I talked to him for nearly half a day.

“Why don’t you eat? “I’m starting to feel hungry.”

He nodded, saying the same thing to himself.

“Let’s go get something to eat. “If you ask the chef to prepare it, he will do it.”

“yes.”

Baan nods.

“Oh, you came out.”

“Are you okay, Your Highness?”

“Aren’t you hungry? “I was worried because he didn’t come out for long.”

As soon as Baan went outside, the knights came running and spoke to him.

Among them was Kali, who was in the midst of worrying about Baan when she made eye contact with me and froze.

“Uh....”

My promise to him He decided to become my slave until he returned to the empire, so he could worry about Baan, but he had to try to meet my needs.

Because you became my slave through a bet.

“it’s okay. don’t mind.”

In my current mood, I can feel good about whatever he does.

I don’t know if I go any further than that, but that’s the way it is now.

“young master. “There is food inside, so you can go right in.”

“Oh yeah? “Prince, please come in.”

As I was heading towards the chef, Reina came and caught me.

As I followed her, the Count and his wife Daria greeted me warmly.

“It looks like you had quite a good time with the prince. “I see now that it’s come out.”

The Count said, glancing at Baan. I shrugged my shoulders and sat down in front of Daria.

Baan looked around awkwardly, then came over and sat down next to me.

“Master, here.”

Raina brought me a wet towel to wash my hands.

Baan also quickly receives a wet towel from Raina and wipes his hands after me.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“yes.”

Baan picked up his fork. I watched his fork dip the meat and lift it up, then turned my gaze to Daria.

We made eye contact with the woman who was looking at Baan with a complicated gaze.

She was startled and avoided my eyes.

‘I need her help.’

Apparently, Baan alone felt a little uneasy.

I couldn’t feel at ease like a child thrown into the water.

I felt relieved if Daria helped me.

With her abilities, she can fully help Baan.

“Is there something on my face?”

“...no. it’s nothing.”

It was awkward to ask her now.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were three of us, her and me?

There are too many people here.

The look on her face didn’t look good, as if she thought I was making a joke.

“You may not be a king, but do you have any desire to have power equivalent to or greater than that?”

“What... are you making fun of me?”

“no.”

I shook my head as her face gradually darkened.

Now I have no intention of telling a joke.

I was serious when it came to matters related to my safety.

“On the contrary, I ask. Daria, are you really satisfied with this situation?”

“....”

“Daria told me that. “I feel resentful of myself for not being able to do anything.”

“I did.”

She nodded weakly.

I closed my mouth for a moment and looked at her.

She must not give up her ambition. We need her at that time when she wants to become king somehow.

To do that, it was necessary to open her mind.

“Daria, how long do you think you will be able to receive our protection?”

“...Are you threatening me now?”

Her eyes sharpened.

He gave off a strong vibe that he didn’t like the fact that they suddenly called him and said something like this.

“no. I’m just asking. “What do you think, Daria?”

“What... that’s how you ask? “Aren’t you making fun of me because I don’t have the strength to protect myself?”

Her eyes looked very sad as she said that.

She herself was frustrated with herself for not having the strength to protect herself.

“I’m sorry if you felt that way. “I was just worried about Daria.”

“...?”

“Aren’t you frustrated? Isn’t staying here forever like a young bird trapped in a cage? I think I would have been very frustrated. No, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”

“...What do you want?”

“I want to give you strength.”

She was still frowning.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand her reaction.

It must be embarrassing and absurd to hear that you were gently scratching your pride and suddenly offered to give me strength.

No matter how close we were, this was a problem that could not be resolved in a good way.

Because it was like a trauma to her.

“If you don’t have the strength to protect yourself, shouldn’t you just increase your strength? “If you create a powerful force that no one can touch, who will be able to touch you?”

“....”

“There are limits to how we can protect Daria. If an intruder occurs when we are not around, including myself or the Count, who will be able to stop it? There was even an intruder who entered the Count’s barrier undetected recently. “There were me and the Count back then, but there’s no guarantee that will be the case in the future.”

“...Then what are you telling me to do?”

She, who had been listening silently, opened her mouth.

She pursed her lips and clenched her fists.

She tightened her fists so hard that her clenched hands turned white.

“Wouldn’t I have wanted to have that power? Didn’t you want to create a force? Whenever I tried to do something, pressure from my brothers got in the way. They tied me up so I couldn’t do anything. “Don’t you know that?”

Veins popped out in her eyes.

There was venom in her eyes as she looked at me.

I looked very resentful as I brought up this story.

“strength? I want it. Influence? It would be great to have it. Do I just want to be protected? no. Every time I feel helpless, I feel like my heart will be ripped out. But what should I do? What you can’t do is impossible. I’ve done everything I can. But it didn’t work. Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to have those thoughts? Why? “Why can’t I be king?”

He said he wanted to have power too.

He said he wanted to get involved in the succession battle and fight for his place.

I want to become a king.

She poured out her anger on me.

I feel sorry for her, but I was very happy about it.

At least my ambition didn’t disappear.

In fact, it was nice to know that the more suppressed the ambition, the greater it became.

What I was going to ask her to do was difficult to do without ambition or without a goal or purpose.

It was hard for me to hide my smile as I looked at her yelling at me.

‘As expected, she’s perfect.’

As I watched her pouring out everything and breathing heavily, I became convinced.