I couldn’t understand his intentions, so I didn’t even know what to say. Ah, I lost.
“No. I heard about you at times.”
“At times?”
“Yes, sometimes.”
Perhaps it was an interesting answer; the sixth prince’s expression changed slightly. It was a change I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t keenly looking at him. As if to make me talk more, the sixth prince nudged his chin forward.
Holding my sweaty hands, I recalled what I knew about him.
“The sixth prince of Emperor Ivan, Siron.”
“You know my name.”
“Caitel tried to kill you when he was still a prince, and the day Caitel turned as the Emperor, you fled from the Imperial Palace.”
Listening to my words, Siron beckoned me to continue.
“And?”
He smiled.
A sly twisted smile appeared on his face.
“The cause of the Agrigient civil war and the conquest war.”
Perhaps because I was nervous, my breathing turned ragged and loud.
The air around wasn’t so good.
As if watching me react, the sixth prince sat and stared at me. I just smiled.
It was better than crying, right?
“Anything else other than that?”
What else could be there? Instead of answering, I just shrugged. Seeing my attitude, the sixth prince laughed.
Did I look funny? For some reason, I looked at the man in front of me. He seemed very similar to what I saw before but felt different.
Still with such vital energy, he looked young enough and didn’t seem to be in his 40s, just like my dad.
Their only difference was their hair color. It seemed a little darker and more vivid red than my dad’s. The only proof that we were connected by blood.
I didn’t think he would be any kinder than my dad. It was at that very moment that I wanted to escape from his grasp, but I didn’t even know where to run.
My family was the biggest enemy of my life. This had to be a tragedy.
“What kind of relationship do you have with my dad?”
“Well, can’t you see that we aren’t on good terms?”
I didn’t ask because I didn’t know.
I was trying to know things before my search party reached. It would have been a lot better if Ferdel was in my place.
‘Teacher, why didn’t you teach me anything related to this?’
I had been feeling it from before, but my nervousness began to get to me. The sixth prince seemed to be smiling, but I knew that it wasn’t a genuine one. He was talking kindly and softly but was putting me on my guard. Why was I feeling so uncomfortable?
I was the daughter of his younger brother who drove him away. It wasn’t like I didn’t know that.
I couldn’t just act like I didn’t know it.
“If we weren’t born as brothers, we wouldn’t have looked at each other at all.”
What could it be? That was a huge attack on my dad.
I knew that he meant it sincerely, so I couldn’t retort back.
They were born brothers, but they were farther away from anyone—a relationship in which one had to die for another to survive.
Probably because I never had any experience or was in a situation where I survived by killing someone. I couldn’t understand their relationship. I didn’t know how to understand it.
Why should I understand those two people? I was being weird.
I ended up eating my meal quietly.
“Is it delicious? It was prepared specially for you.”
“Does it have poison?”
I didn’t think that they would resort to that, but the sixth prince smiled again.
What, he must love to smile.
The sixth prince shook his hand when I stopped munching on the food, thinking it was poisoned.
“We didn’t do that. If we resorted to that, wouldn’t you die too quickly after getting caught?”
“Well, that sounds plausible.”
He responded moderately, and I grabbed the spoon again.
He said he didn’t place any poison, so I should finish eating. It seemed that my head was in my stomach for the first time. Leaving such delicious food would be terrible for me.
Ah, delicious.
“Honestly, when Caitel first decided to keep you alive and raise you, I sent someone to kill you.”
He tried to kill me? I didn’t know his reason for telling me this story, but surprisingly, as soon as I heard the story, I thought of something.
No way. I could never forget these memories even if I wanted to.
The first murder I ever saw. An event where I couldn’t stop crying even though Caitel was right in front of me. It was a shocking event, impossible to forget.
As my expression changed, the sixth prince had a wide smile.
“Why did I do it back then? I think I did it because I was annoyed to see Caitel take the throne, but now that I think about it, the guards of the Imperial Palace did well to me.”
Ah, I get it. It was an event that would have stayed as a trauma of my life, but it felt strange meeting the perpetrator of the incident.
Whenever I think about it, I still feel cold and nervous.
If Caitel hadn’t saved me at that time, I would have been dead.
“Right. There are a lot more. Did you like the other gifts I sent?”
“Gift?”
“Yes, I sent a cute guy.”
Who was the cute guy?
My lips pursed together since I couldn’t recall anyone of such attributes in the palace. Up until then, I didn’t notice anyone like that. Was the man in front of me a new human species who could cause discomfort by just being there?
“I sent a cute boy who resembled you once. Hmm, can’t you remember?”
“No way…”
I could only guess one person.
Sometimes, I did think about how he was living by himself. I hadn’t approached him for a while, but I cared for him.
Except for my father, myself, and the sixth prince, there was only one royal family in Agrigient.
Catching onto my expression, the sixth prince nodded as if my thoughts were correct. I couldn’t believe that.
Had this man sent that child over?
“I was expecting a lot, but I am disappointed because your reaction wasn’t as interesting as I expected.”
I was flustered, not knowing how to react to the man’s words.
I was upset about it! I wanted to dissect his bloody brain! What could I do and what should I do? All of this while I thought that it was dad’s son…
‘I am sorry, dad.’
“Is that all?”
“Maybe there are more?”
It seemed like he wouldn’t tell me what they were.
I was getting curious.
It wasn’t like I wanted to know, but I just had to know what I was going on. I felt it from the first moment; the man before me was a nutcase.
Ah, even my dad never acted like that.
I knew it, craziness ran in our family.
“You are a lot lovelier than I heard. It is a waste that you are Caitel’s daughter, but if you weren’t, you are pretty enough to be collected.”
Was I a flower to reap? I wanted to shout at his horrible choice of words, but I lacked the courage. Damn it.
Of all the things, I was more afraid of what I would have to face if I yelled at him.
He’d kill me. I was ruined.
As I decided to stay quiet, I could feel the sixth prince wanting to say something.
Wait. Should I listen to him?
“… you must have heard a lot about me.”
“I heard a lot. What you do, what you look like, and even the places you go to.”
I didn’t know I had such a huge fan.
I tried not to make a face, but I narrowed my eyes. Somehow, it felt absurd. No matter how stupid I was, I wasn’t dumb enough not to realize what he meant. I did understand.
“I always waited.”
Words that fell from him cut down the flow of my thoughts. I bit my lip. My distorted expression piqued the sixth prince’s interest.
“A lot more lovely and a lot more beautiful.”
My breathing halted. Trying to hold back the shuddering in my body, I tried to look calm.
“What do you mean?”
What did my beauty have to do with anything, so I waited for him to answer. Someone who I never met knew a lot of things about me. My life couldn’t have gotten any creepier.
At that moment, he answered.
A cruel yet laid back answer.
“That is why Caitel would die for you.”
“…!”
My body turned pale.
I had to say something back, but I couldn’t get myself to speak. I knew it. I expected something like it would happen, but my mind wasn’t ready for it; just the thought of it sent ripples down my body.
My dad would die because of me.
What? I wasn’t upset, but it wasn’t a refreshing feeling either.
“Do you think I will cooperate with you?”
The sixth prince laughed as I asked him.
It would have been nice if I was angry or irritated, but this was just unpleasant.
He laughed, a fishy psychopath’s laugh with a disturbing gaze.
Like an earthworm trying to come out of the mud.
Seeing that, I could finally conclude.
After struggling all this while.
‘Oh, indeed, the man is my father’s brother.’
Disgusting.
The sixth prince smiled at my gaze.
“Well, you don’t have to do anything.”
He spoke as if he was generous—absurdity to the highest level.
“What was the reason for all this? What would you even get from this?”
My anger reached him. In that gaze, I felt my body tied up.
His eyes were creepy enough, a persistent dark gaze.
“My seat…”
A shot but resolute answer.
“My throne which your father took.”
He meant it.
I couldn’t say anything when I encountered the deepest and hidden emotions in his eyes. There was nothing I could do to stop his rage.
“It is time for me to get it back.”