Chapter 4

The eyes quietly gazing at her were endlessly blue and deep. Looking closer, hints of gold and gray seemed to be mixed in, making them feel like a cool sea or a very deep blue sky.

“I don’t know who you are, but… you’re truly beautiful.”

She felt like she should say something, but she kept running out of breath and her heart raced as if she had sprinted a long distance, causing her words to spill out disjointedly.

The man did not answer, just staring at her blankly like someone who had lost their wits. Then, as if suddenly embarrassed, a rosy blush slowly crept up his white cheeks.

“Rest assured. I have no intention of punishing you.”

Catching her breath, Nephitia spoke to him clearly in the common tongue.

“I am Princess Nephitia of Kepet.”

The blue eyes gradually became clearer, and he slightly furrowed his brow. The slightly frowned eyes were rather alluring, prompting Nephitia to lower her head and examine the man’s eyes closely. As her face drew near, the man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with a loud gulp. He seemed to want to say something, but he merely bit his lips shut and did not open his mouth.

“It seems you still cannot find your words. There is no need to be afraid.”

Nephitia wanted to reassure him. Wearing an affectionate smile, she stroked the flush-warmed cheek of the man. Contact was made once again, but the intense feeling from earlier did not wash over her entire body. However, a lightheaded and sweet sensation still fluttered and tickled her heart.

“Can you feel it? I wonder if you feel that cool sensation as well.”

“……”

“…Poor thing. I told you not to be scared.”

Taking advantage of the moment, she raised her other hand to stroke his golden hair once. The man’s gaze remained pinned on Nephitia, but his face grew far more abruptly red than before—a vivid, deep crimson.

“It must be baffling, but listen without being startled. This is my first time experiencing anything like this as well, so it’s as awkward for you as it is for me.”

The princess cleared her throat.

“I was thinking of buying you and taking you back to my motherland, and I would like to discuss this with your master as soon as possible.”

She could feel through her palm that his cheeks were growing hotter and hotter. Strangely, that heat felt cool to Nephitia. It was so sweet and rapturous that she didn’t want to take her hand away.

“If you have family you need to bring along, I will pay whatever price is asked. I have never purchased a person with my own hands, so I don’t know the rules of the common folk… but regardless, I will treat you generously so you feel no regret, and whoever your master is, I can treat you dozens or hundreds of times better than them.”

Nephitia smiled gently. She liked that he had stayed quiet the whole time. He wouldn’t act out rashly, and since he seemed to have a somewhat prudent personality, he wouldn’t behave foolishly at court.

“I will give you clothes far better than the ones you’re wearing now. And delicious food…”

Scanning the man’s sturdy physique, Nephitia trailed off for a moment. It was slightly startling that his build looked far more solid than the men of Kepet, but what did that matter as long as she could take this man with her?

“The things you must do in the Kingdom of Kepet are not all that many. Just eat well, sleep well, and live like that until I need you…”

“Wait a moment.”

The man opened his mouth. It was completely different from the voices of the men she had heard in Kepet—lower, calmer, and as deep and smooth as thick honey.

“Really, from a moment ago…”

The man pulled Nephitia’s wrist away. Just as his voice grew a bit firmer, his eyes flashed brightly and turned fierce.

“You’re quite a sight the more I look at you.”

Cold eyes like a winter wind glared down at Nephitia. He snapped sharply with anger held in his voice.

“Who on earth do you take me for to behave so rudely?”

Nephitia’s eyes widened.

“Then, are you not a retainer?”

“A retainer, my foot. I am royalty. Arkin Seilir from Solinar.”

“Ah…”

For a moment, her fluster passed, and Nephitia’s face lit up with a glow. If that was the case, then he and she were what Shadia had called ‘equals’—meaning friends!

“Goodness, you should have said so sooner! You were royalty! A prince!”

“Ha…”

The man let out a dry laugh and shifted his posture. Watching the rejoicing Nephitia with an absurd look in his eyes, he clicked his tongue with a ‘huh’, finding it all the more baffling the more he thought about it.

“Then, can I just call you Arkin?”

Nephitia smiled softly, her eyes curving. She had finally met her first friend, and as luck would have it, he happened to be her…

Wait. Her train of thought hitched abruptly.

Nephitia furrowed her brow and stared intently at him. How should she explain the reason why she had tried to take him to Kepet? If he wasn’t a retainer but a prince of Solinar, things were going to get complicated.

“Uhm, Arkin.”

Nephitia called out to him cautiously. It was probably best to start by talking things through step-by-step, beginning with that ‘feeling’ from earlier.

“That ‘feeling’ from before. Have you ever felt it with anyone else?”

“What feeling?”

The prince’s eyes, which had been leaning back crookedly with his arms crossed, blinked slowly. He seemed not to understand what she meant. Nephitia continued speaking slowly once more.

“When I touched your cheek earlier… that feeling.”

“I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

A blunt reply came back. Arkin wouldn’t know it, but for Nephitia, it was no exaggeration to say her future life hung on this matter. Therefore, she simply had to ask.

Arkin Seilir. The promising successor of the Kingdom of Solinar.

The world tournament he had anticipated was nothing like this. A noble and fierce war of stars. A hall of learning where constructive knowledge was pursued while fostering friendship between nations in a serious atmosphere. Building a healthy body and mind through wholesome physical training and strict rules…

However, the very first person he met as soon as he reached Credo Island was, regrettably, some crazy princess, and Arkin felt as though all of his common sense was completely crumbling away. And right now…

“Prince of Solinar, really nothing at all? No cool sensation or hot sensation?”

He was having his face grabbed by a foreign princess he was seeing for the first time, dumbly surrendering his cheek to her bizarre actions…

“I don’t feel a damn thing like that, so stop touching me already.”

Irritated, Arkin shoved away Nephitia, who kept arbitrarily touching his cheek and trying to pry into things.

“No, wait a minute… That can’t be.”

Eyes resembling golden disks widened. The princess was stubborn. Insisting that she needed to verify it to the very end, she stubbornly tried to touch his face again.

“Stop.”

Arkin averted his gaze to a distant spot and let out a sigh. What on earth was this nonsense? It felt like he was being subjected to some kind of torture. And besides, what was with those clothes? Was fabric scarce in Kepet? He felt like he was going to die of awkwardness looking at the sand princess’s attire, which left no place to look. Every time the curves of her body showed through fabric as thin as a dragonfly’s wings, he felt like he was going to lose his mind.

“Look here… Princess Nephitia of Kepet, is it?”

Dodgeing Nephitia’s hand, Arkin labored to open his mouth.

As a well-educated successor of Solinar, it was only proper for him to maintain a dignified tone, but Arkin’s nerves had been frayed to the limit even before he was ambushed by the Kepet princess. He had just been trying to catch his breath for a moment in the forest with his body and mind battered to rags…

“What on earth are you trying to accomplish by touching my face? What is it you want to verify? Are you out of your mind?”

Nephitia let out a heavy sigh of frustration.

“Prince of Solinar. I would appreciate it if you didn’t lose your temper so much. Once you listen well to what I have to say, you’ll understand why.”

“Then what on earth is the reason?”

“From what I can tell, you are my… ‘Heta-sept’.”

“What?”

“Soulmate.”

A soul what? Mate? Arkin was now truly baffled. Should he keep listening to find out what on earth she was trying to say, or should he just brush it off and treat her like a crazy woman…

Endure. He had to endure. Because the spiritual value of the great Forest Kingdom was precisely the generosity and patience to magnanimously embrace others. Though his insides were boiling, Arkin took a deep breath and lowered his voice.

“…I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about, so explain it to me step by step first.”

“So, when I touch you like this…”

Nephitia reached out her hand toward Arkin’s wrist. The moment she did, he swatted her hand away like lightning.