Chapter 5

At Nephitia’s quick, hurried motion, as if she had been burned, the princess raised an eyebrow.

“Why, did you feel something?”

Expectation flickered in her sparkling eyes. However, Arkin cut her off resolutely.

“It means you shouldn’t touch me because it’s unpleasant, so just use your words.”

Arkin Seilir was accustomed to hiding and concealing himself. It was only natural considering the life he had lived while growing up as the successor of Solinar, constantly facing numerous checks and political maneuverings. Even at this very moment, Arkin was on full guard against the strange princess with every fiber of his being.

And so, he pretended not to notice the pounding thumps of his racing heart or the suffocatingly sweet fragrance. Even though he had been startled almost to the point of fainting by this sudden situation, he acted as if nothing were the matter and observed her.

Yet, there were parts even a meticulous prince could not hide. He failed to conceal the nape of his neck flushed red with heat, his bright crimson ears, and the pulse beating like crazy beneath Nephitia’s hand, brief though the moment had been.

And Nephitia, in the end, sharply read the changes in him.

“Your Highness, Prince Arkin, are you in there…?”

Magnus thrashed through the undergrowth, unable to settle his nerves. He was sweating so profusely that his straw-colored hair plastered to his forehead. It had been quite a while since Prince Arkin had gone into the forest saying he wanted to rest, and he still hadn’t returned even after all the ship’s cargo was unloaded, prompting Magnus to come fetch him personally.

“Your Highness? Are you all right?”

His round, potato-like face, sprinkled with freckles, was full of worry. He took step after step, pushing aside the brush that blocked his vision.

“Ha.”

A deep sigh escaped from a feeling of helplessness. Their good prince must be reaching his limit now, too. Honestly, given the recent situation… it would be a miracle if he didn’t go crazy. Magnus’s complexion grew increasingly dark, and his hands parting the bushes grew all the more frantic.

It really hadn’t been an ordinary ordeal! He shuddered as he recalled the events that had taken place right before the training tournament. If it had been me, I would have bitten my tongue and wanted to die. It’s only because it’s Prince Arkin that he’s holding up this well…

“Your Highness!”

He called out at the top of his lungs, but there was no answering voice. This was bad. Magnus wiped the sweat beading on his forehead and carefully examined the space between the dense shrubs. He felt an eager impatience, worrying that his master’s health might suffer in this already oppressive heat.

The climate here was completely different from the cold winter forests of Solinar. Humid and sweltering air pressed down as if suffocating his lungs, and sweat poured out like rain. The shapes of the trees and the scent of the plants were all entirely unfamiliar. Even though wide leaves densely covered overhead, rather than feeling cozy like Solinar, it felt stuffy and gloomy, sending a chill down his spine.

‘Just how far did he go?’

Magnus began to grow increasingly tense. The forest grew progressively darker, and the trees all looked similar, making it hard to gauge direction. The moment a sudden terror struck him—what if he had lost his way?—something familiar caught his eye.

‘Ah, that stump!’

Magnus let out a relieved breath—ah—as he managed to find the fallen tree stump he had passed a little while ago. When he saw long legs draped over the log through the thick brush, his mind was completely set at ease.

“Your Highness, how are you feeling?”

Magnus raised his voice as he drew closer.

“Stop.”

That was a somewhat cold voice. Magnus’s instincts, the only close aide who could tell Arkin’s mood just by hearing his breathing, pricked up sharply.

“Oh, Your Highness. Given the circumstances, I know you’re feeling down and want to be alone. But still.”

He raised his voice to its utmost in a soothing manner and slowly closed the distance to Arkin.

“Six months will pass in no time. Once you get through the tournament, everything will be sorted out. Harassing things like that from the forest elders happen every other day, don’t they?”

Speaking softly as if comforting the prince, Magnus forcefully shoved aside the final branch blocking his path.

“I’m certain Your Highness will win the training tournament and rightfully inherit the throne to show them all. Who dares doubt our Prince? They all deserve to suffer divine retribution…”

Magnus’s steps came to an abrupt halt as he rambled on, trying every which way to give strength to the prince. Am I dreaming? He rubbed his eyes repeatedly and checked the spot where the prince had been sitting. What on earth is this situation?

An unbelievable spectacle unfolded before his eyes. Right next to the prince sat a woman he was seeing for the first time in his life. And what on earth was with that eye-opening, scandalous attire? Wanting to make sure he hadn’t seen things wrong, he rubbed his eyes and looked again, but she was definitely a woman…

Could she be… a witch?

For a brief second, Magnus’s guard shot up, and his gaze turned fierce.

“…Your Highness, I’m here!”

Driven by the urge to protect the prince, Magnus widened his eyes, raised his voice on purpose, and blundered right in front of them.

“Who might the person by your side be?”

Belieing his valiant entrance, Prince Arkin’s gaze was ice-cold. The prince glaring at him through clenched teeth, and beside him, the woman with rabbit-wide eyes.

“Ah…”

Magnus’s heart plummeted. All those careless words he had shouted at the top of his lungs just a moment ago were classified state secrets of Solinar…

“Magnus, my conversation with the Princess of Kepet is not yet finished, so fall back over there.”

“Huh? Yes…”

Crushed in spirit by the prince’s freezing orders, Magnus retreated with a slouch.

What do I do? I’m a dead man now…

The crestfallen attendant walked behind a large tree and slumped onto a large stump. While his shoulders drooped heavily with the thought that he had committed a massive blunder, he also felt a sense of unfairness. He still couldn’t really make sense of this situation.

He never in his dreams expected to meet a foreign princess here… She had popped up as if rising straight out of the ground, so how was he supposed to know!

Magnus glanced sideways at his master with a sulky expression. What country’s princess did he say she was? What’s with those clothes? Is the prince not embarrassed? He’s tolerating it remarkably well…

“Magnus, my conversation with the Princess of Kepet is not yet finished, so…”

Wait, hold on. His mind completely washed in white, Magnus chewed his lip. Hang on a second. That ‘famous’ Kingdom of Kepet? The princess from that place…?

Fretting about various things because he had to accompany the prince on a long journey, Magnus took a moment to spare and sought out his uncle Bertil. Since he was a royal administrative secretary and had the experience of accompanying the king to the training tournament long ago, he figured he could get some kind of advice.

“Uncle Bertil, is there anything I might have missed? I packed the tributes to be brought to the Credo Island temple well and thoroughly checked the state of the ship, but my heart still feels uneasy since we’re heading on such a long journey.”

“Your job is just to escort the prince there anyway, so don’t worry too much about it. As long as you packed the tributes properly, there shouldn’t be anything to fret over.”

Having dinner cleared away and wine brought out, Bertil smiled brightly and encouraged Magnus.

“You’ve had a tough time of it lately too, so you should just rest well on this occasion. With the prince staying there, it’s practically like getting a six-month vacation for yourself, isn’t it? Besides, if it’s Prince Arkin, he’s bound to produce good results, so don’t worry.”

He said this with the recent instability surrounding Arkin’s succession in mind. As Magnus’s expression darkened, Bertil boasted that there was nothing to worry about, though he added that there was one area of concern.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Only…”

Only? Peering into the golden wine illuminated by the flickering oil lamp, Magnus snapped his head up.

“From what I see, the thing you need to be most careful about there is precisely the prince’s lower body.”

“His lower body?”

Did that mean someone might threaten the prince’s personal safety? They said Credo Island was a safe zone under divine protection, and that there was no place safer than that in the World Alliance!

With his complexion turning completely white, Magnus gripped his cup tightly, causing Bertil to wave his hands dismissively.

“No, that’s not what I mean… I’m talking about the prince’s nether regions.”

“Pardon?”

With rabbit-wide eyes, Magnus froze. Nether… what? In a way, that sounded even more dangerous than the prince’s personal safety being threatened…?

“Listen here, Magnus.”

Bertil, filling his own cup to the brim, lowered his voice to a whisper. Magnus swallowed hard and firmly grasped the wooden cup with both hands.

“When I was a young man accompanying His Majesty to that island, when was that? It must have been decades ago. Even though it was so long ago, it remains as vivid as yesterday.”