Chapter 26

There was a sin in my past that I could never regret enough.

As I looked at my master lying sick with a fever before me, I couldn’t help but sigh.

Dylan Vermelio.

Handsome and gifted, with exceptional talent. The Second Prince who had once been called a prodigy.

But no one said such things about him anymore.

I had met Prince Dylan when we were both still very young. We had been such little children back then, yet I still remembered it clearly.

Prince Dylan had been exceptionally talented from an early age, and even I had secretly been intimidated by him.

But perhaps because he was the son of a concubine, he had never been arrogant. He was friendly and easy to talk to.

Prince Dylan would often go to see His Majesty the King and return looking delighted.

“I got praised!”

Whenever I laughed and told him, “As expected of you,” he would blush bashfully.

My brilliant and kind-hearted master.

The thought that I would become the closest servant to him in the future filled me with such pride that I wanted to brag about it.

Actually, I had already harbored something resembling hostility toward the Crown Prince around that time. Maybe it was because the Crown Prince’s aide was such an unpleasant person.

In any case, Prince Dylan was the master I was proud of.

And serving him was my pride.

However, about six years ago.

It must have been around the time we were five.

Something about Prince Dylan began to change.

And it wasn’t just him.

Something was wrong with the royal palace too.

There had always been an element of fear in the way people looked at Prince Dylan, but it became much more pronounced.

A strange atmosphere began to hang over the palace.

Prince Dylan, who had once cheerfully run off to see His Majesty the King, gradually began shutting himself away in his room.

At that time…

Ah, at that time, if only I had been more dependable.

Maybe Prince Dylan wouldn’t have been hurt so badly.

Maybe he would still have been able to open his heart to people.

Around that time, my mother came down with a serious illness.

It was a terrible disease with no hope of recovery.

Father practically abandoned his work to stay by Mother’s side, and I went with him.

I knew the royal palace was strange.

I knew Prince Dylan was asking for help.

I knew all of it.

Everything.

I even knew that he was crying alone in his room.

When I went to tell him that I was going to Mother, I felt his pleading gaze.

Prince Dylan said nothing, but his tear-filled eyes seemed to cry out, Help me. Don’t leave me.

I didn’t know what to say to him.

I was still only a child myself, after all. I wasn’t smart enough to know what to do.

So I left the room without saying anything, almost as though I were running away.

In the end, Mother passed away.

For a while, we stayed in our territory, mourning her death while the remaining members of our family tried to come to terms with our grief.

When I told them about Prince Dylan, my sister became furious with me.

“You’re not an aide if you aren’t by your master’s side.”

She was right.

Even while Mother had been bedridden, my sister had always made sure to visit her master.

I thought perhaps I had made a mistake.

But my master was Dylan Vermelio.

Would someone as brilliant as him really need someone like me?

In the end, my sister slapped me.

After that, though, Father and my sister took care of me in their own way, so I wasn’t as lonely as I had expected.

And then, when I returned to the royal palace, Prince Dylan had become completely isolated.

The first thing that shocked me was his room.

There were countless ornaments attached to the door.

But they weren’t ordinary decorations.

They were magical artifacts.

Mythical divine tools that only members of the royal family could create.

They were magical devices Prince Dylan had painstakingly made to strengthen his own magical power, hoping that His Majesty the King would praise him for them.

I cautiously reached for the doorknob and pulled.

The door didn’t move an inch.

After going back and forth with it several times, I called out to the person who should have been inside.

“Prince Dylan? It’s me. It’s Schwarz!”

I raised my voice so that it would carry through the door.

The door opened slightly.

When I saw the inside of the room, I was stunned.

The carpet was a complete mess, as though someone had gone on a rampage.

The desk was broken.

The walls were covered in marks that looked like deep cuts.

Even the canopy over the bed had been destroyed.

They were traces of Prince Dylan’s magic running out of control.

“Pri… Prince Dylan…”

At my whisper, Prince Dylan slowly turned toward me from where he sat in the only chair that remained intact.

The eyes peeking out from beneath his bangs had lost all life.

He looked like a living corpse.

That was the first time I realized that I had made the wrong choice.

I knew.

I had known that Prince Dylan was hurting.

Yet because he could do anything and was so perfect, I had simply assumed that he would solve everything on his own.

He was lonely precisely because he was so talented.

And his heart was more fragile and vulnerable than anyone else’s.

It was only then that I, in my foolishness, finally understood.

Even if I couldn’t say anything, I should have stayed by his side.

I should have faced him sincerely, as his friend.

Regret and self-loathing slowly tightened around my throat until I wanted to run away.

“…You came back.”

His expression had been blank, almost devoid of anything human, but it softened ever so slightly.

As though he were relieved.

“…! I’m so sorry!”

I couldn’t hold it in.

I couldn’t bear to look at my master like this.

I couldn’t bear the self-loathing eating away at me.

But more than anything, I couldn’t forgive myself for betraying Prince Dylan, who still needed me.

“Why are you crying…?”

Tears spilled down my cheeks, and I couldn’t stop them.

Prince Dylan smiled at me.

His eyes were still dim, devoid of emotion.

“Looks like… you’re all I have left now.”

At that moment, I truly thought it.

I had to protect this person.

I had to protect him.

The person who had forgiven me for my sin.

I had to protect him, even if I had to stake my life on it.

Prince Dylan really was an incredible person.

As his servant, I was proud of him.

I wanted to die for him when my own end finally came.

“Schwarz…”

I snapped back to reality when my name was called in a terribly hoarse voice.

I hurriedly helped my master sit up and gave him some water, supporting his body as he drank.

“Is something wrong?”

“…”

Still dazed and far from his usual self, my master bit his lip.

He had said that he had gotten into a fight with the Crown Prince.

I assumed it was because he had overused his magic.

I was the only person who could enter this room because Prince Dylan had placed a barrier around it.

So bringing him meals and taking care of him were my responsibilities.

The room itself was kept clean by Prince Dylan’s magic, so it wasn’t much of a burden.

And as his servant, I couldn’t ask for anything more.

But it had also made Prince Dylan even more isolated.

“I want Bell.”

Prince Dylan said it innocently, like a child asking a parent for a toy.

Lady Bertia Tybus.

Prince Dylan’s fiancée.

I thought she was a very interesting person.

She would invite me, merely her fiancé’s aide, to play with her, and she would push everyone around with an aggressive attitude that was hardly ladylike.

Yet somehow, it never felt unpleasant.

Even the reason I found myself teasing her was probably because of that atmosphere around her.

She was a little foolish and quite scatterbrained, but honestly, I could never thank Lady Bertia enough.

She was someone who could melt Prince Dylan’s heart and accept him.

And Prince Dylan felt that too.

However, I suspected that her kindness wasn’t limited to Prince Dylan.

It was easy to tell from the way she treated Lord Will and me that once she let someone into her inner circle, she was exceptionally sweet to them.

I wanted to avoid Prince Dylan being driven mad with jealousy, at the very least.

Perhaps I should put Lady Bertia on notice.

I immediately understood my master’s intention and smiled.

“Lady Bertia? Then what shall we do?”

“No, you don’t have to do anything. Not right now.”

Not right now.

I see.

I should prepare for it, then.

“How do you think we could keep her from walking?”

“Keep her from walking? Cutting the tendons in her legs would probably be the best option. It would cause the least visible external damage.”

“There is a possibility they would heal after some time,” I added.

Prince Dylan, feverish and dazed, gave a loose response.

“I see…”

“But I don’t want to hurt her…”

He murmured that and covered his eyes with his right arm.

He seemed to be struggling with something.

“Lady Bertia asked if she could come visit you.”

Prince Dylan flinched.

I probably shouldn’t have told him at this particular moment.

But I wondered what decision Prince Dylan would make now.

Whatever order he gave, I would carry it out.

“…No. Not now. There are too many dangers. Turn her down.”

After an unusually long pause, Prince Dylan finally spoke.

I had no objections, so I simply answered.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

If my master wanted Lady Bertia, I thought it would be perfectly fine to lock her away.

Perhaps I could say that because it wasn’t my life being affected.

But when I thought about my master’s happiness, that seemed like the wiser choice.

Of course, it completely ignored Lady Bertia’s own wishes.

It was an arrogant and utterly criminal thing to do.

“I’ll grant any wish you have, Prince Dylan.”

Even if it was a crime.

Even if it went against reason itself.

If Prince Dylan wanted it.

If it could serve as even the smallest atonement for what I had done.

Prince Dylan blinked several times before giving me a soft smile.

“I’ll be counting on you.”

If I was allowed to remain by your side, I would do anything.

If you told me you wanted to become King, I would kill the Crown Prince.

If you wanted Lady Bertia, I would cut her tendons and bring her to you.

So someday, will you grant my wish too?

Will you forgive me?

Part of me still carried the desire to atone.

Part of it was the bloodline of a servant whose family had served the “King” for generations.

But I…

I wanted to serve Prince Dylan.

Because surely, you would need me.

Surely, I could give you what you wanted.

I didn’t think Prince Dylan was normal.

The fact that he was considering locking Lady Bertia away already meant that he had lost his way.

But even if I told him that this wasn’t true love, if this was simply how my master knew how to love, then there was nothing I could do.

I was partly responsible for Prince Dylan becoming this way.

So I’m sorry, Lady Bertia.

If my master wishes it, I may hurt you someday.

At the very least, I want to do my best to make sure it doesn’t hurt.

“…Thank you.”

Prince Dylan suddenly said it as though the thought had just occurred to him.

His fever-glazed eyes narrowed as he gave me an awkward smile.

Perhaps I wasn’t even reflected in his eyes.

Perhaps Lady Bertia was the only person he needed in his world.

I didn’t lament that.

But I felt a little lonely.

Even though I had no right to say it after I had run away from him, I had always wanted to remain his true friend.

“There is no need to thank me.”

I gave him an awkward smile of my own.

Perhaps my expression had been too stiff, because Prince Dylan laughed.

He wasn’t very good at smiling.

My master was none other than Dylan Vermelio.

Everything would be done according to his wishes.