Chapter 7
“Since childhood, His Highness has been rather numb to emotions. He rarely laughed, nor did he cry. The former Grand Duchess…… found His Highness strange because of that.”
“…….”
“Because the former Grand Duke paid little attention to the household, there was no one who could stop the abuse inflicted upon the young His Highness.”
The childhood of Seion Fernandi that Dale told me about could be summed up in one word: pitiful. It felt as though I could see before my eyes the young Seion silently enduring cruel abuse.
“Then the former Grand Duke and Grand Duchess passed away early, and endless threats from the collateral Fernandi line began. Because His Highness was young, they tried to take many things away from him. In the end, he protected everything, but he must have been deeply hurt in the process.”
In my imagination, the young Seion was pretending to be strong while dealing with wicked adults. He was so resilient that he did not shed even a single tear, and that made it even more heartbreaking.
“After the nanny who had cared for His Highness since childhood was even assassinated because of the collateral family…… I believe His Highness completely closed off his heart.”
Dale’s voice lowered for a moment. His solemn face was soaked with concern for Seion.
“Since childhood, His Highness has been relatively quiet and uninterested in others. But that was likely because the environment he grew up in was so harsh. Even these days, there are times when his way of thinking strays from what is considered normal.”
“…….”
“Lady Annette. I sincerely hope you will not fear His Highness too much.”
Honestly, I was a little shocked. His past, which I had never even thought about, was far too detailed.
Aside from the protagonists in the novel, I had not particularly given the other characters tragic family backgrounds. The novel had already been miserable enough without that.
Because of my transmigration, the future of the protagonists, who carried the saddest stories, would now be peaceful. All the suffering and hardships that were supposed to happen had already been resolved, so at most, the difficulties they would face would only be lovers’ quarrels.
But Seion was different. He had no lover to comfort his painful past, nor any friend to walk forward with him. In some ways, his situation was even more hopeless than the protagonists’.
I’m sorry, Seion, from your very creator. I muttered inwardly the words I could never say aloud to him.
「It’s not your fault.」
“What did you say?”
Someone’s voice drifted in with the wind. Scratching my ear, I asked again, and Dale replied with a puzzled expression.
“I said that I hope you will not fear His Highness too much.”
Did I hear it wrong? I tugged at my earlobe. Even the sound of the wind in this world was strange.
Anyway, regardless.
“I am always worried that His Highness will remain alone like this for the rest of his life. He says he is fine, but…… because he has always been lonely, I wonder if he simply cannot feel loneliness anymore.”
I nodded at Dale’s words. Certainly, the current Seion was highly likely destined to live alone. I also understood what Dale meant about him possibly not being able to feel loneliness anymore.
Even the feeling of being left alone in the world had become such an everyday thing to him that he no longer recognized it as sadness.
Thinking of it that way, I could understand why he said his desperate love was not a wound. The thing buried in his chest like a scar was something he did not even realize had hurt him.
“I understand. I’ll do my best to help His Highness!”
I made up my mind. I, Annette Jernias, would absolutely help Seion Fernandi experience an ordinary love just like everyone else.
I already changed the genre of this world, so surely I can help Seion find love too!
“Really? Thank you, Lady Annette. That is truly reassuring!”
“Dale, you have to help diligently too!”
“Of course. I will help with anything for the sake of His Highness!”
Together with Dale, I burned with determination. Just wait, Seion Fernandi! Before long, you are going to experience the greatest love of the century!
Prepare yourself to become so happy that you will not even remember such a sorrowful past!
☆☆☆
Ever since I was young, I had always been someone who meddled a lot. There was no way a person like me could simply ignore Seion, the tragic man with an unfortunate upbringing and a failed unrequited love.
The lowered self-esteem from growing up abused, and the sorrow of losing the first love he had secretly treasured in his heart.
Just thinking about the wounds hidden deep inside him made it feel as though tears were clouding my vision.
“Your Highness, from today onward, our lessons will be Spartan-style.”
“Spartan-style?”
I ignored the look in his eyes asking what that even meant. There’s such a thing. You’ll get hurt if you know.
I did not possess any special talent related to romance, but my desire to help Seion had become genuine.
If I could see him escape the shadows of his past and love anew, I felt like I would become happy too, beyond merely feeling proud.
Sob, this is already moving.
Swallowing back tears, I tapped the small blackboard prepared behind me. I had asked Dale to prepare it in advance.
“We will have a test every Sunday. The questions will be based on what we learned that week, so please focus during class, Your Highness.”
“If my test scores are good, will you grant my wishes too?”
Was it because I had learned about the affectionless childhood he endured? The sight of him asking me to grant his wishes tugged at my heart.
“Yes, let’s say that every time you receive a perfect score, one wish will accumulate.”
Though getting a perfect score would not be easy.
I nodded, hoping Seion would participate enthusiastically in the lessons. At that, his eyes lit up as he gripped his pen.
On the blackboard, I wrote the three words: ‘Love,’ ‘Obsession,’ and ‘Attachment.’ First of all, I needed to uproot the budding obsessive maniac hidden inside Seion’s heart.
“The books Your Highness has read so far were actually related to possessiveness. That is somewhat different from pure affection.”
Seion slightly furrowed his brows. He seemed unable to understand very well. What is different about it? Even though he had not spoken, it felt as though I could hear his voice in my ears.
“Romance begins with mutual love toward each other, but obsession is based on possessiveness. Unlike romance, which is two-sided, obsession is usually one-sided.”
“But possessiveness also ultimately comes from love, does it not?”
“Your Highness, possessing something is an expression used for objects. No person can possess another person.”
When I spoke firmly, Seion tightly shut his mouth. Perhaps it was my imagination, but his face looked dissatisfied.
“I’ll give you an example. Your Highness. I really love the food at the Grand Duke’s residence. It tastes amazing. Every time I eat it, I feel truly happy.”
At my sincere words, Seion nodded. Even he would admit that the food at the Grand Duke’s residence was delicious.
“But food disappears once you eat it. Even if you possess it by eating it, once it is digested, it is over.”
“That is true.”
“So I decided to kidnap the chef of the Grand Duke’s residence, that kind of conclusion…….”
Crack. The pen Seion was holding snapped in half. Was it possible to break such a thick pen using only finger strength?
Startled for a moment, my sentence trailed off. “You should not come to the conclusion of kidnapping the chef” instantly turned into a warning that I actually would kidnap the chef.
However, there was no time to correct my words. Drip, drip, ink began leaking from the broken pen and stained Seion’s hand.
I looked once at his terrifying expression, then once at the dripping ink. After staring back and forth twice, I hurriedly snatched the broken pen pieces from his hand.
“Your Highness, did you hurt your hand?”
Carefully removing the broken pen from his hand, I searched for a handkerchief and wiped away the ink while closely examining his fingers. His hand might have been cut by the broken edge of the pen.
“Does anything sting or hurt?”
I gently rubbed Seion’s fingers as I asked. There were no visible injuries, but one could never know. If even a tiny fragment of the pen had lodged into his fingers when it snapped, it would be serious.
“I think it might hurt.”
“What? Really? Where?”
Startled by his words, I asked again. Did a tiny pen fragment really get stuck in his skin?!
With a serious expression, I lifted Seion’s hand and examined it. His fingers, covered here and there with calluses, appeared perfectly fine on the outside.
“Your Highness, I think we should call the physician and have you examined first.”
I hurriedly stood up to call the physician, but suddenly Seion grabbed my hand. You said it hurt, so is it really okay to grip me like this? The moment that thought crossed my mind, he looked up at me and spoke.
“Annette. It is class time right now.”
Seion pulled me toward him. Drawn by that force, my body awkwardly tilted toward Seion. As our faces grew closer, Seion tightened his grip on my hand.
“A teacher should not leave in the middle of class.”
“That’s not the issue, Your Highness. You said you were hurt.”
“Yes.”
Then shouldn’t we call a doctor?! Is class really the important thing right now?!
I looked once at Seion’s expressionless face, then once at the hand holding mine. After staring back and forth, I thought to myself.
This bastard, wasn’t he faking it?
“Your Highness, what did I tell you about grabbing other people?”
“To…… control my strength, you said.”
Seion slowly answered as he loosened the hand that had been gripping me tightly. Blood flowed back into my pale hand, and my fingertips tingled. It was definitely going to bruise again.
“There was one more thing besides that.”
As I urged him on, this time I tightly grabbed Seion’s hand instead. Unlike his claim that it hurt, his expression remained calm. As expected, he had been faking it.
I leaned my face closer and faced Seion’s quiet expression. Just from his stiff face alone, I could not tell what he was thinking at all.
“May I hold your hand?”
You’re asking that a bit late. Swallowing a sigh, I shook my head from side to side.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt, Your Highness. It looks like we can continue class safely after all.”
If he was faking it, there was no reason to go easy on him anymore.
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