Chapter 21

Chapter 21

When asked how anyone could possibly marry a ruined noble, Greeta put on a troubled face and requested that the knights treat Lady Aquitaine with utmost respect until she left Schufenhart.

The knights exchanged awkward, confused glances, all turning their eyes toward Carlos.

“Ah, my dear brother. You really are getting married, aren’t you? Your care for her is quite something. It’s almost enough to make your younger brother jealous.”

Harry spoke in a smooth, completely unbothered tone, making the knights’ expressions harden. Every single one of them glanced at Carlos’s lap.

The natural assumption that their captain would never actually marry Lady Aquitaine was starting to wobble, if only just a tiny bit.

They wondered if the commander had taken a liking to her fairy-like looks. Otherwise, why on earth would he go this far…?

“Who are you all betting on? Who holds our brother’s heart? The princess, who can put him on the imperial throne?”

“Your Highness. That’s enough,” Greeta said, her face stiffening.

“Sister, it’s just so frustrating. His Majesty set the table so that whoever marries the princess takes the throne, yet my brother refuses to take a single bite.”

Harry shrugged and let out a chuckle.

Hearing the twenty-one-year-old prince lightly discuss the imperial throne while calling just about anyone ‘sister’ made the Robitan knights let out dry, disbelieving scoffs.

“Aren’t you upset too, Sister? My brother doesn’t even realize you set this whole table for him.”

Harry whispered to Greeta as he poured wine into a glass, his eyes curving into pleasant crescents.

“If my brother doesn’t marry the princess, then you—”

“…If he marries the princess, can he become emperor?”

Just then, a small voice cut in.

Toby spat out his beer and narrowed his sharp eyes.

“What the hell? Is she asleep or awake?” Toby growled at the rabbit-like girl who kept coming back to life like a water ghost.

As the woman sleeping on his lap began to sit up, Carlos let out a rough sigh, rubbed his face with his hand, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to pull her close. Turning his back to Harry, he used his broad body to completely block her line of sight.

“He’s not going up there.”

Elio reflexively shook her head. Carlos pulled her tight against his chest and raised an eyebrow.

“Where do you think you’re running off to now?”

Every time he carried her upstairs, she ran back down. Whenever he laid her on the bed and left, she ran back down again.

That was why Carlos had ultimately chosen to just let this troublesome little rabbit sleep on his lap.

“Sir Knight. Do you want to marry the princess and become emperor? No, were you planning to, but got stopped by the Pope’s faction?”

Piecing together the bits of conversation she had caught, Elio rubbed her sleepy eyes.

Carlos covered her warm shoulders completely with his hand as if hiding her from view, then pulled a blanket over her.

“Just go to sleep. What are you even listening to? Drink wine one more time and see what happens. I’ll tie you to the bed, so watch it.”

Harry leaned over Carlos’s shoulder, craning his neck with a smirk.

“Why, Brother? She’s cute. Though not worth giving up the throne for.”

Frowning at the sound of someone calling Carlos ‘brother,’ Elio leaned against his shoulder and whispered back quickly. A sweet scent of wine wafted over him.

“Did… I mean, did my father block your path to becoming emperor?”

At her trembling whisper—which was completely audible to everyone—Harry clapped his hands and whistled.

“Right? The young lady ruined our brother’s bright golden future. Someone with nothing like you suits a worthless prince rather than my brother… Don’t you think so, Brother?”

Harry offered a bright smile and tilted his head. Carlos blocked Harry with his massive body once again as he checked her temperature.

“…Your Highness the Prince?”

Elio wobbled, and Carlos caught her, holding her up in his arms.

“Why is the prince worthless…? Of course, even if he were worth something, Sir Carlos is still better.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s handsomer.”

Unaware that the prince was right next to her, the drunk woman delivered her firm judgment. Carlos, exasperated, clicked his tongue and wrapped the blanket all the way up to her neck.

“My, my. Have you ever seen the prince’s face? I admit my brother is handsome, but the prince is quite pretty, you know.”

As Harry tried to lean his face in, Carlos shoved him away roughly with an elbow. Dealing with a drunk little chick on one side and a drunk young brat on the other was giving him a throbbing headache.

“Would you prefer to be the wife of a handsome young duke? But what to do? The Duchess will never allow it.”

At the chuckling, smooth voice, Elio paused and tried to peek out from behind Carlos.

“Where do you think you’re looking?”

Her chin was immediately grabbed and turned back.

It felt like the ground had flipped upside down, and her vision spun wildly. Just as she groaned and bent forward, her feet swung off the ground into thin air.

“S-Sir Knight!”

“What.”

After ordering his men to clean up the mess and politely escort the prince out, Carlos carried Elio over his shoulder and strode toward the stairs.

Harry’s laughter burst out behind them, asking if he really liked that woman that much.

Her face flushed for no reason at the sound of his cheerful laughter. Elio blinked her heavy eyes and wrapped her arms around Carlos’s neck. It felt as though thick honey had been poured into her brain.

Feeling her limp body swaying in the air, she finally let her head drop.

❖ ❖ ❖

The moment her vision went black, Elio suddenly shook her head.

When did I fall asleep? Where am I?

Clutching her burning throat, she gagged.

Carlos immediately scowled and reached out to her.

“I told you to come here.”

Nanny…?

Avoiding the nanny who was carrying her to bed, Elio hurriedly crawled back toward the space under the window.

The room felt like a dark cave, heavy with the sharp sting of alcohol. She felt as if her racing heart was about to burst out of her chest.

Driven purely by animal instinct, she crawled stubbornly toward the window and pressed her body against the cold wall like a cockroach.

“…Why do you keep going to the window?”

Elio curled her body up at the terrifying, clicking sound of the nanny’s voice, which sounded raspy, as if she had a cold.

When it smells like alcohol, never lay on the bed. That was a rule Elio had learned and strictly followed ever since she was seven years old.

Her trembling body pressed against the wall slowly lost its strength. Like a chick falling asleep again, her head began to nod rhythmically.

“…Why don’t you listen to me?”

Before she knew it, the nanny had approached and gently tapped Elio’s warm cheek with long fingers.

The nanny slid a forearm under her waist, as if trying to lift her up again. Elio grabbed the window frame and let out a soft groan.

Ssssshhh.

Listening to the pouring rain, she shook her head with all her remaining strength. A pitch-black room, a heavy smell of alcohol. The spinning world made her so dizzy she couldn’t open her eyes.

As she kept whimpering and crying out, the nanny finally seemed to give up and stood there in silence.

How much time had passed?

Thump.

Something fell over Elio, making her gasp and wave her arms in fright. She felt soft fabric.

Elio fumbled with the pile of cloth before carefully climbing onto it. Like a hen brooding over an egg, she hugged the pillow tight and curled her body up motionless.

Elio knew all too well from personal experience just how violent and cruel her father became when he drank.

On days when her father smelled of alcohol, she would hide in the chicken coop and spend the night there.

On days when she was trapped in her room with nowhere to run, she made sure to set up camp right under the window—so she could jump out immediately if necessary.

…It would be so nice to live with Sister.

“Come here.”

As Elio tilted and curled up onto her side, a warm, solid forearm slid beneath her head.

Elio flinched at the rock-hard touch. She wanted to pull her face back, but she had no strength left.

“Are you cold?”

The nanny wrapped a hand around the back of her head and asked softly.

“…Why do you keep shaking?”

Elio curled her trembling fingers.

Is she in a good mood today…?

She gripped the forearm beneath her head and let out a soft smile.

When the nanny was in a good mood, she never raised a hand and was always gentle. The nausea that kept rising in her stomach seemed to settle just a little.

“…Is it uncomfortable?”

Elio shook her head and rubbed her forehead against the nanny’s chest.

It really seemed like a good day for the nanny. She hadn’t hit her once, and she was even holding her tight.

Our nanny is really nice except when she’s in a bad mood… Other than when she hits me, she’s really sweet…

But…

“Nanny. Why… did your chest… disappear…?”

Gasping for breath, Elio touched the nanny’s chest, rubbing her cheek against the solid, broad surface.

The nanny remained silent, letting out only a low, rough sigh above Elio’s head.

Afraid the nanny’s mood might sour again, Elio bit her lip tight and pulled her face away.

Only the sound of the steady rain outside and the nanny’s quiet, low breathing filled the air.

…Is she mad?

As she bit her lip, trying to think through her foggy brain, a warm hand suddenly pressed against the back of her neck. The nanny pulled her face back toward her chest.

Elio let out a weak gasp. She fumbled with her hands again, pressing her cheek into the solid chest.

The rain grew heavier. Tap, tap. The steady, rhythmic thrum of a heartbeat sounded comforting to her ears.

Only then did Elio feel relieved, wrapping her arms around the nanny’s waist.

Because the blanket was so warm. Because the chest of the nanny, who hadn’t held her in so long, was so warm.

The pitch-black room smelling of alcohol, the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs, the clicking of the door handle and hinges… none of it felt quite as scary anymore.

Slowly, her faint consciousness drifted away once more.

❖ ❖ ❖

Late into the night. A pair of footsteps came to a stop where the moonlight seeped into the room, and the door creaked open slowly.

Carlos patted the back of the soundly sleeping woman and raised his gaze. He pulled her blanket up higher.

“What is it?”

When Greeta peered through the crack of the open door and walked in silently, he asked briefly.

“Are you going to stay up all night?”

When Carlos didn’t answer, Greeta smiled helplessly and placed a tray with two glasses of water on the bedside table.

“The lady will be scared if she wakes up. Come out now.”

Even though Carlos hadn’t slept a wink, his face showed no trace of tiredness as he shook his head.

“…She only just fell asleep properly. I need to let her sleep more.”

Holding a stack of documents she was supposed to report on in the morning, Greeta sat down beside Carlos.