Whoo!

There was one more sound of sword swinging in the gymnasium.

Beside me, the 3rd prince was sweating and brandishing a wooden sword.

His breathing was quite rough.

“Are you having a hard time?”

“Oh no!”

The 3rd prince shook his head and began swinging the wooden sword, which had slowed down, at its initial speed.

‘It holds up quite well.’

Looking at him like that, I felt like I saw one side of him, so I saw him again.

Even if I can’t do it now, I swung for two hours.

Now that I’ve swung close to six thousand times, the third prince must have swung more than four thousand times.

“Hey… Heo-eok… !”

It even felt admirable to see him moaning as if he would die at any moment and trying to somehow keep up with my speed.

‘Heard of nothing… .’

Had I known this would happen, I would not have gone to William.

After hearing that, I began to see each and every action of the 3rd prince differently.

He gave meaning to his actions.

He’s like that, he’s pitiful, so you should understand.

I can’t say it’s a good side, but I could say it was a miraculous change for me who didn’t like him very much.

“You can stop if it’s hard for you.”

“no! I will do it all the way!”

Two days.

I trained at the gymnasium for two days with the 3rd prince.

It was a short time, but the 3rd prince followed my training well.

Even though he was staggering as if he would fall down any moment, he could see that he was trying to hold on somehow.

On top of that, another change is that he started using honorifics.

Even when he had just arrived here, he was the kind of person who would squeak at anyone.

But now, even though it’s awkward, I could see that he was trying to be respectful.

‘I’m keeping my promise… .’

I could tell a little bit that he wasn’t a talker.

“Your Highness, Your Highness is training.”

“Have you ever seen Her Highness smile so brightly? I think I’ve never seen such an innocent smile except when I was young.”

“me too. I don’t know why, but Your Highness looks very happy.”

I could hear the voices of the knights watching from afar.

They looked very confused.

I didn’t like the way the 3rd prince was friendly with me, but the sight of the 3rd prince smiling and happily swinging his sword in the midst of it stimulated their hearts.

“Nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-two, nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-three… Ten thousand times!”

In the end, the 3rd prince, who had filled the 10,000 rounds, sat down and lay down.

“Huh… Heo-eok… !”

He took a deep breath and grabbed his shoulder as he tried to catch his breath.

“It’s harder to breathe when you’re lying down.”

You wouldn’t know if you lay down straight, but if you twist your body like the 3rd prince, you might find it harder to catch your breath.

The third prince, who had been looking up at me with round eyes, stared at me as his breathing became more comfortable.

“… thank you.”

He caught his breath and bowed his head to me.

As much as the respectful language has increased, expressing gratitude and bowing the head have become more comfortable than before.

“How long will Your Highness stay here?”

“… Do you hate me being here?”

“I am more worried than disliked. Your Highness has been here for nearly a week already, shouldn’t you be returning soon?”

“it’s okay… I’m not looking for anyone anyway… .”

His words behind his back sounded particularly lonely.

Is it true that no one is looking for him?

No matter what, they are royalty.

It wouldn’t make sense to not look for the royal family, but I remembered what I had heard from William.

The emperor is a person who is not bound by family love, and that the third prince’s mother has died.

It could have been the reason why he was crooked.

It was understandable that the child was crooked because no one told him what was wrong and what he did well, and no one gave him love.

There must be no one to tell him the right things, and the people around him said that he was good at everything he did.

In a way, you may have to consider yourself fortunate that you haven’t made a big mistake up until now.

“What did you put on my face?”

“no. I just didn’t expect it to come this far.”

“Hi-Hi.”

he laughed like a child

Not like a child, a child is right. It suited him to act and think like a child.

The appearance he has shown so far is said to be 16, but his appearance, size, and everything else did not suit him.

It feels like wearing an adult suit that doesn’t fit a child.

It was better to smile when you want to laugh like now than to deliberately get angry and speak rudely and bring the other person to their knees.

Just in case you have a problem… .

“Is it delicious?”

“What do you think of this… ?”

“Where are you going?”

Just like when I accepted his offer, but worse than that, he chased after me.

The only difference is that they openly pursue me, not secretly.

“Isn’t it true that His Highness, the 3rd prince, is chasing the young master?”

“It’s really amazing. People who were not on good terms with each other.”

It was to the extent that people looked at me in wonder at the appearance of the 3rd prince.

It was just a nuisance to me, but it didn’t work for the count’s people, who knew how to reject me if they didn’t like me.

They don’t know why I didn’t drop the third prince.

“let’s go together!”

I had no choice but to let the third prince follow me for now.

***

It was that night.

It was time to lay down on the bed to rest after dropping the 3rd prince.

-human!

The hatchling, which had been silent, roared loudly and jumped on top of my boat.

“Ugh!”

A sharp pain spread around the hatchling’s boat.

– Human, go out with me!

Hatchling was excited.

He was holding on to my collar and dragging me.

“What is it?”

-I found something strange!

Hatchling shouted at me, still unable to contain his excitement.

What the hell did he see that made Hatchling so excited?

“For what?”

– There’s something strange in the forest!

“forest?”

-Yes! Something strange is happening in the forest! The flow of mana has changed!

Hatchling’s words made her brow furrow.

It was like predicting that an event would happen soon.

It was clear that this was something I absolutely didn’t want for me, who wanted to be quiet and comfortable.

“Aren’t you mistaken?”

-not!

Hatchling shook his head, saying that couldn’t be the case.

He insisted on going to the forest, saying that he would never do anything wrong because he was great.

But even so, I couldn’t move on my own.

‘There’s no way the count didn’t feel that way.’

The archmage, who could be said to be more sensitive to mana than anyone else, was still.

If it was a threat, he would have stepped forward or ordered the knights to solve it.

But seeing as he was quiet without saying anything, I guess you wouldn’t have to worry too much about it.

– If you don’t go, humans will regret it!

I wanted to ignore it, but Hatchling’s warning bothered me.

Hatchlings never behave this far with light work.

To get his attention, at least a large-scale magic enclosing the forest must be performed beforehand.

If the scale itself was something that hatchlings were interested in, it could be really dangerous.

“Do you really have to go today? Can’t we go tomorrow?”

I knew that, but I didn’t want to move now.

I was so tired both physically and mentally that I wanted to rest even a little longer.

Besides, it is night now. The door connecting the outside and the inside was closed, and the boundary was raised to the utmost.

It might be possible to move freely during the day, but at night it was difficult to move recklessly.

Even when you try to go out at night, you must report the reason and destination.

And you can go out only after the count’s approval.

‘If I say I’m going to the forest at this time, I’m bound to be suspicious.’

It is best to move quietly during the day rather than moving at night.

That way you can get around more comfortably.

It took the 3rd prince, but he listens well these days, so it would be okay to leave him alone for a day tomorrow.

If it doesn’t work, you can ask Daria to take care of it for one day.

-Well… .

The hatchling looked in the direction of the forest and tilted his head in thought.

The hatchling, who nodded occasionally, looked back at me.

– I think it will be fine! So are you going with me tomorrow?

“okay. So, let’s take a little break today.”

-I get it! rest!

A hatchling dug into the blanket next to me as I lay on the bed and coiled itself around my side.

I closed my eyes and touched the smooth hatchling’s hair.

***

The morning is bright and I am at a dead end.

“Me too, take me too!”

The 3rd prince, who I thought would stay still, is threatening to go with me.

“It just needs a moment. Didn’t you want to be with Daria?”

“It is, but… Still can’t! I will go out too!”

What’s with all these live animals?

The 3rd prince acted childishly to the point of becoming more and more annoyed.

“You will regret it if you don’t take me with you.”

Now I was embarrassed by his behavior as he glared at me with his venom.

I was worried about whether I should be angry with him for accepting me for a little bit.

-Human must go quickly! It gets weird!

Hatchling is urging from the side, and even if the 3rd prince tries to ignore it and go, it’s frustrating to try to follow him somehow.

‘I know where I’m going. And if you die… .’

Wait a minute, come to think of it, there was no reason for me to worry about him.

Whether he follows me or not, I stopped him once, and even if he died after following me, it’s okay to say it’s unknown.

Of course, he could be held accountable for going out with me, but in the first place, he intended to go out while hiding himself with Hatchling’s magic.

There was no one to follow me when I left the city.

In the first place, there was no one following him except for the 3rd prince.

If you don’t listen to me anyway, you can just ignore it and leave.

There was no way the count would let him die.

‘Because there are knights.’

It’s not like I have to hide my going to the forest unconditionally, it’s just a simple inspection.

I feel comfortable when the knights of the empire lend a helping hand.

Still, just in case, I asked one last time.

“I cannot take responsibility for Your Highness.”

“It doesn’t matter. I will protect my body!”

The 3rd Prince, clad in leather armor, pounded his chest and shouted.

I clearly warned, and the third prince ignored it.

It was too much trouble to dry it anymore, and if I left the hatchling as it was, it seemed like it would run out of control.

“All right. I made it clear. I can’t protect you.”

“All right!”

His face was so innocent that I doubted whether he had listened to me properly.

Going with me seemed like a picnic.

‘Yes, it wouldn’t be bad to go through it at least once.’

If you get scolded properly, you will be less likely to behave like that.

Didn’t William do the same?

The third prince is a guy who only believes in what he sees.

So the uncomfortable movement began.