May Every Wound Be Fatal - vanish into fiction

Reyna looked at Elizer as if she could not believe her eyes and whispered in an excited voice.

“How did you get here? I was, by chance, on my way to look for Your Highness.”

On her way to look for him. Elizer was surprised.

“But instead, Your Highness came to find me.”

“……”

“So, I could not be any happier than this.”

He felt a strange flutter at Reyna’s pure joy. He could not bring himself to deny it with a thought like, I did not come to find you.

“How did you come? Weren’t the knights guarding this place? Actually, I admit I was hoping, just a little, that Your Highness might come to find me, that…”

…Who was the young lady who had just cried so pitifully as if the world had ended?

Reyna had become unexpectedly talkative from joy, and she was so excited that even under the pale moonlight, her cheeks were flushed. Seeing her like that, he could not help but laugh like a fool.

“Ha….”

It was almost a sigh, but clearly a laugh. Elizer, realizing this late, quickly composed his expression.

However, Reyna was not the type to miss such a moment. A playful smile appeared immediately on her lips.

Elizer could not handle her at all. He thought to himself that in such an awkward position, he was at a serious disadvantage.

“Then…”

Elizer stirred as if he was about to get up.

“Oh. I am sorry, I am sorry.”

Reyna, finally realizing the strangeness of the situation, hurriedly stepped down from above him. Rarely showing an awkward expression, she gathered her long hair in front of her chest.

Elizer, glancing at her wondering what this behavior meant, suddenly noticed her outfit.

Reyna was wearing a silk gown, but underneath it, she was dressed only in thin pajamas that clearly revealed her skin. No matter how tightly she closed the gown, it could not completely hide her body.

‘…My goodness.’

Elizer’s pupils trembled with an indescribable sense of crisis.

It felt as if he had seen something he should not have. She was originally a noble young lady he should not meet like this, and he was just…

His head felt hot, and his thoughts were scattered. Surely, his whole face must have turned red. Just as he could see her flushed cheeks, he imagined she could see the same on him.

Elizer was extremely embarrassed.

Covering half of his face with his hands, he unconsciously apologized.

“…I am sorry.”

“Huh…? Ah.”

Reyna, puzzled by his sudden apology, realized his feelings late and laughed again.

Elizer became unusually serious.

Reyna seemed more innocent than he had thought. She fearlessly tried to leave the room in such attire. She lightly poked the cheek of a strange man. She kept smiling so brightly.

Perhaps that was why he found it hard to keep his composure in front of her.

“Um…”

At that moment, Reyna moved her lips as if she had something else to say. Elizer tensed, wondering what she would say this time.

Reyna, uncharacteristically hesitant for a moment, finally spoke.

“…I was not trying to hide my identity.”

Elizer guessed that this was what Reyna truly wanted to say. She seemed to know about the commotion that had started when she handed him a handkerchief at the jousting match.

“I am sorry for startling you.”

So she had wanted to apologize to him and had rashly tried to leave the room.

Because of her handkerchief, his life had become more complicated, but Elizer somehow did not like the idea that she was apologizing to him. He just shook his head slightly.

Reyna, relieved, regained her bright smile. That was enough for Elizer.

“…So actually, I thought all along that Your Highness was Prince Tiberian.”

When Reyna finally confessed honestly, Elizer instantly understood her actions that had seemed strange until now.

A young man with platinum hair and blue eyes moving among the king’s supporters.

Given that, it was perhaps natural that she had mistaken him for Prince Tiberian.

However…

Her obvious gaze that could not leave him, the ambiguous smile, and the playful laughter.

Elizer felt a clear sense of disappointment knowing that those were not meant for him.

For a moment, he could not control his emotions. He did not know what expression he was making. Seeing her eyes widen in surprise, he realized that once again, everything had been revealed.