The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 22.1
While Kailos was in Leslun’s room, Lady Miroi waited in the drawing room.
As soon as she parted ways with Leslun, Robin appeared to guide her.
But no matter how long she waited, Kailos did not come.
At last, Robin, who had been waiting with her, bowed politely and sought her permission.
“If you continue to wait here, my lady, I shall go to His Highness the Crown Prince and inform him.”
“There’s no need.”
Lady Miroi stopped him.
“I’ll just sit for a little while, then take my leave.”
Her reaction, that she didn’t necessarily need to see Kailos, made Robin’s gaze drift to her hands. She was holding a jewel box.
She had suffered misfortunes recently. There were things she could give, reasons she could be comforted… but she showed no eagerness to see the Crown Prince himself.
Robin stifled a sigh. Clearly, the two would not be engaged.
And if so, it would be difficult to draw her family to the Crown Prince’s side.
“My lady, do you have no intention of becoming engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince?”
The words might have been rude, but Lady Miroi showed no sign of caring. Instead, she turned eyes of reproach on Robin.
“Even His Highness says nothing, yet you are the one to speak.”
“Because, even if not to him, you will inevitably be married in a political match.”
Lady Miroi looked at Robin as though hurt by his words.
“Of all people, Robin—you should at least be the one to say I should marry the man I wish to.”
Her tone shifted. Robin, in turn, let out a sigh without restraint.
“Haah. Miroi, this is the Crown Prince’s palace. You cannot speak to me so familiarly here.”
She paid no heed to his warning to be cautious.
“It’s just the two of us here. Even if someone saw, what of it? We grew up together as childhood friends. What’s wrong with that?”
“We are both adults now.”
Robin drew a firm line.
“I am Robin Branden, who serves the Crown Prince, and you are the lady who can move the power of your father, Duke Delta.”
“You’re always like this.”
Lady Miroi muttered bitterly. But it wasn’t anything new.
Since childhood, those who had been with her had gradually drifted away. Few remained now with whom she could reveal her true heart.
“This is a gift from Her Majesty the Empress to His Highness.”
Resigned, Lady Miroi set the jewel box before her.
“From Her Majesty the Empress?”
“She summoned me and told me to come to the Crown Prince’s palace. At first I thought it was out of genuine concern for me, but once I arrived, I realized that wasn’t it.”
Miroi looked at Robin as though accusing him of being too dutiful, too proper. But Robin did not meet her gaze. So, in the end, she had no choice but to let it be.
It was in the midst of that awkward silence that Miroi turned her head toward the sounds coming belatedly down the corridor.
“I can walk on my own.”
“A master who makes his aide walk cannot be a good man.”
“Your Highness, please… please.”
“Do not worry. I’ll even see to it that your illness is completely healed.”
When the door opened and two men entered, both Robin and Miroi froze at once.
“My, my. I had come here especially for my aide’s sake, yet it seems we have guests.”
Kailos spoke as though he were not at all surprised or unsettled.
“Well then, where shall we go? Hmm? Leslun. You tell me.”
“Please… Your Highness…”
Leslun’s voice seemed to sink as though it would dig into the floor.
Kailos’s fresh smile looked almost sinister.
***
Leslun was in an impossibly awkward situation.
That the Crown Prince had been in his room was shocking enough. But when he suddenly lifted him into his arms, Leslun nearly screamed.
He had barely managed to hold it in, fearing that his cry might startle Kailos.
Suppressing his voice, he begged to be put down. But Kailos brushed him off with feigned nonchalance.
All along the corridor, Leslun pleaded again and again. At last, he pressed his hands together as though in prayer.
“It’s not that my legs are injured, Your Highness. I only have a bit of indigestion.”
“And yet earlier, you couldn’t even stand. Was your leg not injured?”
“That was only because I had no strength.”
“So you intended to crawl back to your bed?”
The Crown Prince met his eyes and smiled faintly. The chandelier’s light shone brightly above, making his smile appear almost divine.
“Or else you planned to sleep on the floor.”
His every gesture was impeccable in grace, yet his words were the problem.
“Stay still. Then you’ll be able to lie comfortably in bed and be treated.”
“Your Highness!”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
