LSK 13

Chapter 13

His magic power and killing intent were tangled together, spreading throughout the cave.

I felt like I could barely breathe, as if my body was being crushed under gravity.

Goosebumps covered my entire body.

I helplessly sat down on the floor. Then I hugged my arms and lowered my head, waiting for his anger to calm down.

Damn it. Why? What had made him explode like this?

Celebi, what on earth did you do to the Crown Prince?

I thought the reason he was this angry was clearly because something from the past that Lady Celebi had caused had triggered one of his old traumas.

But after a long silence, the words that finally came from the Crown Prince were completely unexpected.

“Who was it?”

“……?”

At that vague question, I slightly turned my head and looked at the Crown Prince with a confused expression.

As if urging me to answer, he asked again.

“Who dared to hurt the body of a Duke’s daughter?”

“……?”

As he said that, he slowly ran his hand down my injured shoulder, following the handprint and moving toward my back.

A chill ran through my entire body at the touch of his cold hand.

It felt completely different from when he had touched my skin earlier to examine my injury.

I was overwhelmed by his killing intent and trembled like a leaf, unable to give him any answer.

He seemed to have interpreted my reaction in a different way.

“……Are you afraid of revenge? You can tell me honestly. I will punish them personally. The crime of touching the body of a noble is a serious one.”

“……Wh-what?”

The Crown Prince was smiling cruelly as he said that.

But it was obvious at a glance that he was not smiling because he was happy.

He stared at me with his red eyes, looking as if he could go berserk at any moment.

Looking closely, his pupils were unnaturally wide.

They looked less like human eyes and more like those of a bird of prey.

They said he had borrowed the power of a dragon.

Could those be the eyes of a dragon?

His eyes were beautiful like rubies, but they were also terrifying like blood.

I tried to understand the situation for a moment.

It seemed that he did not know that he was the one who had injured my shoulder.

Moreover, judging from our conversation so far, the Crown Prince seemed convinced that someone else had attacked me.

I had finally figured out why he had gone berserk.

But something still felt strange.

Was he really this excited over something so small?

He had even revealed his red dragon eyes.

“Tell me.”

I shook my head.

If he found out that he was the one who had done it, I had no idea where his anger would turn.

“Really? If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll make you tell me by force.”

He grabbed my face, which had been avoiding his gaze, and made me look directly into his red eyes.

Our faces were so close that it looked as if he might kiss me at any moment.

But his eyes were so frightening that there was absolutely nothing romantic about the atmosphere.

“Tell me.”

He said it like an order.

There was no way I would open my mouth just because he ordered me to…… huh?

Suddenly, I felt all the strength leave my body.

My mouth was opening on its own, going against my will.

No way.

Could this be……?

Dragon Language?

Dragon Language was the reason dragons had been able to become the strongest race on the continent.

When a dragon put magical power into its voice and gave an order, anyone would be forced to follow the caster’s will.

No matter what the order was.

Even an order to die.

I never imagined that he could use Dragon Language just because he had absorbed the power of a dragon.

Crown Prince Raven was much more overpowered than I had thought.

“Tell me.”

No one could lie while looking into his red eyes.

My body betrayed my will and began speaking on its own.

“Ra…….”

“…….”

When a small voice came from my mouth, he immediately focused on it as if he would not let a single word escape.

He moved even closer.

“Ra……ven-nim.”

“What……?”

The tense atmosphere, which had seemed ready to explode at any moment, suddenly disappeared as if someone had poured cold water over it.

At some point, his eyes had also returned to their original golden color, filled with their warm light.

When I saw that, the tension left my body.

I let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the floor.

When the Crown Prince first showed his red eyes in the original novel, I remembered him looking more like a beast.

But for some reason, this time it felt as though he still had some reason left.

Should I be relieved that his true berserk state had not begun?

Or perhaps he was not actually as angry as he looked.

Maybe he had only pretended to be angry so that he could make me speak.

But was the dragon’s magic power really something he could control by himself?

While I was thinking about that, the Crown Prince had already calmed down again.

He sat in front of me and looked into my eyes.

“Explain.”

“…….”

Pretending that I knew nothing now would not work.

Even if I tried to lie badly, if the Crown Prince used Dragon Language again, I would have no choice but to reveal the truth.

I let out a deep sigh and finally opened my mouth with difficulty.

“……On the day I collapsed, Lord Raven came to my hospital room and questioned me. At that time, I was injured because of the force of you grabbing my arm.”

“……Nonsense.”

The Crown Prince opened his eyes wide as if he could not believe me.

“You got an injury like that because I grabbed your shoulder a little hard? Are you made of glass? Besides, you didn’t show any sign of being hurt. How could someone have a shoulder in that condition and not even make a single sound?”

He seemed to think I was lying.

Even though he had just used his magic power himself to confirm whether I was telling the truth.

I answered his questioning with a slightly sulky expression.

“You know I can’t lie to you anyway. I only told you exactly what happened.”

“……There’s a limit to how weak someone can be.”

Apparently, he had forgotten that he had beaten a dragon with his bare hands at the age of eight.

The Crown Prince seemed tired after using the dragon’s magic power and plopped down onto the floor.

Looking down at the ground, he asked in a casual voice.

“So what about the treatment? When will it heal?”

“I don’t know. They said that in the worst case, it might never heal completely.”

“……What do you mean?”

The Crown Prince’s expression hardened at my calm answer.

He seemed to think I was joking.

He looked at me as if he were about to scold me for making such a ridiculous joke.

I did not want to tell the Crown Prince everything honestly either.

But if he used Dragon Language again, I would be forced to confess whether I wanted to or not.

So I told him exactly what I had heard from the doctor.

“Fortunately, the left shoulder that I normally use was treated somehow. But they said the right shoulder was more dangerous. Still, they said it might heal on its own if I leave it alone, so there’s nothing to worry abou—”

“Nothing to worry about? They said one of your shoulders is in danger, and you’re saying there’s nothing to worry about?”

As I continued speaking, the Crown Prince’s face became pale.

He repeated my words to himself with a completely dumbfounded expression.

“Yes. There’s nothing to worry about.”

I answered calmly, but the Crown Prince’s face twisted even more.

He seemed to be feeling guilty about what had happened to my arm.

After searching for something to say for a long time, the Crown Prince spoke in a deeply lowered voice.

“……When the subjugation is over, come to the Imperial Palace with me. The Imperial Palace’s famous doctors might know how to treat it.”

“It’s fine. Please stop worrying about me.”

“What?”

The Crown Prince stared at me as if he could not believe his own ears.

He seemed to be wondering if he had really heard what I had just said.

If he wanted me to say it again, I had no problem doing so.

I calmly looked into the Crown Prince’s golden eyes and spoke without emotion.

“Being too kind to people is a sickness too.”

“…….”

“Think about what I’ve done. Haven’t I chased after and tormented you for fourteen years? Besides, I even killed people because of you. So you shouldn’t make such a fuss just because you damaged one of my arms. The dead people I killed will cry in the afterlife.”

“…….”

The Crown Prince did not say anything for a while.

His face had become extremely dark.

But what I said was true.

The Crown Prince was simply too kind.

He had no reason to worry about someone, yet he was worrying about someone like Celebi.

I needed to fix his habit of showing kindness to an evil person like Celebi.

It would make his life easier in the future.

Thinking that, I sat there blankly, staring at the cave wall.

When the pain had almost disappeared, the Crown Prince carefully opened his mouth.

“What on earth is wrong with you these days? You really seem like a different person.”

“You’re asking that quite late.”

I could feel him staring at me as if he were observing me, but I did not even turn my head toward him.

“……Just answer me.”

“I don’t know. I guess I really did turn over a new leaf.”

At my answer, the Crown Prince lowered his head with a complicated expression.

Once again, he stared only at the floor without saying anything, as if he had entered a period of silence.

“I think I’ll be able to stand up soon, so let’s go back to where our companions are.”

“……Okay.”

“Ah, I forgot to say this.”

“……?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

“…….”

At my words of thanks, the Crown Prince stared at me with an expression as if he were looking at something completely unfamiliar.