LSK 3

Chapter 3

Back then, he had intended to use the moment Lady Celebi flew into a rage to deliberately get himself injured, so he could throw her into prison for the crime of attempting to assassinate royalty.

Whether she realized it or not, Lady Celebi had cleverly avoided Raven’s scheme.

Remembering what happened earlier, Raven felt a surge of resentment.

Biting his red lips so hard they turned pale, he spat out his words through his teeth:

“Stop with the disgusting act. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten how you bribed a servant to put an aphrodisiac in my food, then snuck into my palace like a thief at dawn to force yourself on me because you wanted my child? It hasn’t even been a month since then.”

Hearing those words, Lady Celebi’s expression turned pale as she muttered under her breath. Holding her head with one hand, she had an utterly dumbfounded look on her face.

“Unbelievable… How on earth could she do something like that… Did she have no pride at all…?”

To think that such a story was hidden behind the rumor of her sneaking into the Crown Prince’s bedroom and getting kicked out.

Celebi was way more out of her mind than I thought. How on earth was I supposed to clean up this mess?

It was no wonder the Crown Prince suspected me.

In fact, it was a miracle he hadn’t developed food trauma.

How on earth had Lady Celebi managed to avoid going to prison until now?

Supporting my aching head with my arm, I barely managed to look up.

The Crown Prince was still glaring at me with eyes full of murderous intent.

Perhaps because his past trauma had resurfaced, he didn’t seem likely to let go of his anger easily.

“……For a moment, I had forgotten.”

“What? There are things you can forget and things you can’t, you really are…! Haah, fine. What would I even expect from you.”

Saying so, the Crown Prince brushed his hair back with an annoyed expression.

To be honest, while preparing the food, I had a slight hope that ‘if things went well, maybe I could get a little closer to the Crown Prince.’

However, the reason the Crown Prince hated me—or rather, Celebi—was far too clear.

The Crown Prince had probably experienced things like what he just mentioned quite frequently throughout his entire life.

Lady Celebi’s obsession with the Crown Prince had already crossed the line, and the Crown Prince’s hatred toward Lady Celebi ran far deeper than I had imagined.

And logically speaking, how could anyone become friends with a woman who had threatened his chastity 365 days a year?!

Anyway, I couldn’t force him to eat if he didn’t want to. I really just had to give up, didn’t I?

Ah, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t completely anticipated this outcome, but… I still couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.

I let out a sigh so deep it felt like it could cave the floor in, then pulled up a chair and sat down.

“Then, I’ll just eat it myself…”

“What?”

Regardless of whether the Crown Prince ate the food I made or not, the time and ingredients poured into cooking were far too wasteful.

I picked up my spoon, which felt exceptionally heavy today.

Chew, chew.

At my utterly pitiful appearance, neither the Crown Prince nor the other soldiers said a word, looking flustered.

The dining hall was filled with the sound of me mechanically eating the food.

Crunch, crunch.

Crisp, crisp.

Just as I was focusing solely on clearing the food in front of me as if I had lost my sense of taste from the surging feeling of futility…

Gulp.

Through the silence, the sound of someone swallowing their spit was heard. Because the surroundings were quiet, the sound echoed exceptionally loud.

Without missing the opportunity, I spoke up:

“If you’re hungry, it’s alright to eat.”

Naturally, not a single person moved right away at my words.

So I’m alone in the end. Just as I was about to focus back on the food, the Crown Prince growled in a scathing tone:

“Who would eat food made by the likes of you? Fearlessly eating without knowing what was put into it. I don’t know what kind of plot you’re hatching, but there is no one here who doesn’t know the evil deeds you’ve committed.”

Give me a break, what plot am I hatching?

I couldn’t help but think he was being overly sensitive with his constant suspicions, but given what the Crown Prince had been through, it couldn’t be helped.

Eating a freshly baked, crunchy piece of baguette, I said:

“…If I had poisoned the food, there’s no way I would be eating it like this. Besides, what reason do I have to poison Your Highness and your subordinates?”

If I, a noble, said the word, even if I couldn’t touch the Crown Prince, the heads of his subordinates would all fly off.

Assuming, of course, that the Crown Prince didn’t interfere.

However, if I brought that up, it would do nothing but prove the rumors about my terrible personality, so I swallowed those bitter words back down.

“Even so, do you think I would feed food made by you to my precious subordinates?”

“…”

I set down the baguette I was eating and looked around at my surroundings.

Every single one of them was covered in dirt and drenched in sweat. They had definitely just returned from high-intensity training.

I let out a sigh and said:

“…To the Crown Prince, the great Supreme Commander of Distian, it is shameful for someone like me—a complete novice in tactics and military strategy—to dare say such things, but…”

“…”

The Crown Prince crossed his arms and stared at me intently, waiting for my next words.

His expression looked as if he was ready to trample over my feather-light logic, daring me to blabber on as much as I wanted.

Finding that hostile gaze oppressive, I tried not to look in the Crown Prince’s direction, pretending to concentrate on the remaining food, and said:

“…I believe that as a ruler, the most important thing is a heart that cares for one’s subordinates.”

Hearing my words, the Crown Prince knitted his brows tightly. He spoke in a voice that sounded like he was asking why I was blabbering about something so obvious.

“I cherish my subordinates more than anyone. If you want to play ridiculous word games, do it with someone else—”

I made eye contact with the Crown Prince. Taking advantage of the brief moment he flinched, I cut off his words and quickly continued:

“I heard that the military training of Distian, the special operations unit directly under the Crown Prince, is about ten times more intense than the training regular soldiers receive.”

“…”

As soon as my words ended, the Crown Prince glared at me with an expression filled with murderous intent.

The clever Crown Prince seemed to have already picked up on what I wanted to say from that single sentence alone.

He looked as if he wanted to cut off my head right this second.

Befitting his fierce title as humanity’s first Dragon Slayer, his pressure was immense.

I even felt the illusion that my entire body was tingling from his intent to kill.

Barely catching my breath, I continued speaking:

“Furthermore, I understand there is still a long way to go for this afternoon’s training. What’s more, tonight is the day of the notoriously famous dawn training. I heard that on dawn training days, everyone marches on an empty stomach without dinner. If everyone doesn’t eat heartily now, someone will surely collapse.”

Finding it difficult to handle his murderous intent, I deliberately averted my gaze, trying to let the tension pass.

I tried to speak calmly as if nothing were wrong, but I couldn’t stop my voice from trembling.

“…Even if food were to be prepared starting now, I have already used up all of today’s ingredients. Even if you were to go to an outside restaurant, preparing a meal for such a large crowd would take a considerable amount of time. Then today’s training schedule might be completely ruined.”

As soon as my words ended, the Crown Prince clicked his tongue with a face full of anger and said:

“Ha, so this was your intention after all. Are you trying to threaten me with something like that? In return, you’re planning to demand something from me again to satisfy your perverted desires, aren’t you? It’s far too predictable.”

At the Crown Prince’s disgusted words, my body froze up.

My perverted desires?

Just what had Lady Celebi usually demanded from the Crown Prince…

Without even realizing it, I seemed to have stepped on another landmine that triggered the Crown Prince’s trauma.

No, to be precise, every single keyword between the Crown Prince and Celebi was a landmine.

Ah, seriously. No, that’s not it! Please just take my words as they are, Your Highness.

Perverted desires? I don’t have those kinds of desires for you. You’re expecting something when the other person hasn’t even thought about giving it to you. Please stop counting your chickens before they hatch!

…Words like those nearly burst out of my throat, but I barely managed to swallow them back down.

If he heard that, the Crown Prince would definitely turn bright red, feel utterly humiliated, and try to cut my head off right now, just like in the novel’s ending.

Putting on as aggrieved an expression as possible, I said:

“Threaten you? No. How could I dare threaten Your Highness? I am speaking out of genuine concern for my comrades.”

“Comrades? Are you planning to insult my subordinates this time?”

It seemed that because the Crown Prince hated me so much, he had acquired a filter where whatever I said sounded like an insult to him.

Otherwise, there was no way communication could fail to go through to this extent.

I stood up from my seat, looked into the Crown Prince’s eyes, and spoke:

“…It pains me to say this, but I shall speak as a humble subject. It matters not whether you dislike or hate me, but there is no reason for Your Highness’s subordinates to suffer due to your personal emotions. Setting aside my feelings toward Your Highness, I simply did what I had to do as a soldier belonging to Distian. That is all. Should not someone who stands above others be colder and more rational than anyone? The ones suffering from your emotional behavior are not Your Highness, but your subordinates. Does the Crown Prince, the future ruler of this nation, not know what even a woman like me knows?”

I hadn’t intended to get angry, but as I spoke, my breathing gradually grew rougher.

Sitting back down in my seat, I caught my breath and picked up my utensils again.

“If you believe my words are wrong, you may throw me into prison for the crime of insulting royalty; it matters not. Before going to prison, since the ingredients would be a waste, I shall eat all of this myself.”

My stomach was already at full capacity, but out of stubbornness, I shoved the food into my mouth bit by bit.