TSIMG 21

Chapter 21

“That can’t be.”

Hystein chuckled softly and stopped walking. When she heard no footsteps following behind her, Rodia also turned around.

Hystein, who had been standing behind her looking at her, shrugged his shoulders.

“And besides, so what if it is? If you’re scared or having a hard time, running away isn’t a bad thing. There’s no rule that says you absolutely have to overcome every obstacle.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Hystein answered firmly and closed the distance to Rodia in a single step.

“Probably no one in Heint has run away as much as I have.”

His voice, as he looked down at her from right in front, was strangely filled with confidence.

“If an obstacle appears, you can go over it. You can also go around it. If you’re scared or having a hard time, you can run away.”

“……”

“But from now on, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me beforehand that you’re going to run away.”

Hystein let out a low chuckle as he spoke. His eyes were slightly narrowed with amusement.

“I am your guardian and legal protector, so couldn’t I also be your place to run away to? Then I wouldn’t have to wander around looking for you like I did earlier.”

*I’m here for you.*

Even though he clearly couldn’t know exactly why Rodia had run away, he offered her this quiet comfort with his words. It felt like applying ointment to a sore heart.

A slightly warmer breeze blew between the two of them.

—

* * *

—

“This way.”

Rodia took Hystein’s hand and climbed the stairs back to the banquet hall.

Gathering the hem of her dress in one hand as she climbed, Rodia’s eyes were fixed on Hystein’s back.

—

*’I am your guardian and legal protector, so couldn’t I also be your place to run away to? Then I wouldn’t have to wander around looking for you like I did earlier.’*

—

His words from a moment ago came to mind. Whether it was her imagination or not, his back looked incredibly reliable. Her heart fluttered for no reason, and she couldn’t lift her head, just staring at the stairs as she climbed.

It felt like they had been out in the garden for quite a while, but fortunately, the key figures had not yet entered the banquet hall.

After checking her appearance, Rodia lightly placed her hand on Hystein’s offered arm. Then, she quietly entered the hall again.

More people filled the banquet hall than before the two had gone outside.

But strangely, unlike before, she didn’t feel nearly as nervous.

She wasn’t sure if it was because she was getting used to the situation through repetition, or because she had truly realized that Hystein was watching her back.

The important thing was that this place, being with Hystein, was no longer just a place of hardship.

As expected, given that he was attending a banquet with strong political purposes, Hystein couldn’t stay by her side the entire time. Even as he moved towards those who sought him out, he kept looking back at Rodia with worried eyes.

Receiving that gaze, Rodia decided to muster up a tiny bit of courage.

She first approached the people she had been talking to before she went out to the terrace. The group of about five or six had now become four.

“Excuse me…”

“Oh, you’re back?”

One of them who recognized Rodia greeted her.

*’First, I’ll try to engage. If it doesn’t work, I’ll run away. He said it was okay to run away.’*

The moment she thought that, the tension in her facial muscles melted away like magic. Rodia smiled, looking much more at ease.

“Yes. I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly. I wasn’t feeling well and needed some fresh air. I hope I didn’t offend anyone by leaving.”

“No, not at all. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, the breeze was cool, so I recovered quickly.”

“It looked like you went out with Lord Roart just now. Are you two close?”

The youngest-looking woman among the four asked. Unlike before, the question didn’t seem to carry any malice. It seemed like genuine curiosity. Since the people hadn’t changed, Rodia surmised that it must be her own changed mindset as she answered.

“I suppose we’re not distant, given that we’re guardian and ward.”

“I see.”

One of them asked Rodia for her name.

“…Rodia. Prokheite.”

Rodia’s voice stammered subtly as she revealed her name. But the people she was talking to didn’t seem to notice the subtlety.

“Oh! I see. I think I’ve heard that name from my older sister before.”

“Really? If you don’t mind me asking, what is your sister’s name?”

Rodia naturally followed up and asked a question. Gone was the girl frozen by fear as she stepped into the banquet hall; she was now naturally conversing with women her age.

The biggest reason she could act more comfortably was that, recalling her childhood memories, there wasn’t anyone familiar to her—or rather, anyone who made her uncomfortable—in this place.

But she soon realized that her change had started with Hystein. His small words of comfort had given her the courage to be bold.

She couldn’t deny that.

Rodia quietly watched Hystein, who was talking with people not far away. Even while busily attending to the Chancellor, he kept turning his head towards her direction.

*’He must be busy, but he’s checking to see if I’m alright.’*

Rodia’s guess was correct. He was more meticulous than she thought, much more considerate than the rumors suggested, and thoughtful. At least, towards those close to him.

Her gaze unconsciously followed his golden hair. Just then, the banquet hall doors opened and a man entered.

“…Eh?”

He was a familiar-looking man she had seen somewhere before.

Behind the man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, were several attendants, including a gaunt man in his fifties. At a glance, they looked like high-ranking nobles or royalty from another country.

Rodia tilted her head.

*’Where have I seen him before…?’*

Was it a problem that she stared intently at the man, trying to recall where she’d seen him? The man, feeling her gaze, smoothly turned his head towards her.

“…? Huh?”

At first, his expression was indifferent. As if he was used to people’s attention. But then, his eyes, fixed on Rodia, grew wider and wider.

Letting out a final exclamation, he strode over and approached Rodia, stopping right in front of her.

“You, you know me, don’t you? It seems we’ve met somewhere before.”

“Your Highness!”

The man’s attendant rushed over with a pale face. Rodia was flustered by the man’s sudden approach.

“Uh… I do feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before…”

Rodia’s brow furrowed.

And only after speaking did she realize that the attendant following the man had called him ‘Your Highness.’

A prince or royalty from another country who would be attending this banquet. A person flashed through Rodia’s mind like lightning.

“His Highness, the Second Prince of Chellda…?”

Rodia muttered, then gasped and covered her mouth.

“Yes, yes. So you do know me, yet you acted with such impudence.”

The prince sneered with a fierce glint in his eyes. His words were wrapped in polite formalities, but they were barbed. Rodia had no idea what the prince was talking about.

*’I acted with impudence?’*

It didn’t make any sense. As Rodia frowned, a recent incident flashed through her mind.

“Ah! Could it be that thief from the other day?!”

“Who are you calling a thief?”

The prince snapped, his voice rising in anger.

The area around Rodia became noisy. The Chancellor, Hystein, and Duke Philemer, who had been exchanging greetings with them, also turned their attention to Rodia and the prince.

In an instant, everyone in the banquet hall focused their attention on Rodia and the prince. Those near Rodia stepped back with flustered expressions, and she began to panic at this unprecedented situation.

No matter how confident she was, she was still in her early twenties with little social experience. Moreover, her opponent was the Second Prince of Chellda, the main guest of this banquet. She didn’t know what the wisest course of action was in such a situation.

“I wasn’t aware that His Highness knew a lady in Heint.”

Duke Philemer approached and spoke. His sharp eyes quickly scanned Rodia from head to toe.

Though Rodia had never met Duke Philemer in person, she recognized him immediately upon seeing him address the prince. With a prince and a duke approaching her up close, cold sweat began to form on Rodia’s back.

*’Where is Lord Roart?!’*

She couldn’t very well look around frantically with a foreign prince and duke right in front of her. Rodia squeezed her eyes shut.

Just then, a warm body heat enveloped Rodia’s chilled shoulder.

“What business does His Highness the Prince of Chellda have with my partner?”

“Lord Roart.”

It was Hystein.

With a poker face devoid of emotion, he wrapped his arm around Rodia’s shoulder and subtly pushed her behind him. It was clearly a protective gesture. The prince’s eyes flickered with interest at the action.

“This impudent woman was your partner, My Lord?”

“Impudent? What do you mean?”

Hystein’s eyebrow twitched.

“This woman tripped me with her foot a few days ago, and I fell over! Thanks to her, I had to endure considerable humiliation!”

“Your Highness. Are you… referring to *that* day?”

Duke Philemer couldn’t bring himself to ask, ‘The day you were locked in the holding cell?’ The prince nodded in response to his question.

The prince wasn’t foolish enough to boast about being locked up in a foreign country’s holding cell. The surrounding people began to murmur, just as the prince intended.

If Rodia had indeed done as the prince claimed, it would be a major diplomatic faux pas.

Knowing this well, Rodia’s face also turned pale.

What the prince said was true. But who would have thought that a man being chased by people in the marketplace was a member of a foreign royal family!

Rodia felt utterly wronged.