Chapter 36

‘I let my guard down.’

Brynd’s eyes widened.

There’s definitely a Raub outside, so why?

Unconsciously, he glanced at the door, then Brynd stepped diagonally in front of Lirika.

Blocking her directly would draw too much attention, so this was just right.

“What’s this?”

Attil’s face was filled with shock, betrayal, and anger. He strode in. Before Brynd could stop him, Lirika quickly stepped in front.

“Attil, wait—”

“Get out of the way!”

Attil shoved her to the side. Lirika grabbed his arm.

“I’m sorry, but let me explain—”

“Get lost!”

Attil roughly shook off her grip. Since Lirika was much smaller than him, her face was hit by his arm.

Under normal circumstances, she would have just stepped back a bit and that would be it.

Under normal circumstances.

Lirika hesitated. She covered her mouth.

Roll, roll.

A white front tooth rolled out of her hand. At the same time, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“Princess!”

Fjord ran over, screaming. Attil was so shocked he couldn’t even stop him. Lirika’s eyes also widened in surprise.

‘Front tooth? Ah!’

It had been wobbling for two days. She had planned to pull it out today or tomorrow. Worried that Attil might blame himself, she quickly said,

“Just fell out—”

Her pronunciation was awkward because she didn’t want to swallow the blood in her mouth. More blood trickled as she spoke. In fact, it wasn’t all blood, but mixed with saliva, it looked quite gruesome.

Only Brynd, who understood the situation, remained calm. She approached and offered a folded handkerchief.

“Princess, bite down hard.”

“Mm.”

Nodding, Lirika tried to speak to Attil again but looked at Fjord. His hand on her shoulder was trembling.

His crimson eyes were filled with anxiety. Lirika gently patted his hand on her shoulder.

“Just fell out.”

With the handkerchief in her mouth, she couldn’t speak properly. She swallowed a sigh.

“This...”

Attil clenched his fists. His voice trembled. He lunged at Fjord.

“This is all your fault!”

“I didn’t hit the Princess, you did!”

Fjord, enraged, immediately countered. They grabbed each other’s collars, ready to fight.

Confused, Lirika looked at Brynd, who smiled at her.

As long as the Princess is safe, it’s fine.

Such a bright smile made Lirika open her mouth in surprise.

So, in this situation, she raised her voice.

“Raub!”

Bang!

The door was roughly opened. Everyone turned to see Raub standing there.

Lirika, who had perked up, was shocked. Raub looked like he had rolled in a pile of leaves. He walked in with an unusually angry face. He clenched his teeth and said,

“Your Highness, you’ve gone too far.”

Lirika, confused, looked between Attil and Raub.

“I’m sorry, I—”

Turning to Lirika, Raub saw his master and rushed over.

“Princess!”

Before she could say she was fine, Lirika thought about how many times this had happened and smiled to reassure him.

But that smile did nothing to help Raub.

A tooth had fallen out.

He could easily see that. To knock out a tooth, a considerable force was needed.

While he was away, his master had been attacked and lost a tooth.

Someone had hit Lirika with that much force. The thought made Raub’s whole body tremble.

In fact, if someone had hit her that hard, Lirika wouldn’t be standing there, but he didn’t think that far.

“Who, who did this?”

His words were broken, struggling to control his anger. The wolf’s blood inside him was boiling.

He almost lost his master.

Fear triggered his instincts. His pupils contracted, and his eyes became brighter.

His slightly parted lips revealed his fangs.

Lirika called out to him loudly.

“Raub Wolf!”

The handkerchief fell, but she didn’t care.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t attacked. Calm down.”

“But—”

“Really. My tooth was ready to fall out. Attil was just surprised, that’s all. My tooth was wobbling, so that’s why.”

As she spoke, more blood gushed out, and Lirika closed her mouth. Brynd took out a new handkerchief, wiped her mouth, and had her bite down again.

Lirika thought everyone would sigh in relief, saying, “Oh, I see. I was worried.” But the atmosphere didn’t change.

Confused, Lirika turned to Brynd, who explained brightly.

“Even if nothing happened, the Princess’s tooth wouldn’t have fallen out.”

Lirika thought about it. She patted Fjord and pointed to the sofa. Then she ran over and grabbed Attil’s hand.

She glanced at him, but he didn’t seem like he would shake her off. She pulled his hand, and Attil followed obediently, completely defeated.

Holding Attil’s hand, they stepped out of the cabin. Two guards they had chosen earlier were leaning against the wall. They looked at her in surprise and smiled bitterly.

Lirika, surprised by their disheveled appearance, greeted them.

‘Raub is even more disheveled than them.’

She led Attil to a table in front of the cabin.

Lirika removed the handkerchief and said,

“I’m sorry. I know how much you value this place and that you don’t like Fjord, but I brought her here.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Huh?”

Surprised, Lirika looked up. Attil clenched his teeth.

“Why are you apologizing?”

His voice was broken, and she looked confused. Her teal eyes darted around.

Even that pushed him into a whirlpool of unknown emotions, making him feel uneasy, angry, or something else.

“Because I was wrong, of course.”

“What?”

“Like I said—”

“This is a place I gave you. You can bring whoever you want.”

“It’s not completely mine. We agreed to share it.”

“Still, who you bring is your right.”

As he spoke, Attil felt a sense of futility. Why are we arguing about this?

What he wanted to say was something else entirely.

But the more Lirika apologized, the harder it became to say it. He grabbed her hand and made her bite the handkerchief again. He disliked her puzzled gaze.

He said,

“Why don’t you tell me to apologize?”

Blink.

Her eyes showed that she hadn’t thought of it. He was angry. She tried to say something, but Attil lifted her chin and made her bite the handkerchief.

“It’s okay to be angry. It’s okay to be angry. Even if I was angry, hitting you like that is unacceptable. I...”

He stopped, sighed. Why did he have to explain this?

I don’t want to hurt you.

The words didn’t come out. Instead, a spiteful remark slipped out.

“You’re hurt, so why are you apologizing? Don’t be so submissive. It’s embarrassing.”

The moment the last words left his mouth, he regretted it. Lirika’s face turned red. She slapped his hand away and spat out the handkerchief.

“I’m not ashamed of my background at all!”

“I—”

“I’ve never been submissive! Yes, it hurt, but Your Highness was also surprised, right? I could see you were shocked, and my tooth was already wobbling. Besides, phew!”

The sound of spitting out saliva made Attil stiffen. Lirika wiped her mouth and muttered a short curse.

The short, harsh words made Attil catch his breath. Lirika’s eyes, staring straight at him, were burning brightly.

She was a child from the slums.

But she had lived without a single moment of shame, and that was her pride and self-respect.

“I knew how much Your Highness dislikes Barat, but I made the decision. I knew you would be angry.”

Her teal eyes flashed.

“So I apologized. I still feel sorry. Because...”

Attil had listened with a very hopeful face and voice. He had made the two guards distract Raub and snuck in.

Lirika had promised to make the garden beautiful and return it. Attil couldn’t have missed the movement. Maybe he even noticed she wasn’t there in the morning.

So he came straight to the cabin.

Lirika had clearly planned a surprise party.

But what did he think when he saw her with Barat?

He must have felt betrayed.

Yet, Attil didn’t get angry at Lirika but first expressed his anger at Fjord.

Lirika understood that he was doing it because he cared for her.

“I like Your Highness.”

Because she liked him, she was worried about the pain he had suffered and felt very sorry. She thought a slap was a small price to pay.

It was a simple statement.

Attil felt deflated. He slumped into a chair, covering his face with both hands.

Why can this weak little sister say things I can’t?

Aren’t you afraid?

Aren’t you scared?

Liking someone means exposing your weakness. Kindness is easily exploited. How many people try to benefit from someone’s affection?

Then I’m the one who gets hurt.

“Your