Chapter 22

#022 Handling (1)

At that moment, I keenly realized why I was the ‘support’ male lead and the prince was the ‘main’ male lead.

Once, Kanae had said that "Prince Yesu is a nobleman whom ten out of ten passersby would turn to look at," with a blush.

However, Prince Sedric was the kind of person whose appearance would make passersby drop what they were doing and chase after him.

Even from below, he looked at least 10 cm taller than me. The difference was enormous.

I tried to clear my dazed mind.

The prince and I exchanged a long gaze.

"......"

"......"

When I met Cristel, there was at least a broken wooden window between us.

Since the confessional was originally a bit dark, it was easy to hide my facial expressions even if I didn't manage them well.

The fact that Cristel came and left in a hurry was also to my advantage.

It was a not-so-bad condition to hide my confusion.

But I had a face-to-face encounter with this person.

On a wide-open balcony, illuminated by red torches and magical lights.

There were other balconies in the Strada Palace, but I was almost resentful that the prince chose to enjoy the breeze here.

"Yes, I'll take care of this one. The news will also reach Cardinal Boutier."

I opened my mouth with the most natural smile I could manage.

Although we didn't exchange greetings or pleasantries during our first meeting, I had no regrets, hoping this would be our last encounter.

I extended both arms to Lesser Panda.

Then, the prince, who had been looking down at me and the little one, suddenly spoke.

"I heard you're not attending the ball."

"I didn't attend. I just saw this little one while passing by."

Anyone could see that Jack was hanging from the balcony like a beanstalk, so what ball?

I was irritated that the prince kept using informal speech from the start.

Meanwhile, Lesser Panda wouldn't even listen to me now.

The little one seemed curious about the new character and turned to approach the prince instead of coming to me.

The prince, who clearly saw my efforts to draw the spirit beast, only showed an interested face without helping.

Indeed, he lived up to his reputation.

Of all times, why did an obstacle appear now when I didn't even have any cookies in my sleeve?

Wanting to rest quickly, I swallowed my sigh and released aether.

The sanctuary grew larger, and the ground beneath me became brighter.

[......'Demi'.]

Then I whispered the little one's name.

A nobleman had told me earlier, when he came to the confessional to ask for a name for his daughter, that "if you call with a good name, they will respond with a good heart."

It was a plausible statement.

Though I had never heard it in Korea, I thought I should use it if such a saying existed in the empire.

Since it was an earth attribute, I named it after Demeter.

As a spirit beast, 'demi-' means 'partly divine.'

Even if the little one might leave here tomorrow, I thought that giving it the best name I could think of right now might make it come to me with a good heart.

-Keek, keek......

In response to my invocation, Lesser Panda let out a louder cry than usual.

It was a sound somewhere between a 'peep' and a 'keek.'

When it looked at me again, its face seemed to be smiling, which brightened my mood.

The little one trotted over to me as if it had never done anything else.

It climbed onto my arm without fear, and I finally caught it.

"Demi, let's go now."

The little one stood on its hind legs, placing its front paws near my neck.

I carefully held its black front paws, which were trying to climb up my head.

"What do you mean?"

Then the prince asked this question.

He seemed to have a bad habit of omitting the subject, probably from his childhood.

"What do you mean by what?"

"The name."

He couldn't suddenly be curious about the meaning of my name; he was clearly asking about 'Demi.'

"Well, um. It's because the color is similar to demi-glace sauce."

It was difficult to explain the story of Demeter in a world without Greek mythology, and I didn't want to suddenly bring up the topic of prefixes when I didn't know the language system here.

I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, and Prince Sedric gave a hollow laugh.

"You must really like food."

"He does eat well. Well, I'll be going now."

There was no need to engage in further conversation.

I had secured Lesser Panda, Demi, so my role here was over.

I carefully moved my feet, making sure Demi didn't fall off my shoulder......

Wait a moment.

How did he know I like food?

"......"

I felt a chill.

I had mentioned the color of demi-glace sauce, not that I liked the sauce so much that I named the little one after it.

It was an odd feeling. Even though I knew I was overreacting, it bothered me that he had immediately seen through my appetite.

I slowly raised my eyes, which had been gauging where to step, to look at the prince.

The young man was still watching me.

"Do you have any more business?"

The clouds had just cleared, and the clear moonlight shone on his silhouette.

His irises, illuminated by the light, were a vivid orange.

His slightly curly black hair, like fine black silk, was very familiar.

"Surely......"

-Deng, deng......

I was startled and looked down.

I saw Banzaimen with nine fingers extended. It was 9 o'clock.

"No, I'll go now."

I blurted out and took a step down.

It seemed too personal to voice my suspicions.

My mind was a whirl of thoughts, making me feel complicated.

The prince only tilted his head slightly, showing no other reaction.

-Creak, click

Then, the sound of the balcony door opening and closing echoed.

The voices of guests and the waltz music came closer and then faded away.

A light footstep approached my ear.

I ignored all the noise, carefully moving my feet to keep Demi steady.

"Your Highness, the Prince of Yesu."

"Madam, the Duchess of Sarnez."

What?

-Keek

"Sorry, sorry. I made a mistake."

Demi, upset by my misstep, complained.

I was flustered and grabbed the branch in front of me tightly.

Why is he here?

"The Duchess of Sarnez has not arrived yet."

"Yes...... She sent word that she would change into more comfortable clothes and come."

The duchess's voice trembled.

The prince was using respectful language, but his tone made him seem more like a loan shark than a future son-in-law.

Demi wagged its tail in front of my face.

I rebooted my body, which had momentarily stopped from shock.

Fortunately, the two people were already out of my sight.

"Then, shall we begin? The confessional."

Since I was in a novel, I hoped everything would be resolved dramatically.

Even if I failed, I wanted to fail in a dramatic and cool way.

Like a mistake that makes you wonder about the character's growth and elicits an exclamation.

Not a mistake like not distinguishing the front and back doors of the palace, leading me to the wrong place for a wind-cooling appointment.

I had wondered why I didn't see any carriages in front of the Strada Palace.

There was no reason for guests to park there since they entered and exited through the back door.

No, the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.

"Didn't you say you came for the spirit beast?"

You should keep quiet if you can, it's making me angry.

The prince didn't blink at my glaring eyes.

I suppressed the rising embarrassment and turned to the Duchess of Sarnez.

She seemed a bit brighter at my offer to hear her confession, despite her worry that someone might open the balcony door.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I had nothing to say even if I had returned as I was......"

It's fine, this is for my last bit of dignity.

The words lingered on my tongue and disappeared.

Saying 'I got confused about the directions but I still wanted to go back' would have made me look even more foolish.

It was better to coolly hear her confession and leave.

I was curious about the lost divine item from the 'Temple of the Boundary.'

"Then, Your Highness, please step outside the balcony. The confession must be conducted one-on-one, under the principle of confidentiality."

The prince raised an eyebrow at my deliberate omission of 'Your Highness.'

His response was unexpected.

"I'm needed here."

He then raised his left hand, which was wearing a black glove.

He drew a short horizontal line in the air, and the balcony door clicked shut from the inside.

The duchess remained calm, but I was shocked.

"What did you just......"

"You haven't heard of a Mage Knight, I see."

I hadn't.

But I clearly remembered that Eunseo had called him a 'Swordmaster.'

I could swear I hadn't confused it with the settings from another novel.

I thought it was natural for him to be called that since he only wielded swords, but a Mage Knight?

Moreover, the magic he used didn't seem like the kind I imagined.

Is this 'X-Men'? What, are you a mutant?

"Your Highness, I'm fine. Just being able to confess to you is a blessing from the gods. And......"

The duchess interjected, trying to defuse the tension between the prince and me.

Her voice still trembled, but her black eyes showed determination.

"Your Highness has the right to know every detail of my sins."