By Zephyria 
Watching Aska slap the water’s surface with a sulky expression, I fell into thought.
I really didn’t know what to do with him. If I was going to keep him around, I needed to know exactly what he was, but he didn’t seem to know himself…
If I formally demanded an explanation from Calderia, they would all return home first. If that happened, it would no longer be my concern whether they lived or died, but the problem was Khalifa.
He might use this as an excuse to do something to Calderia. I didn’t care what happened to that country, but if a war broke out, Mahir would be the one with a headache.
So I wanted to resolve it as quietly as possible, but with the Imperial royal guard involved, everything would already have been reported to Khalifa.
It was also strange that Mahir was still in the bedroom at this hour. I felt like I should go there too, but then I would have to leave Talim.
“Haa…”
It was a situation that made me sigh. Leaving the castle with Aska, who was splashing around in the water, oblivious to his situation, made my heart ache.
I couldn’t just hide him somewhere and leave…
In this situation, I understood why Mahir had been so insistent on having four people he could trust. He always said that there should be at least one person you can trust anytime, anywhere.
“…”
I took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to think as calmly as possible.
First of all, Mahir was the lowest priority among the things I had to deal with. Mahir always made the best choices, even without me. Judging by the quiet, it didn’t seem like a terribly serious situation…
And since I was the only one who knew that Aska wasn’t human, that also naturally fell lower on the priority list. Of course, it was an important issue, but not the most urgent one.
So what I needed to do now was to figure out the truth of this incident. There was a chance that all of Aska’s actions were an act, so I couldn’t let my guard down, but since he didn’t seem to have much to say to me, meeting the Servant who had been imprisoned was the priority.
“Don’t go anywhere, stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m a busy person.”
“When will you be back?”
I stopped as I was about to get up, supporting myself on my knees, and leave the bathroom. When I turned my head, I saw Aska in the bathtub, only his upper body out of the water like a mermaid, looking at me.
“Well… tomorrow morning at the latest? Maybe later today if I’m quick. Why? Do you need something?”
At my question, Aska rolled his eyes a few times as if choosing his words, then glanced at me and said,
“Thank you for saving me.”
“…”
It was an unexpected expression of gratitude. I looked at Aska with surprised eyes for a moment and said,
“I haven’t said I’d save you yet?”
“Not that, but that underground place… anyway, there. When I fell into the water.”
“Oh, feeding you blood? I just saw it in a book and tried it out of curiosity, and it worked.”
“Ah, anyway! Why are you talking so much!”
Aska finally shouted, his small patience exhausted by my constant teasing. It was quite funny to see him red-faced and huffing.
I was about to tell him to serve me well in the future as thanks, but then I remembered Aska’s actions and asked,
“Did someone tell you to say strange things to me all this time?”
“What strange things?”
“Just rude things.”
“What’s rude about it? Are you my grandfather?”
“Haa… you’re so childish.”
He could have just said yes or no, why did he have to say so much…? As I shook my head, Aska grabbed a handful of ice and threw it at me.
“You, you rude brat.”
I was imitating an old man and clicking my tongue when I saw Aska grabbing more ice. I quickly went over and grabbed Aska’s wrist.
“There were times when you suddenly said strange things. Your tone was strange too.”Tone?” Oh, that’s because they told me to act dignified… Why? Let go of me.”
Aska frowned, shaking the wrist I was holding up and down. As a result, water splashed everywhere, getting me wet again.
“Calling me a barbarian, telling you to act dignified and take the lead?”
“Is that important?”
“It is. Did the Servant tell you that, besides your sister?”
“They didn’t exactly tell me to do that… They told me not to be looked down on, and not to study. They were treating me like an idiot, and they thought I wouldn’t notice.”
As soon as I heard this, I came to a conclusion about the problem I had been pondering.
“Okay. Rest for now. Get out of the water. How long are you going to stay in there when it’s so cold?”
I put my hand slightly into the ice-cold water and frowned.
“Don’t even think about going outside, and keep the curtains closed.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, no one but me will come into this room, but if you’re found out to not be Aegis, it’s all over. You may have become familiar with some faces while staying here, but don’t trust anyone.”
“Yes, yes.”
I looked at Aska, who was answering casually, with uneasy eyes and sighed.
“I’m the only person you should trust in this world. Got it?”
“Okay. Bring me that when you come back. Dried fruit.”
“…And stop ordering me around like that. I’m a Imperial Prince.”
“So what? I’m a Imperial Princess Consort.”
“…”
I didn’t have the strength to say anything, so I just nodded and left the room. I gave strict instructions to the guard standing in front of the door, and then called Asella to my room.
Asella was the person Mahir had sent to be my manager when I received Talim as a gift from Khalifa. Even though he gave her to me, she was still Mahir’s person. Maybe Asella was reporting everything about me to him.
Still, I had known her the longest in this castle, so I often asked her for advice when I was having a hard time or in trouble.
I went back to my room and was changing my wet clothes when I heard a knock. I sent out the Servant who was tidying up my clothes and said,
“Where are all the kids who came with Aegis now?”
“They are being held separately in the annex.”
“Do you know a blond man named Jade among the royal guard?”
“I know him.”
“Him and… um.”
I didn’t know the name of the Servant who was with Aska. I couldn’t think of any particular characteristics, so I had no choice but to get up.
“Let’s go.”
When I went to the annex with Asella, I saw quite a few people gathered in the hall under heavy guard. Seeing that, I was flustered and said,
“Were they all gathered like that?”
“There were no specific orders… Should I transfer them to the prison now?”
“No…”
It was like a chicken coop… I looked at them with bewildered eyes and quickly found Jade and the elderly Servant. Then I pointed to them.
“Kill everyone except him and her.”
“Understood.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the sound of swords being drawn from all directions.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
I left the annex and went to Aska with the dried fruit, and saw the empty room. I wondered if he was still splashing around in the bathtub, so I went to the bathroom, but no one was there.
I stared at the bathtub, which was half-filled with water from the melted ice, and turned around to see Aska, who had approached without a sound, standing right behind me. I was so surprised that I almost dropped the glass jar I was holding.
“You scared me.”
“Is that mine?”
“Where were you?”
“I was hiding under the bed.”
Why did he have to hide under the bed…? Still, I was relieved that he seemed to be listening to me about not getting caught. I handed Aska the glass jar and said,
“If you eat too much, your teeth will rot, so only eat two or three a day. Never eat it before meals.”
“Why?”
“It’s too sweet and you’ll lose your appetite.”
“Why would I lose my appetite if it’s sweet?”
He looked like he didn’t understand. Come to think of it, Aska was the type to eat dried fruit with steak. I couldn’t tell if it was because he wasn’t human and had a strange appetite, or if he was just a big eater.
“I can only stay for a little while, so I have to go back. Anyway, stay put while eating this.”
“When is dinner?”
“You ate so much earlier, and you’re going to eat again?”
“What does what I ate earlier have to do with dinner? Do you starve tomorrow if you eat a lot today? What about the day after tomorrow? Are you telling me to starve?”
“…”
He had a point, but Aska had eaten enough for six or seven adults. He ate so much, but his stomach was still flat…
I stroked my chin with my finger and thought for a moment before asking.
“Are you not full?”
“I’m just moderately full.”
“Are you sure? Don’t lie to me.”
At my words, Aska frowned and stared at me before saying,
“I’m not full yet.”
“You’re not full after eating that much?”
“Yes!”
Aska frowned and shouted, thinking he was being scolded for eating too much. But that wasn’t why I was asking this question.
Could this also be related to the fact that Aska wasn’t human? Judging by the fact that he was trying to drink blood, he might not be getting enough nutrients from the food that humans eat.
I wanted to feed him blood again right away to see if he was full now, but I decided to do that later.
“Anyway, I’ll come back later. And I’m going to move rooms tomorrow, so keep that in mind.”
“Why the room?”
“I think it’ll be better to be together. There are things I need to check.”
Whether he moved rooms or not, Aska didn’t seem to care, as he opened the lid of the glass jar and put his hand inside. I clearly told him to eat only two or three a day, but he was taking out two or three at a time and putting them in his mouth.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah.”
I smiled awkwardly as I watched Aska, who was munching on the dried fruit, and grabbed the doorknob.
“Okay, I’ll be back.”
“Can you bring bread when you come back? The one with something on top.”
“What was on top of it?”
“I don’t know. But there was something delicious.”
I didn’t know if he was talking about butter or cheese. What was on the menu earlier? Did they put something like compote on it? I decided to stop by the kitchen before coming back and left the room.