By Zephyria 
I stared blankly at Aegis before changing the subject.
“But do you want ice?”
“Ice?”
“How much did you want it that you wrote it down on paper like that?”
This time, Aegis just stared blankly at me with his mouth shut. Then, without warning, he suddenly reached into his clothes, took out the paper, and unfolded it.
I was inwardly admiring his bizarre behavior when Aegis said,
“Mind your own business.”
“You seemed really hot last time, should I bring you some tomorrow?”
“What?”
“I’ll fill the bathtub with it too, so you can swim. Nice and cool.”
Aegis’s eyes grew wider and wider like a startled rabbit. He didn’t say anything, but anyone could see he was happy. Seeing that, I suddenly wanted to tease him and said, pretending not to know,
“If you don’t want that, should I buy you some jewels?”
“…….”
“I saw a really big Amethyst the other day? It’s similar to your eye color, so should I make a necklace out of it?”
“…….”
“If you don’t like necklaces, how about a bracelet? Or a hair ornament, or a ring would be nice too.”
“…….”
The more I spoke, the more Aegis’s eyes, which had been full of anticipation, cooled down. I barely managed to hold back my laughter and continued,
“Think about it. Besides what I said, I can make anything. Then I’ll be going now…….”
“Wait.”
As I was about to turn around, Aegis said curtly with a murderous expression.
“I don’t need that kind of thing.”
“You don’t like Amethyst? Then what do you like?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? Then what should I do?”
When I made a troubled face, Aegis moved his lips. But seeing him finally shut them tightly, I hesitated before asking.
“Um, since there’s no other choice, should I just bring you ice?”
“…….”
“Is that okay?”
“…….”
Aegis didn’t say anything and just stared straight at me with intense eyes. Even without hearing an answer, I could hear a lot from that gaze.
I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold back my laughter if I stayed any longer, so I turned around.
“Then I’ll come tomorrow.”
“What time are you coming?”
“…….”
It was a good thing I had turned around. I bit my lip hard and finally spat out a word.
“Early.”
Fortunately, Aegis didn’t ask any more questions after that, so I just opened the door and left the room. As soon as the door closed, Jade looked at me with a puzzled face as I burst out laughing.
I waved at Jade a couple of times and then returned to my room, laughing silently.
“He’s so funny.”
Even after coming to my room, Aegis’s intense gaze kept coming to mind, and my laughter didn’t stop easily. But that was only for a moment, and as soon as I thought of the paper Aegis was holding, the smile disappeared from my face as if it were a lie.
“…….”
I lay down on the sofa, looked at the ceiling, and blinked. The letters written on the paper that Aegis had taken from me were not ‘ice’ but ‘tree’.
“……He really doesn’t know how to read.”
How could this be? I couldn’t believe it.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
I thought about it all night, but I couldn’t come up with a good reason why Aegis didn’t know how to read.
Because she didn’t receive an education? Because she’s not smart? Just because she doesn’t want to learn? Because she has a fundamental problem like dyslexia or a learning disability?
That could very well be the case. If Aegis were an ordinary person.
But she was a princess of a kingdom. No matter what reason I came up with, it didn’t make sense. If it was really something innate, or a disease for some acquired reason, it would be stranger to hide it.
Besides, the traces on the paper looked like a young child learning to write for the first time was copying it, didn’t it? So the probability that she couldn’t learn to read because of a disease or something was low.
“I really don’t know.”
I blurted out without realizing it, feeling frustrated.
“…….”
I really didn’t know. Everything about Aegis had been like that since the first time I met her.
Being excessively beautiful or having a personality that didn’t seem like royalty could be attributed to personal characteristics. But considering the unidentified blood flowing in her body and the veiled actions of her ancestors, there were more than one or two suspicious things.
And she doesn’t even know how to read?
“…….”
It would be more believable if Aegis was a man instead of a woman.
“Ha.”
I really hate complicated things.
Knock knock.
I was rolling around on the bed, screaming silently, when I heard a knock on the door. The Servants in my castle usually don’t say things like ‘come in’ or ‘don’t come in’, so they just open the door and come in if there’s no word, but it was strangely quiet.
Did another new person come?
I slowly raised my upper body with a puzzled expression, then stopped. At this time when I’m under house arrest, especially at this early dawn, a stuffy person who wouldn’t dare open my room’s door without permission and is waiting!
I jumped up and ran to the door. And as soon as I grabbed the doorknob and opened it wide, I shouted with a happy face.
“Brother!”
But the person in front of the door was not Mahir, but one of his Servants that I had seen a few times.
“Greetings, Kyle.”
After bowing politely, he took out a paper in an envelope from his arms and handed it to me.
“What’s this?”
I asked with a puzzled face as I received it, and the Servant looked around for a moment, then took a step towards me and said in a small voice.
“It’s a letter from Mahir.”
“Who doesn’t know that? Why a letter all of a sudden?”
He shook his head at my frowning face.
“I was only ordered to deliver the letter to you.”
“Did Brother give it to you directly?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
The Servant seemed to have finished his job and had nothing more to say to me, so he bowed politely as he had when he first came and turned around.
I stared at the Servant’s back as he walked away, then frowned and looked down at the letter. Looking at the seal stamped on the red wax, it was definitely sent by my brother.
I had a bad feeling, but I couldn’t not look at the letter, so I sighed and opened the envelope.
Wait.
And looking at the short word written there, I tilted my head. I wondered if I had seen it wrong, so I closed my eyes tightly, opened them, and looked again, but the only word written on the pure white paper was ‘Wait’.
There was nothing to it, but if I had to find a meaning, it would be like telling me to stay inside Talim and not come out…….
“…….”
I couldn’t understand why he had sent this message at such an early hour, and even through a Servant. And Mahir had never written to me like this before.
Could something have happened? It was a mistake to just send the Servant away. I should have asked something.
“Wait for what, without any explanation.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I moved my steps and opened the window. Then, after stepping on the familiar position, I grabbed the railing and landed on the ground from the tree branch.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
It was still dark, but sunrise was coming soon. No matter how quickly I went and came back, it would probably be impossible to return to Talim before the sun rose.
But if something bad had happened to Mahir…….
Then I suddenly remembered that when I was very young, Mahir had been hit by a crystal glass and his skin had been torn. Of course, the only person who would treat the Crown Prince of the Empire like that was the Emperor, Khalifa.
Remembering that Mahir had been particularly sensitive for the past few days, I crossed the garden at a fast pace.
If I went to the main gate at this late hour, I wouldn’t be able to sneak out no matter what I did. Aiming for the shift change would waste time, so I had no choice but to use the secret passage that only the Imperial family knew about.
The passage designed to be used in times of war was naturally not to be used normally, but now it was a situation comparable to that. Since Mahir, the Crown Prince of the Empire, might be in a dangerous situation, I would surely be given leniency even if I was caught.
“…….”
Making excuses for myself, I walked deep into the garden, to a place where people rarely set foot. Passing a small fountain in a secluded place where sunlight didn’t reach well, covered with ivy…….
“……?”
I was moving quietly so that the sound of my footsteps couldn’t be heard, but I suddenly stopped in surprise at the shadow that appeared. I reflexively forgot to breathe and strained my eyes, and saw two people wearing black masks looking around.
“Is this the place?”
“It’s definitely here.”
“But why can’t I see it? The sun will be up soon!”
“Be quiet!”
The two were bickering in hushed voices. Judging by what they were saying and how they looked, anyone could tell they were thieves.
Are these guys out of their minds? They have nowhere else to rob, so they’re robbing the Imperial Palace? It was not only outrageous but also seemed insane, but their courage was commendable.
“Is this not it?”
“I touched it earlier, but there was no reaction.”
“Damn it, if you had come with me, this wouldn’t have happened!”
The masked man seemed very angry, but he couldn’t shout and just clenched his fists tightly.
Listening to what they were saying, it seemed that these two were not all of them. Besides, it was unsettling that they were looking for something in this place of all places. Were they perhaps looking for the entrance to the secret passage? That’s not information that ordinary thieves would know.
“It’s almost patrol time. Let’s just get out of here!”
They even know the patrol time?
“Do you know where this is? It’s the Imperial Castle, the Imperial Castle! We can’t get out even if we fly!”
“Then what do you want to do? We can’t even see the secret passage or whatever!”
What I had suspected had become a reality. Those guys were really looking for the Imperial Castle’s secret passage. It was true that the discipline of the Imperial Castle had become a mess since Khalifa ascended the throne, but I didn’t know it was this bad.
I couldn’t hide any longer, so I looked around and found a stone. Then I threw it with all my might at one of the masked men.
The stone that flew through the air hit the man’s forehead exactly, making a thud and breaking.
“Who is it!”
Perhaps he wasn’t just anyone, the remaining man noticed my location in the direction the stone had flown from and drew his sword from his waist.