By Zephyria 
Mahir’s expression twisted at the sudden, bizarre behavior. And then the door burst open with a bang.
“Kyle!”
I maintained as serious a face as possible, looking at the three or four guards who had entered with surprised expressions.
I was truly mortified.
“We apologize, we suddenly heard a loud noise…”
The guards identified me and Mahir, and immediately knelt on the spot. They made excuses, then belatedly seemed to come to their senses and greeted us. I could only wave my hand as if it were nothing.
“It’s just that the window suddenly broke, so go check it out.”
“The window? Perhaps something…”
“Kyle!”
Asella’s voice followed. I even heard footsteps beyond the broken window, and when I turned, Daram was standing on the balcony railing. He also looked startled when he saw me and Mahir, and quickly came down to the floor and knelt.
“…”
I tightened my grip on Aska in my arms and looked up at the ceiling.
I’m so screwed…
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
Did they think a war had broken out? I couldn’t understand why they were making such a fuss. Of course, if the window of the reception room where the Crown Prince and a Prince were suddenly shattered, it was understandable to be surprised…
I calmed the startled people and dismissed the guards who had already surrounded the castle. But Daram kept giving me presumptuous looks, so I had no choice but to leave a small number of people behind for safety.
“Wait outside.”
“But…”
The escort knight who had followed Mahir added a word to Mahir’s short command. I held Aska, who still had his face buried in my clothes, and chimed in.
“Don’t talk back, just leave if you’re told to.”
Only then did the escort knight realize I was in a bad mood, and he looked at Mahir with uneasy eyes.
“Stand by at the door.”
“Understood.”
He bowed his head and left the reception room. As soon as the door closed, Mahir said with an angry face.
“Why are you taking it out on innocent people?”
“They were told to leave, but they kept lingering.”
Thanks to Aska, the window was shattered, and we had moved to another room. Asella had guided us to a perfectly sealed room without windows, the very place where I had received sex education not long ago.
I didn’t know what to do now, so I just stood still, and Aska wriggled slightly. He had been in this state since we moved from the first reception room, so it was understandable that he felt stifled.
Mahir must have noticed the small movement, as his gaze turned to Aska. I felt unfairly guilty, and my shoulders involuntarily hunched.
How am I supposed to explain this? Why did Aska suddenly break the window and barge in? I hope he wasn’t hurt when the window broke? Oh, what am I going to do…
All sorts of thoughts swirled like a storm.
“Aren’t you going to explain?”
It was Mahir who broke the awkward silence. I took a deep breath and moved my lips a few times.
“Um…”
While I was feeling embarrassed, Aska suddenly pulled his face out of my clothes without warning. His hair, which had been pressed down in my clothes for a while, was a mess, and his cheeks were flushed red.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Aska glared at Mahir with intense eyes. Unlike me, who was greatly embarrassed, there was no agitation in Mahir’s eyes. Rather, I was worried by the coldness that settled in his gaze, but suddenly Aska burrowed into my arms and began to cough, covering his mouth with one hand.
“Cough, cough…”
Despite his fragile appearance, Mahir’s expression remained cold. I patted Aska’s shoulder and whispered softly.
“You’ve already been caught.”
“…Cough.”
At my words, Aska coughed once more with an awkward expression, and finally mumbled, looking at Mahir.
“Hello…”
He didn’t even look up, keeping his gaze fixed on me, and only bowed his head slightly to the side.
I told him so many times not to greet like that… He had learned all the Imperial Palace etiquette, but he seemed to have forgotten it completely in his panic. I looked at Aska, who had his hands politely folded, and greeted him as well.
“Hello…”
Aska clung to me even more when I followed his greeting. It was then that Mahir’s icy expression cracked.
“Why are you greeting?”
“I just didn’t know what else to say…”
“What’s going on here?”
“It’s just one of those situations… It would take a long time to explain.”
“It’s okay if it takes a long time, tell me.”
Aska curled up even smaller and burrowed into me while we were talking. He kept using so much force that I had no choice but to take my back off the sofa backrest, and he went completely into the narrow gap.
I grabbed Aska’s arm, which had become smaller from crouching so much, and gently pulled him out, saying.
“First, greet him. This is Aska.”
“Aska?”
Mahir’s expression twisted at the unfamiliar name. Aska, who had been hiding, got up from the sofa when he was pulled out by my hand and bowed deeply.
“Hello, I’m Aska. I’m twelve years old this year… No, I’m thirteen since my birthday passed. And I didn’t break the window on purpose, I was just so surprised because someone was holding a knife…”
I pulled Aska back into my arms, who was rambling on and on. His ears had turned completely red, so he seemed to be only half sane.
“You studied so hard, where did everything you learned go? Hello? I told you not to greet like that, didn’t I?”
“…”
“And what’s with that tone?”
“Is that what’s important right now? What are we going to do…!”
Aska pressed his lips tightly together and glared at me, speaking in ventriloquism. Mahir, who was listening to all of this, sat across from us with a dumbfounded expression.
Before Mahir could open his mouth, I preemptively flicked Aska’s forehead.
“What are we going to do? What did you think you were doing, breaking the window and coming in?”
“…”
Aska looked resentful, but he couldn’t say anything because Mahir was there, and he just glared at me with a dissatisfied look.
I looked at his cheeks, which were puffed out with resentment, and flicked his forehead once more.
‘Why did you hit me again!’
Aska’s eyes were shouting that.
Aska, who hadn’t been hit very hard, clutched his forehead with both hands and huffed.
“As punishment, you’re not allowed to eat for three days and you can’t come out of your room.”
“…”
“Write thirteen pages of reflection.”
“…”
“You’re also banned from the Greenhouse.”
“…”
Perhaps it was because I spoke with a stern expression, or perhaps it was because he was frustrated that he hadn’t been able to say a word since earlier, but Aska’s lips were gradually protruding forward.
The reason I was being so excessive was all because of Mahir. But even now, he hadn’t said a word. Eventually, I glanced at Mahir, and our eyes met in the air.
“Haa.”
With a long sigh, Mahir rubbed his forehead and said to me.
“Stop the act and explain.”
I cleared my throat awkwardly, then readjusted Aska and explained everything that had happened. The fact that Aska was a man, the circumstances of killing the Servant and escorts he had brought from his hometown, and even his unique constitution, everything.
Actually, I had briefly considered hiding the fact that Aska wasn’t human, but since things had come to this, it seemed better to ask for help honestly.
Mahir listened to my words with a serious expression and asked.
“So?”
I tilted my head at the short question.
“What?”
“Why did the kingdom do this?”
“I don’t know.”
They were all dead, so I couldn’t interrogate them anymore. Besides, I couldn’t afford to worry about the kingdom’s intentions. Aska’s identity and my physical condition were more important than that.
Of course, I still had questions in the back of my mind, but they had been pushed down the priority list.
“Why did you kill them all?”
Mahir’s question contained a lot.
I didn’t know who was behind it, or what their purpose was. And I hadn’t even tried to find out.
This was clearly a mistake, but I was also frustrated.
“I didn’t want to kill them either. But what could I do if they wouldn’t talk? And even if I tortured them, they weren’t the type to open their mouths. Lukman was there too, so ask him later. Maybe the result would have been different if I had used truth serum.”
Truth serum was sometimes used during wartime, but it was now a prohibited drug because it was inhumane. Of course, Mahir had created the relevant laws.
At my words, Mahir took a deep breath as if he was about to say something, then closed his mouth. He seemed to be choosing his words since we weren’t alone.
“Go to your room first.”
I patted Aska’s back lightly and said. He looked visibly uncomfortable, so I thought he would be happy, but Aska didn’t move an inch.
“I’ll just talk to my brother for a bit and be right there.”
“…”
“Hello?”
“…”
Aska didn’t answer and just kept glaring at me. Surely he wasn’t acting like this because I flicked his forehead earlier? This wasn’t the time for this.
When I frowned, Aska suddenly took a deep breath and grabbed my hand tightly. He even looked quite determined. He had a face as if he had resigned himself to something, so I couldn’t help but be puzzled.
“What are you doing?”
“…”
I didn’t know why he was doing this, so I asked again, but Aska remained silent. Mahir, who had been watching us blankly, asked awkwardly when I tilted my head.
“Are you afraid I’m going to scold you?”
I couldn’t help but be surprised at the unexpected words. Aska didn’t say anything, but that was as good as a yes.
He even wanted to go with me when I was being tortured, so was he trying to get scolded with me?
“…”
Overwhelmed with emotion, I covered my mouth with my hand and looked at Aska, who was determined all by himself.
How could he be so admirable?