By Zephyria 
When he opened his eyes again, he thought he had ended up in a funeral home. All the attendants were surrounding him, sobbing uncontrollably.
A sigh escaped him involuntarily. As Cecile shook his head in annoyance, his dark brown hair, buried in the pillowcase, swayed back and forth.
“Did I die or something? Why are you all crying like this?”
“Waaah, Cecile!”
Among them, Leo was the most pitiful. Perhaps because he had witnessed Cecile fainting, he couldn’t stop crying even after seeing him awake. Mucus bubbled in and out of his nostrils like soap bubbles.
Cecile brushed aside the hands reaching out to support him and sat up on his own.
His body felt surprisingly light, considering how much pain he had been in. The pain was intense for a moment, but thankfully, it seemed to have no lingering effects.
“Stop it already, I’m fine. If you have nothing to do, go fetch me something cold to drink.”
Cecile waved his arms dismissively. No sooner had he spoken than the attendants scattered in different directions. One went to fetch the fruit wine that Cecile usually enjoyed, while another hurried off to bring freshly baked cookies.
Once the noisy bunch disappeared, he felt a bit more at ease. Cecile roughly swept his disheveled bangs aside and absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck.
As he tilted his head back and forth until it nearly touched his shoulder, a vague figure suddenly peeked through the canopy.
Cecile froze for a moment.
He placed his hand on the edge of the bed and stretched his upper body out, finally catching sight of the figure hidden behind the white curtain.
The large eyes moved up and down. The surprised gaze finally landed on a cynical face, and Cecile’s lips parted slightly.
“Why are you there, Your Highness?”
“I came to see what was going on, and it seems there was quite a commotion.”
Alexis was leaning against the back of the sofa where Cecile had been sitting earlier, resting his elbows on it. A handkerchief dangled from his fingertips, as if to indicate the purpose of his visit.
With a short sigh, Alexis walked over. He not only made Cecile sit back down when he tried to get up but also poked him in the shoulder to lay him back down on the bed.
“Why don’t you lie down a bit, at least for the sake of your poor attendants?”
“I’m fine.”
“Just pretend to be.”
The indifferent tone made it hard to interpret his meaning. Was he worried, or was he mocking?
What was certain was that Cecile found it difficult to refuse Alexis’s orders. He leaned back against the soft pillow, his large eyes wide open.
Alexis, who had been quietly looking down at him, let out a small laugh.
“You’re weaker than I thought.”
“……”
“Or is it that you look weak?”
Though he had grown taller, Cecile’s body looked so frail it seemed it could snap at any moment.
Having eaten only the best in the palace, his hair and skin glowed, but he seemed to have a constitution that didn’t gain weight easily, leaving his arms and legs lanky. And his waist? The slender outline visible through the thin fabric was anything but masculine.
“Is this why you can’t wield a sword?”
As he grabbed Cecile’s wrist, which was as thin as a sword handle, Cecile flinched and pulled his hand away.
“When would I ever need to use a sword?”
“You’re a member of the royal family, so you should at least know how to pretend.”
“…Then why don’t you teach me, Your Highness?”
“What?”
Alexis laughed as if it were absurd.
He sat down on the stool next to the bed. With no backrest, he crossed his arms and loosely crossed his legs, bringing him to roughly eye level with Cecile, who was lying on the bed.
“Do I look that free?”
“Do you think I want to? As you said, being a member of the royal family means I can’t just learn from any teacher.”
“The tuition must be quite expensive, then?”
“How much is it?”
Cecile retorted with a deliberately sharp tone, rolling his eyes. A strange smile lingered on the usually cynical face of the crown prince, drawing Cecile’s gaze repeatedly. Even though he knew Alexis was someone he could never have, his heart foolishly raced.
Alexis tapped his knee with his long fingers. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke.
“I heard about your nurse. Thanks to your help, she avoided disaster.”
“……”
“In return, I’ll express my gratitude. Consider the tuition as that repayment. Once you feel better, send word to the Saint’s Palace.”
With that, he stood up from the stool as if he had finished speaking. Cecile remained sitting there, dumbfounded as the crown prince left.
“Really?!”
Alexis exited the bedroom, leaving behind Cecile’s astonished voice. Just then, he encountered attendants coming in, carrying food for him. His cold gaze landed not on the attendants, who bowed their heads respectfully, but on the silver tray they carried.
Delightfully pretty and sweet things.
“My appetite is still childish.”
He remarked briefly before starting to walk again.
* * *
Hope had already begun to sprout. If things went well, he might be able to build a friendship with Alexis. Cecile added another goal to his life’s ambitions.
To make Alexis the emperor. And to become his right-hand man. No, the right hand was probably already occupied by Claude Vandell, so perhaps the left hand…?
Of course, it was less than three years, but if this atmosphere continued, it wasn’t impossible. If he achieved his wish, he felt he could close his eyes peacefully.
He didn’t even desire affection. Trust alone would be enough.
Tap, tap.
A long switch struck Cecile’s hand. His head, which had been blankly staring out the window, snapped back to reality.
Gerald, his personal tutor, spoke in a feigned stern voice.
“This isn’t the time to be daydreaming! You need to solve the problems quickly!”
“……”
“Staring blankly won’t help! These are all things you learned today! How can someone so bright be so…!”
Cecile pouted his lips and maintained his ignorance.
“Those are all rumors I let slip. You must have figured out my true nature by now, right?”
At those words, Gerald pounded his chest in frustration. Unable to hit Cecile’s back, he struck his own chest instead.
Regardless, Cecile hummed a tune and wrote another wrong answer on the paper. He could hear Gerald lamenting.
Cecile had started advanced lessons a few days ago. From the history of the empire to foreign languages, theology, diplomacy, and mathematics. He was even learning about political theory at the secret instruction of the empress.
Of course, all of this already existed in Cecile’s mind. He had learned it all in his previous life, so it was only natural that he understood it thoroughly.
But he pretended to be foolish, acting as if he didn’t understand. What good would it do to show off his intelligence? It would only inflate his mother’s expectations and lead to misunderstandings with Alexis. It was much more beneficial to remain a person with an empty head.
Gerald was the one who ended up feeling sorry. He was supposedly the best private tutor in the empire, and now his reputation was being tarnished.
Cecile had been resting his chin on his hand, quietly observing Gerald’s crooked mustache. Noticing Cecile’s gaze, Gerald narrowed his eyes and stared back, looking distrustful.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Gerald.”
Cecile raised his downcast eyes. It was time to test something.
“I can read faces a bit, you know.”
“I don’t believe in superstitions.”
“Your daughter is due to give birth soon, right? The child will likely be a granddaughter. Her hair will be a beautiful red like a maple leaf, and her eyes will resemble a warm sunset.”
“How do you know that? Yes, my daughter is pregnant, but it’s obvious she’s having a son.”
“I told you, I can read faces… uh, I mean, I can.”
As he continued speaking, Cecile clutched his shirt. A slight pain shot through his chest. So it was true.
Revealing the future without permission would bring him pain. This clarified the precondition.
The pain was less than last time, which seemed to depend on the severity. When it was with the duchess, it was enough to save a life, but now it was merely a fact-check. This level of discomfort could be alleviated with a deep breath.
“I can’t attend class today because I’m in pain…”
Cecile feigned illness and laid his head on the desk. Gerald, who had been smiling at the thought of his soon-to-be-born granddaughter, glared at Cecile, who was always trying to get out of things.
“What have you done to be lying down already?!”
“It’s too hard… I don’t understand anything.”
“Haah, how can you not understand this easy stuff! Now, I’ll explain it to you step by step, so sit up straight.”
Indeed, as expected of the empire’s top educator. Even a subpar student like Cecile was met with the old tutor’s passion to see him through to the end, and he smiled faintly while still lying down.