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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Curiosity and Jealousy
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“I'm curious about you.”
With his gentle voice, Karhel's hand tightened.
‘Ouch, that hurts…!’
He pressed down hard on her scraped heel, sending a sharp jolt of pain up her leg.
“…How rude of you. To touch my body without permission.”
Barely suppressing a wince, I indirectly conveyed that he should let go.
But I couldn't tell if he didn't understand, or if he was just pretending not to.
Karhel kept my foot in his hand, refusing to let go.
“Hm? Now that I look, your foot is swollen.”
“I said, let go.”
“Oh my, it must hurt quite a bit.”
I let out a dry laugh at Karhel's insolence.
“Whatever the state of my foot, I don't believe it's any of your concern, Your Highness. And are you not aware that such unsolicited contact can be unpleasant for the other person?”
“To think you followed me around with a foot like this. You must be quite interested in me.”
“Did you not hear what I…!”
Not only was he impossible to reason with, but he also laughed as if my blatant hostility was amusing.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, I reached to snatch his hand away, but at that moment, a chilling sensation crept up from the tips of my toes where his hand rested.
“Shh. You should stay still.”
As a wave of dizziness washed over me, I shook my head, and Karhel waved a hand lightly in front of my eyes.
“Hmph. Seems it took effect.”
‘Ah, what's happening? Is the alcohol I drank earlier finally hitting me?’
As I tried to steady my swaying body, which felt thoroughly drunk, a head of chestnut hair swooped into my vision.
“Now then, shall we talk? Just how did you kn—”
“Seriously. Get your face out of mine.”
Just as his chestnut eyes were about to curve with a strange glint,
the sight of his face made my stomach churn, and I instinctively raised my hand and pushed him away.
From behind my palm, his lips twitched, and a peculiar voice emerged.
“What the. You can still move?”
“What did you expect? That I'd just sit still like a doll and endure whatever you did?”
Disgusted by the soft feel of his lips against my palm, I scowled and vigorously shook my hand.
“That's much better. Excuse me, Your Highness, could you show some courtesy to my eyes? How could you just shove a face like that at me?”
“…What's wrong with my face?”
At my behavior, Karhel, who had been holding his face in disbelief, twitched an eyebrow.
“Well. I've grown quite accustomed to His Majesty's face.”
“…”
To be honest, Karhel wasn't bad-looking.
In fact, he was handsome enough to be liked by anyone, but…
‘Seeing Enoch every day has raised my standards too high.’
To my eyes, which had seen Enoch almost daily since I arrived here, he was just… hmm, how should I put it.
Right, like a round little acorn rolling around on the mountain behind us. That was about it.
“Are you saying I'm inferior to the Emperor?”
For the first time, a faint trace of something like anger tinged his cheerful voice.
Feeling no need to answer such an obvious question, I irritably shook my leg.
Hoping to dislodge Karhel's hand, which was still clinging tenaciously to my foot.
“Would you let go of this? I don't think I can tolerate any more of your rudeness.”
“I'll let go if you answer.”
“Do I really need to state the obvious?”
“Obvious? Ha, haha.”
As if he'd heard an unfamiliar word, Karhel mulled over my response and tilted his head.
“I don't understand. Why?”
“…”
At this point, I couldn't care less about conversation; I just desperately wanted him to disappear.
“I don't see any reason why I should have to explain it to you. Hah… Don't you think you've done enough?”
“…I suppose you're right. That's enough for today.”
Glancing behind me, Karhel suddenly and obediently withdrew his hand.
Surprised by his sudden change in attitude, I tried to turn and see what he was looking at, but Karhel grabbed the back of my head and held my face still.
Then he lowered his head and whispered in my ear.
“If you have any questions for me, feel free to come find me anytime. I expect to be here for quite a while.”
*Smack.*
I slapped away the hand that had brazenly held my face and stared into his murky, chestnut eyes with a cold gaze.
“I don't think that will be necessary.”
Who does this rolling acorn think he is, trying to act all friendly?
As I furiously brushed at the spot on my head where Karhel's hand had been, I turned and saw Enoch standing not far away.
We had only been apart for a short while, but I was so happy to see his face again that I jumped down from the stone wall and ran toward him.
“Enoch! Are you finished with your work?”
***
“Enoch, that prince is so strange.”
After Karhel had slithered his way out of the situation with a modicum of courtesy.
I had scurried over to tattle on what happened with Karhel, but Enoch just sighed as he looked at my grass-stained feet.
“Still, you shouldn't have run over barefoot. What if you'd gotten hurt?”
“Ah, right. I was so happy to see you, I forgot to put my shoes on.”
He gently lifted me as I giggled foolishly and set me down on top of his shoes.
At first, I was surprised by the hard leather against the soles of my feet,
but waddling along like that turned out to be quite fun, and a grin spread across my face.
“It's been a long time since I've done this. Someone used to do it for me often when I was little.”
“Who was that? Marquess Daphne?”
My words seemed to surprise him, and his eyes widened slightly.
“That's unexpected. That gruff marquess.”
“Uh… it wasn't him. Now that I think about it, who was it?”
Unsure why those words had suddenly popped out, I frowned and looked up at Enoch.
“But, Your Majesty. Are we going to keep walking like this?”
“Yes. You seem to be enjoying it.”
When we reached the spot where I'd left my shoes, with me still perched on his feet, Enoch gently lifted me and set me on the stone wall.
Then he gazed in the direction Karhel had disappeared, looking thoroughly displeased.
“So. Why was that man Karhel here? Did he, by any chance, do something to you?”
“He didn't exactly do anything… but he knew I'd been following him for the past few days.”
“Hmm…”
At my words, his gray eyes darted away.
Awkwardly, as if avoiding my gaze.
Completely unaware that my tailing had been so clumsy that not just Karhel, but everyone at the event knew about it, I tilted my head at Enoch's reaction.
‘What's with this reaction?’
After blinking a couple of times, I took Enoch's face in my hands, as he was staring blankly into space, and made him meet my eyes again.
“Why?”
“It's nothing. Ahem. So, did Prince Karhel confront you about why you were following him?”
“No. He asked if I was curious about him. Said he was curious about me—”
“…What?”
For a moment, Enoch's eyes wavered, but I thought nothing of it and looked down.
I began to scrub irritably at the foot Karhel had touched.
“And as if that wasn't enough, he touched my foot without my permission.”
“He… touched your foot?”
“Yes. I barely managed to hold back the curses that rose to my lips. If it weren't for the magic stone contract, I would've ripped all his hair out!”
*Crack.*
As I swung my fist through the air, imagining the curly chestnut hair I hadn't been able to tear out, I heard a crushing sound and my eyes went wide.
“Huh? Why is the stone…?”
I blinked, staring at the part of the stone wall that had crumbled like a sandcastle.
The fan did that last time, too. It seems like whatever Enoch touches ends up breaking…
“Your Majesty, the stone broke.”
Enoch looked at my widening eyes and dusted off his hands as if it were nothing.
“The stone must have been weathered. So. Prince Karhel touched you, Riana?”
“Yes, he did… But do stones get weathered like that? Can you really break a stone with your bare hands…?”
Was Enoch that strong, or was the stone that weak?
As I seriously pondered which it could be, the corners of Enoch's lips, which had been curved in a smile, began to twitch.
“And what else? What else did that bastard do?”
Fluttering my eyelashes at the suddenly harsh way he referred to Karhel, I answered innocently, without much thought.
“He said he'd be staying here for a while, so I should come find him anytime? And then he touched my face… E-Enoch?”
***
“Put me down!”
My white, bare feet—since Enoch had taken my shoes—dangled and flailed in the air.
“Your feet are all scraped. And your leg is swollen.”
“I-It's fine! It's nothing, really. If you just put me down—”
“No. Just stay in my arms.”
I didn't know what had suddenly displeased him, but ever since I told him about my final exchange with Karhel, Enoch's mood had hit rock bottom.
Even so, his steps were gentle and careful, as was the arm wrapped around me.
“I can walk, you know? What if people really start to think Enoch is… you know.”
“What? A doting fool?”
The word I found too awkward to say myself slipped from his lips with ease.
“That's why I'm doing this. So they can see clearly who is closest to you.”
“Huh?”
*Grit.* Enoch clenched his jaw so tightly I could hear the sound of his teeth grinding, and said no more.
Just when I thought he was getting better.
The angle of his neatly groomed black eyebrows had gone awry again.
“Enoch, your eyebrows are crooked. By the way, where are we going?”
I asked while pressing his crooked eyebrow down with my finger, and Enoch pulled me deeper into his embrace, lengthening his stride and quickening his pace.
“The bathroom.”
“…Huh? W-Where?”
