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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Harrison Side Story 2
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'What... what are you saying right now...?'
That to save my life, he poisoned the Prince?
Memories of that night resurfaced.
“Harrison, get up and take this.”
“Father? What is this in the middle of the night...?”
“We'll talk later. Hurry and take it. This time, you'll definitely get better.”
That desperate expression on his face back then.
The medicine brought from the capital was the price for poisoning the Prince?
His breath caught in his throat.
Both the heinous act his father had committed.
And the fact that he himself was the cause of it.
He couldn't believe any of it.
But if it wasn't true, it wouldn't make sense for his father to be suffering like this.
Suddenly, nausea surged up.
Everything felt utterly repulsive.
His father, who had done such a thing.
And himself, still alive like this.
He wished everything would just disappear.
* * *
After that, there wasn't a single moment when his heart felt at ease.
It always felt like his heart was burning black.
Guilt swelled uncontrollably.
He felt so sorry for having blamed his father without knowing the circumstances that he couldn't lift his head for a while.
And the even greater guilt was...
'How hurt the young Prince must have been.'
It felt even more sinful than before he knew the truth.
A four-year age gap wasn't insignificant.
Harrison had watched the Prince grow up close by.
He remembered the cousin who toddled around.
He could still recall those trusting, innocent eyes looking up at him.
The warmth of that small hand quietly grasping his was still vivid.
And to that child, his father had fed poison.
Betrayal from someone he trusted.
'How horrific must that have felt?'
The fact that it was all to save him made it even harder for Harrison.
He could no longer resent his father, who grew more haggard day by day.
It was all his own fault.
His self-loathing grew even stronger.
That gloom began to eat away at Harrison.
His father struggled more with each passing day.
Watching him only made Harrison's own pain harder to bear.
Harrison was breaking down.
It was his master who pulled Harrison back together.
“What in the world is wrong with you! Can't you snap out of it?”
His master, unaware of the details, pressed his increasingly sullen disciple.
“You nearly died and came back—what, you don't value your life now? Live harder!”
The raised voice demanding he get a grip stirred Harrison's heart.
“I don't need this worthless life!”
“What nonsense is that!”
His master's anger exploded at his disciple's insolence.
“It's a life bought with someone else's sacrifice! Because of me, because of me!”
His chest felt like it would burst.
But he couldn't reveal the truth.
Not even to his master.
Harrison just sobbed.
He unleashed the cries he hadn't been able to let out in front of his father.
Seeing his disciple like that, the master looked shocked at first, then gazed at him with pity.
He had sensed there was an unspeakable circumstance.
“If it's such a precious life, you need to use it wisely.”
“I can't do that. How could someone like me...”
“Snap out of it! If you're sorry, find a way to atone to that person! You don't plan to just leave it like this without even asking forgiveness!”
Those words jolted Harrison to his senses.
Right—he would be selfish if he just crumbled like this.
Forgiveness.
He had to seek it, no matter what it took.
It wouldn't be easy, but he had to try.
“...What should I do?”
“Become someone useful to that person.”
So he resolved to become a useful person.
The Prince had great enemies, and he would need his own people.
Harrison unfortunately wasn't gifted with exceptional intellect.
But fortunately, his physical abilities were perfect for learning swordsmanship.
“Please help me, Master.”
Someday, he would lay down his life for the Prince.
The young Harrison now had a goal.
* * *
Time flew by as swiftly as his rapidly growing body.
Harrison was now sixteen.
In the meantime, he had followed his master's guidance faithfully, tempering himself.
He threw himself into the goal of becoming a useful knight who could aid the Prince.
Then his father's health worsened further.
No matter how good the medicine, it couldn't cure a disease of the heart.
His father spent more time confined to his sickbed.
“I just want to hear some news of the Prince...”
His father's labored murmur made Harrison's heart sink.
His fingertips trembled at his father's desperate gaze.
In truth.
Though atonement was his goal, Harrison lacked the courage.
If he couldn't face him directly, he should have at least sent a letter—but he hadn't.
At first, he was confused.
Then, he felt too guilty, convinced he had no right to approach.
As more time passed, fear set in.
He had no confidence to face the Prince, so he dragged his feet under the excuse of preparation.
And as that time stretched on, Harrison's heart grew heavier.
He pushed his body to the limit in training to forget his guilt, but it only lasted during those sessions.
The rest of the time, it felt like a stone was weighing on his chest.
He frequently dreamed horrific nightmares of the Prince vomiting blood and cursing him and his father.
After those dreams, he could do nothing.
He was increasingly consumed by dark emotions.
Consequently, Harrison's personality grew melancholic and timid.
He knew he would have to stand before the Prince someday.
But he had no confidence when the time came.
“Harrison, could you look into news of the Prince for me?”
But he couldn't refuse his dying father's request.
“Yes. I will.”
* * *
Upon arriving in the capital, Harrison sought out an acquaintance.
“Oh? Harrison, long time no see. What have you been up to?”
Fortunately, the acquaintance welcomed him warmly after so long.
“I was getting treatment in the territory.”
Only then did the man seem to recall the past, his face turning apologetic.
“Right. I heard you were ill, but you're better now?”
“All better.”
“Good. That's a relief. You and your father both suddenly dropped out of capital life—we were worried.”
It was obvious flattery.
Not a single letter had arrived since he announced his departure to the territory.
“Thanks for worrying. I have a few questions.”
Harrison had sought him out of necessity anyway.
The man was very interested in noble society and had plenty of information to share.
“Questions?”
“About Crown Prince Luciano. How has he been lately?”
Since he lacked the courage to meet him directly, this was the only way.
It was Harrison's fallback plan.
“What? You haven't been in touch all this time?”
“It just happened that way.”
The acquaintance looked troubled.
Harrison's expression hardened instinctively.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
Knowing Harrison was the Prince's cousin, he hesitated before continuing.
“As you know, his situation isn't great. He has no one to lean on at all.”
The news he heard was grim.
The Emperor's cold treatment had intensified.
Imperial Consort Isabel's wariness had peaked, and rumors swirled that the Prince was in dire straits.
“Was it right after your family went to the territory? Crown Prince Luciano became extremely guarded. He chased away everyone around him—there probably aren't many left in the palace now.”
“Then how does he manage basic daily life?”
“I hear he accepts only the bare minimum help.”
The reason for the Prince's sharpened vigilance was obvious.
It was because of his father.
'Betrayed by someone he trusted, so now he can't trust anyone at all.'
His breath hitched, and his heart throbbed.
He had no idea how to resolve this despair.
“But he's made a friend recently, right?”
Seeing Harrison's face pale, the acquaintance added sympathetically.
“A friend?”
“It's all over the rumors. Apparently blocked Imperial Consort Isabel's words several times?”
“Someone like that exists?”
“Espin Samuel. From the Samuel Count Family. A bit unique, from what I hear. But the Prince seems to treasure her greatly.”
'At least there's one person in his corner.'
“That's fortunate. No one closer?”
“Apart from that child, no one gets close to the Prince.”
The slowly rising relief vanished in an instant.
His conversation with the acquaintance only amplified his despair and guilt.
He wrote a letter to his father with the Prince's recent news but couldn't bring himself to return to the territory.
It was a strange lingering attachment.
He had no confidence to face the Prince.
Since he was the one who caused such pain, courage eluded him.
The hope of forgiveness had long faded.
His heart wanted to leave the capital like this.
But his feet wouldn't move.
As if something were pulling him back.
He was stuck with nothing but regrets.
Whenever the market day came around, he habitually wandered the central square market.
He fantasized about picking a gift from the stalls, offering it to the Prince with an apology, and having that apology accepted.
It was during one of those times that he met a certain girl.
Truthfully, their first encounter wasn't particularly memorable.
“Shall I yield it to you?”
She said that midway through buying an item.
'A kind-hearted person.'
That's all he thought before forgetting her.
All his nerves were focused on guilt toward the Prince, so the bracelet she wanted stuck in his mind more than the girl herself.
It was a bracelet in a color reminiscent of the Prince's hair and eyes.
On their second meeting, he ended up making a mistake by chance.
“You know you never apologized to me back then, right?”
Hearing her boldly demand an apology left him stunned.
Harrison knew his own appearance.
His large build for his age was intimidating enough to children.
Even adults were sometimes startled.
Yet the girl didn't flinch.
“Yes, you. I want an apology.”
She clearly stated her opinion.
Her confident demand for an apology was overwhelmingly striking, even for a child.
'I made a huge mistake.'
Realizing he'd wronged her, he apologized repeatedly.
He thought he had to keep seeking forgiveness until her anger subsided.
But after just a few apologies.
“Alright then. I accept your apology.”
The girl accepted it all too simply.
Even though she'd chased him down to confront him.
“Because it's a sincere apology. There's no reason not to forgive someone who apologizes from the heart.”
When he asked in disbelief, she answered just as straightforwardly.
Her refreshing response made emotion well up inside him.
It wasn't even the Prince's forgiveness that he truly longed for, but those words alone resonated deeply in his chest.
So the tears he'd held back burst forth.
For the first time since crying in front of his master all those years ago.
Harrison hadn't cried since.
He'd thought it shameless for the wrongdoer to cry, so he hadn't allowed himself to.
Feeling it brazen for the perpetrator, he'd endured and endured until his pent-up emotions exploded.
Forgetting it was in front of a stranger—a girl even younger than him—he wept openly.
The girl looked troubled but fetched a handkerchief and wiped his tears.
That kindness felt so grateful and warm.
It allowed him to release some of the knots inside.
Just before parting.
“If I apologize sincerely, will that person really forgive me?”
He found himself grabbing the girl and asking without thinking.
“Of course.”
She answered as if reading his inner thoughts.
And that small reply became his solace.
A spark reignited in his fading hope.
