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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Even as the Protagonist
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Even as the protagonist.
He's still just a twelve-year-old child.
Even in a romance fantasy world.
This was an age too young for such a horrific experience.
I didn't want to burden him so soon with the heavy weight of deciding everything on his own.
Staring straight into Luciano's eyes, I told him clearly, word by word.
“I'll help with anything I can.”
As if in response, his red eyes fully took me in.
Luciano said nothing.
He simply burrowed into my arms.
It was a desperate movement, seeking warmth.
I calmly stroked the back of the boy who had buried his face in my shoulder.
Luciano had seen a man stabbed right in front of him.
That alone was shocking enough, but it had been an attack aimed at him.
No matter how unaffected he pretended to be, his heart couldn't possibly be okay.
I held Luciano as tightly as I could.
Wishing those horrific memories would vanish.
Hoping he could forget his fear.
I waited like that for a long while.
* * *
Just as I felt my whole body stiffening up, Luciano pulled away.
His expression had calmed considerably.
“Want to tell me the details?”
Of course I wanted to know what happened.
But...
“If it's too hard, you don't have to say.”
I covered the back of Luciano's hand, resting on my knee, with my own.
“You deserve to know the circumstances, after helping me out.”
“Don't think of it as being in your debt.”
A faint smile formed at the corners of Luciano's mouth at my firm reply.
“It wasn't anything big, really. It was the day I go out to train with my master, so I headed out, but just as I arrived at the meeting spot, some thugs showed up and started picking a fight.”
“They weren't thugs. They were professional assassins.”
I corrected him, recalling what Cale had said.
“I know. Even when I tried to avoid them, they kept coming at me relentlessly. I could sense their intentions.”
“If you knew, you should've gotten out of there...”
It was a lament that he hadn't just run if he suspected something.
“The moment I tried to leave, they attacked. I blocked as best I could and tried to escape, but I couldn't shake them.”
Frustration appeared on Luciano's face.
It seemed unbearable to him that his skills were only that much.
His opponents had been multiple assassins, and adults at that.
It was only natural.
But right now, words like "you're still young" wouldn't comfort Luciano.
“What happened to Harrison? Was he with you from the start?”
So I changed the subject.
The fact that the two had been together was odd to begin with.
“I don't even know how he showed up. He just appeared out of nowhere when I was in danger and fought alongside me.”
“...You got lucky.”
There were suspicious aspects to Harrison's appearance, but I didn't mention them.
“After that, my memory gets fuzzy. While I was somehow holding on, he took a sword meant for me.”
Luciano squeezed his eyes shut as that moment flashed back, then opened them with a ragged breath, his voice thick.
“It's okay. That's all in the past. Everything's fine now.”
I patted the back of his hand to soothe him, and his quickened breathing gradually slowed.
“And just when I thought it was really over, my master appeared and saved me.”
He spoke calmly, but thinking of the fear Luciano must have felt then made my own heart tremble.
“He was injured because of me, but I had no one I could trust to treat him. The guards might get involved, so even my master said he couldn't look after him.”
Cale had sold the house he'd been staying in and was now living at an inn.
To celebrate taking on a disciple, he'd decided to move to a place with plenty of space for training.
He'd put the old house up for sale, but it sold before he could find a new one.
It was all because the guy was so impatient.
In any case, since Cale was at an inn, he couldn't take a badly injured Harrison with him.
Moving that blood-soaked Harrison would surely lead to a report to the guards.
‘Come to think of it, training outside made this attack possible in the first place.’
I realized they were in a situation full of problems.
“It's for the best, actually. Easier to handle this way.”
If the two had tried to settle it secretly, a priest seeing Harrison's wounds would've likely reported it to the guards.
Was it because the author was Korean?
Security in the capital was pretty good.
Something this suspicious would've been reported for sure, and the matter could've snowballed out of control.
In [Your Majesty, Don't Obsess!], the temples didn't hold much power.
Their holy power wasn't weak, but their influence was comparatively low.
Probably because they had no significant role in the original story.
Which meant.
‘The nobles' power is enough to silence them.’
Luciano must've reached the same conclusion.
He hadn't thought of it in the shock at the time.
But looking back now, he'd see it as the right call.
“I'll ask you to handle it.”
“But is it really okay to just cover the whole thing up like this?”
I thought burying the incident was best, but Luciano might feel differently.
“No evidence, and all the witnesses are dead, so keeping it quiet is better. We know who did it anyway.”
Luciano's voice turned icy.
Thinking back to what happened on Luciano's birthday, there was little room for doubt.
The emperor's attitude must've made Imperial Consort Isabel uneasy.
She'd resorted to such an extreme measure.
“We have to endure for now. But I won't just take this lying down.”
Luciano spat the words through gritted teeth.
His red eyes burned quietly, fiercely.
‘Whoa...’
Luciano had shown more open resentment toward Imperial Consort Isabel before, but this was the first time he'd mentioned revenge like this.
This incident must've changed something deep in him.
My pity for him grew even more.
And with it.
‘My head hurts.’
I'd thought there were still a few years until the main events kicked off.
Since the original story's start was still far away.
I'd assumed the story would deviate at some point, now that I was the protagonist.
‘But this is too soon.’
The extreme twist left me feeling at a loss.
* * *
Once Luciano had calmed a bit more, he returned to the palace.
I wanted to keep him at our mansion for the night and comfort him more.
But to pretend nothing had happened today, there was no choice.
Father and Mother, who had gone out on business and returned after hearing the news, grasped the situation and simply hugged me once before letting it go.
I'd been worried they'd fret, but surprisingly, they seemed composed.
Probably because it wasn't trouble I'd caused myself.
I introduced Cale, who was staying the night, to my parents, and we had dinner together.
Then I went to the room where Harrison lay.
“Miss, you're here? The guest still hasn't woken up.”
Even now, Harrison hadn't regained consciousness.
“I heard. Thomas, you haven't eaten dinner either, right? Go eat. I'll watch him until then.”
“I'll be right back.”
“No. You have to nurse him all night, so eat properly, rest, and come back whenever.”
Even if the treatment was done, I couldn't leave Harrison, who hadn't woken yet, alone.
It was unplanned work, so this much consideration was the least I could do.
“Understood. Then I'll take a short break.”
Thomas agreed and left the room.
After finishing Harrison's treatment, Thomas had cleaned up all the blood, so now it looked pristine.
Aside from his pale, contorted face, he looked like he'd never been injured.
“Wake up already.”
I said it aloud, as if he might hear and sit up.
The priest's treatment was said to be perfect.
He'd just lost a lot of blood, so it would take time to wake.
So I believed he would wake.
But it felt like it was taking too long.
“If you sleep too long, Lu will worry.”
Before leaving for the palace, Luciano had asked me to take good care of Harrison.
That meant Luciano had opened his heart to Harrison.
There wouldn't be any more of the old cold treatment.
“When you wake up, there's a big surprise waiting.”
Even now, as if the pain from the attack lingered, Harrison's brow remained furrowed.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
I dabbed it away with a towel prepared nearby.
“You don't look peaceful at all, so why keep sleeping? I said wake up.”
Staring down at him kept bringing back the earlier scene, making me dizzy for a moment.
No blood in sight now, but my heart still pounded for no reason.
“I'm worried too. So please, wake up.”
At that moment, Harrison's eyelids trembled.
“Huh?”
Was he regaining consciousness?
“Harrison! Harrison!”
I leaned in close and called his name urgently.
As if responding to my calls, Harrison's eyes cracked open slightly.
His half-lidded gaze had no focus.
“Ugh...”
Not fully aware yet, Harrison moved his lips and writhed as if trying to struggle.
He seemed to think he hadn't escaped the crisis.
The wound was healed with holy power, but violent movements wouldn't be good.
“Harrison, are you awake? Stay still. It's me, Espin. You're safe now.”
I quickly pressed down on his shoulders and shouted.
“Urk...”
He couldn't even make a proper sound.
“It's okay.”
Couldn't even control his body properly.
“You're safe now.”
Yet he flailed desperately.
“It's me, Espin!”
“Esp...in...”
“Yes! It's me. You're safe now!”
I repeated my identity and that he was safe over and over.
“Ah...”
Only then, as if finally understanding, the tension drained from Harrison's body in an instant.
“Harrison?”
He blinked slowly a few times, then closed his eyes again, like someone who'd exhausted all his strength.
“Harrison!”
I called again to check, but of course, no response.
It had happened so quickly that I felt a bit deflated.
‘I wish he'd woken up fully.’
Still, since he'd opened his eyes even briefly, hope rose that he'd fully come to soon.
Harrison's expression had eased considerably as he slept.
After scaring me like that.
His face somehow looked annoyingly serene.
