**Stalker Duchess Episode 13**
His Dragon Magic Power and killing intent were chaotically entangled, enveloping the cave.
My breath caught in my throat, and I felt crushed by gravity.
Goosebumps prickled across my skin. I collapsed helplessly to the floor, hugging my arms and bowing my head, waiting for his rage to subside.
Damn it, why? What had set him off like this?
Duchess Serabi, what the hell did you do to the Crown Prince?
I assumed the reason for his extreme anger was that I'd touched on some trauma from Duchess Serabi's past actions.
But the words that broke the long silence from the Crown Prince's mouth were utterly unexpected.
"Who was it?"
"......?"
At his out-of-nowhere question, I turned my head slightly with doubtful eyes to look at the Crown Prince, and he urged me again as if demanding an answer.
"Who dared to injure the body of the Duke's Daughter?"
"......?"
As he spoke, he slowly traced from my shoulder bearing the handprints down to my back.
A chill ran through me at the cold touch of his hand.
It felt entirely different from when he'd just touched my skin to check the wound moments ago.
As I trembled all over like a leaf in the wind, overwhelmed by his killing intent and unable to respond, he seemed to interpret my reaction differently.
"......Are you afraid of retaliation? It's okay to speak honestly. I'll punish them personally this time. Laying hands on a noble's body is a grave crime."
"......Uh, yes?"
The Crown Prince uttered those words with a cruel smile.
But it was obvious at a glance that he wasn't smiling because he was pleased.
He stared at my flustered face with blood-red eyes that seemed ready to explode at any moment.
Looking closely, his pupils were abnormally dilated.
They resembled not a human's but a bird of prey's eyes.
So this was the Dragon Eyes from using Dragon Magic Power.
His eyes were ruby-beautiful yet blood-chillingly eerie.
I tried to grasp the situation for a moment.
He apparently didn't realize the shoulder injury was his doing.
Moreover, from our conversation so far, the Crown Prince seemed convinced I'd been attacked by someone else.
I'd finally figured out why he'd rampaged, but something still felt off.
To get this worked up over something like that. Even revealing his Red Dragon Eyes.
"Speak."
I shook my head.
If he learned it was him, I couldn't predict where his anger would turn.
"Is that so? If you won't tell me, I'll make you say it by force."
He grabbed my face, which had been averting its gaze, forcing me to meet his red eyes.
Our faces were so close it seemed like he might kiss me any second.
But his murderous glare made it anything but romantic.
"'Speak.'"
I wouldn't open my mouth just because he commanded me like that...... Huh?
Suddenly, I felt the strength drain from my entire body.
My mouth betrayed my will and opened on its own.
No way, no way...... this is......
Dragon Word?
The Dragon Word was the reason dragons were the strongest race on earth.
Infusing magic power into one's voice to command compelled anyone to obey the caster's will.
No matter the command.
Even "die."
To think he could even use Dragon Word, not just absorb Dragon Magic Power.
Crown Prince Raven was far more of a munchkin than I'd imagined.
"Speak."
No one could lie while meeting his red eyes.
My body betrayed my will and spoke on its own.
"Ra......"
"......"
As a small voice leaked from my mouth, he perked up his ears as if determined not to miss it and leaned in closer.
"Ra......ven."
"What......?"
At my answer, the tense atmosphere on the verge of explosion suddenly cooled like it'd been doused with cold water.
His eyes had already returned to their original warm golden hue.
Confirming that, tension released from me, and I let out a sigh of relief as I collapsed to the floor.
In the original novel, the first time the Crown Prince showed his Red Dragon Eyes, he seemed more beastly, but somehow now he retained his reason.
Should I be glad the full rampage hadn't started?
Or maybe he wasn't that angry despite appearances, or he'd pretended to be furious just to make me talk.
Was that Dragon Magic Power something he could control at will?
As such thoughts swirled in my head, the now-calmed Crown Prince sat before me, meeting my eyes, and said,
"Explain."
"......"
Pretending ignorance now wouldn't work.
A half-hearted lie would be exposed if he used Dragon Word again anyway.
I let out a deep sigh and reluctantly opened my mouth.
"......On the day I collapsed, you came to my hospital room and interrogated me. I got injured from the shock of you grabbing my arm then."
"......Nonsense."
The Crown Prince's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You expect me to believe grabbing your shoulder caused that injury? What are you, a glass doll? Besides, you showed no sign of it. How could someone not even groan with their shoulder in that state?"
He seemed to think I was lying, despite having confirmed it himself with magic power moments ago.
At his interrogation, I replied with a slightly sulky face.
"Lies don't work on you anyway, Lord Raven. I'm just telling you exactly what happened."
"......There's a limit to fragility."
He must have forgotten he slew a dragon barehanded at eight.
The Crown Prince, exhausted from using Dragon Magic Power, plopped down on the floor.
Gazing at the ground as if drained, he asked casually,
"So, the treatment? When will it heal?"
"I don't know. In the worst case, it might never heal."
"......What are you saying."
At my calm answer, the Crown Prince's expression hardened.
He seemed to think I was joking.
Staring at me with a face ready to scold, 'What kind of joke is that? Are you sane?'
I didn't want to tell the Crown Prince everything straightforwardly either, but if he used Dragon Eyes again, I'd spill unwillingly anyway.
I relayed exactly what the physician had said.
"Fortunately, my left shoulder, which I usually use, was somehow treated, but the right one is a bit dangerous. They said it might heal if left alone, so no need to worry......"
"Fortunately? One shoulder's at risk, and you say no need to worry?"
As I continued, the Crown Prince paled.
With a utterly incredulous expression, he muttered as if to himself, repeating my words.
"Yes. No need to worry."
I answered calmly, but the Crown Prince's face twisted as much as possible.
He probably felt guilty about my arm ending up like this.
After a long while searching for words, he spoke in a deeply sunken voice.
"......After the subjugation ends, come to the Imperial Palace with me. The palace physicians might know a way to fix it."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"What?"
The Crown Prince stared at me as if doubting his own ears.
Questioning if he'd heard right.
I wouldn't hesitate to say it twice if asked.
Meeting his golden eyes with a nonchalant face, I said indifferently,
"Being too nice to people is a sickness at that point."
"......"
"Think about what I've done. For 14 years, I chased and tormented you relentlessly. And I even killed someone because of you. So you can't make a fuss over one ruined arm. The souls of the dead I killed in the afterlife would weep."
"......"
The Crown Prince's face darkened sharply at my words and stayed silent for a long time.
But what I said was the truth.
The Crown Prince was too nice for his own good. No one to worry about, yet fretting over the likes of Serabi.
He'd live more comfortably if he fixed his habit of showing kindness to villains like Serabi.
With such thoughts, I sat blankly staring at the cave wall, and when the pain had nearly subsided, the Crown Prince cautiously spoke.
"What the hell's gotten into you lately? You seem like a completely different person."
"You're asking awfully late."
I felt his gaze observing me intently, but I didn't even turn toward the Crown Prince.
"......Just answer."
"Who knows. Guess I've truly turned over a new leaf."
At my answer, the Crown Prince bowed his head with a complicated expression.
For another long while, as if in silent meditation, he stared only at the floor without a word.
"I think I can stand up soon, so let's head back to the others right away."
"......Yeah."
"Oh, I forgot to say this."
"......?"
"Thank you for saving me."
"......"
At my thanks, the Crown Prince stared at me with a truly unfamiliar expression.
