**Stalker Duchess Episode 24**
**Stalker Duchess Episode 24**
There was a long horizontal dining table, the kind you'd only see in a movie set in medieval times.
*I'll eat and leave right away.* Thinking that, I sat next to the Crown Prince without a second thought.
"Why are you sitting so close?!"
"Pardon?"
Crown Prince Raven shot up from his seat and yelled at me, his face completely flushed as he bristled.
Hmm. It seemed that, like in the movies, proper etiquette dictated sitting at opposite ends of the long table to dine.
Getting mad over something so trivial. A bad premonition told me an ear-splitting lecture was about to begin.
But sitting at the far ends would mean shouting across the table just to talk.
I calmly opened my mouth toward the Crown Prince.
"I'm no good at speaking loudly, so please be understanding, gracious Raven."
"......"
At my words, the Crown Prince sat back down with a flushed face and tightly shut his mouth.
With no particular conversation in mind, I simply watched intently as the servants bustled about preparing the meal.
Hmm. Amid the hectic movements, two people kept crossing paths. Even their fleeting glances were sticky and intimate.
Probably lovers.
Feeling it a shame to keep to myself, I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the sound and whispered into the Crown Prince's ear like sharing a secret.
"......Looks like that maid and the butler have feelings for each other."
Even imperial palace servants, who acted as if they had no eyes or ears, still had them.
Even if true, hearing it directly would embarrass them.
With that in mind, I'd whispered softly for only the Crown Prince's ears, but he flinched as I suddenly drew close.
Goosebumps prickled along his arm—likely from disgust.
Seeing his intense reaction made me feel like a villain teasing an innocent youth. What had I even done?
If he wanted to push me away, he could have, but he just sat there rigid.
I'd have flung someone onto the cold floor by now. What incredible patience.
He glanced at me with a slightly flushed face and asked,
His voice feigned calm but trembled faintly.
"H-how did you know...... about that?"
At the Crown Prince's question, my eyes sparkled as I confidently whispered low into his ear once more.
"I'm quite sharp when it comes to romance between men and women."
"......"
At my whispering with such confidence, the Crown Prince's face twisted as if he'd heard something he shouldn't have.
A look that utterly rejected agreeing with me.
"......That's completely unreliable information."
He'd already regained his cold composure as he turned his head away and declared.
His expression said I'd wasted his energy on useless chatter.
Just then, a maid approached pushing a tray laden with desserts.
She gave us a strange look, seeing us huddled close whispering secrets.
I subtly scooted far away from the Crown Prince.
Then I heard him let out a small sigh of relief.
His unstable breathing and slightly pallid complexion returned to normal the moment I moved away.
......You hated it that much?
I felt a bit hurt but didn't show it, instead cutting a small piece of the cake before me and putting it in my mouth.
"......"
It was so sweet my brows nearly furrowed reflexively, but considering the effort they'd put in, I forced myself to chew.
But still, no matter how I thought about it, sweets weren't my taste. As I debated spitting it out, the Crown Prince spoke to me.
"......I've heard you're popular among the subordinates lately."
"Is that so?"
I'd never deliberately tried to be kind to them, but since Duchess Serabi's past actions had been such a mess, my reputation had relatively improved.
I replied in a nonchalant voice as I put more cake in my mouth.
"I don't know about others, but the Vice Commander is pretty kind in his own way."
"......Damian?"
At the Vice Commander's name from my lips, the Crown Prince's voice darkened slightly.
He stared at me with an expression demanding explanation.
I agonized over whether to spit out the poison in my mouth but barely swallowed and said,
"He's objectively a decent guy. He seems frivolous but never crosses the line. Firm principles, good skills. His background is a slight issue, but he's young and capable, so marriage proposals will probably line up. Ah, and his looks are decent too......"
As my words dragged on, the Crown Prince's face grew increasingly menacing.
Realizing too late, I'd unnecessarily extended the topic, but he'd already heard everything I intended to say.
There was no way praise for his subordinate would displease him.
By the end, he exuded a ferocious aura thick with killing intent.
Had I messed up again?
I always stayed tense around the Crown Prince, but I could never predict the landmines.
I swallowed dryly from the tension.
Waiting rigidly for his response, the reply he gave after a long pause was unexpected.
"Don't get any funny ideas. Distian bans male romance."
"......"
What nonsense was this?
Forget his strange misunderstanding—even in a place with no women but me, there was no such rule against male romance.
Sure, it could happen, but......
At least the Imperial Army code had no such clause.
The Crown Prince had clearly just made it up on the spot.
I eyed him suspiciously.
He glared back fiercely and said,
"Got a problem with that?"
His voice still sounded angry.
It seemed like asking a subordinate for complaints at a glance, but to my ears, it was a veiled threat: present any, and you're done.
"......"
Well, as the Supreme Commander, he could make up a rule or two as he pleased.
Even so, I hadn't expected him to improvise one right here, swept up in his emotions.
To think the Crown Prince was this moody......
No matter how much he disliked me, refusing to even let go of his own subordinate—what was that about?
* * *
I returned to work after a brief visit to the Imperial Palace, but Raven was still in a foul mood.
Me, openly offering to teach her magic if she wanted since yesterday, and she deliberately ignored it.
Where else could she find a better teacher than me?
......After calling me the strongest on earth with her own mouth.
Him personally taking someone as a disciple was an opportunity money couldn't buy.
He was a genius among geniuses who had solved a 10th-order system of nonlinear partial differential equations at age six—something Mage Tower scholars hadn't cracked after centuries of research.
Nobles, foreign royals, even talented mages had begged on their knees to be his disciple, but he'd refused them all.
At eight, he'd turned down an offer to teach at the Academy.
And yet, he was willingly offering to teach her magic personally!
Thinking that far, a 'crack' sounded as the fan in his hand snapped.
An unconscious act.
"Why are you so angry?"
"......Me? I'm exactly as usual."
Lifting his head, he saw Vice Commander Damian standing there with a peaceful expression, munching on something.
Angry? No way.
From a much younger age, as part of his imperial education, he'd been trained not to show joy or anger easily.
Even if angry, others wouldn't easily notice.
"Hide your killing intent when you talk. The kids are collapsing."
"......"
Saying that, Damian pointed to the training grounds outside the window.
The subordinates training there staggered as if about to fall.
Unbeknownst to himself, he'd infused his mana into his released killing intent.
For someone at that level, channeling mana through killing intent was akin to a direct attack.
They were trained soldiers, so they'd only collapsed; civilians nearby would have suffered casualties.
This had never happened before. He really was pissed off.
He let out a deep sigh and said,
"......My apologies."
"I'm fine."
His reply came with a miraculously unaffected peaceful face.
As subordinates far off on the training grounds collapsed one by one, he—closest at hand—stood firm, steadfastly eating.
Normally he'd overlook it, but today the crunching grated on his nerves.
"Why are you constantly eating during work hours?"
A roundabout way of saying stop eating, but Damian readily revealed what it was.
"Oh, this? Duchess Serabi gave it to me."
At the sudden unexpected name, he startled dramatically.
The person who'd occupied his mind nonstop—coming from Damian's mouth of all places.
"What?"
"She gave it when she came for vacation approval a few days ago. Said she made it herself, so eat it."
He asked back in a shocked voice.
"You took it just like that?"
"Why not? It's delicious. And probably everyone else took some too, not just me?"
At Damian's words, *I didn't get any* rose to his throat reflexively, but he barely swallowed it down.
