Chapter 22
The cat let out a piercing, terrified yowl!
It writhed with all its might, its face twisted in fear.
Whatever had happened in the meantime, its body was covered in tiny scratches.
“Just you wait!”
But the group of boys showed no interest in the cat’s suffering.
They were all young noble sons who had never learned to show mercy to the weak.
These boys, who had learned the ways of power before morality, were cruel in their ignorance.
“This time I’ll hit it, for real.”
The orange-haired boy paused for a moment before hurling a stone with all his strength.
But it was all for nothing this time too.
His stone veered off course because of the cat’s thrashing, and the boy punched at the empty air.
“Argh! Damn it!”
Having missed again, he seemed utterly furious from head to toe.
The boy strode toward the cat and reached out for the rope.
But there was no way the enraged cat would stay put.
It raked its claws across the boy’s face with every ounce of strength it had.
“Tie it tighter, aaack!”
“What? What happened?”
“This damn thing!”
The boy, his face scratched up, couldn’t hold back his rage and tried to seize the cat and smash it into the ground.
“Don’t do it—!”
At that moment, Emilia screamed as she came rushing out.
The young imperial princess’s big eyes were brimming with tears.
“Don’t bully the cat! You villain!”
The princess threw her whole body against the boy’s legs.
He lost his balance and flailed wildly.
Fortunately, the cat slipped free from his grasp in an instant and fled into the bushes.
“Don’t do it! Don’t do it—!”
“Aaack, what the hell is this—!”
The boys scowled at Emilia’s sudden appearance.
By now, the princess had sunk her teeth into the orange-haired boy’s calf—the one who had been trying to grab the cat.
The other boys frowned at the sight.
“What the hell?”
“She’s just a little kid, isn’t she? Was there a kid like that in the imperial palace?”
“No idea. Her clothes don’t look like a servant’s.”
“More importantly, shouldn’t we help?”
“Leave it. You think we can’t handle some little brat?”
At that moment, a sharp, chilling voice came from behind them.
“What.”
“Your Highness Lloyd!”
The boys bowed their heads to the boy who stepped forward from the back.
The boy with his bronze skin tied up in a high ponytail and piercing blue eyes was handsome, but he radiated an overly cynical air.
The boy, whose gaze seemed to look down on the entire world, was named ‘Lloyd Cataonian Ventrum’.
He was the second imperial prince of the Ventrum Empire and the only son of the Second Imperial Consort.
Second Imperial Prince Lloyd swept an expressionless gaze over the boys before narrowing his eyes at Emilia.
“…And what’s that?”
“Well, she suddenly burst out of the bushes and ruined our game. Her clothes suggest she’s not some lowborn, so we were debating what to do.”
“Hmm.”
Lloyd started to turn away with obvious disinterest, then looked back.
As he scrutinized Emilia, his eyes grew keener.
Before long, a wicked curve tugged at his lips.
“I thought she looked familiar. She’s the spitting image of that idiot.”
Lloyd beckoned to the two burly boys standing beside him.
“Bring her here.”
For some reason, he looked immensely pleased.
“We can have some much more fun now.”
* * *
Edwin’s face had gone deathly pale as he frantically scanned his surroundings.
A nearby guard had fortunately spotted the direction Emilia had vanished in; otherwise, he might have stood there in a daze.
“Emilia! Emilia!”
But tracking down Emilia in the vast central garden was no easy feat.
How long had he been combing through the bushes?
“Hueeeeng—!”
Emilia’s wail came from just a short distance away.
Edwin’s eyes widened to their utmost.
“Emilia—!”
The prince bolted toward the sound of his sister’s voice.
It was the moment Edwin tried to break out of the bushes.
A familiar voice whispered right in his ear.
“Why aren’t you shooting? What are you doing?”
A cold voice, utterly indifferent yet edged like a blade.
Edwin knew the owner of that voice better than anyone.
Second Imperial Prince Lloyd. His half-brother and the second prince who had always tormented him.
And the mastermind behind the death of Emma, his first nanny.
Edwin’s clenched fists trembled.
- I’ll protect you, so it’ll be okay.
He had definitely said those words to Emilia just last night.
That he would keep her safe.
But why was this happening?
His sister was crying right there in front of him, yet his legs refused to move.
Edwin finally realized it.
He was gripped by fear right now.
Lloyd’s presence was that overwhelming.
Overwhelming enough to shatter, in an instant, the resolve of Edwin, who cherished his sister more than anyone.
“Hah, haah.”
Edwin’s breathing grew ragged.
He felt so pathetic, so furious at himself.
Had he unconsciously bitten the inside of his cheek?
A metallic tang spread across his tongue.
“Y-Your Highness. Even so, this is a little…”
The boy hesitating was none other than Gail.
He clutched the crossbow, wavering endlessly.
“Why? What’s the difference between that cat and this worthless thing?”
Meanwhile, Lloyd lounged in a chair arranged in the shade and scolded Gail, who stood before him.
“B-But she’s a person, isn’t she?”
“A person?”
He scoffed.
“A person has to act the part to be called one.”
“Hueeeeng—! Let me down—!”
Lloyd mocked Emilia as she dangled in midair.
“To my eyes, something that can only scream looks exactly like that beast from earlier.”
“Y-Your Highness, this isn’t…”
“If you can’t do it, hand it over. I will.”
Lloyd rose from his seat and snatched the crossbow.
His icy blue eyes gleamed sharply.
“Shut up.”
Lloyd released the string without a moment’s hesitation.
Swoooosh—
It was the instant the arrow cleaved through the air toward Emilia.
“No—!”
Edwin hurled himself toward Emilia.
An eternity passed in a heartbeat.
“Hwaaaang—!”
Edwin pried open the eyes he had squeezed shut at the sound of his sister’s cry.
Emilia’s face was right there in front of him.
Fortunately, his one and only little sister didn’t seem to have a single hair out of place.
“Uwaaaaan!”
Edwin snapped back to reality at his sister’s wail.
He stared up at the rope swaying overhead.
Unable to bear the combined weight after Edwin lunged to embrace Emilia, it had snapped. That was apparently why Lloyd’s arrow had gone wide.
It was the moment Edwin finally drew a breath of relief.
“Well, if it isn’t you.”
A familiar voice drifted down from above.
“Long time no see?”
Edwin slowly lifted his head.
Backlit by the blinding sun, his second brother wore that same repulsive smile as always.
“…G-Greetings, Brother Lloyd.”
“Yes, Edwin. Have you been well?”
Meanwhile, the boys standing behind the second imperial prince took one look at Edwin and erupted in snickers.
“Same as ever, then and now.”
“Where would the dog-fur prince wander off to?”
“Anyone’d think he was a beggar, not a prince. Did the other guys pluck you too, besides us?”
They hurled their mockery at Edwin, sprawled in the dirt.
Edwin’s pale face flushed crimson with shame in an instant.
“But what brings you all the way out here?”
“I came… to find my sister.”
“Sister? Did you have a sister?”
Lloyd arched one eyebrow, then clapped as realization dawned.
“Ah, that noisy little girl is your sister!”
He waved his hand in theatrical exaggeration, like some stage actor.
“I thought she was a kitten from that cat we missed earlier. Same fur color and everything.”
Edwin clenched the hand braced against the ground.
Lloyd, who obsessed over his blood kin to an unhealthy degree, could never have been unaware of Emilia’s existence.
‘But Emilia is this empire’s one and only imperial princess before she’s my sister.’
He himself might deserve such treatment, but Emilia absolutely did not.
“Sorry about that. If she’s your sister, she’s as good as mine. I was rude.”
Lloyd offered an apology with a face utterly devoid of remorse and extended his hand.
“What are you doing, not getting up? Don’t you have any shame as a prince in front of the riffraff?”
Edwin stared at the hand proffered to him.
White but hardly delicate, the hand bore the marks of sword training, no doubt.
The second prince had been hailed as a swordsmanship prodigy for years now.
‘…Unlike useless me.’
Edwin reached out with eyes full of resignation.
Lloyd rarely let him off the hook this easily.
He had to take this chance and spirit Emilia away fast.
It was the moment Edwin grasped Lloyd’s hand and started to rise.
“Oppa—! Punish that guy! He tied Lia up with a rope and said he’d kill her, and he was about to hit her!”
The imperial princess’s indignant outburst sent a chill through the garden air.
Every trace of amusement vanished from Lloyd’s face.
Edwin gaped at his sister in stunned horror.
The noble sons gathered there all fell silent, eyeing one another warily.
‘Daring to call the second imperial prince “that guy.”’
Unless they had a death wish, it was absolutely forbidden.
As everyone watched Lloyd with bated breath, he finally spoke.
“It seems my one and only little sister is quite angry with her second brother.”
But Lloyd was surprisingly composed.
Nothing like his usual self, who’d hack off limbs at the slightest provocation.
He beckoned to one of the attendants standing behind him.
“Hey, bring some tea here. As an apology, I ought to treat my little sister to some.”
The attendant promptly served tea.
“Here, take it. It’s a token of my apology.”
Lloyd held out the teacup to Emilia.
With the most devilish of smiles.
