THCF 06

Chapter 6

Karion walked with a fierce expression, clenching his fists tightly.

But by the time he reached his office, his upset stomach had almost settled down.

He thought back on why he had left that place in anger, unable to control his emotions.

Until now, he had lived in the middle of a battlefield filled with political schemes.

An emperor who constantly tested his five sons, half-brothers who were always looking for chances to bring each other down, and wolves gathering around him to seize power…

There were countless people who pretended to respect him as a prince while provoking him, and those around him constantly tested him, looking for even the smallest weakness.

Sometimes, there were people who boldly provoked him.

When someone crossed the line, he did not get angry. He mocked them and crushed them instead.

But today, he had been angry.

‘Why?’

When he realized the reason, he gave a bitter smile and dropped heavily into his chair.

Because it was the first time someone had criticized him by saying, ‘Don’t live your life like that.’

No one had ever said such a thing to him.

His mother had left the Imperial Palace when he was young, and he had never met her again. His father never gave his children advice, either.

The only people who had stayed by Karion’s side since childhood were servants and guards. After he became Commander-in-Chief, those who served under him strictly followed the military order of obeying their superiors.

The words Rea had said, ‘people whose fate is tied to yours,’ kept circling in his head.

He did not care about power, and he did not care even if he fell out of the Emperor’s favor.

But if that situation caused everyone who followed him to become miserable as well…

It would feel worse than falling into a pit of filth.

“Cedric.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Cedric, who had been quietly waiting with a tense expression, watched Karion carefully.

“How is the preparation for the next inspection tour?”

“We are fully prepared and waiting.”

Karion sighed before speaking.

“There will be no next inspection tour. We are going to the capital. I received His Majesty’s imperial order, so I will have to go this time. I will have the Zephyrus delegation travel with us.”

Cedric answered without showing his surprise.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“They are only traveling with us. Make that very clear to the princess.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After leaving the office, Cedric stood there for a moment and organized the situation in his mind.

‘His Highness changed a decision he had already made.’

As his loyal chief aide, Cedric knew even the smallest weakness of his master.

Once ‘stubbornness’ became part of a decision, Karion never changed it.

Cedric thought Karion’s continued refusal to obey the Emperor’s orders was a kind of ‘stubbornness.’

But because of a princess from a kingdom whom he had only met a few days ago, the prince had given up his stubbornness.

‘Princess Rea of Zephyrus…’

Cedric felt that he needed to gather more information and figure out what kind of person she was.

After Cedric left, Karion suddenly became curious.

‘What was the third of the three worst things?’

Should he have stayed and listened to that, too?

If he went to meet her just to ask about it, she might think he had made up an excuse to come see her.

He found himself ridiculous for thinking such things and let out a small laugh.

‘I don’t want to make achievements… This is an unexpected variable.’

Even if you lead a horse to water, you cannot force it to drink.

Rea was troubled.

If he had simply said, ‘I don’t want to marry you,’ she would have thought of another way.

‘Why doesn’t he have any ambition? What am I supposed to do if a capable prince has no ambition!’

Nella had been very harsh when judging her son.

Normally, when a mother thinks of her child, especially a child who has died, she tends to remember them in a better light.

But Nella had only talked about Karion’s weaknesses.

⌜That boy has a terrible stubborn streak. Once he became stubborn, he would never listen to anyone. He died because of that stubbornness.⌟

Rea had misunderstood things a little in her mind.

Maybe he was a son who could never satisfy his mother in many ways. Maybe he had taken after his father too much, and so on.

That was why she had been surprised when she first saw Karion. He was much more impressive-looking than she had expected.

Rea nodded.

‘As expected of a mother, she really knows her son.’

Honestly, Rea had been a little excited before meeting him.

Ten years later, the Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast, a man whom people had very different opinions about, was someone she had wanted to meet at least once.

What interested her was that those who spoke badly of him were people with wealth and power, while those who admired him were powerless common people.

But he was still a member of the imperial family representing the Empire’s military, while Rea was the leader of the wandering people who opposed the Empire. Realistically, it had been impossible for the two of them to meet.

So when she heard that he had died, she had felt strangely empty.

After meeting the King of Nortia, she had thought several times about what might have happened if he had not died.

She regretted not meeting him at least once while he was alive, no matter what it took.

Even though he was on the side of the Empire, looking at what he had done, she felt that she might have been able to talk to him.

But the man she had actually met was a completely closed-minded, stubborn fool.

‘I admit he’s handsome. I know he’s capable, too. But what good is that! He’s going to die because of that stubbornness, just as His Majesty said!’

There was a knock on the door, and Penny entered.

“Princess. Lord Milo wants to see you. He is the prince’s aide, the one who came out to meet us…”

“Yes, I know. Tell him to come in.”

Soon, Cedric entered.

Cedric informed her of Karion’s decision to accompany them to the capital.

“Why did he suddenly change his mind?”

“His Majesty the Emperor issued an imperial order telling him to come to the capital. His Highness had been considering whether to obey the order.”

“So he is going to do both things at once. But if His Highness is accompanying us, I will take that to mean that he will also attend the meeting between our delegation and His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty will not believe an excuse like, ‘I traveled with them, but I have nothing to do with it.’”

“There is no way His Highness would not know that.”

Even after hearing Cedric’s words, Rea could not understand Karion’s thoughts.

‘Why did he change his mind? Was it because of something I said?’

If that was the case, she would see him differently.

It would mean that the prince who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast had listened to the criticism of a kingdom princess who told him that his kingdom should become a vassal state.

‘Maybe he isn’t as stubborn as I thought.’

After Cedric left, Rea felt much better.

Even though she had not received a definite answer about marriage, having him accompany them was still something.

She had moved one step forward, so she could slowly keep moving ahead.

As the leader of the wandering people, she had lived for ten years without being able to see even one step ahead.

Rea decided that she would willingly bring water to the horse.

At sunset, Rea went out into the inner courtyard for a walk and found Karion already there.

Perhaps he saw Rea at almost the same time, because he stopped and looked at her.

Karion asked as she approached him without hesitation.

“Are you not afraid of me?”

“It seems everyone is afraid of you, Your Highness.”

“In the Northeast, I am the person who represents His Majesty the Emperor.”

“I’m not afraid.”

‘I know someone who looks exactly like you. He was strong and beautiful. He was also someone who saved my life, someone I could never repay even with my life.’

Karion saw the intense emotion rising in her eyes as she looked at him.

It was the first time he had seen such a powerful emotion in her eyes, which had always been so calm.

For some reason, he felt his throat becoming dry, so he turned his head away.

“We are only traveling together.”

“I heard. When are we leaving?”

“As early as two days from now. At the latest, we will leave the day after that.”

“Ah-ha.”

Hearing the suspicious-sounding response, Karion turned his head.

Rea was already walking beside him.

“You take a long time to make a decision, but once you decide, you act quickly.”

“I also make decisions quickly.”

Rea glanced at him before turning her head away again.

“Yes.”

Karion felt that her obedient answer meant, ‘I don’t agree, but I don’t want to argue for no reason.’

“To inspect the entire Northeast, I have to make decisions and act quickly. I don’t spend several days on one problem like I did this time. If I hadn’t been held back by the Zephyrus delegation issue, I would have already gone to the next inspection location… Ha. Let’s stop.”

He suddenly became emotional by himself, and he felt pathetic for making such a long excuse.

So he closed his mouth.

“We haven’t even started, so why are you stopping? Say everything you wanted to say.”

“I don’t give people reasons to use against me.”

“Reasons to use against you? Do you mean that if you talk too much, you might make a mistake, so it is better to say nothing at all?”

“…”

Rea felt as though she could finally see a little of the wall that the man named ‘Karion’ had built around himself.