RODH Chapter 45

45.

“Do you want more?”

The fawn’s eyelashes fluttered quickly.

I pulled out some berries I had kept separately in my pocket and held them out.

Its damp nose and tongue tickled my palm.

“Ahaha. That tickles.”

As I let out a cheerful laugh, Nevan’s gaze softened.

I kept stroking the fawn with both hands as it nuzzled against my cheek.

It flicked its tongue and responded eagerly to my touch.

Come to think of it, that crazy old man had said something.

The one who brings spring would charm a deer with a pure soul.

‘Did it get charmed by me?’

I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t bring it up outright with Nevan right beside me.

Just then, with a sudden crunching sound, the fawn leapt forward in surprise.

“Well, well. So this is where the two of you were hiding out?”

It was Seor, the number-one champion of sarcasm, and his ever-loyal knight, Peter.

I quickly hardened my expression and stood up.

“Your Imperial Highness. And Sir Hubert.”

“So this is why you told us not to come?”

Seor glared at us, his eyes blazing with jealousy.

Just as I was about to tell him to piss off if he was going to bring up that crown princess crap again, Peter stepped in to calm him down.

“Your Highness, the young duke never said you couldn’t come.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Either way, the sight of you two together is incredibly irritating.”

At Seor’s bluntness, Nevan rose to his feet.

I was about to tell him not to go.

There wasn’t even a speck of desire in me to pick berries with that bastard.

Nevan asked,

“Why are you stalking Lord Ian?”

“Stalking?”

One of Seor’s eyebrows twitched.

I had suddenly become a stalking victim.

But come to think of it, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Wherever I went, Seor was always there.

“Yes. I happened to see you and Sir Hubert following behind.”

“You happened to see us? You weren’t watching on purpose?”

“It was a coincidence.”

Nevan insisted firmly.

Caught in the middle of this alpha nerve war, my head was pounding.

Thankfully, Bain arrived just in time.

“Young master! There’s this huge basket—”

But he shrank back when faced with Seor’s terrifying expression and Nevan’s cold one.

Don’t be scared.

Get me out of here!

That’s what I wanted to say. Seor sneered sharply at Nevan.

“Ian used to be the crown princess-to-be. Now that he isn’t, you think you can approach him freely…? If you knew I was around, the polite thing to do would be to make yourself scarce.”

“That’s not why I came to see Lord Ian.”

“Then why did you?”

“I can’t say.”

“Hah. Sounds like you’re admitting something happened.”

Seor was properly fired up now, completely ignoring Peter’s attempts to calm him.

In fact, the more Peter tried, the more heated Seor became.

“That bastard laid hands on Ian—on Ian, damn it!”

I couldn’t just blurt out, “Actually, I’m still a virgin,” so I stayed silent.

And Nevan didn’t scold me for that either.

Then a random thought crossed my mind.

What exactly are we?

‘Even in the North, it’s rare for friends to exchange letters so frequently. Unless they’re lovers.’

Ahhh.

The words of the etiquette tutor from the North echoed in my head, making my headache worse.

Maybe I frowned, because Bain dropped the basket and rushed to me.

“Young master, are you okay?”

“No. I want to go home.”

“How did things end up like this?”

Bain whispered quietly enough that Seor couldn’t hear.

I wanted to tell him that bastard had been stalking me.

I threw him a look that clearly said Seor is a bastard, and Bain nodded.

“Let’s head back to base camp. A warm cup of tea will make you feel better.”

Bain’s words sounded especially sweet today.

But I couldn’t abandon Nevan and leave like that.

I told Bain I appreciated it, but I’d stay here.

Instead, I asked him to bring someone who could de-escalate the situation.

“Not Alvis. If he ate something weird again, he might cast Frozen Flower.”

“Got it.”

The crown prince is a stalker, the captain of the guard is his accomplice, the dragon prince is a lazy scoundrel, and the mana master is a drunk.

Thinking about each of them one by one, I felt my blood boil.

As Seor kept spouting nonsense at Nevan, I finally stepped in.

“There was an incident at the mine where we were attacked by monsters. His Grace the Grand Duke helped us. I’m simply expressing gratitude for that, so please stop jumping to conclusions.”

“What? That happened?”

“Yes. That happened.”

Listen closely to every single word, you bastard.

Now that I was the one getting angry, Seor faltered a little and muttered,

“If that happened, shouldn’t you have reported it to me immediately?”

Then Nevan spoke.

“What happens in the North is handled in the North. That’s our foremost principle.”

“His Grace is right,” Peter calmly explained to the now slightly more subdued Seor.

Regardless, I continued.

“Apologize to His Grace right now.”

“Apologize?”

“Yes. You made ridiculous assumptions without knowing the full story. Would you be happy if someone said His Grace and I were in that kind of relationship?”

I meant it seriously, but Seor just stared at me blankly and answered,

“I wouldn’t be unhappy.”

“Excuse me?”

“Being tied to you—it’s not a bad thing. It actually makes me happy. It’s what I want.”

What the hell is this pervert saying?

I almost let out a string of curses, but Peter’s pleading eyes made me swallow them.

Seor went on.

“But I’m sure you hate the idea more than anything.”

The way he said it, so forlornly, he sounded like someone who just got dumped.

His long, gold-lined lashes looked suspiciously moist.

In the past, I might have fallen for that pitiful expression.

But now, he looked more like a devil in an angel’s mask.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or something like that.

Nevan, of course, was different.

Nevan was strong and beautiful, like a flower blooming alone in the snowfield.

When he looked at me with those blindly trusting, deer-like eyes, my chest would tighten.

I shouldn’t have said it was something one says to a friend.

I should have just asked what we were to each other.

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Seor asking if I was okay.

“Not okay at all.”

“Ian.”

“Why are you calling me?”

“When you get angry… I don’t know what to do.”

He was still completely missing the point.

Was he really saying that without understanding why I was angry?

Every scholar who praised Seor’s intelligence for resembling the emperor needed to be dumped into a latrine.

“The reason I’m angry is simple. Your Highness crossed the line. I don’t want to see your face, so please leave.”

I turned my back completely.

I heard him call out weakly behind me, like a dying candle flame, but I ignored it.

“Ian, I’m sorry. And Grand Duke, I apologize to you as well. I’ve insulted your honor with a pointless misunderstanding.”

“It’s fine now that the misunderstanding is cleared.”

“Then I’ll take my leave. Ian, I really…”

Seor didn’t finish his sentence, and with a rustle, disappeared somewhere.

Nevan said,

“He’s gone.”

“Finally. But do you know why that deer is still here?”

The fawn was still standing there, ears perked.

I thought it had run away?

“I’m not sure either.”

“Hmm.”

Drawn by a strange feeling, I slowly approached the fawn.

As I did, it watched me while maintaining a certain distance.

“It looks like it wants us to follow.”

“How can you tell?”

“Do you remember the story about the deer in the letter I first sent you, Your Grace?”

“Ah.”

Nevan let out a short exclamation and followed after me.

He seemed genuinely curious if the deer was leading us somewhere.

The deer’s steps were not fast, and soon we found a cave.

The fawn lingered at the entrance for a moment, then vanished into the bushes.

“Does it want us to go in?”

“I don’t know.”

Nevan said he had never seen this cave before and offered to check it out.

But something felt off, so I went with him.

It was the kind of feeling that made your scalp tingle—like the song I heard in my fourth life.

At the cave entrance, Nevan told me,

“If anything happens, run right away.”

“What about you, Your Grace?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Let’s run together.”

Maybe it sounded odd, because Nevan gave me a strange look but didn’t say anything.

The inside of the cave was unremarkable.

No bats or bears, not even the usual cobwebs.

Instead, in a dais-like space where a shaft of light streamed down, a single sword was stuck in the ground, blade-first.

“Am I really seeing a sword right now?”

Wondering if it was some kind of illusion, I asked Nevan, and he said he saw a sword too.

With the swiftness of a wild animal, Nevan was already standing before it.

Compared to him, I was crawling like a slug, but eventually, I made it up to the platform.

Then Nevan said,

“Turn your head.”

“Why?”

“There are remains.”

“Oh.”

I turned my head immediately.

“You can look now.”

Nevan held a sword broken in two.

Though the silver blade had lost its shine with age, the strange letters carved into it were still clearly visible.

“It doesn’t seem to be a cursed blade.”

As we stepped down from the platform together, we discussed the sword.

“May I examine it for a moment?”

“Yes, but be careful not to cut your hand.”

“Understood.”

Maybe I let my guard down too easily when I heard it wasn’t a cursed blade.

The moment I touched it—I collapsed.