“Please stop talking and just rest. I’ll do whatever you ask.”
“Sure. Just keep talking. If you stop and the demon comes, I’ll have you executed when we get back to the capital.”
With a chilling joke, Kirona alternated her gaze between the ceiling mural and him, then suddenly smiled.
“You look like Yuri Eclipse.”
Jade found that to be a rather unpleasant comment, but with no energy left to argue, he merely sighed. Besides, she might be right—they did share the same eye and hair colour. After all, they were distant relatives.
“You resemble Theresia too,” he replied, wrapping his arms around the feverish Kirona.
* * *
Night fell once again. The crackling of the fire echoed steadily through the temple. Jade checked the temple once more to ensure no monsters were lurking within and then sat down beside Kirona.
Outside, the snake was probably searching for them, but the warmth of the fire in the temple made him dangerously complacent.
Jade wasn’t one to tell stories—he had never been a jester, nor did he have the talent for it. But if the princess requested it, he would comply. He began to tell the only story he could stretch out beyond ten minutes: the unfortunate history of his family.
“…At some point, I was so curious that I asked my sister how our mother could fall so deeply in love with my father. I expected there to be some grand reason for such intense love. Wouldn’t you?”
“There wasn’t?” Kirona asked, her voice faint as if she were still in pain.
“She fell for him at first sight. That’s all there was to it. I couldn’t believe it.”
“At first sight?”
“Yes, just like that, she fell for him with no rhyme or reason.”
“Love doesn’t really need a grand reason.”
Kirona answered with a knowing smile, as if she had experienced it herself. Jade chuckled bitterly and leaned against the fireplace. Kirona, seeking warmth, grasped his hand, making him flinch. Her hand was so hot and soft that it made him uneasy.
It was only natural to feel tense when a royal kept grabbing him without warning. He should have been kneeling at the bottom of the stairs, bowing his head instead of making eye contact. His voice trembled slightly as he tried to keep his composure.
“The problem is that my mother threw away her life and the family’s legacy for that ‘grand’ love.”
“She didn’t have a choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think love is like a fever. It strikes without warning, regardless of your will, making you suffer. You can’t choose the target, and it never comes at a convenient time.”
“…”
“The reason doesn’t matter. You can always make up a plausible one later. The moment your attention is caught, it’s over. You start chasing after that person without a plan, your heart races when you see them, and you feel sick to your stomach when they’re with someone else. You lose your mind, swept away by your emotions…”
A princess talking about love. It wasn’t a conversation a mercenary should be having with a princess, but Jade couldn’t stretch this conversation any longer, so he asked,
“You talk as if you’ve experienced that kind of love. Have you?”
It was a question asked to buy time, but Kirona sighed. He worried that it might have been an inappropriate question. As he was about to apologize, Kirona turned the question back on him.
“Have you?”
“After everything I’ve seen my mother go through, I’d have to be an idiot to fall in love.”
He answered firmly this time. Kirona laughed a little louder at his response.
“I have, but I’ll never do it again.”
Whoever received the love of a future heir to the throne must have been incredibly fortunate. If Kirona herself described it as love, it was more than just one of those common affairs with a high-ranking lady. It was serious enough that she planned to make him the father of her child.
Even if it ended poorly, the man who received such love from a royal probably escaped to some peaceful estate and was living well. Whatever wealth or benefits he received during the relationship would have set him up nicely for life. Knowing Kirona’s character, she wasn’t the type to take back what she had given.
Jade’s thoughts were interrupted by Kirona
’s next words.
“He tried to kill me. I was planning to have a child with him and make him the father, but he tried to kill me.”
“What a lunatic.”
Jade was genuinely shocked. Why would someone throw away the greatest opportunity of their life? This was a chance to become the father of an emperor. Even if he was an enemy spy or out for revenge, waiting longer would have been the smarter move. If he had the skills to earn Kirona’s trust, he could have…
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