Soon the Prince shook his head.
“There’s nothing wrong with my health. The reason I wake up… is because I couldn’t trust the servants who attended my bedtime until now. I almost died several times because of servants’ conspiracies… Behern discovered it twice and I survived, and once I discovered it myself. Since then, I haven’t been able to sleep deeply.”
“H-how could such things happen…”
“I heard it happens often in the imperial palace.”
It was shocking that such things had happened to the young Prince, but it was also shocking that he spoke about it so calmly, as if he were saying what toy he played with yesterday.
Since nothing I could say seemed like it would comfort him, I took the Prince’s hand and intertwined our fingers. The Prince, who noticed what I was trying to do, intertwined his fingers more firmly and clasped hands.
William smiled softly. As if enchanted by that smile, I climbed onto his bed and knelt.
“Please forgive my rudeness.”
I held William’s shoulders and laid him down properly. Even though I had committed rudeness, he looked pleased for some reason. I smiled softly at the Prince as well, then lay on my side next to him.
Words wouldn’t comfort a Prince who had survived several life-threatening crises due to conspiracies by those around him in childhood. So, like my mother had done for me in my childhood, I held the Prince tightly and patted his chest.
“You keep treating me like a baby.”
Well, I may look like a child on the outside, but inside I’m an adult.
“I apologize.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. An Omega’s duty is to prevent my rampage. It’s not actually rude.”
Yellow moonlight was streaming in through the window. Using that light as illumination, I gazed blankly at the shining silver hair spread across the white pillow and his blushed cheeks.
It was a naturally admirable appearance. To think they tried to kill such a beautiful child!
Whoever it was, I suppressed my sad emotions, thinking that the mastermind who manipulated the Crown Prince would surely be punished for trying to kill this perfect child who seemed like a gift from God.
Right now, putting the awakened Prince back to sleep was more important. However, far from falling asleep, William looked at me with even more wide-awake eyes and said:
“After waking up from sleep, I can’t seem to fall back asleep.”
This is serious. If the Prince doesn’t fall asleep quickly, it will be difficult to go out to the meeting place today. Then who knows what might happen? William could be harmed… First, my survival comes first. That’s the only way I can protect William too.
As I was wondering what to do, the Prince firmly grasped my hand that was patting his chest. Compared to my hand, it was about twice the size, but it was still a child’s hand.
I couldn’t refuse the child’s hand that was fidgeting and reaching for me. When cute William was scared and anxious and wanted to sleep with me, how could I reject him and leave? I don’t know. Whatever happens, happens.
I patted his chest until the Prince fell into a deep sleep. I could tell the Crown Prince’s side that there was no excuse to slip out since they think of me as a spy.
For a moment, I felt self-loathing about why I was so swayed by one small action of a child, but I was a teacher who couldn’t abandon my student’s loneliness. So it was natural that I couldn’t easily reject him.
It was nice to put him to sleep while looking at his pretty face, but my arm hurt from constantly patting. Actually, I could endure the arm pain if I had to, but the gradually intensifying Alpha-specific scent was difficult.
Why was that happening? Today’s meal was made under surveillance from start to finish, so there shouldn’t have been time to mix poison into the food… Then the side effects should have disappeared too, right?
Puzzled, I automatically stared into the air. The information window appeared as if it had been waiting.
[It’s true that he went into rampage due to poison side effects, but William was born with more dominant Alpha traits than the Crown Prince. Rampage is possible even without medicine.]
Ah, so that’s what happened.
The fact that the Prince clearly displayed Alpha characteristics unique to royalty meant that the next succession to the throne could be made easier. So it was a good thing, but right now it was uncomfortable because it made breathing difficult for me.
To check if he was asleep and go to my room to sleep comfortably, I stopped my patting arm and carefully got up.
“I’m not asleep yet, you know?”
Despite my caution, the Prince’s eyes snapped open.
“Haha, you weren’t sleeping yet.”
“Right. Daniel, could you tell me more about that eastern country story you mentioned earlier? I think I’ll fall asleep well if I hear an interesting story.”
You’re good at lying, William. Hearing interesting stories makes your eyes more wide-awake, there’s no way you’d fall asleep.
Even knowing that putting the Prince to sleep was hopeless, I lay down next to the Prince again with a reluctant heart.
“What kind of story would you like to hear?”
“Anything. Hurry up!”
By this point, it seemed like heaven’s will was telling me to give up on putting him to sleep. Since I can’t secretly slip away, it would be wise to earn some more points with a splendid storytelling performance.
Even though I’m currently in a lowly Omega status, dropped into a strange world and serving a young Prince, I’m someone who once won first place in a storytelling contest at a teachers’ college.
I smiled at the Prince, who was looking at me with interest, and asked:
“I’ll give you options, so please choose a word you like.”
William nodded.
“Tiger, friendly brothers, corrupt local official. What kind of story would you like to hear?”
William, lost in thought with a serious expression as if facing the dilemma of a lifetime, chose a word after a long while.
“Tiger? What’s that? Is it something you eat?”
For a moment, the Prince was so cute that I almost bit his blushed cheek. Looking at William’s expression, it seems tigers don’t live in the Stamili Empire. Even though it was natural to feel curious about an animal he’d never heard of, his expression was so cute that it was hard to bear.
I began explaining to William what a tiger was. I kindly told him that it’s similar to a lion, eats people, and in the East it’s called a divine beast and is both revered and feared, but William just kept tilting his head as if it was difficult to understand.
“Then I’ll draw a picture to show you.”
I immediately brought paper and pen and drew a large tiger with its front paw raised. The Prince gasped, “Eek!”
“So there were dragon-like monsters in eastern countries too.”
Indeed, seeing once was better than hearing a hundred times. Hearing him describe the image evoked by the picture, it seemed like this background knowledge was sufficient.
“I definitely want to hear the tiger story!”
I began telling the story like a one-person play, with the Prince lying diagonally on his side on the bed as my audience.
“Once upon a time, there lived a fearsome tiger. The hungry tiger was hiding in the bushes, waiting for people to pass by. That’s when it happened!”
I held my breath, clasped and opened both hands, and went “Roar!” The Prince gasped “Eek!” again. Even the way he gulped was cute, making me want to bite him. Indeed, nothing beats scary stories for children.
“Gasp! Your Highness, are you scared of the tiger right now?”
William, who had been concentrating on my story with the blanket pulled up to his chin, straightened his expression as if he had never done such a thing.
“N-no! When did I ever! The Prince of the Stamili Empire doesn’t get scared by such things.”
“Haha! Of course. Our Prince is so brave that he would never be scared of a mere tiger.”
William, who was mumbling with his lips and gulping, stuck just his head out from under the blanket.
“Quickly, so what happened? Did it eat them?”
“No. It couldn’t eat them.”
“Why, why? You said it was hungry.”
I burst into a big smile at how he pulled down the blanket out of curiosity. What should I do, should I just tell him? Or it might be good to make a bet… Right. That’s what I’ll do.
“Hmm… Are you curious about the rest of the story?”
“What kind of question is that!”
The Prince got angry. It seemed like I shouldn’t tease him more, so I immediately attempted negotiation.
“I’ll tell you the rest of the story, so please promise to be a little kinder to the servants starting tomorrow.”
The Prince’s facial muscles twitched and his shoulders trembled. The Prince seemed to be trying to control his body’s state, shrugging his shoulders and hardening his expression.
My heart ached again at this behavior showing strong will not to fall for the temptation of the fairy tale.
How scared must he be for a young child to refuse the candy placed before him and choose survival instead?
I know you’re acting mean, so I was about to say that you don’t need to act like that anymore, when William sat up on the bed. Then he let out a long sigh. Then he began watching my reactions again.
He was probably bothered that a Prince had sighed in front of a lowly Omega. I pretended not to notice. William hardened his expression again and spoke to me.
“Y-you cunning Omega! How dare you order the Prince around like this!”
His speech was awkward beyond belief. He wants to become friends… He wants to make a good impression on me and hear lots of interesting stories… but his inner thoughts that he can’t because of his bad situation were dripping from every expression and action.
I firmly grasped the Prince’s hand and spoke with emphasis on every word.
“Your Highness, lowly me was wrong. So Your Highness must teach me. What exactly was so wrong about my request to be treated kindly?”
William’s face began trembling again.
“Th-that is… anyway, it’s not allowed.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
