Chapter 31
I ran away.
I had dealt with people who went mad and rampaged before, but I had never met someone so delicately crazy like him.
Fortunately, Saren let me go without resistance.
After returning home, I decided not to even think about the Third Prince’s palace for a while and just stay put.
But Saren was crazier than I had imagined.
The next day, a letter arrived at my home.
Along with the letter was chocolate from a famous dessert shop.
“I heard you like sweet things. I bought this from a dessert shop I often visit because I thought of you. Enjoy it.”
The Duke saw the letter and exploded with anger, tearing it apart right then and there.
I ate the apple the Duke had peeled for me, glancing at the scattered pieces of the torn letter on the floor.
“Kids these days! So naive, barely out of their teens!”
It was the first time I’d seen the Duke so furious.
He shouted at Orwell.
“Of course, Ariel is cute.”
“That’s right. She’s the most lovable in the world.”
Orwell quickly echoed the Duke’s words.
“Besides, among kids her age, who else has that much grace? I’ve never seen someone so calm and thoughtful.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
“Also, how excellent are her sword skills?”
“She’s too precious for a prince who can’t even use magic to be interested in.”
“Even if that guy becomes Emperor, our daughter is more precious! Who else is as perfect as her?”
“That’s right, sir.”
The Duke of Clasta approached me and grabbed my shoulder, speaking seriously.
“The Third Prince is out of the question.”
I expected the Duke of Clasta to say that.
He wouldn’t just stand by if his heir was to be tied to the powerless Third Prince.
‘The Duke’s got ambitions, too.’
“The Third Prince is a no-go. Understand?”
“Yes.”
I nodded, and the Duke smiled with satisfaction.
“Good. I’ll find you someone better looking, more capable, and with a better personality. By the way, I heard you’re betting on winning against the daughter of Duke Vianeb?”
The Duke smiled proudly.
“Our daughter can definitely handle that. No one else dares to say they’ll win.”
“That’s right, sir! Even if Duke Vianeb’s daughter is talented, our lady is a genius with the sword!”
“Exactly. But who dares to challenge our daughter…”
The Duke’s mood darkened, and Orwell quickly asked.
“Shall we take care of them?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll win anyway.”
I didn’t want to bother the Duke unnecessarily.
The Duke seemed pleased with my answer.
“Then we must prepare some nourishing food for our daughter. And if she wins, let’s have a cake to celebrate.”
“Wow.”
That evening, I was served chicken soup filled with all kinds of rare and precious elixirs.
Meanwhile, I had completely forgotten about Saren.
But the madman’s antics were far from over.
The next day, Saren sent ten boxes of candy.
The Duke distributed them to the servants and bought new candy.
The following day, flowers enough to fill the whole house arrived.
The Duke used them all as firewood.
Then, the next day, Saren sent jewelry as a gift.
The Duke sent Saren a check and paid for it instead.
After that, things quieted down for a while.
The Duke smiled contentedly.
“That arrogant guy must have finally realized his place and given up.”
A week later, Saren sent only a single letter.
When I opened it, there was a land deed for an estate owned by Saren.
‘He really is crazy.’
The imperial crest stamped at the end of the deed proved it was genuine.
If Saren inherited this land, it must be one of the estates passed down to the royal family.
Though small in scale, it was enough land to live comfortably for life.
But why send such a precious land deed by mail?
What if someone intercepted it on the way?
Receiving the deed, which was basically Saren’s entire fortune, made my head spin.
“My lady, should you just eat this up?”
The Duke laughed.
“After all, since he gave it to you, the Third Prince can’t say anything. And even if he did, so what? The Clasta family wants it.”
The Duke was smiling, but a deadly aura simmered behind him.
If it weren’t for the Third Prince, he might have already stormed Saren’s place.
‘Why on earth is he doing this to me?’
I sighed lightly and folded the letter.
“If you want it, I’ll talk to the Emperor on your behalf.”
“No, I’ll return it.”
Saren was crazy, but not a bad person.
He must be having a hard time already, pushed around this way and that.
I couldn’t just greedily accept his fortune.
‘Didn’t he get any economic education? Or does the Third Prince have more assets than the Duke’s family knows?’
I thought hard, but guessing the madman’s thoughts was no easy task.
‘I should go ask him what he’s thinking.’
Every time the Duke saw a servant sent by Saren, he looked as if he was wondering whether killing them would be considered treason.
If this kept up, I worried the Duke’s stress would explode at any moment.
If that happened, I’d probably get caught in the fallout.
It seemed better to just meet and settle things at once.
I wrote a letter saying I would visit the palace, and in just a few hours, a reply came.
Though long and verbose, the summary was ‘You’re always welcome.’
Such an item wouldn’t be good for the heart to hold onto for long.
The next day, I packed my letter and headed to Saren’s palace.
Saren’s palace was small and remote, but well maintained.
‘They say he’s cared for under the Empress, huh? It’s pretty neat.’
At least it didn’t look like the Empress was treating him harshly.
The Empress was probably too busy fighting with the Empress Dowager to bother mistreating Saren, who couldn’t even use magic.
Besides, if Saren got on the Empress’s bad side or lost favor with the Emperor, it would only hurt him.
“Welcome. I’ve been waiting.”
Saren greeted me with a bright smile.
“I’m here to return this letter. Why on earth did you send something like this?”
“I thought maybe you’d give me an answer. And to see your face in person. Looks like it worked?”
I had indeed been chewing over Saren’s letters, so I didn’t have much to say.
“Anyway. I’ll give this back to you.”
“Why? You can just keep it.”
“No, it’s too nerve-wracking for me to accept. And I’d prefer if you don’t send gifts anymore.”
“You didn’t like them?”
That wasn’t true.
The candies and flowers all showed careful attention.
“I just… feel burdened.”
“You can do that much for someone you like.”
I was determined to keep up that lie.
“I don’t like you, Your Highness.”
“I know. So I have to do better. They say if you really like someone, you lose. If you really hate it, I won’t do it…”
He glanced at me cautiously.
“You’re not really mad at me, are you?”
“No, not really…”
He was a bit awkward as a madman, but I didn’t hate him.
“Anyway, it’s a burden, so please don’t send them.”
“Hmm, then can I still write letters?”
“As long as you don’t say you like me.”
“Okay!”
Saren smiled as if he were truly happy.
I didn’t know exactly what he wanted from me, but his act was pretty natural.
At that moment, a servant entered the room.
“Your Highness, it’s time for your medicine.”
“Oh, is it already that time?”
The medicine the servant brought was yellow and smelled strange.
‘That is…’
Having endured torture and various medicines in the dragon’s lab, I quickly recognized what it was.
Saren took the medicine from the servant’s hand.
Before I could react, his hand moved first.
Clink!
He knocked over the cup holding the medicine.
“Sorry. There was a bug. You can’t have bugs in your medicine.”
“It’s alright. Luckily, it didn’t get on my clothes.”
The servant cleaned up and left to prepare new medicine.
While the servant was gone, I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t take that.”
The medicine Saren almost took was a magic suppressant made from a plant called Crapta from a distant land.
Crapta, when ingested, can put one into a death-like catatonic state for about 12 hours.
Mixed with other herbs, it becomes a perfect magic suppressant that blocks the flow of magic.
However, it is rare and expensive in the empire and dangerous if taken for long periods, as it can damage the magic system and cause death.
I heard the Third Prince was naturally unable to use magic.
That condition wasn’t common, but to rely on medicine?
‘Who started giving this to him? The Empress?’
Saren was a bit weird, but he basically showed goodwill toward me.
‘He was the only one who bet on me during the contest.’
I didn’t want to see someone like him suddenly die on the street.
When I explained the medicine, Saren’s eyes widened, then he smiled broadly.
“I thought you hated me.”
“It’s not like I hate you enough to want to see you die.”
Knowing that he almost drank poison, Saren remained calm.
“Did you… know?”
He said with the same unchanged smile on his face.
“Yeah. I knew.”
