Chapter 2

Was this the scene that had been omitted from the original work? She actually asked Clara for help like that…

‘If she does that, there’s no way Clara won’t fall for it!’

My face even started to heat up. How would that prim princess have reacted?
Somehow I felt like I understood why Clara chose Daniel. I couldn’t justify causing chaos in the country, but still.
I froze and only blinked. He sighed again.

“Sigh… Princess?”

‘Could you do something about that breathing…!’

As that thought crossed my mind I opened my mouth, and my unease showed on my face.

“You’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you? Your breathing sounds rough…”
“Ah… they wouldn’t treat me… I lost blood and feel dizzy.”

He answered in a voice drained of energy, then sighed deeply again.

‘I feel like I should do something quickly.’

But no matter how much he asked, I couldn’t just release him on my own.
Thinking of the original story, Daniel isn’t the type to suddenly switch sides just because I freed him. For example, he might take me hostage—things like that.
But only I knew Daniel’s character; I didn’t want the controversy of “she freed the prisoner on a whim.”
So the decision I made was this.

“I’ll fetch a knight. Wait a moment.”
“Eh?”

Daniel looked puzzled. Had he expected me to set him free? He pressed his cheek to the bed and nodded obediently.

“Understood.”

I brought the knight who was guarding outside and ordered him to untie the rope. While he was unbinding Daniel I asked the maid to fetch the royal physician.
But the royal physician didn’t come.

“What did you say?”

The maid, Sarah, answered my question with an awkward expression.

“Well… the royal physician said he only attends to royalty by order of His Majesty…”

So he wouldn’t come. Only the royal family? I frowned slightly.

‘They simply don’t want to treat Daniel!’

This was clearly because of Bastian’s command. Otherwise the physician wouldn’t refuse me like that.
Instead, Sarah handed me a small box.

“He gave us medicine and bandages. He said to use these to treat him.”

‘Still, they should send a doctor.’

I let out an exasperated sigh. It was wrong from the start that the tyrant had kidnapped the male lead.
I turned my gaze to Daniel, who was slumped on the bed. Though I couldn’t undo the leg bindings, which would limit his walking, at least his hands were free now.
Daniel still looked exhausted. He blinked slowly while looking down. I no longer felt anything strange when looking at him.
Had I gotten used to it? I told the knight and Sarah:

“I’ll do it by myself. You two can leave.”

I sent Sarah out when she insisted on helping, and told the knight to wait outside. Now only the two of us remained in the room. Suddenly it occurred to me—

‘If I’m going to treat him I’ll have to remove some clothing, won’t I?’

I glanced at the door they had left through and awkwardly looked at Daniel. Daniel, seeing me, asked:

“Will the princess do it personally?”
“Yes. I can apply the medicine myself. The wounds are…”

Daniel immediately took off his shirt. His torso was revealed in an instant. My face flushed instantly.

‘I wasn’t used to it!’

If I hadn’t been holding the medicine box I would’ve covered my face with both hands. I was startled and bowed my head.

‘What should I do…?’

My heart was pounding wildly. I didn’t know what to do, and Daniel called to me.

“Princess?”
“Ah, yes!”

Then I saw the cuts on Daniel’s body. Only then did I fully come to my senses.

‘This is not the time for that…’

The wounds across his upper body looked very painful. They weren’t actively bleeding anymore, but they still looked bad.

‘He looks like he’s in so much pain—what am I doing right now?’

I scolded myself silently. I needed to focus on treatment right away. I sat on the edge of the bed and opened the box.

‘So simple.’

Antiseptic, ointment for wounds, and bandages. For the prince of an enemy nation, anything more would be a luxury, I supposed. Thinking of stingy Bastian, I pulled out the antiseptic.

“I’ll disinfect first.”
“Please do.”

He nodded weakly.

‘Goodness, look how pale his face is!’

I felt pity swell up. I had to treat him and let him rest. I hurriedly poured the antiseptic onto his shoulder.

“Ugh!”

He groaned as if it stung. I was surprised.

‘Did I pour too much?’

The wound was long so there was no avoiding some spilling—! I fretted and checked his complexion.

“Does it hurt a lot?”
“No… it’s fine.”

‘That “it’s fine” makes him look like he’s dying.’

Seeing him break out in a cold sweat, I started sweating nervously too. I applied the ointment as carefully as I could.

Sigh.

While applying the ointment, his breath escaped through his slightly parted lips, and my own breathing trembled in response.
He must be in a lot of pain, right? It must be unbearably painful.
My feelings felt strange; random thoughts kept popping into my head. Sorry, patient though he was, I wanted to give Daniel at least a handkerchief.
The groans… mixed with that appearance…!

‘I shouldn’t have insisted on doing this alone.’

I wrapped the bandages while suppressing those useless thoughts and shook my head to clear my mind.

‘Focus, focus. This person is a patient!’

“He didn’t lose much blood, though…”

Daniel spoke to me. When I looked at his face again, he was blinking slowly and then gave a small smile.

“Since I stayed awake for a long time, I’m not in good condition. Please forgive me.”
“Of course. I understand. You must be very sleepy—I’ll finish quickly.”

But what could I do?
We had barely finished one wound. I took out the antiseptic again to snap him back to full alertness. I poured it below his clavicle.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“Ugh!”

He clenched the white sheet with his hand.

The next morning. I was summoned by Bastian from early morning.

‘He doesn’t usually call me.’

At least in Clara’s memory that had been the case. He’d paid no attention to whether I was there or not. And now, before noon, he calls for me?
This had to be because of Daniel. After getting ready, I checked myself in the mirror.
Silver hair that shone brilliantly. Snow-white skin like a fairytale princess. The still-unfamiliar violet eyes blinked gently. Seeing the pure beauty in the mirror, I stepped back.

‘Too pretty.’

That’s why the appearance felt off. I thought it would take about a month to get used to this face, and left the room.
I went straight to Aguila Palace where Bastian stayed. He was waiting for me in the blue reception room.
When the steward confirmed my arrival he announced from outside the reception room.

“Your Majesty. Princess Clara has arrived.”
“Bring her in.”

I heard Bastian’s voice. The door opened and Bastian looked at me with a curious expression. He tapped the table across from him with the back of his hand and indicated it.

“Come sit here.”

His violet eyes shone—eyes like mine.
Had Bastian ever looked at Clara this way before? I can say with certainty: no.
Clara had never had anything to provoke his interest.
Anyway, this was probably all because of Daniel. I went and sat in front of him as he ordered. Before I even sat down Bastian asked:

“How is that fellow doing?”

Not even a name—he called him “that fellow” so familiarly. I sat and answered.

“He fell asleep right after I treated his wounds yesterday.”

Memories from yesterday came flooding back. I had planned to treat him and leave quickly, but somehow I ended up staying until he fell asleep.
Every time I poured the antiseptic he suffered. I fretted but carried on with the treatment. Thinking of Daniel in pain made me sigh involuntarily.

‘Does that antiseptic burn that much? Is it like some kind of acid?’

“That antiseptic is strong. It must have hurt terribly.”

As if he had been eavesdropping on my thoughts, Bastian said, then chuckled.

‘Ah, so that was your doing too.’

Only now did I realize. The tyrant of Verona had a meticulous streak in unnecessary things—he even selected strong antiseptic for the enemy prince.

“Sire, wouldn’t it be better to send a physician at least once?”

I asked the smiling Bastian. He raised one eyebrow.

“Why would I?”
“Because my treatment wasn’t perfect. If the wound gets infected…”

I said it nervously, and he snorted with a derisive laugh.

“What’s that to me.”

Am I really talking to the king of a country? It felt like speaking to a grade-schooler rather than a monarch.

‘Even if he’s not here to stay on the throne long, should I be lining up with someone else…?’

I wondered if I should switch allegiances now, but decided to try to persuade him first.

“Think about when he returns to the Empire. Wouldn’t it be better to provide basic care and treat him as a guest?”
“What? I won’t let him go—how could he go back?”

The moment I brought it up, Bastian’s face turned fierce. He already looked mean, and this made him even more frightening. I asked cautiously.

“Was there a special reason you kidnapped him?”
“Well… I didn’t particularly think about it.”

‘You just kidnapped him for no reason?’

My mouth dropped open before I noticed. I spoke again.

“If the prince escapes and returns to the Empire…”
“How could he escape? I boarded up the windows so there’s no way out. I removed anything that could be used as a weapon from the room.”

Only then did I understand why Daniel’s room had been so bare. Bastian had feared Daniel would turn anything within reach into a weapon. Typical of him—anything could become a weapon in his hands.
He’d even boarded up the big window, leaving just enough light while preventing anyone from slipping out. The princess’s chamber had quickly become a dismal cell.

“He won’t get out. Not unless someone helps him.”

Bastian told me flatly. Then he tilted his head to one side and tossed out a comment.

“Why would you help him? I heard you even untied his hands?”