Flower of Steel

Even when he said that he respected me, those words that came out made me feel awkward. However, his kind eyes were on me, so I just nodded, “Thank you.”

“No need. I haven’t done anything yet.”

What did he mean by that? He’s good at talking with unknown intentions quite often. Of course, he can say he hasn’t done anything for me. There’s no need for such a perfect man to do something for me anyway. It’s not like his flower was damaged.

“Let’s go. You were on your way to the palace, right? I’ll protect you from all danger.”

I saw the image of a trusty knight from his proud stance. He’s a precious person who respects, protects, and values me. That’s why I don’t want him to be harmed because of me. He’s my beloved friend.

Yes, a friend. Although he reminds me of my first love, he’s a friend I can talk to with different emotions. I only want him to see my good sides and be friendly with him. That’s why I don’t want him to take my burden.

“We’re here,” announced Rian.

We were already at the palace while I was busy with my complicated thoughts. “Thank you for that,” I said.

Rian made a bit of a restrained smile. Then, he bowed politely and replied, “You’re most welcome. Go on now.”

I walked toward the Crown Prince’s office. Just like always, the door opened, and he looked at me. As always, he spoke to me. My thoughts ended as I saw the uncaring purple eyes staring at me. It was a different feeling from when I saw Rian and Rave’s eyes. I thought I could forget all my thoughts, hardships, and suffering by being mesmerized by those purple-colored eyes.

‘It’s said that purple is the color of a demon. Why am I reminded of that?’

“What are you doing? Go ahead and hand over your report.”

I frowned at the Crown Prince’s yet again cold words and handed him the document. Then I told him, “It’s a list of locations for the embankments, Your Highness.”

After looking at the report for quite a while, the Crown Prince brought up his purple eyes to look at me and asked, “This place. Who suggested this?”

A smile came to me as I saw where he was pointing his finger. Keharen River is a river that penetrates through Genorium and Azar. It was one of the most valuable water supplies. There’s a potential diplomatic issue that might arise when the embankments are built on that river, so everyone was worried. However, I knew that there was an internal feud between Azar’s king and its chieftains, so I insisted on that spot. It was the Chancellor, the highest-ranking official of our Internal Affairs, who agreed with my choice.

“It was me.”

He then touched his chin and smiled, “Good work. Azar is in the middle of internal warfare, so they won’t have the room to care about it. You didn’t miss even the slightest of details, did you?”

I felt proud of his compliments. That’s when he told me, “But I wonder why you missed that?”

“Pardon,” I asked. What did I miss? I looked at him with such thoughts.

He laughed as he looked at me and responded, “So stupid.”

It certainly didn’t feel good to be called stupid without knowing the reason, so I asked, “What did miss that made me hear such words? I don’t understand.”

I glared at him with a frown. He looked at me with a weird expression for a long time and answered, “You don’t need to think about it if you don’t get it. There’s nothing more foolish than thinking about something that you don’t need to hold on to.”