Flower of Steel

I looked down at my cousin, who seemed confused by my words, then remembered an important person, who I had forgotten about.

“Wait- where’s His Highness-”

I felt like I was struck by lightning. Even if the Crown Prince was strong, it was evident that he would have been injured if he had come across multiple enemies. I was overwhelmed with bad thoughts, that maybe he was the target and that he was struck down.

“I have to find His Highness! I’ll go look for him!”

“W-wait!”

I left my cousin behind and got out of the room to find His Highness. Without knowing where to go, I ran. That’s when I found bloodstains on the ground. I didn’t know why, but I felt like the Crown Prince was at the end of this trail, so I followed the trail without thinking. When I came to, I saw the blood trails end at the balcony by the end of the corridor. I approached it nervously. I saw a faint figure of a man beyond the opaque glass door.

‘Can I go in?’

After a bit of hesitation, I made a decision. The attackers probably had retreated along with the man who seemed to be the leader. Even if the man beyond this door wasn’t the Crown Prince, if he was injured, then he needed help.

I opened the door carefully and saw the man covered in blood. The man, standing tiredly, realized someone was coming in and turned to look at me with cold purple eyes.

“You…?”

I looked at the surprised look on his face and became so shocked that I forgot what I was doing and quickly walked over to him. “Your Highness! The blood…! Are you alright?” It felt like my heart sank. How did he end up all bloody like this? “Are you hurt? We have to go see the doctor!”

The Crown Prince sighed at my question, then made a very faint smile that can only be witnessed when looked at very closely. “It’s fine. This isn’t my blood.”

He spoke with a kind voice, and his purple eyes made me feel weird. My heart began to pound again, which I hoped he couldn’t hear as I asked him questions. “There were intruders in the theater. Did you meet them as well?”

At my question, the Crown Prince’s cold expression returned. Then he nodded, “Yes, I did. Those insolent rats.”

Rats… That’s the word that describes the assassins. It made me realize one thing. “Those men… Were they after you?”

The Crown Prince didn’t agree nor disagree with my words and just looked at me. I couldn’t understand what that meant and was about to be filled with confusion when he opened his mouth again.

“Probably.”

I got a headache from that answer. I now realized why he couldn’t sleep. From the way those assassins moved or their bold attacks done in front of many people, they weren’t just some bandits. Who could they be? Why did they recklessly try to assassinate the Crown Prince? The Imperial Family was absolute within the Genorium. There have been war-crazed or violent emperors in the past, but even they were generous to their people, making them idolized within the empire. These people were like the sun itself. For them to be removed from their thrones and overthrown, the reasons had to be important.

‘But who had reasons to justify it?’

It was probably only possible if the attacker was in line to be the next successor. Having some random man replace the throne would raise conflict with both the people and the nobles. And with that said, the culprit was narrowed down by a large margin.