“Are you okay?”

Delrina hurriedly rushed over to the fallen Ashud to check his condition. Although he had quickly released his ability, his complexion was poor due to the immense energy he had exerted. Moreover, blood still seeped from the vicinity of his shoulder.

‘I need to stop the bleeding.’

She tried to quickly cover it with cloth, but the wound had already opened significantly. As if sensing her distress, Ashud softly spoke.

“It’s useless. That won’t do anything.”

“What do you mean, ‘won’t do’? Just wait.”

Scanning the surroundings quickly, Delrina approached a fallen man. She thought he might have something to stop the bleeding. And her guess was correct. The man had a small pouch.

“Found it!”

Inside the pouch were a few bottles of medicine, along with needles and thread. Delrina’s face turned serious. It could either be a healing medicine or an analgesic, but there was also a chance it could be poison. Without any knowledge about medicine, she couldn’t take the risk.

‘If I can’t use the medicine, all that’s left is the needle and thread…’

Needles and thread had an obvious purpose, but it was something Delrina couldn’t do. As she pondered while examining the pouch, Ashud’s eyes blinked slowly, as if he was about to lose consciousness. Startled, Delrina rushed back to him.

“No! Wake up! You can’t close your eyes now!”

“Quiet. Either way… I never said I wanted to live that much.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to live? If it’s about being recognized as royalty, you’re already more than worthy!”

Though Ashud spoke nonchalantly, his weakening voice alarmed Delrina further.

“I know you protected me with all your might even when you said you didn’t want to live.”

“…”

“You have a duty as royalty to govern and protect the citizens. In that sense, you’re already a royal, no, you’re the next emperor I acknowledge. Even more than someone who’s shaking in fear of what his own grandson might do!”

At Delrina’s words, a spark returned to Ashud’s eyes. Simultaneously, the corners of his mouth lifted.

“I never thought I’d receive such recognition from you.”

“…”

“I don’t find it as unpleasant as I thought.”

With a peaceful face, Ashud slowly closed his eyes.

“Thank you.”

After uttering those words, Ashud’s lips no longer moved. Delrina quickly pressed her ear to his chest.

‘His breathing is still there.’

He was still breathing, but if the bleeding didn’t stop, it was dangerous.

‘But how do I, how can I…’

Just as she clenched her hand around the needle and thread, a new window appeared before her eyes.

“!”

Her mouth gaped at the subsequent text.

‘Rewards?’

Before she could fully understand what the word “rewards” meant, another window popped up, making her mouth open wider.

Obsession, affection, tenderness.

At the base level, these keywords didn’t differ from abilities she had seen thus far. But the characters that followed were different.

Obsessive girl, affectionate girl, tender girl.

‘Could it be…’

Last but not least, Delrina could see it. Etched newly above the names of other children was ‘Delrina.’

“……!”

Seeing her own name newly displayed, Delrina promptly clicked on the keyword and lifted the needle and thread high.

‘I can do this, I can do this.’

As the keyword floated above Delrina’s head, she threaded the needle. Her hands moved incredibly fast.

“Ashud, Ashud!”

“Umm…”

“Are you conscious?”

How much time had passed? Just as Ashud’s eyes started to open, someone called out to him again. Into Ashud’s gradually clearing vision entered Grace’s face.

“…Aunt?”
“Yes, Ashud. Auntie.”

Upon seeing Ashud awake, tears suddenly filled Grace’s eyes. Ashud, momentarily stunned, sat up.

“How did Auntie come here… No, where is this place?”

He had thought for sure he was dead, but found himself still alive. Then, feeling the pain near his shoulder, Ashud looked down to see that it was tightly bandaged.

“Don’t get up so quickly. You haven’t been treated for long.”

“But still…”

Ashud looked bewilderedly at Grace, who was restraining him, his expression one of utter confusion. Grace seemed to read Ashud’s thoughts and answered.

“Delina Yeongae treated you urgently. She stitched up your wounds.”

“Delina… that girl?”

“Yes. Even doctors would be surprised at how cleanly she did it.”

At that, Ashud felt around the vicinity of his shoulder in amazement. The wound that was ragged before was now firmly bound by bandages.

“Where is she now?”

“She’s resting in another room. She was also found unconscious, but they say she wasn’t hurt.”

“…”

“You should thank her later. She’s the Yeongae who saved you.”

After a moment of silence, Ashud seemed to finally realize where he was.

“But Auntie, you shouldn’t be here. This is the Duke’s house, if Grandfather finds out…!”

“Don’t worry. The maids and servants helped me sneak out of the room. Getting to the Duke’s house was made possible by Belrion. So it should be okay for a day.”

“Even the maids and servants…”

“Yes. They all helped me without knowing the full situation, just hearing that you were in danger. They all wish for your safety.”

“…”

Ashud clenched his lips for a moment at Grace’s words, then asked.

“Auntie, do you not resent me?”

“…”

“I know you refused marriage to protect me. And… I know another reason. A reason that involves the Duke and you…”

“No, it’s absolutely not that, Ashud.”

Grace tightly held Ashud’s hand.

“I am here not because you are my brother’s son, or because I, as a princess, have to protect the imperial grandson. I chose to be by your side because I want to be near Ashud, the person you are.”

While stroking Ashud’s hair, Grace smiled.

“As for Belrion… well, neither of us has talked about marriage. He probably hasn’t thought about it, being such a free spirit. We aren’t even meeting now.”

“…”

“Ah, Belrion asked me to give you this.”

Saying so, Grace placed a dagger next to Ashud. Recognizing it as the dagger he had brought to the Duke’s house, Ashud’s shoulders twitched.

“It’s fine. I told him the situation. And he said this.”

“What…”

“If you can become an emperor strong enough to kill him, then it would be okay to earnestly cross swords.”

Ashud stared at the dagger beside his hand for a long time.

“Of course, this is not forcing you to become an emperor. Even if you don’t, even if you’re not the imperial grandson, you’re still my beloved nephew and family.”

“Family…”

Ashud quietly murmured the word. Grace hugged Ashud and said,

“Whatever you do, our Ashud will become a person who is both tender and strong.”

“…”

“I know that well.”

Grace’s embrace was so warm and comforting that tears filled Ashud’s eyes. For a while, he simply remained in her embrace.

“And if it’s too painful to return to the palace, I’ll ask Belrion to let you stay here for a while.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of backing down before Grandfather. Or shall we leave the palace and live somewhere quiet, just the two of us?”

“Without any servants?”

“Of course. I can clean and cook, you know.”
“Well, I don’t know about other things, but for cooking, getting a servant to do it….”

“No. Of course, there were some trial and error, but I can totally do it well.”

At Grace’s words, Ashud awkwardly curled the corners of his mouth and opened his mouth.

“No. I will go to the palace with you as well.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It might even be better to be inside the palace. Plus, with people watching, it will be more difficult for you to do anything to me in the palace. You care a lot about others’ gaze.”

“That might be true, but….”

“And I have my aunt and other people to protect me.”

This time, Ashud reached out his arms to embrace Grace. Initially startled by Ashud’s never-before-seen behavior, Grace soon returned a warm smile and embraced him back.