What I Could Not Protect (2)
Kyaaang! Kyaaa—!
The cat thrashed desperately, its face twisted in terror. Its small body was covered in fresh scratches, though no one could say what had happened in the short time since it had been caught.
“Just you wait!”
The boys surrounding it showed no concern for the animal’s pain. They were young nobles who had never learned to show mercy to the weak. Having been taught power before morality, their ignorance made them all the more cruel.
“This time I’ll hit it for sure.”
The orange-haired boy took aim and hurled a stone with all his strength, but once again he missed. The cat’s frantic struggling had thrown off his throw, and the boy punched the empty air in frustration.
“Damn it! Seriously!”
Enraged that he had failed again, the boy marched toward the cat and reached for the rope binding it. The terrified animal refused to stay still. It lashed out with its claws, raking the boy’s face.
“Tie it tighter! Aaaagh!”
“What? What happened?”
“This wretched thing!”
The boy, now bleeding from fresh scratches, grabbed the cat in a fury, ready to slam it to the ground.
“Stop! Stoooop—!”
Emilia burst from the bushes, screaming. Tears welled in the young princess’s wide eyes.
“Don’t hurt the cat, you bully!”
She threw herself at the boy’s legs. He lost his balance and flailed, giving the cat just enough time to twist free and dart into the undergrowth.
“Stop! Stop it—!”
“Aagh, what the—?!”
The boys stared in disbelief at the sudden appearance of the little girl. Emilia had already sunk her teeth into the orange-haired boy’s calf.
“What’s going on?”
“She’s just a kid. Since when was there a child like that in the palace?”
“No idea. She’s not dressed like a servant.”
“Shouldn’t we help him?”
“Leave it. He can handle one brat.”
Then a cold, sharp voice cut through the air from behind them.
“What’s this?”
“Your Highness Lloyd!”
The boys bowed their heads as a figure stepped forward. The boy had curly brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Handsome, yet radiating an icy arrogance. His name was Lloyd Cataronian Ventrum, the Second Prince of the Ventrum Empire and the only son of the Second Empress.
Lloyd surveyed the scene with a blank expression before his gaze settled on Emilia. His eyes narrowed.
“…And who is this?”
“She came out of nowhere and ruined our game. Judging by her clothes, she’s no commoner, so we were unsure how to handle her.”
“Hmm.”
Lloyd turned away, then paused and looked back. His eyes sharpened as he studied Emilia more closely. A sly smile slowly curved his lips.
“I thought she looked familiar. She’s the spitting image of that useless fool.”
He gestured to two burly boys standing nearby.
“Bring her here.”
His voice carried an unmistakable note of delight.
“This should make for much more entertaining sport.”
* * *
Edwin’s face had gone deathly pale as he scanned the garden. Thanks to a passing guard who had seen which way Emilia ran, he at least had a direction to follow. Otherwise he might still have been standing there in a daze.
“Emilia! Emilia!”
The central garden was vast. Finding one small girl among the trees and hedges was no easy task.
He had been searching the undergrowth for some time when a familiar cry reached him.
“Waaah—!”
Emilia’s sobs came from just ahead. Edwin’s eyes widened.
“Emilia—!”
He sprinted toward the sound. Just as he was about to break through the bushes, a voice he knew all too well drifted to his ears.
“Why aren’t you shooting?”
Cold and indifferent, yet edged with cruelty.
Edwin knew the speaker better than anyone. Lloyd Cataronian Ventrum. His half-brother. The boy who had tormented him for years. The one responsible for the death of his first nanny, Emma.
Edwin’s clenched fists trembled.
You don’t have to worry. I’ll protect you.
He had said those words to Emilia just last night. He had promised to keep her safe.
So why couldn’t he move?
His little sister was crying right in front of him, yet his legs refused to obey. Only now did Edwin realize the truth.
He was terrified.
Lloyd’s presence was that overwhelming. It was enough to crush even Edwin’s fierce love for his sister in a single instant.
“Hah… hah…”
Edwin’s breathing grew ragged. Shame and anger burned inside him. Without realizing it, he had bitten the inside of his cheek; the metallic taste of blood spread across his tongue.
“Your Highness, even so, this is…”
The boy hesitating with the crossbow was none other than Gail.
“Why? What’s the difference between that cat and this worthless thing?”
Lloyd sat in the shade, lounging in a chair as he mocked Gail.
“B-but that’s a person, isn’t it?”
“A person?”
Lloyd snorted.
“A person should act like one first.”
“Waaah—! Put me down—!”
Lloyd glanced up at Emilia, dangling helplessly in the air, and sneered.
“All she can do is scream. To me, she looks no different from that animal earlier.”
“Y-Your Highness, this really isn’t—”
“If you won’t do it, give it here. I’ll handle it myself.”
Lloyd rose and snatched the crossbow from Gail’s hands. His blue eyes gleamed coldly.
“How noisy.”
He released the string without hesitation.
Thwack—
The bolt sliced through the air toward Emilia.
“No—!”
Edwin hurled himself forward.
Time seemed to stretch into eternity.
“Waaah—!”
At the sound of his sister’s cry, Edwin opened his eyes. Emilia’s face was right in front of him. Miraculously, she was unharmed.
“Waaah!”
Edwin forced himself to focus. He looked up at the rope swaying above them. The moment he had thrown himself at Emilia, the rope had snapped under their combined weight, causing Lloyd’s shot to miss.
Just as Edwin began to exhale in relief, a familiar voice drifted down from above.
“Well, well. Look who it is.”
Edwin slowly raised his head. His half-brother stood silhouetted against the sunlight, wearing that same unpleasant smile as always.
“…It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Y-Your Highness Lloyd.”
“So, Edwin. How have you been?”
The noble boys behind Lloyd snickered at the sight of Edwin sprawled in the dirt.
“Same as ever.”
“Once a Shabby Prince, always a Shabby Prince.”
“If someone didn’t know better, they’d think he was a beggar, not a prince. Did the other kids rough him up too?”
Edwin’s pale face flushed crimson with humiliation.
“What brings you here, anyway?”
“I… I came looking for my sister.”
“Sister? Since when did you have a sister?”
Lloyd raised an eyebrow, then clapped his hands as if he had just remembered.
“Ah, so that noisy little girl was your sister!”
He waved a hand dramatically, like an actor on stage.
“I thought she might be that cat’s kitten. Their fur color was the same, after all.”
Edwin’s fingers dug into the dirt.
Lloyd, who took such twisted interest in his blood relatives, would never have been unaware of Emilia’s existence.
But Emilia is the empire’s only princess before she is my sister.
Even if he himself could endure this treatment, Emilia never should.
“My apologies. If she’s your sister, then she’s my sister too. I was rude.”
Lloyd offered the apology with a face that showed not a shred of remorse, then extended his hand.
“Well? Are you going to stay down there? It’s unseemly for a prince to grovel in front of the servants.”
Edwin stared at the offered hand. Though pale, it was not soft—callused from years of sword training. Lloyd had long been hailed as a prodigy with the blade.
Unlike me, the incompetent one.
With resigned eyes, Edwin reached out. Lloyd rarely let him go so easily. He needed to take this chance and escape with Emilia as quickly as possible.
Just as Edwin grasped Lloyd’s hand and began to rise—
“Oppa—! Punish him! He tied me up with a rope and said he was going to kill me and hit me!”
Emilia’s indignant cry froze the air in the garden.
The smile vanished from Lloyd’s face in an instant.
Edwin looked at his sister in stunned silence. The noble boys around them had all fallen quiet, exchanging uneasy glances.
How dare she call the Second Prince “that guy.”
It was the kind of remark that could cost someone their life.
All eyes were fixed nervously on Lloyd when he finally spoke.
“It seems my only little sister is quite angry with her second brother.”
Yet Lloyd remained surprisingly calm—nothing like his usual self, who would sever limbs at the slightest offense.
He gestured to a nearby servant.
“You there. Bring some tea. I must offer my sister a cup as an apology.”
The servant quickly returned with a tray.
“Here. Take it. It’s an apology.”
Lloyd held the teacup out to Emilia, his smile utterly wicked.