Chapter 6

“Third Prince! Calm down. You can’t close your eyes now, Your Majesty!”

Diana, with a face as white as Cayden’s, sat down urgently and checked his condition.

Even the condition she saw in prison just before his death was not like this.

Her heart sank involuntarily at the sight of him breathing so harshly as if he was about to stop breathing at any moment.

She stroked Cayden’s face with her trembling hands.

That was then.

“The voice… Gasp.”

Cayden, who had been breathing heavily with a white, tired face, suddenly opened his mouth.

“Lower your voice… Damn it. If someone hears it…”

Cayden struggled to somehow keep his eyes open, squeezing his voice out sparsely.

But Diana was so engrossed in his mana that she felt around Cayden that she didn’t listen to him.

‘What…’

Can a single human body handle such a massive amount of magical power?

‘Nonsense.’

In fact, the magical energy surrounding Cayden was raging madly, as if it were angry that its owner could not handle it and collapsed.

From time to time, she could see Cayden licking his lips painfully, holding back his groan, with each surge of power.

‘It wasn’t like this before, was it?’

‘Mana’ was a force that existed everywhere in this world.

All humans are born with a certain amount of magical power in their body.

A person with a great amount was able to do many things using their mana, and the mana will replenish like water over time.

However, there is an innate difference in the amount of magical power that each person can hold in their body.

The more magical power it contained, the more likely it was that a contract with a higher spirit would be concluded.

Cayden was a high-level light elementalist that appeared for the first time in several hundred years.

Even before his return, if he hadn’t lost his life to Rebecca, he was a person who had so much magical power that he could even try to make a contract with the Elemental King someday.

However, Cayden at that time did not contain this vast amount of mana.

A sense of intimidation comparable to that of humans when confronted with a huge and majestic nature.

Even Diana, who had magical powers comparable to that of Cayden, was pressed by the energy and her fingertips trembled faintly.

“How the hell did you come…?”

Diana woke up belatedly to the sound of Cayden’s voice mixed in with his gasps.

As she quickly regained her sanity, she tried to get up.

“The users are looking for the prince. Right now, the imperial palace-”

“No.”

But the moment she tried to get up, Cayden reached out like a lightning bolt and grabbed the hem of her sleeve.

“Don’t bring anyone… Hah.”

The grip on the hem of her sleeve was terribly strong, unlike that of a sick person.

Before Diana could even think of something, she groaned silently as she understood why he was saying that.

‘Ah.’

He survived like this.

So desperately…

“Huh…”

Occasionally, he spat out moans that he could not swallow, and it hurted.

He doesn’t let go of the hem of her sleeve that he’s still holding onto with his hand.

She felt like crying for some reason.

“…I see.”

Even though Diana’s heart seemed to be crushed, she remembered the strange sensation she felt at her fingertips the last time she ran into him in the back alley, and opened her mouth low.

She took a deep breath as she looked down at Cayden’s hands, which were scattered haphazardly.

‘Will it be the same this time?’

She didn’t know if it’ll still feel the same way now, even when his magical powers are rampant.

It would be better than just looking at it without trying anything.

“I won’t call anyone. I won’t even tell anyone.”

At Diana’s words, Cayden looked up at her, his eyes squinted through his hair, wet from the cold sweat. He had a very confused look on his face.

Diana said softly, moving her head down as if she was avoiding his gaze.

“Instead of that.”

As much as she was the one who drove him to death before.

“Please don’t push me away.”

The moment she whispered as if begging and grabbed his hand.

Just like the last time, a feeling of warmth enveloped through the body spread from the fingertips.

~*~

“Please don’t push me away…”

While his eyes were blurry, a watery whisper flowed into his ears, and at the same time, the pain that seemed to tear his chest subsided slightly.

Cayden reflexively opened his eyes. His vision, which had been clouded by the pain, became slightly clearer.

‘What…’

He couldn’t help but feel that the pain, which had only gotten worse day by day after his first seizure, had diminished even in the slightest bit.

[What the hell is the cause?! A person who is in imperial court was not able to find out a single disease name?]

[The diagnosis said that it was because His Majesty’s innate skills are so excellent…]

[Stop spewing nonsense!]

On the days when seizures came, he would always hear the cries of the 3rd dead empress in his ears.

The third empress did not know the name of his illness, and she reproached the imperial court countless times saying that his body seemed to have a great temperament to restore her magical powers.

But Cayden knew what she was saying was not true.

The fact that Cayden was born with her abilities was more than a human body could handle.

Whether it should be called misfortune or fortunate, the imperial palace personally felt sorry for the weak third prince.

[This should never get into the ears of the First Empress Dowager.]

She was well aware of the circumstances of the imperial palace, so she also knew that if the First Empress knew about this, she would try to get rid of Cayden, who was noted for being gifted.

And finally, the imperial court cut off her visits to the 3rd Prince.

~pls read only at pinkmuffintl~

It was her own consideration to keep the third prince from being seen by the First Empress.

And from that day on, Cayden was always alone with every seizure.

There was no one by his side, even when he bit the sheets in a cold sweat that made the bed sheets moist and he couldn’t even breathe in the end.

And his mother, the 3rd Empress, died not long after.

But…

[I won’t call anyone. I won’t even tell anyone.]

[Instead of that.]

[Please don’t push me away.]

Beyond the blurred vision was like a misty air.

Cayden couldn’t understand why a woman who felt somehow familiar was talking with such a pathetic voice.

“Rest now.”

But his thoughts were interrupted again by the warm hand that covered his eyelids.

“I’ll stay by your side.”

‘Who are you?’

For the first time in his life, he felt as if he had returned to where he should be.

‘I think I saw her somewhere…’

Finally, with a strange sense of dizziness, Cayden fell into a dark slumber.

~*~

It was only a few hours later that Cayden came to his senses.

He opened his eyes as if struck by lightning and jumped up. The movement shook the bushes and made a rustling sound.

‘…That woman…?’

Cayden got up hastily and looked around. But the surroundings were quiet.

‘What did she look like?’

Kayden frowned, trying to bring his memory back.

However, he only had a sense of familiarity, but because his vision was blurred by his pain, he couldn’t remember her exact appearance.

“Damn it.”

He chewed on the swear words and walked briskly.

Even a close friend didn’t know that he had seizures on a regular basis.

Only the deceased third empress and the former imperial court aide who had recently followed her to the death door knew this.

‘I have to find her.’

He didn’t know who the woman was, but he would be in danger if news of him having periodic seizures reached the ears of the First Empress.

Due to the assassins who came to him at every moment, he was always going through a hurdle.

[Instead of that.]

[Please don’t push me away.]

At that moment, a woman’s voice suddenly came to mind.

After a moment’s pause, Cayden shook his head, trying to shake her voice away, and quickly walked towards the palace.

“My lord! Where the hell did you come from?”

Patrasche, who was still searching around the Palace of the Third Prince, found Cayden and ran to him.

He spat out all the words as if pouring out his worries.

“Do you know how much time has passed since the appointment? What if Susfield’s daughter just went away! If we miss this opportunity, we will be effectively bankrupt!”

“I will go now. Rather, go get the list of noble girls who entered the Imperial Palace today. The deadline is until I come back.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Go.”

Cayden tapped Patrasche’s shoulder and quickly walked towards the central garden.

As he glanced up at the sky, the sunset was slowly setting down.

‘I want to go back.’

Patrasche was mobilizing people to find him, so it seemed that the woman’s movements could not be confirmed.

Cayden jumped lightly and entered the central garden.

‘I thought you were waiting in the garden.’

As he looked around, picking his breath, he noticed a familiar color in his eye on one side and stopped breathing for a moment.

The woman with pale pink hair was sitting on the grass with her knees together and looking up at the sky.

Her long hair fluttered in her wind. She turned her head as if feeling his sudden presence, and looked towards Cayden.

Her subtle blue-violet eyes widened in surprise, and then she lowered her head.

Cayden met her gaze as if somehow possessed by her.

‘…That person.’

Then the woman smiled and opened her mouth.

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