Silent Witch-CH23: I Want to Be By Your Side

“Honestly… Don't give me such a scare.”

“Sorry, Chiffone.” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

After that, once Prince Yuma confirmed I had calmed down, I returned to my own residence.

Chiffone, who had been silent until now, began to talk as if a dam had broken the moment we reached the room. I apologized honestly. Sorry, it seems I made you endure quite a lot.

“What kind of day was today, anyway? Things were just too intense. I understand Prince Yumanova's character less and less, the royals are all a ridiculous bunch, and the servants are full of problems. Isn't Sir Brian the only decent one?”

Huh? So her opinion of him hasn't changed. Well, it's not like anything was done to Sir Brian. Maybe he just exposed a little too much of the inner workings to us?

But Prince Yuma didn't do anything wrong. I'll fully admit that the people around him are ridiculous, though.

“Prince Yuma is a good person. I truly understood that today. He was even lenient with that man Neville, the one who's trying to kill him.”

“He’s too lenient. For starters, it's strange that Prince Yumanova is doing all of His Highness Lenanino's work. And what's this about his ex-fiancée being pregnant? Allie, don't you have any thoughts about that?”

—I do. I really, really do.

I had heard from Sir Brian that there was a reason for the previous broken engagement, but I never imagined the other party was pregnant.

“From the way he was talking, it's not Prince Yuma's child, right?”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Chiffone's eyes flew open and she got angry.

“Of course not. Were you actually doubting that?”

I couldn't help but apologize in the face of her intensity.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s not like that, I was just, you know, confirming?”

When I tilted my head again, she gave me an exasperated look. I'm truly sorry.

“…Allie, what do you think of Prince Yumanova?”

Suddenly, Chiffone asked me that with a serious expression.

“Why?”

When I tilted my head again, she straightened it for me. Ouch.

“I thought you were attached to him. But seeing you accept what he said as his fiancée so naturally, both at the tea party and today, it seemed to me that you had feelings for him… Do you really like him?”

“I do like him. He’s a good person.”

When I nodded readily, Chiffone shook her head, as if to say that's not what she meant.

“Not that kind of ‘like.' I mean, between a man and a woman… I'm asking if you like him enough that you think you could truly marry him if things stayed as they are?” Ɽ𝔞𐌽ö฿Ës

“…I don’t really know. Because it doesn't seem to me that Prince Yuma wants that.”

I answered Chiffone like that while looking toward Tinn. Tinn had a troubled expression, too.

Actually, Tinn has gone to see Prince Yuma without me several times. She extinguishes her light so she won't be noticed.

It seems Prince Yuma spends his time in silence when indoors. Well, I suppose so. It would be a little scary if he were endlessly talking to himself. But from his usual demeanor, I felt that it wasn't strange for him to be that way. It might be rude, but I thought he was someone who wasn't very conscious of his surroundings.

But in reality, it seems he spends most of his time reading or writing something when no one is watching. The sight of him studying diligently seems to be what the real Prince Yuma is like.

And his kindness to women is apparently just him striking up conversations, and he does that for things like checking for suspicious individuals or gathering information.

It seems such things were written on the papers Prince Yuma writes for his private use.

And he is gentle with everyone, but especially considerate to those of lower status.

I don't think there's any need for him to do such things as a royal, but I kind of understood from Sir Brian's words today. The royals are feared. It's the same reason people don't approach the separate palaces they've each been given. Prince Yuma probably wants to overturn that sentiment.

This isn't about his ex-fiancée, but I feel an incredible fondness for his actions of trying to protect the weak.

But Prince Yuma's actions are still a mystery. I truly can't see what he thinks of me. I understand he's genuinely trying to protect me from Lord Jumelba. But as for whether that's a romantic feeling, like what Chiffone was talking about… I hesitate to judge, especially since he said we could easily break off the engagement.

I can't get carried away on my own. That would just get in Prince Yuma's way.

As I struggled for an answer, Chiffone let out a sigh.

“Indeed, in Prince Yumanova's actions, while he does dote on Allie, it doesn't seem like he ultimately wants that. How should I put it… it feels like the way one dotes on a younger sister?”

“Am I that childish?”

I was shocked by the words, which implied I wasn't being seen as a woman. Gasp. It was a story for a time before marriage.

“No, no. It’s not about you, Allie, it's about Prince Yumanova's attitude. It's like, how do I put it… he doesn't feel like a sixteen-year-old boy. Sir Brian even said so, didn't he? That Her Majesty Queen dotes on Prince Yumanova. Sometimes he feels much older. In a country where most of the men tend to seem childish, he feels like the one adult. Perhaps everyone around him naturally senses that mature aura of his and is unconsciously leaning on him.”

At Chiffone's words, I found myself nodding, thinking that might be true.

Prince Yuma is complained to, but he never gets angry. He accepts it. Perhaps the people around him naturally feel that sense of security.

But if that's the case, then Prince Yuma…

“He’s pitiful. Being relied on so much by everyone, without even realizing he's acting that way himself, until one day he's just buried under the burden. Where does he get to catch a break?”

“What’s even more pitiful is that the people around him don't even realize that.”

Chiffone and I felt a deep sympathy for Prince Yuma's extreme misery.

I pictured Prince Yuma, even now, silently working away in the castle.

The excellent sixteen-year-old second prince, scorned by those around him as a womanizer, shouldering all the work of the royals by himself, and with his life targeted by the followers of His Highness Lenanino.

Out of kindness, he took the fall for the broken engagement with his ex-fiancée to protect her, only for that person's secret to be casually exposed by a third party.

Huh? Could it be that Prince Yuma has a pretty strong "pitiful character" attribute?

It seemed Chiffone and I had reached the same conclusion. We looked at each other.

“…I want to be as kind to Prince Yuma as I possibly can. Whether that's romantic love or not is another matter.”

“Yes, I think that’s fine, too. I think the feelings will come later, and more than anything, we need to stay by Prince Yumanova's side to escape from Lord Jumelba.”

It seemed our opinions were aligned. I decided in my heart that I would go to the castle tomorrow to see Prince Yuma as well.

I intend to stay by his side for a while—the serious, pitiful-character prince who seems carefree but is so dependable.

As if sensing my feelings, Tinn and the other fairies seemed to be happy about it.

It seems Prince Yuma is surprisingly popular with fairies, too, though he's the only one who doesn't know. And so it is.

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