Chapter 12

The emperor, who saw black hair and black eyes, was reluctant to go near him.

“I… Why did I save you?”

“You can ask me that.”

‘I don’t know. Shouldn’t I be asking?’ Sirius’ expression changed subtly at my answer.

‘But why did you really save me? With Sirius’ personality, he wouldn’t care if someone died right in front of him.”

But I couldn’t worry too long about Sirius.

“Eh, eh, achoo!”

It was incredibly cold. Even though it was spring, the temperature dropped sharply because it was night. I’m so wet that even if the wind blows a little, my body shivers!

Sirius walked in front of the pond. I reached out to see if he would help, but he stared at my hand. Still dry eyes.

“Why did I help you.”

It was no longer a question. If I wasn’t in a position where I had to ask for help, I’d have already shouted ‘What should I do!’ a hundred times. Patience. I have to put up with this.

Sirius grew up like a beast until he met Helios.

The empress hated Sirius, so she kept him in the most remote part of the palace and raised him as if she were breeding stock. When Helios learned of Sirius’ existence, he rescued him and taught him language and manners.

‘I don’t think he’s learned manners yet.’

Helios didn’t even know he had a brother. At the age of 10, he was full of curiosity, and while exploring the Imperial Palace, he went to Sirius’ palace, and was shocked to see Sirius unattended like a beast.

Helios, feeling sympathy and guilt at the same time for his younger brother who was not treated like a human because of his beloved mother, persuaded the empress. Of course, he did not appeal to the empress for sympathy, but because the empress was concerned about her public reputation, his action stimulated a response.

The fact that Sirius simply existed could not be hidden forever, so he needed a basic education before entering the academy. The empress had originally planned to kill Sirius before Helios knew, but she changed her mind. Helios noticed her feeling of guilt towards Sirius and took advantage of it.

‘It’s a game of deceit between mother and son.’

Anyway, it wasn’t Sirius’ growth that mattered now. I’m freezing! I grabbed Sirius’s trousers with my trembling hands as he approached me.

“Help me.”

I’ll just pull on him a little. Ugh, It’s so hard!

It was as if he read my mind; Sirius lifted me lightly. He lifted me so easily that I, who was wet, felt foolish for struggling this much. No. It’s fine as long as I’ve gotten up. I decided to think positively.

“Thank you.”

“…….”

Sirius did not respond to my thanks.  He just stared at me as I was wet like a drowned mouse. I tried to ignore his gaze and turned my attention elsewhere. For some reason, if I kept looking at him, it seemed like I would be swallowed up just like the light from a star would be in a black hole.

‘A water-soaked dress is really the worst.’

I sighed and squeezed the heavy dress. I think it smells fishy.

I gave up going back to the party looking like this, but I had to at least squeeze as much water out as I could before I got into the carriage.

“Achoo!”

I hope I don’t catch a cold. I sniffled and moved my hands diligently. Only the sound of dripping water was heard in the silence.

‘Wait, why is it so quiet?’

If Sirius had gone back, I would have heard footsteps. I stopped squeezing my dress and turned around slightly. When I turned my head, Sirius stood still.

‘So, creepy.’

He was cold-hearted when I asked for help earlier, but now he’s acting like that. I was confused.

“I saved you.”

Sirius, who was standing still, made eye contact with me and opened his mouth. “What?” I didn’t know what Sirius would say. He was so different from the ‘sub-male Sirius’ that I knew, or the one in the novel.

“You owe me a debt.”

“What? A debt?”

“Yes. Were you not going to repay the favor?”

Do you have to describe it as a debt? There’s a saying that I’m indebted, but there’s a lot of other expressions, but out of all things it was debt. I felt uneasy.

“You saved my life, so of course I will repay you for it.”

“What I want.”

What the hell do you want?

No, more than that, is this guy really Sirius? He looked like Sirius, but his personality was completely different. Sirius, who appeared in the novel, was cursed and had no emotions, but looked like a normal person.

‘It was even said that he was the only respectful person in the novel!’

The sub male, who couldn’t tell the difference between his likes and dislikes, was attracted to Daisy but didn’t know why he felt this way, which stimulated his innocence and maternal love. However, the Sirius standing in front of me was like a loan shark, making debts in an instant and tossing them in half.

“What do you want?”

I replied rudely. I didn’t feel the need to be polite anymore.

It was then Sirius suddenly looked at the Imperial Palace and heard the footsteps of several people.

“This way!”

The first person to appear in the darkness was an imperial palace knight. He found me and called someone else. The person who rushed to the knight’s voice was someone I knew well.

“Sernia!”

“Sister!”

“Sister!”

It was the first time that the duke’s face, always cold, had been so distorted.

“Uncle! Guys!”

“I heard you fell into the pond, are you okay?”

“Yes. Si- he saved me.”

In retrospect, I had not yet spoken to Sirius. At the moment I tried to say his name, I quickly changed my words. Fortunately, no one noticed anything strange. While glancing at him despite all of the noise, he didn’t respond at all and kept his gaze affixed only on me.

“I see Prince Sirius, descendant of the sun, the glory of the empire. Thank you for helping Sernia. Next time, I will come to the Imperial Palace to greet you formally.”

“…….”

The Duke recognized at a glance that he was the second prince. It may be the first time to meet him in person, but it was natural that Sirius was the only one in the world who had black features. Sirius turned to the Duke’s greeting only then. He nodded his head without showing any signs of backing down despite the Duke’s overwhelming atmosphere. As expected, he hasn’t learned any manners. While I was tackling Sirius’ attitude in my mind, the Duke called me.

“Sernia.”

He hugged me. My body that rose in the air was held in the arms of the Duke. It’s a little different from a princess carry.…. Yeah, it was a pose when I held the puppy that my friend had raised before.

“Duke, no, Uncle. I can walk by myself.”

“That’s enough.”

“No, my dress is wet; so Uncle’s clothes will….”

“It doesn’t matter.”

The duke cut off my words and answered firmly. He was assertive as someone from the Ardentine family. I did not have the confidence to defeat the Duke’s stubbornness, so I quietly gave up.

When the Duke carried me, the twins who clung to both sides, asked me if I was okay 3 times every 10 seconds.

“I’m really okay. You didn’t have to go to the Imperial Knights.”

“That was Lady Canarine.”

“Right. She turned pale, so she grabbed the knights and spoke gibberish.”

Lady Canarine? I had a feeling and wondered if it was her. Was she the girl in the yellow dress who said Ariel was in the backyard?

“Yes. I was looking for my sister at the party, and I heard that Lady Canarine grabbed a knight and asked someone to come quickly because someone fell into the pond and it looked like she couldn’t swim.”

“Ariel and I asked for the description of the scene, wondering if it was possible, and we panicked.”

“I’m very embarrassed.….”

Ariel’s eyes sharpened. Well, it seems that Ariel thinks the culprit is the same person I am guessing.. In fact, I thanked the twins, who searched the party venue, because they were more concerned about me than who the culprit was.

“I see. Thank you. You had a hard time looking for me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

I asked the twins, and the answer came from above my head. Looking up, the duke’s face was expressionless. It was the same as usual, to the extent that what I had seen before felt like a fantasy.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

The Duke, who noticed my gaze, looked down and asked, but I swallowed the question that came up to my throat.

Were you worried that I was hurt? I could never ask you.

***

It was an unusual day.

Sirius, who was indifferent to anything outside, was concerned about the Imperial Palace, which shone particularly brightly that day. Why? Sirius walked to the palace with a strange feeling that he couldn’t quite understand himself.

But he didn’t want to get close. Helios, who recently appeared as his older brother, knows that even the empress who hates him does not want his existence to be revealed to others.

‘Curse.’

His curse. Sirius was different from ordinary people ever since he was born. But he never blamed the curse. No, he didn’t have any feelings of resentment. The world was empty for him. I didn’t need anything, and it doesn’t matter.

Even the magic that had always protected him.

“Ariel?”

It was his first time hearing that voice. Until now, the only women he had heard were the maids and the empress’ contempt. It was a soft, sweet-feeling voice that was different from them.

Is she talking to me?

Sirius was standing behind a tree. If he decided to hide in the shadows even Helios could not find him. However, an ordinary-looking girl found him at once. I think I am being mistaken for someone else.

She was hesitant whether or not to approach from a certain distance. And there was another girl approaching behind her.

Sirius watched what was happening before his eyes. I didn’t even think about stopping her, and I tried to disappear quietly. But why? Contrary to what he thought, his body was entering the pond.

‘The pond should be shallow.’

In fact, he just wanted to go back because he knew the pond was shallow. However, he couldn’t stay still because he kept looking at the girl who couldn’t stand up.

“Pooh!”

As he grabbed the girl’s arm and pulled her up, he saw a girl covered in dark purple hair.

“Thank you…?”

“…….”

Sirius thought the girl would run away, scared of his appearance.