How could he sleep so defenselessly in front of the very girl to whom he’d been so cruel, not even allowing her to wipe the sweat from his brow? Or maybe he was so exhausted that he just couldn’t find it in him to care.
She stared at his head as it rocked slightly with each inhale and exhale, and the weight was making her heartbeat go wild for some reason. His black hair grazed past her cheek and tickled it, turning up the heat in her cheeks even more.
(T-This doesn’t look weird from an outside perspective, right? Since he’s technically my husband, it doesn’t look off, right?)
However, at this rate, he’d end up with a cold on top of his already poor health.
“Um, Prince...” Her whispered call wasn’t enough to wake him up, and his head slid down to her lap. The weight slipped from her shoulders to her lap, filling her not so much with shame as with blood-curdling fear.
(Please, wake up! Wait, no, he might kill me if he wakes up. No, in fact, he will definitely spew abuse at me!)
Having someone you hate look at you while your guard is completely down was probably the epitome of disgrace for Claudio.
She moved her hand to shake him awake, then withdrew in a panic. Out of options, she looked around her nervously. She locked eyes with Alto, who had been watching them in shock. She was saved... or so she thought. Her relief was short-lived, as Alto simply shielded his eyes with one arm and trembled slightly as though overcome with emotion. Then he bowed reverently and turned back to his men, who were observing the situation with piqued interest.
“No, please, save me... Please?”
“You know, I don’t have the slightest desire to save you, either.” Rosemarie could hear a snickering voice from behind her. She turned around in a fluster. It was the clergyman with the mole under his eye, Fritz, cheerfully looking at her from above. A stare and a blink was her only response.
“Good afternoon, Your Royal Wifeness. I had been on the search for His Highness, but never did I expect to see him in the midst of unwinding in such grand style.”
“I-It was an act of God!” she screamed without thinking, the less than ideal phrasing escaping her lips at the sight of his suggestive smile. She gasped and shut her mouth. Luckily for her, Claudio had only grimaced slightly when she turned to check on him, but hadn’t woken up. She sighed, patting her chest in relief.
“I’ll tell you, the sight of a sacred beast being embraced by a fair, defenseless maiden would make for one doozy of a painting.”
“... So you see him as a Silver Lion, too, Father Fritz. I had a feeling.” Alto acted in similar manner around him as well, but Fritz was absolutely not afraid of Claudio, and interacted with him casually—casual as casual could be, in fact—so that fact had almost slipped her mind.
“Um, this has always struck me as peculiar, but... why do the people of this country still recognize him as the crown prince even though he’s morphed into this deformed state?” Normally in a situation like this, it seemed no one would bat an eye if he were disinherited.
“Oh, that? You see, since our country’s sacred beast is the Silver Lion, we’ve proclaimed to the masses that he’s its reincarnation. That’s why you’ve got everyone welcoming his presence, albeit fearfully. His Highness is always saying that he who stands at the top must at least be feared.”
“The circumstances would be different if this were a different country.”
“Maybe, but he is actually devoid of mana and he’s deceiving the masses, so he might just get cut off if he keeps this charade up. —Regardless, he sure can sleep, can’t he? It’s been a few years in the making, so I suppose there’s not much we can do about that.”
“A few years in the making? What do you mean by that?” she replied, confused. Fritz’s expression grew a tad dim.
“He never tells any of us any of the specifics, you see, but ever since His Highness was robbed of his mana, he has had great difficulty sleeping.”
Rosemarie’s face tensed up. She was never told of that before. If he had spent years not being able to sleep, it was no wonder he’d built up so much resentment toward her. Feeling all the more guilty, Rosemarie looked down achingly at the napping Claudio’s docile face.
“And that is why Squire Clausen wouldn’t come to help me, then? Come to think of it, he mentioned that he could breathe easier, as well.”
“Ah, then I assume that must mean he was able to go to sleep because you were by his side, holding his mana. So, yeah, given that, would you mind just letting him sleep for a little longer?”
Rosemarie was in mid-nod to Fritz’s request before she gasped in realization.
“That is, if you could provide a way for me to not earn the prince’s ire when he eventually wakes up...”
Fritz, who had been smiling in relief, then averted his eyes, followed by a few steps back.
“Um, well, I’ve got some work to do, see...” A forced smile on his lips, Fritz’s head bent and warped around until it morphed into a fox with a pelt of vivid light orange fur. However, this was no time to be afraid of that.
“Please, don’t lie to me. I beg of you, please, help me. Father Fritz, you said that you would be there if I need to talk about my problems, did you not?”
“No, no, those are two different matters. I’d rather not have His Highness kill me.”
“I feel the same.”
“Um, no, I’m sure you’ll be fine. You are his dear, dear wedded wife, after all!”
“...Mm.” Claudio grumbled slightly, probably due to the shouting. Both of them clammed up immediately. Fritz’s face reverted back to human form as he made a gesture, petting his own head, and then pointed at Claudio.