TOPWL 16

“Is there something urgent?”

“No, not really.”

“Shall I guide you to the reception room?”

“It’ll only be for a moment, so I’ll just wait here.”

Yudit took a seat by the window. The knights, looking at him, whispered among themselves. Among them were those who had mocked him when Reginald had been persecuting him. His heartbeat quickened. Yudit opened and closed his sweaty hands repeatedly.

How much time had passed? The voices from inside gradually grew closer, and the door opened. Yudit made eye contact with Khalid as he stepped out. This was the first time they had crossed paths since the banquet. Khalid, surprised to see him in such an unexpected place, blinked at him.

“Why has the prince come here?”

Khalid asked, wearing an amused expression.

“I wanted to talk with my brother, so I stopped by.”

“You’re much closer than I thought.”

“Is anyone outside?”

As the door remained open and Khalid spoke, Reginald approached. Yudit had come to meet him, but a desire to escape was already creeping in.

“…Yudit?”

Reginald called his name with a look of disbelief. Yudit bowed politely.

“Good afternoon, brother.”

“What brings you here?”

Reginald furrowed his brow suspiciously. Even though Yudit had come to speak with him, he couldn’t bring himself to say a word at first. Just seeing him made his heart race.

“I have something to say.”

“You have something to say to me?”

“May I speak inside?”

At Yudit’s words, Reginald shrugged and stepped inside.

“Do as you wish.”

Yudit hesitated at the threshold for a moment. As he passed, Khalid whispered in his ear.

“We’ll meet again soon.”

Yudit couldn’t tell whether Khalid meant to kill him or simply wanted to meet elsewhere. He glanced back, but Khalid was already walking across the hallway.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

Reginald’s voice was impatient. There was no more delaying. Yudit swallowed hard and stepped across the threshold.

With a thud, the door closed, leaving only Yudit and Reginald in the room. Reginald sat casually in a chair, staring at Yudit. Despite sitting, it felt as though Reginald was looking down on him from above.

It always felt that way when Reginald looked at him.

“So, what is it you want from me?”

“I have a request, brother.”

“If you stop calling me brother, I might consider listening.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Yudit quickly adjusted his form of address, which caused Reginald to stare at him in disbelief.

“Ha, fine. Speak.”

Before Reginald could change his mind, Yudit hurriedly continued.

“I would like to borrow the tapestry you took for my banquet.”

“Why should I lend that to you?”

“If you lend it to me, I’ll give part of the budget allocated to me to you.”

Reginald regarded Yudit with curiosity at his suggestion.

“Do you think His Majesty will approve of that?”

“If His Majesty agree, will you lend it to me?”

“It depends on how much you’ll give.”

Yudit hesitated before speaking.

“About one million kes.”

The budget allocated to the princes was five million kes. Yudit had decided to invest around one-fifth of it to borrow the tapestry. However, Reginald seemed unimpressed.

“Ha, do you think one million kes is even worth considering?”

“Are you refusing?”

“What if I do?”

“I would have to ask the other brothers for help.”

At Yudit’s words, Reginald frowned.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Am I threatening you, Your Highness?”

Yudit’s tone suggested that he didn’t believe was capable of such a thing. Reginald felt a bit better, realizing that Yudit understood his position better than he had expected.

“Yeah, someone like you can’t threaten me. If it were me, I would’ve told you to kneel, but what can you do? I already know you can crawl between my legs.”

As Reginald mocked him for what had happened at the banquet, Yudit’s expression froze for a moment. He realized Reginald had no intention of lending him the tapestry. This was a man who would rather burn it than lend out a mere piece of cloth.

“Yes, my apologies.”

“Do you think you’ll become Emperor?”

Reginald asked as Yudit prepared to leave.

“Not everyone who shares the same bloodline has the ability to become an emperor.”

Reginald stood up and approached Yudit. It felt like a rock was slowly rolling towards him. Frozen in place, Yudit couldn’t move. Reginald raised a finger and lifted Yudit’s chin. Their eyes locked. Yudit’s breath caught.

“Just as a beast receives human seed doesn’t mean it can give birth to a human.”

Reginald suddenly covered Yudit’s mouth with his large hand. Even though his nose wasn’t blocked, he couldn’t breathe properly. As he watched Yudit’s violet eyes clouding, Reginald’s expression grew complicated.

“Just as giving birth to a child while keeping the bed warm does not make that child Emperor.”

When Yudit gasped for breath, Reginald roughly let him go. Yudit staggered and tried to steady himself.

“Cough…”

As Yudit coughed, Reginald stared at him indifferently, as if he were some insignificant creature. Then he spoke.

“So, don’t waste your efforts. Just be content with preserving the royal bloodline.”

Reginald threw the gloves he had used to hold Yudit’s face onto the floor. The gloves landed on the red carpet with a soft thud.

“Unlike Azil, there’s no one around you to protect you.”

“….”

“Do you think the Duke will protect you? The man who stood by while you crawled between Hiore’s legs?”

Reginald scoffed.

“Now that you’ve come of age, you should start waking up from your dreams.”

Reginald took a step closer to Yudit. Without realizing it, Yudit took a step back. Seeing the fear in Yudit’s eyes, Reginald grinned, his lips curling upward in amusement.

“You have no hope, Yudit.”

…

“Are you alright?”

At Bashur’s question, Yudit snapped awake. Bashur was looking at him with a concerned expression.

“Sorry, did I fall asleep?”

“It was just for a moment. Haven’t you been sleeping well lately?”

Yudit awkwardly touched the dark circles under his eyes. Lately, he had been having nightmares every time he slept, so he could only manage short naps during the day.

“I’ve had a lot on my mind. It’s fine.”

“If you need my help at any time, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll assist you with all my heart.”

At Bashur’s words, Yudit gave a bitter smile.He had almost finalized the plan and organization of the banquet. The issue, however, was the decorations. He had bought some fabric from the market and made tablecloths, but there was still far too little tapestry to cover the stone walls and floor.

“It’s fine. I can manage for now.”

However, Yudit didn’t ask Bashur for help. It wasn’t that he was being prideful, but rather because it was not in Bashur’s field of expertise. Bashur’s house might have some tapestries, but most of them were related to his family. If Yudit decorated the imperial banquet with tapestries from Bashur’s noble house, someone would surely notice the issue. Bashur had already suffered quite a lot as Yudit’s teacher, and Yudit didn’t want to burden him further. It seemed that Bashur understood Yudit’s feelings, as he sighed softly.

“I understand. But when you need help, you must ask.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Yudit smiled at Bashur, not wanting to cause him any worry.

“Shall we call it a day for today’s lesson? It seems I may have taken up too much of your precious time.”

“Time spent with my teacher is the most precious.”

Yudit spoke sincerely, but Bashur interpreted it as flattery and responded with a soft smile.

“Then I look forward to the next time we meet.”

“Yes, Teacher. Please be careful on your way back.”

Yudit bowed politely and stood up. Although he had said that, it was true that he was busy. After all, today was the day of the party at Selena’s townhouse.