The Princess's Spectacular Abduction - Chapter 20
“Yes, secrets. You’ve got plenty of them too, don’t you, Little Princess? But don’t worry, I won’t pry.”
“…Okay. I won’t ask about your secrets either.”
With that, Nina turned her head away.
There was an oddly tender quality to her simple response that made Mercy pause.
“But instead…”
“Instead?”
“If you think something is going to happen to you, then tell me about it.”
Nina’s blue eyes, looking even larger and more weary from a night of illness, resembled the bright summer sky.
While the man facing her had eyes closer to the hue of twilight.
‘…That’s impossible.’
Such miraculous coincidences, such miraculous luck, couldn’t possibly happen now.
Hiding a bitter smile by neatly pursing his lips, Mercy nodded.
“I will. Oh, and I bought some clothes for you to change into. Rest a little more.”
Nina obediently lay back down, then continued to gaze at Ravian, who was still slumped beside the bed, before slipping back into sleep.
* * *
When Mercy returned to Nina’s room, Ravian, now awake, sat with a haggard face, silently celebrating his longest record of not smoking.
His already daunting appearance was accentuated by dark circles, making him look almost demonic.
In the face of such a bleak scene that could make even a healthy person sick, Mercy kindly suggested,
“How about you quit for good this time?”
“…Where have you been crawling back from now?”
Although he had actually been back for a while, Mercy decided not to share the meaningful and simple conversation he had with Nina.
“I went to buy something suitable for our little princess to wear right away, and took the chance to check on some shops too. What do you think?”
Instead of replying, Ravian silently gazed at Nina’s sleeping face.
The raging fever had subsided, and her breathing seemed much smoother than the night before.
“Were you there last night?”
“Which ‘there’?”
“What do you mean ‘which,’ you f*cker, the place where Mira and Keith stupidly fed her Sally Juice.”
“Speak nicely in front of the kid.”
Mercy conveniently ignored the fact that they were the very criminals who had kidnapped the child.
“I was gone by then. According to Keith, the little princess herself asked for the Sally.”
“Are you kidding me?”
After asking abruptly and getting a response, he now flares up just as suddenly.
Though Mercy was used to the boss’s terrible temper, this time even he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Just go outside and smoke one.”
Surprisingly, Ravian didn’t budge, likely out of stubborn pride.
“Hey, fu… you think that makes sense?”
He asked a question out of the blue, and when Mercy answered him, he lost his temper again.
It’s not every day that the boss had a temper like a dog, but this time, Mercy sighed.
“Use pretty words. And what about it? The kid asking for Sally?”
“Yeah, do you think it makes sense for the First Princess, a mere child, to be addicted to Sally?”
That seemed to be the crux of his frustration.
Mercy rubbed his temples, glancing sideways at the table strewn with a half-filled bottle of honey water and medicine packets.
Who would have thought?
The cautious speculation laid out by Oscar the previous night was something Mercy and Keith were already aware of.
But then…
“That’s not like you. Does it bother you?”
“Me? Why would it?”
“Then why…”
“Why? Because, even though I left the palace long ago, I am still the twentieth generation of pure Atreides imperial blood and the former captain of the Imperial Guard. I cannot stand idly by as the discipline of my family falls to ruin.”
Mercy stared at Ravian, who had just spun an elaborate load of nonsense, with her mouth half open.
Then, he cautiously pointed out,
“It seems like we’ve already caused quite a mess.”
Meaning it’s ridiculous for the leader of kidnappers to say such a thing.
The remark made sense and Ravian glared at Nina, though she was an innocent party in this.
More precisely, he growled while glaring at Nina’s disheveled hair as she slept.
“She touched my shoulder.”
“What? When?”
