Weeping Men: The Innocent Princess's Secret Delight - Chapter 1.8
Kaizen drew his sword and approached the window. Then he slightly pulled back the curtain and peered outside.
In front of the window was a person covered in a robe. They were clenching their fists nervously against their chest, and near the neck, a glimpse of pink hair had slipped out…
‘Pink hair?’
He immediately threw open the window.
“Your Highness?”
“I’m sorry, Sir Pentmian. For suddenly coming like this…”
As expected, the visitor was the Princess. Her jade-colored eyes were darting around, revealing her anxiety.
It was a sight that instinctively evoked a protective instinct, but once again, Kaizen had no choice but to voice his criticism.
“You shouldn’t be wandering alone without escorts at such a late hour.”
“That’s… Because there was something I really wanted to tell you today…”
Her head drooped like a child who had done something wrong. Seeing that, he couldn’t scold her further. Kaizen sighed and asked about her business.
“Please speak.”
“…I’m sorry, Sir Pentmian.”
Why is he receiving an apology? He was the one who was just berating himself for being rude to Her Highness.
Kaizen inadvertently asked.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because you were angry that I treated your knights like personal servants…”
She continued, fidgeting with her fingers.
“I… Because of my position, I suppose. There weren’t many people who treated me casually. That’s when I met you knights… So, without realizing it, I started thinking of you as friends…”
A melancholy smile played on her face.
Kaizen couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘Those men didn’t see Your Highness as a friend, but…’ in response to that.
“You have nothing to apologize for. It’s natural for imperial knights to be loyal to Your Highness.”
However, he couldn’t say it was fine to treat subordinates like friends either. The only response Kaizen could give was the proper one.
“But didn’t Sir Pentmian say to refrain from making personal requests?”
“Yes.”
“Then, um… Does that mean it’s alright to make personal requests to those in the knighthood who aren’t Sir Pentmian’s subordinates?”
“That’s…”
But, if we exclude my subordinates, who’s left in the knighthood?
“Then it’s only Sir Pentmian!”
‘How did the conversation flow this way?’
Kaizen was dumbfounded, having inadvertently said something that sounded like ‘Only do it with me. Not with the others.’
“Can I… consider you a friend?”
He wanted to correct it even now, but there was probably no one in the world who could utter harsh words to a princess shooting expectant, sparkling gazes.
“…Do as you please.”
“Yay!”
She smiled brightly. It was a smile like a flower blooming.
Kaizen turned his head abruptly. It was to hide his face that was heating up.
***
Honestly, Kaizen took the Princess’s words about ‘considering him a friend’ lightly.
‘We’re not even the same gender. She’ll probably just be less uncomfortable when we meet.’
But that was a misunderstanding.
“Thank you for coming, Sir Pentmian. Would you like to water the flower beds together? I’ve always wanted to tend to flowers with a friend!”
“Today, let’s bake together! While I’m baking bread, you can whip the egg whites into cream beside me!”
“Have you ever read books in the library with a friend? I haven’t… Please cooperate!”
He never imagined Her Highness’s list of things to do with a friend would be this extensive.
Judith called for Kaizen at every excuse. There were times when he rushed over, dropping everything at the Princess’s summons, only to find out the task was flower arranging, and he somewhat rudely thought, ‘What in the world am I doing?’
Still, he didn’t harbor complaints.
Whether it was a dangerous task requiring captain-level security or simply being recruited for social activity experiences. It was a knight’s duty to obey the wishes of the royal family members.
But this time was a bit troublesome.
“Does Sir Pentmian have a secret place you often went to as a child?”
Kaizen now thought he knew why the Princess suddenly asked such a question.
‘It seems the item on this list is ‘Being invited to a friend’s hideout.”
If he answered yes, she would smile brightly and say, “Please show me. It’s my dream to share a secret place with a friend!”
So he nipped it in the bud from the start.
“I do. If you’re thinking of going, I’ll tell my adjutant to arrange a carriage, so you can go together.”
“You mean you won’t be going together with me, Sir Pentmian?!”
She was more disappointed than expected. This reaction was almost as if she had been looking forward to spending time with him.
‘That can’t be possible.’
Kaizen rolled his eyes and evaded the answer.
“…I have a prior engagement.”
“What kind of engagement?”
“There’s someone I need to meet…”
“Who?”
The sudden strange sensation made Kaizen look down at the Princess. She was just looking up at him with an innocent face.
‘What was that? I just felt a killing intent…’
But there was no one in this space who could emit such a thing.
‘Surely, it couldn’t have been Her Highness.’
It seems the after-effects of the war haven’t completely faded. Kaizen bowed, hoping that his oversensitive senses would dull someday.
“I apologize. It’s a personal matter.”
“I see…”
Having drawn the line, she couldn’t pry further and backed off.
Seeing her dejected face, he felt guilty despite having done his duty. Kaizen almost caught himself apologizing and retracting his words.
No matter what, he couldn’t skip what he had to do today. Nor could he entrust it to someone else.
Surely, he would end up showing his bare face in front of her.
After seeing the Princess being guided out of the palace, Kaizen headed somewhere inside the imperial palace.
As he walked slowly, sword at his side and vigilant of his surroundings, he naturally exuded an intimidating aura. No one who encountered him dared to ask about his destination.
The place he arrived at was a secluded area of the palace. After settling in, he slowly lowered his body. His hand went to the bag strapped to his thigh, and his mouth formed a round shape.
It was suspicious behavior as if he was calling for a carrier pigeon while avoiding people’s attention.
In the silence, Kaizen finally made a sound.
“Choo choo choo choo choo.”
What came out of his mouth wasn’t a whistle to call a carrier pigeon, but a sound made when calling a four-legged animal.
He didn’t stop at once but went around kneeling here and there making such sounds.
“Not here today either?”
He even searched under the bushes, pressed to the ground. His dignity as the captain of the knighthood had long since disappeared.
The place Kaizen was at was the open space near the warehouse he had visited before. The one he said he had an appointment with was the white-furred puppy he had met then.
To be precise, he was just unilaterally looking for it, but he couldn’t say that straightforwardly in front of the Princess, so he slightly distorted the truth.
After crawling on the ground for a while, he finally stood up. His face was full of loneliness.
“It hasn’t come even once since then… I wonder how it’s managing with hunger.”
Thinking that if it wasn’t coming because it disliked him, it should at least come when he’s not around and eat a lot, he was about to pour the food he had brought in a bag full on his thigh into a bowl and turn away.
“Dog food?”
If only he hadn’t heard a voice that shouldn’t be heard here, he would have done just that.
