Chapter 26: 25

*Thank you to Beatrice for the Kofi~ [4 of 4]* 

“I didn’t know about the shoes.”

He took out a handkerchief, and wiped away Rachel’s blood.

His hands were being overly cautious this time as well. He was careful not to hurt her in any way, as if he were handling something very precious.

It was a really strange thing.

“Let’s go home.”

Ian forced down the heels of the shoes and broke them. His hands were careful as he put the shoes on Rachel’s feet again.

“Can you walk?”

Somehow, his voice seemed to have softened. He looked up at Rachel.

He pulled his hood back to check Rachel’s face, and she was finally able to see Ian’s face.

“….”

The frown, as if he was worried about her, and his purple eyes, that were looking up at her.

He felt badly that Rachel was injured. Looking at those eyes, she felt like she’d become someone really important to him. 

How would he react if Rachel told him she couldn’t get up?

She didn’t know anymore.

Still, she thought she knew him better than others. Rachel was so confident, but she didn’t know anymore.

What he thought, and how he would act in the future. 

She didn’t have the slightest idea what kind of person Ian was anymore.

“You can’t get up?”

“….”

“Do you want me to give you a piggyback ride?”

When did things change so much?

He was no longer the Ian she knew.

“Why would you give me a piggyback ride?”

Six Years.

If it’s that amount, then it had been a long time.

During that time, there must’ve been a lot of things she didn’t know about Ian anymore. So, he was no longer the Ian that Rachel knew. 

“Whether I’m injured or not. What does that have to do with His Majesty?”

Maybe Rachel was being mean, but she didn’t like him being kind. Why has he changed so much from before?

Just when she thought she’d covered it up well, the thorns Rachel had hidden popped out again. She didn’t have time to hide them again.

“Why now? I didn’t ask for it.”

Ian blinked quickly as if he was surprised by her crisp tone. At the same time, he wasn’t angry at all. 

It would’ve eased her mind a bit if he’d at least gotten angry at the maid who’d dared to be rude to him, but Ian didn’t say anything and just looked perplexed. 

He just looked into Rachel’s eyes, as if he didn’t know what to do.

The Ian who hurt her no longer existed. She didn’t know why, but it was unfair.

Rachel felt a pang at the loss of the target of her resentment.

She didn’t want to like him, but she no longer had that luxury.

Rachel couldn’t hate him anymore after he was so kind to her. Even though she certainly hated the man in front of her very much.

Now she didn’t know what to do with the hatred left inside her.

How selfish, he was too much for her until the end. She couldn’t hate him anymore. 

“W-What’s wrong? Rachel?”

Rachel was in tears, and Ian stuttered as if he was flustered.

“Why are you crying…”

Her face scrunched up. Rachel was about to start crying over him.

“I don’t know what to do now.”

Rachel roughly wiped away her tears. Like an idiot, she’d burst into tears and couldn’t stop.

“Don’t cry, please?”

Ian’s voice trembled a little.

“It’s all my fault.”

“….”

“So, don’t cry.”

His pleading voice was desperate. However, the tears flowed out even more, like a rebellion at the plea from him to not cry.

Rachel was in pain because she couldn’t hate him anymore, and she was afraid that if she didn’t hate him anymore, then she would like him again. 

Her heart ached with the hatred that was welling up inside of her at any given moment, but Rachel felt frustrated because she didn’t know what to do with it anymore.

She didn’t want to get hurt anymore. She wanted to forget all of the memories she had of him. 

His eyes, which seemed so sincere to her, caused her heart to feel conflicted. 

Whistle!

Bang!

At that moment, fireworks painted the dark sky with a loud bang.

Sparks of various colors spread over the black sky like embroidery. 

Wow!

Shouts of surprised people came from the square. The sound was so loud that it was heard all the way into the quiet park.

Again a loud bang was heard, and a second set of fireworks were set off.

For an instant, the park became a little brighter.

Was it because she was surprised by the commotion?

Suddenly, the tears stopped flowing from Rachel’s eyes.

Again the sound of admiring people was heard. It was a fun festival for everyone. Rachel looked up at the sky, then bowed her head, sniffling as if she wanted to be away from the afterglow of the fireworks. 

“….”

When she glanced at Ian his eyes seemed wet. 

He soon turned his head and half of his face was covered by his hood, so there was no way to know what expression he was making. 

It was a fun festival for everyone, except for the two of them.

After a while, the sky calmed down again. 

Fireworks.

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She knew of them from a book, but it was her first time seeing it.

Have they ever set off fireworks at a festival before? Rachel wiped away the tears on her face along with that useless thought.

“I wanted to show you.”

Ian finally got up from where he was kneeling.

“Let’s go.”

As he brushed off his knees, he glanced at Rachel.

“And, if you’re uncomfortable meeting with me, I’ll visit you once a day instead.”

In the quiet park, Ian’s voice rang out quietly.

“I’ll move slowly so that you don’t feel pressured. I’ll try to get closer more carefully.”

He turned his back to Rachel.

“I’ll do my best. Don’t push too hard.”

Rachel, who’d been staring blankly at the ground, slowly looked up at Ian’s words.

Earlier, he seemed to have missed a few words, but Rachel didn’t ask about it. 

“….”

Standing with his back turned, he looked somewhat sad.

Somehow, he looked a little afraid.

“Can’t you stay with me?”

There was nothing she could do to him. So what was he, the Emperor of Levskaya Empire, afraid of?

“Without you, I…”

He seemed afraid of being rejected. Amusingly, from behind him, she could see herself holding back tears as her mother left her when she was a child.

Ian was afraid of something. It was unbelievable.

There was no thought so ridiculous as the idea of Ian being like her, but for some reason Rachel couldn’t get rid of the idea.

She could see herself at the age of seven, holding back tears for fear of being abandoned by him.

“Since when did you like me?”

Rachel could no longer doubt what her mind had continued to deny.

He really liked her.

Since when? Why did she run away from him?

“I don’t know why Your Majesty likes me.”

There was no reason for him to like her, but when did he start liking her? Rachel couldn’t stand it, and spat out the question. 

“I don’t know when either.”

Ian broke the long silence, and opened his mouth.

He bowed his head, and blinked slowly, as if he were looking back on his life.

“Probably…”

Was it when Rachel, a young maid, entered his room? Or before that?

He’d seen it a few times, children around his age busily moving about, and working as maids.

Rachel, who’d entered his room, didn’t make a fuss or bother him, so he liked her since then.

“But I think it’s from that day. The day you stopped my brothers, and got beaten instead of me.”

He thought it started from that day.

That didn’t mean he had negative feelings towards Rachel before that, but until that day, she was just one of the maids. 

“From then on, I remember everything about you vividly.”

From the moment Rachel cried, she was vivid in every moment in his memory. The moments with her were crystal clear.

“What you said to me, what we did together.”

It was so clear that he could hear her voice. It was a strange thing that he’d never experience in his lifetime, as if it were imprinted. 

“Maybe I’ve liked you since then.”

Rachel was the first one to side with him.

All the many adults and maids acted as if the young and powerless prince was invisible and unheard. They were afraid they’d get stuck in the crossfire. 

If they treated him kindly, then they’d get involved in troublesome things. Even if they were able to handle it all, there was no benefit for them.

But Rachel was different. The small, dull child stepped up without hesitation.

Even though doing so didn’t benefit her at all. Rachel, who was crying herself sick, didn’t blame him either.

She didn’t feel it was unfair for being beaten up for nothing, nor had she resented him for not helping her after she helped him. 

She just cried because she was injured. 

“But you were so mean to me.”

When Rachel was young, Ian sometimes gave her fun and expensive things, but sometimes he was cruel and mean.

“I was frustrated. I didn’t like how nice you were to everyone.”

Rachel, who he liked, was friendly with everyone, and he was annoyed by her kindness. The more time he spent with her, the more Ian realized this. 

Rachel would’ve acted the same way if the person who was being beaten that day was someone else, and not him. Ian hated the fact that for the first time in his life, the favor he received was something that she would’ve done for anyone.

Ian didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t given to him because it was him, but that he just happened to receive it.

He was mean to Rachel, and even made her cry, because he thought he was nothing to her.

“I’m a fool. I only hurt you.”

Because he wanted to be as special to Rachel as she was to him.

“I really liked you back then, and now.”

There was no lie in his liking her.

People told him. 

He was a talent that was only born after hundreds of years. But when it came to Rachel, he wasn’t sure about anything at all. 

He didn’t know how to express his feelings or how to treat her. 

Rachel was always too difficult for him. To the point where he couldn’t handle it.

It was too much for a child like him.

“It’s all my fault. You can hate me until you feel better. It’s okay to say mean things, or to treat me harshly, as long as you stay with me.”

Ian clenched his fists and stubbornly said.

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“I… I just want to be nice to you, even now.”

Now he had power and wealth. He was able to give Rachel a lot.

It wouldn’t be a waste to give her everything if that’s what she wanted.

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