Chapter 17: 16

II. The Prince’s Proposal

“Whew, you look great today!”

Amavand whistled when he saw Khalid ready to attend the banquet. Khalid was originally a tall and handsome man, but when he neatly combed one side of his hair and put on glamorous clothes and accessories, he looked even more gorgeous and handsome than usual.

“Hmm, after all, people have to be handsome to be noticed. Our Commander-nim will definitely make many Omegas in the Empire shed tears sooner or later. Isn’t that right?”

Amavand admired Khalid’s appearance once more, smiled and tapped on Nasir’s shoulder with his elbow. Nasir held back his desire to yell at Amavand to say nice words and walked over to Khalid.

“Your highness. The watch’s repair is completed.”

“Only now? It took longer than I thought.”

“It is a special watch, so…… it seems that it took some time to restore and repair so that it wouldn’t affect the spell. Would you like to check it out now?”

“Give it to me.”

“Here it is. Dame Alia said that there are no curses or suspicious traces. The protective spell still remains.”

“Is that so?”

Khalid listened to Nasir’s explanation and opened the leather box carrying the watch. The softly shining pocket watch was neatly repaired as if it had never been broken. Khalid’s face lit up after confirming that the watch had completely regained its former appearance.

“The reason why the watch suddenly broke will forever remain a mystery. Ah, right. Have you had any nightmares since that day? Dame Alia told me to ask you.”

“I haven’t. And it wasn’t a nightmare. It was just a sad dream.”

“But that’s a nightmare, no?”

“No. It didn’t feel like a nightmare. It felt like I was missing something……”

Khalid denied Nasir’s words and traced his faint memories. The scene he had seen in his dream faded away and disappeared just like a mirage, but only the tingling sensation he felt at that time was still clear. As if it was reality and not a dream.

What was it?

The red eyes looking down at the pocket watch in his hand became thoughtful. When he recalled his forgotten dream, his heart pounded in a strange rhythm.

Khalid fidgeted with his pocket watch with a strange feeling. At that moment, he heard a voice announcing Renato’s arrival.

“Commander-nim, His Imperial Highness has arrived. Should I take him inside?”

“Already?”

When the janitor said to him, Khalid checked the watch in his hand. The Prince arrived much earlier than their appointment time.

“I will go out right now.”

Khalid put the watch in his jacket pocket and went outside. Now that his preparations were complete, he decided that it was better for him to leave than to bring Renato, an outsider, in.

Come to think of it, did that person look like the Prince?

That sudden thought made Khalid pause his steps. He couldn’t remember the face of the person in that dream, but that person’s aura was strangely similar to Renato’s.

A sense of crisis as if he would weakly collapse if held incorrectly, or crumble down just like dry petals.

“……Hmm.”

Khalid quietly murmured, recalling the impression he felt from Renato yesterday. Maybe it was because of that dream that he felt a sense of déjà vu when seeing Renato. Just thinking about it made him feel strange. He didn’t like the fact that a dream he had almost a month ago was still affecting him.

“Tsk.”

Khalid became restless for no reason, clicked his tongue and speeded up his steps. When coming out of the official residence, he saw a carriage with Fleurette imperial family’s insignia and Renato waiting for him in front of it. Khalid inadvertently stopped walking.

Renato was blankly standing while looking at the sunset sky. His face, tinted with the reddish sunlight, felt more lively than yesterday, but strangely gloomy. A dark shadow was cast over the amethyst-like eyes beneath his silver hair. Perhaps because of his sorrowful atmosphere, the tear mole located under one corner of his eyes, which felt more droopy than yesterday, seemed to stand out more.

Again.

In an instant, Khalid felt a strange déjà vu again. He must have seen a similar scene like this one day in the past. His eyebrows narrowed because of unknown anxiety, his right eye twitching.

At that moment, Renato, sensing the presence of another person, turned his head. The violet-colored eyes that saw Khalid slightly widened before curling up into a beautiful shape.

“Good afternoon, your highness, grand prince Khalid. Did you have a good rest yesterday?”

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“……Thanks to you, I was able to rest well, Your Imperial Highness. I heard that you rearranged the banquet’s schedule to today even though it was supposed to be held yesterday so that I could rest. Thank you for your concern.”

Staring at Renato who was smiling softly, his red eyes momentarily flickered. Khalid quickly fixed his gaze and brusquely greeted Renato.

“It’s nothing. You must have been tired from coming to the Empire, so I just thought you should rest for a day or so. By the way, you look very wonderful today.”

“I was dressed to fit in the banquet, but I don’t know if it’s okay or not. I prepared in a hurry, so there are a lot of things that are lacking.”

“I think you don’t have to worry at all. It’s more than just fine because you look very splendid.”

Renato said with sincerity. If Khalid gave off a wild feeling the day before yesterday, today, he had a graceful and refined elegance.

“Thank you for saying so. You are also very beautiful today, Your Imperial Highness.”

“Pardon? Me?”

“……? Yes.”

Should I have said that he looked splendid or cool? Khalid wondered if he had made a mistake when he saw Renato’s bewildered expression after hearing his words.

But he was just saying what he genuinely felt. Renato’s style was more elegant and beautiful than cool and handsome.

“Are you offended by what I said?”

“Ah, not at all! I wasn’t offended at all. It’s just that…… It’s an embarrassing thing to say, but I’m not used to compliments. My apologies for the strange reaction.”

Renato’s voice became smaller. Khalid would have only said that he was beautiful out of politeness without any other meaning, but his heart trembled for no reason.

What?

Khalid slightly frowned when seeing Renato lower his eyes, embarrassed when hearing his praise.

He just casually praised others just a while ago, but when he received another person’s goodwill, he reacted unfamiliarly with it and showed weakness……

He already vaguely felt this the other day as well, but the Prince in front of him seemed to have no confidence in himself at all.

It wasn’t only that. In Khalid’s eyes, Renato was not good at dealing with people, hiding his emotions, and controlling his facial expressions. It seemed that he tried to manage his facial expressions in his own way, but his emotions were still obvious.

How can he survive like that?

Khalid unconsciously clicked his tongue inwardly. He felt anxious as if seeing a child by the seashore all by himself.

“I have to escort you, your highness, so I took greater care compared to usual…… I’m glad that you like it. Come to think of it, I forgot to say thanks. Thank you very much for accepting my request.”

Renato spoke in a soft voice, rubbing his burning cheeks with his hand. Khalid’s gaze reached the cheeks redder than the sunset for a moment, then directed away.

“I’m the one that should say thanks. If you had not paid attention, I would have attended the banquet alone without a partner, Your Imperial Highness.”

“How can that be?”

Hearing Khalid’s words, Renato put on an expression saying that would never happen. In his previous life, Khalid attended the welcome banquet with a beautiful Omega.

Renato could not attend Khalid’s welcome banquet at the time, but he remembered it clearly because his Omega partner was a shaman that was rare to see in the Empire, and they became a hot topic in the social circle.

Even after that, Khalid had that Omega accompany him as his partner to banquets and events that he had to attend as a diplomatic ambassador.

Then, at some point, he started going alone without a partner. People used to gossip about that, saying that he didn’t have formality and etiquette.

Was it Dame Alia?

Renato searched through his faint memories and recalled the name of the Omega who was Khalid’s partner. If he hadn’t seized the opportunity today, she would probably have attended the banquet with Khalid this time as well. Renato felt a little sorry for the one who was originally Khalid’s partner.

“Then, please take care of me today. I may be clumsy because I have lived a life far from banquets.”

“Ah, yes!”

A large hand suddenly appeared in front of Renato, who was lost in thought. Khalid was asking for a handshake. It was then that Renato realized that he had been in a daze in front of Khalid again, and hurriedly held his hand.

“I don’t go to banquets often either. However, I will do my best to avoid any inconvenience. Shall we go then?”

Renato carefully grabbed Khalid’s hand and led him toward the carriage. Khalid obediently followed Renato into the carriage. He suddenly had a useless thought that it would be more natural for him to escort Renato instead.

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