Chapter 78: 77

“How did you end up with this bruise? How did you get a bruise like this?”

Khalid, whose expression had become completely frigid, looked at Renato with a gaze urging for an answer. His voice was as stiff as his cold face. Facing the chilly red eyes, Renato held back his breath.

“That, well, uhm.”

How can I explain this? Unable to find appropriate words to say, Renato diverted his gaze. He felt like a kid caught doing something bad. Khalid’s expression was unusual. It was the first time in his past and present life that the man looked at him with those eyes.

“Are, are you angry?”

At a loss for what to do, Renato looked at Khalid and hesitatingly asked. Without answering, Khalid moved his gaze to the dark blue bruise occupying the inside of his elbow. The bruise covering the pure white skin spread out just like grass stains.

It was not caused by a fall or bump. Khalid, examining the wound with a serious face, soon realized that Renato’s bruise was created by a human because of its location and shape. Then, something hot rose up inside him.

Which jerk dares to.

Unable to suppress his rage, Khalid clenched his teeth. He had already been emotionally shaken when hearing Renato had collapsed. In that situation, seeing a dark blue bruise on Renato’s thin, skinny arm made him feel a wave of uncontrollable anger. Following his disturbed emotions, his pheromone that had been carefully controlled spread out in all directions.

“Ugh.”

Feeling the mood between him and Khalid change, Renato shrank his shoulders. Goosebumps rose on his skin when the air swayed like a raging wave. The back of his neck also became stiff.

I’m scared.

Seized with instinctive fear, Renato trembled. For the first time since he met Khalid, he was afraid of the man. At that moment, Khalid squinted his eyes when he noticed some puncture marks.

“This……”

The hand holding Renato’s wrist went up to his elbow. Khalid, who was staring at the needle marks to figure out what they were, opened his mouth. But then, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside. When the quiet outside suddenly became noisy, the bedroom’s air which was tense with Khalid’s pheromone also subsided. Immediately after that, the bedroom door swung open.

“Hyung-niim!”

Trudy came in through the wide-open door and called Renato with a tearful face. When the child heard the news that Renato had collapsed, he abandoned his swordsmanship training and ran straight here.

“Are you okay? Renato hyung…… Huh?”

Trudy, who was running to the bed with tears in his eyes, stopped when he saw Khalid with Renato.

“Who……? Huh? No, wait, ah!”

Trudy wavered his steps when seeing a stranger, then tilted his head and sniffed. He could somehow feel a pheromone in Renato’s bedroom. Smelling the scent reminiscent of a snowy winter forest, the child quickly realized who Khalid was. A shriek-like exclamation burst out from his wide open mouth.

Black hair, red eyes, dominant Alpha.

There was only one person having all those three characteristics that Trudy knew. The man in front of his eyes was definitely Khalid Nur Hakan, the thief who had proposed to his hyung-nim.

“Grand prince Khalid!”

Bewildered by the unexpected meeting, Trudy pointed his finger at Khalid and shouted. Just as Trudy recognized Khalid, the man also recognized the child.

“You are His Imperial Highness the 2nd Prince.”

Having suppressed the pheromone that flowed out, Khalid smiled and got up from his seat. After approaching Trudy, he knelt on one knee and made eye contact with the child.

“Pleased to meet you, Your Imperial Highness. My name is Khalid Nur Hakan.”

“H, hello, I am Trudy El Fleurette……”

He is so big. Seeing Khalid approach him, Trudy involuntarily stuttered. The man with black hair reminiscent of a dark night and deep blood-red eyes was several times larger than him. Maybe because of that, even though the man was smiling, he was strangely overbearing.

Sensing the pheromone still in the air, Trudy gulped. He only smelled the scent, but his hair stood up and chills ran down his spine. He felt like he had once again encountered the wolf he saw at the imperial hunting ground.

“May I ask for a handshake?”

Khalid politely reached his hand out to Trudy, who was wary of him with a tense expression. The child carefully held the hand that seemed to be larger than his face. The man’s hand, which was also big like his body size, was much thicker and sturdier than that of his swordsmanship instructor.

“Since we have exchanged greetings, I, I want to go to hyung-nim!”

After quickly shaking hands, Trudy ran to the bed as if running away. It hurt his pride to be afraid of the thief trying to steal his hyung-nim, but he couldn’t help it. If he and his hyung-nim were squirrel and rabbit, that person would be a wolf beast.

“Hyung-nim!”

“Trudy.”

Renato warmly greeted Trudy when the child climbed onto the bed and called him. Then, he asked with a puzzled expression.

“But how did you get here? Isn’t it time for you to practice swordsmanship?”

“I heard hyung-nim collapsed, so how could I continue practicing? I was so surprised!”

Trudy proudly revealed that he had run out from his swordsmanship class, then tightly grabbed Renato’s hand before he could nag him. Then, the child looked up at Renato with wet eyes that seemed to burst into tears at any moment. After Ludmilla left, the most important person to the child was Renato.

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“Are you okay? Why did you faint? Did the young Duke scream and say something bad like the last time?”

Trudy poured out his questions like a baby bird. The child’s white and smooth face was full of concern for Renato.

Trudy had seen Maximo mistreating Renato several times. But he never helped Renato. It was because of Renato’s request to pretend he didn’t see anything.

‘You mustn’t show that you are close to me in front of other people. Understand?’

‘Why?’

‘If His Majesty the Empress and the people on his side find out that we are close, it might cause a lot of trouble. So when I’m with lord Florence or Marquis Medus, just pass by and pretend not to know. Okay? You can do it, right?’

‘……Hiing, yes.’

‘Good job, my little brother.’

Trudy was upset even though he knew it was for himself. But he eventually accepted it. At a young age, Trudy was well aware of his situation. The child didn’t want Renato to be in trouble because of him.

For that reason, whenever he saw Maximo quarreling or being sarcastic toward Renato, he endured and only cursed inwardly. In the innocent child’s eyes, Maximo was a worse human being than the villains in fairy tale books.

That was why he insisted on learning swordsmanship even after hearing that it was still too early for him to wield a sword. Trudy really wanted to give Maximo a punch someday. However, before he could become stronger, Maximo harassed Renato again.

“I’m sorry, hyung-nim……”

As he burned a grudge against Maximo, Trudy suddenly became sullen. Renato denied it, but the quick-witted child noticed that Renato had recently taken a different path and done various outside activities for Trudy’s sake. With that, Trudy felt like he was to blame for everything.

“Why are you sorry?”

“But, hiing……”

Instead of answering, Trudy rubbed his cheek against the back of Renato’s hand while letting out sobs. The child hated being young and weak. He wanted to quickly grow up and become strong to protect his precious hyung-nim, but he felt that he still had a long way to go.

“Please don’t be sick. Hing, hyung-nim shouldn’t be sick……”

“Sorry, did I worry you too much?”

Renato lovingly looked at Trudy who was acting childishly, stroking his soft hair. His voice toward the child was more affectionate than usual, and his speech also became softer.

“I’m sorry to have worried you, Trudy. I’m really okay…… Oh dear, don’t cry, there, there.”

Does he also have that aspect? Khalid’s expression turned strange when he saw Renato skillfully soothing the child.

To Khalid, Renato was weak but strong-minded, and he was clever and intelligent, yet innocent compared to his age. He also had a faint and precarious aura that made Khalid want to protect him over and over again.

However, Renato toward Trudy was a little different. Seeing Renato’s eyes, smile, touch, and attitude as he soothed the child, Khalid recalled Maryam taking care of him when he was young.

Do older brothers and sisters with younger siblings have that kind of feeling?

Khalid, who lived as Maryam’s younger brother, felt quite a shock.  Renato felt quite gentle and young when he was with Khalid, but he was quite mature and adult-like toward Trudy.

“Look up, I’ll wipe your face. That’s right…… Huh?”

As Renato wiped Trudy’s cheek with a gentle expression, his eyes met Khalid’s. Only then did Renato realize that he had ignored Khalid to soothe the crying Trudy, so he opened his mouth apologetically.

“My apologies, I was rude……”

“No, I saw a nice scene.”

Khalid raised the corners of his mouth and pleasantly smiled. After seeing that his sharp aura from a while ago had disappeared, Renato felt relieved inwardly. The man seemed like the Khalid he knew now.

“I have checked to see that you are fine, so I will be leaving for now.”

“Louis will bring tea soon, so please stay to have some.”

“It’s okay. I canceled my afternoon schedule, so I think I should go back now. ……Let’s talk about our unfinished story next time.”

Khalid’s gaze briefly reached Renato’s left arm, then diverted away. Realizing the meaning of his added words, Renato had a perplexed expression. Khalid pretended not to see it and said goodbye to Trudy.

“I was very happy to see you today, Your Imperial Highness. I hope that I can meet you on a more relaxed occasion next time.”

“Goodbye……”

Trudy squirmed out of Renato’s embrace and awkwardly greeted him.

Khalid looked at the child bowing to him with an adoring gaze, then slightly bowed his head and turned around. Renato looked at Khalid’s back, feeling somewhat regretful.

The next day, all major newspapers in the capital published articles that Maximo had made a fuss in Renato’s palace. Normally, this would have gone on without much discussion, but it turned serious since many people were watching whether Khalid and Renato’s engagement would happen.

The imperial faction’s nobles, seizing the advantage for the first time in a long while, criticized Maximo’s actions and claimed that he should be punished for profanity or disrespect toward the imperial family. The noble faction’s nobles naturally became busy defending the attacks against Maximo.

Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, a few days later, the Emperor’s letter of marriage approval that accepted Khalid’s proposal arrived at the Khan Kingdom’s diplomatic office. Then, the engagement between the two was announced throughout the Empire.

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