If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 113

I stretched one hand long toward where Regen stood. “To my quarters.”

 

“I shall escort you.”

 

Without even exchanging ceremonial farewells, I turned away from Dominic. Grasping Regen’s solid arm, I crossed the garden. Only when I felt certain Dominic’s gaze would no longer reach me, even without looking back, did I slow my steps.

 

This garden was no different from the one we had just left. Quiet, empty of people, filled with birdsong and the sound of water. But this time, my mind felt at ease. I let out a long breath and turned properly toward Regen. While he endured what must have been a torturous time breathing the same air as Emilio Hwibrik, I had refrained from even letting my gaze touch him, pretending not to be conscious of him. Which meant only now could I properly examine his face.

 

Was he suppressing his expression, pretending to be fine? Would his eyes look exhausted with pain? What if he looked like he couldn’t breathe? What would I do then? Filled with worry and at a loss, I looked up at him. Then I met golden eyes that had already been looking down at me.

 

We spoke at the same time.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Are you alright?”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Our concern for each other overlapped. I knew logically it was nothing more than a trivial coincidence, yet my heart assigned meaning to this insignificant moment as if it were fate itself. I barely suppressed the flutter rising in my chest.

 

“If it’s Dominic, this isn’t the first or second time. I’m fine.”

 

“…”

 

“You don’t have to worry about what I said at the end. Saying he slashed my face was an exaggeration. It was nothing serious… I’ll tell you later.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

As expected, Regen was both a knight and a gentleman. He would never pry into another person’s past out of shallow curiosity. I already regretted acting impulsively in front of Dominic. Raising unnecessary thorns only ended up making Regen worry.

 

“And you, Regen?”

 

Now it was his turn.

 

“I’m sorry for pretending not to pay attention while you were with Marquis Hwibrik. But… inside, I was very worried about you.”

 

“I know.” His voice and gaze were noticeably more subdued than usual. If I looked deeply into his eyes now, perhaps I would find not sunlight, but an abyss.

 

The traitor who had destroyed without remainder the precious things he had risked his life to protect. Seeing that vile man alive right before his eyes must have been indescribably devastating. And swallowing such horrible feelings was no different from self-harm. So I wanted him not to confine everything inside himself, but to let even a little of it out before me. Because I wanted to share his sorrow.

 

Carefully, I reached out to him. As if wiping away invisible tears, I gently brushed his cold cheek with the back of my hand. He did not refuse. “That must have been very hard.”

 

“…Yes.” That calm admission became the trigger. Turning his head slightly, he naturally pressed his lips against the back of my hand and finally spoke his thoughts. “Simply leaving him alive already required restraint, yet he even provoked me. And he used Sasha to do it.”

 

“…”

 

“It seems I did well to ask you to command me with your authority of dominion. Otherwise, I might have acted rashly.”

 

“The authority should be lifted now… Are you alright?”

 

I had ordered him to remain calm in front of the traitor, so now that he was no longer facing him, the command’s influence should have ended. I worried his emotions might surge all at once, like when the imprint had once been released.

 

Regen gently removed my hand from his. “I wonder.” He turned his head. His dimmed eyes faced the direction we had walked from. His gaze traced back along the path we had stepped over. Somewhere at its end, Emilio Hwibrik would still be there.

 

“If I truly wished to, even now would not be too late.”

 

The handsome face held no expression, and his voice carried no rise or fall. At first glance, he seemed almost inhumanly emotionless, but that was surely the result of painstaking restraint so as not to reveal killing intent before me. His mind and heart were probably hell itself.

 

Now that the dominion command forcing his calm had lifted, Regen was likely restraining the impulse while imagining the traitor’s defenseless back. Perhaps he was already envisioning several methods he could carry out immediately. If he abandoned concern for consequences, killing Emilio physically would be absurdly simple compared to dealing with the mad emperor. And executing a man who betrayed his homeland would even be considered noble. As an honorable knight who lived by honor, Regenhart Lohengrin would not hesitate to risk his life. Yet he endured even the humiliation of doing nothing. There was only one reason that made this possible.

 

“You need not worry. I will not do anything that would bring harm to you.”

 

“…”

 

“Because that is my only fear.”

 

The imprint. That dreadful mental restraint made me his weakness.

 

“Regen.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“…Sasha?” Confusion colored his voice at being called so suddenly.

 

I neither explained nor justified myself. I simply made a promise. “I swear upon my name. I will give you the traitor’s head.”

 

Surprise appeared in the golden eyes looking at me, likely because of the light pattern that had just appeared in my own eyes.

 

“You are making a vow.”

 

It was the only thing I could do for him right now.

 

“Yes. Now that I’ve done it, there’s no retreat. I have no choice but to keep the promise.”

 

“…”

 

“Trust me. The wait won’t be long.” I spoke steadily, trying to plant faith within his heart.

 

I expected Regen to feel at least a little relieved, or if not happy, then comforted enough for his expression to soften. Instead, a dark shadow fell across his eyes.

 

“What’s wrong? Do you not trust me?”

 

“No. I trust you, Sasha. It’s just…”

 

“Just?”

 

“The plan is currently in progress… I wish to ask whether this is truly the only method.”

 

I blinked. “You don’t like the method?” I had been carefully building justification and causality step by step. The attempt at blackmail had deviated slightly, but the direction remained the same, and the process had become far smoother.

 

“…”

 

His handsome face tightened slightly. Even the expression of someone troubled by a difficult dilemma was attractive.

 

“I do not like it.”

 

“What part?”

 

“…”

 

Did he still need time to think?

 

At last, as if reaching a decision after fierce internal struggle, Regen took a deep breath. His earnest voice rang in my ears. “I do not like that man approaching you, Sasha.”

 

“…”

 

His golden eyes now stared directly at me without even a trace of hesitation. The depth in them was far too deep to be merely a knight’s simple concern for his lord. “Seeing him hold your hand in front of me.”

 

“…”

 

“Seeing him touch you.”

 

“…”

 

“Seeing him place his lips on your hair.”

 

“…”

 

“I dislike all of it.”

 

“…”

 

Without realizing it, I inhaled sharply. This was troubling. Because it sounded exactly like a heartfelt confession, and my heart began to stir noisily. But this time, wasn’t it reasonable to misunderstand? No, perhaps there truly was a possibility?

 

At that moment, the devil’s whisper I had heard earlier echoed in my mind.

 

“I told you, didn’t I? We have the same taste.”

 

“Do you think taste in women would be any different?”

 

The expectation inside me grew. The very expectation I had tried so desperately to strangle was growing again.

 

“…”

 

Then Regen rubbed his face with a dry hand, wearing an awkward expression, like someone who had accidentally said too much.

 

Was what he said just now an impulse? I wondered. I truly, desperately wondered.

 

“Regen.”

 

As if Regen had no way to avoid it once his name was called, he met my gaze. I saw his prominent Adam’s apple rise and fall once. At the exact moment, I swallowed as well. We were sharing a strange tension.

 

Carefully, I chose my words.