The Prince’s First Love Was Me Chapter 13

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for a future with no dreams or hope in sight.

This is why you need to know your limits before getting carried away.

I couldn’t just stay frozen in place, so I grimaced and slowly brought my legs back together.

Every little movement sent a sharp, tingling pain shooting up my spine. The brief moment it took to close my legs felt like an eternity.

“Is something wrong?”

The man, who had been busy rolling the barrel, stopped what he was doing and approached me.

“I think I pulled my back.”

I supported my lower back with one hand and answered in an awkward, half-crouched position.

“Good grief! That’s why I warned you it was incredibly heavy. Just looking at you, I could tell your build wasn’t suited for heavy lifting.”

You can say that again. Why did I even try? Now that I’ve wrecked my back, I finally realize how stupidly reckless I was. Who knew it would be this heavy?

I let out a sigh, looking utterly defeated.

Just as I was blaming myself for getting into a situation where I couldn’t move an inch, my body suddenly lifted into the air.

“Where do you live? Since you got hurt trying to help me, I’ll take you home.”

The man, who had somehow approached without me noticing, scooped me up effortlessly and looked around.

His movement was as easy as picking up a piece of clothing he’d taken off. Even his breathing remained perfectly steady.

I actually thought I could beat someone like this in a contest of strength?

I was only now realizing how reckless that challenge had been.

I turned my head and examined the arm holding me.

Every time his muscles tensed, they bulged beneath his skin. Even at a glance, his arm looked about as thick as my thigh.

Wouldn’t I need muscles like that to show Aaron how manly I was?

Urgh. And then there’s me…

I shook my head, lamenting my current predicament as I lay obediently in his arms. Just then, the sound of footsteps rang clearly in my ears.

The footsteps were closing the distance between us with a terrifyingly steady rhythm.

Oh, crap! This is no time for that!

I finally snapped out of it and started struggling.

“I’m fine! You don’t need to carry me all that way, sir. Please put me down!”

Aaron must have been watching from a distance, curious about whatever ridiculous stunt I’d gotten myself into this time.

And now he was going to see me like this.

We’d agreed to be faithful to each other for the duration of our contract. Surely, he wouldn’t be pleased to see me being carried around by another man.

I grew more frantic and struggled even harder, but the man didn’t budge an inch.

“If your house is too far, at least let me carry you as far as the carriage…”

“Put him down.”

Aaron’s low voice cut the man off as he finally reached us.

At the same time, my feet, which had been kicking up a storm, quietly curled inward.

When you thought about it, all I’d done was pull a muscle in my back. Yet I was acting like someone who’d just been caught cheating.

The man began to explain what had happened to Aaron, but Aaron interrupted him.

“That man belongs to me.”

The moment Aaron finished speaking, a sweet love song rang in my ears, so sugary it could melt my entire body. A dazzling spectacle of fireworks exploding right before my eyes unfolded.

I belong to him!

I’m Aaron’s man!

Bright sunlight poured down behind Aaron, and colorful flowers bloomed all around him.

He was so radiant that I nearly burst into tears.

As I secretly wiped away a tear at his breathtaking appearance, the man who hadn’t budged even when I struggled finally hesitated and set me down.

Aaron’s sudden confession seemed to have left him quite shaken.

Yeah. I get it. It’s not every day you see two men who look this good together in real life.

“Sorry about that. Looks like the young servant pulled his back. Take him home and apply a warm compress. He should recover quickly.”

My mouth had been curled into a grin, but at the man’s next words, the corners of my lips began to twitch.

Why did you have to call me a servant?

I glared at him with a deeply offended expression.

Aaron had just said, in the sweetest voice imaginable, that I belonged to him! How did he interpret that as meaning I was his servant?!

Of course, judging by appearances alone, Aaron looked every bit the young master of a wealthy family, while I was just an ordinary young man whose only decent feature was his face! But did that really make me a servant?!

The man seemed to have misunderstood my twisted expression.

“Oh dear. You’d better take him home quickly. He seems to be in a lot of pain.”

“That’s not what I—!”

Aaron, wearing a smile, effortlessly scooped me into his arms before I could finish my indignant protest.

The moment I was in Aaron’s arms, I obediently shut my mouth as if I’d never been angry in the first place. My body went completely rigid from the sheer disbelief of the situation.

“We’ll be going now. Please get back to what you were doing.”

Without delay, Aaron turned and retraced his steps.

I hadn’t thought much of being carried in the muscular man’s arms, but now that I was in Aaron’s, both my body and mind felt terribly uncomfortable.

Unlike the sweaty smell of the other man, Aaron carried a sensual, mature, indescribably deep scent. It sent my composure into a tailspin, and I had to fight to keep my instincts from running wild.

And why was his face so close?

I wish I could leave a little lipstick mark on that snowy-white cheek. I heard people in other countries greet each other with a light kiss on the cheek. Don’t they do that here?

I smacked my lips regretfully, only to realize that Aaron had walked right past the café where we’d started.

“Where are we going? The restaurant is that way…”

“To my estate, of course. Your back is in no shape to be wandering around, is it?”

“But we should eat before we go. You haven’t had anything to eat, remember? If you skip a meal because of me, my heart will hurt even more than my back.”

“If you’re really thinking of me, wouldn’t it be better to go straight back? I am only human, after all. I can’t promise I’ll be able to carry you around forever.”

“You’re right. We should hurry, then.”

What an incredible change of attitude.

Feeling a little embarrassed by my own response, I pretended to look elsewhere. Aaron chuckled softly and started walking again.

The moment we entered the center of the plaza, I heard people murmuring all around us.

A tall, handsome blond man carrying the famous chocolate delivery person of Bolodo Plaza was bound to attract attention.

I looked up at Aaron. He didn’t seem to care about the situation at all.

That indifferent attitude of his, where he doesn’t even spare a glance at what other people say, is exactly the sort of thing that drives people crazy.

This was why I was so obsessed with Aaron!

I was turning my head with a satisfied smile when I spotted someone familiar at the large café directly ahead.

“Chris?”

I narrowed my eyes.

A black-haired man whose elegance would remain obvious even if you saw him doing a backward roll was sitting at an outdoor table, looking through a small notebook.

Why is Chris here? Did he come separately from Aaron?

I was used to seeing him with Aaron, so seeing him alone felt strangely different.

When Chris stood beside Aaron, he gave off such a strong impression of an aide that his own presence almost faded into the background. But alone, he was exactly what Toby had once described: the very image of a member of the royal household.

He looked so perfectly composed and polished that I felt I ought to mind my manners in his presence.

His cold, calculating image wasn’t surprising.

Even in the novel, he was someone who never hesitated to speak frankly to Aaron.

Chris set his notebook on the table, lifted his teacup, and took a sip.

Just then, the people nearby began whispering as they looked at us. At the same time, Chris turned his gaze in our direction.

And then I saw it.

The moment Chris’s mouth erupted into a fountain of tea.

He spat out the tea in one spectacular spray, hastily tucked his notebook into his arms, and came running toward us.

I take back what I said about him being perfectly composed.

I revised my earlier assessment as I watched Chris approach, his hair flying in the wind. He was a very human person after all.

“What happened here?”

Chris stopped in front of us, looking flustered as he glanced between the two of us.

“Someone was moving something heavy, so I tried to help and pulled my back.”

Chris squeezed his eyes shut and pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Was that person smaller or weaker than you, Ronnie?”

“Not exactly, but…”

“Then don’t get involved. If you stick your nose into things you don’t need to, all you’ll do is cause trouble for His Highness, just as you have now.”

For someone who’d just delivered such a harsh remark, his eyes were surprisingly unsettled.

Of course, I could only notice this subtle change because I knew how warmhearted Chris really was.

That was why his scolding didn’t particularly hurt my feelings. After all, he was taking on the role of the bad guy for Aaron’s sake.

I looked up at Aaron and asked with the most innocent expression I could manage,

“Did I cause you trouble?”

Chris looked utterly taken aback. He clearly hadn’t expected me to ask Aaron so directly.

Sorry, but I’m not the kind of woman who gets intimidated by harsh words. If something makes me curious, I have to get to the bottom of it.

“No.”

Aaron answered immediately.

Chris, who had suddenly ended up looking like someone who’d tried to drive a wedge between us right in front of both parties involved, shook his head and sighed.

“Let’s get going.”

With Aaron supporting me, I carefully settled into the carriage.

We headed straight for the viscount’s estate.

Inside the carriage, the only sound was the rumble of the wheels. I kept opening and closing my mouth as I glanced at Chris.

There was something I wanted to ask him, but I hesitated because Aaron was sitting beside me.

Still, it was something I wanted to know right away. And I figured arranging a chance to speak with Chris alone would be complicated, so I finally parted my lips.

“Ahem. Your Highness’s aide…”

“Please call me Chris. You address His Highness by his name, so there’s no need to be so formal with me.”

His tone was sharp, perhaps because he was still holding a grudge.

I simply shrugged, unbothered.

“All right, Chris. There’s something I’m curious about. Can I ask you?”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Tell me the name of the person who did this to Aaron’s face.”