Guiding Only, Your Highness! - Chapter 39

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But she’s, uh… pretty?

Ephinia looked even prettier than in his imagination, and Kasselard’s mouth fell open foolishly. Ephinia was simply wearing the dress she had come in after bathing.

The imperial maids had helped tidy her hair, but it was nothing more than her returning to the way she had looked when she first entered the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Of course, he hadn’t thought she was ugly when he first saw her. She had simply been the type of beauty that was simple and understated. If Fleur was a dazzling beauty who stood out anywhere, Ephinia was closer to a quiet, refined beauty who seemed almost unnoticeable.

In any case, he had dismissed her as not his type, as a shabby woman worse than a wilted flower, but now his eyes were betraying his memory.

‘Was she always this pretty? Are my eyes rotten?’’

The woman who had looked like a cracked amethyst covered in dirt now felt like a diamond shining on its own. The moment their eyes met, his steps toward her became hurried.

Ephinia seemed slightly flustered when he stared without blinking and then began striding toward her as soon as their gazes met.

“Why are you so pretty?”

“…What?”

As Ephinia froze in surprise, Kasselard’s blue eyes sharpened. This wasn’t right. His head knew this wasn’t right, but his mouth had moved on its own.

‘Damn it! What’s wrong with me?’

“Let’s eat. Follow me.”

Speaking in a blunt tone, Kasselard turned and walked ahead. Ephinia felt relieved, but at the same time, a faint trace of disappointment, as small as a speck of dust, rose within her. As expected, the brief kindness he had shown earlier had only been the aftereffects of guiding.

‘There’s no need to pay attention to it.’

She was a Guide, and once she left Kasselard, she would end up guiding other Transcendents as well. She had to get used to such changes.

Even as he walked ahead, Kasselard was going crazy from being aware of Ephinia following behind him. Instead of walking ahead like this, he wanted to hold her hand. He wanted to walk beside her, hear the sound of her voice as she spoke, and feel her breath.

‘Get a grip! Kasselard de Rutinerus!!’

THUD!!

“Your Highness?!”

“Your Highness! Are you alright?!”

When Kasselard suddenly slammed his head into the wall while walking down the corridor, not only Ephinia but the attendants as well rushed over in shock. Kasselard looked perfectly fine for someone who had just hit his head against a wall.

“It’s nothing, so don’t worry about it.”

Nothing?

Kasselard’s forehead wasn’t even red, but the wall had cracked and pieces were falling off. What kind of insane behavior was that? Ephinia looked at him with a slightly appalled expression.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.”

A Transcendent’s injuries could be healed immediately through guiding. Kasselard was so sturdy that he hadn’t even been hurt enough to require guiding, but inwardly, he found that regrettable.

‘I do need guiding! I really do need guiding, but…’

If he left things like this, he felt like he might end up completely falling for that shabby woman. Him, the Crown Prince of the Karnan Empire. Thinking that was unacceptable, Kasselard quickened his steps toward the dining hall.

The meal had been arranged not in his quarters but in the dining hall of the Crown Prince’s Palace, a large space where banquets were sometimes held.

‘We’re eating here?’

A high ceiling and an overwhelmingly vast interior. Looking around the magnificent hall decorated like a scene from mythology, Ephinia took her seat at one side of the table while being attended by a servant.

Kasselard took his place at the seat of honor far inside.

The table was long enough that the distance from one end to the other was considerable, but they were not seated directly facing each other. Fortunately, she had not been guided to the seat right next to him, and she felt relieved to have some distance.

At Kasselard’s signal, the servants began bringing in the food. Since it was dinner, the dishes were fairly substantial. Roasted duck, seafood soup, salad, and various other dishes were laid out across the table.

Tense, Ephinia watched Kasselard begin eating before picking up her fork.

‘First…’

It was something she had practiced dozens of times under the tutor assigned by House Lanas. She had already been told she was doing well and believed the etiquette had become natural to her, but sitting down to eat with Kasselard made her nervous again.

‘Good. If I see her make a mistake, I’ll mock her thoroughly!’

As if driving a stake into his wavering mind, Kasselard watched the amount Ephinia ate with a rather sharp gaze. As expected, her table manners were not perfect.