Please Die, Your Highness - Chapter 77

Maeve looked at him as if asking what on earth he meant. The surroundings were desolate. It was profoundly silent, except for the occasional sound of vermilion maple leaves sweeping away whenever the wind blew.

Prince Declan felt that even this silence was ominous. With a scowled face, he looked around the forest where no one but them was visible.

“I feel like someone is watching us. I definitely felt a gaze.”

“It was probably a rabbit or a deer. Perhaps the family of the rabbit that escaped.”

Instead of being repulsed by Maeve’s gruesome joke, Prince Declan rubbed his own arms.

“Let’s go back, Maeve. The sun sets quickly now. There’s nothing we can do about the rabbit. Seeing as it stayed alive even after being caught in the snare, it wasn’t destined to die in the first place.”

‘Destiny.’ Maeve found the word destiny—which Prince Declan mentioned so lightly—quite irritating, but she showed no sign of it and stood up with a nod. Maeve looked around again as she followed Prince Declan back the way they had come. There were only trees everywhere.

When even the intermittent wind ceased, the sound of rustling leaves vanished, leaving a terrifying silence.

“Did you think it was a person?”

Maeve asked toward the back of Prince Declan, who was walking ahead. Prince Declan stopped, waited for Maeve to catch up, and then said while walking side-by-side with her:

“I don’t know. I just felt a gaze.”

“…….”

“Do you believe me?”

Prince Declan asked her that, then gestured somewhat awkwardly, saying, “I mean, because, you know much more about these things than I do.”

Maeve nodded indifferently.

Because the intuition of herbivorous animals cannot be ignored.

She thought that to herself but did not voice it. It was because it was obvious the Prince’s pride would be wounded. Not only that; he would likely sulk.

It had been about a week since Maeve and Prince Declan were left alone. And during that time, Prince Declan had sulked about eight times.

A sulking Prince was quite bothersome. If he got angry, one could simply apologize, but when he sulked, he wouldn’t even accept an apology and would just snap irritably.

The Prince sulked often, but he tended to get over it quickly.

Even this morning, he got worked up alone and sulked, claiming she was coddling the donkey like a baby, only to get over it in less than five minutes. The Prince repeatedly got heated by himself and then cooled off by himself.

Perhaps he felt bashful about being that way, as he acted awkwardly when she spoke to him again.

“Since we lost the rabbit, let’s just make soup with carrots instead. How about it?”

“Ambrox ate them all.”

“……The donkey.”

“It’s the fault of the Prince Declan who left the bag of carrots within the donkey’s reach.”

Maeve spoke preemptively before the Prince could get angry again.

Prince Declan widened his eyes in absurdity, then slumped his shoulders as if giving up.

“Right. It’s my fault. It’s my fault for letting a donkey with a knight’s name steal and eat the carrots.”

This was the first time he had shown such a self-deprecating reaction. Maeve peered at him, wondering if he was sulking in a new way.

As she walked side-by-side with him, the Prince’s face, which she looked up at, had aspects that were quite different from usual. His jaw was rather thick. In contrast to his pretty features, the lines of his face were bold, giving him a fairly masculine feel.

How could the impression of his front and profile be so starkly different? The Prince, viewed from the side, gave off a somewhat formidable impression.

“What is it?”

As Maeve stared intently at his face without a word, Prince Declan asked, seemingly sensing her curiosity.

Prince Declan was sickeningly accustomed to others looking at him as if admiring his appearance, but because the person was that Maeve, it felt a bit awkward. That was because she had seemed to have no interest whatsoever in his looks.

“Am I handsome?”

Prince Declan asked with a playful smile so that Maeve would not feel embarrassed. The woman gazed at him and readily nodded her head in affirmation.

Prince Declan was stunned for a moment, and soon became a little sheepish and shy. It was an uncomfortable emotion he was feeling for the first time. This was because Prince Declan had previously accepted people praising his beautiful appearance as something as natural as the air he breathed.

Is this how men who aren’t handsome feel when they are told they are handsome? Perhaps because he had lived among people who praised him just for breathing and was now traveling with a woman who was entirely indifferent, it felt as though his threshold had been broken.

Prince Declan soon thought positively, deciding that this was interesting in its own way.

“You may look as much as you like.”

“I think I’ve seen enough.”

The strange sensation he had felt at the place where the traps were set vanished quickly, like melting snow. The two soon returned to their modest camp. The brown horse was already sitting down, preparing to spend the night, and the donkey was lying on its side, snoring as it slept.

Prince Declan began to set up a temporary tent for their sleeping quarters, being careful not to wake the young donkey. After groaning for about twenty minutes, a very clumsy tent was finally completed.

When he turned toward Maeve with a proud heart, she had already lit a fire and placed the pot on the tripod, preparing to make dinner.

Maeve raised her head at the sound of Prince Declan’s throat-clearing and looked that way. A man who, in appearance, was beyond beautiful and looked quite dignified and masculine, stood with a tent that looked like it was about to collapse as his backdrop.

Maeve was not the type to offer praise or build someone up even with a lie.

“It looks like it will fall over before you even lie down.”

“Ah, thank you for the direct evaluation.”