Tamed A Blackened Slave Man - Chapter 15: Meet You Once Again

Still drowsy, the Crown Prince slowly blinked a few times before his eyes shot open. His eyes narrowed into a grimace, and the first words that came out of the Crown Prince were…

“Who are you to be in here?”

“…”

“How bold of you to touch my body.”

Did the Crown Prince not know I’m a healer? Well, aside from this instance, the Crown Prince had never been seriously injured, so it made sense. So I gave him a slight nod and opened my mouth.

“I am Aren Serkia from the Serkia family.”

“That is not what I asked. I collapsed earlier, so explain why you, a stranger, are in my presence.”

He should have known from my family name that I’m a healer. But I still kindly explained the situation to the Crown Prince, who still seemed cautious.

“I am a healer. I have healed the poison that had spread through Your Majesty’s body. Had it been a little late, the situation would have been dire.”

Upon hearing my words, the Crown Prince slowly sat up. Still holding a suspicious gaze, he tilted his head up to look at me as he spoke,

“A healer? Poison? You treated me?”

“Yes, perhaps you’ve never heard about us, Your Highness.”

“…ah.”

Then the Crown Prince snapped his fingers as if he remembered something.

“That does remind me of something I heard before.”

“…?”

“The Serkia Family is known to be the one and only healer family in the Empire. And I’ve heard that the most talented healer among them was a certain young lady. They have the same name as you do.”

Then the Crown Prince, who had been wary of me just a moment ago, curled his lips upward. The golden eyes he owned were now filled with interest, almost like those of a naive child inspecting a newfound toy.

“Can I see that amazing ability of yours?”

Crown Prince Leon made a ridiculous request, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. And I was left completely speechless.

“Sorry, but that’s not possible, Your Highness.”

“Why not?”

“Because Your Highness’s wounds are already healed, and there’s no one else here who is critically injured.”

“…I see.”

And the Crown Prince expressed his disappointment at my response. I thought he was a year older than me, so why was he acting so childish? Was it because he was pampered throughout his life in the palace?

“Since Your Highness’s wounds have been healed, I will take my leave.”

“Hold on.”

Just as I was turning to leave, the Crown Prince grabbed my wrist. Even at this moment, I was still worried about whether Cassadin was causing another incident or not.

“It suddenly hurts here.”

Squinting as if in pain, the Crown Prince drummed his chest with his fist. Huh? I thought I had completely removed the poison.

‘Did something go wrong?’

I hastily rolled up the Crown Prince’s left sleeve and checked his pulse with my eyes closed.

‘No, he’s completely fine.’

Actually, let alone poison, he was almost too healthy for someone who had just recovered from being poisoned. I was almost astonished at the Crown Prince’s recovery rate. So I explained to him in a calm voice,

“I’ve checked Your Highness’s pulse, and nothing seems to be wrong. Your heartbeat is steady as well. Your Highness is incredibly healthy.”

“Oh. How’d you know? You really are a healer.”

‘So he was just lying about being in pain.’

“…now that I’ve completed my role, I will take my leave.”

“Wait.”

The Crown Prince called me back again, holding onto my wrist without any intention of letting me go. Even my patience, which had not wavered even when Cassadin was lying, was starting to run out. And I felt my eyebrow twitch a little.

“Your Highness.”

“There’s a bold fellow out there who tried to harm me on my birthday. I’m a bit uneasy, so would it be too much to ask you to stay by my side for a bit?”

Crown Prince Leon stared at me as he spoke. I could see my perplexed self’s reflection vividly in his shining golden eyes.

I quietly stared back at my reflection in his eyes, then opened my mouth.

“In that case, I will call someone else.”

“How interesting.”

“…pardon?”

“All the other ladies are desperate to engage in a conversation with me, but you just seem eager to get away from me.”

…I was speechless once again. I’ve seen good-looking people before, but I’ve never seen anyone speak of themselves like that.

‘Has the Crown Prince always been this narcissistic?’

I haven’t interacted with the Crown Prince in my previous life at all, so I never expected him to have such a personality. That was because there was rarely any occasion for him to meet him as a healer when he had such a healthy body.

To the Crown Prince, who wasn’t letting go of my hand, I blurted out anything that was on my mind, wishing I could leave this room as quickly as possible.

“Not everyone is the same.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t think Your Highness should think that all the ladies he meets will be like the ones he has met so far.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because everyone has different values.”

“I have a question for you. What…”

The Crown Prince suddenly leaned his face close to mine. Right below his radiant golden hair, his forehead was glistening.

Seeing me freeze up at his unexpected action, he gave me another bright smile and asked a rather absurd question.

“…do you think of me?”

“…I think Your Highness is the Crown Prince.”

“Pwhahaha!”

To my answer, the Crown Prince burst into a loud laugh. Seeing him laugh to the point his shoulders were shaking, I was feeling incredibly bewildered. I couldn’t understand why calling the Crown Prince the Crown Prince was so funny.

‘He’s really weird.’

I shook my head internally in disapproval. Just when I was hoping never to encounter the Crown Prince, his voice tormented my ears once more.

“Your name is Aren, correct? I expect you to heal me if I ever get wounded again.”

“…pardon me?”

“Well then, go on your way. Aren. See you again.”

‘See you again? I think I just heard something I shouldn’t have.’

With a smile on his face, the Crown Prince finally let go of the wrist he had been holding onto. And with a face still lingering from the fit of laughter he experienced, he signaled me to leave quickly.

Barely suppressing the urge to smack the Crown Prince’s playful face, I bowed, then hurried out of the room. As soon as I stepped out of the Crown Prince’s room, I informed the royal knight, who had been waiting outside, that the prince had awakened.

I quickened my pace immediately afterward. The attendants gave me a strange look as I crossed through the imperial corridor, but I didn’t care. What was important to me now was Cassadin, not how they saw me.

After crossing the corridor, I entered the Crystal Hall, where all of the commotion had occurred. The hall was completely empty of the nobles that had once packed its walls. And the only signs of people were the maids who were cleaning up the hall.

So I approached a maid who was diligently sweeping the hall and asked about what had happened.

“His Majesty the Emperor canceled today’s banquet.”

“…and the other people who were in the hall?”

“I heard they were all sent back.”

After hearing that, I heaved a sigh of relief. Cassadin’s crime had not been revealed. I turned to leave the palace, my footsteps feeling much lighter than before.

When I looked up at the sky, I found it to be completely dark. And the glittering stars embedded in the night sky were a sign that I had spent too much time conversing with the Crown Prince.

‘Where is Cassadin?’

I looked around at my surroundings. Next to the massive fountain made of crystal were only the figures of the imperial knights and the attendants. The nobles who had been in the hall must have all gone home, seeing that none of them were in sight.

And when I took a few more steps, I heard a familiar voice in the distance.

“…late.”

“…why?”

I moved toward the direction where the voices came from. The first thing that came into view was his silver hair, then the black uniform he was wearing. The person who had his back turned as he spoke to someone was certainly Cassadin.

“Cassadin.”

And Cassadin’s head turned to me when I called out to him. Locking eyes with me, Cassadin smiled gently at me. His current face had returned completely to the polite, kind-hearted younger brother, which I almost believed the deadly glare I saw earlier was from another person.

“Sister.”

“Have you waited long? And the person next to you is…”

But when I saw the face of the person who had been talking with Cassadin, my heart dropped to my stomach.

Pitch-black hair with eyes angled up sharply, and emerald iris within them.

The one who had been talking with Cassadin was the man who had been my fiancé in my past life, and who had stabbed a sword into my heart.

‘Damian Keane Daeus.’

When I stood there, frozen, with my eyes locked on him, Damian curled up his lips respectfully and approached me. One step, two steps. As he came closer, his shoes clicking against the ground, the memories from my past life also seemed to become clearer.

Damian, who had been hugging Lilian. Damian, who had slapped my face. Damian, who killed me when I tried to escape him.

“A pleasure to meet you, M’lady.”

His serene voice, which maintained a consistent tone when speaking, was too familiar to me. That false voice used to coax me into healing his wounds during those three hellish years.

“My name is Damian Keane Daeus.”

The man who killed me in my past life was greeting me as if it were the first time we had met.