"Then, can I do whatever I want?" asked Dylan.
Charlize answered effortlessly because she had no feelings for her family:
"Yes."
Dylan was going to do what Charlize meant by power.
The power of the Grand-Ducal family was high but still not as high as that of the Crown Prince.
Dylan didn't know what exactly he was feeling right now. Because he had never felt this way before.
He just wanted to listen to everything Charlize wanted and cherish it.
"Do it," she replied, not knowing what might happen.
"Now that I have moved to the Crown Prince's palace, I am most pleased with that. I like the old building I used to stay in too because it holds many memories."
Dylan hesitated for a moment:
"But it wasn't enough to serve Master. Now you'll be able to stay in a wider and more comfortable place. In particular, I urged you to decorate Master's bedroom as luxuriously as possible."
"… You did."
Charlize's eyes crinkled at the corners because she smiled:
"Your Highness is the only one who cares about me all the time."
As she tilted her head, her hair fell softly.
Dreamy looking hair, a mixture of gold and silver. The blue eyes that resembled the universe held warm energy.
'Why does he stare so blankly?'
Charlize thought plainly while watching the silent Dylan.
As if he had come to his senses now, Dylan quickly blinked and avoided her gaze.
However, the gaze came back soon. It lingered on her lips.
'What's going on with you…'
"Wait a minute, excuse me."
Dylan was faster than Charlize. A finger that came close to Charlize's mouth soon touched her.
Her mouth was open, but there was no obvious contact. Her breathing stopped.
Suddenly. She felt a sense of Deja-vu.
Four years ago, in the mountains.
Charlize pretended to be asleep at that time, but she was actually awake. So, she remembered everything. A boy who was wondering whether to remove the petals on her cheek or not.
'Has our relationship progressed?'
The boy, who had hesitated at that time, was now approaching calmly.
Charlize's eyes slowly grew bigger.
The lips that the maids put makeup on. The outer part was pink, and as it went further inside it is a reddish gradient.
A liquid as sweet and rich as honey that shined when the light touched it.
Dylan slowly touched Charlize's lips. A vivid sensation of touch. Charlize blinked her eyes.
'Who is nervous?'
Charlize couldn't tell for a moment whether her lips were shaking or Dylan's fingers were shaking. Just because her breathing was heavy and slow.
"…It was stained."
Dylan said, showing the lint he had removed from Charlize's mouth. 'Ah.' Charlize belatedly gulped down her saliva.
Just having a fresh coming-of-age ceremony, Dylan looked a little strange today.
'You really have become an adult.'
The atmosphere was furtive.
He was smiling refreshingly and shyly. It was strange. From somewhere a dangerous feeling was coming.
For sure, her student was ridiculously excellent.
Like a reserved tyrant, it was not an intense but still a breathtaking feeling. A man shaped by Charlize.
Charlize answered slowly,
"Thank you, Your Highness."
She felt Dylan was trying to be considerate of her.
"Why don't you change your dress and meet me in the pavilion again? I'll tell you to get ready for the night."
Dylan had become the Crown Prince. To congratulate him, she had to share a conversation. Charlize nodded,
"Okay, let's do that."
"It must have been very uncomfortable and heavy, so you can take a little rest."
Dylan was gentle until the end.
As he said, the dress was as uncomfortable as it was colorful, and the head decorations were heavy, so she was a little tired.
"Yes, Your Highness."
He cared about even the smallest detail. Charlize smiled softly.
***
The water was full of white waterlilies.
Charlize climbed up the marble steps. A bright moonlight illuminated the pavilion.
The night meal was ready. Dylan, who had arrived first, stood up.
"Have you arrived?"
Dylan was dressed in the Crown Prince's robes. It was amazing. Did it not take some time to get used to it?
Charlize sat face to face with Dylan.
"Because you have become the Crown Prince I sincerely congratulate you."
"It's all thanks to Master."
Dylan looked modestly at her. The maid next to her began pouring tea while kneeling down.
Gently.
The moonlight shone on the surface of the tea water.
"I thought of giving you a present but changed my mind. Instead, I will grant your wishes."
"… Wishes, you mean?"
"Your Highness's wishes from me. There are only three."
Dylan looked at Charlize.
"If you tell me here today, I'll listen to whatever it is."
He didn't want anything. Except for Charlize.
Any congratulatory gift would have been very much appreciated. It wouldn't have been much needed.
But if Charlize wanted to hear it. The story was different.
"… A little, would you mind if you thought about it?"
"As much as you want."
Dylan wondered if he had ever thought this way in his life.
Three wishes.
Even now, at this place.
Dylan didn't want to step on Charlize's line.
He wanted to wish properly so that he wouldn't feel rude.
With the night sky behind her, Charlize was as beautiful as ever. Her eyes, resembling the universe, look at him. Dylan said,
"I think I have to say it really carefully, Master."
"I'm fine with anything."
Charlize was calm.
Suddenly, when her eyes met his, Charlize picked up the silver teacup. Sipping the teacup with a calm, indifferent face.
The long silence drew to an end.
Dylan opened his lips.
"Then, can I ask for indulgence?"
"… Indulgence?"
"It's not big. I don't even intend to commit a crime. I think I'm just going to be a little rude. I hope Master will forgive me at that time."
'A little rude, what could it be?'
Charlize was curious. But she accepted it as much as he had said it first.
"Okay."
When she lightly gave permission, Dylan looked surprised.
As if he was very nervous, he held the bottom of his hand and opened it repeatedly.
No rudeness would compare to the rudeness of the 9th prince in the past.
Charlize believed in Dylan.
At best, he would apologize and ask for forgiveness for being rude; or he'd ask her to stroke his head and say sorry.
Charlize didn't take it seriously.
"The second one?"
"The second is…"
Dylan lowered his gaze. Clear black hair. In contrast, the white skin resembles the moonlight.
"I want you to give me the name of the knights I will lead."
"Name…"
The number of knights that had chosen Dylan as their lord was now exceeding dozens. If Dylan became emperor, he would organize them into a new knightage.
"If Master gives me the name, you will be honored."
Charlize didn't refuse Dylan's request. Because…
'I saved some beggars and slaves who were starving on the streets and sent them to Dylan.'
Charlize returned in time.
So that's why she knew a lot of them who would reveal their brilliant talents in the future.
For example, a boy from a gladiator family who was released on the slave market, begging on the street and dying.
They approached and saved them when they were in the most difficult times. She gave Dylan the boys who were thrilled and loyal.
[It will be worth trusting and raising them, Prince.]
[If it's Master's will.]
Dylan obeyed Charlize's will.
Since he took them in at Charlize's recommendation, he said that they should treat her appropriately and that they had given up their old life's and valued her.
Those were all the knights who now reached the level of a master under Dylan.
"Were their names, V and Hugo?"
She remembered them as boys who were so dramatic that they didn't want to be apart from Charlize.
Now, like Dylan, they were already mature.
It was not so bad to see those who try to follow blindly. Maybe they were doing well.
Charlize quietly drank her tea:
"If you don't mind an intuitive name."
"Any name is fine,"
Dylan answered firmly.
Charlize said,
"Shadow."
Shadow Knightage. It was certainly an intuitive name. Dylan was smiling with his whole face, perhaps satisfied.
"Thank you, Master."
Charlize didn't know. The name she gave him while drinking tea would become a name that would bend over the empire and spread throughout the continent.
"Then there's the last one left."
"Oh, is that so?"
Somehow, Dylan's nape was red, so Charlize was a little puzzled. She glanced at Dylan and took a sip of the tea.
Dylan put the meatballs that only Charlize had touched until now in his mouth. The Crown Prince, who hesitated, asked carefully,
"Master sing the song… I want to hear it."
'What's that simple request, he's so shy.' Dylan was not looking at Charlize.
Charlize slowly closed and then opened her eyes. She sang slowly,
"Don't reveal the secret."
The songs title was 'Secret Hello'. The subtitles for the song went 'There are thorns on roses.'
It was a song that she sang as if she were communicating with the Dylan, who was 14 years old.
Dylan back then had hesitated and played the piano. Charlize had added her voice, singing in harmony.
But now it was only Charlize's voice.
"Only allow me, because I'm the only one who knows you."
The calm voice of Charlize was enchanting.
Rose, in terms of fragrance. Red, in terms of color, describing the sun. If there was a shape, a fire that burns coldly.
"Don't run away. I won't hurt you. Come here. Please look at me."
The song reached the end. It was calm, then passionate, then slow. Now it was small as if whispered.
It was then.
For the first time, Dylan sang quietly to the end of the song. A chorus that people don't know well,
However, Charlize's favorite part:
"I will have you by swallowing even poison."
Eyes met in the air.
Charlize looked at Dylan. She couldn't do anything. She thought to herself:
'Even the song is good.' The soft Crown Prince's voice was strangely passionate.
Charlize carefully retorted,
"If you have a thorn, you'll be stabbed, and if you're addicted, you'll fall apart."
"I will have you by swallowing even poison."
Dylan replied with a chorus.
"I don't care if I throw my life away."
"I will have you by swallowing even poison."
Then a distant silence fell.
In the past, Dylan did not speak with his voice but indirectly spoke to Charlize with a device called a musical instrument.
However, this time he sang using his own voice.
Was it a hint of change?
"… Congratulations,"
Charlize said, breaking the silence. The artistic atmosphere was dreamy thanks to the snugness of the pavilion.
Dylan, who had been quiet for a long time, smiled slowly.
"It was more impressive than any other congratulatory gift, Master."
"If Your Highness has a crown…"
At the suggestion of the emperor's accession, the maid, who was beside her, flinched greatly.
Charlize smiled with her eyes.
"At that time…"
"…"
The words did not end.
Dylan thought he was thirsty.