He hated the feeling he felt to protect his reputation but the feeling was stronger than the hate he felt.
**********
"I asked for a better means of transportation," he reminded the knight who seemed to have forgotten.
"I sort for but I found none as fast as the horse. We could not use carriages because they would only delay our journey and we arrive early enough for the banquet to celebrate your safe return," the knight replied apologetically with his head bowed.
Liam frowned. He would have loved a world with like the one he left, a world he could take a private jet as a prince, not one he was forced to ride horses.
He wanted to cry. If they had magic, they should do something about this crazily slow means of transportation. "You could not get any from the enemies of magic as you claimed?" Liam asked although he knew nothing about what the enemy of magic meant.
"You do not speak of that, your highness," the man immediately warned Liam with an obvious terror in his eyes as he stared into Liam's eyes wide-eyed.
"Why?" Liam asked as he could not understand what the man was trying to say.
"I . . . You are not to mention it even if you are of the royal family. The emperor swore to kill everyone who brings it up," the knight warned Liam seriously.
Liam's brow furrowed as he was forced to take the words of the man seriously. He has died so many times already that he was unwilling to die again.
He has once seen in an anime that he watched that humans always have three lives and he was living the third life.
He strongly believed that he would not be reborn again if he dies again. It was best to avoid death, however . . . he looked down at the shining coat of his horse and his frown deepened.
"You started it. You spoke about the enemies of magic first when I asked you for a faster means of transportation," he did not hesitate to shift the blame. If anyone says anything, he would heartlessly push it unto his knight.
"I . . . said that because you asked. You wanted a faster means and this is the fastest means we have. You started it," the knight defended himself immediately as the shade of his face got darker.
"Are you saying I am lying?" Liam asked majestically portraying the royalty of the prince. He knew the prince was not greatly respected but he knew that a prince must not be disrespected.
The knight opened his mouth defensively but he closed it and bowed his head after looking around at his other men. "I am sorry, your highness," the man apologized.
He smiled and nodded. "So, now tell me about the enemy of magic you were talking about," the prince told the man firmly.
The man would have loved to run away because he tagged that as a trap the prince was setting for him to speak about a taboo topic and have him get punished afterward.
"I cannot speak of it, your highness. Death is the punishment given to whoever speaks of the enemy of magic," the man replied firmly.
"You are telling me alone. If nobody hears it who would punish you. I would not so tell me," Liam ordered the man without giving him the chance to escape.
"I . . . Your highness," the man begged as he looked around at the men that rode behind him.
"If you won't talk about it then let us move forward so we can talk about something else," he ordered the man as he accelerated forward meters away from the men.
The man followed him forward while the other maintained the space. "What do you want to speak to me about?" the man asked the prince feeling unease.
"Am I such a scheming man? I would rather physically fight than do things like that," Liam told the man about himself forgetting that the body he was in was not the body he lived in on earth and the owner of the body had a life of his own before taking over.
The man nodded dramatically Liam found it to be very sarcastic.
"I am serious. I would not use talking about the enemies of magic to kill you. if I want to kill you, I would just do it right away without hesitating. I am not one to beat around the bush when I have something against you."
The man glanced at him and shook his head thoughtfully as though he was trying hard to believe the words Liam spoke to him.
Liam was already losing his patience. He could not believe for the first time in his entire life, he was pleading to have someone believe him. He was not someone to lie.
"You lost your memory?" the knight asked with a weird presence of worry in his eyes.
"Yes, I did," Liam replied if that was away, he would get the man to talk to him about what he wanted to know.
"That is bad," the knight told him with a pained expression like the type one would wear if he discovers his father has dementia and might never recognize him again.
Liam could not help but feel touched by that although he could also not believe that it was genuine. "I see nothing wrong about it. Did you think I was joking when I asked for your name?" Liam asked the man trying his best to sound friendly.
The man's frown deepened and now he looked like he wanted to cry so seriously.
"Do you want to cry?" he asked the man seriously.
"Your highness would face a lot more obstacles than you have ever faced if it gets about that you have become a fool," the man told him sniffing as he looked like he was trying hard not to cry.
"I am not a fool," Liam defended immediately as he found it hard to believe that this man was not using the opportunity to insult him.
"You would be called a fool if they know about it. I will help you gradually I might have not been with you for long but I know a lot about you. You and I will work hard to help you regain your memory," the Knight vowed seriously.
Liam paused his lips with his brow furrowed. This was crazy, at least the man was not trying to call him a fool in the name of being concerned.
"I will gladly accept your help, then," Liam agreed. They say a half loaf of bread is better than none. It was best that he gets help from the man although he did not trust him much than match into the palace without a single knowledge about the prince.