"Young master..." Susan closed her eyes dreamily and intertwined her fingers with mine.
I smiled softly and patted her head. I could feel her soft body trembling gently and could see a small blush on her cheeks. The current expression on Susan's face was truly cute.
Well, there is no problem pampering her a bit.
Hugging her waist, I carried her body until a sofa. I then sat down and put her on my lap while smiling gently.
Susan's lips curved up and her body shrunk on my embrace. The two of us remained like that for a while, with Susan's head on my chest.
But after a while, Susan looked up to my eyes. "Y-Young master, you will not abandon me, right?"
"... Silly girl, do I look like someone who would do something like that?" I put on a wry expression.
"B-But, m-mom told me that n-nobles like to take advantage of g-girls before abandoning them..."
Seeing Susan's nervous expression, I could not avoid staring right into her eyes and burst in evil laughter. "HA HA HA HA...!"
Susan's expression turned pitiful. Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes, and her beautiful face began to turn pale.
When I saw it, I laughed even more. To be honest, it had been long since the last time I enjoyed teasing someone so much.
But when she was about to cry, I quickly stopped.
"Stop, stop! It was a joke, a joke! Of course, I'll not abandon you! How can I abandon such a cute girl?" I kissed Susan's nose and spoke sweetly beside her ear. Susan looked at me with a wronged expression before blushing again and hiding her face on my chest.
"... You bullied me..."
I could not help but laugh once more. Seriously, my sugar level shot through the roof.
After laughing for a while and teasing Susan a bit more, I finally turned serious.
"Susan, there is something I must tell you."
"Y-Young master?" Susan noticed the change in my attitude and put on a nervous face. I stared at her seriously before speaking. "Actually, I'm a prince."
"!!!" Susan's expression turned pale.
She looked at me and opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. One second later, she stood from my lap and kneeled on the ground. "Y-Your highness!"
I put on a wry smile and helped her up gently. "Get up, you don't need to do it."
"B-But, you are..."
"I told you, you don't need to do it!" I repeated, this time with more strength on my voice. Susan turned pale again and stood up quickly.
I smiled wryly on my mind. Actually, this situation showed the difference between nobles and commoners.
Due to my status, most nobles don't mind offending me if it can benefit their interests. With the support of the empress and the emperor turning his gaze away, they don't take me as someone important.
But commoners are different. They have been taught from an early age that the imperial family is above them. With the exception of a few that had the support of nobles or experience working with the imperial family, most commoners would turn pale in the face of a prince.
Due to that, although Susan knew I was a good person, she could not help but show a bit of fear after learning of my identity.
And it's one of the reasons because I don't like showing my strength excessively.
When you are too powerful, even your closest ones can not help but look at you with gazes of fear. The better ones would treat you as a god.
I lived it in many of my past lives. After knowing the extent of my power, my mother, father, siblings, and even my wives, and sons would show fear when they look at me.
Of course, not everybody would be like that, but most of them were.
And believe me, although that feeling is great at the beginning, you begin to tire of it before long.
I sighed again and looked at Susan. At least, Susan's situation was still salvageable. I was sure that with a bit of time and pampering of my part, her attitude towards me would return to normal.
"I'm sorry if I frightened you." I smiled gently and stroked her face.
Susan bit her lips and lowered her head. "N-Not, your highness. I-It's my fault."
I smiled bitterly and shook my head. "Sigh... Anyway, you are my woman now. Actually, I can't simply marry you, but I can find a way so we can be together."
Susan lifted her head and looked at me in surprise. She could not believe that I was accepting her as my woman.
When she learned I was a prince, she could not help but feel fear. After all, she had heard the rumors about the second prince, that he had slept with some girls and then killed them. She was afraid that I would kill her if I was dissatisfied.
But now, not only I was not dissatisfied, but I even told her that I would find a way so she can be beside me.
Instantly, her eyes turned moist.
"Your highness..."
"I told you, call me Claus. Let's do it, I'll speak with my aunt and recommend you as her assistant. You will have to learn some things, but it's a great opportunity for you. Besides, if you are aunt Dayana's assistant, nobody will say anything if I take you as my concubine later."
Susan looked at me with a surprised and touched expression. In the next second, she rushed towards me and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug with a wry smile and kissed her forehead.
Feeling her body trembling gently, I put more strength on my hug and wrapped her fragile body on my arms.
For some reason, I felt a bit more relaxed after that.