Heinrich turned back to Jochen, not knowing that the Princess was still listening.
"You know what is the difference between us and those petty humans?" Heinrich asked.
Jochen looked up at him, still down on his knees.
"They are more in number." Heinrich said, "We are not." He added. "If you will not take this seriously, you will not survive in a world full of them."
"If dying is so hard, why must we try so hard to survive?" Jochen asked.
Heinrich sighed loudly, "If you ever happened to witness death or even the mere concept of death from up close, you would beg me to open the secrets of survival to you." He said sternly. "You are naive, foolish, and ignorant, for you have never seen death with your own eyes."
"I have never seen death?" Jochen looked at him with tears in his eyes. "All of those deaths that I have seen my entire life were a joke to you?"
"Jochen, I have seen my death." Heinrich reminded him. "Unlike you, I have seen myself die, my wives die, my loved ones die, and my family die. How dare you say your pain is greater? What can you not do? Marriage? I cannot even recall how many times I have married to save our bloodline."
"Please…"
"You will get married and I will send you away for the better. I raised your betrothed myself. She knows better than you that this marriage only means the revival of our creed. Stop trying to make a big deal out of it."
With that, Heinrich turned around to walk toward the gate. Seeing that, the Princess quickly lifted her huge gown and rushed to the library. She was almost out of breath when she reached the library and Heinrich followed up instantly.
"Are you okay?" Heinrich asked her in concern, seeing her breathing heavily.
The Princess sluggishly nodded.
Heinrich scoffed, "Did you even understand our conversation?" He asked nonchalantly. "Whether you did or not, it would be wise not to bring it up."
The Princess's eyes went as wide as the ocean. She had run so fast only to get caught. She coughed and cleared her throat in nervousness.
"He was my son. Therefore, refrain from mentioning it to anyone." Heinrich added.
The Princess pressed her lips together, flustered at being caught. Heinrich was way too lenient toward her. Just a moment ago, he was stern with his son. The Princess could not understand the reason behind his leniency.
Heinrich shook his head and walked past her, straight to the middle of the bookshelves. He ran his hand across the books, trying to find a book for the Princess. He stopped, pulled the desired book out, and then held it in the air with a smile; a very warm smile.
He looked at the Princess, "Not as knowledgeable as me, but it shall do the trick." He said softly. He looked at the clock, "If you are not yet sleepy, we can go over some contents."
The Princess nodded awkwardly. She was out of words after being caught. Heinrich nonchalantly pulled a chair for her to sit. She sat down and then allowed him to slip the chair closer to the table. He sat on the chair next to her.
He opened the list of contents in the book and started reading to her, "Contents of Nature." He read softly, then proceeded to read the rest of the list.
The Princess, whom he was reading it for, was blinded by his sitting so close to her. Her heart raced and she failed to focus on anything he was reading out for her.
He was immersed in reading the book, and she was immersed in reading his face.
After completing half of the book, he solemnly looked up from the book and passed a deep sigh.
"Your bodyguard must be worried about you." Heinrich said, "I feel bad for him."
All this time, he hadn't noticed that the Princess hadn't taken his reading seriously. And now, he was suddenly concerned about Killian. What a man of dreams!
"Killian could not care less about me." The Princess jokingly said.
Heinrich looked at her, "Just how you could not care less about this book?" He asked just as jokingly. "Read this book before you see me next time. I will be the one asking questions."
The Princess's eyes widened in surprise once more. Whenever she thought that she would get away with her actions, he somehow caught her.
"About your bodyguard, I did not mean it that way." Heinrich clarified. "He is a slave, is he not? He must have a family back in your timeline. Even still, he puts his heart and soul into serving you."
"If you feel bad for us, then take us back." The Princess shamelessly said.
Heinrich looked at her and smiled, "Of course. I will see to it. Rest assured."
The Princess was delighted to be favored by Heinrich. Since he stood above everyone, it gave her a sense of reassurance. Walking back to her room, she saw Killian standing outside her room, watching guard like always. Heinrich was right. Killian did put his heart and soul into serving her.
The Princess put a warm smile on her face before walking up to him.
"Killian!" She called him with a joyous voice. This was the least she could do for him.
"My lady!" Killian exclaimed in concern and quickly held onto her arms, taking a good look at her with concern. "You are not hurt, right?"
The Princess chuckled, "Why would I be hurt?" She shook her head. "I had a good time. I asked him again to send us back and he said he would try. Killian, let us put our trust in him just this once!"
Killian slowly retrieved his arms back and slowly nodded. "Go to bed, my lady. It is getting late."
The Princess pressed her lips together and nodded. She hoped that Killian understood her words. She wanted him to trust Heinrich. Even if Heinrich had claimed that they could not travel back, she still wanted to trust him. She couldn't understand but she could still trust.