Kael wasn't a heartless prince like Erian, but he wasn't good either; he won't think twice to thrash a sword into his enemy's heart.
Which made Miranda worried—what is it she did to attract Kael's attention and help her? Why did he help her?
She ignored Kael's gaze as much as he looked at her, thinking to herself this wasn't right. She didn't know what attracted Kael to help her, but it didn't mean she was safe either. Moreover, she was supposed to die in order to go back to her world; after multiple attempts to get herself killed, she was still saved anyway.
"Why did you save me your highness?" She asked, her head down, presenting her respect to him. "I am not worthy of your generosity; you should have let me be killed."
"I should ask you too, why is it you wanted to be killed? That you even tampered with your master, third prince?" Kael's voice echoed with authority.
He must have heard everything at the hunting ground; is that why he saved me? Miranda thought. She can't possibly tell him that she wanted to go back to where she came from, but she can create a reasonably plausible lie that could make sense.
"Those who experienced struggle inside Prince Erian's mansion could understand me; that's way better dead than suffer in that mansion." Miranda carefully corrected her words without mentioning Prince Erian being cruel.
"Is that why? Are you sure?"
The questions surprised Miranda for a bit; her mind paused and wondered. Did he suspect she was lying? That can't be. Even if Kael were a tactician and calculative and had all the intelligence, he wouldn't find fault in her lie. Beside, every character of his was written by her. That was her biggest strength; no one knew Kael better than she did.
"Yes, your highness. That's the reason," she answered with a polite voice.
Kael reclined to his chair. "Then why did you make an assumption about helping Erian to take the throne and that you knew me better than anyone?"
Miranda sighed quietly. Kael was there and heard it all. It was true that Kael would take the throne, but she revealed something no one knows and too soon. Of course it will raise doubts, although it's the truth she didn't wish it revealed yet.
"Your highness, you heard wrong. I only said that to infuriate Prince Erian so he could kill me and not send me to a brothel," she explained. But her explanation seems pointless when Kael claims.
"Why should I trust that?" Kael questioned.
Miranda raised her face and faced Kael. "Like you said before, Prince Kael. An assumption, so how can it be proven when it didn't happen yet?"
Kael looked at the lady; she seemed to hide something, but he couldn't point a figure at it. She was not a simple one, at least not as she looks. By keeping her close, he would be able to figure it out.
"Do you wish to die?" He asked the question intentionally and looked at the lady's expression, like he expected her reaction to be delightful.
"Are you going to give me that wish, your highness?" She asked and smiled. "I will be glad if you do."
How absurd!, Kael thought. How can a person seek death this much even if life was worse? "If you seek death that much, then why didn't you kill yourself?"
She kept quiet; clearly, she didn't have anything to say to him or justify herself. If someone was seeking death this much but yet she had no courage to take her own life, it was cowardly of her.
"You can't do it?" Kael asked sarcastically. "Your life is your responsibility. Why burden others with your responsibility? If you wish to die, kill yourself. I will provide you with everything you need to kill yourself."
When Miranda heard, she was shocked and became utterly speechless. Sitting there on the floor with her hands bound on the back, she thought to herself. The words of Kael echoed in her head like a musical drum, constantly beating her conscious self.
Then Kael stood from his chair and walked to her. He stared at her and then asked. "Do you have the courage?"
"I don't," she muttered, her voice cracking as she tried holding back her tears. "I don't have the courage of ending my own life. But I don't want to continue living this way," she said.
The thought of her not being able to return home to her life, her people, and her work created fear within her. What if she would never go back home and have to be stuck in this world? What if death in this world meant death in her world too? What if there was no hope too?
"Then find the courage of living, even if it were against your own fate," Kael said as he looked at Abel.
"Take her to the maid's quarter; she should serve as a low-grade maid until her mind starts working."
With that being said, Abel held Miranda's body and raised her to her feet. Before leaving the room, Miranda looked at Kael one more time and exited the room with Abel. Abel took her to the maid's quarter, which was a separate cottage from the mansion; there she was given a room to rest.
When Abel headed back to Kael, he had found Kael in his study room with a book on his hand.
"Is she settled?" Kael asked, and Abel nodded back to him.
"I don't understand. Why did you save her, and why are you letting her live here?" Abel asked, questioning Karl's decision on this.
When Kael heard that question, he paused reading. Why? He asked himself. The lady was giving him some uncertain feelings about which he wasn't sure; something deep inside him was telling him to keep her close.
"Do you know what I heard from my brother Asher?" Kael started with an A question; he looked at Abel's pointless reaction. "He dropped out of his crown prince position. At first, when I heard the woman claiming that I would take the throne, I thought she was blabbing nonsense. But coincidentally, Asher is dropping his crown. And that news is not announced yet. So how did she know it was going to happen?"
Abel did not get it, nor did Kael believe it. "Don't tell me you believe the words of that woman; she said herself it was an assumption to make herself killed."
Kael smirked. "You believe that?" He paused. "I know you are fighting for the throne against your brother Kael, but that throne isn't yours to begin with. It has always been for Kael, but if you keep me, I will make sure you sit on that throne," he mimicked Miranda's words in front of Abel.
"It wasn't an assumption, Abel; she knew what she was saying. And where to poke Erian. Do you think she is merely a maid?" He asked with a dry expression, looking at Abel.
"Then I will trust your judgment, but if she opposes a threat, we should kill her."