Chapter 11
At that moment, the Crown Prince stretched lazily. Then, standing where the sunlight reached, he licked the back of his hand and used it to smooth down his hair.
“A cat?”
The moment I muttered that, the status window popped up.
[Save the Crown Prince possessed by a Cat Ghost!]
Meow~ This feisty little one has quite a sensitive personality, so be careful.
Good grief.
The Crown Prince had a body that attracted possessions?
That must have been awful.
I finally understood why the imperial family had been hiding his condition.
“If a female ghost possessed him someday, it’d be an even bigger problem.”
Now I also understood why rumors spread that the Crown Prince had lost his mind after the Empress died.
“I would’ve thought the same.”
An idea came to me.
A way for both of us to survive.
“Your Highness.”
I whispered softly to the Crown Prince.
“I’ll drive the ghosts away for you, so when you grow up… please don’t kill me.”
This was a deal between the two of us.
“If you don’t remember later, then I guess it can’t be helped.”
I smacked my lips.
Whether he remembered or not, I decided that from now on, I would protect this Crown Prince from ghosts—for the sake of extending my own life.
No matter how I thought about it, I really was weak when it came to children.
I was saving the man who would grow up and kill me.
Instead of approaching him recklessly, I simply sat down where I was.
Every time our eyes met, the Crown Prince hissed at me, but eventually his breathing began to calm.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but even his black hair seemed to be standing on end like fur.
His crimson eyes trembled uneasily.
Meanwhile, I remained crouched by the door, casually yawning.
I blinked slowly, trying to tell him that I had no intention of hurting him.
It was the famous slow-blink strategy.
“Don’t be so nervous. I have no intention of hurting you, Your Highness.”
“Don’t come any closer.”
“…!”
He spoke.
It was a human voice.
It seemed he had regained a little of his senses. Covering part of his face with one hand, he muttered in a trembling voice,
“Why are you here?”
His eyes were red, as though he’d been crying just a little. Pressing them with his palm, he backed away.
“I didn’t want anyone… to see me like this.”
“Your Highness. I can cure—”
“Leave!”
He shouted and threw a cushion at me.
It posed no threat at all, so I slowly walked toward him.
“I said get out!”
“I can do it.”
Without a trace of a smile, I took both of his hands.
Our sudden closeness made him avert his eyes as he breathed heavily.
“Your Highness. Look at me.”
Holding his cold hands tightly, I spoke as sincerely as I could.
“I’m the Saintess.”
“…”
“No one has been able to cure you until now because… I wasn’t here.”
So everything will be okay now.
In truth, I was helping him because the quest practically forced me to.
But this is just too pitiful.
His condition was truly terrible.
To be controlled even by an animal’s spirit—it stripped away even his dignity.
Let’s think of it as repayment for borrowing his hair.
I’d plucked out two strands.
Driving the ghost away would be my apology.
“Come out of his body now.”
Lowering myself, I showed him the back of my hand.
I approached carefully so he wouldn’t think I meant him harm.
The Crown Prince, who had his claws out and his back arched, twitched his nose.
“…?”
He sniffed the air.
Little by little, he came closer.
They say animals use their sense of smell to judge another’s emotions and whether they’re hostile.
It seemed to be true.
“Ah.”
His forehead touched the back of my hand.
The warmth was soft and hot.
We both froze.
Carefully watching him as he stood motionless, I brushed aside his messy hair and gently stroked his head.
His well-kept, silky hair slipped through my fingers.
It made me feel a little embarrassed.
Even if he was acting like a cat, he still looked like a person.
Wasn’t I crossing a line?
“There, there. Good.”
I was afraid he might scratch or bite me, but I kept petting him while pretending to stay calm.
He blinked at me.
Then he leaned his head into my hand.
“…!”
A brilliant light burst forth.
The status window sparkled, now decorated with cat ears that hadn’t been there before.
Fireworks exploded noisily across the screen.
[Quest Complete!]
[You have gained the Crown Prince’s trust and recognition. Your words will now naturally carry credibility with him.]
[Your relationship with the Crown Prince has improved. He has finally met someone who understands him. Since he needs your ability, make good use of it.]
[Good Deed Gauge +10]
[Current: 27 / 1000]
“Whew… Did it work?”
I let out a sigh of relief.
But the Crown Prince still hadn’t regained consciousness.
A pale orange cat glowing with a faint bluish light suddenly leaped out from his back.
[The Crown Prince’s possession-prone constitution cannot be cured because of ???.]
Inject holy power into him to wake him up!
“What? And how am I supposed to do that?”
This was my first time injecting holy power into someone.
Crown Prince Demian Bellium had spent his entire life tormented by things without form.
Strangely, for certain hours of the day he could act like a normal person.
But during the rest of the time, he had no choice but to live as someone else.
The most humiliating part was that, although something else controlled his body, fragments of his own memories would return from time to time.
He knew exactly how people looked at him.
He knew what kind of existence he was inside the Imperial Palace.
But everyone overlooked one thing.
He was still only seven years old.
The only reason he hadn’t gone completely insane was the temple.
Only there could he remain himself, regardless of the time.
That was why…
The filthy little child he’d met after insulting the Pope…
The moment he heard she was the Saintess, resentment welled up inside him.
The daughter of God.
Her?
If there truly was a Saintess, then that meant God hadn’t abandoned humanity after all.
Then what about me?
If God really existed…
Why did He let me live like this?
The child was white from head to toe.
Her skin was so pale it almost looked transparent.
Her silver hair sparkled like it was breaking apart beneath the sunlight.
Between those strands were calm violet eyes that shone like jewels.
She truly looked as though God Himself had crafted her.
Demian was angry.
Someone so noble only made his own miserable life seem even more pitiful.
That was why—
“Get out!”
Why…
Why did it have to be you?
There were no words to describe the humiliation of having the person he least wanted to know discover his disgrace.
His memories faded in and out, so he couldn’t hear what the Saintess had been saying.
Demian slowly opened his eyes.
The bright light made him frown.
Then—
“…!”
He saw the Saintess holding both of his hands, murmuring something.
A refreshing warmth flowed through his empty body, awakening every cell.
He couldn’t even gather the strength to sit up.
So he simply stared blankly at Diane.
Though there was no wind, her overflowing holy power caused her silver hair to flutter.
As her long eyelashes trembled, she pulled his hands closer, as if refusing to let herself be interrupted.
“…”
Something about it tickled his heart.
No one had ever prayed for him like this before.
“No one has been able to cure you until now because… I wasn’t here.”
Had she really meant those words?
Her delicate little features somehow looked…
Kind of cute.
At that moment, Diane, who had been moving her cherry-red lips while muttering, narrowed her eyes slightly.
Demian quickly shut his own.
Why did I close my eyes?
Pushing the question aside, he focused all his attention on Diane’s reaction.
As the cool sensation reached all the way to his toes, the grip holding his hands gradually loosened.
“Whew.”
Completely exhausted, Diane muttered,
“What? He’s still not awake.”
Who does she keep talking to?
She continued mumbling to herself.
“His body really was empty. I’ll probably have to keep filling it with holy power regularly to keep him safe.”
She seemed to be talking about his condition.
Demian really didn’t want to wake up.
“So the effects don’t show immediately?”
But he could feel her staring at his face.
Pretending any longer became impossible.
In the end, he slowly sat up.
Diane hurriedly stepped back and released his hands.
Their eyes met.
“…?”
What was that?
Demian looked down at the hand she had just been holding.
For a moment, he fell into thought.
Why…
Why did I suddenly feel disappointed?
“Y-You’re awake, Your Highness?”
Diane asked awkwardly, her face flushed.
Seeing her like that made his own face feel warm.
“…What happened?”
“I managed to separate the ghost, but unless your holy power is replenished regularly… things probably won’t really change.”
“…”
So he’ll have to keep doing this.
Demian muttered to himself.
The beings that had been controlling his body were completely gone.
Instead, he felt refreshed and light.
For the first time in the Imperial Palace…
He was completely himself.
Tears streamed down his face.
He no longer cared about maintaining the dignity of the Crown Prince.
“I’ve finally… escaped.”
“No. You haven’t completely escaped yet—”
“Finally…!”
Diane stopped herself from speaking.
Instead, she simply awkwardly patted Demian’s trembling shoulder.
