CH 34

Not far away, Edith’s surprised face could be seen. She must have been bewildered by the bustling run noise.

“Wait a minute.”

Adrian forgot what to say the moment he saw her face. He became dumbfounded by staring intently at Edith’s wide-open mouth.

“Huh? Adri, is there something urgent?”

What was he going to do after running? He came to his senses belatedly.

He couldn’t confess or ask for permission to approach her.

Then let him explain that he is not a flirt. He has to tell her about the misconceptions. He had never accepted the Alphas around him. That they were the one who was chasing after him.

“Can you spare me some time? I have something to tell you.”

At that time, a man was standing in front of Edith. The person who passed by was like scenery because he was not taking a glance all along. That person was Crown Prince Clyde. He blocked Adrian’s view with his big size like a guard and suddenly attacked him with a fist.

Clyde’s fist grabbed Adrian’s collar and twisted it.

In an instant, he was helplessly thrown against the wall. In addition to being a natural warrior, he couldn’t withstand the dominant Alpha Clyde.

He had to bury the back of his head that had been pushed through the window sill.

Clyde pushed Adrian as if arresting a criminal and came close in front of him. Gold-embellished coat sleeves brushed past his ears. Their heads were crossed with his elbow folded in half.

“What’s going on?”

His sarcasm spread from an angle that only he could see.

“Adrian, I’d like to talk to you more, but I have another appointment. I don’t want to say goodbye either.”

Clyde was asked to spare some time. It was as if he had asked him to cling to him.

Just then, a group of guards approached. Additionally, servants waiting to attend the Crown Prince also appeared.

‘You must be a fool, Adrian.’ That was exactly what the Crown Prince’s eyes were saying.

Finding a private space in the Crown Prince’s palace was difficult. There were many a lot of eyes which would see especially because it was right after their meeting for a show. Most of them might be Clyde’s aides, but there were spies who checked the palace everywhere.

“Your Highness…”

He couldn’t have a private chat with Edith here. At best, the subject Adrian brought to his lips was Clyde.

Perhaps it was because he banged his head against the wall. He felt like he was hit by a blow to get a hold of himself. This allowed him to decide how to act wisely.

“Your Highness must be surprised when I suddenly came after you. I’m sorry.”

Adrian raised his drooping hand and placed it on Clyde’s shoulder. It was unbearable that his voice trembled a little. It took a lot of effort just to endure the uncomfortable feeling.

Clyde’s face was distorted like crumpled paper, but he was stuck closely to Adrian and completely blocked the surrounding eyes.

The two men’s noses crossed obliquely.

Edith was at a loss, she lifted and laid her heels like a rabbit. The two men overlapped, almost like embracing, and she eventually turned around as Clyde’s broad shoulders covered Adrian. A reddish blush bloomed around her ears under the hair.

Adrian’s sense of shame came over him. He seemed to be at a loss himself.

“Where are you looking at now?”

Clyde snuggled up to him.

His hand was placed on the Crown Prince, but his gaze was still not leaving her. Adrian closed his eyes tightly. It was easier than turning a blind eye.

A cold silence followed. The servants turned around silently, and the guards stood upright like ornaments and stared straight ahead. It was as quiet as if a rat had died to eavesdrop on someone else’s secret meeting.

“Shall we end it now if there’s no business left?”

“….”

Adrian couldn’t say anything. This was the best way to make a successful appearance as the Crown Prince’s lover. And if it looked closely, the show wasn’t that bad.

“See you tomorrow, Adrian.”

Clyde called him Sir when they had tea and called him by name when the servants listened. Could it be the person who now turns around and puts his ears up is a spy?

Clyde slowly dropped his body. The pressure on him diminished when he stepped back. He belatedly realized that the dominant Alpha’s power was controlling him at some point.

As he lowered his head, which had been raised closely, Adrian’s long eyelashes trembled slightly.

It couldn’t be helped but he was upset….

He couldn’t convey any sincerity, and his heart felt like it would break.

He didn’t want Edith to see his foolish expression. Adrian grabbed Clyde’s clothes.

“The shoulders are tilted.”

“The shoulders?”

The Crown Prince immediately noticed that Clyde wasn’t the owner of the shoulders.

“The walking posture was clearly visible from the back. Please don’t sit at your desk for too long and take good care of your body.”

“Did you come here to talk about that?”

“Well… I’m taking care of another thing while at it.”

He couldn’t snoop around Edith anymore and had to bow his head. He turned away first so that his shortcomings wouldn’t be noticed.

❋ ❋ ❋

“Edith, you must wake up today.”

The shaking on her shoulders forced Edith to open her eyes. Clyde, whose the corners of his eyes raised fiercely, was staring right in front of her.

“Hurry and wake up.”

“Why? What time is it now?”

“A lot of people get up early to train and prepare meals. Let’s not worry about the time and go out for physical training.”

The light had been lit again in the room because it had not even dawned outside the window. Clyde wore a light uniform and prepared a similar design for Edith.

She barely took off her eye gunk as she got pushed back and changed clothes. Her hair was roughly tied together. No matter how harsh the command to prepare quickly, she had inevitably gone out while enduring drowsiness.

Suddenly a red hat instructor came to mind.

Clyde was an instructor style in many ways. An instructor blowing a whistle with his hand on his side.

But riding a horse made her sleep away. She couldn’t make a ferocious horse that crashes on the way to exercise, so she held on to the reins.

The destination was the shooting range she stopped by last time. By the time they arrived, the dawn was misty.

Clyde was clearly determined today. What kind of wind was blowing that he was energetic from the time he woke up and made her exercise mercilessly.

“Shall we start with a simple jump?”

“Jumping? Jumping in place?”

“How about going around this vacant lot? That would be appropriate considering Edith’s physical strength.”

“What about Clyde?”

“Me?”

He grinned like a devil.

“If you want to train together, would you like to go to the course I usually go on? It’s a little far, but Edith can do it if you work hard.”

“No! I don’t think I can do it!”

She flatly refused. She didn’t want to guess the course based on Clyde. This vacant lot was as wide as the Academy’s Grand Plaza, so just one lap was enough for a day’s exercise.

While she was panting as she ran, he followed right next to him. This devil guy with a horn. Running along without saying anything was worse than urging.

She was exhausted and bent her back into the shape of a toad, and he was assertive as if something had happened. His feet didn’t even come off the ground. Edith’s muddy running speed was the same as Clyde’s walking speed.

She barely managed to get back to where she started and put her hands on her knees.

“You’ve only gone one lap.”

“Huh?”

Of course, it has to be one lap. Then how much did he think she would run?

Her pounding heart felt like it would jump out of her ribs at any moment. Edith appealed to Clyde with a despairing child-like stare.

He handed him a bottle of water as if he had no choice.

“It’s your first time, so… you’ll gain strength gradually.”

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Suddenly you said. It’s been a while since I asked you to come out with me in the morning.”

“But you’re unusual today.”

Many servants and attendants were waiting, but it was Clyde who brought the handkerchief. No one cared anymore about the small quarrel between the two.

“Adrian was worried. You better take care of yourself.”

“Was Adri worried?”

“Actually, that’s true. I locked you in a special room and made you work so hard. From now on, I want you to get some fresh air outside and take care of your body.”

“I’ve never been locked.”

She used to follow Clyde according to his schedule, so she often sat at the desk in the special room until the afternoon. Still, it was obvious that she was busy running around.

“So you’re giving me free time, right? When and how much?”

“I said let’s get some fresh air.”

“…?”

“Just like now. How is it, isn’t it refreshing and nice?”

What a cheap bastard. That was right. It meant let’s get up together when she woke up.

Please don’t do this. She would take care of the exercise herself, so could he just leave it alone? The words stuck in her throat did not reach the top of her tongue. She knew it was impossible.

Whenever Clyde woke up at dawn, she would fall asleep like fainting and saying, ‘I’ll do it on my own.’ However, she has never done it on her own.

The exercise was originally a very difficult sport to make time for. There was a splendid garden outside the palace, but she couldn’t remember taking a walk by herself. Edith was busy with the Crown Prince’s tight schedule. Her physical condition got worse as days went by as a result.

Clyde had been entertained by her tantrums since dawn.

“I’ve reduced your workload, but Edith was inevitably kept on your desk yesterday. Has it become a habit? Or is it the desire for success?”

“It’s not like that.”

Although there was less work to do, the premise of not going home was laid. The date she last left job was vague.

Her shabby, dusty house. How often do the debtors come?

Whether or not he knew Edith’s silent scream, Clyde warmed up briefly and began practicing shooting. He took gentle steps to the locations from which he fired his gun. When the gunman in charge of the shooting range handed over the gun, he skillfully loaded the bullet.

“Anyway, you’d better fix the habit of sitting for too long. As an exemplary boss, I feel obligated to take care of my close aides’ health.”

“I think all the problems will be solved if you give me some free time.”

Although she was complaining, she wasn’t confident in herself. If she had free time, she wanted to take a nap first.