Enough with Dying as an Extra chapter 93

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Hesia said he had some work to do with a sulky look on his face, so we moved to his office.

After a moment of surprise at the sudden influx of people, Hugo quickly rushed over, seeing Hesia’s clearly disgruntled expression.

“Welcome back, Your Highness. Your expression isn’t good. Did something happen? Are you feeling unwell…”

“Hugo, do I resemble the knights?”

“Pardon?”

“No, Vivi said the knights are like me. Those blockheads with nothing but swords in their heads.”

“……”

Hugo, who had asked with concern about Hesia’s sullen face, soon adopted an enlightened expression. ‘Of course,’ was the implied reaction, and I laughed under my breath.

Hugo then managed to calm Hesia with a miraculously serene expression, saying it was only natural for those who followed him to resemble him.

I looked at Hugo from a distance and lazily yawned.

Perhaps it was because I always took a nap around this time.

The sunlight coming through the window looked warm and toasty, and my body felt languid—perfect for sleeping.

‘Ah, should I sleep in the garden?’

I narrowed my eyes, listening to Hugo’s voice soothing Hesia with one ear and letting it out the other.

Finally, Hugo must have succeeded in calming Hesia, as the Prince, who had been standing with his lips pouting, suddenly turned around and looked at me.

The corner of his eyes was still Siarp… it seemed he wasn’t completely over his sulk.

Knowing this, I smiled broadly, pretending not to know, and gestured for Hesia to come over.

Hesia obediently approached, though he made no effort to lower his Siarp, upturned eyes.

When Hesia bowed his head as I instructed, I pressed my lips to his cheek and quickly pulled away.

It was a light touch that was too brief to be called a kiss.

However, Hesia’s face flushed fiery red again, knowing no restraint.

I then had the illusion that Hesia had popped with a pop sound, and he melted down, pooling onto the floor.

The people watching us from a distance rushed over in surprise.

Were the voices shouting, “Your Highness, Your Highness!” even reaching him?

Hesia, like someone who had been slapped, covered the spot where I had kissed him with his palm and just stared up at me blankly.

“S-suddenly, why, why…”

“Just because you’re pretty. Did you dislike it?”

When he was little, he would only snort even after a peck, but now that he was grown up, was he embarrassed by a kiss?

Well, he was the kind of person who would act like he was going to kiss me and then only manage a peck.

It seemed perfectly possible for him to be embarrassed.

While I was nodding to myself internally, Hesia was forcibly lifted by the others and moved to the sofa.

Even as he was being moved, his staggering and swaying made him look utterly unstable.

I looked at Hesia with a subtle expression, and once his face had calmed down somewhat, I lightly waved my hand in farewell and slipped out of the office.

A few of the knights and attendants standing outside naturally followed behind me.

Perhaps it was because I knew I was being protected, not watched, as I had been in the Ducal Territory.

I went out to the garden, taking them along like a tail, and settled down under the largest tree in the garden to nap, as always.

✽ ✽ ✽

While Vivisian was taking a carefree nap in the sun, Hesia was arguing against the whispering of his lieutenants.

Since everyone knew that Hesia had suffered through an unrequited crush that was not in his fate, the lieutenants were getting ahead of themselves at this situation, which seemed to be the fruition of that one-sided love.

And Hesia, who knew that was not the case, was ready to scream in frustration.

Vivisian had simply kissed him to comfort him, treating him like a child, as she always did.

It meant that the kiss held no sexual meaning or the love that Hesia desired.

But because Vivisian’s face while kissing him had been unnecessarily gentle, Hesia’s protests that it was not what they thought didn’t work.

“No, we’re not like that! …Not yet.”

At the last part, which he added out of desire, the lieutenants instantly wore strange expressions.

He was vehemently denying that they were “like that,” but his addition meant he wanted to be “like that” someday.

They couldn’t figure out what their Prince was thinking.

Hugo naturally broke the silence, replacing the lieutenants with their strange expressions.

“It seems Vivisian cherishes Your Highness very much.”

“That’s right. Vivi cherishes me. It’s not what you’re thinking. Vivi simply cherishes me.”

“But people don’t kiss someone just because they cherish them, do they?”

Hesia paused at the remark one of the lieutenants made, leaning in slightly.

He wasn’t confirming it, but he couldn’t figure out how to explain the person Vivisian was.

Surprisingly, the people under Hesia believed Vivisian was a heartless person.

This was because she had consistently maintained an indifferent attitude, regardless of what Hesia did or how much emotion he showed.

It was so bad that a saying went around that even if Hesia tore open his chest and gave her his heart, she would just accept it with a smile.

Of course, Hesia did not agree with that statement.

If Hesia took out his heart and gave it to her, Vivisian would cry.

She was the kind of person who would cry and still manage to profess her love, even if it were a lie.

“…Vivi can do that. Because she cherishes me a lot.”

“Isn’t that a bit heartless for someone who cherishes you?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s just that she’s gentle beyond our comprehension.”

Hesia, who knew that Vivisian was merely waiting for death and was only lending him her company for a short time, spoke with a calm face.

“Vivi is a cruel person because she’s too gentle. She’s not an indifferent person as you think.”

“She didn’t look particularly gentle…”

“Why do you keep quibbling with my words today?”

Hesia spoke, his eyes narrowed far more sharply than when Vivisian was present.

They winced at his words for a moment.

But the lieutenants, who wanted to know more about the relationship between Vivisian and Hesia, subtly pushed on.

“Isn’t it also our duty to know about the person our superior cares for?”

“You talk big. Do you want to try getting in the water? I think your mouths would float, and you’d somehow survive.”

“Your Highness, that joke is not very funny. Hahah!”

“Haha.”

“Hahaha!”

“Haha.”

“Ha… Hahaha…”

As Hesia imitated the laughter of one of the lieutenants with a completely unamused face, the laughing officer’s voice gradually faded.

Only after the laughter had completely disappeared did Hesia scoff.

‘Why would these people, who back down so easily, need to know about Vivisian?’

Thinking that, Hesia went to sit at his desk.

He thought he was done with work, but realized there were still things to do.

Dealing with the belatedly remembered tasks, Hesia waved his hand, dismissing the lieutenants who were lingering nearby.

“You people are truly experts at bothering others.”

“That’s because if we don’t do this, you handle everything on your own without telling us anything!”

“Hmph.”

He was just redoing things he had already gone through once.

Why would he need to ask them about it?

Hesia pressed back the useless thought and rested his chin on his hand.

There wasn’t much work to do.

‘I should finish quickly and go to Vivisian.’

Judging by Vivisian’s yawn and the current time, it was her nap time.

“The weather’s nice, so will she be outside?”

Hesia glanced out the window and muttered softly, then turned his attention back to the documents.

“Alright, work time. Work.”

Muttering to himself, Hesia began reading the documents.

He imagined the moment he would go next to Vivisian, quietly watch her face while she slept… and when Vivisian woke up, he would lie that he hadn’t been waiting long and rub up against her.

The boredom and annoyance that had made his eyes listless immediately gave way to vitality, as if nothing had happened.

The lieutenants, who were observing this change out of the corner of their eyes, all knew Hesia was thinking of Vivisian.

Even without taking out his heart to show her, Hesia was proclaiming his love with his entire body.

The lieutenants were filled with a sense of inexplicable pride, wondering when their troublesome Prince had grown up so much.

His face, sitting in the window-backed chair and looking down at the documents with his chin resting in his hand, was beautiful.

His hair, the delicate pink of flower petals, swayed with the breeze that flowed in through the slightly open window.

His transparent, blue-gray eyes, like a doll’s, rolled as he took in the letters written on the documents.

The eyes of the lieutenants, looking at this person more beautiful and valuable than any treasure in the palace, curved into soft, satisfied smiles.

‘I definitely played a part in putting up with that personality. The Prince was truly raised by me. Even if he is a pain in the ass.’

‘I also helped raise the Prince, yes. …Though his personality is poor, his strengths are clear, so how well he has grown up.’

And whether the lieutenants were filled with pride or not, Hesia signed the documents quickly with a blank expression, thinking:

‘Ah, what should Vivi and I have for dinner today? We had meat yesterday. Should we have seafood after a long time? What did Vivi like? I think she liked clams and shrimp. Hmm, I should tell them to prepare clams and shrimp.’

He was utterly consumed by love and completely ignored his surroundings, despite being fully raised.

He truly was a Prince whose upbringing seemed to have been entirely for naught.

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