* * *
As soon as they made eye contact, Lowell felt his exhaustion settle into his bones.
He gave a small nod.
“The medicine is ready.”
“I’ll take it to him myself.”
Lowell took the medicine from Xenia and headed toward the guest bathhouse.
Outside the door, the red-eyed knight stood guard—the one who had been drawing Lowell’s attention all day.
‘Other than his red eyes, there’s something strangely… indistinct about him.’
Lowell frowned slightly but masked his thoughts with ease.
“You’re out here?”
It was odd. Judging by how worked up he had been earlier, the knight seemed like the type to barge in.
Lowell had planned to wait until Robin came out to hand him the medicine, but considering the knight’s demeanor, it might be better to leave it with him.
“There’s another knight inside.”
The knight’s response was curt.
Lowell handed him the medicine.
“Could you give this to him? It’s for colds. I also brought herbs for frostbite—if you grind them and mix them into an ointment, it’ll help.”
“Thank you, but we’ve already prepared our own medicine.”
At the firm refusal, Lowell’s expression turned peculiar.
Normally, even if someone didn’t intend to use it, they would at least pretend to accept it.
‘Did the Crown Prince feel reassured by assigning such a suspicious knight?’
But the knight’s attitude was strangely overbearing.
He carried himself like someone who was accustomed to speaking down to others as naturally as breathing.
Lowell, who still found informal speech awkward, felt it all the more keenly.
‘Earlier, I was too surprised to think about it deeply, but the way he treated Robin was odd. He reacted so sensitively, yet his tone was condescending. There’s no way the Crown Prince would entrust Robin to someone like that.’
As Lowell stood still without taking the medicine, the knight was the first to break the silence.
“If I came across as rude, I apologize. However, by my lord’s orders, I cannot, under any circumstances, hand over the medicine…”
“Are you really a knight?”
Lowell cut him off, unimpressed by the excuse that didn’t sound the least bit sincere.
The thought that suddenly surfaced seemed absurd, yet he couldn’t shake the inexplicable certainty he felt.
“I’m curious as to why you would ask such a question.”
“I know it’s impolite, but I don’t think you’re just an ordinary knight.”
“Oh? What makes you think that?”
At that response, Lowell was convinced.
It felt as if scattered puzzle pieces were finally clicking into place.
“The way you treated Robin was the most telling.”
“Ah, that? That couldn’t be helped. Robin is always an exception for me.”
The knight no longer seemed interested in hiding the truth.
Even his tone changed, his naturally condescending speech making it obvious—this was his true self.
Lowell ran a hand through his throbbing head.
‘Now it makes sense. I was too focused on my own affairs to consider his personality.’
Bending one knee slightly, Lowell made an awkward attempt at a formal greeting.
His body remembered the motions, but having rarely performed them himself, it felt unnatural.
“I greet His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Tia and Charis trembled so visibly that Lowell could sense it without even looking.
Their darting eyes, checking each other’s reactions, made it clear they were trying to confirm whether the others had noticed.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Lowell was the only one who had realized the knight’s true identity.
“You figured out who I am just from how I treated Robin? Seems like you’re not as much of an idiot as I thought. The Clarke family openly says they disowned you because you were too stupid, you know.”
A crimson aura swirled from the Crown Prince’s body, unraveling like strands of thread.
Emerging from the red cocoon, he shed his disguise, revealing his original appearance.
Only now did Lowell understand why he had been unable to recall the man’s exact features before.
‘If Felix used magic to completely alter his appearance, then this man made everyone around him see an illusion. I never thought I’d witness the Crown Prince’s specialty firsthand.’
Just standing near him, the sheer presence was suffocating.
Whereas Felix’s gaze carried an overt, crushing pressure, the Crown Prince’s eyes had a different kind of weight—one that coiled around its target, tightening like a slow, inevitable drowning.
Paying no attention to the knights still reeling from shock, the Crown Prince continued speaking.
“Actually, I’d forgotten you even existed, but you say Felix made me take notice of you?”
With a smile that seemed tailored solely for dealing damage, the Crown Prince dropped his words like daggers, as if his only purpose here was to attack Lowell.
‘Unfortunate for him—I feel nothing.’
Lowell briefly considered pretending to be hurt but dismissed the thought.
The Crown Prince might find temporary satisfaction in it, but since they were in the same boat now, there was no point in leaving room for lingering resentment.
“I will personally apologize for putting Robin in danger. I hope Your Highness will put aside your anger.”
At Lowell’s words, even the Crown Prince’s twisted smile disappeared.
His expression blanked, and the atmosphere shifted instantly.
The knights, sensing the razor-sharp hostility, instinctively braced for an attack, but they were too lost in the Crown Prince’s new illusion to distinguish reality from deception.
‘This illusion is only affecting the knights, right?’
Watching them futilely defend against something that wasn’t there, Lowell broke out in a cold sweat.
He had expected the Crown Prince to test him, but experiencing it firsthand was far more terrifying than he had anticipated.
“Put aside my anger? You sure have a lot of demands for someone who can’t even protect himself.”
The Crown Prince’s large hand reached for Lowell’s throat.
Even in a situation where it felt like he might be strangled at any moment, Lowell didn’t so much as blink, keeping his gaze locked on the Crown Prince.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
The suffocating tension shattered as Felix, unable to hold back any longer, intervened.
His dark magic struck the Crown Prince’s hand aside and wrapped protectively around Lowell’s faintly trembling form.
“Huh?”
As Felix’s overwhelming magic rippled through the space, the knights finally realized that the enemy they had been fighting was nothing but an illusion.
Their jaws dropped as the sheer weight of what had just transpired crashed down on them.
“Felix, are you pointing your magic at me right now?”
The Crown Prince’s tone was casual, as if addressing an old friend, but Felix had no room for pleasantries after witnessing Lowell being threatened.
“Was Your Highness not about to harm Lowell?”
“I was merely reaching out to touch him.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Despite their supposed alliance, the hostility between the two was palpable.
‘This is getting out of hand.’
Lowell quickly assessed the situation and decided that the best course of action was to calm down the person he could actually influence.
“Felix, I’m fine. His Highness was simply testing how I would react—he never actually intended to harm me.”
Felix understood that in his head.
The Crown Prince had a twisted nature and, given his position, had no reason to hide it.
He was a difficult man, but not one who would recklessly break the trust of those he truly relied on.
Yet, the mere possibility that Lowell could have been harmed made Felix’s blood boil.
“Hah, so you’re perceptive enough to figure that out? I doubt Felix would’ve shared much about me, yet you speak as if you’re sure of my intentions. Rumors really are unreliable.”
The Crown Prince ignored Felix, who still stood in a defensive stance, and let out an amused laugh.
With one party seemingly backing down, the suffocating tension in the air eased slightly.
“Stand down.”
* * *
