Chapter 131 - I Missed You

As a result of his encouragement to move faster, Max and his guards were able to arrive at the capital about two days earlier than expected. As soon as the knights stepped foot into their hideout in the capital, they passed out in exhaustion. However, as the captain of the guards, Dennis couldn't afford to lose face and plopped down into a chair instead.

'This is something that humans really shouldn't attempt,' he thought. At that moment, something caught his eye. The crown prince was preparing to go out. Unlike everyone else who was sprawled out, lacking the energy to wash up, Max had fixed up his appearance.

"Where are you going, Your Highness?" he asked.

"I need to pay a visit somewhere."

Dennis was about to inquire where, when Max asked with a serious expression, "How do I look today?" He was dressed in a white shirt and black pants. Anyone who saw him would definitely say that he was an entrancing and handsome man.

'He has grown so well.' Dennis, who almost let those words of praise slip, shut his mouth. 'Now that I think about it, he had asked the enemy a similar question.'

When Max had first entered the battlefield at a young age, he was frequently ridiculed by his enemies for being young and having a delicate appearance.

"I see that a girl has decided to come out on the battlefield with a sword!" the enemy would mock. The crown prince would soon make them pay for their words by beheading them.

'I'm not sure why he's asking me something like this, but…' Dennis swallowed dryly, then realized that if he gave the wrong answer then his break would be over. What the crown prince wanted was clear, given how he naturally hated being looked down upon by others.

"Y-you look very dignified, Your Highness!"

The crown prince's forehead creased slightly at his answer. Dennis gulped nervously. 'Was that not the answer he wanted?' Dennis put on his thinking cap and thought of other things that the crown prince might hate. 'Okay, he especially doesn't like compliments about his appearance. I'll be fine as long as I don't comment on it.'

Dennis, who finished brainstorming, tried again, "You look so powerful, Your Highness!"

His words caused the crown prince's expression to turn cold. "You keep saying weird things," he grunted.

Dennis stilled with fright at the crown prince's frigid response when the hideout manager came into the room and chimed in with a grin.

"You look handsome today, Your Highness! All the women on the streets will swoon over you if you go out looking like that!"

Dennis inhaled sharply. 'Is he crazy? He just said something he shouldn't…! 'Handsome!'' Dennis tensed up as the hideout manager casually spat out the forbidden word when the crown prince spoke.

"I'll be back."

With a dumbfounded expression, Dennis stared vacantly at the crown prince as he left. 'W-what just happened? Did he eat something bad?'

Hearing the answer he wanted, Max left the hideout feeling a sense of relief course through him. He didn't care if his subordinate thought strangely of him. 'I'm sure she'll welcome me.' With this thought motivating him, Max quickly made his way to Jubelian's room. However, her reaction was quite different from what he had expected.

"What? Contract? It's been two months since we've last seen each other, and you're talking about the contract?" Her fierce eyes were different than normal, but what was more shocking was the way she spoke to him.

"You… Did you just speak informally to me?" It was the first time someone other than the emperor, empress, or his master had spoken to him in such a way. He had required Jubelian to speak formally to him in the past and thought she would correct herself, but her reaction was bitter.

"What? You spoke informally to me when we first met. Why can't I do the same?"

It wasn't that Max minded her speaking informally to him, he was just taken aback by her harsh, aggressive, and quibbling way of speaking which was unlike her. 'Now that I think about it, she was known to have a terrible personality.' Max wondered if this was how Jubelian truly was, but the difference from her usual appearance was too drastic. 'Why on earth is she being like this?'

At that moment, Jubelian clenched her hands into fists and started punching his chest. "You should have at least sent a letter if you were okay!"

Her punches didn't hurt, but if this action were committed by anyone else, then Max would have beheaded the person. Strangely enough, he couldn't dare to think of doing such a thing to Jubelian. Instead, Max decided to assess his actions after listening to her.

'I hadn't thought of that. If I knew she was going to react this way, I would have at least sent a carrier pigeon to her,' he thought as he watched her.

Jubelian glared back. Her wavering blue eyes soon began to glisten. "I was so scared from the thought that something might have happened to you…"

Max began to feel strange when he heard the words Jubelian had murmured with tears in her eyes. 'Scared?' Over the several wars he had participated in, the only thing that he had received in response to his victories were words of praise.

"You're so magnificent, Your Highness!" they would say. Even Fresia, who had been with him for a long time, would say similar things. However…

"I thought something had happened to you in that mission you left for, or you had left me because you became tired of…!" Jubelian stopped mid-sentence, choking out a sob as she became overwhelmed by her emotions. She was covering her mouth with both hands as if to stop herself from crying, but tears continued to spill out from her big, clear blue eyes.

'She's crying so much… Did I upset her that much?' She was always indifferent, so Max had never imagined she would cry like this. But now that he was seeing her do so, a part of him began to feel suffocated to the point he couldn't bear it anymore. Max wanted to do anything within his power to stop her tears.

At that moment, he recalled the words Jubelian had once said, "A reconciliation is usually achieved when one person apologizes first."

Back then, he had apologized to avoid worsening the situation. But now, Max truly felt sorry.

****

Hope you enjoyed it,

Love,

Biji ^^,

Oct.23.2023