16 The prince was not muddle-headed?

She did not say anything to him and he remained silent for the rest of the meal but his eyes did not stray from her as he tried to understand what she meant by that statement.

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The doctor came in to see him after the table and empty plates were taken away. He watched as the doctor carefully cleaned up the dried blood from his wound.

The doctor had concluded that the injury was deep when he saw the wound and the blood-stained bed but after washing away all the dried blood, he could not help but furrow his brow.

"What happened," Liam was forced to ask as he looked at the man's confused expression.

"Your highness was very lucky. The wound is not deep," the doctor reported. He could only sigh in relief. He had wondered what would become of him if the prince injured as deep as he thought.

If the prince's injury had reached the bone, the hand might need to be severed. When he saw the prince, he believed the injury was not as serious as the knight claimed.

It was when he saw the wound, that his fear began to build. He could see from the injury that it was caused by a very sharp object most likely a sword. That sword was not a simple one for it to have not cut through the flesh to the bone but stopped just below the sword.

He doubted his thoughts about a sword and concluded that the prince had hurt himself with a razor or a sharp knife to hurt himself after killing someone to claim he was being targeted.

He looked at the powerless prince and could not appreciate that he was wise enough to plan it well. At least, the prince was not as muddle-headed as most people say?

Wasn't it better to have a prince who could plan this just to kill someone that a prince who could not even defend himself as weak and defenseless as a baby in the womb?

"I won't be needing stitches?" he asked the man who seemed so engrossed in the work he was given but it was not difficult to see that the man was in deep thoughts.

"No, you be needing any, your highness. The injury is indeed not deep and it won't be long before it heals completely. Don't let water touch it and keep it dry." The man had more advice for the prince and Liam was respectful enough to listen to what the man had to say.

When the man left, he went to bathe and he did not bother about the wound. A wound that does not need a stitch was the least of his worries.

The water was warm and the women were very careful when rubbing him dry. They looked like it would kill him if they even graze on the wound a little or perhaps they were really scared for their head.

What if he gets angry with them for doing that and kills them? it was better to avoid becoming the third victim. Liam noticed the caution they showed which was far from what he had experienced with these women who knew their job well.

He took notice of the youngest among them she looked like a freshman in college yet to enter the real society fully.

He gestured to her to come closer and she was very reluctant but walked over to him with her head bowed so that her chin was almost touching her chest.

The way the gown wrapped around her bosom down to her waist and her still broadening hips. He swallowed. "Be a gentleman," that soft voice that always cautions him like it was a messenger of her mother warned him.

He smiled when she approached him. He raised his hand and waved off the rest in the room out. They were reluctant as they looked at the woman but they could not possibly disobey a royal order, right?

"You are beautiful," he murmured getting close to her when it seemed like she was not getting any closer to him due to fear, or . . . he did not want to know.

He raised his hand and brushed away the brown hair that covered her head. He pinched her chin and raised her head slowly as the girl was resisting.

"I will not harm you. I just want you to tell me what those women have said about me. They are so scared of me, why?" he asked as softly as he could.

The place was hot probably because of the steam escaping from the pool of water. The girl dared to look at him but her eyes moved away almost immediately and he could feel her shaking in fear even from the little contact he made with her.

He released her chin and took a step back. "Talk comfortably," he told her trying to remain calm.

"Your highness," she called out before dropping to the floor on her knees. "Your highness killed a woman who bathed him," she professed with a very shaky voice that sounded like she was sitting on a working massage chair.

That was everything far from the comfortable manner he asked her to speak. She raised her head and glanced at him before looking gown as her body shook so much.

He furrowed his brow and walked out of the room. He was amazed by how those women made him feel like a serial killer over a woman he did not even kill.

His reputation must have been destroyed beyond repair among these helpers although that was better than being called a powerless prince without magic.

Her reply had killed that fire that began building with him as he looked at her innocent beauty or perhaps it was because of the coldness of his room which was a huge contrast to the steamy hotness of that room.

As he mounted his horse to continue his journey, he turned and looked at the knight who had already mounted his horse beside him. "When we get to the next place of rest, I want a woman," he told the man bluntly. This guy was a prince, not a monk and he wanted to vent the pent-up feeling he got from that room.

He could use that to clear his reputation that is if the girl is not an assassinator. If it goes around that he spent a night with a woman and he did not kill her then that should make a difference, right?

He hated the feeling he felt to protect his reputation but the feeling was stronger than the hate he felt.