I caught my breath. It might have looked like I’d asked a bold question without fear, but it was something I’d said after doing my own calculations.
Among VIPs, it’s true there are quite a few who want people to treat them like a king and act like their tongue in their mouth. But not every VIP is like that. On the contrary, some VIPs wanted me to say only the exact facts. Even if they weren’t pleasant to hear. Because that was the correct kind of deal.
The Prince seemed like someone in that minority. In fact, the Prince hadn’t looked displeased at all when I asked what each side’s benefit was.
The only time he furrowed his brow was when the drunkards who worshiped him started cheering. When they said things he hadn’t asked and did things he hadn’t demanded.
When I turned my gaze, which had been circling the room, straight ahead, my eyes met the Prince’s. His expression, which had shifted from irritation to boredom, was changing again. Was the curiosity he’d shown me still alive? I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t feel any likes or dislikes.
All of a sudden, something similar to his gaze came to mind. It was something I knew extremely well, but that had become unfamiliar now.
My father’s eyes when he appraised gemstones were exactly like that.
Eyes that measured only the precise value, with neither admiration for perfect beauty nor regret for quality ruined by bad cutting. I’d called my father a merchant and hated him for it.
Back then, I didn’t know that the reason I could dream of being an artist instead of a merchant was because my father was a merchant. After I lost my father—lost my family—I had to become the very merchant I’d hated so much. There were times I could barely endure it, but after some time had passed, I became pretty proud of the merchant I’d turned into.
For quite a long time, the Prince examined me. At the same time, I was able to observe the Prince as well. As those drunkards praised him, he absolutely wasn’t just a kind person. The picture-like boy never once looked back at the people lying prostrate toward him.
How much time passed? Suddenly, his eyes softened. I saw that moment clearly. If someone else had seen his expression, they might have called it a smile. It resembled the kind of expression you often saw in portraits. A face made to be shown to someone. It also resembled the expression I used to practice in front of a mirror.
I blinked. His vivid blue eyes looked like they were shining like rubies. The blood-red ruby called pigeon blood.
For a moment, my head went blank as if fog had rolled in. It even felt like my vision was suddenly turning white. It scared me to the point my heart dropped. When I thought I might faint, I reflexively bit the inside of my mouth. Even the pain felt dull.
The fishy taste of blood snapped me awake. Only then did I realize my blurred vision had already become clear again.
The Prince’s eyes had returned to a sapphire-like blue. Those eyes curved, and a smile formed.
For an instant, I doubted my own eyes. Because it looked like the Prince was genuinely pleased. I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again. Even then, the smile hadn’t left his face.
“I thought I was the one giving someone else good luck, but it seems the one who was lucky today was me.”
The one who had naturally spoken like a seasoned chairman now spoke in a light, boyish tone.
“I promise you. You’ll definitely receive compensation equal to the results you show.”
There was a huge gap between his expression and the content of his words. With a face that looked like he would support everything, he was demanding results.
My thoughts turned cold.
I’d told myself I was calm, different from those people kneeling, but I wasn’t. I was excited too.
Even if the Prince’s appearance looked like someone inside a portrait a painter had beautified as much as possible—no, not that, like a sacred being inside a holy painting that had pushed imagination to its extreme—contrary to his looks, he wasn’t a shallow fool. Far from being purely benevolent, he knew how to wield intimidation like a weapon.
“It looks like you’ve got something else you’re curious about. Say it.”
With the corners of his eyes curved in a smile, the Prince looked me over and gave the order. Following his command, I opened my mouth.
“Thank you for saying you’ll give me an appropriate reward for the results I achieve.”
I meant it. Relying only on unconditional goodwill—how was that any different from crossing a rope bridge? Goodwill that came from who-knew-what reason could be taken back at any time. The moment that thin rope called goodwill got pulled away, it was obvious I’d fall off a cliff.
In that sense, the Prince’s talk about performance-based pay was actually more believable.
But.
Instead of continuing right away, I looked around. The drunkards who had been raising their voices however they pleased just ten minutes ago were still kneeling on the filthy floor, bowing their heads.
It was an extremely bizarre sight.
Weren’t these the ones who had even tried to confirm the Prince’s identity to his face? It was strange that no one was pretending to lower their head while rolling their eyes to sneak a look. It would have been more natural for someone to blatantly lift their head and get beaten for it.
In the first place, there were plenty who had been so dead drunk they couldn’t even distinguish me from the Prince.
“This may be a very rude question, but did you perhaps put them under hypnosis?”
I knew it. I knew I was asking something absurd as if it were a question. If someone could hypnotize this many people at once, they could become the greatest cult leader in history. Or a dictator. Either way, no one would be calling him a pitiful Prince with no real power. And it was strange that everyone was hypnotized except me.
Still, I couldn’t just pretend I hadn’t seen this uncanny situation and let it pass without saying anything. I guessed that pretending not to see what was plainly in front of me wasn’t what the Prince—who was talking about performance-based pay—would want.
Just as expected, instead of roaring at me for spouting nonsense, the Prince’s smiling eyes deepened even further.
“You don’t feel anything?”
He threw the question back at me instead. When he stood up, he was much taller than I’d expected.
“Like your body feels heavy.”
The Prince stepped toward me, one step at a time.
“You’re not dizzy either?”
“That’s not the case, but……”
It felt like my vision was being wrapped in fog again, and I frowned.
“Or… can you smell my scent?”
The Prince was already standing within arm’s reach. The breath I exhaled hit his chest and came back to my cheek.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any knowledge about perfumes……”
It was an extremely sudden, pressuring approach. I took a step back. It was the moment I was about to say I didn’t know.
The Prince took a step forward, bigger than the distance I’d retreated. I reflexively tried to step back again, but ended up stopping in place.
“I can’t smell anything.”
I’d stumbled over the words, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask his forgiveness for a small mistake. I couldn’t smell anything from the Prince. Not even perfume—no body scent at all. It was impossible.
Had something happened to my nose? I lifted my hand and smelled it. The smell of stew, frying oil, and beer that had seeped into me while serving seemed to mix together and sting my nose. Caught between the worry of whether it was okay to let a Prince smell the unpleasant odor coming off my body, and the shock of a living person giving off no smell at all, I just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
In an instant, someone else’s breath brushed the back of my neck. It was the Prince. The tip of his nose touched my neck.
Having someone this close was so unfamiliar it made my body shrink on its own, but the Prince didn’t care.
I felt like a sample laid out on a laboratory table. The Prince seemed to be trying to find something. I could feel him smelling me again and again. Even to me, it was just a foul smell.
I didn’t know what he was trying to confirm, but all I could think was that I wanted him to finish quickly. I couldn’t put my hands on a royal body and shove him away.
“You’re definitely a Beta.”
When the Prince finally stepped back, I quickly pulled my own body back as well.
“You’ve got a face like you don’t know anything.”
He rubbed his chin as if troubled.
“First, I think it’s right that I apologize. Sorry for startling you.”
To be honest, I got startled again. By the Prince’s clean, no-excuses apology. If you called it a slave mentality to be shocked that someone high up apologized so readily, I wouldn’t have anything to say—but even when I ran a jewelry shop, receiving an apology from big-spending customers was extremely rare. And this was an apology from royalty.
With a face like he knew what I was thinking, the Prince smiled softly. It was obvious he recognized that I’d given him a high score for his attitude.
“If I’m answering your question, I didn’t put them under hypnosis, but from the people who got hit by it, it won’t be very different from being hypnotized.”
I wasn’t sure if it was something I could believe. Not hypnosis, but not very different from being hypnotized. Setting aside the fact it didn’t make sense, it was strange in itself that he’d answered a question that even I thought was ridiculous.
In the first place, I’d only meant to make it known that I could perceive and speak about this bizarre situation. I wasn’t asking because I wanted an answer.
“You don’t even know that you’re an extremely exceptional case.”
I guess I must have been making a pretty stupid face. The Prince’s smile deepened.
“It seems like there are a lot of things I can teach you.”
Watching the Prince’s relaxed expression, I blinked. Not only did I not understand what he was saying—I didn’t understand the way he was treating me. Whether it was hypnosis or magic, I didn’t know, but he had the ability to subdue this many people with a single word, and yet he was trying to persuade me. That definitely made me feel like I’d become someone quite special.