The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 30
The creak of the door opening pulled me from sleep.
When had I drifted off? I couldn’t say.
I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt stiff as if they’d been starched. Now that I thought about it, my entire body felt heavy, like water-logged cotton.
Why? Through the fog of my mind, I traced back my memories and remembered what had happened the night before.
‘…It wasn’t bad.’
No, to be honest—it was good. In my previous life, I had a husband, but I was never talented at such nocturnal matters.
I had to admit it. This was the first time I’d experienced genuine pleasure through a man.
My belly tingled strangely, so I forced my thoughts elsewhere. I’d heard a door open earlier.
I forced my eyes open and saw the ceiling. The room was tinged blue in the darkness—the dawn sun had risen.
I lifted my head slightly and peered toward the door. As expected, Rotar stood before the bedroom entrance in simple attire.
He was speaking with someone outside. His usual impassive face showed not a trace of fatigue.
‘What are they going on about?’
The conversation wasn’t reaching my ears clearly, so I shook my head. I needed to focus.
Just as I was about to concentrate again, the bedroom door closed. Damn it.
I locked the door firmly behind me, then opened my mouth as Rotar returned.
“What is it?”
As expected, my voice came out hoarse and cracked.
It wasn’t unexpected. The man responsible for keeping me occupied all night was standing right before me.
“Did I wake you, Your Majesty?”
Rotar, aware of his transgression, knelt to meet my eyes.
Beneath the hazy dawn light, his sharp features were shadowed, yet his gaze remained gentle.
“It’s nothing of consequence. You’ll understand in a few hours.”
“Then what exactly—”
“Please, close your eyes. I shall keep watch beside you.”
Rotar covered my eyes with his large palm and whispered. Cool. A light kiss followed across my right cheek.
‘What is this?’
After one night together, he seemed somehow different. He wasn’t some scheming mistress currying the king’s favor with wiles, and I couldn’t fathom why he was being so evasive.
The problem was that I was currently in no state to be anything but a dull, foolish king.
His palm, large as a pot lid, warmed my eye sockets, and sleep began creeping back in.
“…You’d better explain this properly later.”
“Of course.”
With his soft voice, the bed tilted. Soon, Rotar drew me into his firm embrace.
I felt his careful hands caress the back of my head and my lower back as I surrendered to sleep once more.
And a few hours later.
“…Rotar, what are you doing here?”
The information Rotar had been hiding revealed itself far sooner than expected.
***
Early afternoon, at the entrance to the Snowy Mountains where a biting winter wind cut through the air with vicious intensity. I came to a halt, bundled in thick winter garments, and stood my ground.
That familiar silhouette. In truth, there was only one person in Graupels with shoulders so broad and expansive.
Rotar Eisenrit, who had been surveying the mountain’s terrain, turned and responded.
“I have come to join the escort.”
“….”
When I glanced back, one of the Holy Knights accompanying us as escort flinched in surprise and averted his gaze. It seemed he was the one who had spoken with Rotar Eisenrit at dawn.
Two ordinary Holy Knights had come along for practical training exercises. Wolfgang had been added to the group as well. Though at the moment, he was off in the distance rolling snowballs.
‘This is quite a luxurious escort, really.’
Was it not excessive to drag the Empire’s sword into such a trivial matter?
While I deliberated, Rotar Eisenrit approached silently and lowered his voice.
“I began to suspect that I may have inadvertently interfered with your training.”
“….”
It sounded like an apology for pushing me through the night.
My lower back throbbed with a dull ache, and the area below was swollen. Unlike Rotar Eisenrit, who had used his body his entire life, my inflexible frame had folded like a paper doll to receive him, and my muscles seemed to be pulling as well.
If he was truly concerned, he should have restrained himself from the start. The image of him lunging forward like a guard dog with its muzzle removed remained vivid in my mind.
Of course, if I had truly disliked it, I would have kicked him away. I could not deny it—the night with him had not been unpleasant for me either.
In any case.
“If it causes you discomfort, I shall withdraw.”
“Why would you leave now? Forget it.”
I waved my hand dismissively at Rotar Eisenrit, who was uttering needless words after coming all this way.
It was not as though having a dependable escort would create problems. After finishing the monster hunt, we would return together and pack the final supplies.
Wolfgang, holding a tiny snowman in his palm and alternating his gaze between Rotar Eisenrit and me, approached and whispered.
“What is this atmosphere?”
“What do you mean?”
“I sense a rosy aura. It feels oddly ticklish, yet somehow unpleasant.”
Without bothering to hear more, I fired my gun at a branch of the nearby tree.
Bang. With a sound that assaulted the ears, the accumulated snow on the branch came tumbling down onto Wolfgang’s head.
“Ugh, ptooey, ptooey, ptooey.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and keep making snowmen.”
While he spat out the snow that had entered his mouth, Rotar Eisenrit instructed the remaining Holy Knights on their escort formation.
“In preparation for a surprise attack, four of us shall surround me, with one of the Holy Knights taking the lead.”
Though unlikely, this arrangement accounted for the possibility of monster encounters.
The Holy Knights turned their gaze toward Wolfgang as they listened to Rotar Eisenrit’s words. After all, they were his men.
“Snow has gotten inside my clothes.”
Wolfgang, with a petulant expression, gave his assent, then quickly positioned himself behind me as though someone might steal his spot, and spoke.
“I shall stand at the rear. Will that not provide some protection from the cold wind at the front?”
“…Very well.”
Can the Knight Commander really be this cunning? I felt doubt as I began to move forward.
Tomorrow, I would have to traverse the ridges in earnest through the Snowy Mountains.
I was entering a pristine, snow-covered expanse that was beautiful yet equally desolate—a realm of the unknown.
At first, nothing caught my eye. There were no sounds to be heard—not even the chirping of winter birds or the crack of dry branches.
Without any information to guide us, I might have suspected that everything had fallen into hibernation and the mountain lay empty. The silence that pervaded the depths of the mountain was absolute.
It seemed only we were capable of producing noise so rudely within it.
Yet if that were truly the case, the Imperial Border would never pass through this mountain.
I turned my head quietly to regard Rotar. His hand had rested upon the hilt of his sword from the very beginning.
It was Wolfgang’s voice that shattered the eerie stillness.
“Interesting talk is circulating among the Holy Knights, Your Highness.”
“What sort of talk?”
“That the Saint’s power may have surpassed the Archbishop’s power.”
The moment I heard those words, I observed the expressions of the Holy Knights who had come as my escort.
True to their rigid and tedious nature, there was no reaction worth noting. Unlike Wolfgang, their commander, they were taciturn in the presence of outsiders like Rotar.
“Because two powers have been revealed?”
“Yes. Even tracing back through the Temple’s history, there are few records of a Saint or Saint of such caliber.”
Yes, there would be few indeed. In truth, I myself do not qualify.
The misunderstanding had arisen because I had deceived the Holy Knights from the start—all except Wolfgang. They believed I was truly an agent receiving the oracle of Pelmira.
Of course, I had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding now.
“I should manage the rumors carefully.”
“Yes. If the Archbishop hears rumors related to this, matters will become complicated.”
That power-mad old man. If the puppy I had been raising suddenly appeared as a tiger, he would grow frightened and I could not predict what he might do. If he simply clung to Maximilian, the situation would become tedious.
But if I used him well?
‘A useful card has fallen into my hand.’
If I wielded rumors and power and memories of the past skillfully, I could seize control of the Religious Order when needed. I pushed the information Wolfgang had given me deep into my mind.
That was when it happened.
“Stop.”
At Rotar’s warning, we all stood rigid in place.
As our footsteps ceased, silence fell once more.
I held my breath and surveyed the surroundings, but saw only snow-covered trees and rocks.
Yet Rotar did not give the signal to resume our advance.
….
Something is here. In this place.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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