Shuu had hurried back to his room, and the hero had followed after him. The tension in the air made it hard for Shuu to ignore the other, but he did not want to be the first one to say anything.
As a result, he was forced to suffer the awkward silence, where he had no idea what the other wanted from him.
'He's quiet…He's awfully quiet. I do not have a good feeling about this…'
Shuu could feel how close the crown prince was. He was inches away from touching him, but for some reason, he was keeping his distance, and it was making Shuu nervous.
He decided to sit in silence for some time before he felt too uncomfortable to do even that. In the end, he cracked first and ended up asking the question.
"Your Highness, do you want something from me?"
Kaiden's smile became even bigger, and his eyes sparkled.
"Hmm, how did you know? Ah, I guess I cannot hide anything from you. Since you already know, then let's get going. We don't have much time to waste."
The crown prince grabbed Shuu's hand before he dragged him out. Shuu was too stunned to move and allowed himself to be dragged away.
Before he knew it, he was already outside with the crown prince.
'What am I doing? I should not be seen with the crown prince. What if he gets criticized as well because of me? I need a mask to hide my face…'
Shuu was a well-known person around these parts. As someone who lacked the goddess's protection, he was a symbol of the temple to parade around to show their sincerity and kindness.
Everyone knew his face, and they despised him.
He tried to keep his head down and make himself as unnoticeable as possible as he walked behind the hero, but Kaiden just tugged him forward.
"What are you doing? Don't hide your face. We are going shopping for your clothes and other essentials. You don't own much, so I want to buy you more stuff before we leave tonight to meet others."
Shuu immediately froze as soon as he heard those words.
"Wait-! What did you say? You want to leave tonight? But didn't you agree with the saintess to leave the day after…?"
"Hmm, did I? I think you heard me wrong. Just don't worry about it too much. I am sure the saintess will understand that we needed to leave in an emergency. You don't have to worry about it too much."
Kaiden's words did not fill Shuu with much confidence. He had a nagging feeling that he was falling into an obvious trap.
His sour expression was ignored by Kaiden as he kept tugging at Shuu to follow him. They were near the shops, and Shuu could feel people's stares as they looked at him. They were starting to make him feel nervous.
But the hand tugging gave him strength to follow and made him want to believe that everything would be alright.
That confidence lasted until they entered the first shop.
The shopkeeper looked like he had swallowed something extremely sour as soon as he saw Shuu and immediately looked at the crown prince with a pity-filled expression.
"Sir, welcome to my shop…can I talk to you alone for a minute?"
The shopkeeper immediately addressed the hero with so much concern that it made Shuu's stomach churn. He immediately looked at Kaiden, but the older man had a closed-off expression on his face.
Shuu wanted to ask what Kaiden was thinking, but before he could do that, the shopkeeper stepped forward to physically create a barrier between Shuu and the hero and tugged the other man away.
Kaiden went willingly with the shopkeeper, and that made the twisting sensation in Shuu's stomach even worse. He was too nervous about what was happening.
'Will the crown prince finally leave me alone? But he promised not to…ugh, this is too much…'
His knees touched the seat behind him as he staggered. He wanted to sit down and collapse, but looking at the clean leather seat felt like too much.
That, combined with the shopkeeper's looks from earlier, made Shuu feel like he was too dirty to be here. His breath felt short, and his eyes were starting to lose focus.
'I-I hope the crown prince comes back soon. I don't think I can take this pressure anymore….'
Meanwhile, the crown prince had already been taken to another side of the room by the shopkeeper, who kept shooting him concerned looks.
"Why do you keep looking at me? Do I have something stuck on my face?"
The smile had not left the crown prince's face, but for some reason, the shopkeeper could feel the coldness radiating from his expression. It made him quickly take a step back and explain himself.
"N-No, it's nothing like that. Y-You seem like a high-class and sheltered person with a kind heart. Maybe that is why you got tricked by that ugly thing outside. But someone like you should not associate with scum like…that…"
The shopkeeper spoke with a venomous voice, but it got smaller and smaller as soon as he noticed that his customer's mood was tanking.
"Hmm, would you care to repeat what you just said? Why would you call my companion like that? Don't you know who I am?"
The shopkeeper looked scared of Kaiden, but he still felt like it was his duty to inform him about the dangers of his companion.
"I don't know who you are, sir. But I can tell from your clothes and your speech that you are a well-respected and highly important person. The man out there is worse than a criminal. Are you being threatened? Should I help you…take him out?"
The shopkeeper was yapping too much, and Kaiden indulged him and just smiled. But inside his mind, he was already making plans to end this man's life once and for all if he did not shut up.
"Ah, looks like I made a mistake after all."
He spoke after the man finally stopped complaining, and the shopkeeper's eyes lit up.
"S-So, you want me to help you out-"
"No. I mean I made a mistake choosing this shop to buy my companion's clothes from. I thought you were a respected shop, but now I see that the only special thing about you is your audacity to insult someone brought into your shop by a member of the royal family."
Kaiden's smile widened as he watched the shopkeeper freeze before his eyes widened.
"Y-You…no way-! Your age and your features…and that emblem on your clothes. P-Please forgive me, Your Highness. I made a mistake. But why would someone as respected as you mingle with filth-"
The shopkeeper did not see the blow coming. Before he knew what was happening, it was too late. Something hard struck his head, and he lost consciousness.
The last thing he saw was a pair of eyes looking down at him with a dark but amused expression.
'W-Why-! What did the hero…just what did I do wrong?'
The man was not dead, but after this, he would not be in a condition to continue his normal life either, just as the crown prince intended.
That was the price they needed to pay for insulting his companion.
________
Please leave a power stone for me.