"Let's head down now…"
Shuu felt a sudden pain in his back, and his legs felt like jelly as well. He tried to move but was unable to put much strength into his legs to do much.
"That stupid Crown Prince. Why did he have to go so hard…"
Shuu complained, completely ignoring all the times he had asked Prince Kaiden to go faster and harder.
It took him some time to get steady on his feet, and he realized that not all of the pain was coming from his activities with Prince Kaiden.
Some of the places that throbbed were on his back, where the wounds of the carving were.
It took him an embarrassingly long time to make it down the stairs and toward the common room. As soon as he did, everyone looked at him with the same expression Kana had shown him before.
They were all trying to remind Shuu of his place, and he did not waste his time looking at them. He took a step toward the kitchen, but he was stopped quickly.
"Wait there. Don't come here. I will plate the food and give it to you."
Someone stood up before they quickly plated food for him and left it on the side table for him to pick up.
As soon as he did, he saw people gesturing toward the table and talking about how they needed to burn it soon.
Shuu ignored it all and sat in a corner to eat. He was used to this treatment, so it did not sting. He preferred the silence around him as well.
It just… felt a little lonely. He usually ate in his room, and the lack of people did not remind him of how alone he was.
But right now, in the hall, with everyone else around him talking and being happy, all he felt was a deep hollowness.
'Prince Kaiden is nowhere to be seen. I wonder when I will be back.'
Shuu entertained himself with these questions as he moved the food around on his plate. He ate it once in a while but was not able to swallow more than a few bites at any given time.
He had only taken a few bites before he heard footsteps heading his way. When he looked up, he noticed that it was a familiar face.
"What are you doing? How much time do you need to eat all this? And what's with this pathetic amount of food on your plate? Why did you only grab this much? Do you want to die of starvation?"
Reina stood over him, with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.
Shuu had a feeling that she had seen everything that happened, but was pretending not to have for his own sake.
"I—it's not that bad. I don't like to eat much, so this is fine. I actually prefer this amount of food—"
"Bullshit! Give that plate here. I will get you more food to eat. You need to replenish your blood, so you cannot afford to hold back like this."
Reina snatched the plate of food out of Shuu's hands before she walked toward the kitchen, where the pots were being held.
She looked at the pots before she turned to look back at the people around her.
"Hey, did no one bother to serve the rest of the food to Shuu? You made three dishes, right? I can see that all the pots are still half-full. Why was he only given a small amount of bland food?"
She asked in a loud voice. The more she spoke, the more Shuu wanted to hide his face and not look up.
Everyone around the room looked uncomfortable with her questions, and they quickly answered her.
"It's nothing like that, Miss Reina. It's just that… he's still in the recovery phase, so we did not want to overwhelm him by giving him strong food…"
"Tsk, now you are just trying to make things worse. Don't bother explaining it all to me now. I am not in the mood to listen to any of you."
She openly admitted before she plated some more food and handed it to Shuu.
There was too much food on Shuu's plate, and looking at it all made him feel sick. He immediately started to think of ways to tell Reina this, but the look on her face was too terrifying.
"Here, take it. Don't you dare throw any of it away. I need you to finish every last bite. Do you understand me?"
Reina asked with a hard smile on her face.
Shuu only nodded as he took a few more bites in a hurry. He did not want to know what else she would do if he did not do as she asked.
"Good. I don't want to face Prince Kaiden if anything were to happen to you. As much as that fool wants to change nothing, he can't pretend he did not bring you into all this and not take responsibility."
Reina commented as she plated her own food as well and came to join Shuu.
Because of her presence, no one threatened to come close to them or even say anything to them. It felt… nice to have this kind of silence.
They quickly finished the food and went back to his room to rest. Reina followed him before she took out her book and sat down beside his bed.
"Are you not going to return to your room?"
Shuu asked her, only for Reina to turn her glare toward him without saying a word.
"Alright, I got it. I will not ask any more questions."
Shuu told her as he crawled back into the bed. Once again, the silence felt stiffening but satisfying. His body wanted him to sleep, but his mind would not allow him to.
He had… just too many questions he wanted to ask, but there was no one here to answer him… except… Reina.
'But should I ask her? She is Prince Kaiden's companion, but still… she helped me. Would she answer my questions as well?'