Chapter 16. Horse and Fourth Prince

TL: I see everyone was shocked by the revelation in the previous chapter, so let’s get some fluff here with the youngest of the princes.

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What awaited Asher after he returned to the castle was Angela imposing a restriction, barring him from going outside the castle. Her anger had yet to settle from when he had left the castle without thinking of the consequences or notifying her. However, while it was initially set that he wasn’t allowed to step a single foot outside his room, it was expanded from his room to the inside of the castle after he desperately apologized and protested.

“Asher, you must never leave the castle without my permission again,” Angela said and tightly hugged her son, and her faint trembling was conveyed to him. He must had worried her terribly. He finally realized how selfish his behavior had been.

“Yes, Mother…” He sighed to himself. He knew he needed to do something to change his situation, but the consequences of his actions reared their ugly head.

Afterward, there wasn’t much change in Asher’s daily life. He had ended up immediately breaking his promise to treat the injured soldiers because of the incident, so he went the very next day to apologize and strove to go see them every day. In the beginning, the soldiers thought Asher wouldn’t visit anymore after getting attacked by the beastfolk bandits, so they were surprised when he showed up. But with Asher’s continual visits, the group grew accustomed enough to hold conversations now.

Asher also passed by beastfolk soldiers in the hallway during his trips to and from. Each time, he would greet them with a smile but quickly be on his way when he saw how terrified they reacted. They either froze in fear or immediately lowered their heads to beg for forgiveness, but with time, they eventually understood that Asher meant them no harm. There were even some who returned his greeting, albeit still baffled by everything.

Asher spent the rest of his time studying or practicing swordsmanship. Marquess Clarke was supposed to be in charge of his education, but he had recently been away in his territory to resolve some issues. Therefore, Asher was relegated to self-study, but as expected, he couldn’t do much alone. He considered asking someone else to teach him while Marquess Clarke was busy, but he was indirectly declined with a polite “I lack the aptitude to do that.” He stared at books for two days by himself, but he soon admitted defeat and decided to go out for a change of pace. This led him to a garden on the castle grounds. Asher treated this as a great discovery as hardly anyone came by, most likely a location restricted to only those of the highest status. From that point onward, Asher spent most of his time thinking there.

“At any rate, I don’t think anything has really changed… People are still terrified of me, and my family situation is still complicated…” Asher muttered to himself.

Although rather than it being complicated, it was more like his current situation was the result of the past “Asher” never attempting to fix the relationships. He closed his eyes and recalled the faces of each of his family members and “his” memories. It felt like he was watching someone else’s life as he hoped to find what the past “him” thought about those around him. He couldn’t sense feelings from this, but he should be able to glean something from “his” words, gestures, and behavior towards others.

Angela obviously treasured Asher, as he was her only son. Jeffrey had always been respectful to Asher and remained steadfast with it even when “Asher” acted out of line. Samuel interacted with Asher as he did with his other younger brothers Hugo and Noah. However, his eyes when focused on Asher would, on the rare occasion, be as cold as ice, and “Asher” seemed to be aware of that. “Asher” had shown blatant disdain for Hugo, and likewise, Hugo despised Asher. It was no exaggeration to call their relationship like cats and dogs. Noah was scared of Asher. He never approached Asher, and “Asher” himself never appeared before him. However, “Asher” hated how much the detestable Hugo babied Noah, so there were some memories of “Asher” bullying Noah.

Having gone through “his” memories again, Asher let out another sigh. The more he knew, the more depressed he felt.

“In the first place, Prince Hugo was the type of person the past ‘Asher’ wanted absolutely nothing with… Which is why we have the worst relationship.”

Bitterness filled Asher’s face. He sat down on a chair in the garden and looked up at the sky. He stayed like that for a while with his eyes closed when he faintly felt someone’s presence and slowly opened his eyes. He spotted Noah stretching from behind the bench in front of him.

“Prince Noah?” Asher called out.

“Whoa!” When the two met eyes, Noah tumbled backwards. “U-um, I…”

“It’s been some time since we last saw each other. Since I returned to the castle, right?” Asher said with a smile.

Noah looked a bit embarrassed as he slowly nodded. His cheeks were flushed a little red and he slowly walked over to the bench Asher was on. He asked, “Can I… sit here?”

“Yes! Of course.” Asher smiled even brighter and bobbed his head.

“Then, excuse me…” Noah nervously sat down next to Asher.

Asher had to desperately hold back the urge to pat Noah’s head. He’s so c-cute! Is he embarrassed about how he desperately clung to me and cried the other day? His cheeks are as red as apples. But, more importantly, why is he here?

Asher opened his mouth to ask why Noah was here, but Noah started talking first. “Prince Asher… I’m sorry about before… when I suddenly hugged you.”

“Huh? I didn’t mind it at all.”

“But, I also… called you a bunch of bad names… like d-demon…”

“I really didn’t mind! Besides, you’ve already apologized.”

Noah curled into himself, so Asher gently patted him on the head. Noah looked up with his large golden eyes at his brother.

“Mother said that… Highclere should’ve been killed for endangering your life… That’s why Queen Angela was right…”

“That’s not true!” Asher’s denial caused Noah to jump. “If only I… hadn’t gotten on the horse… on Highclere… I-I…”

Asher recalled “his” memories from before “he” fell off the horse. “He” had been watching from the shadows Hugo and Noah having fun horseback riding. Although scared, Noah got on the horse, and Hugo helped lead by holding the reins. The horse looked to be a docile breed. Even during “his” horsemanship lessons, “Asher” had stubbornly refused to approach the horses. But “he” stole glances at how much fun Hugo and Samuel always had riding on horses. So when “he” saw that even Noah was having fun riding a horse, “Asher” murmured, “Maybe I too could ride on that horse.”

“I… was scared of horses,” Asher quietly said, and Noah was momentarily confused. “Riding a horse is scary… But, when I saw you get on Highclere… I thought that I too could ride her… since she looked like a very nice horse… That’s why I got a bit excited when I got on her… I wanted to go faster…”

This was surely what the past “Asher” thought. The view from on top of a horse was different from what “he” had ever experienced. And this likely went to “his” head. “He” used a whip “he” was unfamiliar with to go faster. As a result, “he” fell off and Highclere was killed.

Asher looked at Noah in the eye. Noah was uneasy and had his brow furrowed, but he properly looked back at Asher.

“I… didn’t think Highclere would be killed…” Naturally, this was the current Asher speaking. Perhaps the past “Asher” might have been delighted that Highclere’s death was the natural outcome. However, Asher had a vague feeling that the past “Asher” would not have been happy about Highclere’s death. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. Highclere died because of me… I’m really sorry… Highclere was such a kind and gentle horse—”

Asher stopped talking halfway because he didn’t know what he should say to Noah. He kept his mouth shut and head down. Noah silently stared at his brother. Silence continued between the two of them, but the one to break it was Noah.

“Highclere is dead… I was super sad and cried a lot… Hugo didn’t cry, but he looked really sad.” Noah timidly took Asher’s hand in his tiny hand and gripped it. “And you… have the same face Hugo had then.”

Asher raised his face slightly and looked at Noah. Noah continued, “You’re sad about Highclere’s death… You’re sorry and in pain… The same as me. So, it doesn’t make sense that you’re to blame…”

The innocent words of a child deeply stabbed Asher in the chest. He tightly squeezed Noah’s small body in a hug. Being comforted by such a small child caused tears to spill from Asher’s eyes. Noah was affected as well and began silently crying, and the two consoled each other in the garden for some time.

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