Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 239
Knox, the First Prince of Remvi, was thoroughly miserable.
The journey from the Kingdom of Remvi to the Green Windsor Empire had been grueling for a seven-year-old child.
To make matters worse, right before his departure, his mother had gripped his shoulders and given him a burdensome order that weighed heavily on his small, fragile frame.
“You must leave a good impression on Lisa Kylie Blanchard, understood? If you win her over, the relationship between the Green Windsor Empire and Remvi will become unshakably solid.”
“Mother, I—”
“It would have been better if I had married into the Empire as planned, but since I couldn’t, you must accomplish what I couldn’t. You can do this, right, Knox?”
“……”
“Answer me. No matter what it takes, you must become close to that girl. The fate of Remvi rests on your shoulders.”
Knox’s mother, Salome, was a fearsome woman.
She was someone who would not hesitate to use even her own son as a tool to achieve her goals.
What mattered most to her was her beloved husband.
But that didn’t mean his father cherished Knox either.
The man who had become the King of Remvi through rebellion was too busy meeting his wife’s expectations to spare any attention for his son.
From birth until his seventh year, Knox had been crushed under the weight of a cold mother and an indifferent father.
He was naturally gentle-hearted and so timid and fragile that people criticized him for being weak.
Though Salome never said it aloud, she was clearly disappointed in her son, who fell short of her expectations.
That was why she was so eager to pawn him off to the duchy of a distant empire.
The Green Windsor Empire’s Crown Prince remained unmarried and childless.
Although there were children born to the imperial princess, Salome still insisted on presenting a marriage proposal to Lisa, the duke’s daughter.
That proposal had already been flatly rejected.
Even so, Salome had ordered Knox to win over the three-year-old girl’s favor, even if it meant groveling.
Lisa Kylie Blanchard.
The daughter of the prestigious Blanchard ducal family, with the pope-saintess as her godmother, and said to be particularly cherished by the empire’s crown prince.
Having been showered with love all her life, surely she would be arrogant and spoiled.
Knox’s head drooped lower and lower.
He didn’t believe he could make anyone like him. Winning over a young child seemed like an impossible task.
But if he failed, his mother would surely be furious.
This time, she might even cast him aside for good.
Knox had ears. He knew his mother wasn’t the type to show leniency just because they were related by blood.
Tears welled up in Knox’s frightened eyes.
Just then, a pale face suddenly appeared in his field of vision. Knox gasped in surprise and bit his tongue.
“Ow!”
“Oh, awe yew owkay?”
A round face tilted curiously.
Knox clutched his mouth and frantically shook his head.
“I’m fine! I, I…”
“Oh, yew cwying!”
“I’m not crying, I’m not!”
“Lie-ah, yew cwying.”
A tiny hand, soft as a maple leaf, gently brushed against his eyes.
Before Knox knew it, tears spilled over. He couldn’t hold back anymore. Lisa hesitated, clearly startled.
But Knox, who had been suppressing his sorrow for over a month, couldn’t stop crying once he started.
“No, this isn’t, it’s not your fault, I’m sorry…”
“Oh…”
“Waaaah… I’m going to be abandoned…”
Lisa blinked her bright blue eyes slowly before wrapping her arms around Knox’s head with all her might.
Startled, Knox gasped and choked back his sobs.
“Who gonna abandunn yew!”
“……”
“Is owkay, is owkay. I gonna hewp yew!”
Then, as if she were tapping him on the head, Lisa patted Knox gently.
Lisa was doing for Knox what others always did for her whenever she cried—Lloyd, Shane, Adeline, or even Genevieve.
She stroked his head, whispered kind and soothing words, and kissed his tear-streaked cheeks and reddened nose.
When they did that, her tears always stopped, and she couldn’t help but smile again.
“Pwetty kid, good kid, mmkay?”
“Me?”
“Shiny-shiny.”
And whenever they told her she was pretty and loved, Lisa felt happy.
Lisa knew that people had the power to make others happy.
