Harkins was the son of a roof repairer.
Born to illiterate parents and having lost his mother at birth, Harkins hated his father’s profession.
“A caterpillar should only eat pine needles.”
That was his father’s philosophy.
On the rare occasions when his father worked on a large project and earned more than usual, he would become fearful and donate everything to the temple. Earn only what you usually earn; live only as you usually live. Harkins was sick and tired of his father’s attitude.
He heard of others saving money to buy small private manors or obtaining precious books for their children, yet his father would donate every extra coin with a face full of dread. Far from escaping poverty, they had to worry about putting food in their mouths every single day.
Because of his taciturn father, Harkins began speaking later than others. He was often teased by his peers and called ignorant. Being looked down upon was a given, and he was lucky if he wasn’t beaten.
It was from then on. He decided that to avoid being ignored despite his poor background, he had to become smart. To do that, he needed to study. When Harkins secretly stole his father’s money to buy a book, read it over and over all night, and began to teach himself how to read, his father discovered the book and tore it up on the spot. It was useless even as Harkins clung to his father’s legs and pleaded. His father, having torn the book to shreds with his large hands, looked down at Harkins and said those same words again.
“I do not care if you steal money. But a caterpillar should only eat pine needles.”
Those words meant that he was the son of a roof repairer and was destined to live his entire life as a poor commoner. It was a curse, telling him that while he could steal money to buy delicious food, he should never dream of buying books to read. Harkins left home that day, spurred by the words that branded his status like a shackle and suffocated his life.
While wandering the alleys of the capital and begging, he encountered a blonde boy while trying to take a book that had fallen on the road. When the person who appeared to be the boy’s attendant went to pick it up, Harkins dashed forward and snatched it away.
“Young Master, what shall I do?”
It was a man’s cold voice. It felt as if the man would cut him down at any moment.
“You have so many! It is fine to give away just one!”
Harkins’s sudden shout was laced with tears.
Though the boy wore ordinary clothes, he could not hide the nobility flowing from his face. Resentment flared within Harkins. The fact that this person had an abundance of what he wasn’t allowed even one of. The fact that the single chance he had barely managed to steal was just one of many chances this person could afford to lose. Why was his father…?
“Do you want to study?”
The boy’s words were unexpected.
The face looking down at Harkins, who was clutching the book to his chest, was expressionless. There was no anger or sympathy toward his reckless behavior. It was a face that looked as if it had forgotten how to smile.
Looking down at Harkins’s speechless face, the boy spoke lightly.
“I will give it to you.”
“…”
His pride was wounded. However, he wanted the book. Seeing Harkins hesitate with his mouth shut tight, the blonde boy nodded as if he had a good idea.
“I shall sponsor you.”
“…Sponsor?”
“It means I will help you from behind the scenes. I will let you wear clean clothes and provide you with an education.”
“!”
Harkins’s eyes widened.
“Do you dislike the idea?”
Evan turned to leave when Harkins didn’t answer for a moment.
“I—I like it! I want to receive it!”
When the boy looked down without a word, Harkins bit his lip hard.
“Y—yes, please. Please sponsor me.”
“Very well.”
That was how his connection with Crown Prince Evan began.
—
‘How annoying.’
Harkins was a conspicuously talented individual.
Not only was he good at memorizing books, but he was also quick to comprehend them, allowing him to enter the Academy as Evan’s retainer.
Evan, who had suggested they go together the day after the Academy’s entrance ceremony, had already headed to the Academy alone. Harkins, who had followed the instruction not to issue a pass, ended up sitting idly in the administrative hall. It took at least three days to issue a pass. It was certain that rumors would spread if he were separated from the Crown Prince from the first day. He did not want to miss classes, nor did he want Evan to be troubled by gossip.
‘Is there no way?’
As he sat there blankly, Harkins spotted a girl wearing the Academy uniform. She was clearly a noble.
“Excuse me.”
He had no choice but to speak to the noble he disliked so much. He even had to ask for a favor…
‘Why should I?’
‘Fine, follow me.’
‘I am a servant.’
She had flatly refused at first, so why did she end up coming with him? She even introduced him as a servant; her self-centeredness made it clear she was a typical noble.
In any case, just as he was about to speak to the noblewoman walking ahead of him up the dormitory hill to thank her, a voice rang out.
“Liana!”
It was a voice as clear as sunlight.
Harkins turned his head toward the sound and stared at the person who entered his field of vision.
She had hair and eyes that shone a brilliant blue. In this wooded uphill path, her blue eyes and hair looked bright and clean. Running with her long hair fluttering, she staggered, unable to overcome her own speed. She brushed past Liana and stumbled as if she were about to fall, and Harkins caught her reflexively.
If she was a friend of that girl, she must be a noble too.
Harkins released the arm he was holding. Or rather, he intended to.
He would have, if those blue eyes had not been staring blankly at him.
He thought he smelled a faint scent of flowers at the tip of his nose… but looking into those blue eyes, he found himself unable to move, as if captivated. The floral scent surged as if to swallow Harkins. Her blue eyes also overwhelmed him like a flood.
His thoughts ceased.
For a moment, Harkins felt, ‘I’ve been consumed.’ It felt as though everything in the world was covered in gray for a fleeting second, with only the girl in his arms possessing color.
A moment passed where one second felt like one minute. The world returned to its original colors, but it no longer felt the same. He felt a strange sensation, as if he were isolated from everything except the girl. It was difficult to breathe properly.
Was it an illusion?
His faintly beating heart seemed to announce that something had happened.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“I am so sorry! I forgot to thank you. May I call you Master Harkins?”
He had only thought it was a bright and clear voice, but her voice was sweeter than anything. The voice piercing his ears felt like it was melting his brain. Looking at her as she pulled away from his embrace, Harkins clenched his empty hands.
“My name is Cecilia.”
“Lady Cecilia…”
He wanted her. He felt a thirst.
Ah, was this what it felt like to fall in love at first sight?
It was not a romantic emotion. It was painful and violent, like his heart was being clawed.
‘Hello, Master Harkins!’
‘Master Harkins! Would you like to have lunch together?’
‘It is so hard because of these rumors… *hic*, what should I do, Master Harkins…?’
Whenever Cecilia called his name, he forgot everything about being a poor commoner. Blue eyes that surged as if they were taken from the deepest part of the furthest sea. Looking into those eyes, he felt like he could do anything for her.
When she cried, it felt like the world was collapsing, and he felt like he wanted to take the life of the person who made her cry. He even lost interest in the ancient books he had been so obsessed with reading.
Harkins neglected his reading, stopped attending society meetings, and ran out whenever Cecilia called.
“Harkins. If you think of your future, you should not act like that.”
“I am aware.”
He was scolded by his master, but it was only for a moment. Harkins thought he was going crazy, but he quickly forgot that thought whenever he saw Cecilia’s eyes. It was a terrible love. The closer they became, the thirstier he felt, and all his thoughts flowed toward her.
It was in the infirmary that he felt a sense of dissonance regarding that obsession.
Harkins thought Liana was foolish for not understanding Cecilia’s sincerity. As he argued, his fists trembling, his mind momentarily went blank at Liana’s colder-than-ever words. Cold reason returned to his feverishly paralyzed brain, and he felt a sudden surge of heat in his corpse-cold body.
Behavior that was not like him at all. No matter how much it was love.
The actions of ignoring Liana more than necessary, the overstepping of boundaries in the garden, the provocative words thrown at Margareta, and the fact that he had distanced himself from books—the lifelines of his life—all flashed through his mind and vanished in an instant.
He felt as though he had been stripped naked. Harkins clamped his mouth shut to hide his confusion.
“Stop, Liana. I will explain.”
Luckily, Evan intervened.
“Prince Evan…!”
And as soon as he heard Cecilia’s voice drawing attention, Harkins quickly forgot the thoughts he had just had.
His eyes sank into a dull void. His hostility returned toward Liana.
***
“…What are you doing right now?”
What an absurd situation.
The scene Liana faced when she opened the door was unexpected.
It was so beyond common sense that she wanted to call any passing dormitory student and ask what they thought.
Was this originally supposed to be nothing?
Cecilia and Harkins seemed perfectly fine, to the point where Liana felt she was losing her judgment.
“Liana, you’re here?”
Harkins was sitting at the foot of the bed where Cecilia sat applying an ice pack. He was glaring at Liana like a brave dog guarding its master.
Did he not know what it meant for a man and a woman to be alone in a female student’s room?
Why didn’t Matron Perolten stop him?
“Master Harkins brought me all the way to my room. There is a wound here, you see? It was difficult to apply it by myself… it hurt so much that I couldn’t even touch it.”
It was so absurd that Liana forgot what she was going to say.
Cecilia removed the ice pack with a sad expression.
On her red, swollen cheek, there were fingernail marks and an imprint from a ring.
“Liana, what did you talk about with Prince Evan?”
“Wait. Let me ask first.”
“Hmm?”
Cecilia smiled brightly and pressed the ice pack back against her cheek.
“Lady Cecilia needs rest…”
Harkins, who was speaking in a sharp tone, couldn’t finish his sentence as if he were at a loss for words.