A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

Chapter 275

Chapter 275

"I didn't know I was saying that."

"......"

"I'm serious. Why would I make things difficult for Yesung? There's no reason for that."

"Really?"

"I'll guarantee it on my name."

Having escaped from the mages, he was able to stay in the 3rd Prince's palace as a guest of the 3rd Prince.

The 3rd Prince's palace was smaller than he had vaguely imagined.

But Yurik seemed unconcerned, saying "It doesn't matter since we won't be here long anyway."

Originally, he had planned to briefly discuss the plan with Yurik as he had intended.But after showing such an unseemly display of vomiting in front of others, and with Yurik specifically designating him as a 'precious person' like that, he didn't feel like having a meeting at all.

"You really didn't know then, right? You don't still hold a grudge against me, do you?"

"When you said you'd stay with me, why would I harbor such bad feelings? You've become skilled at slandering people while I wasn't looking, Yesung."

When Yurik whispered in a honey-like voice while combing his hair with an ivory comb, his heart softened slightly.

The people who had been gathered around the magic circle earlier were, as he had expected, mages from the Mage Tower stationed at the royal castle.

All magic used inside the castle was their responsibility,

And this time, hearing that the 3rd Prince was returning to the palace using teleportation magic from the rural mountains, they had rushed over in a hurry.

But for him to show such an ugly sight in front of them, and to dirty the royal castle was already outrageous, yet the prince had directly emphasized that he was a 'precious person.'

Realizing that by tomorrow, stories about him would spread throughout the royal castle, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Only later, when Yurik realized the meaning of his expression, did he suddenly barge into his room to comfort him while attending to all sorts of miscellaneous needs.

"...I'll trust you just this once. Next time, not a chance."

"Don't be so strict. I did my best, so I'm hurt."

"Who should be hurt right now?!"

"Obviously me."

Ha, damn. This didn't seem right.

Even as he was thinking he might go crazy while pressing one side of his forehead,

Yurik was carefully braiding his hair so it wouldn't bother him when he slept.

"Thanks to you doing your best, by tomorrow morning everyone will know that I made a fool of myself in the teleportation magic space."

"I'm done braiding your hair. Ten years of practice paid off. How is it?"

Changing the subject!

But the hair Yurik had braided was perfect, not letting a single strand fall down.

After touching the braided hair, he just flopped face-down on the bed. The fluffy pillow stuffed with feathers soothed his troubled heart.

Yurik was satisfied by himself and touched his hair before saying.

"Come to think of it, I'm scheduled to have tea with the Queen tomorrow."

"Already? You applied for an audience when we came here earlier. But they already gave permission in that time?"

"Since her grown son returned to the castle after so long, she said she missed him terribly and suggested we have tea together in the Queen's personal greenhouse in the morning."

"Such deep maternal affection."

"Of course. Very deep. How much the Queen cherishes me, her adopted son - she only thinks about wanting to kill me every minute and second."

"Brutal. Anyway, meeting the Queen sooner is better, so that's good. But can you really negotiate with the Queen?"

Part of the plan he had proposed to Yurik required Yurik's full cooperation.

For instance, getting permission from the Queen to open teleportation magic to foreign countries.

This was a plan he had formed recalling what Yurik had mentioned about the Queen in passing.

-The Queen herself, and she doesn't like stuffy people by nature. She tends to favor the 2nd Prince over the 1st Prince.

The dead 2nd Prince was someone who had inherited more of his maternal bloodline,

Unlike the 1st Prince, he was said to have been cheerful and bold in character, receiving the Queen's deep affection.

At that time, choosing the heir to the throne was the King's business, so it wouldn't have mattered what the Queen thought,

But now the situation had completely tilted.

The Queen, who had continued vigorous activities instead of the silent King after her sons' funerals, had emerged as the core of politics,

And people were treating Yurik and the unborn royal grandchild as having similar value, putting them on scales to compare.

So he had to grasp and understand the Queen's thoughts.

What was she thinking? Did she share the same opinions as the 2nd Prince she had favored?

If the Queen was also inclined toward Asgard, he had to exploit that gap.

Anyway, the ultimate goal was to use teleportation magic to get to Asgard.

He thought the Queen would need to be willing to negotiate first.

If it were up to him, he would have wanted to meet the Queen directly.

But Yurik rarely dissuaded him. He, who had no status in Aquilonia, couldn't possibly have an audience with royalty,

And it would be the same no matter how much Yurik vouched for his identity.

In the end, he had no choice but to leave this matter to Yurik.

That's why he felt more uneasy.

The Queen disliked Yurik - could Yurik really negotiate with her?

But Yurik confidently guaranteed.

"Trust me, Yesung. Even if she supports Brythunia, I'll make her change her mind."

"If it's impossible, tell me. I'll think about whether there's a way to get to Asgard without going through the Queen."

"There's no need for that. I'll bring good news before noon tomorrow. Want to have a meal together then?"

He couldn't eat food, but it seemed a bit much to tell Yurik to eat alone, so he roughly gave an okay sign with his hand.

Yurik chuckled.

"I know Yesung doesn't eat. Don't feel burdened."

"It doesn't matter. I don't have an appetite anyway. I'll just trust that you'll do well tomorrow... think of it as a reward for that."

"A reward? That's too stingy for a reward for doing difficult work."

"Then what do you want? For reference, I have no money and I'm not that healthy either. I'd be a bit hard to use for anything."

Yurik made a "hmm" sound for a moment, then there was a thump from beside him.

When he turned his head, red eyes were sparkling.

"Won't you let me use your arm as a pillow?"

"...What pillow?"

"Like hyung did for me when I was young. You did it when we slept after leaving the Elder Things' garden."

"There are four pillows here that are fluffier and better than my arm, so why specifically my arm?"

"Can't I?"

"No, I mean, why specifically?"

"I like hyung's arm pillow."

Yurik kept insisting.

In his personal guess, either Yurik preferred stone pillows over feather pillows,

Or he had definitely grown up with affection deficiency due to lack of a guardian during his preschool years.

But thinking that it was partly his fault for abandoning Yurik and wandering around,

He quietly lay down straight and offered his left arm.

As soon as he did, Yurik immediately used his arm as a pillow and closed his eyes right away.

It was a bit funny how he seemed to be appealing that he would sleep quietly,

But thinking of Yurik as affection-deficient, he couldn't laugh at all.

Playing the role of older brother to someone with the worst villain setting in the worldview wasn't easy.

* * *

Yurik returned to his bedroom in good spirits early in the morning.

The first reason was that Yesung hadn't pulled away the arm he had been using as a pillow all night long,

The second was that he had felt Yesung's playful touch on his face.

Small things like touching his eyelashes or brushing away hair that tickled his face.

He had woken up after enjoying plenty of the caring attention that parents might give their children, so it was natural for him to be in a good mood.

Good. He just needed to maintain this mood until tea time.

Thinking this, Yurik arrived at his bedroom and changed clothes with the help of waiting servants.

Unlike when he was out of the royal castle, there were many things to put on, which was annoying.

Moreover, since he would meet the Queen soon, he would have to change into different clothes again then.

Yurik, who was inwardly vowing to eliminate all such useless formalities the moment he became king,

Dressed appropriately and immediately began writing about the bandits rampaging in the border area, along with

The ominous signs he had 'coincidentally' witnessed while passing near the Leng Plateau.

Yurik's handwriting was flowing, elegant, and neat. It was completely different from when he had clumsily learned to write long ago,

But even so, some habits from those days remained.

When drawing straight lines, he would pull the tail slightly, or when drawing circles, they would be subtly elliptical.

While writing the report, Yurik suddenly became curious about Yesung's handwriting.

Since he was writing a diary every day, wouldn't he be able to see that diary someday too?

Yurik had no intention of doing anything Yesung would dislike.

He was a reliable and trustworthy younger brother who listened very well to Yesung's words.

But he thought he should be able to copy his handwriting in case of emergency.

For instance, forging documents and signatures that would allow him to keep Yesung here after he became king.

While Yurik was having such pleasant fantasies about Yesung in his head,

To others, he was just a 3rd Prince seriously writing a report to deliver to the King.

After the report was completed an hour later, Yurik stamped a red seal on the bandit matter and a yellow seal on the Leng Plateau matter before handing them to a servant.

And there was another tedious changing of clothes.

It was formal wear more suitable for quiet occasions with fewer decorations than before.

Finally putting on black gloves, Yurik left the room with only a few servants.

The servant following him reported in a small voice.

"Your Highness the 3rd Prince, we've stationed children to attend to the honored guest."

"He's already awake. He said he doesn't need meals either, so dismiss them all and don't make it unnecessarily complicated."

"Yes. I'll do as you command."

Having thus disciplined his palace servants, Yurik walked directly to the Queen's personal greenhouse.

Even though he had deliberately walked slowly, wanting to delay meeting the Queen even a little,

The greenhouse disappointingly showed itself quickly from afar.

Clean blue glass and silver bars. The greenhouse with its round roof was cut at various angles on the outside, sparkling beautifully.

Around the greenhouse was a flower garden where flowers bloomed according to seasons. This was designed according to the Queen's philosophy that greenhouse flowers were different from naturally growing flowers.

Outside the garden were the Queen's ladies-in-waiting and wet nurse. This meant only the Queen was inside the greenhouse.

When they encountered Yurik, they elegantly showed proper respect.

"We greet Your Highness the 3rd Prince."

"That's enough. Where is Mother?"

Yurik asked, looking at the Queen's wet nurse.

The wet nurse, whom the Queen had brought from her family, had now received the title of Baroness and was active as her faithful confidant.

The Queen's wet nurse, as always, spoke with a gentle smile.

"She's inside. She said she wanted to be alone, but she'll be pleased to know Your Highness has come."

"Was there any trouble for our affectionate mother during my absence? I'm worried. I'll go in right away."

The Queen's ladies-in-waiting personally opened the heavy door for him.

As soon as he stepped into the greenhouse, stuffy air hit him.

Yurik liked it because it was like the air when he had lived with Yesung long ago, but at the same time, it was unpleasant because it reminded him of the Elder Things' garden.

As he slowly crossed the humid, warm place full of plant smells,

A person was standing among the lush-leaved plants.

The person who had been watering the soil with a beautifully silver-crafted light watering can looked up.

It was a white, clear face. An appearance so young that one couldn't think she had given birth to two children and was carrying a third.

Her eyebrows were neat and thin, and her eyelashes extended long.

Her slightly downturned eyes made her look gentle, giving the impression of a noble lady who knew nothing of worldly affairs.

Her light brown hair, put up, was decorated simply with only a blue ribbon, different from public occasions.

Similarly, her modest water-colored dress, without any decoration and hanging long without cinching the waist, gave a fragile and pitiful impression.

Most people who saw the Queen for the first time thought she was a simple and gentle person.

But anyone who knew even a little about her would have that impression immediately reversed.

And Yurik knew the Queen excessively well.

When Yurik approached the Queen, she smiled brightly and put down the watering can.

"It's been a while, Mother. How is your health?"

"Thanks to my son's concern, I'm getting better day by day. I haven't seen you while you were traveling far, but seeing you still healthy puts this inadequate mother's heart at ease."

"I think it's thanks to Mother always worrying about me."

"Hoho. Come here, since it's been a while, I've prepared good tea."

The place where she affectionately took Yurik's hand and led him was the innermost part of the greenhouse.

In the secret place the Queen used for private conversations, a cute tea table was set up.

Yurik headed to the opposite seat only after the Queen, who looked like a fragile glass doll, sat down,

But the Queen's words stopped his steps.

"My son, you've forgotten royal palace etiquette. It must be because you've been away from such life for a long time."

"...That's right, Mother. I was thoughtless in my inadequacy. Living a crude and rough life while on inspection..."

The Queen smiled brightly at Yurik's answer.

He turned toward the Queen while standing, leaving the perfectly good chair.

The Queen, who had made a prince of a country stand like a servant despite the difference in hierarchy, naturally poured tea only into her own teacup.

A deep fragrance rose abundantly with the steam.

The Queen, savoring the aroma, asked with a still affectionate face.

"So, our crude and rough son, tell me everything that happened without leaving out a single detail. This mother has been unable to sleep at night from curiosity about it."