# Chapter 5
“I like people who have determination. At least they achieve at least one thing.”
He said this with a mysterious smile, as if he believed in a principle stemming from a pure spirit of achievement.
“With your ability, you are perfectly qualified to work in my office. I don’t know how much Lucid pays you, but I will pay double the amount. How about you work under me right?”
“Oh, I told you I'm not a spy!”
I couldn't help myself, so I hit his desk with my hand out of excitement. Carefully arranged papers were scattered in every direction.
The first thing that came to my mind at that moment was not to get the leaves wet with coffee.
In this day and age there are no printers, and if it were ever written again by hand it would be a slow death. So I quickly raised the cup instinctively.
"Yes!"
I wish I hadn't. The coffee, which had not yet been sipped, rushed like a wave to wash over Edmund.
She poured her hot steam onto the glove he was wearing.
"Yes!"
“I'm so sorry!!”
Oh my God, was that cowhide glove? If it was expensive it would be a disaster, especially for my pocket!
"Are you hurt that much?! Come on, you should wash your hands!"
I did not dare to say that I would buy him new gloves, because the decoration on the wrist shone like real diamonds, not crystal.
"I'm fine."
“But you should wash it off immediately with cold water!”
Not only his hand, but also the glove, so that the stain does not leave a mark and forces me to buy another one.
Completely forgetting his rank, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the sink.
He didn't say anything, but it seemed like he was in pain, because he slowly took off the glove.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“It's okay. The glove protected me. If my hands were bare, it would have hurt more.”
I saw that the back of his hand was red, and I was sure that if it had not been for the glove, he would have been burned worse.
“Don't tell me Lucid ordered you to do this?”
‘Is this man serious?’ I gave him a sharp look and then looked away. In the end, I am wrong, and I must not forget that he is a prince.
“You won't leave a scar, will you?”
He moved his lips with a sarcastic smile as he turned off the water tap and shook his hands.
“It's okay if you leave.”
Then he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands, before offering me the glove.
“You don't have money to buy anything else, so at least wash it.”
“Sh—thank you so much.”
It was a real moment of gratitude! I thought he was going to ask me to buy another one. I bowed gratefully and extended my hand to receive the glove.
“Why so much gratitude?”
The moment I raised my head to his joking voice, I saw him.
“Oh, wait a minute!”
On the back of his left hand, there was a clear scar from a gunshot wound.
I forgot that he was a prince, and I held his hand again. There were traces of an old wound on his broad knuckles that had healed a long time ago.
“Huh, is this… a gunshot wound?”
I knew the question was rude, but I couldn't ignore it.
I had to find the owner of the wound... to live.
“First time you see a gunshot wound?”
Edmund said clearly coldly as he pulled his hand away from me, then washed it again with annoying precision before taking out another glove and slowly putting it on.
Now I remember...Edmund is also half a foreigner, a stranger to this country.
The boy I saw at the time was five or six years old, and this prince is twenty-one now.
But was the scar on the left hand or the right? I don't remember exactly.
Moreover, how can a prince wander the streets in the middle of a civil war?
“Should I ask you when you got it...or is this an intrusion?”
I moistened my lips and asked. But as soon as he heard my question, he completely frowned.
“This is the first time I see someone asking, knowing that it is rude, ‘Do you have more than one life?’”
“Of course not.”
‘Is he threatening to kill me?’ I felt a shiver on my neck, so I put my hands on it.
He gave me a sideways glance and clicked his tongue before saying, “I was injured when I was young. During the civil war.”
civil war? So the time matches exactly.
“Do you like dolls? Or do you feel something when you see me?”
“...Are you crazy, new employee?”
"sorry."
Yes, my question was stupid.
Edmund and dolls don't seem like a likely combination. As I glanced at his injured hand, the other employees began to enter one by one, so I could not ask further.
He sat in front of his desk in that precise position like the neat strands of his hair, reviewing the papers with a sharp eye.
When he saw something that was not satisfactory, his wrinkles would appear between his eyebrows, but if he liked something, his eyes would open smoothly and pleasantly.
But...could this man be the same boy who was hugging me tenderly fifteen years ago? The difference between them is huge.
However, if my master who has been missing for all these years was a prince, it is no wonder that I have not found him.
Because I couldn't ignore the possibility, I decided to investigate for myself.
After work, I enlisted the help of the priests to carefully clean the leather gloves, and then I bought expensive chocolate that I had never dared to buy.
I arrived at the office a full hour before everyone else, but he, as usual, was ahead of me.
“Your Majesty.”
Today he was wearing a dark blue jacket embroidered with gold threads, in contrast to his usual simple uniform.
Oh my God...no wonder he's the hero of the novel.
His mixed blood made him tall and well-muscled, making him look stunning in that fancy jacket.
"What's the matter? You don't have to come this early."
'But you know it's the only way I can see you alone.'
“This is for you!”
Hesitantly, I extended my hand to him, holding the washed glove and the carefully wrapped chocolate.
There was silence in the office, and I started to shiver a little from cold or nervousness. Shouldn't he at least say something?
“You really washed it yourself?”
"Yes? Didn't you ask me to wash it?"
He raised his eyebrows in arrogant astonishment, then picked up the glove with his fingertips as if he were carrying something dirty, and threw it in the trash.
“What…what are you doing?!”
“Do you know who I am?”
"Sorry?"
“I am the Crown Prince of the Empire, Edmund Reyhart.”
‘Who doesn’t know this?’ I looked at him in astonishment, and he said with stern seriousness:
“Do you think that someone in my position would wear a glove that got dirty once? How obtuse you are.”
“Ah… I understand now.”
I closed my mouth tightly and held back my fake smile, because I was about to curse him.
“Then at least try this chocolate! I bought it from the most famous store, and I stood in line for an entire hour after work for it!”
He looked at the box, clicked his tongue, and said, “Why would one eat this pile of sugar? It only adds fat and is harmful to the body. I don’t see any logic in that.”
'And I don't see any logic in you.'
“So, what do you like?”
I asked him with a fake smile, and he answered while throwing the precious chocolate in the trash, that rare chocolate that I wanted!
“I admire competent people. People who are useful.”
He turned his gaze to the papers I had presented to him today.
“Your value is determined by the work you provide. And now, you are just a beginner employee.”
He pointed to my office in the corner, near the door.
“That's the beginner's place. But here...”
He pointed to the seat opposite him, the place of his personal assistant Dante.
“This is the most useful place.”
'So, in his eyes, I'm the least useful out of everyone.'
I looked resolutely at Dante's chair and said, "We'll see about that!"
“See what?”
“I'll be sitting on that chair soon!”
"You?"
He smiled sarcastically and leaned back in his chair with such smug relief that it seemed as if it was created for that position.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
I said it with great confidence.
“So… go on a date with me!”