He must be crazy

Her speed in calming down sometimes makes Aeneas horrified. Just a while ago, Selah's body was trembling. Now, she can take her medicine in peace. When examined earlier, she could also calmly answer all the healer's questions.

So horrified, Aeneas thinks that maybe Selah knows everything.

Well, of course not, Aeneas thought as he noticed Selah's little unusual gesture. Now Aeneas begins to understand; that if Selah were going to talk about Blair, she would touch her wrist.

"You don't have to tell me now," Aeneas said quietly.

Selah shook her head. "If I'm not, this problem will be more complicated. You have just raised the flag of war on the future king," she said.

Aeneas approached Selah and sifted through her. There was a bruise at the corner of her mouth and a cut on one side of her cheek, which must have been from Blair's punches and slashes. Her palms were abrasions. He doesn't know how hard Selah was gripping her sword in fear earlier. Her leg was sprained, probably when trying to run from Blair's deadly attack.

"No matter how you look at it, Blair is in the wrong. He attacked you first," said Aeneas. He looked into Selah's eyes hesitantly. "I will find a way so that no one will blame you. You're pregnant. How could you attack him first…"

"He must be crazy," Selah hissed under her breath. "I don't know what he's planning, but… he's trying to touch me."

Aeneas's brow furrowed at this. All right, Blair is out of his mind.

"So I slapped him, but he quickly hit me. Then, all of a sudden, we drew our swords," said Selag after exhaling a long breath. "It was indeed a good choice to hang Father's sword as a wall display," she said, glancing at where Archibald's legendary sword should have been hanging.

"Honestly, I didn't think Blair would ever raise his sword at a woman. What's more, she's pregnant…"

"Aeneas." Selah massaged her temples. "I don't like saying this. But Blair said something about he's the only one who can make you happy. He was determined to kill me earlier. I think he's… obsessed with you like King Tristan. If that's the case, there's a chance that Blair… will kill your mother one day."

"You think he's that crazy?"

"Maybe you can't see it now, but later…"

Aeneas and Selah were silent for a long time, thinking that Blair had gone mad. It was obvious that Selah was shocked to see another side of Blair, who was always perfect. As for Aeneas himself… he had suspected it from a long time ago.

Aeneas knows that sooner or later, Blair will show his madness. He had calculated that one day, Blair would try to kill the people around Aeneas.

This incident was Aeneas' prediction. He had been waiting for Blair to harm Selah. Aeneas will use the attack Blair did on Selah to counterattack Blair.

Selah and Dulcia's family don't need to know I used them like this, Aeneas thought while hugging Selah.

"You must be shocked by today's events," whispered Aeneas. "Get some rest. I will have Sir Azel look after you."

"Then what about Blair?"

"I'm sure you can already guess what will happen after this. But you don't need to worry about it. Have a good rest."

Because you gave me a reason to get rid of Blair.

***

"I can't lift a sword. My punches are also weak. But Crown Prince Blair forbade me to learn martial arts because he didn't want me to get hurt again. So what can I do besides dodge and run?"

"Seeing from Your Highness' position, you can take advantage of the people around you. You watch how they move and act on it."

Aeneas' smile grew wide upon hearing Azel's answer. His handsome face dazzled Azel then; it was their first meeting.

People say the second prince's smile is gorgeous. But in Azel's eyes, Aeneas' smile that time looked terrible. He was still a teenager then, but Aeneas has evil thoughts going through his head.

Is it just my feelings? Was it because I said something wrong just now? thought Azel then.

"Exactly what I thought," said Aeneas later. "Azel, thank you for helping me escape from the robbers just now. Please help me from now on, I will be relying on you a lot."

Azel was dumbfounded and didn't understand Aeneas's words just now. The next second, he was in the Palace, and Blair was in front of him. Aeneas says something that sounds like he wants to make Azel his personal guard knight.

A month later, after going through various tests, Azel becomes the first knight Aeneas acknowledges. Since then, Azel has followed Aeneas and been his most loyal servant, as well as being the only person who knows the inside and out of Aeneas Seneca.

His martial abilities are indeed very poor, but at least Aeneas is a person who is good at dodging and hiding. Just in case, Azel taught him to use a knife. There was a time when Aeneas was injured. If that were the case, Blair would be furious.

"Brother, please stop. I asked to be taught. I can't always rely on Sir Azel," defended Aeneas when Blair almost punished Azel.

"Precisely because he is your knight. It would be best if you always relied on him, Aeneas," said Blair, confused. "A personal guard knight must always protect his master. Have you ever seen me hurt? No, right? It's because Raul always takes care of me."

"But Sir Azel is my knight. I have the right to do anything to him," replied Aeneas. He let out a long breath then. "We've talked about this many times. Why can't Brother believe in me too?"

"I-I believe in you, Aeneas. It is just-"

"No. Brother always keeps me from doing what I want. Why do you think I learned to use a knife? Because I want to go out."

"What?"

"I thought… Brother would let me go out freely if I had my own knights. But you still locked me in the Palace. I just wanted to show that I can protect myself!"

"Aeneas…"

How sweet, thought Azel at that time. Bickering between siblings because both of them wanted to protect… Aeneas didn't think something like that could happen even in the royal family.

Until one day, Aeneas admitted that he had used Azel.

"Blair has a lot of guilt towards me. I also know that he excessively loves me. Even though sometimes his possessive and protective nature makes me tired, it turns out that there are benefits, too," said Aeneas happily. He smiled broadly on the first day they finally got to go for a walk. "If you're in a tight spot, you can use my name to make him feel guilty, Sir Azel."

"With all due respect, Your Highness. Are… you sure that's okay?"

"Of course. If I keep quiet, I will continue to be trapped in the Palace like Mother. And I don't want to end up like Mother. People who have strange feelings for me should be used and eliminated as much as possible, Sir Azel. Because sometimes, people forget that I'm a human, not an object."

That's when Azel woke up. People who have been seen as weak are probably the most terrible. For Aeneas himself, he is someone who is willing to do anything to achieve his goals.

Including using his own wife.

"No need to apologize, Sir Azel. I'm sure even without your help, Selah can actually fight Blair on her own," Aeneas said calmly. "But well, it can't be denied that your appearance made things easier. I mean, we have eyewitnesses."

"It is my duty to protect Princess Selah as per your orders, Your Highness," said Azel.

Aeneas smiled faintly. "Now, you take care to always be by his side. Tell me immediately if Selah shows any signs of trauma."

"How about you?"

"I have special forces to raid Blair."