The Seventh Prince Runs Away from Awkward Situations Chapter 83

It was uncomfortable.

Really, terribly, extremely uncomfortable.

It wasn't that the shaking horse, the bumpy road, or the cold weather of early winter was uncomfortable.

Duke Piteos, no, Jing, was extremely uncomfortable.

-Ran-nim, aren't you uncomfortable?

-Ran-nim, aren't you hungry?

-Ran-nim, the road is rough, isn't it hard on you?

Ran-nim, Ran-nim, Ran-nim.

This question hell started as soon as we safely left the capital.

From the moment we started riding horses, Jing began examining me every time he judged I might be even a little uncomfortable.

Even when he asked if it wasn't hard on me because there were too many stones on the road, I even suspected whether he had developed presbyopia to the point of confusing me with his 11-year-old son.

If there are no stones and gravel on a rough hill road, what makes it different from a modern paved road?

I don't know about other Imperial Family members, but his care like that was burdensome enough to drive me crazy.

It was also the first time since coming to this world that I heard Ran Abalan's name this much.

Now I was even confused whether my name was Ran or Nim.

I felt like I was going to get a neurosis.

"Ran-nim, are you sick anywhere?"

At his appearance examining my complexion again, I ground my teeth holding back the curses that were rising up.

"Didn't I tell you to just call me Ran, not Ran-nim. And I'm not sick anywhere. Please stop asking."

"Understood, Ran."

Even if he turns around like that, he will probably call me Ran-nim again in a little while.

Receiving care from him, who was old enough to be my father when I turned thirty the day after tomorrow, Lee Su-hyeon's blood inside me, who had lived as an independent entity for over 10 years, boiled up and made me uncomfortable.

Moreover, his kindness didn't seem to come from pure gratitude either.

I kicked the horse's flank to increase speed to reduce the burden even a little.

"Ran-ni...... Ran! Aren't you uncomfortable somewhere as expected?"

You are the most uncomfortable.

If I said this, it was obvious he would hold onto me asking why he was uncomfortable.

"By the way, there are strangely no attacks from wild animals. Even if we encounter them, they turn away immediately, so it's ambiguous to even catch them."

Jing, who didn't know my insides like that, looked around leisurely and spoke as if disappointed.

Because I sent back all the animals that were about to be caught by your hands.

It wasn't that I was going to quit meat, but seeing animals that could communicate to some extent being hunted right in front of my eyes wasn't exactly a pleasant sight.

And it wasn't like we were short on food to the point where we necessarily had to hunt.

"Well, they are probably hibernating or something. Since it's winter soon."

"Is that so? Still......"

Avoiding him who was about to express more doubts, I turned the reins.

"I will go ahead first and check how far it is to the village. Once we arrive with Ratel, try discussing what to eat."

"As for food, if we find a suitable place......"

"No, isn't it the first meal of the day? I consider eating very important. Please make sure to choose something delicious."

Afraid that he would make Jing follow, I answered quickly and drove the horse forward.

Jing talked a lot, but he wasn't someone without tact.

He obediently pulled his horse back and matched speed with Ratel.

Ratel didn't say much, but seeing how the back of my head was tingling, he must have been glaring at me.

I spurred the hand driving the horse.

As the distance with the two widened and nobody was visible in front of my eyes, peace of mind finally came.

I had to destroy the holy object as soon as possible.

And then I should bolt immediately.

I wanted to go to a place where nobody knew me and live.

Living like that, it would be fine if I return to the world I originally lived in someday, and it wouldn't matter if I didn't return.

Since wherever I live, as long as I'm not a Prince, it wouldn't be much different.

That was most comfortable for me.

In order to obtain peace, destroying the holy object safely was the first, and finding a person who would properly pass on the knowledge of this world I possess was the second.

The place where the right person for this exists is where we are heading.

The edge of the hill started to become visible in the distance.

Beyond that, a village where not-so-large buildings were huddled together as well.

The faded name on the sign hanging at the entrance of the village was telling us that we had arrived well at our destination.

[Lucha]

It is the village where we will meet Ratel's party's first comrade.

***

The village was small and charming.

"Ran-nim, over there is a place that doubles as a restaurant and an inn."

Jing said, pointing at a building that looked quite sizable for a small village.

However, I turned the horse towards a slightly small building on the outskirts of the village, on the opposite side of where his finger pointed.

"Ran-nim, didn't you say eating is important. In a place used by commoners like this, the quality of food is bound to drop as there are fewer people."

Jing said worriedly while following behind me.

"Still, let's go to a somewhat small place. If there are too many people, it might be noisy."

"That is correct. If there are fewer people, there won't be any incidents of getting swept up in strange matters either."

Jing agreed with my words immediately and drove his horse alongside me.

Actually, even if I had chosen a restaurant teeming with people, he would have said my words were correct.

He would have said if there are many people, it's good to hide our bodies in the gaps as expected.

It was fortunate though.

Because from now on, our steps were heading towards a shortcut to getting swept up in all sorts of strange matters.

Hoping his trust would break a little, I drove the horse.

***

Creeaaak—

The sound of the old wooden door opening tormented my ears.

Directly in front, a single man who appeared to be the owner of the restaurant was seen wiping a table.

He was a man with a sturdy physique and dark brown hair.

He slowly turned his body and looked at us.

"......"

Without a single common greeting of welcome, his dark brown eyes scanned us up and down with a gleam of wariness.

I also didn't take my eyes off him.

Though it was different in that curiosity was greater than wariness.

Large hands with excessively many scars for a person cooking in a restaurant, a sturdy physique, and even dark brown hair.

It was exactly the appearance described through someone's gaze.

***

Whether the shop had just opened, there were more tables with chairs put up on top of them, and there were barely any people sitting.

Although Jing hesitated for a moment at the owner's completely unfriendly treatment, he didn't express dissatisfaction with the place I chose.

We took seats on our own at an appropriately sized table at the innermost part of the shop.

The brown-haired owner approached us without hiding his suspicious demeanor.

"Pork stew, 3 meat pies, steamed salmon, parsnips."

Ratel spoke quickly.

It seemed he really had discussed with Jing what to eat.

The man looked down for a moment at Ratel, who ordered as if he had been waiting as soon as he sat down, then turned his body.

Jing quickly caught him again as if he had expected it.

"Those are for that young man to eat, and for us, pork stew and bread should be enough. Ah, and three glasses of beer too."

Unless he intended to drink two glasses alone, three glasses would be a share for each of us.

That won't do.

"Two glasses."

"Will you drink water, Ran-nim?"

When I corrected the order, Jing asked.

To answer the question, I turned my head and looked at Ratel.

"Are you going to drink water?"

Only then noticing that the one glass of beer reduced was his share, Ratel's one eyebrow went up.

And he spoke towards the chef.

"Three glasses of beer."

"I think alcohol won't suit your taste."

Whether he didn't like me speaking as if concluding his taste, the guy tilted his head.

"I don't dislike it."

You're being funny, there was even a scene in the side story where you confessed to Jing that you didn't know what taste people drink alcohol for.

The guy raising his pride childishly felt a bit like his age.

Still, since I didn't really want to see a minor forcibly drinking alcohol in front of my eyes, I opened my mouth casually.

"I didn't know you liked things that were bitter. I'll keep it in mind from now on."

When I spoke as if I understood gravely, Ratel hesitated to answer for a moment.

He looks expressionless, but the guy must be agonizing too.

If he said this correctly, he would have to show himself eating alcohol or all sorts of bitter things well in front of me from now on, but he would probably hate that.

"Do as you please. I don't care either way."

Although the guy glared at me as if to kill, well so what.

Anyway, the day he executes that won't be today.

Before that day comes, I will bolt.

"Just give us three glasses of water."

Jing, who couldn't watch any longer, gave up his beer, ending Ratel's conflict.

Fortunately, it seemed the owner lowered his guard against us a little due to this strange war of nerves.

Because patheticness flashed past his face for a moment.

Having inputted a not-so-good first impression, he moved his steps into the kitchen.

"Since I'm traveling with young people, the food expenses are quite high. Since it's been a while since I managed money, I can't gauge if I'm doing it properly."

Jing slightly blocked the view of Ratel glaring at me and changed the subject.

I had the thought that it wasn't because he was traveling with young people but because he was with Ratel, but I didn't voice it out.

Since he is at an age where he gets hungry, it can't be helped.

"This village does have high prices."

Lucha was an isolated village surrounded by mountains on three sides, so it was difficult to supply food ingredients, making prices high overall.

Jing also nodded his head as if he understood.

"I became grateful to Tollin who was in charge of finances."

As Jing muttered at my answer, Ratel scanned inside the restaurant.

"The important thing is not the state of our pockets. It's the state of other people's pockets. Here doesn't look very good here."

Jing, seeing his gaze lingering on the pouches hanging on people's waists, urgently turned his body and blocked his view.

"If money runs out, I will earn by performing acrobatics on the street or something, so please turn off your attention from the state of our or others' pockets."

Ratel looked slowly at the desperate Jing and shrugged his shoulders once.

"It's a joke."

I could bet my breakfast that half was sincere.

"I also kind of want to see Jing performing acrobatics once."

Ratel added to Jing who couldn't withdraw his suspicious look.

Seeing Ratel's corners of the mouth going up a little, I was a little relieved.

Because even though it changed a little from the original work, the relationship between the two didn't seem bad.

Since it would have become really troublesome if even the relationship between Jing and Ratel went awry on the journey that would be rough anyway.

It was the moment I raised my head after picturing Jing suffering in a future without me.

I met the golden eyes staring at me.

Since when was he looking this way?

Ratel, who was sharing silly stories with Jing until just a moment ago, was glaring at me.

There are times when a person's body doesn't move as they will.

If you roll your eyes a bit, there can be cases where your gaze touches strange places without realizing it.

However, if he wasn't avoiding it even though our eyes met for this long, it meant nothing else but that he had something to say.

Is he still keeping in mind that I didn't let him drink a glass of beer earlier.

When I glared at the guy containing the meaning of 'What, punk, do you have something to say?', I saw Ratel's mouth opening.

Thud.

Unfortunately, there was no chance to hear Ratel's voice.

Because the commotion created by a group of people who came in while roughly opening the shop door was so loud.

"Hey, Idan!!! We came to persuade you today for sure!!! Please participate in this Lucha competition with us!!!"

There was no doubt that the person named Idan whom the highly excited group called out was the owner of the shop.

The brown-haired man appeared again from the kitchen at their desperate call and opened his mouth.

"Order first."

"Damn it, is that important right now?"

"It is important. If you have no intention to buy, get out."

At his firm answer, the men ordered one glass of beer each along with curses.

"Now give us an answer. Will you go out to the competition with us this time? You will, right?"

The man named Idan looked for a moment at the desperate eyes looking at him without even being able to sit down, then opened his mouth.

"I refuse."

And listening to the men's screams, he went back inside the kitchen again.