Chapter 3: The Prince’s Gaze.

I steadied my breathing.

It might have looked like I was asking a fearless, brazen question, but it was a remark made after my own calculations.

It was true that among VIPs, there were many who wanted to be worshipped like kings and have people cater to their every whim.

However, not all VIPs were like that. Rather, some VIPs wanted me to speak only the exact facts. Even if they weren’t pleasant to hear. The reason being that that was a proper business transaction.

The King’s Brother appeared to belong to that minority.

In fact, the King’s Brother was not displeased at all when I asked what our mutual benefits were. The moment he frowned was when the drunkards worshipping him shouted cheers. It was when they spoke words he didn’t ask for and performed actions he didn’t request.

Turning my gaze from the surroundings to the front, I made eye contact with the King’s Brother.

His expression, which had shifted from displeasure to boredom, was changing again.

Was the curiosity he showed me still alive?

I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t discern any like or dislike.

Suddenly, something similar to his gaze came to mind.

It was very familiar, but now it had become something estranged.

My father’s gaze when appraising gems was exactly like that. Eyes that measured only the exact value, without admiration for perfect beauty or regret for quality diminished by poor cutting.

I used to dislike my father for that, calling him a mere merchant.

I didn’t know back then that the reason I could dream of being an artist, not a merchant, was because my father was a merchant. After losing my father and all my family, I had to become the very merchant I so disliked.

There was a time when I found it hard to endure, but after some time passed, I became quite proud of myself for becoming a merchant.

For a quite long time, the King’s Brother examined me. Likewise, I was able to observe the King’s Brother.

He was absolutely not just a benevolent person as those drunkards praised.

The picture-perfect boy never once looked back at the people prostrating themselves toward him.

How much time had passed?

Suddenly, his eyes curved.

That moment was clear to me. If there was another person who saw his expression, they might have called it a smile. It was similar to the expressions often seen in portraits. A face made to be shown to someone. It had some resemblance to the expression I practiced in the mirror.

I blinked.

His deep blue eyes seemed to shine like rubies.

Pigeon Blood, the blood-colored ruby.

For a moment, my mind went blank as if filled with fog. It also felt like my vision was suddenly blurring. It was enough to make me scared. Thinking I might lose consciousness, I reflexively bit the inside of my cheek. Even the pain felt dull. The metallic taste of blood awakened my mind. I realized belatedly that my blurred vision had become clear again.

The King’s Brother’s pupils had returned to their sapphire-like blue light. Those eyes curved, and a smile was formed.

I momentarily doubted my eyes.

Because it seemed the King’s Brother was genuinely pleased.

I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again.

Still, the smile did not disappear from the King’s Brother’s face.

“I thought I was creating a lucky event for someone, but it seems I was the lucky one today.”

Speaking with the natural sophistication of an old chairman, he spoke in a light tone befitting a boy.

“I promise. You will definitely receive payment equal to the results you show.”

There was a large discrepancy between his expression and the content of his words. With a face that looked like he would support everything, he was demanding results.

My mind cooled down. I had been confident that I was calm, unlike those kneeling right now, but I was wrong. I, too, had been excited.

Even if the King’s Brother’s appearance looked like a figure in a portrait maximally beautified by a painter—no, like a divine being in a religious painting where imagination was exercised to the extreme—he was not a naive good-natured person, unlike his exterior.

Far from being merely benevolent, he knew how to wield intimidation as a weapon.

“You seem to have more questions. Speak.”

The King’s Brother commanded while examining me with a smiling face, his eyes curved.

I opened my mouth according to his command.

“Thank you for saying you will give me appropriate compensation for the results I achieve.”

I meant it.

How is relying only on unconditional favor different from crossing a tightrope?

Favor that comes from unknown reasons can be withdrawn at any time.

The moment that flimsy rope called favor is withdrawn, it is obvious one will fall off the cliff.

In that respect, the King’s Brother’s talk of performance-based pay was actually more trustworthy. However. Instead of continuing immediately, I looked around.

The drunkards who had been raising their voices as they pleased just 10 minutes ago were still kneeling on the dirty floor, bowing their heads.

It was a very bizarre sight. Weren’t these the people who dared to try and conduct a census on the King’s Brother?

It was strange that there wasn’t a single person rolling their eyes to steal a glance while pretending to bow.

It would have been more natural for them to blatantly lift their heads and get flogged.

There were also quite a few sots who were too drunk to distinguish between me and the King’s Brother in the first place.

“This might be a very rude question, but did you perhaps cast hypnosis?”

I knew it too.

That I had asked an absurd thing as a question.

If one could mass-hypnotize this many people, they could become a cult leader of the century. Or a dictator. Either way, he wouldn’t be hearing things like ‘the pitiful King’s Brother with no real power.’ It was also strange that everyone was hypnotized except for me.

Still, I couldn’t just pass over this grotesque situation without saying anything, pretending not to see it.

I guessed that pretending not to see what was clearly in front of my eyes wasn’t what the King’s Brother, who discussed performance-based pay, wanted.

As expected, instead of shouting in anger asking what nonsense I was spouting, the King’s Brother gave an even deeper eye-smile.

“You don’t feel anything?”

Instead, he turned the question back to me. Having risen from his seat, he was much taller than I thought.

“Like your body is heavy.”

The King’s Brother approached me step by step.

“Or dizzy?”

“I don’t feel that, but…”

I frowned as my vision seemed to be engulfed in fog again.

“Or, perhaps can you smell my scent?”

The King’s Brother was standing in my immediate vicinity before I knew it.

It was close enough that the breath I exhaled hit the King’s Brother’s chest and returned to my cheek.

“I apologize. I have no knowledge of perfumes…”

It was a very sudden and burdensome approach. I took a step back. It was the moment I was about to say I didn’t know. The King’s Brother took a step closer, larger than the distance I had retreated. I reflexively tried to step back again but stopped in place.

“I cannot smell… any scent.”

I ended up stuttering, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask for the King’s Brother’s understanding for a minor mistake.

No smell came from the King’s Brother. Let alone perfume, not even body odor.

It was impossible.

Did something go wrong with my nose?

I lifted my hand and smelled it. The smells of stew, frying oil, and beer absorbed while serving seemed to mix together and sting my nose.

Between the worry of whether it was okay to expose the King’s Brother to the unpleasant smell coming from my body, and the shock that no smell came from a living person’s body, I didn’t know what to do and just stood there awkwardly.

In an instant, another person’s breath touched the nape of my neck.

It was the King’s Brother.

His nose touched my neck.

I was so unfamiliar with being this close to another person. My body shrank back on its own, but the King’s Brother didn’t care. I felt like a sample placed on a testing table.

The King’s Brother seemed to be trying to find something. I felt him smelling the scent coming from me several times. Even though I felt like I only smelled awful.

I didn’t know what he was trying to confirm, but I just wanted him to finish quickly.

Because I couldn’t dare touch the noble royal body to push him away.

“It’s certain you’re a Beta.”

When the King’s Brother finally took a step back, I quickly pulled my body back as well.

“You have a face that says you know nothing.”

He rubbed his chin as if troubled.

“First, it seems right for me to apologize. I’m sorry for startling you.”

To be honest, I was surprised once again.

By the King’s Brother’s concise apology.

If you call being surprised by the act of a high-ranking person meekly apologizing a ‘s*ave mentality,’ I have nothing to say, but even when I ran the jewelry shop, receiving an apology from big-spending customers was extremely rare.

Let alone an apology from royalty.

The King’s Brother smiled brightly with a face that seemed to know what I was thinking.

It was clear he recognized that I had given him a high score for his attitude.

“To answer your question, I didn’t cast hypnosis, but for those who suffered it, it wouldn’t be much different from being hypnotized.”

I wondered if I could trust those words. Putting aside that it didn’t make sense, it was strange that he even answered a question that was absurd even to me.

In the first place, I just intended to show that I recognized this bizarre situation and could speak about it.

I wasn’t hoping for an answer.

“You don’t even know that you are a very exceptional case.”

It seems I was making a quite stupid face.

The King’s Brother’s smile deepened.

“I think there is a lot I can teach you.”

I blinked while looking at the King’s Brother’s relaxed expression.

Not only did I not understand what he was saying, but I also didn’t understand the attitude he was showing me. I didn’t know if it was hypnosis or magic, but he, who had the ability to subdue this many people with a single word, was trying to persuade me.

That certainly made me feel like I had become a quite special existence.