Chapter 49
Deborah wasn’t sure how long they’d been walking, but she was starting to feel drowsy.
She rubbed her eyes and rested her head on Damian’s shoulder, her voice becoming hoarse. “Your Highness…”
Damian glanced up.
They’d made it halfway up the mountain, but the remaining distance would probably take another hour.
If he were alone, he could easily make it to the top. But carrying someone while injured and drained of energy made things much harder.
If he pushed himself too hard, any unexpected mishap could harm the fragile person on his back. So, Damian decided to continue walking at a steady pace.
Deborah closed her eyes, her voice growing faint and drowsy. “Your Highness, why do you always bully me?”
Damian thought, ‘Do I really need a reason to bully her?‘
“Your Highness… is it because you and Simon are twins? Gwendolyn said twins… have a kind of telepathic connection… Can you… feel what Simon feels?”
She wondered, ‘Is that why, sometimes, he has those same inappropriate thoughts and impulses, just like Simon?‘
Damian’s expression darkened. He thought, ‘What nonsense. This foolish woman!‘
“Your Highness…” She called out softly, her voice even weaker now, as if she were slipping into sleep.
There was one question Damian had wanted to ask, “If I really forced myself on you, would you kill me to get revenge?”
‘Force me?‘ Deborah instinctively shrank back, but in her semi–drowsy state, she wasn’t as terrified as she would have been if she were fully awake.
“I can’t kill… you…” she said.
A trace of warmth flickered in Damian’s eyes. “Why not?”
“Because… you’re Simon’s brother…”
He really wondered if he could just throw her down. He wanted to make her cry.
When the others saw Damian, he was covered in wounds, his face and hair streaked with blood and dirt. His clothes were torn, a mix of blood and mud staining them, making for a shocking sight.
By contrast, Deborah, who walked beside him, though dirty, seemed to be in one piece. There were no visible injuries on her.
“Your Highness!” Thomas hurried over, looking alarmed. “Your Highness, Abel returned on his own and brought us here.”
Abel was Damian’s battle horse, a loyal companion who had fought alongside him for years and had nearly human–like instincts. Only Damian could control the fiery steed–anyone else would struggle just to touch it.
“Your Highness, what happened?” Nigel strode over, his face serious.
The others followed closely behind.
When Kenneth saw the blood on Damian’s face and the injury on his shoulder, his expression immediately darkened. “Who hurt you? I’ll kill them for him!”
Deborah instinctively shrank behind Damian, lowering her head. Her sprained ankle throbbed painfully with every movement.
Damian remained composed, subtly raising his arm just high enough for Deborah to lean against it, easing her discomfort.
The The group was stunned. The usually distant and aloof Prince Damian, who once threw a girl into a lake for merely brushing against him, was now showing such tenderness toward Deborah! It was hard to believe.
Even Kenneth was taken aback for a moment. He thought, ‘Damian treats Deborah so well…
He was surprised for only a second before quickly making up his mind. From now on, he’d treat Deborah just as kindly as Damian did. Whoever
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Chapter 49
Damian liked, he would like too–starting now, he was determined to like Deborah as well.
“Just some lowly scoundrel.” Damian showed no concern for the wound on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting Thomas’s.
Thomas nodded, signaling with a wave of his hand.
A guard quickly marched over, pushing another man to the ground. The man, who also wore a guard’s uniform, had a bow and arrows strapped to his back.
When Gwendolyn saw this, her face immediately changed.
Damian’s gaze was calm and cold as he spoke. “Whose guard is this? Step forward and claim him.”
