What? Did I Die Again?

By sheer coincidence—or perhaps misfortune—when the maid cried out for help like that, Solor happened to be at the training grounds not far away.

Solor was indeed a prince, and he had quite a number of guards around him, but that did not mean he himself should not learn some combat skills.

Horsemanship, archery, combat—these were things a future emperor should master.

There would also be celebrations centered around hunting or knightly duels.

As the crown prince, he certainly could not avoid participating entirely and only stand by watching the excitement.

A prince who was not strong himself—who would truly respect such a person?

Moreover, if war were to break out, as a prince he would certainly need to personally lead troops a few times to inspire morale.

How could he possibly be nothing more than a decorative figure?

In his previous life, Solor had been more or less the same.

It was just that because he had always been fighting against his sibling, he had been slightly negligent in his daily combat training, devoting most of his attention to paperwork and keeping an eye on the second prince, Eric, to prevent him from secretly doing something.

As for Eric, he had it somewhat better.

His mother had founded the Nightingale House for him.

Besides cultivating those powerful assassins, Eric himself was also quite capable.

So even later, when he was busy contending with Solor, his foundation was solid—he only needed more practice to pick things back up.

But now, since the two of them no longer needed to fight each other, and since there was only one male heir in the royal family, matters of combat naturally had to be taken seriously.

If the country were weak, his younger sister might even be forced into a political marriage…

No, no, that would not do.

At the thought of what Ellie had previously said about marriage alliances, Solor felt a surge of worry.

A girl so frail and introverted, with such poor health…

How could he possibly treat his own sister as a political tool for marriage?

Of course, he hoped Ellie could stay by his side a little longer…

“…Sigh…”

Thinking about this, Solor flicked the practice longsword in his hand, then turned around and sat down on the steps, taking a sip of the clear water he had prepared earlier.

But no matter what, Ellie was growing up day by day.

She had actually already reached marriageable age.

Logically speaking, she should marry a young man from a noble family with good conditions in every aspect, but…

He was still a bit reluctant.

And looking at Ellie in that pitiful state…

How could anyone feel at ease?

What if that man didn’t take good care of her?

What if he didn’t know what foods she liked?

What if his voice was too loud and scared her?

After marriage, it would be unavoidable for a couple to have some friction.

Arguments would definitely happen.

What if he made Ellie cry?

Her health was already poor—what if she got sick again from being upset…

He simply couldn’t rest easy at all…

Just as Solor was still sitting on the steps, holding the water flask and spacing out, a servant’s hurried voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

Solor was startled by his frantic manner.

For some reason, a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

“Your Highness—Your Highness! Something terrible has happened! The princess is in trouble—!!”

Clang.

The water flask fell heavily to the ground.

His heart and pupils both shrank violently.

He no longer cared about the things that had fallen.

He quickly walked over to the guard.

“What happened?! What happened to Ellie?!”

His hands were trembling.

Just like last time.

When he learned that his sister had fallen from a height, covered in blood and unconscious, his mind had gone completely blank.

He didn’t even remember how he had run to her side.

He only remembered that when he came back to his senses, he had already been ushered away from Ellie, because the doctors needed to bandage her injuries.

After that, because she needed quiet to recover, Solor did not see the unconscious Ellie again for a long time.

He forced himself to pour all his attention into work, exhausting himself so that he could at least sleep a little at night.

Only when her condition improved was Solor finally allowed by the doctors to enter Ellie’s room.

That time, when Solor came to her room, he lay beside her bed, holding her bandage-wrapped hand.

Through that layer of gauze, he couldn’t even feel Ellie’s body temperature.

This made him constantly terrified, wondering whether she was still breathing normally.

Only later, when Ellie woke up, did he finally let out a breath of relief.

On the surface, he didn’t appear overly emotional.

But when he returned to his own room, he cried tears of joy.

It was just that, because he was a prince, he couldn’t show a weak side in public.

Those tears could not be seen by others.

This time—

What was going on this time?

“—Take me there, quickly!”

As a future emperor, he should remain calm in all matters.

But hearing something like this—

Who could possibly stay calm?

Just moments ago, he had been doubting whether other men could protect her properly.

And now… now even keeping her by his own side, he still couldn’t protect her?

The servant hurriedly led Solor toward the main gate.

Because Solor was moving too fast, the servant didn’t even have time to explain Ellie’s condition before Solor rushed straight ahead, arriving at the carriage waiting at the entrance.

“Your Highness?”

“The prince is here…”

Seeing Solor arrive, the other servants quickly made way, allowing him to clearly see the person sitting in the carriage—

No, she should be described as weakly slumped inside it.

Ellie.

At a glance, it was a sea of red.

Red liquid poured out of Ellie’s mouth, to the point where the original color of her lips could no longer be seen.

Her brows were tightly furrowed.

Her body was curled inward in pain, as if trying to shrink into a ball.

Her hands were also stained red, as if she had once tried to block the red flowing from her mouth.

“Ellie…?”

Solor froze.

It was as if, in that instant, his legs no longer belonged to him.

In his mind flashed the image of Ellie lying in the grass, covered in blood—

And that nightmare.

That nightmare of a sword piercing her chest.

“—Ellie! Ellie!”

Solor rushed in.

He climbed into the carriage and pulled her into his arms, not caring about the red liquid on her body.

“Ellie… Ellie… you—are you okay? Doctor—where is the doctor?”

“Your Highness, the doctors are on their way and will arrive very soon. Please calm down.”

“Make them hurry!”

Solor held the motionless Ellie tightly, listening to her breathing, which carried a trembling undertone.

He was still feeling for her body temperature.

Only this could clearly tell him that she was still alive.

“Ellie… don’t do this…”

He held her, wanting to hold her tighter, but afraid of hurting her.

He wanted to loosen his grip, but worried that she would feel cold.

“Be good… I’m begging you…”

His voice carried a trace of pleading.

“Hang on… Ellie, I’ll agree to anything you want…

Please don’t be like this, okay…”

“…”

Meanwhile, Ellie also heard Solor’s voice.

She forcefully suppressed the churning discomfort in her stomach caused by the excessive amount of concentrated tomato ketchup, barely making out the few emotional, slightly slurred words reaching her ears.

…Huh?

What?

Why is big brother here?

…What do you mean you’ll agree to anything…?

…Which part of the story is this…?

Did I die again?

Oh my god, did I finally die again?

Is my big brother finally willing to cry for me?

Is he crying for me?

Oh my god…

This is exactly what I wanted to see…!