The Gap Between You and Me - Chapter 123

“You didn’t miss me?”

“Ah, I don’t mean that but…… It’s dangerous.”

Herietta quickly explained as Bernard looked visibly upset.

“What if something happens to Your Highness while you move hastily? Even so, the current state of affairs is very dire.”

“Nothing happened.”

“You never know. Still, you’re a member of the royal family, so Your Highness has to be mindful of your own safety.”

“Do you think I would pay attention to such details?”

As Herietta continued to speak, Bernard just sneered. You don’t know who I am. His face was arrogant and provocative as he looked at her with his head tilted sideways.

Herietta stared up at his face. Before long, her eyes narrowed.

“You’re always like this.”

Herietta let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

“Your Highness behaves as you please, that’s why you’re labeled a foolish prince.”

“…….”

“Don’t blame anyone else. Listen. There is an old saying, ‘There is no smoke without fire.’ Now Your Highness…….”

“…….”

“…… what’s wrong?”

“…….”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Herietta, who had been yapping at Bernard for a while, tilted her head and asked. At this point, he should retort, but he just stared blankly at her face without saying a word.

“I like it.”

Herietta widened her eyes. Like, what is there to like? Bernard spoke again as she rolled her eyes wondering if this was another plot.

“To be able to meet and talk with you like this.”

Bernard tucked the side of Herietta’s hair behind her ear with his long fingers. He smiled and said.

“I’m realizing all over again how I like it.”

* * *

“You said you met the commander of the Kustan Army?”

Bernard asked, setting the teacup down on the table. Perhaps he hadn’t expected it at all, he looked very surprised.

“And he let you go without a hitch?”

Bernard’s gaze once again scanned Herietta up and down. There was concern in his eyes, thinking if there might be a wound that he hadn’t noticed yet.

Herietta, who was sitting across from Bernard, glanced towards the door. Confirming that the door was firmly closed, she slowly nodded her head.

“He warned me.”

“Warned?”

Bernard furrowed his eyebrows at the unfavorable word.

“What do you mean warned?”

“He said he would cut me if I ran into him again.”

“…….”

Herietta’s words darkened Bernard’s complexion. Cold frozen eyes. Tightly closed lips. He didn’t openly frown, but the fact that his mood had subsided considerably was evident without anyone saying.

‘Should I not have said that?’

She just said it without much thought. But Bernard reacted much more strongly than she had expected, and Herietta wondered if she had made a mistake.

Bernard was still pondering something with his vicious eyes flashing. Then, perhaps he had finished his thoughts, he spoke again.

“What kind of person was he?”

The ‘he’ that Bernard referred to must be the commander of the Kustan army.

“I don’t know.”

Herietta hesitated before she answered. In her mind, she recalled the man in black armor she had met.

“He didn’t talk much. He was someone with a strong sense of quietness overall.”

“Quiet?”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean he’s weak.”

Herietta added hastily.

The man stood quietly like a rock in the forest, like a shadow under a tree. Even then, if he put his mind to it, he immediately attracted people’s attention, and with just a few words, he completely subdued the people around him.

His murderous energy was intense enough to make spines run cold and senses tingle. Although it was only for a moment, Herietta still vividly remembered the thrill of the terrible murderous energy he hurled at her.

“Oh, and his swordsmanship skills were quite high.”

“Swordsmanship?”

Bernard asked back. Herietta nodded her head.

“Yes. I saw him take down a pack of gray wolves alone.”

The gray wolf was the largest and most ferocious of all known wolf species. Furthermore, not only the densely packed teeth, but also the jaws embedded with thick muscles were strong enough to break a whole cow’s bones at once, so even the most seasoned hunters found it difficult to handle even one.

But to be able to deal with not one, but several, of those notorious gray wolves at once. Weren’t all the rumors about him false?

“Did he look stronger than Sir Jonathan?”

Jonathan Coopert. As a knight of Bernard’s personal guard, he was the best knight in Velicia in terms of skill alone.

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

However, even so, Herietta could not readily answer.

Jonathan wasn’t weak. It was just that man, the commander of the Kustan army, was strong.

It wasn’t that she was unaware of that fact.

“Then me?”

Bernard, who was looking at Herietta with ambiguous eyes, asked stealthily

“Did he look stronger than me?”

“Your Highness?”

Herietta asked, squinting her eyes. At first glance, he seemed unconcerned, but Bernard’s gray eyes contained a sense of triumph that could not be concealed.

“Excuse me, but……. Was Your Highness ever stronger than Sir Jonathan?”

“Oh my, oh my.”

Bernard laughed as Herietta asked so while looking at him. In any case, does that mean she won’t say anything she doesn’t mean even with a knife in her throat? He leaned back, draped his arms across the back of the sofa, and assumed a relaxed posture.

“I’m sorry. Even if I look at it like this, when I was young, I was called a master of swordsmanship.”

“That’s when you were young.”

Bernard put on an exaggeratedly sad expression, but Herietta didn’t blink an eye.

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