I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!

“……Eh?”

“Nothing.”

It seems that word slips out of his mouth involuntarily, but still it is not audible enough for the other person to hear, so that other person missed what Yuran said just now.

Folding his hands, he remembers what happened the other day. It was something he really wants to forget if possible, or it would be better if he can erase that from Violette’s memory. It was not something should be laughed at, and it was an unpleasant memory, which causes him to frown his eyebrows even just for a moment.

Tension runs through Claudia’s back as soon he notices the change of Yuran’s composure. Although it is true that they remember the same thing, which really saves the time to explain, but Claudia does not understand what Yuran meant by what he said that time.

“Back then, did you really think you were doing a right thing?”

Back then, who knows if his action really helped Maryjun?

Was his help meant to protect the weak? Or perhaps just to end the trouble with justice?

That might work only in fairy tales, but those are only ideals. If adults really aimed for such beautiful world, the world would be a happy place by now.

In regard to Yuran’s question, the answer would be… Forget it, there is no way he would spoon-feed the answer to Claudia, who does not know what it means.

If you take a look at Claudia, it is so easy to figure out how he thinks.

As a prince, he is determined considering himself to be correct…… but perhaps it’s because of his naivety? His sense of justice is too extreme, consisting only beautiful things while leaving out the most important points.

At glance, he would reach his hand to protect without patronizing anyone. Just like a savior, but justice aside, Claudia should be praised for his bravery though.

“Did you really cover her for her sake?”

“……What do you mean by that?”

Does he himself not even understand his wrongdoing of covering for her?

Claudia’s complexion looks slightly clouded. Perhaps not due to anger or doubt, but it is due to his incapability to understand.

“With you covering her, she would only draw more needless attention. She is already drawing a lot of attentions just from the fact she is an upcoming noble as she is, but with the prince’s involvement…… it would only increase more trouble for her.

“That……”

“Normally, it’s already enough for her to be protected by her own family…… Even a child can understand better than that, right?”

“……!”

“But you helped her, and thanks to that, her current position should be even more dangerous than before.”

What Claudia did was just like a fairy tale, only with the happiest parts, leaving out the misfortune that might happen.

“Even if the same thing should happen again, things would not be the same like last time. There is no such things that everything will always end up so beautifully.”

Yesterday was yesterday, today is today, but no one would know what will happen tomorrow. If yesterday’s failure leads to tomorrow’s success, then Maryjun will not fall like yesterday. However, considering what happened yesterday, she perhaps would still make the same mistake.

She needs to stand strong and handle things correctly. Even though she is gentle and pure, but noble society is not as beautiful like most people would dream of.

“If your justice prevents people from standing for themselves, she would not learn anything for her future’s sake. There are differences between how commoners and nobles more than you think.”

There are no instructions how the society works even though you are living in the same country. How could someone think to apply the same justice to people with different birth, environment, and responsibility?

It is just ridiculous that he thinks his common senses would work the same with different people.

Of course as a royalty, Claudia thinks of his people, drawing lines between nobilities, commoners, innocent people, and criminals. However, it is still another story whether he really understands that.

It is not wise to generalize and see everything in the same manner.

“You intended to help her…… but don’t you understand that it would hurt her in the future?”

“gh……”

He bites his lip as he clenches his fist. Yuran thought he should stop pointing out the obvious before tearing Claudia’s pride, but if he didn’t, Claudia would just drown in uneasiness even more.

Yuran’s words really did hit hard on him, but it was Claudia’s choice to face it even though it would hurt his pride.

The meaning of justice is very abstract and relative.

If you believe so, you would think it as something definite and immutable. However, it is because you see it the way you want to see, and it won’t be the same for others. It looks like a tempered steel, but it would look like a shape-shifting clay once you open your perspective.

The shape changes as the people change. One person’s justice will take a different form once he finds himself after pondering about it. Sometimes, it turns out to be something so filthy that you would just want to dispose of.

Intangible as it is, it is very easy for people to have their own definitions out of it.

To Claudia, Yuran’s words are like a new arbitration of justice.  It has been always said that the opposite of justice lays another form of justice, but Claudia is too narrow-minded to differentiate the values. Rather, he might be the type of person who tends to concentrate on one value.

There was not much time for him to swallow a very different value completely.

“Then…… what should I have done then?”

Should Yuran overlook it? Back then, a girl was mercilessly shamed just for that woman’s sake.

But still, nothing can be done. Even if it happened as Yuran wished, or even if Claudia would be as ruthless in the future, Yuran cannot overlook the fact what has happened.

“I…… What should I……”

Claudia will surely keep that in mind from now on. After swallowing what Yuran said and understood its point, he would not overlook his own mistake.

Even so, no one knows how long it will take for him to understand. All the triangles up until now have been attached, leading to the correct, best, and clear answer.

Even the answer of what he should do and what is the best.

“—Perhaps you should do the way you see fit.”

Translator’s note:

I apologize for the wait. I can finally get back on translating after finishing my thesis somehow. I should be able to translate normally starting next month.