"No... don't..."
The young prince with freckles on his face suddenly opened his eyes on the redwood bed draped in velvet curtains. With a swift motion, he kicked off the blanket covering him and sat up abruptly.
"No! No! No!!!"
Looking at the lavishly decorated familiar sleeping chamber and slling the faint incense the maid had lit before he slept, Joshua, dressed in silk pajamas, couldn't help but let out a long sigh as he leaned slowly against the headboard amidst the crackling of burning wood in the fireplace.
*It was just a dream...*
After panting against the headboard for a while, calming his overly rapid heartbeat, the freckled prince, whose pajamas were soaked with cold sweat, rubbed his eyes, wearily got out of bed, and walked across the pure white wool carpet towards the armchair opposite the fireplace. He then slumped into it, staring blankly at the flickering flas inside.
*Even if it was just a dream, this recurring dream felt too real, as if there really was a version of himself who had personally experienced an incredibly tragic future.*
*First, the Kingdom failed to resist the invasion of the Crolock Kingdom and lost two counties' worth of land. Then a neighboring country took advantage of the situation and invaded; the Capital City fell with rebellions rising everywhere. Afterwards, his mother was deposed, his father died of illness, his sister was killed, and the entire Kingdom reached the brink of destruction.*
*He survived but, without any talent, was completely unable to turn the tide. He could only sell everything he could sell, barely keeping the royal family from being completely annihilated, drowning his sorrows in alcohol amid endless regret and self-bla every day...*
*No! It won't happen! These are all dreams! All false! It's those damn Rebels trying to influence
through nightmares!*
Grabbing a biography from the small table beside him and throwing it fiercely at the fireplace in front of him, a hint of scorching anger appeared on Prince Freckles' sowhat haggard face.
*Damn the Purification Bureau!*
Especially that bastard who got lucky and inherited the Duke of Lionheart's position!
According to the agreent with the royal family, these branches must send personnel to prioritize ensuring the safety of the royal families of each country, but the damn Virgin Branch takes the royal family's funding and does nothing! Not only do they fail to ensure his safety, but they even indulge that bastard in beating him!
Touching his face, slapped several tis, Prince Freckles couldn't help but grit his teeth and clench his fists.
*When I inherit the throne in a few years, I will definitely make them...*
...
"Knock, knock-knock."
Just as Prince Freckles was secretly making a harsh vow in his heart, a gentle knocking sound ca from outside the door.
"Your Highness."
The maid responsible for taking care of his daily life inquired softly from outside the door,
"Did you rest well?"
Taking a deep breath to calm the anger in his heart, Joshua responded,
"What is it?"
"Well, two guests have co to visit you. They have credentials from the Purification Bureau and say they're here to address the issue you ntioned last ti."
*Two people from the Purification Bureau... the issue from last ti?*
Upon hearing the maid's report, Joshua's heart suddenly sank, rembering the brutal mix-gender beating from a few days ago, and he nearly fell out of his chair.
"Are those two people... a man and a woman? Is the man black-haired, wearing an old coat, looking a bit thin?"
"No, it's two n."
Noting the slight tremor in the prince's voice and aware of what had happened a few days ago, the maid quickly said,
"Your Highness, I checked on purpose. The guests today are not those two from the other day, their faces and body types don't match."
*That's good, that's good...*
The hellish ordeal of being beaten and treated simultaneously a few days ago, fainting from the pain only to wake up in even more pain, had left a significant psychological shadow in Joshua's heart. Hearing that it wasn't those two disrespectful bastards from last ti, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh and instructed,
"Let them wait in the drawing room first, I'll change and co over."
"Understood."
After the maid's footsteps faded, Joshua, with dark circles under his eyes, left the warmth of the fireplace and swiftly changed out of his sweat-soaked nightclothes, then imdiately headed towards the drawing room.
*Though the Virgin Branch of the Purification Bureau was despicable, the nightmares that had kept him from sleeping well these past few days were truly intolerable for even one more day!*
Driven by the tornt of nightmares, Joshua quickly reached the door of the drawing room, waved away the maid who wanted to open the door for him, and impatiently pushed open the door himself. Seeing two unfamiliar n of varying heights on the sofa, he nodded with satisfaction and asked with a slightly raised head,
"Can you solve my nightmares?"
"Yes."
Leon, bearing Baskin's face, nodded then stood up,
"Your Highness Joshua, may I ask you—"
"Such insolence!"
Seeing this person from the Purification Bureau not bow to him again, reminded of a man who also refused to bow, Prince Freckles' bad habit flared up imdiately. He reprimanded coldly,
"Who gave you permission to call
by na? And your Virgin Branch's dereliction of duty this ti, endangering my safety, you didn't even first... didn't even first... what?"
Stunned as he watched the man's appearance twist until it beca that of the black-haired, black-eyed "Demon" he could never forget in his life, Joshua shuddered violently and then, without hesitation, turned to run.
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