Heavy Heart

*Huff* "and- 25" Roland realized that he woke up a bit earlier than the previous prince used to wake up so he decided to do some exercise, push-ups, and finally stretching his body.

[For the diligent training you gain (+ 1 STR)]

[ + 50 Gold Coins for raising your stat in a natural way]

'It truly feels different, sleeping at night...I used to spend most of my time working at night and sleeping during the day, but now it is different. It will take some time to get used to it but I think I don't dislike it.' Roland thought while changing his clothes. He was quite irritated by his absurdly long hair and that collar-like clothing, he couldn't even bother remembering the name of such clothes but he knew that once he gains the recognition and trust of most of the people in this small town, he is going to change his current style.

'I understand that royalty must maintain some image but I always liked more mysterious or wild inducing clothes and hairstyles. Whatever, once I find people I trust, I will form something like a parliament.' Roland left his room and noticed on his way to his office that Anna's room was already empty so he went straight to the room he prepared for her.

He already had Carter speak with his most trusted men to explain the situation regarding Anna which only amounted to a very few people, including his governance aide, Barov.

Before Roland knew it, he already arrived at the destination, he knocked several times in different intervals before entering.

*Creak*

The moment he entered, very hot air slapped him into a face.

"?! Your Highness!" Anna who was in the middle of practicing her powers stopped and ran up to Roland with an excited expression. Her clothes were slightly burnt but it was no longer so bad that she had changed her clothes every single time she stopped using her powers.

"Good morning, Anna. Why are you so eager to practice? Wasn't the bed to your expectations? You could have slept a bit longer, after all, yesterday was quite an exhausting day." Roland asked with a kind smile, holding his hands behind his back.

"G-Good morning! Yesterday...I have been thinking just like you advised me and when I was concentrating hard enough, I think I felt so called mana inside my body. Though it was just for a split second, I could feel its warmth, it was a comforting feeling. Ah! And the bed was extremely warm and comfortable." Anna quickly blurted out at Roland with enthusiasm, looking at him with her wide-open and mesmerizing eyes, however, she quickly lowered her head when she just realized her inappropriate behavior in front of a prince.

" warm comforting feeling...Are you sure it wasn't just a blanket? Haha" Roland laughed at her adorable enthusiasm.

Hearing his words, a faint blush appeared on Anna's face as she lowered her head even more.

"...No, I am quite sure that it wasn't the blanket." Anna replied with a small smile.

"That's great and don't worry I was just joking. Anyway, the warmth you say...? It could be because of the nature of your powers. You can control flames so maybe you felt its warmth because mana from outside got absorbed into your body and adapted to suit your power or maybe your special powers changed it by force. Well, we can think about it later, I can see that you have made quite a big progress since yesterday..."

"Yes! Ever since I felt that warmth inside my body, I felt like I could control my flames on another level. I wanted to test it out right away at night but I hold off till this morning." Anna said with the same enthusiasm. Ever since Roland convinced her that her powers are not evil, she started practicing her powers very eagerly.

'...His Highness is nothing like other nobles. I always feel at ease near him, I don't know how to describe that feeling...I feel safe as if he was protecting me...despite me being a witch who has powers to protect herself. I just have trouble understanding why he is so kind to me...' Anna thought while looking straight into Roland's grey eyes with a warm smile on her face.

"Hehe, what is it, is there something on my face?" Roland chuckled and asked when he noticed Anna staring a bit too much without saying anything.

"N-No! I just..." Anna was hesitating to say what was on her mind and Roland could easily see that.

"You are still a bit uncomfortable...on guard since you have a hard time understanding why I am so kind to you-. Am I right?" Roland asked in her stead and by Anna's reaction, he could tell that he hit the mark.

"Ho-" Anna wanted to ask something but Roland quickly interrupted her.

"How did I know, you ask? Regular people might not be capable of using wonderous powers like witches but that doesn't mean they are not dangerous...No, in some cases they can be even more dangerous than witches since they can't rely on any powers, they have to rely on trickery and experience. Although I only know you for a day, I already knew what you were thinking since your emotions were leaking out. I roughly grasped what kind of person you are within a few hours...people capable of doing such things can't be called kind, all you can call them is calculative. You must be particularly careful when dealing with such people." Roland said, getting slightly melancholic as he turned his head to the side to avoid Anna's eyes.

Anna frowned upon hearing Roland's words and his self-loathing tone at the end, thus she decided to do something a bit out of character.

"?! Anna? What are you doing?" Roland's eyes widened the most since he arrived at this world as the situation he was in right now was completely out of his expectations. Anna actually pulled him into a hug. It was a one-sided hug since Roland just froze and had no idea what to do...because this was the first time anyone gave him heartfelt hug.

"I apologize if I am overstepping my boundaries, Your Highness, but you looked like you needed this. I might not be as experienced as you, Your Highness, but I can see that you are hiding something heavy and dark inside your heart. And usually, people talking bad about themselves are the ones who are the kindest." Anna said with a wide smile while looking at Roland's face.

'I can't believe I got so emotional around her when I only know her for a single day...I can't put my finger on it but she just makes me feel that way...as if I want to open up after all those years of lying and deception.' Roland thought but he still couldn't accept Anna's last words.

"See...I already gained your trust by speaking badly about myself, by playing to self-loathe myself, I gained your trust and even made you comfort me. Do you now see how easy it is to control and play around with people's emotions? You might be a witch but your emotions are the same." Roland asked with a smirk.

Anna stopped hugging him and took a few steps back before she started looking at Roland from top to bottom with a suspicious expression.

"I don't believe you, Your Highness." Anna said still with the same expression.

"Excuse me?" Roland asked with a confused expression which prompted Anna to once again scan his body from top to bottom.

"In my humble opinion, you are just trying your best to hide that kindness of yours, Your Highness. No, you are trying to deny any possibility of you being a kind person. I have no idea what would make you like that but...you haven't gained my trust with those few recent words. You have gained my trust when you saved me and treated me as an equal despite the difference in our social status. And you have gained even more of my trust when you have said that I might be a witch but my emotions are the same. Your Highness perhaps didn't think much of those words but they meant a lot to me and since Your Highness didn't think much of them, it only shows that those are your real thoughts." Anna said with a warm smile while holding her hands near her heart.

[ + 50 Gold Coins for gaining more of Anna's trust]

[ + 100 Gold Coins for gaining Anna's admiration]

'This girl...did she actually learn all of this during our conversation? No...even if she was a very fast learner, she would need to be really smart and not only in the matters of IQ but also EQ. I wasn't on guard against this girl since I saw no reason and also estimated lower intelligence due to this era but I guess that was my mishap.' Roland could only guess what kind of "monster" he has saved but the aspect of grooming her with all the books he could buy from "Shop" definitely brought him a feeling of excitement.

"Anna...I-"

*Knock* *Knock* "Your Highness, maids reported to me that they saw you come here. Can you please attend to your governing duties now?" It was Barov's voice that interrupted Roland's words and he himself was quite glad for this interruption since he had no idea what to say to someone like Anna. He could see in her eyes that her trust and admiration for him indeed grew and he would be lying if he said that he is comfortable with it.

"You heard the grumpy old man...I will see you later, Anna." Roland forced out a smile on his face and got ready to leave.

"Hehe, most certainly, Your Highness." Anna giggled upon seeing Roland's uncomfortable expression before saying goodbye for the time.

'His Highness is even more different from other nobles than I first thought...The more I get to know him, the more questions I have. Why is it such a fulfilling feeling, getting to know His Highness?' Anna watched the closing door before focusing on her practice with an odd smile on her face.