crown [C. TARTAGLIA]

06

you were resting on a bed at the clinic right after childe brought you back. you were treated by a doctor named dottore, he told you that you should be healed already in about two weeks time.

while you were healing though, you were advised not to act recklessly like you did or your wound would open.

you sigh as you stared out the window of the room, bored and exhausted at the same time.

"how are you feeling?" the door opens to childe who had brought a paper bag with him.

"like shit. do you know just how much a bullet piercing through your skin hurt?"

"with that loud mouth of yours i'm assuming you're back to normal." he sat down on a chair beside your bed. "here, i asked the maid to make it for you."

he offers you the bag and placed it on top of your lap. it was kind of hot but thanks to the blanket on top of you it didn't burn you. "what is it?"

"soup."

you opened the bag and inside was a small bowl with a lid on top. you opened it and the delicious smell of mushroom soup filled the room. it made your stomach grumble already.

you stare at childe, waiting for him to do something. "what?" he asked when he saw you.

"aren't you going to feed me?"

"you got shot, you didn't lose an arm."

"but it hurts..." you exaggerated, pointing at your bandaged arm.

he sighs before grabbing the spoon from the bag, "fine. so many ladies would die to be in your place right now."

"sucks for them i guess."

childe carefully blows the steam from the hot soup before feeding it to you, the taste of the flavorful dish soon spreading in your tongue.

"i didn't know you were kind after all, your highness."

"what do you mean? i've always been kind. just not to you."

"i literally took a bullet for you, shouldn't you say something nicer?"

"something nicer."

"ass."

the conversation went on with you and him arguing over what happened earlier at the duke's mansion.

apparently, childe had been sent to eliminate the said man since he was rumored to have been spreading false information about the queen. because of this, the connection between him and the palace was severed almost immediately.

"i didn't know the crown deals with stuff like that personally. i would've thought you'd hire someone to do it." you said.

"who would be dumb enough to pass on an opportunity like that?"

"right, i almost forgot you were one of those weirdoes who crave for battle."

"you like me either way, don't lie."

you knew royalty didn't always have an innocent upbringing on the inside. that was why when you heard that the queen sent childe to kill someone, it didn't come as a shock to you. dirty business can be found anywhere and surely enough, it was also filled in a palace where powerful rulers like the queen inhabits.

"but why were you the one who was sent? are you always the one doing businesses like that?"

"right on the money." childe sets down the finished bowl on the side. "while my two older siblings handle with affairs such as trade and business, i handle things like these."