Chapter 319| I Only Want Someone Who Sees Me As An Ordinary Raphael Full Of Flaws
They walked side-by-side across the castle courtyard, which had now grown quiet. Along the stone pathways, crystal streetlamps cast a soothing, golden-yellow glow that warmed the chill of the night.
The moment they stepped through the main gates of the imposing black fortress, the nighttime panorama of the city forced Elodie to halt in her tracks.
Iron Hearth at night was a modern metropolis that flatly refused to sleep.
The main asphalt avenue—wide enough for two horse carriages to pass comfortably—was brilliantly illuminated by electric lamps suspended neatly from towering metal poles. Their golden radiance was incredibly stable, refusing to flicker in the night wind like kerosene torches, and entirely free of the stinging black smoke produced by obsolete oil lanterns.
Trotoars were still bustling with citizens going about their evening. A baker, having just finished his final batch of bread, strolled casually with an empty basket that still wafted the rich scent of butter. Across the street, a young couple sat on a bench in a small pocket park, sharing the warmth of steaming ginger tea.
In another corner, a youth clad in a worker’s uniform hurried across the road, likely anxious about missing his night shift at the factories.
In the distance, the faint, rhythmic clang of metal against metal echoed from the military blacksmith workshops. Clink! Clang! Under the absolute leadership of the Sudrath dynasty, Northreach’s workforce was divided into three continuous shifts, ensuring the great wheels of the defense industry never ground to a halt.
"This is... unbelievably beautiful," Elodie whispered in awe.
Raphael looked at the side profile of her face, illuminated by the warm glow of the streetlamps. "What do you think?"
"It’s stunning," Elodie answered, a genuine smile gracing her lips.
They resumed their leisurely stroll along the stone sidewalk. Their strides fell into the slow, rhythmic pulse of the city at night—neither rushed nor sluggish. The steady friction of their leather soles against the pavement created a comforting, metronomic cadence.
"Raphael... do you mind if I ask you something?" Elodie suddenly broke the quiet.
"Go ahead. Ask away."
"You are a prince. The youngest son of the grand sovereign, King Lucian Sudrath. Your future and military career are practically guaranteed to be magnificent." Elodie stared at the road ahead. "But... have you ever, even for a single second, felt doubtful? Doubtful about what kind of man you will become in the future?"
Raphael let out a quiet sigh, letting the freezing night air fill his chest. "I think about that almost every single day, El."
Elodie turned to look at him quickly, slightly taken aback by the instant honesty from a prince who usually guarded his pride fiercely.
"I wasn’t blessed with a revolutionary, genius mind like my brother Rianor. I don’t possess the sharp diplomatic cunning of my brother Roland. I don’t have the monstrous physical strength to dominate the frontlines like my brother Riven. I don’t have an extraordinary talent for magic like my sister Raveena. And I certainly don’t have the meticulous brain to manage gold coins like my sister Rumina."
Raphael stared straight ahead, his eyes reflecting the twinkling lights of the city. "At the end of the day... I am just Raphael. A stubborn youngest child who used to only know how to pick fights and roll in the mud outside the castle."
"You are being far too cruel to yourself, Raphael," Elodie replied softly yet firmly. "You speak as if you’ve entirely forgotten that you are the top tactician in Sergeant Garon’s Military Strategy class. A lot of students admire your split-second decisions. Sergeant Garon himself praised your commanding instincts."
"Sergeant Garon also reminded me today that I still harbor one fatal tactical sin: getting too eager to jump out of my protective zone."
"That is hardly a fatal sin, Raphael. It is merely a minor weakness that can easily be corrected over time with training."
Raphael stopped walking, locking his gaze onto Elodie’s brown eyes. "You... always seem to know exactly how to structure your sentences to make my mind feel at ease, don’t you?"
Elodie met his gaze without a shred of hesitation. "I am merely voicing the absolute truth of what I see in you."
They resumed walking, their pace slowing even further as they passed a small side-alley intersection.
A traditional herbal tea shop was still open on the corner, with several middle-aged patrons sitting comfortably on wooden benches outside. The comforting aroma of warm red ginger and cinnamon wafted from the shop, cutting through the winter chill alongside the thick steam rising from the clay cups of travelers.
"Speaking of the future... I actually have a very simple dream of my own," Elodie said suddenly, a sweet smile carving its way onto her face.
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
"I want to build a small botanical laboratory in the middle of our farmlands," Elodie’s eyes sparkled with hope. "A secluded place where I can research the genetic properties of herbal plants and merge them with magical manipulation. Exactly like what Lord Rianor does in his massive greenhouses... but, of course, on a much smaller scale for the common folk."
The girl looked down at her hands. "I really want to prove to the world... that my magic and scientific technology can actually walk hand-in-hand to help elevate the lives of small-scale farmers like my father."
Raphael offered a genuine smile at her explanation. "That isn’t a simple dream at all, El. That is an extraordinarily magnificent dream."
"You... genuinely think so?"
"Of course. You have to remember a vital piece of our history: my brother, Rianor Sudrath, sparked his entire industrial revolution from nothing more than a dusty, makeshift glass workshop by a small riverbank. You know that legendary story, right?"
Elodie nodded quickly with a bright grin. Throughout the entire Northern territory, who didn’t know the inspiring tale of the tiny glass workshop where Rianor and Rumina first blew glass test tubes that would eventually alter the face of Northreach’s civilization forever?
"So... it is entirely within the realm of possibility that you will transform into the next Rianor Sudrath," Raphael continued firmly. "Just, you know, the Minister of Agriculture version."
Elodie burst into a soft laugh—a crisp, melodious, and completely uninhibited sound that Raphael had heard from her lips for the first time all day. "Hahaha! Please don’t praise me all the way to the heavens, Raphael. If I fly too high, the fall is going to hurt."
"That isn’t empty flattery, Elodie. I call it a prediction of destiny."
They continued their slow walk, crossing a stone bridge spanning one of the city’s water canals. The tranquil surface of the canal perfectly mirrored the twinkling electric lights of the city, creating an optical illusion as if thousands of stars were swimming freely at the bottom of the water.
"Umm, speaking of the future..." Elodie abruptly cut off her laughter, her tone shifting into something hesitant and shy. "Have... have you ever thought about... a life partner?"
Cough!
Raphael nearly tripped over his own boots on the stone bridge. "W-What? A what?!"
"I mean... you are a prince," Elodie hurriedly turned her flushed face toward the flowing canal water. "Usually... blue-blooded royals like you are already bound by political marriage contracts, especially since you’re at the age for it."
"Tch. My family doesn’t subscribe to those archaic, backward customs at all," Raphael answered once he successfully regained his severely shaken composure.
He swallowed hard. Gulp. "Mother has always emphasized that we are granted absolute freedom to choose our own soulmates. You can see the proof of that in my siblings. Brother Riven chose to marry a common doctor from the front lines. Sister Rhea married an foreign professor. Not a single one of us has been forced to marry for a political alliance."
"Oh... is that so? That’s... really wonderful," Elodie murmured quietly, looking down at the tips of her scuffed shoes. "So... do you have any criteria of your own? For the kind of person you’d want by your side in the future?"
Raphael’s footsteps came to a dead halt at the end of the bridge.
For the very first time during this magical evening, the youngest prince was stripped entirely of his vocabulary.
He fell silent, staring straight ahead—deliberately avoiding direct eye contact with the girl beside him so his racing pulse wouldn’t grow any louder.
"I... to be completely honest, I’ve never given it serious thought until now, El," Raphael confessed honestly, his voice quiet and low. "But... if I had to choose..."
Raphael paused for a moment, drawing a deep breath. "I only want the presence of someone who doesn’t look at me with fear. Someone who is willing to see me purely as an ordinary Raphael who is full of flaws... not as the hollow, ornamental title of Prince Raphael Sudrath."
Elodie stopped in her tracks as well.
An incredibly magical silence wrapped around the two of them at the edge of the bridge.
"That... is a beautiful criterion, Raphael," Elodie whispered, her voice barely louder than the breeze.
They resumed walking side-by-side through the quiet of the night. This time, neither made an attempt to break the comfortable silence. Only the steady, rhythmic friction of their shoes against the stone sidewalk echoed in the air.
At last, they came to a halt before a simple, pale-white wooden fence, its paint beginning to peel in several places.
The front yard of the small house was laid out with impeccable neatness and cleanliness. Along its left flank stood tidy rows of clay pots planted with various medicinal herbs—fresh mint, Snow Seruni flowers beginning to bud, and fragrant rosemary. The warm yellow light of a mana-lamp shone brightly from behind the front window, indicating the homeowner was still faithfully awake, waiting for her daughter’s return.
"We’ve reached my house," Elodie spoke softly. She stood with her back to the wooden fence, turning to look directly at Raphael. "Thank you so much... for everything today. The delicious food, the beautiful library, the conversation... everything."
Raphael gave a firm nod. "Are you sure you’ll be okay heading in alone?"
"Of course. This is my own home, Raphael." Elodie flashed her sweetest, most genuine smile of the night. "I’ll see you tomorrow morning at school."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow morning."
Elodie slowly opened the latch of the wooden gate and stepped into the yard. Raphael remained rooted where he stood, his gaze guarding her until her form safely reached the front door of her house.
But right before Elodie’s fingers touched the handle of the door, she abruptly spun back around.
"Raphael... about that dream of a small botanical laboratory in my fields..." Elodie stared at him, her eyes shining with anxious hope. "Do you... do you truly believe I can make it happen someday?"
Raphael carved a warm smile—one completely devoid of doubt. "I would never waste my breath saying it to you... if I didn’t believe in you, Elodie."
Hearing that absolute validation, Elodie returned it with the happiest smile she had ever possessed in her life. She pushed her front door open, stepping into the warmth of her home, and slowly clicked the wooden door shut. Click.
Raphael remained standing before the fence for a few silent seconds, letting the warmth of the evening seep deep into his chest.
Then, with both hands stuffed back into his uniform pockets, the youngest prince slowly spun on his heels... and began his leisurely stroll back to the castle, his steps lighter than they had ever been.