The Unemployed Prince Covets My Nephew - Chapter 19
“I’m missing some candies.”
“How many are missing?”
“One. I dropped five.”
He wasn’t just any ordinary kid. Axel thought he had just stuffed candies into his pocket randomly, but Theo had counted them.
When Axel was Theo’s age, his nickname was ‘The Treasure Hunt Master.’ No matter where something was hidden, he would find it within ten minutes, making the other noble kids cry.
After that, no one wanted to play treasure hunt with Prince Axel. So, the number of families applying for the position of playmate for the prince decreased, and in the end, only Khalid, who was after the cake that came after the treasure hunt, remained with Axel.
Axel decided to show off his old skills.
A moment later, Axel picked up the last candy Theo had been looking for and handed it to him. Theo accepted the candy in surprise.
“How did you…?”
“A bee was hiding it. It’s camouflage.”
“What is camouflage?”
“It’s a technique where you disguise yourself to blend in with your surroundings so well that people pass by without noticing you.”
“The color of the wrapper was similar. It’s a trick.”
“You fell for that trick.”
Axel, having a serious conversation with Theo, looked strange to Hailey, who was watching from a distance. No one had talked to Theo this long except Hailey.
Suddenly, Hailey thought that someone like Axel might be good for Theo.
“Next time, I won’t fall for camouflage!”
“It’s okay to fall for it at five. Next time, find it on your own.”
“…Here, take this.”
Theo handed Axel his favorite grape-flavored candy with trembling hands.
“Isn’t grape your favorite flavor?”
Theo thought. It was a bit disappointing, but he hadn’t found this candy himself. The giant man had found it, so it was his.
While living at the baron’s estate, Theo learned from watching the baron and his wife that you shouldn’t take what belongs to others or be greedy. He was a five-year-old who had learned this truth.
“You shouldn’t just take what others give you. They said there’s always a price. I didn’t find this, so I can’t take it. You eat it.”
It wasn’t something a five-year-old would normally say. Axel looked at the extraordinary kid with interest.
Theo spoke firmly, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the grape candy that had passed back to Axel’s hand.
“Then how about trading this grape candy for that apple candy? I like apple flavor. It would be a beneficial trade for both of us.”
Theo was flustered. He had never thought of such a proposal.
“Th-Then wouldn’t I be greedy?”
“The first rule of trading is to exchange for the most appropriate value. It’s a model of bartering.”
Theo, surprised by the unexpected question, looked for Hailey. Noticing Theo’s troubled gaze, Hailey nodded.
Theo looked at Axel with slightly excited eyes and nodded vigorously. Axel and Theo exchanged candies on the spot.
As a result, Theo lost one candy, but he was satisfied because he got a grape-flavored candy.
Holding the grape-flavored candy tightly in his hand, Theo looked up at Axel and smiled innocently.
The five-year-old boy, who seemed like a little adult but was still naïve about the ways of the world, was so innocent over a single candy.
All the adults around, including Khalid, looked at Theo’s smiling face with satisfaction.
Seeing this, Axel lifted Theo with one arm. For the first time in his life, Theo experienced the air from such a high place.
“Wow! It’s so high!”
Is this how a bird flying high feels? Theo looked at Axel with curious eyes and chattered.
“My name is Axel. You can call me by my name. I’ll especially allow it.”
“Why allow it specially?”
“Because you and I are not strangers.”
“…Not strangers?”
Hailey noticed that Theo’s voice was a bit excited. It seemed that Theo was feeling some affection for this strange prince.
It was a curious thing. While it was good that they would get along quickly since they had to spend a year together, Hailey couldn’t feel entirely happy.
‘Why is that man acting like he’s genuinely a good person?’
Hailey was already worried about what to do if Theo got really attached to that man and they had to part later.
“Yes. We are not strangers.”
“Are we on the same side…? Eating delicious things together and playing together?”
“Of course.”
The giant man, whom Theo vaguely wished to be on the same side with, really became his ally. Theo was so happy that he was speechless.
Axel handed the apple-flavored candy he had exchanged with Theo back to the child.
“Kid, since we are not strangers, you can take it as much as you want. It’s a gift for becoming allies.”
Theo held the apple-flavored candy in his hand with eyes wide open in surprise.
‘Cool!’
Theo had never seen an adult as cool as Hailey. Deeply moved, Theo threw his short arms around Axel and hugged him tightly.
Axel, who had no experience with close contact with such a small child, was momentarily flustered but soon patted Theo’s small back gently with his large hand.
From a distance, it looked like Axel was clumsily hitting the child’s back with his big hand, but it was a rather kind gesture.
“It’s really a strange sight to see His Highness holding a child.”
“…He seem to be quite good at taking care of children.”
“That can’t be true. He’s famous for making all the children within a 100-meter radius cry as soon as he appears.”
Khalid told Hailey about Axel’s infamous childhood stories, saying that the prince was known for making all the children around him cry when he was a child.
‘They really look like father and son.’
When Axel put Theo down, Theo ran happily towards the flower garden.
Hailey moved a little closer to Axel.
“…Thank you. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to try so hard.”
“If you’re grateful, call me.”
“Pardon?”
“Call me Axel.”
Hailey was shocked.
Soon, he would no longer be a prince or a Grand Duke, but an unemployed man, so it made sense to call him that since they were married. However, Hailey felt awkward calling him by his name.
Hearing this, Khalid, who was nearby, coughed awkwardly, more flustered than Hailey.
When Lady Brahe was the prince’s fiancée, Axel never allowed her to call him by his name. Once, when she did, he publicly embarrassed her in front of everyone.
‘He’s embarrassed.’
Khalid, who had watched Axel for a long time, could tell. Although Axel pretended to be relaxed, he was quite embarrassed.
Feeling awkward, Axel lightly tapped the back of Khalid’s head.
It seemed like a light tap, but Khalid clutched his head as if he had been hit with a hammer, with tears welling up in his eyes.
“Are you trembling because you’re so honored? I’m allowing only you and the kid to call me that. Call me as much as you want while you can.”
Although he had to give up his title as a prince, his severe case of ‘prince syndrome’ made Hailey genuinely start to worry about him.
“…Hailey.”
“…!”
“I will call you that too, Hailey.”
He called her twice.
At Axel’s low, calm voice, Hailey’s hands were covered in sweat.
‘Why… What is this? It’s just a name. Theo calls me by that name every day. Why am I trembling?’
Although calling her name felt quite awkward, Axel was satisfied.
‘Good thing I practiced.’
In fact, before meeting Hailey today, Axel had practiced calling her name several times by himself. He felt proud of the results and gave a relaxed smile.
However, to Hailey, that smile looked like an awkward grin.
Seeing the giant man, who was as big as a mountain, smiling awkwardly should have been strange, but it wasn’t, and Hailey bit her lip.
“Alright. …Axel.”
Axel mustered his courage.
Others might not understand, but Axel was doing his best in this marriage.
There were many mountains to cross and things he had to achieve.
“Even though it’s only for a year, I will do my best to protect you and the kid.”
“…”
“I like you. So trust me and follow me.”
Axel, like a gentleman, took Hailey’s hand and kissed the back of it.
The touch of Axel’s lips on the back of her hand lingered even after he pulled away.
Thump thump.
‘This is arrhythmia. Calm down! You’re a mother, and that man is a one-year contract husband.’
Hailey rationalized the situation as arrhythmia.
“Hailey! Hailey!”
Fortunately.
Theo was indeed a filial son. He intervened appropriately at the moment of crisis.
Hailey greeted Theo with a brighter face than ever.