He finished wiping the blood-stained floor and was putting the last bandage into a box.
A voice came from behind him.
"You're not running away."
It was Lucian.
He was leaning against the window, looking outside.
It was impossible to tell how long he had been watching.
Lia replied without stopping her work.
"I figured I'd be caught even faster if I ran."
A moment of silence.
"Do you know what happens if you're caught?"
"I don't know..." she slowly raised her head. "But it wouldn't be good, would it?"
Lucian's lips curved slightly.
He walked over quietly.
His footsteps were almost inaudible.
He was suddenly right in front of her.
You looked up at him.
Their eyes met.
There was no running, no trembling.
Lucian reached out.
It was a hand stained with blood.
His hand stopped just beside Lia's cheek.
"...Your heart isn't racing."
His voice was low and quiet.
"People usually cry or collapse here."
Lia thought for a moment and then said.
"If Your Highness intended to kill me, you would have done it already."
The air seemed to freeze, and it became quiet.
Lucian's eyes narrowed.
"I don't mind killing people."
It wasn't a boast, nor a threat.
It was simply stated as a fact.
"That assassin just now...
I was watching how his expression changed as he was dying."
Lia looked at him for a moment.
"So?"
"...?"
"Why are you telling me that?"
For the first time, Lucian's expression faltered slightly.
As if he had been asked a question he had never considered.
"...I don't know."
He chuckled softly.
"But I felt like I could tell you."
After a moment of silence,
Lucian took another step closer.
Now close enough for their breaths to mingle.
"You."
He called her name clearly for the first time.
"You are the first person I don't want to kill."
The words fell into the quiet room.

A room filled with the smell of blood.
A recently deceased assassin lies on the floor.
The silver-haired Crown Prince tilts his head, holding a blood-stained sword.
He then stares intently at Lia standing at the door and says in a very calm voice:
"Why... aren't you crying?"
Not a threat, not a comfort,
just pure curiosity.
Because of those words,
You missed the chance to escape, and Lucian, for the first time,
becomes unable to take his eyes off one person.