The meeting room was thick with a heavy silence, the kind that settles when a grave topic is broached. The prince leaned forward, his gaze piercing, and finally broke the silence with a question that cut through the tension like a knife.

“So, what is this love that everyone speaks of with such reverence?” His voice was laced with cold curiosity, as though love were some quaint superstition, unworthy of his time.

His question reverberated through the room, leaving everyone momentarily stunned and uncertain.

Leon, the first to recover, spoke hesitantly. “I… I think it’s another type of power that Your Highness needs to obtain to successfully harness the power of the dragon.” His words carried the weight of the subject, his tone reflecting the gravity of the situation.

The prince’s eyes narrowed, his focus unwavering. “Power?” His voice was soft but dangerous. “You’re saying there’s a power out there that I don’t already possess?” His gaze settled on Leon, watching him squirm. “Perhaps you’re mistaken, or perhaps you’re not explaining it well.”

Leon hesitated, glancing toward Marco for support. “I believe the deposed prince might have known where it’s located, Your Highness. If we could extract more information from him—”

The prince swiftly cut him off, his tone hardening. “He’s dead.”

“I’m sorry?” Marco blinked, clearly taken aback.

Nixon, the prince's secretary, chimed in with a dispassionate tone. “The deposed prince was found dead in his cage a few hours after the interrogation. It appears he was weaker than anticipated.” The room was filled with tension, and everyone could feel the heavy pressure of the situation.

The prince leaned back, his expression contemplative, though his eyes flickered with cold anger. “So, the one man who might’ve had the answer is gone? Convenient.” He paused, the silence in the room crackling with tension. “The prince mentioned that it’s something I’ll never know or learn. It’s not something tangible like this scroll. It’s something that must be attained.”

"There's nothing to worry about. I believe his highness can easily attain it." Nixon’s confidence was undeterred. 

“But the deposed prince said it was impossible for His Highness to learn,” I interjected, drawing a sharp look from Nixon.

“His Highness is adept at mastering any weapon, leading our warriors, enforcing the law, and grasping political complexities. There’s nothing he cannot understand,” Nixon defended passionately, though his fervor made me roll my eyes inwardly.

“There is one thing,” I said, despite Leo’s warning taps on my shin. “His Highness can’t read the Arcanographica.”

The room fell into an uneasy silence, all eyes turning toward me with a mix of confusion and apprehension. The prince, however, laughed—a cold, bitter sound that echoed through the sterile room.

“So, what are you implying?” he asked, his voice laced with a teasing edge, though there was something darker underneath—an amusement that came from mocking a wound that refused to heal.

“What I mean is that love might be similar to Arcanographica for you, Your Highness,” I said, meeting his gaze with a defiant stare. “You can’t hold it or read it, but it’s something you can learn if you put your mind into it.”

“Tuk, I think it’s a different—”

“I see, that makes sense,” the prince suddenly agreed, nodding as if I had unveiled some profound truth. His voice, however, carried a chilling calmness.

“YOUR HIGHNESS!!” Nixon and Leon exclaimed in shock, their voices filled with disbelief.

The prince leaned back, his expression more curious than before. “I know Richard well enough from the reports. He wouldn’t have made such statements without reason. He must have investigated me as thoroughly as I did him. But I believe someone here already knows how to learn the heart.” His gaze settled on me, the nickname falling from his lips like a taunt. “Isn’t that right, Little Lark?”

“Please, Your Highness, call me Tuk,” I said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile. “And I’m not the only one who knows the heart. It’s something everyone understands as they grow up.”

My statement was met with blank stares, the men appearing more bewildered than enlightened.

“I mean, you all must have at least one person you love, right?” I tried again, feeling like I was trying to teach a dinosaur to swim.

“So it’s about a person,” Marco murmured, as if the idea had only just occurred to him.

“I see, it’s about someone,” Rowell and Leon echoed, their faces reflecting a mix of realization and confusion. Nixon and the prince remained silent, their expressions stuck somewhere between deep thought and utter bewilderment.

Are they serious?

“So who is this person?” the prince asked, his tone grave as if we were discussing state secrets and not the simple concept of affection.

Oh, god! This is so frustrating! Keep it together, Tuk, patience, patience.

“Well, it’s a case-by-case basis, Your Highness. Love comes in many forms, whether platonic or romantic. However, the first type of love everyone should experience is parental love—something you feel through your parents.”

“Hmm…” The silence that followed was so awkward it could have been cut with a knife and served as the main course at this absurd meeting.

“I’m sure your parents loved you, right? Showered you with care and affection?”

“I think my parents never did such a thing,” Leon replied thoughtfully, leading the others to share his realization. An air of emptiness seemed to fill the room.

“Same here.”

“Really? So how did your parents create you?” I couldn’t help but let some sarcasm slip out, but their earnest responses nearly knocked me out of my chair.

“Well, it’s necessary to consummate to give birth to a son. Once we’re born, we have roles to fulfill. If more sons are born at the same time, they fight over who is best suited to lead, while the rest become warriors, officials, or servants,” Marco explained matter-of-factly as if discussing the weather. 

Ah, right! This isn’t my world, but surely affection must exist somewhere.

“How about your mother? Surely she took care of you as a child?” I pressed, desperately searching for a glimmer of normalcy.

“My mother tried to kill me when I was seven, so I killed her.” The prince’s blunt admission hit me like a ton of bricks.

"I…I am sure not everyone kills their mother, right?"

“I certainly didn’t kill mine, but most women either die fighting each other, kill themselves, or run away,” Marco’s calm response was the final nail in the coffin of my sanity.

These people are hopeless. Not just them, but everyone in this world! No wonder they’re all such a mess.

“I... see. Then let’s forget about parental love and just focus on affectionate or romantic love. Does everyone here have someone they love?” I asked, raising my hand like I was in school, hoping someone, anyone, would follow suit. But no, not a single hand joined mine.

“So no one has a romantic relationship either?” I pressed, my frustration boiling over. “Are you all made of stone? Don’t you feel any desire to care for someone, to protect and understand them better? To adore someone and do anything to win their affection?”

Nixon’s thoughtful murmur broke through the silence. “Hmm… If you put it that way, I can only think of one person.” His implication made my stomach twist. “Does that mean I love you, Your Highness?” His declaration hit me like a punch to the gut, leaving me reeling.

'Let me kill his love.'

I wanted to jump to my feet and punch Nixon, but my urge was barely restrained. Instead, I forced a tight-lipped smile. “I believe what Lord Nixon feels is called devotion or fealty,” I said, the sarcasm practically dripping from my words.

The right term for it is veneration, I added mentally, seeing how Nixon practically viewed the prince with sacred respect, despite him being this dominant.

The prince’s voice cut through the silence, low and deliberate. "Interesting. If it can be learned, then it can be mastered. And you seem to know about love better than anyone here."

He nodded decisively. “You’ll teach me about love then. I’ll make you my love advisor.”

'Wait, what? Did I hear that right?' The most powerful man in the kingdom just appointed me... his love advisor? I mean, that’s fine and all, but how can I teach someone about love when I am an asexual person?

My mission had taken a bizarre turn—becoming a love advisor to a prince who was utterly clueless about affection. The thought alone made me chuckle bitterly. What's with this sudden turn of romance? I needed a plan, a new approach to teach him about love logically—an uphill battle as impossible as taming a dragon. That day marked the beginning of a journey I never saw coming—one that would change my life forever and maybe, just maybe, teach me what it really means to love and be loved.