Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

The sofa in Duke Deloraine’s drawing-room was very soft. Seeing how comfortable my buttocks felt, the cushions seemed to be very good. I might have joked about moving this sofa to my room as soon as I put my rear on it… If it wasn’t for the Crown Prince, who leaned with his knee right next to her thighs, sitting politely, stretching out his thick arms like bars, trapping Arya between them while he growled in anger.

“Arya.”

“Yes!”

“You still don’t know what you did wrong?”

“Ah…”

Lionel’s hand holding Arya’s chin was large. Perhaps that was the reason she couldn’t turn her head even if she tried. Desperate, Arya deliberately kept her gaze downward. She felt as if she accidentally raised her eyes and met his gaze, she would faint, burned by anger.

“I, I don’t know!”

Arya pushed him as hard as she could to get away from him. But as if her arm was just a decoration, even when she pushed with all her might, he didn’t budge.

There’s no reason for a body to be this sturdy! And it was getting harder and harder for Arya to think straight, whether it was because their noses were barely touching, or because they were breathing the same way.

“Move, please move.”

“…”

He folded his arms and stepped back. Then he stared at Arya, his eyes still full of anger.

‘However, Princess Arya has not yet kidnapped Crown Prince Lionel. If so, this is still before doing something bad and doing anything wrong. Then there is no reason to be so afraid.’

“What brought you here?”

She whispered to herself not to be afraid, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t look into his eyes. Above all else, the bright red eyes were really scary when angry.

“Aren’t you glad I came?”

“Who would be happy to welcome a guest this early in the morning?” As soon as she said those words, her throat felt sore as if swallowing dry.

“What?”

“Besides, Your Highness has a higher rank than me. I can’t believe such a noble person above me will come to visit so early in the morning. This is really uncomfortable and suffocating.”

If I don’t kidnap the Crown Prince, he won’t kill me. There will be no justification. From what I’ve read, Deloraine Duchy is very wealthy. The Imperial Family needs the Duke’s wealth. Princess Arya was able to get away with her crazy deeds because of the enormous subsidies paid by Duke Deloraine. That’s why you don’t have to tremble like an aspen tree!

But Arya’s mind and body were running along separate tracks. She hid her trembling hands behind her back, but her heart kept pounding as if she was going to die.

“Did you eat something wrong?”

Arya pushed him back with all her might, and this time the Crown Prince moved smoothly to the other side and sat down.

Velosia brought tea in between. Watching the tea follow, Arya organized the situation in her own head.

‘Since I caught a black leopard by mistake, the friendly tiger in front of me had to be dealt with as soon as possible.’ It seemed like it would be better to actually give up rather than acting like giving up. Besides, Lionel was good and moral compared to Kylian, and he didn’t do bad things that cross the line. So he was the much easier opponent.

‘Because I refuse to have both of them aiming for my life.’

Arya refined her voice as much as possible and pretended to be fine.

“Yes. I ate the wrong thing and opened my eyes.”

‘The Crown Prince must be sorted out. It’s a pity that he has been suffering for years due to Arya Deloraine’s pursuit but this person is the one who will blow my hair away. And like the male lead, his resolution was very straightforward, no matter how many harsh, evil tricks Arya tried, he never yielded. If so, wouldn’t it be better to keep him farther away rather than being erratic, trying to look good, or being submissive?’

“If you open your eyes, shouldn’t you be nicer to me?”

“I’ll do my best. So, from now on, let’s not meet privately nor have private conversations.”

Her voice kept trembling, and she had to speak without even breathing. She thought she wouldn’t be able to put her words out if she did.

“What does that mean?”

“As you— heard.”

Panicked, Arya swallowed and her saliva went into the wrong pipe. A cough stuck in her throat.

Lionel’s eyebrows, which curved up as if displeased, were a pretty platinum shade. Even his eyelashes were dazzling as if they were twinkling in light, and the ruby-red eyes beneath them were so brilliant and beautiful that she couldn’t take her eyes off them even though currently they had an unpleasant expression.

“How dare you say that to me?”

Although it was a class-based society, the Crown Prince still needed support. That was why he didn’t get engaged to Princess Arya, yet permitted her gigantic obsession. And then Arya caused an accident, and while running away from her, he met Melina, who helped him.

“I apologize if I was rude. But our relationship wasn’t normal.”

Then, after all that, he established his position, overthrew Duke Deloraine and confiscated all his property. But in the end, while pretending to hand over Melina, Kylian almost killed him when his guard was down.

But that was a matter for later. Maybe it was because he was someone who’d give her a deathly ending, even though she remembered the affectionate appearance of the Crown Prince in the book, Arya couldn’t speak.

“Princess. How can you be so shameless?”

“I’m sorry I’ve been this shameless. However, I hope that our relationship can continue only through public affairs that completely exclude private meetings. And… It is not something I can do about my father’s support to His Highness.”

‘I don’t want to be the villain who is executed by the male lead. Please let me go! No, forget me! Let’s say goodbye now!’ Arya thought so while struggling to control her trembling.

“Hey.”

However, the Crown Prince she met right now couldn’t be compared to the friendly and kind male lead she had thought he was while reading the novel.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Do you really have nothing to say to me?”

‘Oh, what is it? Did she do something wrong that wasn’t mentioned in the original?’ She was getting more and more confused.

“Yes? What… are you talking about?”

“Don’t you have something to say to me?”

“…”

As Arya looked at him while trying to hide her confusion as much as possible, Lionel’s expression darkened. It was blazing as if the red eyes were burning flames.

“I don’t– that– I don’t know!”

“You really don’t know?”

“Melina. I will protect you as you protected me. So don’t worry.” Where did the person who said that go? Why is this guy who only gets angry at me, the same Lionel Reenasis Kallendia? Where did the man who melted my heart saying all sorts of sweet things to Melina go?!

Arya was screaming inside and shaking.

“Yes, I don’t know. If I have committed any disrespect, please tell me! No, please show me!”

“…”

The Crown Prince closed his mouth straight and slammed the teacup he was holding. At that, Arya shuddered. Hot tea splashed all over the table, and Bell, who was standing near the door, looked troubled, wondering whether she should wipe it or stay away from it.

“This is your last chance. Say it. What did you do wrong?”

“I– I really don’t know…”

Without realizing it, she clenched her fists in front of her chest. Her heart couldn’t shrink and it felt like it was going to roll out and be crushed.

“Ha.”

The air seemed to freeze at the self-sneer.

‘What did I do wrong? If you kidnapped Kylian yesterday, the Crown Prince… Ah! It was a failed attempt!! Oh my goodness!’

“Ah! I– I remembered!”

“Tell me. I’ll listen.”

He crossed his legs and folded his arms. Arya stared at the bewitching long legs, and their eyes met. Then Lionel smiled as if it was funny, and her heart, frozen in fear, pounded as if it had become summer in an instant.

“Come on.”

Even with his lips twisted and one corner of his mouth raised, he looked pretty.

“Umh, I must have been rude to Your Highness yesterday, wasn’t I?”

“Aha.”

“Perhaps… I… umm… wanted to kid- kidnap…?”

“Aha.”

‘That was it! An attempt isn’t all! What do I do now?’

“I apologize. It was because I longed for Your Highness so much. Now that we’ve cleared it up, I won’t do it again!”

[tl/n: lmao imagine you trying to kidnap your crush and then say “Welp you got me so~ I won’t do it again, cool? Cool!”]

“What?”

‘I think I gave the right answer, but I can’t figure out why he seemed angry again? Oh, I see. You need a more definitive answer!’

“I– I will never approach Your Highness ever again!”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Uh, then, I won’t even try that again! Ever ever! I won’t even come close to your side! I’ll even send a proxy if you call for me! Also, I will live in hiding so you’ll even forget that there are people like me in the world!”

“Huh.”

‘Isn’t this it? Please speak up! Twenty questions is not my specialty…!’

[tl/n: A game in which 20 questions are asked to guess what the other person is thinking.]

She was so exhausted now that she felt her heart would burst from her chest.

“I think you didn’t reflect on yourself.”

“Pardon?”

“I shall punish you.”

‘What nonsense is this?’ No. If you are a victim, it is natural to react that way. I’m also a victim, too, but for now, let’s be patient. Because I don’t want to die again.

It was when Arya was organizing her head like that.

“Ugh! Mi- Milady!”

He jumped up and grabbed Velosia’s arm. Then he looked at Arya with a mischievous smile.

“I’ll come back in a week. Until then, write a letter of apology about what you did wrong.”

“No!”

Arya couldn’t lose the Bell. She didn’t know about this place, and without Bell’s help, she was sure to be taken for a madwoman. Besides, she didn’t know if she could trust anyone other than Bell!

So, when the Crown Prince grabbed Bell’s left arm, she grabbed her right arm and pulled.

“Ahhk! Milady!”

“Let go, Your Highness!”

“You let go. Can’t you see that your maid is suffering?”

There was no way she could win a power fight. When Bell was completely dragged by the Crown Prince, she let go of her hand. It was as if she had personally experienced Solomon’s judgment.*

“No!”

“Then reflect on yourself, quickly.”

“I will reflect on myself!”

“What are you reflecting on?”

‘…I do not know!’

“Uh…”

As Arya rolled her eyes struggling to think of something, he looked at her like he was having fun.

“Do you want a hint?”

“Yes!”

“Instead, here.”

He tapped his cheek with his finger and said.

“If you kiss here, I’ll give you a hint.”

——

Okay. Where is my smut tag?! The tension is too much!

I’m starting to feel bad if he is the sub-ml. I don’t wanna have sub-ml syndrome!

Judgment of Solomon: is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which King Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two, each woman to receive half. With this strategy, he was able to discern the non-mother as the woman who entirely approved of this proposal, while the actual mother begged that the sword might be sheathed and the child committed to the care of her rival.

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