Chapter 71

Chapter 71 – Is The Crown Prince’s Room A Meeting Place?

‘Identity… bride… Somehow, they kind of rhyme okay?’

These were all aftereffects of studying like rap.

“You punk, how dare you come in here?”

“Uncle. I said that I would be here at this time.”

“Go away. I don’t want to deal with you.”

Herod was a man powerful enough to have Juan as his successor and pushed Shuria as the Crown Princess. As she had done all her business, Bella didn’t want to be caught in the middle of this gritty seat, so she got up.

“I made a promise to Lady Shuria, so I’m going to leave.”

As Bella tried to leave, Juan grabbed her wrist again.

“Lady, I’m here to see you.”

“…Me?”

Seeing that, Herod opened his mouth to Bella.

“Didn’t you have an appointment with Shuria? She hates waiting.”

“Oh, right.”

As she was about to leave, Juan kissed the back of her hand once more.

“I’ll see you in a little bit.”

In an instant, goosebumps appeared all over Bella’s body. She hurriedly withdrew her hand and left the room.

‘…Is he crazy?’

As she left, Herod Cruell let out a sigh.

“That’s not for you to touch.”

It was obvious what would happen if he touched the adopted daughter, who had been supported by the Crown Prince. He was worried that this fool would miss the golden opportunity for the Duchy to properly seize the power in a few generations.

* * *

Bella thought of Juan Cruell while fighting Shuria. When she handed over the succession to Juan to become Crown Princess, the Duke’s head became Juan Cruell.

‘Should I be friendly with him?’

If Bella continued to use the last name, Cruelle, then Juan was her guardian.

‘I don’t really want to be friends with him…’

In particular, the setting to reveal to be his woman was burdensome. She also felt uncomfortable with his previous actions.

‘Does he have a strange black heart for me?’

That was then.

Shuria, who was fighting with her, scolded Bella in a slightly harsh voice.

“…Lady Bella, do you have any other thoughts while fighting with me?”

“…Yes?”

As she saw Bella swinging her sword while thinking differently, she felt the difference. At first, the surprise battle was fun though if it was a hundred, it was a hundred. She would be completely defeated. And, there was no hope of winning.

So, rather, she had asked for a sparring session for as little as 30 minutes and as long as an hour a day.

“When you fight with me, you have to think only of me.”

Bella almost had a nosebleed at those words.

‘…Wow, is this a girl crush?’

When Shuria confronted Rosanne, she seemed to understand why there were so many people on her side.

She believed that if this person became the Empress, the Empire would be vigorous. Meanwhile, while Bella was so mesmerized, Iwer was watching her from the second floor, sniffing her nose through the window.

“Oh my gosh. Miss, isn’t she completely in love with that girl?”

“….”

“Young Master. Do you think Miss likes girls?”

But, Kiehl coughed a few times and didn’t respond.

“Why are you here, Miss Iwer? We’re busy…”

The Imperial Palace did not know that Kiehl was staying with the Cruelle family. Officially, he was still managing the territories of Marquis Vivre from the outbuildings. The documents, of course, arrived a moment late, so the time he had to process them was tight.

“…Cough.”

“Kiehl, are you okay? You should get some rest.”

“I’ll finish this.”

However, immature Iwer, who did not know the circumstances of man, only felt frustrated with Kiehl, who came here and sat still.

“Young Master, do something. If the Miss really likes women, do you know how many rivals you have?”

“….”

“Me! Pur! That girl! That’s three…!”

It wasn’t even worth answering.

“What if you stay still and lose her!”

“Miss Iwer. Too noisy. He’s not Young Master anymore, but His Highness.”

“You do it! Don’t teach me!”

As Iwer huffed out, silence came.

“…Ha. Rinne, can’t we just bring the documents with Bella’s radio magic?”

“Wow, that’s a pretty good idea, isn’t it? Then, I’ll invent it…”

“If you succeed, it’s your contribution, so take it all—Cough.”

When he started coughing again, Kiehl coughed without stopping. It had been two weeks since he came to Cruelle. He hadn’t slept at night and was working hard to keep his eyes from falling out.

Rio opened with worried eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just go back? You’re going to die.”

…To do that, he must return Bella’s heart.

“Now that Miss Iwer is gone, it’s time for Miss Teddy Bear to come.”

The demons came to Kiehl’s room and fooled around every day. While Bella, whom he wanted to come, never came.

“Rinne, go out and study the magic with Jenkins.”

“Okay.”

And after a while, another knock was heard in Kiehl’s room.

Rinne couldn’t speak as if he was surprised to see the visitor, but Kiehl quickly raised his head.

‘…Bella?’

However, there was a really unexpected person standing there.

“How have you been?”

“…Sir Juan Cruell.”

He couldn’t see Bella’s single hair. How come only unwelcome people come?

“You must have been well, because you have found her.”

Kiehl was quite uncomfortable with Juan.

“I didn’t know you’d take the person who ran away as an adopted daughter to the Cruelle family.”

“….”

Because he knew how long Kiehl had been looking for Bella. He used to hold it like a weakness and tease him. It was true that Bella suddenly took off all her belongings and disappeared one morning. Still, he never wanted to think of it as an escape.

“Juan Cruell. What is going on?”

“I came here to say thank you. Who would have known that what you were so desperately looking for was hiding in the house as it was dark under the lamp?”

“…There would be no reason for you to find Bella.”

“Is that how I feel?”

Juan remembered Bella laughing at his ‘bride joke’ a while ago. And, when he kissed the back of her hand, she shyly ran away.

“By the way, it seems that she is showing some interest in me. Would that be alright?”

She obviously looked at him and fell in love with him. At that, Kiehl’s pen signing the paperwork stopped, and he frowned.

“I’m talking for Sir’s sake. If you make a mistake by yourself, you will only be embarrassed later.”

At his words, Juan just shrugged his shoulders and said his greeting before turning around again. As soon as he left, Kiehl coughed up again.

“…Cough.”

“Sir Juan interested in Miss Bella now?”

He had known since long ago that Juan was interested.

“Isn’t it a little… dangerous?”

“… Absolutely.”

Kiehl’s match wasn’t Juan Cruell…

It was Bella herself.

“After all, Bella won’t even notice.”

“Kuhk. Our Highness’ cliche romance is about to begin.”

Nonetheless, there was something more complicated than a cliche romance. It was starting the cliche work in itself.

What kind of meeting place was this…?

After Juan left, Pur and Iwer came to play, and Zanbar came to find Jenkins.

“…I will die.”

In addition, without Rinee, work was delayed even more. Kiehl took a long sigh and stood up as Rio looked at him in surprise.

“Where are you going?”

“To Bella.”

“…Hey, what about all this?”

While Rio pointed to the papers that had made no progress, Kiehl had long since strode out. Not too far away was Bella’s room.

As Juan said, it was also true that he found the person who had escaped. He caught the person who was waiting to die in the Demon Realm and brought her here. It was he who brought someone who could have lived in the mansion as before, as the adopted daughter of the Cruell family.

Of course, he knew she had been busy since she came here.

‘…So, I tried not to look.’

Feeling sad is unavoidable.

The bears and the leopards all flock together, but how can Bella not come here?

“…Cough.”

Kiehl stood in front of Bella’s door, waited for the coughing to subside, and then knocked.

* * *

After fighting Shuri, Bella read the history book in her room as usual.

‘I didn’t know I had to even study the history of this fantasy world…’

It wasn’t bad, though.

She was living the life of a noble lady with a golden spoon, as she had hoped when she first possessed the novel. Because of that, she wanted to hold onto the newly acquired opportunity more firmly.

‘This way, I can be by Kiehl’s side.’

After all, it was a love story between Rosanne and Kiehl, so there seemed to be no problem. She hoped she could watch Kiehl’s happiness until the end of the novel.

The next moment, she could hear a knock on the door.

‘Is it that silvertail…?’

She tried to pretend she wasn’t inside.

“Bella, are you in?”

As soon as she heard Kiehl’s voice, she jumped to her feet.

“Kiehl!”

She took a step forward and swung the door open.

“Wow, I was just thinking…”

However, somehow, Kiehl’s complexion didn’t look good.

“…of you.”

As she tried to reach out her hand to see where he was in pain, Kiehl pushed her gently and closed the door before opening his mouth.

“Then, why didn’t you come?”

“Huh? Where…?”

Kiehl bit his lip, then blinked his eyes slightly.

“…To me.”

Bella was briefly speechless.

“That’s too much. How could you never come?”

“Well…”

Bella fiddled around the back of her neck and turned her gaze away.

“No, I didn’t go because… there’s nothing to do with you.”

“Do you have to come by for something?”

“Everyone says you are busy… I can’t just disturb you.”

Even so, that ‘everyone’ also went in and out of the busy Kiehl’s room like a playground for no reason. Bella asked, glancing at Kiehl’s face.

“Are you mad now?”

“Yes.”

Answering so, Kiehl grabbed Bella’s wrist and gently stroked it with his index finger.

“It’s not disturbing… Come see me.”

He used to be like a puppy, but now he’s like a big dog asking for a snack.

“Fftt.”

“…Are you laughing now?”

“Why are you so cute even though you’re all grown up?”

Even at his cold expression, she couldn’t contain her laughter.

“…I am not cute.”

“You’re so cute.”

Kiehl grabbed the tip of her chin in a cool way. It was not a joke, he was genuinely angry and upset.

“Kiss me if I’m cute.”