Chapter 44

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Chapter 44

Whether he cared about my sharp glare or not, the booger king looked at me with a soft smile on his lips.

“May I have this dance?”

Seven years had passed, but I could still remember how flippantly he could threaten people.

I’m sure he knows who I am. Why is he approaching me?

I wanted to find out, so I accepted his request.

I had to know why he kidnapped me and how he hid himself so thoroughly that even the Duke couldn’t find him. Then after all that, why did he appear in front of me again?

Because of everything I was thinking, I never knew how severely Lucian was glaring at him.

When I offered my hand without answering him directly, he took my hand willfully.

We walked to the middle of the hall, all eyes on us.

As we went, I muttered under my breath.

“Hey, kidnapper. Why’re you here?”

As we reached the center, we faced each other and I placed one hand on his shoulder as he held my waist, then he took my other hand.

Before the orchestra played the music, he leaned forward and whispered into my ear.

“I’m very grateful to you. I never even guessed that my father was someone living in the palace.”

Damn it.

I really didn’t know that it’s going to be this way.

Why did the Emperor accept him as his son?

I’m sure that the Crown Prince didn’t stay still either.

As I contemplated, the orchestra finally began, and we gradually started dancing to the waltz.

I’m a bit confident with my dancing, and so I moved gracefully along with the booger king’s lead.

And I didn’t forget to whisper in return.

“I can’t believe even a kidnapper can turn into a prince. I’m so worried about the future of the Empire that I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well at night.”

I spoke with as much sarcasm as I could muster, but he held my hand tightly and twirled me around as though he wasn’t even affected.

While spinning, I stopped the moment he held me by the waist. Then, a subtle scent mixed with his voice as he spoke close to my ear.

“If it’s like that, then aren’t you a perpetrator who tried to kill an Imperial Family member?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The sauce you poured into my eyes. It’s difficult to eat it as it is, why did you have to throw it in my eyes?”

“…Isn’t that better than pointing a blade at another person?”

I made a rebuttal without backing down. Elliot smiled brightly, grabbed my waist and tilted me downwards as he spoke.

“I won’t do that anymore.”

“How can I trust you?” I retorted as he pulled me back up.

He stayed relaxed as he spun around in a big circle with me.

When did he learn how to dance? I didn’t want to admit it, but he’s surprisingly good at this.

It hasn’t been long since I myself learned, but I don’t know when this guy found the time to learn.

“Isn’t that something a ducal princess wouldn’t say? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to hear you say that. This place is so boring.”

He came so close that the tips of our noses almost touched, then he turned his head to the side—as if he would kiss me—then continued.

“What if I tell you that I became a prince because I wanted to meet you again? Will you believe me?”

“This crazy punk.”

“Pfft—”

Our dance came to an end with me swearing. The pounding heartbeats I heard were very unpleasant because we were still so close to each other.

I didn’t want to admit that my heart ever pounded for this guy.

After curtsying, I quickly returned to Lucian.

Lucian stood blankly as he watched the prince dancing with his sister.

As he watched her return after finishing the song, everyone around him grew excited and started chattering.

The Imperial Prince and the Ducal Princess danced together during the debutante ball, so this was the natural response.

A young lady and a young lord, both unmarried and each with questionable pasts… They kept saying that it was hard to deny that they matched well.

Lucian, who never really minded what people said around him, quietly clenched his hands into fists as he heard this.

He wanted to dance with her during her debut. He had been looking forward to it with so much anticipation.

But some bastard stole her first dance and took her away. It felt like his eyes had gotten blurred with rage.

Everyone was busy looking at Rachel with venom in their eyes.

If he could, he wanted to kill everyone.

Enzo reacted to his overflowing emotions.

—Do you want me to kill them for you? I detest the Imperial Family.

Lucian was swayed by the tempting words.

It would be easy for him to fulfill his murderous urges with Enzo’s abilities.

Before a black tint almost overtook his brilliant golden irises completely, Rachel came back.

Hugging his arm with both of hers, she spoke.

“Brother, come dance with me.”

In fact, Rachel also wanted to have her first dance with her brother.

She loathed the fact that she had to dance with the trash booger king when she could perfectly just go ahead and dance with her bias affectionately. But then she wanted to know what that guy’s intentions were when he entered the palace.

However, Lucian was uncomfortable right now. She’s always lovely in his eyes, but he hated watching her with him.

“Honestly, I wanted my first dance to be with you, Brother.”

Rachel also wanted to reject the booger king’s invitation to dance. Looking up at Lucian, who was quietly staring at her, she whispered quietly.

“Do you remember when we were young? We went to a banquet and danced together in the garden.”

“…I remember.”

Lucian remembered those memories from more than seven years ago.

At that time, he still thought of Rachel as someone troublesome. So even if they went to a banquet hall together, he headed out to the garden and left her alone.

But then Rachel followed him out.

The full moon was bright, so he could remember Rachel’s face clearly.

Her flushed cheeks, her lovely smile that reached her eyes, and her shy hesitance as she held his hand tightly while they danced.

Everything was clear, as though engraved in his mind.

“I remember.”

Lucian looked down at Rachel and saw the loving gaze that never changed from when she was younger.

He gulped. He had to restrain his throat that wished to let out a growl.

He covets her. He wants her. He wishes to be the only person who can see her.

All kinds of emotions swirled within him, but his expression did not change.

“Please dance with me, Brother.”

As she pleaded again, Lucian grabbed her waist.

There was a young lord who was about to step up and ask to dance with her, but he immediately backed down and lamented.

Because they were family, these men did not consider Lucian as competition anyway.

Lucian led her to the dance floor. As they stepped towards the center, he began to move according to the orchestra’s melody.

Originally, they had to hold each other’s hand, and the shoulder or waist with a proper distance between them—but they moved closely together.

Rachel’s cheeks glowed pink, but he continued to draw her closer to himself.

He wanted them all to know.

They weren’t family. Yet.

“Ray.”

“Yes?”

Perhaps he wasn’t completely used to her yet. The moment she leaned on his shoulder and looked up at him, Lucian’s heart skipped a beat.

“My first dance is with you, too, Rachel.”

“Really?”

Yes. If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t even be interested in attending a banquet.

Without her, he wouldn’t even be in the same position.

When the Duke had separated him from Rachel, from some point on, he began his successorship lessons.

Starting from the day the Duke told Lucian to stay away from Rachel, Lucian’s attention was solely turned to attaining more power.

But it’s funny.

Doesn’t Lucian just need more power so that he could hold onto Rachel tightly?

No matter how much he thought about it, his father was too lenient. Even though his father hated him so much, Lucian was given all the lessons that an heir must learn.

And yet, there were many times when the gaze that his father had for him would be filled with contempt or reluctance.

Lucian was aware that the Duke was projecting the previous Duke’s image onto Lucian.

That’s why he went ahead and tried to imitate his grandfather who he couldn’t even remember clearly. He wanted to engrave this loathsome silhouette in his father’s mind so that his father would be more fearful of him.

The desire for acceptance became a desire for dominance. The more he became greedy for Rachel, the more he saw his father as a bothersome bug who dares interfere.

To match the increasingly intense accompanying music, Lucian turned with Rachel in his arms sharply just in time to the beat. When her fluttering blue dress settled back in place, he took her hand.

As if he had planned it, he embraced her tightly and kissed her on the cheek.

From the lips that touched her skin, a thrilling sensation emerged. He could feel bliss stirring within him.

“Congratulations on becoming an adult.”

With his heart moved by many different emotions, he congratulated her. He was truly happy that Rachel had become an adult.

From afar, Lucian and Rachel were watched.

Elliot stood languidly against a wall. The young ladies around him kept trying to catch his gaze, but the only one in his sight was Rachel. She had been a scrawny kid the last time he saw her, but now, she grew up as a fine lady.

He unconsciously lifted a hand to touch under his right eye.

“I experience hell because of you.”

He had witnessed others falling into hell. He even laughed at them because he had nothing to do with them.

“But I didn’t know I’d have to experience it, too.”

Maybe that’s why.

The reason he couldn’t forget that girl.

Wasn’t this only natural? His eyes still felt like they were on fire.

Otherwise, there’s no other reason why he wanted her so badly.

Elliot covered his lips with one hand. He stood with his posture upright to continue showing the demeanor of a prince—but underneath his palm, he couldn’t hide this wretched desire.

“Hmm, how suspicious.”

His purple eyes swept sharply towards Lucian, his hand gravitating to the place under his right eye again.

Just like Elliot, that person’s golden irises that were full of greed would not look away from Rachel.

Having to behave like the Emperor’s son was annoying, but he had to bear it all for power. There was no better position for him to be able to deal with those nobles.

The reason why he came to his father, who never even thought of meeting him again, was just so he could get what he wanted.

And he always got what he wanted.

Of course, this time, it will be the same.

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