Chapter 98

The man, who grabbed the fallen Julia and carried her lightly on his shoulder, murmured.

“I didn't know she came with knights. This situation is bothering me.”

They were successful in luring Julia into the mansion (*the mansion in Vanosa) and made her lose consciousness, however, it was unexpected that her knights were lurking outside the mansion.  As if waiting for Julia to appear, her knights were waiting in hiding everywhere.

Looking through the window, the Marchioness retorted.

"We just need to bring this girl before His Majesty the Emperor. The knights seem to be unaware of the situation here, so we can send out a bait.”

The Marchioness looked at Julia, who collapsed under sleeping pills.

Poor and foolish, Julia was deceived by the lie that her mother was dying, and ran all the way here in a month.

She didn't expect the knights to come with Julia, but at least it was lucky that the Grand Duke didn’t come.

Because of the worry that her illegitimate status would be discovered, Julia kept it secretly.

That made things very easy.

"You and the rest, lure the knights away. In the meantime, we'll leave for the Imperial Palace."

The Marchioness gave her orders skillfully, pointing at several men and maids standing in the room.

By disguising a maid as Julia, it would buy them some time.

If she brought Julia to the imperial palace safely, her job would be done successfully. A vicious smile crept across her wrinkled lips.  Soon, at her command, her servants scattered in all directions.

In the meantime, the man, who stayed behind, put Julia into a large luggage bag.

***

Slowly, her body sank down on the bed.

Julia, who finally came to her senses, noticed that the whole place was blocked by cloth, and seemed to be trapped in something like a bag.

Julia unconsciously grabbed her neck as it was difficult to breathe.

“Ugh……  ”

Julia groaned painfully a few times, ‘That's it.'  and a faint murmur was heard.

Then someone skillfully untied the straps of her sack in which she was trapped.

Then, as the air opened up, her vision suddenly brightened.

"She didn't have to bring you in harshly, Marchioness Elody is truly merciless."

An unfamiliar voice landed in her ear.  Julia took a deep breath and slowly raised her head.  A large, unfamiliar room and a familiar man standing in front of her.

Julia was well aware who this man was.

“…Crown Prince?”

He was definitely the Crown Prince.  ‘Why is this person in front of me?’ Julia was confused. She continued to breathe heavily, trying to figure out the situation somehow.

Her biological mother was in the Vanosa’s mansion, and she headed there without hesitation. But the woman in there was not her mother, but the Marchioness.

Before she could ask anything, she fainted, so she couldn't remember how she got here.

Naturally, she didn't even know why the Marchioness had brought her here.

Julia grabbed the hem of her dress tightly with her trembling hands.

The Crown Prince, who was staring at her, smiled.

“There is nothing to be afraid of. I have no intention of harming you.”

His half-moon-curved eyes shone harmlessly, but his gaze was as insidious as he slowly scanned her body.

Julia, who couldn't open her mouth easily, finally spoke slowly.

“Why did His Majesty bring me here? Even kidnapped me like this.. …  ”

She tried to remain as calm as possible, but her voice was inevitably trembling faintly.

The Crown Prince smiled.

“Because you’re useful.”

The Crown Prince gently lifted her chin with his long fingers.  His eyes were attentive, as if looking at his prey.

Julia reflexively shook off his hand that touched her.

She felt very repulsed by his unpleasant touch. She stepped back, biting her lips.

The Crown Prince gently moved his hand and straightened his bent body.  The smile on his lips was still the same.

“Well, let’s talk about your usefulness, shall we?”

The Crown Prince sat quietly in a chair near her bed.

With his legs crossed, he continued speaking.

“Before that, I have a lot of questions about the Grand Duchess.”

The Crown Prince, who was swinging his feet up and down, tilted his head slowly.

“Have you been living in the Grand Duke’s castle?”

Julia couldn't figure out the intent of his question, so she just kept silent.

The Crown Prince kept muttering as if he had no intention of hearing her answers.

“I don’t understand. Why did the Grand Duke keep you secretly hidden…?”

Hidden…  ?  Julia frowned as she bit her lips, not understanding what the Crown Prince was talking about.

“If he brought you back after you ran away, why didn’t he put you back in your original position of the Grand Duchess?”

“… ”

“Oh, did you not want it?”

Even though Julia didn't say a word, the Crown Prince, who seemed to be convinced by her silence, nodded his head.

“Well, you ran away and were brought back, so there is no reason to go back to that position again.”

Julia couldn't understand a single word the Crown Prince was speaking.

Now the Crown Prince was talking as if she had escaped and was brought back to Fernan.

Julia, who quietly chewed his words, felt a throbbing sensation in her forehead.

As if something sharp had hit, the headache was intense.

Fragments of her memory, which suddenly jumped out of her haphazardly, were pounding hard on her head.

“Hey, I still have a lot of questions, so don’t be sick.”

The Crown Prince murmured as he watched Julia wrapped her trembling hand on her forehead.

He then got up and went to the door.

The Crown Prince inserted the key into the doorknob and opened the door.

“Bring her maid.  Oh, the doctor too.”

After giving a brief order, the Crown Prince closed the door again.

Julia looked at him with difficulty and then lowered her head.  Her mind was a mess.

Memories she never knew came pouring out and randomly mixed with her present memories.

She couldn't tell what was the truth and what was a dream.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince returned and sat in his seat, lowering his head.

Julia, who had been buried in the fragments of her memories, slowly raised her head.

The Crown Prince made eye contact with her and spoke to her in his most gentle voice.

“You only need to know one thing, that you just have to stay here quietly for a few days.”

“…”

“When things go well, you will be rewarded with great rewards.”

Julia barely held onto her mind, which had not calmed down, and looked the Crown Prince in the eyes.

His eyes were very familiar to her. Greedy, cruel….

She was holding her breath without saying a word, and then she grabbed her hands tightly.

She still couldn't grasp the situation.  But she knew instinctively that she had to stay alert.

Julia lowered her gaze, revealing her face as calm as possible.  The Crown Prince, who was watching her closely, asked subtly.

“Are you calm now?”

As she faced the Crown Prince again, Julia asked back in a quiet voice.

“What benefit does the Crown Prince have with me being here?”

At her question, the Crown Prince gently stroked his chin with a meaningful expression.

"Well…."

The Crown Prince, who had a crooked smile, spoke slowly but somehow meaningfully.

“The size of the profit will vary depending on how much you are worth to the Grand Duke.”

Grand Duke…Surprised by the unexpected remark, Julia asked again.

“Are you trying to use me to harm His Highness? Why…  ”

What the Crown Prince’s intention now was clear. He was taking her hostage and asking for something from Fernan.

Fernan was the Crown Prince’s cousin.  Just as she was about to ask him why he was hostile to him, the Crown Prince responded as sharp as knives.

“Why? Because I don’t like that b*stard.”

Of course, it was difficult to define the hostility the Crown Prince had toward Fernan in one sentence.

The Crown Prince has been weighed down for a long time due to his defeat against Fernan since he was very young.

A long time ago, such a word was secretly circulating.  If the Crown Prince’s father had not passed away due to an accident, the present imperial family would have had a stronger foundation.

His cousin Fernan was said to be more worthy of the throne than the current Crown Prince.

Comparisons by those around him were getting worse day by day, and in the meantime, the Crown Prince's hostility towards Fernan was also growing day by day.

A moment of cynicism passed the Crown Prince's relaxed face.

"Isn't it the same for you? I also knew how cold he was to you in the past."

“… ”

“That’s why you ran away. Because you hated him and were sick of him."