Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Translator: wuttisyun

“My brother wields the sword better than most knights. Besides, he has the ‘Power of the Heirs’, who dares to mess with him?”

The ‘Power of the Heirs’?

My lips thinned as I frowned. What’s that?

“That’s why I didn’t need a knight escorting me but the Duke of Develo insisted on volunteering himself. That annoyed my brother very much. Since the Duke is always here, my brother got a little grumpy. He said something like ‘You’re being protected by someone weaker than me’. But I like how he wants to take that responsibility. But he’s sensitive to betrayal.”

“…”

“Ah. Now that I think about it. He also hates lies.”

“Lies?”

“That’s right. And he’s also very reluctant to tell the reason behind it. In fact, the scribes who were talking about it in his absence had never left their offices. I think my brother had cut off their useless tongues and that they died of bleeding!”

I nodded as he spoke before raising my head.

‘Hold on. Doesn’t that mean that if word goes out of what we are talking about now, we’ll be killed too?’

The Prince who was smiling refreshingly clearly knew this. … This crazy bastard?

“Well, does that mean now…”

“That’s right. I’m currently putting my life on the line. Aren’t you thankful?”

Completely not. No. Absolutely not. Never. When I thought about how I came all this way to survive, I could only resent Amor for now becoming the biggest yet the most beautiful thorn on my side.

I could barely keep my act of pity together as I endured the urge to grind my teeth.

“… I was just worried. Because you’re being too kind to me.”

“It’s fine. You deserve it.”

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Ah. The 4th Prince from the novel. I should have run away immediately. What the hell was I believing in when I came into his chambers? How could I have expected that such a beautiful prince would turn out to be such a beautiful bastard?

To me, you used to be a big friendly puppy. But now, you’re just a big son of a bitch. The table Amor was sitting at came up to slightly below my shoulders. Without warning, Amor’s hands patted my head. I looked at him in surprise.

“Anna.”

He grinned as if he knew I had been worried.

“I just realised. You look like someone I know.”

The face that his eyes that were looking at me were on was more pretty than handsome. Is this what they meant by androgyny? Looking at his thin fingers that were grabbing me and his pale face that looked like he was going to pass out soon, I felt sorry for him.

“Who do you look like… All the people I know are nobles though.”

But at the same time, he exuded a warm sensitivity from his hollow cheeks, protruding cheekbones and his bulging collarbones.

“It’s an unparalleled honour for me to take after someone you know…”

I barely managed to answer on time. I was worried I would break out in cold sweat.

“You. You said you were Anna.”

Amor called for me and said ‘Anna’. As he mumbled my name several times, he looked like he was eating meat. His eyes glistened in the silence.

“Anna.”

The hand that had been grabbing the table moved.

“I also have something I’m curious about. That thing on your face, did you perhaps get hurt?”

When I felt his hand touch the place where my bandage was placed, I couldn’t help but stutter.

“Does it hurt?”

He asked without turning his smile off in this beautiful day.

“Ah. Yes. A little. I slipped and hurt myself while I was cleaning the floor.”

“Really? That’s why you should have been careful.”

His smiling face looked as friendly as ever but I had no idea what he was thinking. Like Eve’s forbidden fruit, I felt that I needed to be cautious around him.

I thought Dane would be the only one who would smile playfully but I guess I was wrong. That devilish smile fit Amor too well. The boy looked at me with a gaze that was as dry as birch wood. He whispered quietly.

“Anna.”

“… Yes?”

“My brother has a lot of people he hates so that’s why he treats the people close to him well. He treats them as if they were his one and only friend. Just look at how he cares for Hernan. Then again, when I was as small and as young as you are now, he would say that I was pretty and give me small and cute things… The only reason why I am alive right now is because of my brother.”

Then, his voice got smaller.

“The thing you have on your face, I have it too. I got hit by my brother once when I made a big mistake. He called me a troublesome little brother. He also said that he has been suffering because he was the first born.”

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“…”

“Funny, isn’t it? How he’s unexpectedly affectionate.”

Because he did that funny thing just 2 times, the Empire would be ruined. I can’t believe I had to nod to him saying how much he liked his older brother just because he didn’t kill his sick younger brother with his own fists. I immediately became anxious to leave this place. I could hear chattering noises of freedom and resignation behind me. He continued on, boasting about who his brother killed and how they died. After listening in for a while, I realised it was a meaningless talk.

The only thing that he was proud of his brother for was committing murder. Isn’t there a big problem?

As I was listening in with my mouth shut, the Prince suddenly raised his head.

“Gosh.”

Unknowingly, I followed Amor’s gaze.

“Let’s stop here. You’re late, aren’t you?”

Outside the wide open balcony, I could see the vivid colours of a plant. It was a willow tree that had wrapped itself around the marble pillars, brushing against the windows in the chambers. Seeing it being so intrusive was a little disgusting to look at.

Was it an illusion? Even when there was no wind, the leaves seemed to move.

“Anna.”

As I turned my head, I saw Amor who was dyed by the colours of the sunset.

“You can’t be late.”

I just blinked my eyes dumbly at his words which I couldn’t understand. As the sun sank outside the men, his cheeks were filled with colour. Every one of the princes here was incredibly handsome. It made my head ache.

“Terena Palace is quite far from here.”

I froze solid.

The Prince opened his mouth as if to say something but instead, he took something out of pocket with an unreadable expression. It was a pen.

He drew something on the paper he was playing with on the table before pushing it towards me.

“I’m the only one who knows this path but I’ll let you know since you’re special.”

My gaze burned as I looked at what the smiling face was looking at. It was a roughly drawn map.

“The way is quite long. You’ll have to leave quickly.”

“… Where do I have to go quickly?”

“The place you have to get back to. The palace located at the furthest west.”

Looks like I really didn’t hear him wrong.

The sunset behind Amor who was smiling calmly as what seemed like paint slowly spread across him. Just like what he said, it was time for me to go back. Very quickly.

When he rang the bell, the knight who was situated outside came in and bowed his head.

“If there is going to be a next time, I hope you can come over again.”

“…”

He turned away as if he didn’t want my answer. Instinctively, I clutched the empty tray until my hands turned white.

‘Let’s quickly leave.’

I quickened my pace. The long skirt wrapped around my ankles, creating a rough feeling. I secretly brought the empty tableware to the kitchen before hurrying out of Amor’s Palace.

Kung!

I took a deep breath as I squatted on the ground. I tried to relax.

Hu. Ha. Hu. Ha.

I took long deep breaths.

There were many things in the world that happened by chance. It’s like seeing the face of a classmate you really hated working in the same company, seeing your boyfriend walking alongside a co-workers girlfriend during work-related meetings, or meeting your first love unexpectedly in a faraway country. Whatever it was, it’s all a matter of probability.

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So, I shouldn’t be flustered that there was a shortcut to the Terena Palace from Terret Palace.

I slowly wiped my face.

‘Dane and Fleon already knew that they had a younger sister before they met me.’

That must be it. Yes, that’s it. To be honest, no matter how abandoned I was, there must have been someone who knew me in this vast palace.

Just like how I knew them, I thought they might know me as well at some point.

The spiteful prince only revealed that he knew of my existence in a more thrilling way than I had expected.

Since this was a novel, this kind of thing can happen.

As I consoled myself, I unravelled the map Amor had handed to me in goodwill. Let’s leave quickly. It’s quite a long way back but thinking about Anna who was stuck in her room stomping her feet, I’ll have to quicken my pace.

“That’s about it.”

Amor’s map was difficult to decipher and determine whether he was actually good at drawing because some of the lines he drew intersected one another.

Although I managed to escape from his palace, since the path was difficult to navigate, I realised that I was barely walking on the same path as the one on the map.

“I was supposed to go left from his palace, right?”

I was just about to turn the corner and pass the palace as mentioned in the directions before I heard someone whispering. The voice was getting closer. A baritone. Such a tone was hard to find in my palace. It sounds like it’s a knight.

The low and slightly higher-pitched voices were getting closer. Either way, I had to focus on the directions.

‘Well, this is the right way, right?’

I finally found the way before raising my head. I wanted the black shadow in front of me to move away but what remained in front of me remained dark.

When I looked up, I was faced with a tall man. Around the man’s shoulders, there seems to be hair that was as white as snow.

… Hair as white as snow?

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Ah.

“Who’s this?”

I bowed my head quickly. I lost my grip on the white paper as it fell under my feet on the grass. I realised what was going on around me so I quickly shut my mouth.

My heart was pounding.

“… Is it a maid?”

“I’m not sure.”

His straight trousers caved at a sharp angle, hugging his waist tightly. A black shirt. My eyes travelled upwards slowly. You can’t. Don’t lift my head! Feeling as if I just climbed a tree, I met eyes with a man who was exuding masculinity.

‘No way.’

Even though I didn’t want to see him, I couldn’t overcome my curiosity.

“… What if I don’t know her?”

I could hear the man with quite a big build snorting at the white-haired Duke.

“I’m not sure.”

His voice seemed to scrape the bottom of the floor. His voice was very deep like that of a bass in my previous life. It sounded like the devil’s whisper, making me feel both horror and ecstasy at the same time.

I squatted in a hurry and picked up the map I had dropped. I looked up again even though I knew I should have stopped staring. He was dressed in a comfortable shirt. His loose clothes revealed his collarbones and it was buttoned messily.

My brain felt like it was running out of my head. Just thinking that I needed to get as far away from his face as possible, I reached out my hands.

“What should I do since I don’t know her?”

His dark hair fluttered making it look dark blue instead. The straight eyebrows that were beneath his dark hair were revealed. Since I had celebrities in my previous life, I knew how to keep realistic expectations. But his beauty seemed to be unmatched by any scenery, the universe, or anything I had actually experienced. He was so beautiful it’d be too awkward to call him just that.

The man leaned onto the shoulders of the man whose white hair greatly contrasted his. He opened his eyes as they were and looked at me with his brilliantly golden eyes without a hint of a smile.

His eyes were deep and captivating. His hand gestures. His body movements. The flickering of his eyes. All the small movements he made were bewitching, especially the inhumanely golden eyes.

A chilly wind blew, and the black cloak that had been covering him fluttered along with it.

The man donned a look of boredom as he stared at me. But in front of that breathtakingly beautiful man, I could only feel as if I was drowning in him.

This was a novel. But I didn’t want to be involved in its development.

—Castor Dje Kaltanias.

The crazy Crown Prince was right in front of my eyes.