**Stalker Duchess Episode 15**
* * *
"Hey, wake up."
The moment I opened my eyes, they met the Crown Prince's, who was resting his chin on his hand, observing me intently.
What a treat for the eyes first thing in the morning. His face sparkled excessively, to the point of feeling burdensome.
"Get up quickly. We need to get moving soon."
Rubbing my eyes, I naturally asked the Crown Prince,
"When did you wake up?"
"Three hours ago."
"Pardon? You should've woken me. What have you been doing all this time?"
We needed to hurry to subjugate the non-human, yet I'd wasted three hours lost in deep sleep.
When I asked with a face full of apology, the Crown Prince reacted somewhat flustered.
Avoiding my eyes slightly, he said,
"Just... stayed here."
"...?"
In a cave containing nothing but me and a pile of leaves besides himself, he'd just stayed put for three hours.
"Anyway! Pull yourself together and come out quick!"
With that, he shot up and strode out of the cave.
What was that? I had no idea why he was mad again.
His profile, glimpsed just before he turned, had been red.
Was he upset that I'd slept too much?
He didn't seem that petty.
Glancing down, I noticed the leaf bed where the Crown Prince had been sitting was deeply indented.
A trace of having sat there for quite a while.
...Nah, no way.
Just because my body changed didn't make me a narcissist. What's fun about staring at the sleeping face of a woman he hates?
If anything, he'd prefer gazing at his own reflection by the lake.
Having convinced myself, I decided not to dwell further on what the Crown Prince had done during the three hours I slept.
Stepping out of the cave, I saw the Crown Prince's back, standing as if nothing had happened. He gazed down at the cliff below with an inscrutable expression.
After scanning our surroundings, I said to him,
"By the way, which way do we go? In the middle of the forest like this, we won't know where our comrades are."
"I cast a tracking spell on that non-human's body. Since it was injured, it's probably returned to its nest. The spell will lift automatically when it dies. With such severe wounds, it could die anytime, so no surprise there. We'll rendezvous later—first, we chase it like this."
I nodded politely, listening attentively, but froze upon detecting a massive flaw in his words.
"Then what about me?"
"Didn't you hear? We're chasing it like this."
"......"
He furrowed his brow slightly, as if telling me not to ask twice.
I racked my brain, quickly explaining my shortcomings—reasons I couldn't follow the Crown Prince—in a way he'd accept.
"I have no abilities, so I won't help at all. Plus, I'm injured, so I'll just be a hindrance. Better if I stay somewhere safe—"
"Where in this world is safer than by my side?"
"......"
At his confident words, I swallowed my retort.
A bit cocky, but the Crown Prince was undeniably right.
Left alone in the heart of Ater Forest, now a non-human den, I'd inevitably face another attack.
With Distian's location unknown, ironically, the safest choice was following the Crown Prince into the non-human lair.
Sighing, I trailed after the Crown Prince, who eyed me as if asking why I wasn't coming.
I'd been silently following two steps behind the Crown Prince for a while when he suddenly spoke first.
"...Sorry."
"Pardon?"
"For wrecking your shoulder... I didn't know it'd turn out like that."
"It's fine."
Dismissing it lightly, as if no big deal, his brow furrowed.
His steps halted abruptly.
My response seemed to irk him again.
Glared at me with dissatisfaction, he scolded,
"I'm sincerely apologizing to you. Don't brush it off so lightly. To begin with, you...!"
I've felt it before, but this Crown Prince has a short fuse. The novel described him as cool-headed.
Sensing another long lecture incoming, I deliberately changed the subject.
"Aren't you hungry? Those fruits over there look edible."
Maybe too obvious, the Crown Prince stiffened, stared at me incredulously for a while, then irritably resumed walking.
From his direction, despite grumbling, he headed toward the tree fruits I'd just pointed out.
The moment I thought his short stature might not reach, he kicked the tree irritably, as if venting.
The fruits tumbled down from the impact.
I stared blankly.
The fruits rolled across the ground, settling before me.
"Eat."
"...Thank you."
I carefully picked one up and put it in my mouth.
Impossible to pin down if he was kind or not.
Munching the apple-like fruit crisply, I followed the Crown Prince.
Mechanically chewing without thought, he suddenly stopped, and I bumped into his back.
"What's wrong?"
Turning, he chin-gestured at something.
Squinting where he pointed, I saw only the same dense forest we'd passed—no different.
"...?"
Tilting my head in confusion, he frowned dissatisfied.
With a frustrated expression, he suddenly reached out to me.
Bracing for pain, fearing another break, I tensed—but luckily, he stopped before touching.
"......"
Looking up cautiously, the Crown Prince gazed at my huddled form with complex emotions in his eyes.
Clearing my throat as if nothing happened, I straightened up.
Forcing a nonchalant expression, I said,
"What is it?"
"...Follow me."
Staring at me inscrutably for a while, he lowered his hand, clenching his empty fist tightly.
As instructed, I closely tailed him.
How long had we walked? The being he'd spotted came into my view too.
"Uh......"
An elf. A child elf.
Recognizable even from afar.
Pointed ears, skin white as if glowing, and above all...
Wow, amazing. I'd thought the Crown Prince was pretty, but this was on another level.
"So pretty......"
"Huh?"
Elves were the world's most beautiful race.
I stared entranced at the elf child's wondrously beautiful face.
Despite the distance, captivated by the pheromones emanating from the elf's body.
The Crown Prince scolded beside me, but it didn't register.
In my life, nothing had ever made my heart race like this.
Then, the distant elf child turned toward us.
"...!"
Meeting my eyes, the elf widened them like a startled rabbit, then approached curiously.
Elves are curious, often becoming targets of other races.
Especially young ones, freshly born—their curiosity unmatched.
As the elf drew nearer, my heart pounded wildly.
When close enough to touch, I lost reason and...
"What are you doing?!"
The Crown Prince yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling me away. Startled but pain-free—he'd controlled his strength.
"Gasp."
Feeling his blocking hand, I snapped back to sanity.
W-what had I almost done...
If he hadn't stopped me, I'd have unwittingly reached out, enchanted.
World's most beautiful race—merely seeing one nearly made me, numb to most things, lose control.
Turning to thank the Crown Prince who'd held my reason, he stood with a face angrier than ever, like reuniting after ages.
Grinding his teeth audibly, he said,
"Can't get enough if the face is pretty, huh?"
"Pardon?"
"......"
At his out-of-nowhere interrogation, I countered as if he'd lost his mind, but he just glared resentfully, breathing heavily, offering no answer.
