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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: His True Eyes
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I shot him a sidelong glance and said.
“You mean separate beds, right?”
“Well, that’s a shame, because I’m curious to see your expression while I tell you this.”
“What on earth do you want to talk about?”
It was the kind of thing that scared me before I even heard it. I can control my expression, right?
“It’s nothing much. Just…”
A smile played on Darcy’s lips.
“Just know that I’m telling you this because I trust you.”
His words completely washed away my suspicions.
A story that could only be told because we trusted each other. The tension that had coiled inside me began to unwind.
In the end, I lay on my side like him and gazed at Darcy.
The bed was larger than a king-size, so there was some distance between us, but we were still facing each other in the same bed.
“We have plenty of time to talk, so I’ll take it slow. For today…”
One of his hands moved toward his eye.
“How about I start by showing you my real eyes?”
What did he mean, show me his real eyes? I found it hard to understand what he was saying.
Darcy, who was lying down and looking at me, raised a hand and took something out of his eye.
When I looked up at him again, I froze at the change in his eye color.
Red and blue shimmered together in a mysterious way. Sweeping his hair back, he blinked and then asked. The faint smile on his lips was gone.
“Does this look like a curse to you, too?”
His voice, which began with an uncharacteristic silence, was terribly low.
“Do I look strange or frightening to you right now?”
I observed his eyes intently.
“If you do, just say so. I can’t show you if you don’t like it.”
“…”
“I wanted to tell you what I’ve been hiding. Since you trust me, I felt I had to show you something in return.”
But he never said he would distance himself from me.
He simply waited for my answer.
This must have been why he wanted to see my expression change.
Even here, odd eyes were rare. Being rare meant you were outside the bounds of normalcy, and such people were often ostracized.
I had only ever encountered them in books. But I felt no sense of strangeness. If anything, this suited Darcy better.
The silence that fell as I observed him felt uncharacteristically impatient. Was this one of the reasons he didn’t want to meet people?
I smiled at him.
“They suit you.”
The colors were as beautiful as a blue sky and a sunset.
At my words, Darcy’s eyes widened, and then he smiled, more brilliantly than a flower.
Darcy let out a soft breath and replied.
“I thought I’d be fine even if you said you didn’t like it… but I was a little nervous.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
Darcy shot me a slight glare. It was a resentful look, as if to say, “How could you say that when you knew?” but I didn’t mind it.
“Anyway, I never knew it would feel this good to hear my eyes are pretty. Say it again.”
“They’re pretty. So, what’s the reason you came back?”
“…It doesn’t sound as sincere as before.”
“I’m being sincere.”
When I glared back at him, Darcy said he understood and got up.
Leaning against the headboard, he continued.
“My plans haven’t gone awry. However… I’ve decided to extend my time here.”
“Why?”
He had seemed so determined to leave; there must have been a reason for his change of heart. I wondered if it was a bad one.
“I overheard your conversation with the Marquis the other day.”
“My conversation with the Marquis…”
“The Emperor is trying to set you up with Ryan, isn’t he?”
Ugh. I sighed as soon as I heard that. So that’s what he heard before he left.
But in the next moment, I paused.
What does that have to do with Darcy?
My relationship with Darcy was contractual. We both respected each other and maintained appropriate boundaries, but that was all. Our relationship was nothing more, nothing less.
And yet, that was the reason he didn’t leave.
Ah, could it be related to him calling Ryan his brother?
“Is it because of Ryan?”
Darcy, who was resting his chin on his hand, nodded.
“I can’t say it’s not because of Ryan.”
“If he’s your brother…”
“Do we look alike?”
“No.”
I immediately denied Darcy’s words. The idea of him and *that* Ryan looking alike… I felt sorry just thinking about it.
“You’re too good to be compared to him.”
After my strong denial, Darcy gave a slight smile and lowered his gaze.
“Why not? I could be even worse trash than him.”
“…”
“I haven’t shown you much of myself, Marso.”
“What if I saw sincerity in that small part of you?”
“…”
It was the same when he took me to the movie theater because he knew I was feeling down, and when he made it so I could listen to my favorite music here.
“Trash doesn’t even know it’s trash.”
“Is that so?”
Darcy replied, propping his chin on his hand again, and seemed to be in a good mood. Maybe it was because I had taken his side.
“We have the same father, but different mothers. I was born first, so Ryan is indeed my younger brother. I wasn’t brainwashed or anything. It’s just a fact I was hiding from you.”
I remembered the palace we visited before teleporting here. The overgrown weeds, grass, and bushes made it hard to believe the place was managed at all. A rundown space that hadn’t even been properly repaired.
Darcy lived there.
“Because I was a person who didn’t exist in this world.”
Hearing him say that with a heavy sigh, I thought I finally understood why I had never known about him.
“The reason I was planning to leave…”
The reason I couldn’t find him in the book. The reason none of the characters knew Darcy.
“Was because Kies was going to kill me.”
It was because he was already a dead man.
“Fortunately, I didn’t die.”
Was it because of my stiff expression? The serious mood Darcy had adopted lightened. But I couldn’t bring myself to smile with him.
I had vaguely suspected it. But hearing it directly was a different matter; the shock was considerable.
The person who had breathed, talked, and made memories with me was someone who was really supposed to die.
“I survived thanks to you.”
“What did I even do?”
“You provided the magic stones and gave me a hint.”
Darcy pulled something from behind his back. Its surface, made of magic stone, shimmered faintly. It looked like a pistol.
“Ultimately, I was able to make it using magic thanks to you, but it’s a weapon that doesn’t require me to use my own power.”
“…You never thought of making a weapon?”
“This kind of weapon doesn’t exist here at all. It was a brilliant idea, Marso.”
“…You’re too kind.”
I was relieved that a passing comment of mine could save him. And Darcy, who had managed to create this from a simple hint about a gun, was far more amazing than I was.
He was the most brilliant genius I knew. If someone like him was a hidden prince, he was more than capable of threatening Ryan’s position.
“But it’s still dangerous, isn’t it? As long as His Majesty the Emperor is alive. Shouldn’t you leave again?”
The fact that he hadn’t left, that he had returned here to talk with me, meant he had overcome the threat to his life.
“No, it’s fine. He won’t be able to kill me.”
“…Huh?”
It was unlikely that Kies, who had refused to acknowledge him for so long, would suddenly have a change of heart just because he survived once.
“He swore to acknowledge me as a prince from now on. I’ll even be competing with Ryan for the position of crown prince.”
“Shouldn’t you leave again?”
“No, I stayed here to become a prince.”
“…But you said he tried to kill you?”
“He won’t be able to from now on. I have a firm grasp on his weakness.”
He was smiling brightly as he answered, but I could already guess the story behind it wasn’t so pleasant.
I decided not to press him for details.
Darcy had his own circumstances. I had to respect that.
So, the threat to his life was gone, and that’s why he decided to stay. Looking at his current situation, it made sense.
He was a prince who hadn’t been acknowledged and had even overcome a death threat; of course he would want to reclaim his rights now.
I also understood why he had been sneering at Ryan earlier, constantly bringing up the fact that he was his brother.
“But that’s not the reason I stayed.”
However, his sudden denial left me dumbfounded.
After talking all about Ryan, he was saying that wasn’t the main reason.
“It’s because I couldn’t bear to see you and Ryan get married.”
His narrowed eyes stared at me intently.
“I wondered why that might be…”
My breath caught for a moment. I unconsciously clutched my racing heart and waited for his answer.
Why?
Why couldn’t he bear to see me and Ryan together?
Even though I knew it was natural for him to hold a grudge against Ryan as his half-brother, I still asked the question.
And I had to ask myself a question, too.
Why am I asking this?
What exactly do I want from my relationship with Darcy?
“I can’t bear to see you suffer.”
He continued, as if to resolve my unspoken question.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever truly interacted with, the first person I’ve gotten to know.”
The word “first” always carries a deep meaning. If Darcy had lived in hiding, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to form a proper connection with anyone.
Thinking about it now, my request must have piqued his interest. To discuss confinement in front of someone who had lived his life confined.
For some reason, I felt embarrassed, and my face flushed.
“And you’re also the best person I know.”
His praise made me feel as if I were someone special, though I’m just an ordinary person. I replied awkwardly.
“We haven’t even known each other that long.”
“Just know that I’ve figured you out just as much as you’ve labeled me a good person.”
I could see he wasn’t going to let me have the last word, but I didn’t feel bad about it.
“Ryan is too much of a dog… no, too untrustworthy for you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him catching himself before he swore. It seemed that no matter how well he dressed, he was still the same person I knew.
It was only then that it truly sank in that Darcy was back.
It’s not easy to understand each other in such a short time and define someone as a person who fits you.
I had to be grateful for it.
“Thank you for your concern. But I don’t want to be too much of a burden to you. The Marquis’s family isn’t weak, and besides, Ryan already has a lover.”
Even if he went along with the Emperor’s wishes for now, I knew better than anyone that Ryan would ultimately choose Reshuan.
That was a fact that wouldn’t change, no matter what parts of the original story were altered.
“It’s ridiculous that a son of a bitch with a lover would even show up in the first place.”
I froze at Darcy’s expressionless mumble. It was a completely different face from the one I knew.
The remnants of long-suppressed emotions flickered into view for a moment before disappearing.
Darcy’s eyes widened, and he gently covered his mouth with his hand before apologizing.
“Sorry for the vulgar language. Anyway, that’s why I didn’t leave right away.”
Not leaving “right away” implied he would leave eventually. But if he was acknowledged as a prince, people would naturally come to know of him, wouldn’t they?
“Then when are you planning to leave?”
At my question, Darcy lowered his gaze and reached a hand toward my face. It was so natural that I didn’t feel the need to stop him.
He extended his index finger and gently lifted the corner of my tightly pressed lips. An awkward smile formed on my face.
“When you’re happy.”
he whispered in a low voice.
Looking into his eyes, I suppressed the question that rose to the tip of my tongue.
‘You’re not seeing yourself in me, are you?’
“I want to see you happy, Marso.”
Because I had a feeling he was projecting himself onto me.
