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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: A Warning
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So, that was the kind of reason he needed to retract his opinion.
His cold, calculating side, reserved for those who weren't his, was on full display.
From my perspective, he was a complete bastard, but for someone determined to protect his position as prince, it seemed like a pretty good strategy.
…Of course, I had no intention of just letting it happen.
It was time to engrave it deep into Ryan’s bones that the Marso who loved him was no longer here.
“I’m so happy you’ve finally decided to trust me.”
I looked at Ryan, who was waiting for my reaction, and smiled, my expression blooming like a flower.
“That’s right. So—”
“This means we can finally have a clean end to things. You always denied me because of my feelings, Your Highness.”
I struck at the heart of the matter.
The biggest reason Ryan hadn't believed I’d changed was that he thought I was still in love with him.
So, for him to say he trusted me meant…
“…What exactly do you mean by that?”
Ryan blinked.
With my smile still in place, I clasped my hands together and murmured.
“Why, it’s obvious. You’re saying you believe the fact that I no longer love you, Your Highness.”
I looked at him, my smile slowly fading.
“All this time, you’ve tormented me because you couldn’t believe that, thinking I was framing Reshuan.”
“Tormented? That’s—”
“Oh, my. You just said you would acknowledge that I’ve changed, but now you’re saying something different.”
Ryan bit his lip. He seemed to be growing irritated that the conversation wasn't going his way.
“I was saying that I believe you will no longer torment Reshuan.”
“I believe that amounts to the same thing.”
The only reason I would have to torment Reshuan was Ryan. If I wasn’t tormenting her, then there was no proof that I even liked him.
After all, I no longer sent him gifts, wrote him letters, or asked anything of him.
Ryan’s gaze wavered like a lost child’s. It had been a long time since I’d seen him lose his composure this much in front of me.
Even when he’d come to yell at me to stop bothering Reshuan, he had let his emotions show, but in a different way.
I took a step forward and stared him down. I didn’t avoid his eyes because I sensed that this situation was different from before.
I felt that if not for this very moment, I would never be able to shatter his vain delusion.
“You didn’t expect this from me, did you?”
The look in Ryan’s eyes was different from how he usually looked at me. It wasn’t contempt or disgust, but a bewilderment that was unfamiliar even to me.
It was as if, only now, he was truly facing the changed me.
All this time, he had thought my actions were just a show to gain his approval. So, he must have assumed that once he acknowledged me, I would reveal my true intentions.
That I would go back to openly begging for his love.
At last, I had shattered the colored glasses he had been wearing all this time.
Finally.
How I had longed for this moment. It felt as if someone had poured a refreshing drink down my throat after I’d been choking on endless frustration.
*‘Since it’s come to this, let’s end it completely.’*
I was planning to return to high society, so it seemed best to stamp out the embers of the rumors as well.
“I know Your Highness is not one to go back on his word. You won’t misunderstand any future rumors about me tormenting Lady Reshuan, will you?”
“…”
“I will be sure to let everyone know that you would never do such a thing.”
In other words, I was going to make Ryan regret the words he had just spoken.
It would not only clear up the rumors but also get under Ryan’s skin, killing two birds with one stone.
It’s easy to acknowledge with words that I’ve changed.
But I knew. Ryan didn’t truly believe I had changed.
It was a matter of his stubborn pride.
But he also had to maintain his pride as a prince, so he must be in quite a predicament right now.
Now, what will he say?
I waited for Ryan’s response.
It was time for him to throw off the uncharacteristically gentle mask and explode with rage.
If not that, he would threaten me with some other reason or make up an excuse.
But the words that came from his lips were, unexpectedly…
“You really don’t love me anymore.”
It was a lament.
I narrowed my brow and let out a small sigh.
…What is this?
I thought nothing Ryan did could surprise me anymore, but this was honestly unexpected.
“You?”
His blue eyes gradually darkened. Their unsettlingly deep color reminded me of the sea.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“…”
“I’ve changed, and I won’t bother you or Lady Reshuan anymore.”
I raised my thorns once more.
“The person who has changed is the one who broke her word about staying in seclusion to come and see me.”
That seclusion was never for you in the first place! It was because I was tired of everything, not some considerate act for Ryan’s sake.
Just as I was about to correct his misunderstanding, a loud crash echoed from behind me.
It sounded like an explosion. I whipped my head around and saw, through the billowing smoke, what was left of… a door.
The devastating traces, as if it had been hit by a cannon, pointed to a malicious act.
Wasn’t the entire imperial palace protected by a barrier that prevented the use of magic?
As I was seriously contemplating the state of the palace’s security, someone emerged from the smoke.
Darcy, his silver hair elegantly swept back, walked forward while loosening the cravat at his neck.
I flinched at the sight of him striding forward with a frown. A shiver ran down my spine.
Perhaps this was the instinct one feels when facing a predator. The raw side of him that he never showed me was a stark reminder of why he had survived as one of the strong until now.
Darcy looked like a grim reaper as he lowered his head with a sigh, then raised it again.
“Who does this princely bastard think he is, pulling a cheap trick like that.”
Darcy crossed his arms, slowly blinking his eyes open.
“I knew you were petty, but you should know who you can and cannot touch.”
After speaking in a voice as cold as frost, he turned his gaze to me without waiting for Ryan’s reply.
“Do you have any idea what your actions mean to the imperial family?”
Ryan, who was just as shocked as I was by the door, hissed in a low voice, but it had no effect on Darcy.
He acted as if Ryan didn’t exist at all.
As if to prove it, the fierce expression he wore when looking at Ryan melted into a fresh smile.
His eyes came alive as they met mine.
He smiled. A beautiful smile, as if painted with a brush, reserved only for me.
A thrill ran through me at the sight of Darcy so freely revealing a side of himself he showed to no one else.
My face grew hot.
I was ashamed of the base pleasure I felt in knowing that I was the only one who could make Darcy smile.
It was purely my own selfishness.
“If someone is speaking, you should lis—”
Darcy pushed Ryan aside, looked at me with a serious expression, and whispered in my ear.
“Shall we go?”
Did he notice my flushed face?
I lowered my head to hide my anxious heart.
“Yes.”
In the end, we left Ryan behind and went outside.
As soon as Darcy and I stepped out of the room, the people waiting in the hallway rushed in.
They all had one thing in common: they would glance at Darcy, flinch, and move away.
*‘So it was Darcy’s doing.’*
I had suspected it when he first walked out of the smoke alone, and sure enough, it was him.
“Why did you break the door?”
“…A little of this, a little of that.”
“Huh?”
“It’s an event that lets me show the nobles what kind of person I am today. It’s also a warning to Ryan to watch his step.”
I thought he just broke it because he was angry, but I guess not. It made sense; he wouldn’t have done that just because Ryan and I were talking.
The Darcy I knew was a rational person, even if he seemed a little crazy on the outside.
Feeling sorry for almost misunderstanding him, I stared at him, and Darcy muttered.
“Yes, that’s all it was.”
“I know, I believe you. But what kind of person do you want to be known as?”
Darcy narrowed his eyes and leaned his head toward me. Then, as if sharing a secret I wasn’t supposed to hear, he spoke furtively.
“The kind of lunatic you don’t mess with?”
“Then it was absolutely perfect. The warning to Ryan must have hit home, too.”
Everyone attending the ball today would pass through this hallway, and they would surely see this disaster.
And the way he looked when he walked toward me earlier was truly…
Now that I knew his intention, it made sense. I praised him.
At my words, Darcy blinked and asked with a peculiar expression.
“Did I really look that crazy?”
I nodded readily.
“Yes.”
“…”
Darcy’s silence stretched on for an oddly long time. He gazed at me for a moment before asking.
“Marso, aren’t you afraid of crazy people?”
“Afraid?”
“That’s the image I’ll be known for from now on, so I was worried it might make you uncomfortable.”
I didn’t know he thought that far ahead.
“Though, of course, I’m not really that kind of person.”
I knew that, too. He was actually a very considerate person.
The front Darcy put up in front of Ryan and others was a persona he had created to survive.
*‘It would be a lie to say I’m not scared at all.’*
I had no idea how fortunate I was that Darcy was on my side. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to have someone like him as an enemy.
Darcy bit his lip, waiting for my answer with an anxious look on his face.
His somewhat sullen expression was like a puppy’s. A puppy in need of praise.
After a moment’s hesitation, I stood in front of Darcy.
“How could I be, when I know what kind of person you are?”
With my sincere words, I placed a hand on his shoulder and patted it.
“You did well.”
A smile bloomed across Darcy’s face.
“Patting my shoulder… is that praise?”
“It’s the praise I can give. Do you not like it? I can stop.”
“Of course not.”
Shaking his head at my words, Darcy crouched down and looked up at me.
…This was a new angle.
“While you’re at it, pat my head, too. And tell me I did a good job.”
The puppy begging for praise had transformed into a cunning fox, his words a tempting whisper.
