IBMILRFL | Chapter 85

Episode 85

“It is overwhelming to receive such favor from Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

A voice as smooth and alluring as velvet. Yet, even the beautiful voice that might have been likened to a mythical siren didn’t reach Leo’s ears.

He was too utterly overwhelmed by the sight of her face, smiling enchantingly as she looked down at him.

‘Damn it.’

His Adam’s apple moved on its own as if excited. Leo’s golden eyes, which rarely betrayed emotion, trembled minutely.

Until now, he hadn’t noticed due to her fierce gaze… but indeed, Vanessa was beautiful.

Yes, that was an undeniable truth. Even Leo, who harbored nothing but hostility toward her, couldn’t help but react on a visceral level.

It reminded him of something he had heard during background checks.

After Vanessa’s husband died, many noblemen approached her, proposing remarriage or even positions as their concubine.

Their ages and statuses varied, but all of them desired her intensely, as if bewitched.

‘I thought they were just fools back then.’

Men swayed by mere appearance, unable to think clearly, were everywhere. He had thought those men no different.

But now that he faced her this closely, he began to understand how they felt.

Even he, for a moment, was tempted to forget everything and fall under her spell.

“…Then may I take that as acceptance of my proposal?”

Leo, having barely regained half his composure, asked again.

Vanessa smiled seductively, seeming as though she would avoid answering, but soon opened her mouth.

“Your Highness, may I be so bold as to offer a word?”

“…”

Leo didn’t respond, but Vanessa took a step.

Stiff as a board, Leo barely managed to follow her retreating figure with his eyes.

She seemed to circle him for a moment, then, for some reason, stopped directly behind him.

A pale white hand descended onto his shoulder.

A sudden touch. Leo, whose senses had been heightened, twitched involuntarily at the contact on his skin.

The attending aides, who had been quietly observing, moved to intervene—but stopped at Leo’s silent signal.

Normally, no one would have dared to come this close to him.

But at some point, his head had grown hot and hazy, as if with fever. Maybe it was the clouded judgment, but he didn’t want anyone interfering at this moment.

The hand still resting on his shoulder moved slightly. She must have bent forward, for he could feel her breath at close range.

He wanted to turn his head and see her face right away, but his body remained frozen in place.

All he could do was focus every nerve in his ear and wait for the words that would come next.

An instant that felt like decades passed before Vanessa finally whispered, just for him to hear—

“Wake up, you idiot.”

A voice that could only be described as divine.

But Leo felt as though he had been struck in the head with a hammer. The daze that had wrapped around his entire body vanished in an instant.

Regaining his senses, he hurriedly reached to grab her wrist, burning with humiliation.

But as if she had anticipated it, she evaded him easily.

Dodging his rough attempt, she stepped back and stared at him calmly with mocking eyes. A clear sneer hung at the corner of her lips.

“I suppose there’s nothing more for us to say. It was a pleasant conversation, Your Highness.”

With that, Vanessa promptly left the reception room.

Leo leaned halfway against the sofa, tilting his head back toward the ceiling.

“Ha!”

Anger and emptiness flooded his mind at once. Closing his eyes, he let out a hollow laugh.

‘I was completely played.’

He’d been so overwhelmed that he let her have her way with him.

A belated sense of disgrace surged up.

The attendants standing by trembled slightly as they gauged his mood. One aide, braving up, cautiously approached and asked,

“Your Highness, are you alright? Should we deal with that woman—?”

“Forget it. Just finish the background check. Not just her recent activities—everything, including her time in the Kingdom of Onz.”

“Yes, sir! However, the previous investigation you ordered is still incomplete. Shall I divide the manpower?”

“The previous one… Ah.”

Come to think of it, he had recently ordered an investigation into the latest trends.

Hmm. He hummed low.

It would be troublesome if that investigation were delayed. It was sure to bring in a lot of money.

“Prioritize that one for now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Anyway, there was no need to rush with Vanessa Winder. He intended to trap her slowly.

“You’re all dismissed.”

At his command, the lined-up attendants all exited the room.

Finally left alone, Leo recalled the image of Vanessa playing him and let out a twisted smile.

That lofty, shameless attitude.

Had it been anyone else, he might have cut off the hand that dared touch his body on the spot.

But… could it be that, just as she said, he really was an idiot?

Leo, rather than anger, began to feel a different kind of interest in her.

Not long ago, even thinking about those blood-red eyes would make his stomach twist—but now, a different emotion was surfacing.

He’d suffered humiliation from her blow… but strangely, it was clearly distinct from displeasure.

‘Rather…’

An emotion too ambiguous to define.

But then, seeing his reflection on the surface of a teacup, Leo realized something.

It was something close to pleasure.

The corners of his lips had risen so high, it looked like he was more delighted than he’d been even as a child receiving a new toy.

“Vanessa Winder…”

Ha ha ha ha!

Murmuring her name inwardly again, Leo suddenly burst into laughter.

In his glittering golden eyes, a terrifying madness gleamed.

I hurriedly left the Crown Prince’s reception room and clenched my trembling hands.

Only I knew how hard it had been to hold back the whole time I was with him. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and slap him right across the face!

But I endured well. I may have put my hand on his shoulder at the very end, close to my limit—but I didn’t go any further.

‘No matter how notorious I am, laying hands on a royal is too dangerous.’

Knowing that, I desperately held back till the very end. Held back from hitting that lunatic.

‘…I knew he was crazy, but he was worse than I thought.’

I had known from the start that the Crown Prince wasn’t sane. That’s why I came to see him prepared for countless scenarios.

But to propose marriage? That insane suggestion was completely unexpected.

I was momentarily flustered, but I regained my composure quickly.

‘There’s no need to get worked up. It’s not like it’s the first time.’

Though the motives might differ from Leo’s, I’d received similar proposals more than ten times before.

Being a widow trying to protect a household alone was quite a disadvantage in this harsh world.

So in the early days, I’d gotten many unpleasant proposals from arrogant noblemen who underestimated me.

‘Disgusting creeps.’

I slapped those men across the face or kicked them in the rear every time.

I hated it back then, but now that I think about it, I owe them a strange kind of thanks. They helped me build the villainous image I needed.

After I fully embraced life as a villainess, no one dared propose again, so I had forgotten that part of my past. But to hear something like that from Leo now…

Honestly, more shocking than his proposal was Victor.

Given that the current King of Onz has recently taken to bed, Victor’s ascension isn’t far off.

In such a situation, the only reason to want to kill a sibling—assuming there’s no personal grudge—is because they consider them a threat of rebellion.

‘Does he really think I’m a threat to the throne? But I’ve never shown interest in Onz.’

Since coming to the Empire, I’ve never left it. Naturally, I’ve paid no attention to the affairs of Onz.

Even when I lived there as a princess, I was never someone any of my brothers needed to guard against.

‘So why now?’

It made no sense.

How much of what Leo said could I even believe…?

His testimony was specific, and the evidence seemed solid. But I couldn’t know what lies might be mixed within it.

Still, one thing was clear.

I needed to be more on guard.

Against the Crown Prince… and my homeland as well.