“Episode 22”
“Commanding me to take my own life? I bought him for how much, and now someone tells him to commit suicide?”
Daphne twitched an eyebrow, and her grip on his wrist tightened. Celestian attentively looked down at Daphne’s hand turning pale.
“Is it reasonable for a rebel to live and breathe openly?”
“What nonsense.”
“The villainess of Sekradion, selling her reputation for love affairs! Aren’t you ashamed?”
“Do I have a reputation worth selling? Is ‘villainess’ a reputation for you guys?”
She couldn’t stand listening to them anymore. With a sudden movement, Daphne turned her body to glare in their direction. The men hesitated as they met Daphne’s piercing yellow eyes. Seeing that they didn’t immediately rush forward, it seemed they didn’t have any weapons.
Daphne glanced around the building where Keysha’s group was. The reflected light flickered twice, indicating there was no immediate threat.
As Daphne ignored them and didn’t make any threatening gestures, the men continued to grumble. They were portraying the rebels as enemies of the state, accusing them of absurd love affairs.
They even went so far as to speculate about the nonexistent affairs between Celestian and Daphne in bed.
“Stop listening to that nonsense. Ignore them.”
Daphne awkwardly handed her sunglasses to Celestian.
“[Should I do as they say?]”
Celestian nodded and muttered incomprehensibly to Daphne. Then he slowly crossed his long legs.
“What language is that? You insulted me. Your tone went up at the end.”
“Teriosian. I said I won’t listen.”
The reply came promptly.
“I have a good memory. [Should I do as they say]… I remembered. If it’s an insult, they’ll die.”
Celestian smirked and raised his head.
His golden hair seemed darker today, perhaps because of the applied oil, and his attire, a tight-fitting gray suit, made him look like a sports star. Whether intentional or not, Celestian crossed his legs and gave a slight smirk.
“Argh!”
“Oh, damn it. Why are they like that? When will the old man come?”
After muttering curses under her breath, Daphne covered her ears. As she kept staring at them, the prince’s boot accidentally touched Daphne’s calf.
“Why did you hit me?”
“Mistake.”
Having muttered so, Celestian reached out and lightly brushed Daphne’s calf with his hand.
The people standing in the square were gradually raising their voices. Three black horses pulling a carriage clattered and circled the round square before disappearing into the entrance they came from.
Daphne wanted to disappear quickly. However, the driver had no intention of returning. Glancing at the driver’s seat, the keys were still in place.
“Helena Teriossa, how dare the princess of a failing kingdom try to undermine our king and his great authority!‼”
The brazen voice screamed out.
“So that’s how it is.”
Daphne internally clicked her tongue. Both of them were born of the same parents, so why should only the princess receive blame?
But isn’t it somewhat disrespectful to insult one’s mother to her face? Daphne glanced at Celestian, just in case. He was looking at Daphne with his usual calm expression.
“Usually, when men hear their mothers insulted, they don’t stay quiet, do they?”
Their eyes met, and he subtly raised one corner of his mouth. Daphne couldn’t decipher what he was thinking.
“Viewcater, I’m not that small.”
Celestian raised his hand and placed it in front of Daphne’s stomach. It meant he wasn’t covered even when standing like this, so it was a sign to move aside.
“Besides, the princess left us with such a beautiful son, didn’t she? It’s patriotic.”
Daphne tapped Celestian’s lips with her index finger.
“Hush.”
Celestian took off his sunglasses and neatly folded them on his knees. The prince frowned and cleared his throat a couple of times.
“Viewcater.”
“Let’s just go somewhere and wait. There’s a café right behind.”
Daphne reached out her hand as if to grab him. When Celestian tried to reach for her hand, Daphne backed off with an “Ah,” avoiding it. His right eyebrow raised.
“Sorry for pretending to be close, Your Highness. I’ve offended a humble person who doesn’t even know my noble name.”
Celestian clenched his fist once before standing up. Thanks to that, Daphne had to lift him up again for a while.
“Don’t look down on me.”
Feeling like her neck was about to break, Daphne narrowed her eyebrows. At the same time, she took a step back.
“Yeah, do you have no intention of formally introducing yourself to me, ‘Your Highness’?”
Celestian said arrogantly.
“Oh, clueless prince. Don’t you ever think of reading the newspaper?”
Daphne retorted without backing down.
“As you said, I’m just a stupid blonde with nothing.”
The phrase she used to joke around with her friends suddenly came out of his mouth, making her momentarily dizzy.
“Is that so?”
Daphne momentarily considered telling him that was why she liked him but decided to swallow her words.
“That’s not your story, it’s about princes in novels.”
“I’m your prince too.”
Celestian grinned. Daphne lightly punched his shoulder, causing him to grimace and hunch his shoulders.
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“It really hurts.”
❖ ❖ ❖
They sat side by side at a long wooden table, gazing out the window. Daphne ordered a peach tart covered in gold dust.
The café, decorated in brown tones, had a spacious two-story structure. Closest to where they sat, two swords were crossed in an X shape and hung on the wall, and jazz music played from the speakers. People in black attire sat in pairs at square tables lined up in a row, leaning their long black umbrellas against the table edges.
“Is it going to rain?”
But Nared, who dressed according to the weather, said nothing. The sky outside, visible beyond the buildings, was a clear blue with no clouds in sight. After a brief crackling sound, a new song began playing.
“Oh, I love this song.”
Hearing her favorite song relieved her worries. She tapped her feet to the rhythm, drawing waves like patterns with her footsteps. Then she pushed the tart toward Celestian’s mouth, pretending to be affectionate. He slowly blinked his green eyes, as if trying to gauge something.
“Oh, the sun.”
When Daphne pretended to open her mouth wide, he followed suit. After she fed him, a satisfied smile spread across his face. Somewhere, a clicking sound was heard.
Thinking she might have misheard, Daphne leaned closer to Celestian, and then the shutter sound was heard again.
“They’ve even got reporters now.”
Daphne looked towards the source of the sound. A lady sitting outdoors pressed her fedora down again before swiftly getting up and disappearing. Then she noticed a black carriage similar to the one she had seen before passing by leisurely.
“A black carriage…”
Daphne chuckled and glanced at the prince sitting beside her. Since he was looking at her, their eyes met. She was momentarily flustered but quickly composed herself.
“Celestian Teriossa.”
His normally gentle expression turned slightly rough at Daphne’s uncertain call.
“Why? Viewcater.”
His pronunciation was firmer than usual.
“Isn’t it strange?”
“Me?”
He raised his hand and touched his cheek. His small face was briefly obscured by his large hand before reappearing. When his green eyes met hers again, Daphne widened her eyes and shook her head as if to say no.
“It’s very popular here. Especially in the evening, for couples.”
Daphne muttered to herself. The prince’s green eyes glanced briefly at where other people were sitting.
It might just be unnecessary fuss.
But considering her experiences so far, this situation could be summed up in just one word.
“Screwed.”
Daphne tried her best to stay calm.
“No, wait. If something was wrong, Kisha would have signaled. Am I really making a mistake?”
As she thought about it, she felt an uncontrollable tension.
She realized her hand was becoming very cold. She stood up and grabbed Celestian’s wrist.
“Cele, let’s go.”
As Daphne stood up, all eyes turned towards them. Masked individuals. She couldn’t breathe.
The flashy black carriage appeared again. This time, it was approaching head-on. The coachman pulled out the clutch connected to the horse and jumped down.
Daphne thought she should avoid it, but she just stood there stupidly. She felt Celestian’s hand pulling hers, but Daphne was just numb.
It was similar to a few years ago. There were no horses or coachmen, just the carriage speeding towards them. Everything seemed to be in slow motion.
“Daphne, please snap out of it. I…”
Someone started calling her name, desperately.
“Daphne!”
The jazz music, growing louder by the moment, consumed Daphne’s hearing like water.
“Daphne!”
Celestian called out to Daphne with a desperate voice, but she couldn’t move a muscle. Daphne consciously tried to shut out the entire situation by closing her eyes.
“Why does this feel so unfamiliar?”
His calling her name, the sense that it all would end soon, it all felt somehow familiar, like she had seen it somewhere before.
A comforting embrace enveloped Daphne. With a loud burst, the café window shattered.
