Chapter 26
The Missing Prince
In Secradion, where summer was in full bloom, there were only two people who could produce such a terrifying voice: Psyche and her mother.
Daphne paused, chewing over her words for a moment.
“Celestian is gone?”
Psyche’s expression was so firm that it didn’t seem like she was trying to scare her. In any case, there were very few things in the world that could frighten Daphne.
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not saying this to entertain you, Daphne.”
“Where could he, the prince, possibly go?”
Without hesitation, Daphne flung the door open. In the hallway, Kisha was leaning against the wall on a makeshift chair, with Narid resting her head on his lap, fast asleep. The bodyguard looked pale as a skeleton, and the maid resembled a soggy water chestnut.
Daphne tiptoed closer, planning to surprise them.
“My lady.”
The groggy gray eyes gradually sharpened. Failing to get the reaction she wanted, Daphne pulled a sulky face.
“You weren’t asleep?”
“I’ve been awake since Lady Denver arrived. Are you all right?”
Kisha looked uncharacteristically youthful for once. Daphne wrapped her arms around his head tightly. Then, she tucked his long side hair behind his ears.
“You overworked yourself to death. This is heaven.”
“How could this be heaven with you here, my lady?”
“Oh, are we back to talking back again?”
Kisha gently grasped Daphne’s arm, lifting it to check the bandaged wound.
“It’s a relief it seems to be healing already.”
“It just grazed me. Honestly, it was nothing, and I overreacted. So embarrassing.”
“Why do you say things like that?”
Kisha looked surprised and shook his head.
“My lady?”
Narid, who had also woken up at the sound of voices, began to tear up after checking Daphne’s face and the bandaged wound on her body. Then she started punching Kisha.
Despite her words, Daphne secretly appreciated their concern. After all, during her previous hospitalizations, she had always been alone.
“Where’s Cele?”
“Well, he went somewhere for a moment.”
Kisha smiled wryly as if even he couldn’t believe his own words. Daphne raised one corner of her mouth in a smirk.
“Where does he even have to go? The bathroom?”
“Daphne.”
A graceful voice from behind sent a wave of unease through Daphne’s chest. It was the feeling she always got when she was about to hear something she didn’t want to know.
“I’m telling you, Celestian is gone. It’s true.”
“Gone?”
“I mean it literally. He disappeared. We’ve searched everywhere, but there’s no trace of him. Now… there’s no longer any danger to you, Daphne.”
Psyche’s sapphire-blue eyes glowed intensely. At the same time, Daphne’s golden eyes dulled. Kisha averted his gaze. Narid stared at the floor.
“Daphne, so—”
“Enough. Just shut—please be quiet, Miss Denver.”
Daphne’s voice had lost all warmth. Psyche blatantly started watching her every move. The bodyguard and maid did the same.
“I…”
A curse nearly slipped out.
“I just want to take a bath.”
At Daphne’s muttered words, Narid jumped up.
With the maid’s help, Daphne washed away the grime in the bathroom attached to her hospital room. Even then, she kept her mouth tightly shut the entire time.
*****
At the center of the room, sprawled across a square couch, was none other than Daphne Buchanan.
“How should I even describe this feeling?”
Daphne stared up at the ceiling, which was covered with paintings of comically rendered cherubs. Her dulled yellow eyes wandered aimlessly as she counted them—fifteen in total. Each was bordered with real gold leaf.
The sight was undeniably extravagant, almost unbearably so.
“If I tore all that down, would Mom finally understand how I feel?”
When she returned home after being discharged, Daphne found her room locked. The household staff had been sent away under the guise of vacation. For the past few days, Daphne had been staying in a room in the main house, locked in a silent war with Amber.
Amber had stormed around the social circles, proclaiming how her beloved daughter had been shot by a rebel. To Daphne, though, she only offered a silent, crushing pressure, as if to say, “I knew this would happen.”
There wasn’t even time to look for him. By now, he could have stowed away on a ship or otherwise escaped Secradion entirely.
“Ugh. It’s like spending a fortune on a top-tier, fully loaded iMac, only to have it stolen at Starbucks.”
If anyone asked why she carried such a large item around in the first place, she’d have no answer.
“I mean, how could I have known it would just vanish?”
Technically, this was no different from him leaving on his own.
Why had she trusted him so much?
“Was it because Psyche was near me?”
While she kept everyone else tied down so they couldn’t leave her, why had she let him go so freely?
“I even solved every problem that would have made it difficult for him to leave.”
Her hands and feet felt icy cold. She sat up abruptly, pressing her throbbing temples.
So many thoughts rose and fell in her mind, leading her to one clear conclusion.
“I was too complacent. This is all my fault.”
It was her choice to save him, her choice to let him go. Ultimately, losing him was also her responsibility.
“No, but still, damn it. He ran away?”
Her fists clenched involuntarily. Someone gently patted her back. The owner of the warm hand was Romeo.
“Romeo.”
The male lead, who had graciously appeared in this space, was not exactly a welcome guest. With his black hair and golden eyes—the same as hers, proof of their shared blood—he was undeniably intimidating.
“I called you several times. Didn’t you hear me? Are you deaf?”
“I’m fine, thanks. Hey, Romeo. Celestian… ”
“He ran away. I heard. How’s your body holding up?”
Romeo asked irritably, his thick eyebrows furrowing. He looked terrifying, especially in his current state of annoyance. Daphne instinctively lowered her gaze.
“As long as I’m breathing, I’m fine. My limbs are all intact.”
Yet her lips articulated her thoughts with precision.
“Why are you here? Don’t you have work to do?”
“I heard you almost died.”
Despite his words, it seemed Romeo had been somewhat worried about her. His large hand brushed her back several times, prompting a bitter smile from Daphne.
“I don’t have anything to give you. Unless you’re here to give me something.”
Daphne leaned back and pulled a photo from her pants pocket, handing it to him.
“What’s this?”
Romeo narrowed his eyes, looking down at the photograph. It was an original paparazzi shot of Celestian taken during his reinstatement as a prince of Secradion.
When the rebellion was suppressed, every photo and newspaper featuring Celestian’s face had been destroyed and burned. Asking where she had found it would be pointless.
“What do you expect me to do with this?”
“Find him.”
Romeo sighed, as if he’d heard something unpleasant.
“Daphne, I can’t help you find him.”
“Why not?”
“Why do you think?”
“If you send out a few men, they could track down that penniless prince in no time. You’ve done it before with others.”
“It’s not the same as before. The circumstances and positions are different now.”
Romeo, once a prince, was now the crown prince and practically the acting king. If word got out that he was searching for a rebel, what rumors would circulate in the underworld?
“The crown prince, eager to ascend the throne, secretly conspired with the rebels…”
It was predictable.
“Why do you think you got hurt in the first place?”
Romeo grabbed Daphne’s left wrist firmly, pressing hard enough to send a wave of pain through her side.
“Ow! Damn it, that hurts!”
His grip was a pointed reminder of her injury. The pain in her arm felt unbearable, but Daphne held back from striking him with her free hand.
“Romeo, do you think I’m asking you to bring him back unharmed? This time, it’s fine if you cut off his legs or his hands.”
These past few days, she had wanted to destroy everything she saw. But she restrained herself.
“Always remember your position and responsibilities,” she recalled.
Impulsive actions were something she could afford only when she was naive. With so many eyes on her now, Daphne had to be someone who thought ahead.
“No, actually, just bring me his head. I’ll use it to replace Agrippa’s. I should’ve left him dead rather than saving him, right? Am I an idiot?”
She spewed thoughtless words, not caring if they made sense.
“If you kill him and bring his head, no one will question it. They’ll say it was the right thing to do.”
“Just assume he’s dead.”
Something about those words made Daphne flinch.
“We’ll announce it officially as well. He was always destined to die, wasn’t he?”
“It has to be Celestian.”
“Why are you so obsessed with him? Did he give you money or something?”
Romeo’s question made Daphne reflect. Why was she so fixated? She could say it was because he looked cute when he cried, fun to tease, and enjoyable to have around. As for the money…
“He motivates me to earn it. He’s the only one who does.”
Romeo chuckled dryly at her earnest response.
“I’ll get you another one. Someone similar. You’re fine with blondes, right?”
“He makes everything sound so easy.”
Daphne couldn’t laugh. She simply lowered her yellow eyes, suppressing the lump rising in her throat. Her pale face turned as red as her hair.
“Romeo, are you seriously not going to help me?”
“No. Stop.”
“What if I sell your fatal weakness to Emperor Agentar?”
Romeo’s flaw? His fatal weakness? At this point, it could only be Psyche. But Daphne wasn’t the type to sell Psyche out, no matter what.
“Go ahead. As much as you like.”
Romeo seemed unfazed, answering casually.
“What if I tell Psyche what you did to me as a kid?”
“She already knows.”
His cold response was resolute, a firm rejection. The look in his golden eyes carried a silent warning to give up.
“Still, Romeo…”
“Stop.”
“Romeo.”
“I said stop, Daphne.”
“At least say goodbye properly before you leave.”
Daphne pouted, her tone openly sulking.
“To the woman who said she’d cut off my head? Sure.”
“Hey, I only said it. I didn’t actually do it.”
Romeo opened his arms and hugged his cousin briefly. The motion was so detached and fleeting it felt more like a gesture to shut her up than genuine comfort.
“Cousin.”
Romeo handed her a handkerchief embroidered with Psyche’s intricate handiwork, still carrying her scent.
“If you want to cry, go ahead. I won’t make fun of you.”
“I won’t cry in front of you. Romeo, just disappear…”
Yet no tears fell. It felt like her body was so tightly wound that if she pricked her hand, her blood would burst out like a fountain.
A sudden thought crossed her mind.
“I don’t have friends, but I have money, don’t I?”
The power to move people lies in capital. Daphne knew that well.
