IFLDMHF | Chapter 147

Episode 147

It was the first time Euclid had ever cut me off like this, or refuted me so firmly.

Startled, I blinked, and Euclid hesitated and apologized.

“I’m sorry, wife.”

Why is he apologizing?

Is it because he’s worried about me? Or is it because he hit my heart again with yet another new side of him?

I’d always thought that his habit of apologizing so easily was a bad one, but this time, I had no choice but to admit it.

‘He’s really kind and gentle, yet so commanding too. What am I supposed to do when he’s this perfect?’

I bit my lips to keep myself from laughing, which felt inappropriate for the situation.

Then suddenly, I noticed the nobles quietly watching us with bated breath.

Among them were Duke Basilian and Sionel, who wore stern expressions and looked ready to step in the moment Euclid faltered.

Thanks to the Crown Prince’s unexpected outburst—despite expectations that he would quietly back off—we ended up in a messy love triangle situation I had desperately hoped to avoid.

How could I turn this mess into something favorable to me?

As I pondered for a moment, a good idea suddenly came to mind.

A method full of personal intention that would ease the tension a bit while surprising the worried Euclid.

Just then, Euclid, who had been examining my wrist—still swollen with the Crown Prince’s handprint—with a serious expression, opened his mouth.

“It looks like it’s going to bruise. We need to get a physician—”

“I’m really okay, honey.”

“A physician… What?”

Euclid, who had been continuing his sentence, suddenly snapped his head up.

His eyes widened in surprise, as if he had just heard someone call him “honey” for the first time in his life.

‘I didn’t react that much when he first called me “my wife”!’

I scolded Euclid inwardly, though I wasn’t being serious.

His stunned face was just unbearably cute.

‘I lose.’

Completely surrendering, I ended up letting out a quiet chuckle.

“There’s a bit of pain, but it’s not serious, honey.”

“Ah…”

“Of course, you’re right. I should see a physician.”

“…Yes.”

Euclid nodded, his face bright red, as if he was finally coming back to his senses.

Then, as he had done in the past, he seemed to realize that I had changed the way I addressed him on purpose because we were being watched, and he quickly wiped the startled expression off his face.

‘He probably has no idea I’m just indulging myself right now.’

Barely hiding my satisfied smile, I turned my gaze to the Crown Prince, who was glaring at me with his jaw trembling in fury.

Kaiden’s red eyes gleamed fiercely.

‘Don’t tell me, even after all this, he still can’t accept reality?’

It was as if I had made a public display to everyone—including the Crown Prince—that I was already married and on top of that, had a great relationship with my husband.

So if anyone acted clingy now, it would only make the Crown Prince look pathetic.

Even though I thought I had made my intentions and warning very clear, Kaiden still hadn’t left his spot, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

Determined to end this conversation quickly, I turned to the Crown Prince, who was seething with anger, and spoke calmly.

“Before the expedition, I clearly told you. I wouldn’t bother Your Highness anymore, and I would marry someone else. So I don’t understand why you’re doing this now. Surely Your Highness don’t have… peculiar tastes, do you?”

Like, for example, recoiling in disgust when someone shows interest, then becoming obsessed once that person becomes someone else’s wife—some perverted taste like that.

Honestly, I wanted to reveal that he had even sent a proposal to Melissa, to expose just how pathetic and ridiculous the Crown Prince had been and still was.

But I held back, for Melissa’s future.

Instead, I stabbed at the Crown Prince’s heart with a sharp question.

“You don’t even truly love me, do you?”

Even if he had been obsessed with Evgenia all this time.

If there was even a shred of real love, he couldn’t have let my reputation fall so low and allowed people to call me a villainess.

Just imagining it made my chest ache, but if Euclid were to hate me, stay by my side while spouting lies and deceiving me… then because I love him, I’d willingly fall for it. Whatever he wanted from me—even if it were my heart—I would give it to him.

So by my standards, Kaiden’s feelings could never be called “love.”

I believed that Kaiden himself understood this fact well.

Even if he lied to himself and believed he loved me, I didn’t think he could admit it here.

And sure enough.

The Crown Prince, who had been breathing heavily in rage, now stared at me, completely silent.

His face had gone pale. His lips moved, but no clear sound came out.

‘So this is the end of it.’

I sighed in relief inwardly.

Honestly, I’d hoped the matter of the Emperor being completely humiliated—even critically damaged—would become more prominent.

But the Crown Prince’s outburst had disrupted the mood and distracted everyone’s attention.

‘Still, this much is good enough.’

In the end, neither I nor the House of Duke Rudion had suffered any loss.

I had drawn a clear line and protected my honor, and only Kaiden came out looking like a fool.

I decided that once I returned to the estate, I would tell Anne to spread the story of the Emperor far and wide, rather than the scandal between the Crown Prince and me, and took Euclid’s arm.

“Honey, let’s just go now—”

“…Wait.”

That was when it happened.

Finally, a sound came from the Crown Prince, who had only been flinching until now.

I tried to ignore it and keep walking.

“You were the one who didn’t love me.”

…Ah, so this is how he digs his own grave?

Kaiden let out a bitter laugh at Evgenia’s gaze, which looked at him as if he were an idiot who had just thrown away his last chance.

In truth, he wasn’t unaware of the fact that he had just uttered something utterly insane.

He also knew that everything he had built up until now was rapidly crumbling.

Even so, he couldn’t stop.

“You’re the one who said you loved me… but you never loved me at all.”

“Your Highness! Please, stop.”

The aide, who had been anxious ever since they entered the Grand Hall, tried to stop him with a shocked expression from behind.

But Kaiden didn’t listen to a word.

Once this became known, the Emperor would never let it go—but even that didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Wasn’t it the same Emperor who always demanded he act like a proper Crown Prince, yet had fled the Grand Hall in disgrace, swept away by his emotions?

The days when he cowered in fear of such a man and took the blows without defense had long passed.

Now, as a Swordmaster, he could even return to that man exactly what he’d once suffered.

But right now, someone far more important than a man not even worth avenging was standing before him.

He couldn’t miss this chance just because others were watching.

At that moment, the woman he had always had to corner just to get a glimpse of what lay beneath her hard shell let out a hollow laugh.

Then, as if she was relieved, she looked straight at him.

“That’s right. I have never loved Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

“……!”

It wasn’t even news to him, yet hearing the truth directly from Evgenia’s mouth struck him with inexplicable force.

A deep pain throbbed in his chest, and his vision turned red.

Just like when Evgenia had affectionately called Duke Rudion by a loving term.

But the cruel, merciless woman wasn’t done speaking.

“I do apologize for lying. But didn’t Your Highness torment me just as much? So I believe it’s best if we simply consider this a bad connection and cleanly end it here.”

“A bad connection…? Cleanly end it…”

Kaiden blankly repeated Evgenia’s words, mumbling them, and then his pupils trembled violently before suddenly sharpening.

“There was something you wanted from me.”

Even knowing how pathetic it sounded, he had to ask.

“You wanted to be Crown Princess. There’s no way you would’ve given up on that…”

“I gave it up.”

“What…?”

“I’m just an ordinary person who gets hurt and suffers like anyone else. There’s no way I can keep enduring all the ridiculous rumors and misunderstandings. Besides, I met someone far more precious than that.”

Evgenia spoke firmly as she tightly gripped Duke Rudion’s hand.

The moment Kaiden saw that, he felt as though he were standing on the edge of a cliff. He couldn’t breathe properly.

“That… That can’t be true…”

He forced himself to speak, barely steadying his breath.

But the words wouldn’t come out properly—they just echoed in his mind.

You gave up that easily?

You’re someone who gets hurt and suffers… you?

If she had really been that kind of person, he wouldn’t have driven Evgenia that far.

It had to be a lie. She must be deceiving him again.

But there was one thing that he painfully knew was the truth.

That Evgenia truly cherished Duke Rudion.

The moment he realized that, Kaiden’s hand moved toward the sword at his waist.

Noticing this, his aide screamed in a panicked voice.

“Y-Your Highness, no!”