Episode 96

“Fake Saintess candidate.”

There was nothing unusual about hearing those words.

After all, I’d heard them countless times in my past life.

Far from feeling hurt, it didn’t even itch.

However—

Unlike the crown prince, whose striking red hair was unmistakable, this boy’s hair leaned more toward brown.

And those murky, shadowy green eyes—

The deep-seated disgust and fear that surged up from the soles of my feet ignited, consuming my entire body.

“Hello.”

When the Second Prince approached with his youthful face, my breath hitched, and my fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably.

Kyrion Estarode.

The man who used vile tricks to dethrone the crown prince and seize power.

The one who tortured and killed me.

I had been dying to know in my past life, but I never managed to ask.

Why had he been so cruel to me?

Diana, the woman you loved, ultimately survived and became the Saintess. So why had you tormented me so mercilessly?

Why had you brought ruin to the duke’s household?

Why had you killed Edwin?

Why?

Why, in the world…?

“Are you upset because I called you a fake Saintess candidate? Oho, that glare of yours is no joke.”

The Second Prince, who had stopped in front of us, smiled slyly at me.

Compared to the demonic figure from my past life, he looked rather innocent and boyish.

Three years younger than the crown prince, he was likely around eight years old now.

Yet, even at such a young age, the malice and curiosity glinting in his eyes were crystal clear.

Despite my trembling, I didn’t want to show weakness to him.

I forced myself to lift my chin, ready to face this life’s version of the Second Prince.

Step.

“Watch your tongue.”

A figure blocked my view.

Of course, it was Edwin.

The man who stepped in front of me to block the Second Prince’s gaze replied with clear irritation.

“Calling her a fake Saintess candidate? Are you suggesting that Kallios is supporting a fraud?”

“It wasn’t me who said it. I just picked it up somewhere,” the Second Prince swiftly denied.

Even though I couldn’t see his face behind Edwin, I could picture his smirking expression as if he found the situation amusing.

“But aren’t you going to greet me?”

“……”

“Am I the only one who said hello here? Does that make me the lowest-ranked person?”

He blatantly revealed his displeasure, pressuring us to respond properly.

I wanted to ignore him and leave, but the reality was that he was royalty.

Edwin, who had been stiff beside me, let out a small sigh and lowered his head slightly.

“Greetings to the Second Prince. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have urgent matters to attend to.”

“Hello, young duke!”

Edwin was about to take me away, but his steps faltered at the sound of a delicate voice.

I perked up at the familiar tone.

‘Oh, right. Diana. She’s here too.’

Remembering the original heroine, whom I had momentarily forgotten thanks to the Second Prince’s overpowering presence, I tilted my head curiously.

‘Why are those two together?’

In the original story, the Second Prince and Diana first met during a volunteer event.

But thanks to the Crown Prince’s ability to move, the Second Prince hadn’t attended that day.

I had assumed their meeting would be delayed further, but here they were.

An unwelcome curiosity overcame the visceral revulsion I felt toward the Second Prince, urging me to take a closer look.

Peeking out from behind Edwin’s broad back, I met a pair of enchanting violet eyes head-on.

“Hello, Belze.”

“Uh… Hello.”

After greeting Diana, I nodded slightly to the Second Prince as well.

I didn’t want Kallios to get dragged into trouble because of unnecessary conflict.

“Greetings, Your Highness, the Second Prince.”

“I don’t like talking to commoners.”

The curt reply made my blood boil.

‘You started this conversation, and I don’t want to talk to you either.’

But suppressing my irritation, I kept my composure. There was something I wanted to find out.

Turning to Diana, I asked, “Why are you here, Diana?”

“Oh… Her Majesty the Empress wasn’t feeling well, so I came to heal her,” Diana answered with a cheerful smile, explaining her presence at the palace.

Unlike the last time I saw her at the temple, her demeanor seemed unusually confident.

“And on my way back, I thought I’d stop by to check on His Highness the Crown Prince. He looked badly injured last time, and I was worried about him…”

She even added an unsolicited explanation about visiting the Crown Prince.

It seemed she still felt guilty about the incident where the Crown Prince gave up on healing because the line at the temple was too long.

The Marquis must have made a fuss, urging her to visit right away.

‘Well, I suppose they meet in the end.’

Her words sounded like a boast, but I felt nothing but relief.

I had worried that my interference might prevent the male leads from meeting Diana.

But my concerns turned out to be baseless.

In the end, everything was following the original story.

Diana, it seemed, would meet both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, as fate intended.

With the Empress’s favor firmly supporting her, Diana seemed untouchable.

For some reason, that felt a little unnerving to me.

‘Is this… the power of the original story?’

Unless I caused a massive incident—like erasing a major character or family—it seemed like events would somehow follow the original storyline.

But it wasn’t something to be entirely discouraged or afraid of.

In other words—

As long as I didn’t disrupt the main flow of the story, I could do whatever I wanted with the smaller details beneath it.

‘That’s actually a relief.’

I had no real intention of interfering with the heroine’s life, aside from things related to the duke’s family.

Whether I earned a fortune or occasionally made Diana’s life a bit more inconvenient, it seemed like those wouldn’t be an issue.

“Wow! That’s amazing. Well, good luck with that!”

Having satisfied my curiosity, I gave a lighthearted response.

As I turned to Edwin, ready to leave, Diana suddenly spoke up again.

“Belze, why were you coming out of the Crown Prince’s palace?”

It wasn’t surprising that she’d ask, considering we were still walking through the outer corridor of the Crown Prince’s residence.

“He called for me,” I replied honestly.

Her violet eyes widened in surprise.

“His Highness the Crown Prince… called for you?”

“Yup.”

“Why?”

“Because I won first place in the children’s business competition!”

I raised my chin triumphantly, mimicking Diana’s earlier proud demeanor.

Her expression faltered ever so slightly—just enough that only I, standing directly in front of her, could notice.

“Belze… you?”

“Oh! So you’re the one who won first place?”

The Second Prince, who had been silent until now, suddenly wedged himself between us.

“I thought for sure it’d be the Galagos merchant’s son….”

His gaze swept over me from head to toe, clearly surprised.

‘So he already knew Adolf Galagos at this point.’

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut.

But perhaps thanks to my earlier conversation with Diana, I managed to stay composed.

Seeing the Second Prince again wasn’t as terrifying as I had imagined.

His small stature, not much taller than Diana, and his much slimmer frame compared to Edwin’s helped dispel the lingering shadows of my past memories.

No matter how much higher his status was or how psychopathic he would grow to be, right now, he was just an eight-year-old brat—small and insignificant, just like me.

Besides, my mental age was leagues beyond his.

‘I can handle this.’

Though unintentionally, I hesitated and stared blankly at him instead of answering. This made the Second Prince scowl.

“Hey, why aren’t you answering me?”

“Your Highness, I suggest you choose your words more carefully,” Edwin interjected again, stepping in to shield me from the obvious provocation.

Hiding behind Edwin once was enough.

Grabbing the hem of his clothes, I shouted loudly, “I don’t want to talk to someone who doesn’t talk to commoners either!”

“What?”

Naturally, the Second Prince’s face instantly darkened.

“Are you joking? Since when does that rule apply to you?”

“Why not? You said you don’t talk to commoners, didn’t you?”

“Do you think you’re the same as me? I’m royalty. You should answer when asked, you orphaned beggar—!”

“Article 1, Clause 1 of the Imperial Laws of Erea! The imperial family and palace are obligated to protect the nation and its citizens!”

Glaring at him, I shouted without an ounce of hesitation as he drew closer.

“Your Highness is breaking the law right now. And calling me a fake? I’ll report it all to the Pope!”

“You… You…!”

Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to retaliate so boldly. The Second Prince was visibly angered but also clearly flustered.

“Hmph! Let’s go, Edwin!”

Smirking at him, I tugged on Edwin’s sleeve, ready to leave.

“Wait, wait! Fine, I take it back! I’ll take back what I said about not talking to commoners!”

But before I could even take a step, he quickly blocked my path.

“I have something I want to ask you.”

“…?”

I stopped and looked up at him.

‘Something to ask?’

What could he possibly want to know, given we’d only just met today?

As I blinked in confusion, he leaned in slightly and whispered with a sly tone.

“You know, I heard this from my mother.”

“…….”

“She said you saved my brother.”

At those words, my entire body froze.

Even though he was still young, the Second Prince was a member of the imperial family with a claim to the throne.

It was natural to assume he was well aware that his mother was desperate to eliminate the Crown Prince.

But I hadn’t expected him to bring it up so openly, here in the Crown Prince’s palace no less.

This was about an assassination attempt on the Crown Prince, after all.

As I stood frozen, he continued with a smirk.

“The surviving guards said a possessed teddy bear appeared and knocked them all unconscious….”

“…….”

“Was it… that?”

His gaze shifted to the bear I was clutching in my arms.

As his murky green eyes gleamed with interest, I hugged Teddy bear tightly and barely managed to answer.

“…Yes.”

“I knew it!”

He laughed cheerfully, sending a chill down my spine.

No matter how much they were rivals, how could he laugh so easily about an event where his own blood-related brother nearly died?

While I was still fretting over the Crown Prince’s half-healed body and regretting not being able to fully cure him…

“Hey, can’t you show me once?”

The Second Prince’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as he asked.

All my earlier thoughts about him being young enough to handle vanished completely.

He was rotten to the core from the start.

Was there really a need to be polite to someone like this?

“I can show you,” I said, forcing a vague smile as I looked him straight in the eye.

“But I don’t really recommend it.”

“Why not?”

“Teddy bear kills bad people for real.”

The Second Prince’s expression froze for a moment, his face blank with surprise.

It took him a beat to process.

“…What?”

“I guess the ones who survived just did as they were told, huh? Lucky for them!”

I smiled as wickedly as I could muster.

“I thought everyone who did bad things died. Such a pity! Hehe.”

 

 

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