The Lady is a Stalker

After all, if the crown prince hadn’t lied, she would have been at home doing other things for the rest of her vacation! What a waste of precious time, trapped in a dungeon like this! Of course, hearing Adriana’s prophecy was an unexpected result, but there was no way the crown prince could have anticipated that and acted accordingly. Why did the crown prince try to stay here, even lying to her saying he had lost his magic power? No way, it couldn’t have been so much fun that he would want to continue traveling with her for as long as possible.

 

The Crown Prince, who had been standing speechless for a long time with a confused expression, finally opened his mouth.

 

“That is…”

 

The crown prince paused for a while, rolling his eyes and searching for the right words.

 

“Well, I mean…”

 

He was desperately looking for an excuse, but at some point he spoke in a relaxed voice.

 

“I do not know either.”

 

“…”

 

She reflexively held her aching head at the uncharacteristically stupid answer.

 

‘You don’t even know the reason behind this absurd fraud?’

 

To dismiss it as nonsense, the crown prince had an expression on his face that said he really didn’t understand. He answered ‘I don’t know’ and looked much more confused than any other person she had ever seen. Was a child of only fourteen such a complex being? She thought things were much simpler when she was fourteen. The Crown Prince looked at her with his eyes shaking anxiously.

 

“That comment came out without me even realizing it… So, I was surprised and tried to correct it.”

 

“…”

 

“I thought… But, just a little more… just a little more.”

 

In the end, the crown prince, unable to finish his sentence, lowered his head. She couldn’t even understand what the crown prince was talking about. The Crown Prince, who spoke words that completely destroyed the narrative structure, was so confused himself that he seemed not to know what he was talking about. It was clear that his brain was overloaded and he was spewing out whatever was on his mind.

 

“Me too, I didn’t know I had this… dirty side…”

 

The crown prince, who spoke as if he were going to break off, looked somewhat unfair and angry. He looked like he was completely defeated by something about him. She found something strange in his words and looked back.

 

“Dirty side?”

 

Although she couldn’t see the crown prince’s face with his head down like a man who had committed a crime, she could tell that he must have had a face full of self-destruction. The crown prince’s dirty side? She didn’t understand anything he was saying.

 

As she was waiting for the crown prince’s answer, water droplets fell from his face.

 

She asked with a shocked expression.

“W-what?”

 

‘I’m making a baby cry!’

 

The crown prince looked at her with resentful eyes and silently shed tears.

 

“I don’t know why I did that. I feel like I’m becoming more and more of a trash person when I’m with you.”

 

The crown prince spoke like a child throwing a tantrum. It was impossible to immediately believe that he was the same person who had shown off his frighteningly powerful inaction just moments ago. She was very rigid in her own way. Who would have thought that the crown prince would even cry? The crown prince must be more intelligent and outstanding than most adults, and since the crown prince was of a high status, he must have been educated not to show weakness in front of others. The fact that such a person was so emotional that he even sheds tears did not necessarily mean that he has been hurt.

 

‘Did I do something terribly wrong? Well, I don’t think so…’

 

Rather, she was the one who got scammed! She looked back at the questions she had asked, but she couldn’t remember herself saying anything that could make the crown prince cry. There definitely seemed to be some other reason. It felt like all the emotions that had been building up until now were triggered by her words and exploded in anger.

 

He said with a pained face, letting the tears flow without even thinking about wiping them away. It wasn’t a thought worth thinking about during this time, but the crown prince’s golden eyes seemed to shine even brighter because of the tears. It was an extremely beautiful sight.

 

“But I couldn’t control myself. I just thought I wanted to be together a little longer, but… So don’t ask that. Don’t ask…!”

 

The Crown Prince may have become more emotional as he spoke, but he spoke with wet, bloodshot eyes as if he were venting his anger. She was tired of that momentum and nodded without realizing it. Then, after hearing her answer, the crown prince suddenly turned his back and disappeared, as if he had no regrets.

 

She was blankly watching his back disappear for a while, and Adriana, who she thought had passed out, quietly spoke to her.

 

“You are so mean.”

 

She was the one who was deceived by the crown prince and took out his anger on her for no reason, but like Adriana said, it somehow felt like she had tormented the prince.

 

“What am I…”

 

She spoke in an aggrieved voice, but Adriana did not respond. She wasn’t particularly hoping for an answer either. It seemed like there would be no answer even if she was here, so she walked towards the place where the crown prince disappeared. Until just now, she was clearly the perfect victim.

 

Even if the crown prince hadn’t cried… Didn’t she look like the perpetrator because the crown prince was crying? She still didn’t know what she did wrong, but she just wanted to say that she didn’t mean to make him cry.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

After wandering around for a while, she was able to encounter the crown prince in the depths of Dragon Lair. Perhaps because of his emotional outburst earlier, he seemed quite calm. If it weren’t for his slightly red eyelids, you wouldn’t even know he was crying. The crown prince said nothing and was looking at her with some resentment. Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, she raised her hand and scratched the back of his head.

 

“Uh… I’m sorry.”

 

She followed the crown prince, but she didn’t know what to say, so she offered an apology. She didn’t know why, but she was sure she cried because of her… She kept thinking about it while she was looking for him. She didn’t know what she did wrong, but the other person was a 14-year-old child, and she thought he’s at an age where his mind could go back and forth.

 

This guy in particular seemed a bit harsh. Her idea was to embrace it with the tolerance of an adult, but the crown prince actually got angry at her apology.

 

“What are you sorry about?!”

 

What beat should she go to?

 

“Actually, I don’t know… but I think I made you cry…”

 

“…”

 

“If there’s anything I’ve done wrong, I’ll fix it, so please tell me…”

 

“Aren’t you angry?”

 

The crown prince looked at her as if observing her and asked. The crown prince was convinced that she was angry with him. Well, if it were a normal person, she would have gotten angry here. She was scammed, and she just used poison words without even knowing. It seemed like the crown prince was afraid that she would get angry and left the place as if he were running away.

 

‘Now that I see it, there isn’t a single child who doesn’t like being scolded.’

 

As she was contemplating what answer to give, she slowly opened her mouth.

 

“…I am.”

 

In her head, she knew she was angry, but she wasn’t angry. Not only that, she actually didn’t know whether it’s sadness, pain, or joy.

 

“I do not know…”

 

“…”

 

“…How can I say it, I feel like I already withered away a long time ago. That’s why I’m jealous of Raven. Being able to express such honest feelings is…”

 

Putting aside whether Raven was an honest person or not, it had been a long time since she lost the innocence that allowed her to cry in front of others. She didn’t mean to make fun of him, she meant it.

 

“…”

 

She thought it would be one of three things: comfort the crown prince, receive an apology, or hear an apology, but why were they talking like this…

 

She sighed inwardly.

 

The crown prince frowned as if he didn’t understand what she was saying. This was a difficult story for a child to understand. She decided to explain it in easy to understand terms.

 

“So, in short, I will never be angry at you, Raven… until I die. So rest assured. If you were worried that I might be angry, you were unfounded.”

 

“…”

 

“Now, let’s go back.”

 

When she reached out her hand, he seemed to hesitate, then placed his small hand on her palm. It wasn’t soft, but it felt warm. She felt the same satisfaction as when a sharp-tempered small animal that did not always listen to instructions accepted its descendant path for the first time. She walked slowly ahead, as if she was leading the crown prince by his hand. At first it was her hand, but now the Crown Prince was holding it tightly like his parents’ hand.

 

She could feel the crown prince’s gaze staring at their joined hands. The crown prince, who was quietly following behind her, suddenly spoke as if he was talking to himself.

 

“You’re so sweet.”

 

“…”

 

Did her indifference seemed like kindness to the crown prince? It’s ironic.

 

“Why didn’t I know until now?”

 

She didn’t answer anything.

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: