The Lady is a Stalker

The Crown Prince, who returned, sat down Adriana, who was still in polymorph form, and explained the whole story. Adriana gaped when she heard that the crown prince, who had captured a dragon at the age of eight, had absorbed its magical power, and that he sometimes went berserk because he could not control that power.

 

“Catch a dragon at the age of eight?”

 

“Rumor has it that he hit her with his bare hands.”

 

“What do you think of people…!”

 

As soon as the crown prince heard her, he immediately stood up and tried to refute her words.

 

“I didn’t catch it with my bare hand!”

 

“Common sense tells me there’s no way something like that would be possible! Besides, I’m not some kind of bandit and I’m acting in such an ignorant way! Who on earth would tell such nonsense…”

 

She looked at the crown prince as if I was really curious and asked him, and he answered with one hand on his head and a pained look on his face.

 

“Well, it’s not a bad rumor, so it must be a faction that believes in Raven.”

 

“No thanks at all.”

 

The crown prince sat back down, rubbing his head with an annoyed face. It seemed like there was something he didn’t like about the way his mouth was sticking out. In the Seirakia Empire, there was a legend about a crown prince that was passed down like a founding legend. The Seirakia Empire had a dragon that protected the empire. Everyone revered the dragon, calling it their guardian deity. But the dragon was actually no different from a thief. He accepted tribute from the empire without doing anything for them, and frequently threatened to destroy the empire… In reality, he was not a guardian deity, but a thug. However, a savior appeared to defeat the dragon. This messianic being was the third son of the emperor, so to speak, of noble birth. When he was around 4 years old, he came face to face with the rumored dragon, and it was said that he thought it was his calling to kill dragons.

 

…What did he do when he was four? Anyway, from then on, he devoted himself to training and actually caught a dragon at the age of eight, and by absorbing its magical power, the boy became the strongest being on earth and became the new guardian deity of the empire. This was the second founding myth of Seirakia. Afterwards, the crown prince became a public enemy among the dragons. There may be some exaggeration, but it will be roughly based on facts.

 

As a prince, he couldn’t just watch the dragon suck the blood and sweat of his beloved people and his taxes. Ah, he truly was a person worthy of the name of a hero of difficult times who lived by justice and died by justice. It didn’t match his current appearance at all. Why did such a legendary being only choose to do childish things these days? At least he was not the kind of person who would do something childish like crying and blaming others because he was caught lying. 

 

Anyway, she was really jealous. It’s the same novel character, but she had to live like this. She couldn’t believe she had to feel the gap even in places like this. When she looked at the crown prince with a bit of envy in her eyes, he trembled.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“I’m jealous.”

 

“What?”

 

The crown prince tilted his head in doubt when he heard her say that she was envious of him to no end.

 

“Raven, I feel like you are very loved by God.”

 

He was a character loved by the creator of this novel, who could actually be said to be a god, so it was not unheard of for him to be loved by a god. However, the crown prince, who did not know that fact, seemed to have taken his words differently.

 

“You often say embarrassing things like that in front of others… You do that when it’s just the two of you.”

 

The crown prince scolded her, but he didn’t seem upset. He tried to pretend not to, but he couldn’t hide the way the corners of his mouth turned up. Seeing this humble appearance every day, it never occurred to me that this guy was such a legendary being. When she heard about cool things that appeared in novels or legendary anecdotes from other people, she thought he was a really scary person, but now she thought he’s just a slightly lacking child.

 

“I see. Then you…”

 

Adriana muttered to herself. The crown prince was the enemy of all dragons. Would Adriana help the crown prince even after knowing this fact? She waited for Adriana to open her mouth, looking at her slightly nervous eyes.

 

“You said you’d listen to me if you beat me, right? I’ll keep my promise. But I don’t know if it’ll be possible. If anything, I think I’ll just get tired of you and fall out.”

 

After hearing Adriana’s words, the crown prince tilted his head as if questioning her.

 

“Do you think I’m going to give up just because it’s hard?”

 

“No, aside from how difficult it is, are you okay?”

 

“What…”

 

“You’ll have to rot here for about 20 years.”

 

Hearing Adriana’s words, the prince’s pupils dilated as if he was surprised. The shocked prince did not respond for a while. At that moment, the crown prince’s eyes suddenly turned to her. He was waiting for his mouth to open with a thirsty expression on his face.

 

“…”

 

20 years. Even after twenty years, the crown prince was still thirty-four. He was still at an age where he could shine. It’s the perfect time to be crowned emperor. Since the people of the empire have a history of being defeated by dragons, it would be difficult for them to accept Raven as emperor if they knew that they could not control the dragon’s magical power. Additionally, there was Adriana’s prophecy that the crown prince would annihilate the people of the empire.

 

It was dangerous if the dragon’s magic power is not controlled now. She nodded to the crown prince, who was still looking at me eager for an answer.

 

“…”

 

Then, a bit of moisture passed through the crown prince’s eyes. He seemed disappointed by her answer and, in some ways, very hurt. What answer should she have given him? Could it be that the crown prince wanted me to tell him not to go? However, the crown prince also told him not to go, and he would know full well that he would not be accepted just because he was making a fuss. Because he is a much more rational person than her. But did he still want to be told not to go? Was he hoping to give her just lip service that had no merit?

 

He lowered his head and said nothing. The crown prince, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth.

 

“Give me time to think…”

 

* * *

 

In the end, unable to come up with an answer, they returned to the Empire that day. On the way back, the crown prince didn’t say anything, as if he was lost in thought. From that day on, there were no invitations from the imperial palace, and there was no accidental encounter with the crown prince in the library or on the street. Where was he and what was he thinking? It seems like he’s already very stressed, but before he can sort things out, he has to take on another task. Moreover, the hurt look in the crown prince’s eyes at the end did not disappear from her mind.

 

There are two days left on vacation. Coincidentally, the National Foundation Day festival was also coming up in two days. Since there wasn’t much time left, she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and tried to write a resignation letter. For some reason, she was worried as if she was sending a love letter, so she couldn’t even write a single word. The fact that she hadn’t had any talent for writing in the past also played a part.

 

Today again, she sat at her desk, faced with a blank sheet of paper, and fell into trouble. It seemed like he was a very sensitive child, so she should use the gentlest language possible. Moreover, recently it has even made him shed tears. When those tear-soaked golden eyes reappeared, she felt guilty about writing her resignation letter.

 

‘I’m sure he’ll get hurt again.’

 

She slowly wrote down the first sentence. For a while, only the sound of the brush pen crunching echoed in the quiet room. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but she raised her head when she heard someone knocking on the window. It’s the second floor, and she leaned in slightly to open the window when she saw a familiar figure. Then, a figure standing at the window with its back to the moonlight filled her field of vision.

 

Translucent curtains blowing in the wind and pure white moonlight pouring in behind him. She saw a beautiful man standing by the window with his back to everything. Hair blacker than night fluttered in the wind, and the black eyes of the cat’s coat sparkled in the moonlight. She was slightly entranced by the somewhat unrealistic sight. At that moment, as soon as he saw her face, she could barely cover her mouth from the laughter that was about to burst out.

 

…It just breaks the mood.

 

It feels like she had somehow been lifted from unreality to reality. Only then did she feel a chill from the wind coming in from the window, so she pulled on the shawl that was covering her. The second-in-command spoke with an excited expression, as if he had something interesting to talk about.

 

“You are truly amazing. I heard you kidnapped His Highness?”

 

“What?”

 

She asked back with a puzzled expression at his words. Kidnapping the crown prince? She? If that’s the case, there’s no way she could stay in the duke’s house safely. What kind of nonsense was this person saying?

 

“There is a rumor all over the empire. That you kidnapped His Highness, went on a love run, and returned three days later…”

 

Love run? Come back in three days? Perhaps, the period between the crown prince and she going to Adriana’s Dragon Lair and returning was so long that the rumors were distorted. It was a sheep. But she felt unfair.

 

She kidnapped the crown prince? Rather, the one who was kidnapped was her. The prince even pretended that he couldn’t use return magic. She didn’t even know why he did such a vicious thing. Actually, she wanted to question him more persistently, but she was afraid that the crown prince would start crying again, so she couldn’t ask him in detail.

 

‘What is this person saying to me?’

 

She asked back with a shocked expression.

 

“You sure don’t believe that, do you?”

 

Since she already had a reputation as a villain in the empire, it was not unreasonable for such a rumor to spread, but as she said, the guy who was kidnapped by her was also the prince.

 

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