The Lady is a Stalker

The rumor that Crown Prince Raven would return soon was spreading quickly throughout the empire. It was a rumor like a cloud with no known source, but somehow it was becoming an established fact among the people of the empire.

The Crown Prince was returning. Now that she thought about it, she had been so busy lately that she had forgotten his very existence. She put down the budget she was reading for this month and got lost in thought. She wondered if she would be able to rest comfortably when he returned…

Oh, come to think of it, four years ago, she and Crown Prince Raven had a very ambiguous relationship and broke up. They even kissed right before they broke up. But he was only fourteen then, and Crown Prince Raven was now eighteen, so maybe he had already forgotten about it, thinking it was a dark memory from his childhood?

She had almost forgotten about it herself. Maybe the Crown Prince would be embarrassed when he saw him because he remembered his dark memory from the past. So it would be better to just pretend not to know and pretend it never happened.

* * *

The sudden return of the crown prince turned the palace into a mess. With Raven’s personality, she didn’t think he would make a fuss and come back noisily, but this was such a sudden return.

He had grown so much that she couldn’t recognize him after almost 4 years. His slightly short height had grown to be above the average for an adult male, his short blond hair had grown longer, and his overall lines had become thicker and more manly, although he was still beautiful. There were many changes, but the most noticeable one was his red eyes.

Raven’s original eyes were golden when he was born, but when he killed a dragon and absorbed its magic when he was eight years old, they began to change slightly. When he used the dragon’s magic, his eyes would change to red. However, the crown prince, who already had enough magic from birth, didn’t really need to use the dragon’s magic. That’s why his eyes were able to maintain their original golden eyes. The dragon’s magic was an area that was impossible to control with a human body, but if Raven didn’t get angry enough to lose his senses, it would sleep inside him forever, seemingly without any presence. Raven also knew that well, so he practiced not to show the emotion of ‘anger’ as much as possible. However, after several incidents, Raven felt the need to control the dragon’s magic, so he trained under the Red Dragon, and in exchange for completely controlling the dragon’s magic, he gained the red dragon’s eye, the mark of the dragon tribe… That was the whole story.

Raven calmly called over the man who was the Imperial News and told him his situation concisely.

“I see… How could that happen o…”

After hearing the whole story, the man who was the Imperial News was purely impressed by the crown prince. He knew that he was an incredible person to begin with, but to be able to use the dragon’s magic without any restrictions.

The Imperial News looked up at the crown prince with eyes filled with wonder. This man was definitely a gift from the gods to the empire. No, maybe it was the god himself who had descended.

His heart was filled with respect and admiration for Raven. At that moment, a strange emotion suddenly flashed through Raven’s eyes. Crown Prince Raven had maintained a poker face ever since he returned to the palace, so he was very excited about what he would say. He hesitated for a moment, as if it was difficult to open his mouth, and finally opened it.

“Um… I called you here, you know, because I have something I want to ask you…”

Suddenly, he hesitated without adding more. For some reason, his face seemed to be flushed. It seemed like the face of a pubescent boy suffering from first love fever.

For a moment, the man shook his head violently, embarrassed by his own thoughts. How could someone stronger than this dragon be compared to a shy pubescent child? For a moment, his eyes seemed to have changed.

The man concentrated again and waited for Raven’s mouth to open. 

“Serabi….”

Serabi seemed to be someone’s name. It seemed to be a woman’s name.

The man who was the palace news quickly thought about it. Ah. It seemed like he was talking about Princess Serabi de Prineus. They said she was a childhood friend, but since he called her by her name out of the blue, it took some time for me to understand. But why her? Not only had she been chasing the crown prince for a long time, but a few years ago, there was a rumor that she had attempted to kidnap the crown prince and even raped his lips by force.

The man who was the palace news tried to suppress his surprise, but his pupils dilated on their own. The first person Crown Prince Raven mentioned as soon as he returned was such a villainess. Could it be that he was trying to carry out a belated revenge? But somehow, the crown prince seemed cautious just by mentioning her name. Serabi… perhaps…

“Is she m-ma… marria… marriaed…”

The crown prince, unlike himself, stammered and spoke in a small voice. He somehow seemed to have a hard time saying the word marriage. Just thinking about it made him feel bad, and his breathing seemed strangely rough. Crown Prince Raven couldn’t continue the next word of ‘marriage’. After hesitating for a while, he tightly closed his eyes and quickly spoke the next word.

“…yet?”

Marriage, in a state of… That was, Crown Prince Raven seemed to want to hear the answer, and also seemed not to want to hear it. He seemed anxious, and in some ways, he seemed to be full of anticipation.

The man racked his brain for an answer. Princess Serabi de Prineus… She was definitely twenty this year. It was rare for nobles to not get married until they were in their twenties, mainly due to political marriages. It was quite unusual for her not to get married, but everyone had their hearts set on the crown prince. He had been secretly thinking that she was not getting married because of that.

He didn’t know why the crown prince was curious about her marital status, but the man calmly explained what he knew.

“I understand that she is still single.”

“…”

Then, Crown Prince Raven’s face, which had been frozen with tension, strangely changed to one that looked happy. A suspicious look appeared on the man’s face as well. He said that he was the type of person who didn’t show his emotions well…

“Ahem, hmmm. Really?”

Crown Prince Raven cleared his throat and tried to pretend not to know, but he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from going up. 

“Yes. In addition, she hasn’t dated a man in the past few years…”

At the subtle remark, Crown Prince Raven made an expression like a child who received an unexpected gift. He seemed happy, embarrassed, and in any case, he didn’t seem to dislike it. No, rather, he had the happiest expression the attendant had ever seen.

Raven, who had been controlling his expression and not saying anything for a long time, began to smile innocently.

“…Hehehe.”

That’s right… His eyes, smiling softly, had a very affectionate light. Somehow, the Crown Prince seemed very interested in this story. Why on earth was he doing that?

He didn’t know why, but Crown Prince Raven seemed to want to hear more about her. The man, who was so quick to the point of being sad when he said he was second to none, quickly noticed Raven’s feelings and started saying things to please him.

“Yes. She always felt isolated at social parties, and she never accepted any dance requests from noble men until now.”

Even in the social circle where nobles gathered, Serabi’s presence was always noticeable. Of course, it was partly because of her gorgeous appearance that caught the eye, but she always had a dangerous aura. She used to be a tomboyish girl, but one day she suddenly started to give off a mature vibe, and now she felt like someone who was difficult to talk to. Even so, considering her appearance and status, it was surprising that no one approached her, even though there must have been people who tried to use her. However, a worried look flashed across the crown prince’s face when he heard those words. What was the emotion reflected in those eyes? Guilt? Pity?

Raven muttered to himself.

“That… I didn’t ask you to do that…”

The crown prince seemed to feel guilty for some reason. It seemed as if he felt that Princess Serabi had become like that because of him. He didn’t know what she felt guilty about, but Princess Serabi, whom he had seen so far, didn’t seem uncomfortable at all. She seemed to be the type that enjoyed solitude, and seemed the happiest when she was alone. On the contrary, she made a face that seemed uncomfortable when dealing with nobles.

He didn’t know if he read it correctly because she had no expression on her face. 

The only person who was heard to be near her was a commoner knight… Now that he thought about it, Princess Serabi was once caught up in a rumor about an affair with that commoner knight. The commoner knight was caught sleeping with her lap on his head or something.

That story once set the social circles ablaze. They said it was a love that transcended social status or something. When he looked at it, it seemed like they had no feelings for each other at all… It was a boring story so he had forgotten about it, but as they talked about Princess Serabi, that rumor came back to his mind.

“Um, now that I think about it…”

 

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