Villainous Lady, The Obsession Begins

【Chapter 52】

 

“You’ve tamed me. Now I don’t want to go back to a life without you. So please don’t leave me… Can you accept me one more time?”

If I said I didn’t waver for a moment at the sorrowful gaze, it would be a lie.

‘No! Minuelle Karinen. You can’t just change people. Wake up!’

I couldn’t just let this go after seeing the effort put into preparing only the things I don’t eat.

“Did the carriage left? It’s ridiculous, really!”

Let’s not forget, this man, no one else, pulled me to hanging on several times.

“It’s been dirty, but since it’s a request, don’t contact me or anything again.”

I would have tried to stand up and leave, if not for Esadien’s hand holding the hem of my dress.

“Minuelle…. please.”

Why does this prince keep falling to his knees on the ground without even trying? I was about to exhale while turning around, but my jaw dropped at the unbelievable sight.

‘Cr-crying? Are you crying?’

Tears like glass beads were falling from Esadien’s eyes. It was a large teardrop that was so transparent that one couldn’t even call it a teardrop.

“Get up. Wipe it.”

I offered a handkerchief, but Esadien’s eyes just kept welling up with tears.

“Minuelle, Minuelle….”

“Ugh, really.”

I didn’t have enough strength to push away the bulk that was hanging on me like a lifeline. I took a deep breath and relaxed my body, and Esadien leaned his face slightly on my shoulder as if relieved.

‘I’m going crazy. Is my dress a handkerchief?’

Esadien showed no sign of letting me go.

At one time, I thought he was a calm person, like a lake. But he wasn’t. He was just trying to suppress it, and his nature was like a racehorse that only looked ahead.

‘What should I do about this.’

After a moment of hesitation, there was only one answer. I had to become the villain again.

“Esadien.”

The name sounded awkward as I called it after a long time.

But it had a great effect, and Esadien stopped crying and met my gaze.

“We could continue our engagement like this. Maybe we could even get married someday.”

“As long as you’re okay with it, I’m fine with getting married tomorrow.”

Will it be okay?

‘Anyway, this person…..’

I tried to hold back my tears and spoke.

“But the longer we continue this relationship, the more you will be hurt by the unrequited love.”

Life was a strange thing. As I watched everything that Esadien had said to me come back to him one by one.

“No, if only I could be by your side….”

What a silly thing to say. It’s something I’ve experienced before.

In the end, it’s not something that can be done just by words. 

I grabbed Esadien’s face with both hands. I could feel his rough lips. He stiffened for a moment before responding with great fervor, like a dam bursting open.

“Minuelle. Haa, Minuelle.”

And when Essadien held me tightly as if trying to devour me, I pulled away from his face, looked into his eyes, and said firmly.

“As I expected, I feel nothing.”

“……”

The excited blue irises transparently revealed the crumbling heart. The pain that started in the eyes quickly spread to the eyebrows, cheeks, and trembling lips.

“But it’s okay. I’m fine, so…..”

Despite quickly recovering his composure and saying so, the pain was evident in his voice, like blood flowing from a wound that could not be stopped.

‘Really, what a fool you are….’

It felt somewhat refreshing when I received a rebuke at the coming-of-age ceremony. But this time, it was just… my heart didn’t feel good.

💧

“But I’m not. So, I’ll say goodbye now.”

Despite hanging on with all my heart, Minuelle eventually left coldly. Tears didn’t stop even though she was no longer in front of me.

“Minuelle, what should I do…..”

Left alone, Esadien cried, wiping his lips with the glove that Minuelle had thrown. This was the only thing with her scent remaining.

When I saw the slightly frayed end of the thread, which had become a little thin from being used so much, and the tiny protruding bit, tears welled up in my eyes. And the thought of the burn scar hidden underneath made it even worse.

“…….”

He cried silently without making any sound, and it was heart-wrenching to watch. Although his hair, which he always kept neat, was in disarray, Esadien didn’t seem to notice.

‘I can’t meet you anymore now. Now…’

If I knew I wouldn’t see you again, I would rather give you my heart as a parting gift. Then I could live without feeling this pain forever. 

But what held me back was the fleeting hope that maybe, just maybe, I could see you again someday, from afar. 

Even as he clung to that hope, Esadien shook his head briefly, laughing at himself.

“Bring the wine.”

It was a common escape.

💧

The rumor that the Third Prince had wrecked quickly spread. Without even thinking about hiding his hair color, Esadien frequently visited bars, drinking only to ruin himself like someone who had decided to do so.

“I heard he’s gone crazy after being rejected.”

“Is all this fuss just over a woman?”

“I heard her beauty was out of this world.”

“I didn’t feel much sympathy because it was like a child. A woman should be full-figu— Uugh!”

The group of people who were babbling nonsense couldn’t finish their words and stumbled away roughly.

“Indeed… it’s better to cut off a useless tongue that just spews nonsense.”

“Ugh, aargh!”

After Essadien kicked one of the men who was spouting nonsense, his hyoid bone was broken. He wasn’t the rotten prince who ignored everyone and only drank alcohol.

Esadien had a fierce gaze like a madman, and the ones who trembled in fear and shook were saved by the imperial guards.

“I should go now, Your Highness.”

“Did my sister sent you again?”

With the realization that Esadin had been suffering from a serious illness all along, the Emperor and Crown Princess remained silent, having lived their lives without any particular desires until then. They believed that Essadine would eventually come back after his wandering was over.

💧

However, Esadien betrayed their hope and disappeared.

“Where did the prince go? Your Highness, Your Highness!”

Esadien woke up with annoyance. He had a hangover from drinking too much last night even after returning to the palace. His head was throbbing so badly that the sound of someone shouting only made it worse.

‘Are you doing this on purpose?’

It seemed that he had become a person who even received disdain from the palace guards, and he wondered if he had reached a point where he couldn’t even be found despite shouting like this in front of him. 

“Damn it…”

The headache and irritation mixed together, and profanity that was not usually used automatically flowed out. No, he tried to spit out those words. What came out, however, was a sharp breath sound like “mya.”

“…..!?”

Despite the fact that it was barely a human breathing, it sounded more like an animal’s. Esadien’s blurry vision suddenly cleared up as he snapped awake, and his whole body flinched. The blanket that covered his entire body rustled as a result. The attendant, who was standing right in front of him, couldn’t miss the movement.

“Oh…..?”

As he was being pulled off the blanket, Esadien became even more annoyed.

‘How dare you.’

He paused as the sight of the startled attendant left him excessively surprised.

“Uh, huh? cat?”

At first, he wondered if there was a cat here somewhere. But the attendant was looking directly at Esadien.

‘Are you crazy?’

As soon as he thought that, he felt his ears prick up. 

‘Prick…. up?’

At that moment, it felt like the ears were pricking up like an animal’s.

Human ears don’t perk up like that.

He tried to feel the ears with his hands, but instead of touching the side of his face, his hand went up to the corner of his head.

Moreover, it was more like the feeling of poking a blunt object than raising a hand.

Only then did he look at his palm and see a black, round paw.

“……!”

Watching the animal raise its ears and tail in surprise, the attendant tilted his head in confusion.

“Wait, is it really a cat?”

He wasn’t particularly fond of cats, but this one seemed different from the usual ones he saw. It was the same as Esadien’s thoughts.

He had heard before that cats couldn’t see certain colors, but now it seemed to be looking at the world the same way it always did.

…Although its field of vision seemed to have widened slightly.

“Excuse me. Are you brought here by His Highness? Where is His Highness?”

But I couldn’t deny the reality anymore.

However, he couldn’t deny the reality any longer. The attendant raised Esadien high with both hands and what was reflected in his eyes was undoubtedly the form of a cat.

‘Let go of me!’

Just as he tried to lift his arm, or rather a front paw, sharp claws sprang out. Before he knew it, the sharp claws had deeply scratched and passed over the attendant’s arm.

“Argh!”

The attendant was startled and dropped Esadien. With amazing reflexes, Esadien landed on his feet and saw blood flowing from the attendant’s arm. He was both surprised and sorry. But that feeling didn’t last long.

“You! Come here!”

At the sight of the attendant trying to trap him by holding onto the blanket, Esadien became agitated and gave him another scratch before fleeing outright.

‘Sigh.’

What’s going on here?

After drinking water from the pond, Esadien sighed deeply as he reflected on the water’s surface where the waves had subsided.

At first, he stumbled and rolled away awkwardly, not yet used to walking on all four legs. After managing to achieve a more natural gait, he struggled with the reluctance to drink the pond water despite his thirst.

‘Did I get cursed?’

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, memories from last night came flooding back. The day when an extremely unpleasant gift had arrived, and the sender of the gift was the Second Prince.

 

「I’m sending this because I heard you enjoy drinking these days. Since I will soon enter the empire, let’s drink together.」

 

What was sent with the short letter was Chitrum’s famous liquor.

“Ha.”

No matter how bad Esadien was, he was not crazy enough to drink what the second prince sent.

He immediately threw the bottle against the wall, shattering it into pieces. He watched as the blood-like, gruesome-colored liquor stained the wallpaper, and for a while, he couldn’t help but drink water instead of alcohol.

“Ha…. Did it fall again?”

He opened the display cabinet, but because he was staggering, the remaining bottles of alcohol fell and shattered. The only things left were small glass bottles that fit in one hand. Esadien remembered what it was.

“Did I put it here?”

The ‘Love Potion’ that the mysterious old lady gave him.

 

“If you drink one drop a day for 100 days, your love will come true.”

 

Still chuckling, Esadien removed the lid of the bottle. He had shown this to the imperial magician after acquiring it, but they sensed no magical energy from it. On the contrary, the magician had even asked if it was really a love potion.

‘Back then, I might have forgotten about it and thought it was nothing, but…’

It’s come back into his hands like this again. Of all times, as if it was planned.

💧

Thank you for reading!