You Will Pay With Your Life For Deceiving Me

 

 She could interpret it as asking the crown prince of a country to run an errand for her, but it didn’t seem like that. This was a favor to a friend. A favor to a friend she made for the first time.

 

 Winfred nodded as if he had read her thoughts. He didn’t know what was going on with Ayla, but every time he saw her sad expression, it felt like something was falling into his heart.

 

  “Then, let’s go. “I’ll take you there.”

 

 Ayla got up on the roof, dusted off the handkerchief that Winfred had lent her, folded it neatly, and held it out to him. Winfred, who had somehow become less talkative, took the handkerchief and stuffed it into his pocket.

 

 In the middle of the night, when there were far fewer people on the streets than during the day, the two people descended from the roof and approached the opulent home where Winfred was staying.

 

She observed the mansion while hiding in the lane and noticed the worried expression on the chamberlain’s face who had earlier gone out to hunt for Winfred.

 

 There wasn’t much fuss because they couldn’t advertise that the prince was gone.

 

  “… … look. “How many people are suffering because you just came out to play secretly?”

 

  “Okay. “I’ll be careful now,”

 

  Winfred said sullenly.

 

It would have been right to let Winfred leave if there were so many people seeking him. Winfred then turned his head rather than making an effort to exit the alley when Ayla signaled for him to do so.

 

“Ayla.”

 

“Why?”

 

“… … “Can we meet again?”

 

 It was an earnest question.

 

 Ayla was lost in thought.

 

 Someday. Once her revenge is over, she could meet again as the crown prince of the Peles Empire and the princess of the Duke of Weishafen.

 

“Maybe.”

 

 When she nodded, Winfred asked back in an incredulous voice.

 

 “Is it true?”

 

 “… … huh.”

 

 He is that happy. Winfred smiled with a face brighter than the moon in the night sky.

 

 “Okay then, I’m really going, Ayla. “We must meet again.”

 

 Even after saying goodbye, his steps didn’t slow down that much. After looking back in the direction where Ayla was, Winfred walked out of the alley where the street lights were brightly lit.

 

 “Your Majesty! Where have you been? What is that dirt? Where did you roll to get your clothes so dirty?”

 

 The chamberlain who discovered him ran towards Winfred, making a fuss. He thought there was nothing he could do about getting scolded, but the scolding towards him was greater than he expected, so Winfred smiled awkwardly and apologized.

 

 “I’m sorry, I won’t do that again.”

 

 Because he made a promise to Ayla.

 

 “Let’s go in quickly. Are you hurt somewhere? If, by any chance, Your Majesty was hurt… … .”

 

 Winfred looked up at the night sky, listening to the chamberlain’s words that were nagging his ears with one ear and letting them out of the other.

 

 It was because he had the thought that somewhere on the roofs of those buildings, Ayla, curled up like a cat and hiding, was watching him.

 

* * *

 

 As Winfred expected, Ayla, who had been hiding in a high place to watch his safe return, headed to the inn room as soon as he disappeared from sight.

 

 She was worried because the outing took longer than she expected. Fortunately, Laura was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the rest of the world, and there were no traces of anyone coming into the room.

 

 Ayla had hung up the cloak and she had worn before, sat down on the bed, watched Laura’s movements, and carefully summoned the magic box.

 

 She was worried that Laura would wake up from the sound of her fingers snapping, but fortunately, she didn’t wake up from this level of noise, perhaps because she was given sleeping pills.

 

 Ayla sighed softly, took out the sleeping pills she had hidden under her pillow, and carefully placed them in the box. Then, she took out the pocket watch Winfred had given her and looked at it.

 

 ‘Is it okay if I just wind up this mainspring here?’

 

 Actually, she was anxious to estimate the time based on the positions of the stars and moon every night, but she was very fortunate to have a clock.

 

 Ayla looked down at her pocket watch and remembered Winfred’s face. The face that smiled brightly when she answered that they could meet again kept coming back as if it was stuck in her mind.

 

‘… … ‘Golden eyes can look so good.’

 

 It was clearly the same color as Byron’s. Byron’s eyes seemed somehow shiny and greedy, which made her feel bad, but Winfred’s eyes felt clear and good.

 

 While thinking about that, she was blankly watching the second hand of the clock move.

 

 She heard a sound coming up the stairs from afar. It could have been someone on guard patrolling, but you never know.

 

 She quickly put the pocket watch in the box, returned the box, and pretended to sleep. Waiting for the sound of footsteps to come down the stairs again.

 

 However, contrary to her wishes, the owner of the footsteps approaching the room did not just pass by and even knocked on the door.

 

 ‘Who is it? ‘At this late hour.’

 

 It was getting close to three in the morning. Even Byron, who is a nocturnal person, would have fallen asleep drunk. Who the hell is he that is looking for her room in this early morning?

 

 It was difficult. If she hadn’t let her sleep, Laura would have stayed by Ayla’s side all night. If she heard a knock, she would immediately open the door and ask who it was.

 

 However, since she didn’t know who it was and couldn’t open the door herself, Ayla clutched the blanket tightly and trembled with anxiety.

 

 It was at that time.

 

 “Laura.”

 

 The owner of the knocking sound called Laura and carefully opened the door. It was the voice of Cloud, who had tried to harm Winfred but failed and disappeared.

 

 “… … Laura?”

 

  His niece, who was supposed to be awake, looked embarrassed because she didn’t respond. When she looked into the room, she saw Laura slumped in her chair.

 

 “Laura. “Please wake up.”

 

 Cloud’s voice grew louder. No matter how much she shook him, she wouldn’t wake up, so it was understandable.

 

 Ayla, who was pretending to sleep, just pursed her lips and trembled with anxiety. She couldn’t even predict how this situation would unfold.

 

 At this point, she was worried that Laura might be sick and could have even called a doctor. she was very worried that it might turn out that Laura had taken sleeping pills.

 

 “Laura, come to your senses. Laura!”

 

 Now, Cloud, whose voice calling for his niece is mixed with moisture, desperately calls out to Laura, and Laura, who is deeply asleep, wakes up while rubbing her eyes.

 

 “… … “Uncle?”

 

 “You were surprised. Are you okay?”

 

 Fortunately, Laura, who was only caught in Suma’s clutches and had no problems with her body, covered her mouth and yawned.

 

 “Hmm. What’s going on? At this hour… … .”

 

 Laura, who greeted her uncle calmly, must have fully woken up and her face became reflective only then.

 

 “Soo, uncle. I just dozed off for a moment. Really, just for a moment. Other than that, I watched carefully! “Really!”

 

 Laura lied without even putting saliva on her lips. She was desperate.

 

 She was supposed to be watching Ayla, but she was sleeping rough. She was going to get scolded harshly.

 

 She doesn’t know what it would be like for Cloud, but if he got into Mother Capella’s ears, he could get whipped.

 

 “So, please keep it a secret from your mother…” … .”

 

 “… … “It looks like you were very tired.”

 

 Cloud softly opened his mouth as he saw his nephew blow while maintaining a bloodless face.

 

 Eighteen. Although she was now legally an adult, Laura was still a child to Cloud, as she was a niece who watched her grow up from afar.

 

 His nephew stayed up all night watching Ayla and had no intention of scolding her for dozing off for a while.

 

 “Calm down. I won’t tell your sister-in-law. The baby seems to be sleeping well too.”

 

 At his words, Laura sighed and sighed. Isn’t that really fortunate?

 

 Laura wasn’t the only one who felt relieved and calmed her pounding heart. The same was true for Ayla, who turned her head towards the wall and pretended to sleep.

 

 She doesn’t know what the reason for the sudden visit was, but fortunately, it seems that neither the feeding of sleeping pills to Laura nor the sneaking out at night were discovered.

 

 Also, she interfered with Cloud’s work.

 

“Anyway, what’s really going on? This early in the morning.”

 

“Oh, that’s… … . this.”

 

 Cloud held out the bag he had hidden in his chest. These were late-night snacks he had bought at the night market. The sweet smell of freshly baked bread was wafting out.

 

 “… … “I went out for work and stopped by the night market, and it occurred to me that you would be up all night. If there is any leftover, I will give some to that child in the morning.”

 

 After the prince suddenly disappeared from sight, Cloud was looking for a place where a child could sneak out at night.

 

 If there was a place that a prince who grew up in the imperial palace would be interested in, it would be the bustling night market. So, while looking around the night market, he thought of his nephew.

 

 His poor nephew was chased around all his life and was unable to create any happy memories of his childhood.

 

 “… … “Your uncle too.”

 

 Laura lowered her head slightly and opened her mouth in a voice whose thoughts were unclear.

 

“Don’t you like it? Then, I’ll try something else later… … .”

 

“I’m going to eat it all by myself. Why is that girl sharing because she thinks it’s pretty?”

 

 As Cloud was worried that he might not like Laura, Laura opened her mouth and spoke pointedly. That’s what she said, but Laura was expressing that she really liked Cloud’s surprise gift.

 

 Cloud chuckled slightly at his nephew’s reaction and left the room, saying he would be on his way.

 

 Ayla pretended to turn over and turned her head to look at Laura with narrowed eyes. She was looking closely at the gift her uncle had left behind. What was she thinking?

 

 It felt really strange.

 

 Even though he is the crown prince of the empire, isn’t it truly ironic that Cloud, who tried to kill Winfred, a precious child to some, cares so deeply for his nephew?

 

 Ayla tried to shake off her complicated thoughts.

 

 If they had been just a little bit late, they would have been in big trouble, but weren’t they lucky enough to get through it this time. All they had to think about was that.

 

 Ayla was flowing through complicated thoughts for a while, when listening to the sound of Laura putting sweet snacks in her mouth, fell asleep not long after.

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