Chapter : 10
When they were still children, Calix, Luke, Leon, and Kaelin went on a picnic to the park by the Letian River.
Calix looked displeased at Kaelin, who was playing catch with Leon.
The sight of her laughing and tossing the ball with someone like Leon continued to irritate him.
Then, the ball Kaelin threw to Leon accidentally rolled toward Calix.
“Could you throw the ball to me, Your Highness?”
Kaelin said to Calix.
Hearing that, Calix frowned.
Even the way Kaelin addressed him annoyed him.
‘Your Highness’—
From the first time she met him at six until that day, when she was eleven, Kaelin had always called the four-year-older, overwhelmingly taller Calix “Your Highness” politely.
It wasn’t exactly politeness—it was tinged with a bit of fear.
Meanwhile, she simply called Leon, her peer, by his name.
Calix picked up the ball and silently glared at Kaelin.
Kaelin looked back at him, a little scared, a little annoyed, and then spoke again.
“Your Highness! Please throw me the ball. Or should I come get it myself?”
Calix remained silent, holding the ball.
From a distance, Leon shouted,
“Brother! Give the ball to Rin or me.”
‘Rin.’
Leon didn’t even call her Kaelin; he called her Rin.
Calix’s irritation twisted even further at Leon’s casual way of addressing her, and he clenched the ball tightly as if it would burst.
Kaelin, judging that Calix wouldn’t throw the ball to her, started approaching him.
Just a few more steps, and she would reach him. At that moment, Calix threw the ball over her head with a swift motion.
“Ah!”
Kaelin exclaimed in surprise as the ball flew past. It continued flying… all the way to the Letian River.
Kaelin, who had been right in front of Calix, glared at him with an unmistakably angry expression. But when Calix looked back at her with his proud, cold gaze, she quickly turned her head and ran toward the river to retrieve the ball.
He had thrown it with such force that it almost fell into the river, but thankfully it landed just at the edge.
Out of breath, Kaelin grabbed the ball and turned to climb back up the hill.
‘Slippity-splat’
At that moment, her foot slipped, and she fell into the river.
The Letian River was deep, and Kaelin couldn’t swim.
“Kaelin!”
It was unclear who shouted her name first—Calix, Leon, or Luke.
But immediately, all three ran toward the river to save her.
Calix reached her first.
He managed to rescue her safely.
However, by the time she was pulled from the water, she had already lost consciousness.
Kaelin had been physically weak, and after this incident, she fell gravely ill for several days.
She even contracted pneumonia as a result. When she finally recovered from pneumonia the following year, she was sent to a rural duchy to live.
The Duke worried excessively about Kaelin’s frail health, much like her mother who had died young, believing that the countryside would be better for her than the capital, Everlen.
After that day, Calix was haunted by the incident for a long time.
He couldn’t even bring himself to visit the Letian riverside park again.
For Calix, that day was both a moment of realization of his feelings for Kaelin and a painful memory he wanted to forget.
Meanwhile, Kaelin remembered him not as her savior, but only as the one responsible for her falling into the river.
As a result, over the ten years that Kaelin spent—six in the countryside recovering and four back in the capital—Leon developed a relationship with her, while Calix never had the chance to express his feelings or even have a proper conversation with her.
His love sank into dark, obsessive depths.
Furthermore, in the two years before Calix almost killed Kaelin, her rebellion plot was in full swing, and having to witness it deepened Calix’s feelings of love-hate.
By the end, his feelings would explode to the point of wanting to kill her—love entwined with rage.
This was how I had written Calix’s inner psychological change…
Why did his emotions suddenly escalate to the point of wanting to kill Kaelin?
The problem was that his personality seemed slightly different from what I had written.
He had always avoided social interaction, relying solely on his own strength to dominate and make others obey.
He was cold, direct, and rarely revealed his heart.
Yet, strangely, the current Calix seemed bright and remarkably stable. The darkness within him seemed to hide its tail.
I became even more fearful.
A sociopath hiding obsession and love-hate behind a calm exterior? Terrifying!
The crucial thing was that, regardless of his current state, I had to figure out a way to survive.
Although his outward demeanor seemed milder, the obsessive love-hate capable of killing the woman he loved had already begun far earlier than planned. Simply submitting to his obsession wouldn’t be enough.
I had to actively approach him and make him believe I liked him. That seemed to be the only solution.
That would calm his anxiety.
Then, the Marquis of Kerkain visited.
It was already the second visit this week.
My father seemed intent on maintaining his alliance with the Empress.
Ah, really!
This shouldn’t be happening.
Even if I made Calix believe I liked him, if my father kept conspiring with the Empress until the end, we could be executed for treason.
Does the Empress even have a plan? Why won’t my father cut that link?
Calix is unbeatable. Why can’t they let go?
Of course, I was the only one who knew Calix couldn’t be defeated. No one else truly understood the power of him and his knights at this point, which was why they foolishly continued their scheming.
I tried to improve my relationship with Calix to persuade my resolute father, but it wasn’t easy.
First, I had to see Calix to approach him actively—but as Crown Prince, he seldom appeared before me.
Was he very busy? Or was he secretly watching me?
Still, the fear from the last time, when I had dared to approach the Crown Prince and faced a blade at my neck, resurfaced.
Meeting a guy who secretly loves you was this difficult… I was anxious.
I had no choice but to keep trying to persuade my father without showing any change in my relationship with Calix.
As soon as Marquis Rastus Kerkain left, I went to my father’s study.
“Father.”
“What is it, Rin?”
“What did you discuss with the Marquis of Kerkain?”
“…Rin, that’s not something you need to know.”
Hmm… no, I need to know. In fact, I already do.
“Father, you’re still allied with the Empress, right? You plan to remove the Crown Prince and make Duke Leon the heir!”
“There’s nothing to know!”
“Am I right?”
My voice grew increasingly emotional, and my father sighed.
“That’s what you wanted, so why are you acting like this now?”
“I don’t want it anymore! Calix can’t be defeated, Father. How many times do I have to tell you?”
My voice rose in frustration.
My father widened his eyes.
“Why do you think that? The Crown Prince only has his knights.”
Yes, that’s what one might think. Two years later, when the Emperor dies, everything will come to light.
At that time, Calix will be off at the border war, and the Empress and my father will crown Duke Leon as Emperor.
But the Crown Prince Calix will return swiftly and annihilate them all. They will fail!
Unable to speak about the future I knew, I vented my frustration again.
“I don’t love Duke Leon. Calix is better, even if not for love.”
Of course, I didn’t truly love Calix, but sticking with him was the only way we would survive.
“Kaelin…”
My father looked puzzled, then oddly dejected.
Why that expression? They could just abandon their scheme! Nothing has happened yet!
“Father? You’ll stop, right? You must never oppose Crown Prince Calix. Never! He will never lose.”
But again, my father said nothing.
Minutes passed.
Finally, he spoke again.
“Kaelin, the outcome is uncertain. If you don’t love Duke Leon and won’t marry him, I won’t force you. But based on your attitude and actions, the Empress and I have joined forces. Such a secret pact is serious. It can’t be undone.”
“Father!”
No! That can’t happen! There’s still time. Please let go of that hand!
“Father, the Crown Prince is strong. Even if you ally with the Empress, you can’t win.”
“Rin, that’s not for you to worry about.”
I am supposed to worry! My life is at stake! My father’s too!
“Father, I’d rather marry Crown Prince Calix. If it stops you from allying with the Empress, it’s better.”
Of course, Calix would later fall in love with the real heroine. But until then, as long as he loved me, I had to use that to ensure our survival.
“It’s already too late! And the Crown Prince loving you? What nonsense! Wake up, Rin! You said such absurd things last time too…”
“!!!!!!”
Absurd?
Suddenly, I was at a loss for words.
