Chapter 18
“The Prince Died, So I’m Starting Over From the Beginning!”
“Ah, um… y-yes. Thank you.”
I stopped myself from telling him there was no need to lay a handkerchief on the chair indoors.
Well… as long as he’s happy, that’s fine.
The Third Prince, who had made me sit on the sofa, took the chair directly across from me.
Then, without hesitation, he asked what he was curious about.
“So, what were you doing hiding here?”
“Hi…ding…?”
“Not that, I mean honestly. It was you, Miss Lulupel, who said trust is important in an engagement, wasn’t it?”
The words I had once blurted out came back to me verbatim.
I had nothing to say and could only give an awkward smile.
The Third Prince stared at me intently with clear eyes.
“Miss Lulupel, you’re really strange.”
“…Me?”
The words floating in my mind suddenly popped out of his lips.
Good heavens. Who’s calling whom strange?
I was dumbfounded.
“Why do you suspect me, Miss Lulupel?”
“No… I never said I suspected you…”
My voice grew smaller toward the end, as if I were a mouse caught in a trap.
My mind began racing.
Could it be… he’s some sort of secret villain setup?
“I’m under a spell.”
As I tensed and started calculating the probability of a new hypothesis being correct, the Third Prince made a shocking statement.
“…W-what kind of spell?”
“It’s a spell that dulls the vigilance of others. My mother devised it to protect me. But it seems it doesn’t really work on you, Miss Lulupel.”
“I-I see? Haha… th-that’s… amazing…”
“It’s not amazing. Magic is useful, but not perfect. It doesn’t work well on someone as extremely cautious as you.”
“W-when did I… even act cautious…? Hahaha… By the way, can you tell me such an important thing?”
I really didn’t want to know…
Sweat trickled down the back of my neck.
I had a strong feeling something was seriously wrong.
I only wanted to know what the Third Prince was hiding for my own safety. I wasn’t interested in his private matters.
I was the villain.
Getting involved in the main story wasn’t a good idea.
“It’s because it’s you, Miss Lulupel.”
“Haha… I may seem a bit special, but I’m actually an ordinary person…”
So, I wished he wouldn’t share secrets with me that he wouldn’t tell anyone else.
Unfortunately, it seemed the Third Prince wasn’t under any spell that let him read other people’s minds.
“My mother was a witch.”
Without asking, the Third Prince began pouring out his story.
If only I could just block my ears, that would have been ideal.
“A witch… yes, that’s possible… I do like witches… yes…”
I muttered whatever came out like a broken radio.
“…Wait, did you say witch?”
That single word made me leap up in surprise.
A witch? A witch?
As far as I knew, all descendants of witches were female.
Witches’ blood carried magic, so only daughters were born from witches.
Wait, then… is it really a boy?
“…No.”
“…I haven’t said anything yet.”
“It’s written on your face, Miss Lulupel. I am indeed a boy.”
The Third Prince firmly stated in a clear voice.
But my suspicion didn’t fade easily.
It was well known that witches only gave birth to girls.
The Third Prince sighed and continued explaining.
“It’s very rare, but sometimes a boy is born to a witch. Witches call such children ‘Children of Misfortune.’”
“…Children of misfortune?”
I unconsciously furrowed my brows at that.
The term didn’t sound good at all.
Calling someone unfortunate just because they were born differently seemed harsh.
Seeing my confused face, the Third Prince laughed lightly.
He then explained that such children were called unfortunate because they couldn’t use magic.
“Witches, who believe their blood is special, consider it disgraceful if a child born cannot use magic. So they try to hide the existence of these children.”
“I see…”
“The misconception among the empire’s citizens that witches only give birth to girls comes from that.”
“I see…”
…This third-rate romance novel has this much elaborate backstory?
Does the author even know this? Or is he oblivious?
I nodded slowly, feeling slightly stunned.
The Third Prince continued undeterred.
“All Children of Misfortune are abandoned at birth. But my mother refused to abandon me. That’s why she was expelled from the witches’ society.”
“Oh… that’s unfortunate…”
“That’s why I want to learn magic.”
“…To restore Madame Ramier’s original life?”
“Exactly.”
The Third Prince nodded obediently.
“I see… I hope it goes well…”
I nodded along vigorously. I didn’t know what else to say.
I decided to ignore why such unnecessary settings existed in this romance novel.
There were other suspicious points in the Third Prince’s story.
From my logic, I couldn’t understand why a child incapable of using magic would be expelled from witches’ society.
Witches lived in places far from ordinary villages.
If they wanted to hide a child, it would have been safer to hide them deep in the village, not drive them out.
Driving the child out actually increased the chance of the secret leaking.
Yet, he was expelled anyway, which made no sense.
It seemed less like dealing with a disgraceful existence and more like…
Yes.
It felt like how one would treat a dangerous or feared being.
“Well… um, I’ll be going… Sorry for disturbing you. Study hard!”
But instead of resolving all my questions, I chose to leave.
As long as the Third Prince’s secret posed no harm to me, I didn’t need other information.
Knowing too much could be dangerous.
I didn’t want to know unnecessarily. That’s a shortcut to a tiring life.
A commoner like me only needed to know what was appropriate for my station.
“Where are you going?”
But the Third Prince didn’t seem to agree.
He didn’t look willing to let me go easily.
The Third Prince grabbed my wrist.
Wait, wasn’t it rude to grab a lady’s hand?
Is grabbing the wrist okay?
I looked at him with a reluctant expression.
“…To my room. Anna’s waiting for me.”
“I see. But shouldn’t we take care of what’s above your head first?”
“What’s above my head?”
Huh? Is something on my head?
I quickly turned and looked around.
Luckily, there was a large mirror nearby. I rushed toward it.
On top of my head reflected in the mirror…
“Mom! What is this!”
A pale blue electric spark crackled and burned.
“Ouch!”
I instinctively raised my hand to my head and felt a sharp sting.
The moment my fingers touched the spark, a huge static shock hit me.
Not normal static, but the kind you get wearing wool in winter.
“It’s lightning.”
The Third Prince explained calmly.
“Lightning? Why is there lightning on my head?”
“Perhaps because you didn’t keep the contract, Miss Lulupel?”
“W-when did I!”
“Hmm… here it is. Article 12, Clause 1: Both parties must respect each other’s privacy. It seems the token judged that the contract wasn’t kept.”
The Third Prince took out the contract and smiled.
Then he twirled his index finger in the air.
As his finger moved, the lightning above my head grew.
“W-wait! It won’t fall, right?”
“No. Unless I give the signal, it won’t.”
That meant the lightning would strike my head as soon as he signaled.
Ah…
Hariela something Lulupel, only 8 years old.
After barely a month into her 4th life cycle, she’s heading into her 5th…
Just as I was saying a bitter farewell to the world, I suddenly heard laughter.
“…Why are you laughing?”
The source was, of course, the Third Prince.
He giggled as if watching something very funny.
Small tears hung at the corners of his eyes.
“…Sorry. It was a joke. Since Miss Lulupel jokes so often, I wanted to try once myself.”
He wiped his tears, opened and closed his palm lightly, and the lightning on my head vanished without a trace.
“Why would I let Miss Lulupel get struck by lightning?”
“…You looked quite pleased though?”
“It was a small prank. Don’t be too upset. Still, it’s true that you broke the contract, isn’t it?”
I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or trying to console me.
…Was this really the same boy who used to be so shy not long ago?
