Episode 22
As he changed his attitude and asked, I feigned surprise, widening my eyes.
“What, are you saying I should go alone?”
Ren pinched my cheek as if he found it cute.
“Our Rue, why have you become so cheeky lately? I don’t mind it… but it’s suspicious how suddenly you’ve changed.”
‘Maybe I should talk less?’
The original Louise, it seemed, was a girl much shyer, sweeter, and more fearful of her brother than I was.
‘I must never be found out.’
I knew that instinctively. No matter how much they loved Louise, they would never accept me, someone wearing her face.
I deliberately leaned my head against Ren’s shoulder and whined.
“It’s because I’m having a hard time with the pregnancy.”
I glanced up to find his amethyst gaze exceedingly close. His warm eyes were filled with tender affection.
“Are you having a hard time?”
Just as he gently wrapped an arm around my shoulder, a white flash flickered before my eyes and my head went numb.
“Rue?”
My legs giving way and Ren catching me in his arms fortunately happened at the same time.
“Rue! Rue, are you okay?”
“Suddenly, I feel so… diz…”
That was all. I lost consciousness right then.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Ren’s worried face.
“Rue.”
The ceiling was unfamiliar, and the room was filled with the scent of ashes and embers that clung to him. Seeing my gaze sweep the surroundings, he explained.
“This is my room. I didn’t know where your room was here.”
“Oh…”
As I nodded and tried to sit up, Ren pressed me back down by the shoulders.
“You can’t get up. I’ll call Phoebe.”
It was only then I asked him.
“I fainted, right? Was it because of the pregnancy? Then you shouldn’t call Phoebe…”
Ren let out a sigh.
“For once, Erni was right. Rue, you need to get married now. His Highness the Crown Prince said you look far more dangerous than him right now!”
Seeing his flushed cheeks, I replied timidly.
“Don’t be angry, Ren…”
“I’m not angry…!”
Ren was clearly furious, but upon hearing my words, he softened his tone.
“Fainting must be due to the pregnancy. I’m not a doctor, but I studied a lot about pregnancy. They say it can happen sometimes. You have no fever and didn’t vomit, so it’s probably not serious. But we can’t go on like this. You need to see a doctor. This trip is too much for you.”
His eyes grew moist as he added.
“What if you hadn’t run into me back there? What if you had fainted alone in that dim place?”
Ren puffed out his chest in frustration. Then, he took my hand with his sweaty palm.
“What if you had fallen… What if the baby had been startled, Rue? You have to be careful…”
As if he couldn’t bear the mere thought, his face grew increasingly pale. I apologized sincerely.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Ren…”
The corners of the eyes of the Empire’s strongest mage were tinged red. With a face that looked like he might burst into tears at any moment, he rubbed his cheek against the back of my hand. A very small voice whispered.
“You know I love you… You know I’m worried.”
I wasn’t confident I could bear to hear it, so I closed my eyes. Ren barely managed to steady his emotions and stood up. His broad, retreating shoulders looked lonely. I thought he was leaving for somewhere, but Ren just returned with a glass of water.
“Are you still anxious, Rue?”
Taking the glass from him, I realized something.
“The date you mentioned has passed. I did everything you wanted. Even at this very moment… I’m by your side.”
Ren was now talking about something I didn’t know but absolutely needed to understand. His deep amethyst eyes were moist with sorrow.
“And yet you’re still anxious? Enough that you still can’t choose anyone?”
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from those profound pupils.
“Louise!”
Someone shouted from outside, saving me from having to answer Ren’s difficult question.
“Louise! Has anyone seen the Princess?”
I didn’t need to check to know the owner of that voice was Rurik.
Although the situation was clearly headed for a disaster, Ren immediately got up and opened the window.
“Your Highness.”
It was certainly not a loud voice, yet Rurik’s shouting ceased instantly. Before I could even figure out what magic Ren had used, the door burst open with a bang.
“How dare you lay the Princess on your bed?”
Simultaneously, Rurik lunged at Ren. Ren, who could have easily defended himself, let himself be grabbed.
“…She wasn’t feeling well, and I didn’t know her quarters, so I had no choice.”
“Is that the truth.”
Rurik asked fiercely without even looking back at me. Just watching the two of them was exhausting, so I muttered.
“…It’s true, Brother.”
He released Ren and stomped over to the bed.
“Just a while ago, you suggested we take a walk together! Then the maid says you decided to accompany me! What in the world is the meaning of all this!”
It was that statement that made me turn pale with alarm.
“The maid? I think I was feeling unwell today and got confused. I sent the maid to you, what did you do to her?”
Rurik furrowed his brow. His crimson eyes shook with anger.
“Is the maid the problem now? You called me out to that waterfall, and you were lying in the Magic Tower Lord’s room?”
“Your Highness!”
Just then, Phoebe appeared and dared to block the Crown Prince’s path.
“K-Kill me, please! It’s my fault. I was confused and relayed the message incorrectly.”
“…Hah!”
But in my eyes, neither the furious, raging male lead nor the maidservant risking her one and only life to save me were visible.
‘I don’t see Helena.’
I was so anxious, wondering if the angry Rurik might have harmed her, treated her harshly. Because for the current me and Rurik, we needed her more than anything else.
“Brother, what did you do to her? Helena, what did you do to that maid?”
Just then, Helena appeared, breathing heavily.
“Your Highness! Your Highness, are you alright?”
Instantly, Phoebe slapped Helena across the cheek right in front of everyone. The sharp sound cut through the tense room.
“You should have attended to His Highness properly!”
I was so startled I thought my heart would drop. Of course, Phoebe knew I had arranged to meet Helena.
‘But slapping her right away is too much.’
Thinking that, I met Phoebe’s eyes. The loyal maid was trembling, her face full of distress. Seeing that, I understood why Phoebe had stepped in.
‘She preempted it because she was afraid Rurik would get angry.’
My brother was temperamental enough to behead a servant if he so wished. Phoebe must have mustered her courage to prevent a bigger scandal at the monastery, reasoning that if she intervened herself, she at least wouldn’t be killed.
Helena offered no excuse. She just knelt there and begged.
“…I’m sorry.”
Her usually neat appearance was disheveled. Whether she lost it rushing over in a panic, the camellia I had pinned in her hair was gone. In that small room where everyone was seething with anger, I had to face the fact that this trip was thoroughly ruined.
In the hostile atmosphere, the first one to try to leave the room was, of course, Rurik.
‘It’s over. There’s no way he’ll become close to Helena now.’
In that case, I couldn’t just let my extremely agitated brother leave like that. So, still lying in bed, I said.
“Don’t go, Brother.”
“…What?”
Rurik turned to look at me with a belligerent glare that dared me to try and stop him, but I couldn’t back down.
“I’m sorry for not keeping my promise. I wasn’t feeling well this evening, so I must have gotten confused.”
Phoebe shot me a frantic look. It was clearly a signal to let Rurik leave now and wait for his anger to subside with time, but I ignored it.
“But it’s true I felt dizzy and fainted. Ren, Phoebe, Helena… none of them are at fault. So why don’t you show any concern for my illness, Brother? Why are you just getting angry at everyone and leaving?”
It was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but I had no other choice.
‘I have to keep Rurik here no matter what.’
Phoebe looked like she might faint as she gasped for breath, but I kept my eyes fixed squarely on Rurik.
“Aren’t you worried that I’m sick?”
“How could you…”
Finally, Rurik took a step toward me. With each step he took closer, an instinctive fear surged within me. The man before me was extremely dangerous right now.
“How could you say such a thing?”
