Chapter 7
He looked like he would burst into tears if I rejected him too coldly, so before I knew it, I had plopped back down into my seat.
Sier was smiling brightly at me, as if he were delighted by something.
‘What on earth is going on here…?’
I fixed my gaze straight ahead, doing my best not to turn my head toward him.
The play began the moment the prince sat down.
Since I already knew the story, drowsiness quickly washed over me.
Unable to stop my head from drooping, I fell asleep without resistance.
***
The thunderous applause echoing from all directions startled me awake.
The play had lasted two hours from start to finish.
In that short time, it seemed I had even dreamed.
“No… you can’t… please….”
Someone’s sobbing voice kept echoing in my head.
It sounded familiar, but it was choked and hoarse, making it hard to tell whose voice it was.
“Please, wake up… please….”
Maybe because it was a dream, the image was blurry.
All I could remember clearly was a man holding a woman tightly and crying.
Judging by how desperately he begged her to wake up, the woman must have already been dead, and the man was drowning in despair.
His plea was so heart-wrenching that even though it was just a dream, it left me with an uneasy feeling.
Afraid the scene would linger if I stayed still, I shook my head hard.
Regaining my composure, I glanced at Sier.
“So… how was the play—”
I trailed off mid-sentence.
My mouth fell open in shock at what I saw.
Clear tears, like transparent glass beads, were streaming endlessly down his cheeks.
He was… crying?
I was completely flustered by the sudden flood of tears.
The play did have emotional moments, but not enough to make someone cry like this.
Panicking, I pulled out a handkerchief from my sleeve and handed it to him.
“Ah… thank you.”
He accepted it with a wet, trembling voice.
At the same time, my eyes widened as I stared at him.
That voice just now…
‘Isn’t it similar to the man in my dream…?’
The thought crossed my mind and then quickly disappeared.
It was ridiculous to think Prince Sier had appeared in my dream crying, after all.
And asking, “The man in my dream sounded like you; could you cry again for me?” would just make me sound like a creep.
It felt awkward to talk, and leaving a crying person alone also felt wrong.
So I decided to stay seated until he calmed down.
His status as a prince played a role too.
I couldn’t exactly stand up and leave first in front of royalty.
“Thank you for lending me your handkerchief. It’s embarrassing to show tears in front of a lady.”
He smiled softly, his face flushed.
His expression held embarrassment, sadness, and quiet sorrow all at once.
His long lashes, damp with tears, made his handsome features stand out even more, and without realizing it, I found myself staring.
“…It’s fine. If a play is moving enough, that can happen.”
“I’ll be sure to return the handkerchief next time.”
“It’s really nothing. You don’t have to return it.”
“No. I will.”
Why insist so much over something like that …?
It was just a handkerchief.
True, it was expensive silk embroidered stitch by stitch by a famous artisan, worth several months of a commoner’s living expenses—but I had plenty of those at the manor.
I was about to say it was really fine when our eyes met, and I snapped my mouth shut.
There was a strange stubbornness in his blue eyes.
‘That stubbornness is just like Leila.’
Only then did I realize why I hadn’t been able to refuse his request to stay.
His behavior and demeanor were very similar to Leila’s.
To avoid my death and Leila’s tragic fate, I needed to be firm.
But whether it was Tian Ellopez’s “default setting” or not, I had always been weak when it came to Leila.
No—more accurately, I couldn’t help but be weak.
She always looked at me with trembling eyes, long lashes lowered, fragile and delicate.
Anyone would soften in front of that.
And now, Sier Persent was acting exactly like that.
With a beauty that could easily overwhelm most noble ladies, she was behaving like Leila.
‘…Did I misjudge him?’
In the original story, Sier Persent was the most intelligent of the characters, someone who quietly supported Leila from the shadows.
He wasn’t supposed to be this innocent.
If this personality was his true self, then there had to be a clear event that changed him into the man described in the novel.
That event was probably the one where the woman he loved died.
As a royal, the woman he loved was likely a noble.
Unless the story went with something absurd like him falling for a random commoner he met on the street.
‘If that’s the case, she might be someone I know.’
As the daughter of the Ellopez ducal family, my network was fairly wide.
If she was a noble, there was a good chance she was someone I knew.
I had no intention of standing by and letting someone die, so I planned to stop it if possible.
But if I did, Sier Persent’s personality might remain like this forever.
‘…Isn’t that dangerous?’
One indecisive person like Leila was already enough.
If I kept the current Sier—rather than the original version—by Leila’s side, that could become a serious problem.
Regardless of his intelligence or magical talent.
Leila couldn’t have someone just as indecisive as herself beside her.
“I’m going crazy, seriously.”
I had meant to keep that thought to myself, but it slipped out.
Sier flinched, thinking I was talking about him, but I deliberately looked away.
‘Maybe it’s a good thing Leila wants to break off the engagement.’
…Ah, I don’t know.
I’ve been thinking too much.
Today was the first time I’d ever spent this long with Sier Persent.
I never imagined he’d actually be like this.
Now that I knew he resembled Leila so much, I couldn’t just ignore it.
Even if they weren’t engaged, I needed to reconsider whether keeping him near Leila would help or harm her.
“Then… I’ll take my leave now, Your Highness.”
***
“Terdeo.”
After confirming that Tian had safely returned to the manor, Sier called his subordinate in a low voice.
“You called for me, Your Highness.”
Terdeo appeared so quickly it was hard to tell where he’d come from, bowing deeply before Sier.
The cold expression Sier now wore—one he had never shown in front of Tian—was oppressive.
“Did you really investigate properly?”
“Of course. Lady Tian Ellopez is weak toward people who behave innocently, like Lady Leila Arvid.”
Sier’s stiff expression twisted slightly.
It hadn’t failed completely.
She could have simply left, but she hadn’t.
That made it even more confusing.
What was that reaction at the end supposed to mean?
“I’m going crazy, seriously.”
He’d pretended not to hear it, but the words kept echoing in his mind.
“So what’s the problem, then?”
“…If I knew that, Your Highness wouldn’t be spying on the Ellopez manor like a petty thief.”
Terdeo quickly stepped back, wary of being hit by magic.
“Ahem. It would be stranger if she fell for it all at once. Especially when the other party is Lady Ellopez.”
“…So?”
“Repeated coincidences are often mistaken for fate, Your Highness.”
Sier narrowed his eyes as he looked at Terdeo.
He didn’t fully trust him, but when it came to relationships, Terdeo clearly had more experience.
“…Send a message to the daughter of Count Arvid.”
“As you command.”
