CHAPTER 37…………………………………………….
“Judging by your reaction to the princess, it’s hard to believe you two were such close friends back at the academy.”
Of course. The princess in the ducal household now wasn’t the same April he had spent time with at the academy.
He had no idea what had happened. Where had the April he knew gone? And if she had truly left the ducal house, why hadn’t she even once reached out to him?
He could have helped her anytime she needed it, yet in all that time, April had not contacted him even once.
“Why do you wish to break your engagement with Princess Rise?”
Damian’s question, answered with another question, made Persephone’s eyes flicker slightly.
Persephone stared at him silently, and Damian’s lips curved into a faint smile. He remembered the Persephone who had once looked at April with eyes full of affection.
It was the first time he realized just how gentle golden eyes could appear. Those were not the eyes of someone looking at a childhood friend like a sister.
Anyone who looked at Persephone’s gaze toward April would understand—without a doubt—the crown prince deeply loved Princess Rise.
Listening to the two of them, it was inevitable that Persephone would come to love April as well.
Damian smiled faintly at the silent crown prince. Even without hearing a reply, he felt he could almost predict what would be said.
“In my opinion…”
His slow voice echoed quietly through Persephone’s office. There was a faint trace of a bitter smile in his low tone.
Persephone, having spent more time with April than anyone else, surely noticed it too.
“I think that’s probably why the princess and I fell out.”
As he said this, Damian lifted his head and let out a small laugh.
See? One word from him and his face visibly hardened.
Cliff cautiously glanced at Lian, who was moving alongside him.
He had planned to sneak out at dawn to investigate Daniel Devin under Alexis’s orders but hadn’t expected to travel with Lian this time.
“Sir Cliff, your father asked you to look into Irina’s father, right?”
“I’ll go with you.”
He hadn’t expected Lian to want to accompany him. He had been told to investigate quietly, so this concerned him.
It was better than going with Barak, but the fact that Lian was accompanying him to investigate Irina’s father made Cliff uneasy.
“Sir, I really can handle this alone.”
“Is it uncomfortable having me there?”
The word “yes” bubbled up in his throat, but he couldn’t say it aloud.
They were nearing the mountain cabin where Irina and Alisha were staying, so telling him to turn back now would be awkward.
Lian swallowed a sigh and dismounted at the cabin roof.
Cliff tensed as he eyed the old wooden door. He had passed through this threshold so often over the past week that it was nearly worn down.
He couldn’t tell whether the tension he felt was because of the beast inside the house or because of Lian’s presence.
Probably the beast in the house. He remembered how ferocious it had seemed the first time they came to retrieve Irina.
Had Irina not been with them that first time, someone might have been seriously injured.
“Be careful.”
Knocking on the door brought no sign of life, and Cliff tilted his head in uncertainty.
Was no one home? As he raised his hand to knock again—
“Who’s there?”
A familiar voice called from inside, and the door swung open.
A woman appeared, slightly tired. Cliff sharply inhaled and straightened his back, locking eyes with her olive-colored gaze.
The woman’s face twisted fiercely upon seeing him.
Cliff, slightly taller than most men, was nearly the same height as her. She wasn’t just human—she was Alisha, a beast with superior physical abilities.
Alisha, seeing the visitor, seemed unwilling to waste time on conversation and tried to close the door, but Cliff hurriedly blocked it.
“We won’t take much of your time. I just have a few questions—”
“I have nothing to say. Let go.”
He had to restrain the urge to sink his teeth into her neck immediately.
His restraint wasn’t for morality or imperial law.
It was because Irina was inside the ducal house.
If he killed the guards, he worried Irina might be harmed. And if he went to prison, there would be no safe place for Irina to return to. So he forced himself to stay calm.
“I just want a moment to talk.”
Lian, observing from behind Cliff, stepped forward, peering through the narrow crack at Alisha’s glowing olive eyes.
Perhaps because she was a wolf beast, her eyes glimmered like lightning in the darkness, startling Lian.
“Get lost.”
The sound—a growl—escaped from a human throat.
“You took Irina away, claiming she was needed. And now what do you want to talk about?”
Thinking of the ducal household made his teeth grind.
The duchess who had promised to keep Daniel safe had killed him, and the Irina they had promised to protect like a daughter had been cast out in less than ten years.
No—“cast out” wasn’t even the right word. Irina had never truly been their child. She had only been a stand-in for their lost daughter.
“I have nothing to say to the ducal family. None of you are any different.”
The thought, “Disappear from Irina’s life forever,” spun endlessly in his throat.
“I came to ask about the princess’s father. Just a moment… ugh!”
Before he could even finish, the door creaked violently.
Alisha’s force shoved Cliff backward; he nearly lost his balance, but Lian quickly caught him.
“How dare you even mention Daniel’s name.”
“Sir, be careful.”
Alisha’s human features contorted, and her form began shifting into that of a wolf.
Gray fur slowly appeared on the exposed skin, matching the color of her hair.
Cliff had heard that a beast’s emotions could override their human form, but seeing it firsthand made him tense, hand on the sword at his waist.
“Shameless fools. Do you know who Daniel died because of?”
“…What?”
Lian furrowed his brow, stepping forward to protect Cliff.
“Are you saying Daniel died because of us?”
“And now you pretend you don’t know?”
Pretending ignorance while widening their eyes was absurd.
He recalled the guilt-ridden, apologetic face they had worn when taking Irina away. He had found it detestable then—now it was outright disgusting.
Lian couldn’t process the situation. Seeing Alisha speak so, it was clear something had happened between Daniel and the ducal household.
“Daniel died because you didn’t keep your promise.”
Lian’s stunned expression remained as Alisha continued.
“Do you know what your precious duchess said just before he died?”
Alisha remembered everything—the moment she carried Daniel through the mountains, the knives embedded in her body.
Yes, she reasoned, they probably didn’t know when the young masters were children. But thinking that half of that body carried the duchess’s blood, and that face resembled Duke Alexis… her disgust and anger surged uncontrollably.
“For the future of the daughter my daughter will become.”
Alisha stepped closer. Her form half-shifted into a wolf, yet no one dared step back.
Her claw-like hands pressed firmly on Lian’s shoulder. Despite the pain, Lian didn’t flinch, staring at her.
“Just die already.”
Tears filled Alisha’s eyes, remnants of a nightmare etched deep into her memory.
