Chapter 25
“Until I die.”
“Veronica!”
“There’s no use yelling at me. I will never marry Your Highness.”
It was clearly a conversation no one else should be hearing.
‘Why do they have to talk about this now, of all times, when I’m eavesdropping?’
It was an unreasonable complaint, but it was how Hera truly felt at the moment.
Unaware of Hera’s presence, Ron and Veronica continued their argument.
“What do you want from me? What more do I have to do here? Tell me—I won’t know unless you say it!”
“I’m the one frustrated here. I’ve always said the same thing—I have no intention of marrying you. That’s what I want.”
“So you’re saying you’d rather live like you don’t exist, being the subject of everyone’s gossip?”
“…It doesn’t bother me.”
“But I do!”
Ron raised his voice so loudly that even Hera, outside, was startled.
His voice was filled with resentment.
It was hard to believe he was the same composed man Hera had met before.
The crown prince she saw at the Wintertail estate was a man who radiated an air of authority befitting his position.
Could even such a man lose his composure and become emotional in front of the woman he loved?
Even though Hera knew she should leave, curiosity grew within her.
Romantic love between a man and a woman—it was an unknown territory for Hera.
“You think it’s easy for me to watch you live like that?”
“How many times do I have to repeat myself before Your Highness understands?”
Veronica let out a small sigh.
As if soothing a child, she suppressed her emotions and spoke calmly.
“You’re thirty-one this year, and I’m thirty-six. I’m five years older than you. A woman who grew up in a slum. Why are you so stubborn about making me your crown princess?”
“If you had just done as I said when we first met and come into the palace, things could’ve gone more smoothly.”
“That might’ve been convenient for you. But I would’ve been slowly dying, sitting in the middle of a fire pit.”
Her words weren’t wrong, and that only frustrated Ron more.
When Ron started his relationship with her, Veronica had just retired from performing as a dancer.
She was clearly not a suitable candidate for crown princess, yet Ron felt he couldn’t breathe without her by his side.
That was already four years ago.
The things he failed to act on firmly back then were now the cause of this conflict.
Ron now wanted to give Veronica her rightful place.
He couldn’t bear to let her be treated like a non-person with the shameful label of “the crown prince’s mistress.”
Her place was by his side.
The glorious partner of the crown prince had to be Veronica.
“Veronica, listen to me. There’s no more time. Like you said, I’m over thirty. I can’t hold out anymore. If things go on like this, I’ll end up marrying someone else.”
Ron had a late wife, but no children.
A crown prince over thirty with no heir was a serious problem.
Until now, people sympathized with him, thinking he couldn’t forget his late wife, but that excuse would no longer work.
What’s more, Emperor Jerome Arista’s health was deteriorating.
The worse the emperor’s condition got, the more pressure Ron would face to take a crown princess.
“Yes, Ron. That’s the real issue. Why you feel rushed to marry. The imperial succession. Despite all the nights we’ve spent together, we haven’t even had one illegitimate child. That’s the real problem. That’s why I can’t marry Ron Arista.”
Veronica’s voice carried both firmness and sorrow.
“So let’s end this now.”
“What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?”
“Yes.”
“Veronica!”
Ron called out her name desperately.
Then came the sound of a chair—or some piece of furniture—scraping across the floor. He might have pushed or pulled Veronica.
Worried, Hera tried to crane her neck and peek inside.
That’s when a blue rose petal floated gracefully through the air into the house.
It had clearly come from the prophecy book.
‘What are you doing?!’
Startled, Hera panicked and reached out toward the rose petal.
She absolutely couldn’t let Ron and Veronica see it.
Her movements were agonizingly slow, and her reflexes weren’t good enough to catch it easily.
After several failed attempts, Hera made a critical mistake.
She stepped on a branch near her foot with a loud crack.
‘Oh no! No!’
The sharp snapping sound rang out. Hera squeezed her eyes shut and flinched, but there was no way Ron hadn’t heard it.
“Who’s there?!”
‘…I’ve been caught!’
She couldn’t open her tightly shut eyes.
Of course, not seeing wouldn’t make the problem disappear, but Hera was too frightened of what would come next to move.
She heard Ron’s heavy footsteps approaching the door. Hera’s heart was about to explode.
“Show yourself, now—”
Just then, a cool breeze brushed past Hera.
It was the tail end of winter, the last chill clinging to people’s clothes.
That’s what Hera felt.
Sensing the presence of someone else, Hera quickly opened her eyes.
What she saw was someone walking into the house, their back to her.
“Well, this is awkward.”
Thanks to this person’s sudden arrival, Ron stopped walking.
Hera could also hear the laid-back, sheepish voice.
She didn’t even need to confirm to know who it was.
“Marriott?”
As Marriott appeared, Ron’s expression twisted in annoyance.
Marriott had entered his lover’s house through the back door.
No matter how you looked at it, it was inappropriate.
Ron’s irritation was written all over his face, and Marriott awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
“How should I explain this to clear up any misunderstanding…”
“Why are you here?”
No matter how harsh Ron’s expression was, it didn’t intimidate Marriott.
He’d been through too much in life to be frightened by something like this.
What really frustrated Marriott wasn’t Ron’s sharp attitude—but his own behavior.
He had been watching Hera for a while now.
He had seen her awkwardly pressed against the wall outside, barely even breathing.
He had been planning to watch her until she left Veronica’s house.
But then she’d made strange hand gestures into thin air and made a loud noise.
Whether she got caught by Ron or not wasn’t his problem—but his body had moved on its own.
Admitting to barging into Veronica’s house and eavesdropping on their conversation was basically social suicide.
Cursing himself silently, Marriott pretended to be unfazed and played it off as if it were all part of a plan.
“Everyone says Veronica is the most beautiful woman in Central. I couldn’t fight my curiosity and dropped by… and now I’ve been caught.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“If not that, what other reason would I have to visit her?”
Marriott used the rumors about him as a shield and deliberately acted like a careless playboy.
His goal wasn’t to make Ron believe his excuse—it was to get kicked out of this place.
The priority right now was to get himself and the foolish young lady from the Tolyn family out of here—safely.
“Just as the rumors say, Lady Veronica.”
Marriott deliberately walked up to Veronica and grabbed her hand, trying to provoke Ron.
Just as he was about to kiss the back of her hand, Ron grabbed his shoulder and roughly pulled him away.
“Marriott!”
Coming into the house was a foolish move, but seeing Ron’s furious expression was a satisfying outcome.
He hoped Ron would die wearing that very expression.
“Yes, Uncle?”
“Enough of your theatrics. No matter how hard you try to appear debauched and careless, you won’t fool me. That shabby mask you wear—you know it doesn’t suit you at all, don’t you?”
The image of the scandalous Duke Laurent.
It was never meant to deceive Ron anyway.
As long as it fooled everyone except Ron, that was enough.
He’d spent ten years building it.
And now, the fruits of that effort were ripening one by one.
Since Marriott had returned to Central, he and Ron had been locked in a tense tightrope walk.
Ron suspected Marriott had returned to avenge the wolf hunt, but until he found solid proof, he continued to act like the benevolent uncle.
Marriott, knowing Ron didn’t trust him, acted like a foolish, broken loser who had accepted defeat.
The two of them were like opponents standing on a fragile layer of thin ice—constantly watching and testing each other.
