Chapter 4.
The label of being a brother inferior to his younger sibling, an emperor who flipped his attitude at the sight of talent, the Empress Dowager’s constant checks… With all that Rchel had taken from him, it would have been strange if he didn’t have a sense of inferiority.
“You…”
“You’ll let me go, right? Hmm?”
I said that while forcing a trembling smile to the corners of my mouth. I squinted my eyes and tried my best to look cheerful.
I knew I looked strange. In fact, I wanted to look insane.
If I looked crazy enough, maybe Calix wouldn’t lay a finger on me. That was my wish.
Calix clamped his mouth shut and called back Estella, which looked like a black serpent. His eyes still looked murderous, but it didn’t seem like he would do anything to me right now.
I slowly backed away and quickly bolted out of the glass greenhouse.
‘No wonder there was no one around!’
In terms of temper alone, Calix ranked right under Lillith in the empire.
It was obvious no servants or knights would dare stay near him. He would’ve sent them away, claiming they disturbed his rest. And disobeying that order would mean death.
Half of Calix’s twisted personality came from his unfortunate childhood. A frail mother who died giving birth to him. A life that plummeted because of his talent.
With no overwhelming power or an empress to protect him, he wasn’t even treated like a proper prince. And no one was foolish enough to risk themselves to befriend him.
On top of that, the Empress Dowager tried to “nip him in the bud” by sending assassins every night. Growing up normally would have been the abnormal thing.
‘Of course, the other half was Lillith’s fault.’
Only a small portion of this was shown in the original story, so I couldn’t even begin to imagine how badly she must’ve tormented Calix.
“Phew…”
It wasn’t until I had run far enough that the greenhouse disappeared from view that I finally caught my breath. I slumped to the ground after checking several times that he wasn’t following me.
My legs had gone limp—I couldn’t walk even if I wanted to. On top of that, my ankle, once coiled by Calix’s Estella, was now red and swollen.
‘I’m seriously going insane.’
My dress had long been ruined. The once neatly arranged hair was half in disarray. Grass and leaves clung all over me, and the gemstones adorning the dress had all run off to who knows where.
There was nothing to gain by worsening my relationship with Calix. For all I knew, he might be the one to chop my head off in the future.
‘Still, I had good intentions in the beginning.’
How things ended up like this wasn’t my fault. It was the giant mess Lillith had made beforehand!
I leaned against the corridor wall and closed my eyes.
“I want to go home…”
I was so drained that I didn’t want to do anything anymore.
A few minutes passed like that in exhausted silence before I heard something. Multiple footsteps—knights were probably out looking for me.
‘Forget meeting Rchel. I’ll just say I want to go home.’
I didn’t think they’d let me go so easily, but I figured I’d try. In my current state, I was clearly in no condition to face a prince.
I slowly stood up and began brushing dirt off my dress when a shadow fell over me. I paused, thinking it was a servant coming to fetch me, and looked up.
But the person standing in front of me wasn’t a servant.
It was a man, towering over me, looking down.
His golden hair, sparkling under the midday sun, seemed like a reflection of the sun itself.
His golden eyes, fixed on me, and tightly closed lips carried no particular emotion—but somehow, that made him feel even more gentle.
Unlike the knights in silver armor, he wore a pure white uniform adorned with golden cords. That alone told me—this was him.
“Lilly.”
A soft, warm voice whispered my name.
‘…It really is Rchel.’
Stunned by his radiant appearance, I gave my head a quick shake to snap out of it.
Then I hesitated as I was about to greet him. I wasn’t sure how Lillith usually addressed him.
With Calix, it was easy. The original novel constantly showed them clashing over the female lead, so their harsh tone made sense. But with Rchel?
There had never been a scene in the original where they faced each other in public.
We were in the Imperial Palace. Were there eyes around? Would Lillith have spoken politely in such a place? Or would she have called him by name affectionately?
A rational person would do the former. But Lillith?
“Rchel!”
I threw my arms around him and called his name, raising my voice to sound excited.
My heart pounded in that brief moment. Would he notice I wasn’t the real Lillith? If he did, would he kill me? Countless thoughts raced through my head.
Fortunately, Rchel didn’t push me away. Though he did frown slightly, clearly displeased. It wasn’t hard to figure out he was looking at the mess that was now me.
“I tripped in the greenhouse earlier.”
I shrugged like it was nothing.
“You’re not hurt?”
“Nope.”
He tucked my messy side bangs behind my ear and scanned my complexion. I forced an exaggerated smile to show I was totally fine.
Honestly, my ankle hurt so bad it felt like it might break. But I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what impact the truth would have on Calix.
Rchel seemed content to let it go, too. Instead, he gently picked me up.
Startled by the sudden height, I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck.
‘Is… is this really okay?’
With so many eyes around, I quickly scanned the surrounding knights, but they didn’t seem to care—it must have been routine for them.
After carrying me for some time, Rchel finally set me down in a wide garden. A white marble pavilion was surrounded by a fence of blooming flowers on a field of green grass.
I followed Rchel’s lead and slowly walked into the pavilion.
He pulled out a chair for me and even poured tea—caring for every little detail. His kindness was so excessive, I wondered if it was even okay to be treated like this by royalty.
Once he was seated, all the servants and knights vanished beyond sight, completely clearing the area.
“So, how was the greenhouse?”
He smiled as he asked.
That smile made my heart sigh in awe. It was the softest smile I’d ever seen, in this life or the last.
“The flowers were pretty.”
“If you liked them, I’ll have a few more greenhouses built.”
“No, that’s… a bit much.”
I finally understood what it meant when someone’s eyes overflowed with warmth.
‘Wasn’t it said that Rchel hadn’t become Crown Prince yet because of Lillith?’
Lillith was a figure prophesied to appear once in centuries, someone to fulfill divine words. Most people saw her as a gift from the gods and forgave her every misdeed.
But even tolerance had its limits. People’s patience was starting to wear thin.
Everyone knew Rchel was overprotective of Lillith in such circumstances.
Defending evil made you complicit. That stain would never be erased from his life.
The emperor seemed to understand that too—he still hadn’t named a successor. Rchel had too many flaws, and Calix lacked the strength to suppress the nobles.
Even so, the most likely heir was Rchel—and that was thanks to his Estella.
His power was only briefly mentioned when Calix recalled his childhood in the original novel. But it was clear how overwhelming it was.
‘So I can’t forget the reason I followed along this far.’
Now was not the time to be distracted. My goal was to survive—and to sever this toxic bond.
I recalled the excuse I had come up with back in the carriage.
‘I don’t want to live in the Empire anymore?’
That basically meant I was going to run away. Definitely not something to say to a prince.
‘I don’t want to see you anymore because you’re ugly?’
I glanced at his face. He was clearly a fellow human being—but it felt like he had a divine glow.
His golden hair and eyes shimmered like they belonged to a god.
And when that normally impassive mouth smiled—it melted everything.
In short, every excuse I’d come up with was absolutely insane.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
“This is really good. Try it.”
I quickly changed the subject, grabbing a madeleine and popping it into his mouth.
“Looks like it was worth changing the chef, just like you said.”
“Y-yeah…”
As I put another madeleine into my own mouth, I offered a silent prayer for the poor chef who got fired because of me.
‘Should I just say I suddenly started hating you for no reason?’
Unable to find a good solution, my thoughts started spiraling into extremes.
Then, I suddenly realized something important.
‘Wouldn’t cutting ties with me be good for Rchel too?’
Not only did Rchel have powerful Estella, he also had keen insight, political acumen, and an exceptional ability to handle people.
He even managed to win back the emperor who had once discarded him. He lacked nothing—except for being Lillith’s backer.
No one in this world wants to end up at the executioner’s block after losing a power struggle. So, if the biggest obstacle in your life disappeared on its own?
‘That’s what you call a win-win, right?’
It was the most rational conclusion.
