Chapter 08
What is this pathetic situation?
The money I had was earned with tears of blood. I used it to order food. Out of frustration, I ordered beer too.
A glass of beer cost 15 Pelio. More expensive than my hat. And yet, a man who had never seen it before casually took it, sipped it, and winked at me.
“Miss, came alone? Don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
He even delivered that cheesy line.
What made me angrier was his ugly face. I had promised myself I wouldn’t judge appearances, but at least brush your teeth before coming at me!
I pinched my nose against the stench and fixed my glare on him.
“Beer costs 15 Pelio.”
“Huh? What did you say, pretty lady?”
When had this guy brushed his teeth?
The stench invading my nostrils made me gag.
“Shut that vomit-inducing mouth of yours!”
As I pinched my nose and gagged, the people around us began laughing quietly.
The ugly man’s face turned bright red.
“Hah! I was just trying to have some fun with a pretty girl. What’s your problem?”
He slammed the beer glass on the table and stood up, glaring.
Half the beer splashed over the food on the table—and sparks flew into my eyes.
“If your mouth is open, speak properly. Yes, I’m pretty—but who asked you to play with me?”
I stood up, and my chair toppled with a loud clatter. But now wasn’t the time to care.
From the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet to the pawnshop incident, everything flashed through my mind.
I was frustrated to the point of anger… and then that jerk.
I suddenly remembered the one time my parents had a massive fight. On a night my father came home drunk, my mother said one thing to him that left him completely defeated—and he didn’t touch a drop of alcohol for a long time afterward.
I didn’t know the meaning, so I asked Mia, who said I didn’t need to know the details, but it was really, really harsh.
And suddenly, I remembered it clearly.
“You look like a Trituto!”
The restaurant fell silent at my words. The man trying to flirt with me turned purple and red, a vein bulging on his forehead.
“Y-You crazy woman!”
He raised his thick arms in an instant. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled up, bracing for the pain.
But when the pain didn’t come, I peeked through my eyelids—and I was shocked.
“Why… why are you here…?”
The one person I never wanted to meet again—Kaylen Liveredan—was holding the man’s arm.
Totulo’s largest hotel had only three floors. It was the best accommodation nearby with the most expensive room, but not a place the capital’s nobles would visit.
“The room is… very neat. Ha ha, ha.”
Kaylen, sitting with his legs crossed, said nothing.
“What a coincidence… meeting here like this… haha.”
He was the last person I wanted to see. I forced a humble tone, hoping nothing would happen.
The awkward silence was broken by a short, bespectacled man knocking and entering the room.
Ah, one of Kaylen’s attendants… I couldn’t remember his name. Damn.
The man shook his head. Kaylen uncrossed his legs and leaned toward me.
“Why did you run away?”
“What? I don’t understand… run away? I’m just traveling.”
I had to deny it. My instincts screamed I had to.
“I-I didn’t run away.”
“A noble lady leaving at dawn with just a single bag and no attendants?”
“Ah, Your Highness, this is a popular travel style among young noblewomen lately.”
Ridiculous. I knew it.
The key to lying was shamelessness. I decided to go all out.
“By the way… do you have any money?”
Kaylen’s straight brows twitched.
“I lost my bag on the train. I left my valuables at the pawnshop and want to get them back. I promise to pay it back, definitely!”
The bespectacled man looked at me like what kind of woman is this?
Could it be he wouldn’t lend me the money?
The atmosphere was tense.
“…Do you want me to write a statement?”
I still had my left thumb.
Kaylen chuckled in disbelief. I slowly covered my left hand with my right and smiled brightly at him.
They say you can’t spit on a smiling face.
“Dylan. Go get it.”
Dylan looked unhappy with Kaylen’s order but nodded and left the hotel room without a word.
Since it was the countryside, it was slightly past 8 p.m., but already dark and quiet. I hurriedly spoke in the awkward silence.
“Thank you. I’ll pay it back for sure.”
I would pay back every coin, even interest, to that male protagonist who had taken my money…
But he was staring too intently. Kaylen rested his elbow on the chair arm, chin in hand, watching me.
His bright blonde hair fell naturally across his forehead. Since this wasn’t the capital, his clothes were more relaxed than usual.
Really my type…
I clicked my tongue in disappointment and looked away. The quiet was broken by Kaylen.
“That night.”
I shivered. An unasked question from yesterday’s visit to the mansion.
“Ah, I didn’t tell anyone, I swear.”
Why did I stammer? I wanted to smack my own mouth.
Kaylen’s expression remained unreadable. I clicked my tongue in frustration.
Was he suspecting I wasn’t from the Crown Prince or Empress’s side?
Kaylen Liveredan wasn’t a curious seven-year-old boy; he didn’t burn the house out of boredom. There had to be a reason.
I wouldn’t tell him.
Where would a fool stand opposite the protagonist?
Kaylen would take down the Crown Prince and avenge his mother. Later, he would meet a beautiful woman, fall in love, and live a peaceful life with her—but he wouldn’t believe it.
“What’s with that look?”
“W-What look? Innocent, of course.”
Kaylen, still suspicious, stood up and picked up his cloak from the chair back.
“It’s best you don’t do anything foolish. I don’t trust noblewomen’s words. You must be hiding something to leave a note and sneak out at dawn like that.”
His words hit my chest.
“I’ll go to the capital tomorrow. Then I’ll think slowly about what to do with you.”
Kaylen, hood up, cloak draped, left the room without hesitation.
I staggered toward the bed, glancing at the closed door.
“Then why did I write the statement?”
Looking at my bandaged thumb, my head throbbed. Where should I even start untangling this mess?
Run away again? No. One of the keywords in the original story was obsession, and Kaylen Liveredan had shown extreme obsession toward a heroine who truly ran away.
I needed to return to the capital and revise my plan from the beginning.
Thanks to the surprisingly soft bed, sleep started to pull me under.
I was staying in the hotel for free tonight—was that a good thing? I wondered if I had gotten all my belongings from the pawnshop… I would check first thing in the morning.
It had been a long day.
I lost at rock-paper-scissors.
Dylan had never won against Prince Kaylen and Caspian in rock-paper-scissors.
They played to decide who would share the first-class compartment with Eliana Rudd to the capital. Unsurprisingly, Dylan lost again.
Dylan, having lost, had to share a compartment with Eliana. Pretending to look at documents, he observed her.
She appeared ordinary on the surface—nothing striking.
Barely over 160 cm, small, with a small face, hands, and probably small feet. Yet her piercingly pale face and large eyes drew attention.
Her brown eyes, almost chestnut, seemed to reveal her thoughts when they rolled.
Was she really connected to the Crown Prince or Empress?
Under Kaylen’s orders, Dylan investigated her. She was suspicious, but there was no connection to the Crown Prince.
Why did the Prince care enough to have her investigated? Staring out the window, she suddenly turned as if remembering something.
“By the way… what’s Trituto, and why do people hate it so much?”
Eliana’s question left Dylan speechless.
