Chapter 15
Lionel, who was standing in the center of the office, quietly looked at me as I stood there full of determination.
Feeling like I might have overdone it because of his expressionless face, I slowly turned my gaze away.
Lionel escorted me to the sofa and spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s been exactly three days. That’s not really a long time, is it?”
Seriously, that was the problem?
“It’s just how I feel. My feelings.”
I snorted and dropped onto the sofa, crossing my arms as I looked at Lionel sitting across from me.
Meanwhile, the head steward brought tea.
The familiar scent of roses softened my mood, and I placed the cookie case I brought onto the table.
“Since we’re talking… have you ever missed someone, Rio?”
“Miss someone…”
Honestly, I expected Lionel to immediately answer, ‘No.’
But he made a slightly strange expression…
“…So there is someone!”
What kind of woman is it?!
Maybe he sensed my eyes about to flip over.
Lionel calmly answered right away.
“It’s not a person.”
“Not a person?”
Ah. I knew what he meant.
‘In the novel, it said he once raised a bird when he was young…’
But the First Prince took it away and accidentally killed it.
Of course, it probably wasn’t an accident—at best intentional, at worst neglect.
Anyway, after that incident, Lionel never kept a pet again.
‘He was really cute back then.’
If he had grown up just like that,
I wouldn’t have to worry about any dark transformation.
He would have become such a gentle and upright young man.
What a shame. Truly a shame.
‘If I ever get the chance, I’ll smack the back of the First Prince’s head once.’
If not him, then at least I’d deal with the steward who was surely his subordinate.
“I want to talk with Lionel alone.”
The steward, who had been grinning slyly at me, flinched.
He hesitated for a moment.
Lionel, who had been silently thinking with his gaze lowered, firmly ordered him:
“Leave.”
“Ah… yes, Your Highness. Young Lady, I will take my leave.”
Even as he went out, the steward glanced at me with lingering regret.
That gaze felt unpleasant, so the moment the door closed, I asked Lionel:
“Your Highness, isn’t the head steward too disrespectful? Can’t you replace him with someone else?”
“I can’t. It’s not within my authority.”
“Ugh… Are all the servants in this palace chosen by the Empress, regardless of your will?”
“Yes.”
“Then even if you want someone to serve you, you can’t bring them here?”
Lionel quietly looked down at the cookies in the case and picked up an almond cookie before answering.
“I’ve never thought about bringing anyone here in particular.”
“Then imagine someone appears. Someone very capable, sensible, and quick-witted—someone you’d really like to have serve you.
But the Empress says no. Would you give up?”
“I would.”
He answered immediately, without hesitation.
That made me feel even more frustrated.
“Why would you give up? You’re sixteen now. Isn’t this the age for rebellion? Haven’t you ever wanted to resist at least once?”
“I haven’t.”
“Why?!”
“Because I’ve never felt the need to go that far.”
Lionel’s calm voice continued as his gaze rested on the almond cookie in his hand.
Then he lifted his eyes and looked at me.
In those violet eyes, I couldn’t find a single emotion.
It proved he truly meant what he said.
‘Aaaah, this is so frustrating!’
I felt like fainting while clutching the back of my head like the parents in dramas
when the male lead rebels to marry the heroine despite already having a perfectly fine fiancée!
At least those drama male leads rebelled!
This one raises my blood pressure by not rebelling!
“Then let me ask just one thing.
Right now, you work nonstop, study, and train your body—all to become Emperor in the future, right?”
“Yes.”
Lionel nodded calmly.
At least he seemed aware he was called the future Crown Prince.
“But what if, later, the First Prince suddenly becomes healthy and tells you to give up the Crown Prince position?
What would you do then?”
“At that time…”
As if he had never imagined such a situation,
Lionel lowered his gaze and fell into thought.
Watching him grow completely quiet—expression, gaze, voice—
I belatedly felt nervous and soothed my dry throat with tea.
‘Since he’s thinking… does he still feel it would be a waste to give up the position?’
Honestly, Lionel’s schedule right now was as packed
as a senior student preparing for final exams from early morning to late-night study hall.
He had lived like that for five years already
and would have to live like that for several more…
And suddenly being told someone else would take his place—
it was like being expelled right before the college entrance exam.
‘Thinking about it this way… it’s truly unfair.’
I could suddenly understand perfectly
why the novel’s Lionel started a rebellion.
If it were me, I’d burn down the university
that let someone else take my place.
“I would step down.”
“Right, you’d bite back—… wait, what?
Step down? Just like that? Quietly?”
“The Empire’s succession law follows primogeniture.
So the Crown Prince seat should belong to my older brother.
Because of his poor health, he had no choice but to yield it to me.
If he becomes healthy, then of course I should step down.”
“Are you seriously saying that?”
Lionel blinked once, then nodded.
“Yes.”
“…Then what about me?!”
“Yes?”
“No… aaagh!”
The question ‘If I’m switched to the First Prince’s fiancée too, will you still step down quietly?’
rose to the tip of my throat—
but I forced it down.
No matter how I thought about it,
this pushover would probably answer yes,
and even though I expected it,
I’d feel terribly upset!
‘This is strange.
In the novel, he’s the one who becomes obsessed, and I’m the one being obsessed over…’
So why do I feel more desperate?
“This makes no sense… seriously.”
“What makes no sense?”
That a pushover like you
will one day kill your own family, kidnap an innocent person,
and destroy a peaceful household!
‘Did I misunderstand something?
Did I reincarnate into a different novel with similar settings?’
Seeing Lionel remain calm alone
after turning my emotions upside down made him seem so annoying.
The moment he brought a cookie to his mouth,
I snatched it from his hand.
“…?”
As if he never expected such behavior,
confusion filled his eyes.
And that was all.
He just looked at me silently.
Frustrated, I shouted:
“Don’t you have anything to say to me right now?”
“What should I say?”
“Ugh, seriously!
You were just about to eat it—why did I take it?
Even a dog isn’t disturbed while eating!”
“Is that so? I’ve never raised a dog, so I didn’t know.”
“That’s not the important part right now!”
Ah—
a sudden scene flashed before my eyes.
A young Lionel, finally getting his long-awaited snack time,
picking up his favorite dessert—
only for the First Prince to appear suddenly,
take everything he was about to eat,
and Lionel saying nothing at all.
“Repeat after me.
‘That is mine.’”
“Pardon?”
“I said repeat it.
‘That is mine. Please give it back.’”
“Strictly speaking, isn’t it yours but Cecilia’s?”
Oh, seriously!
“That is mine! Give it back!”
Unable to bear the frustration, I shouted loudly.
Startled by my force, Lionel blinked—
and finally repeated my words.
“That is mine. Please give it back.”
There was no emotion in his voice,
like a broken music box—
but still, this was something.
Thinking I should move on for now,
I went to the next step.
“I don’t want to.
Why is this yours, Rio?”
As I pulled the cookie toward myself and spoke,
Lionel made a bewildered expression.
It was the clearest emotion I had ever seen on his face.
