IBVM 05

Chapter 05

The Third Prince’s Palace, where Cassion resided, was located in the northern, most secluded part of the vast royal palace grounds—practically a place where sunlight rarely reached.
Usually, such a location would be reserved for the servants’ quarters, especially for those tasked with menial labor, yet this was where the Third Prince lived. The surrounding scenery was equally miserable.
The landscaping had been utterly neglected: branches of overgrown trees stretched out onto the path, making it impassable even for a carriage.
One could tell how Cassion was treated in the palace just by observing the approach to his residence.

“Someone might think this palace isn’t used at all,”
Zenith’s words were spot-on.

Yet, regrettably, the Third Prince of the kingdom—once the heir of the king and queen, the envy of the kingdom—lived in this ruin.

“Still, since it’s the prince’s palace, the interior should be well-maintained, right? I’m really looking forward to it!”
Unlike me, who occasionally visited the palace with my father, Zenith was entering the palace for the first time and was excited.

I, however, calmly dismissed her illusions and expectations. Today, it seemed, her anticipation would not be met.

The closer we got, the more Zenith’s hopes seemed to shatter. The palace’s condition was beyond what could even be called “neglected.”

‘So they at least maintained the path…’
The grass in the garden in front of the palace had grown so densely that it wouldn’t have been surprising if snakes were hiding there.
The plants reached knee height and spread to both sides, making it frightening to take a step forward.

‘Abandoned,’
both the palace and the prince.

‘The king doesn’t care about Cassion, Dyson’s too busy tormenting him, and Julia, his stepmother, certainly won’t look after him.’

The shameful behavior of these adults made my soul, though that of a 21-year-old, burn with anger.

‘I knew Dyson bullied him, but this is too much!’

Cassion wasn’t ignored only by the king and queen. I remembered the glances of the palace servants whenever Cassion passed—looks tinged with shallow contempt.
Perhaps the palace had fallen into disrepair because the servants, having no authority, simply chose to ignore it.
Those with no power are sensitive to the movements of power. They noticed that Cassion had been abandoned and saw no reason to care.

Confirming that Cassion had been cast aside by the king, the royal family, and even the palace servants left a heavy stone resting on my chest.

“Miss, come this way.”
Zenith tugged me along.
She pointed toward a narrow path, barely worn by someone’s footsteps.

‘This is like some kind of event—every step reveals something new.’

The closer we got to the Third Prince’s Palace, the greater my disappointment became.
Not even a single knight guarded it. Had Dyson or Julia sent an assassin, Cassion could have been killed instantly.

‘I need to find some guards.’

A skilled knight’s name came to mind—someone with unusual interests, hard to persuade unless it were me, and unlikely to betray easily. I wondered where he might be now.

“There are going to be ghosts here! Wow, so many mice!”
Zenith’s dramatics snapped me back to reality, and I took a careful look around the Third Prince’s Palace.

The massive palace, untouched by human hands, felt eerie. Even in broad daylight, it seemed haunted.

‘By the way, how does Zenith know there are so many mice if she can’t even see them?’

“Miss, hardly anyone comes here,” Zenith said, as if quoting someone.
There’s no one else but us, yet she spoke as though she had heard it from someone. I didn’t care much, but an outsider might find that strange.

“Wait, Miss.”
She ran toward a dead tree and murmured at it for a long time.
I wanted to say something, but her image overlapped with the memory of how she had once risked her life to protect me.

‘Being a little quirky is cute, after all.’

Even actions that would normally make others jump back seemed endearing. I gave up on speaking and approached the door.

Zenith hopped over and opened the door without hesitation:

“Miss, no one’s guarding this place.”

“Is it even possible for a prince’s palace to have no one guarding it?”
I pushed Zenith aside. She muttered, “Really?” but I didn’t want to believe it.
If it were true, it meant Cassion was living all alone in this desolate palace.

Unfortunately, Zenith was right.
I opened the rusty, stiff door and stepped inside, but there were still hardly any signs of life.

Alone in such a vast palace…
‘If he died, no one would even know.’

I even risked asking if anyone was around, but there was no reply.
A sense of urgency gripped me.
When Cassion was a child, he had been too weak for outdoor activity and had mostly stayed inside. If the palace was like this…

My cautious steps gradually quickened.

When I reached the top floor, a voice called out:

“Cassion, can’t you even solve this?”

The voice was younger than I remembered, but it was familiar.

“Hah, have you already forgotten what I taught you? I told you it’s easy if you just know the simple calculations.”
The tone, dismissive and scornful, was familiar.

“You really can’t do anything, can you? Just forget studying. You’re not meant for it.”

Between sentences, the man’s familiar voice sighed heavily.

“I told you, a prince should naturally be able to do this. Can’t fence, weak, really… Have you memorized all the Israel paintings?”

If I were Cassion, I’d have kicked this man in the shin by now.

“What? You couldn’t even do that? Just don’t do anything at all. You’ll fail anyway, so it’s better not to try.”

Cassion wasn’t hurting himself; this was someone deliberately trying to break him.
The voice, pretending to care while mocking, was despicable.
I recognized the culprit immediately.

‘Dyson, you bastard!’

I knew Dyson disliked Cassion, but I had never witnessed him bullying him so openly.

“Today I’ll leave it, but next time, I’ll bring something that suits your level.”

From the conversation, it seemed the bullying had been ongoing.
Even hearing it briefly made me angry—but Cassion had been enduring it all along?

Be angry!

I clenched my fists unconsciously, hoping Cassion would at least throw a punch or shout.

“Thanks, hyung…”
But the words that came from Cassion were not at all what I expected.

‘How can he say thank you after hearing that?’

Had he become so accustomed to Dyson that he didn’t even realize the cruelty?

“Stay put. Don’t get rowdy while exercising.”

Dyson’s footsteps faded as he left.

We had to hide. I couldn’t face Dyson now. But where was Zenith?
When I turned quickly, Zenith was staring at me curiously while pressing her ear to the door. I quickly grabbed her wrist, opened the door on the opposite side of Cassion’s room, and slipped inside.

“Miss, what are you—ugh!”
“Shh, Zenith.”
I ignored her wide-eyed curiosity and waited until Dyson’s footsteps had completely disappeared.

‘Not yet. I can’t meet Dyson. If he realizes I’m interested in Cassion, who knows what he’ll do?’

Dyson might bully Cassion more, or suddenly he might pay attention to me.
In my past life, Count Kolcos only took an interest in me after becoming my guardian, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful in advance.

‘Dyson is greedy. If I show interest in Cassion, he might start paying attention to me.’

I wanted to avoid getting entangled with him.

“Miss, are we playing detective?”
Zenith, who had been patient, asked.
Seeing her enjoying this situation made me exasperated.

I let go of her hand.

“More importantly, who was that? Who were you avoiding?”
“I’m not telling you.”

Explaining why I came to this palace, let alone Dyson, could take all day.

“Tch, even if you don’t tell me, I can figure it out,” Zenith muttered, pressing her ear somewhere else against the wall. A frown naturally formed on my face.
Cute, but maybe not normal.

“It was the prince. But the prince who just left doesn’t seem nice.”
…How does she know that?

Curiosity aside, the urgent matter was Cassion.

“Let’s go, Zenith.”
I flung the door open.
Down the corridor, beyond the wooden doors, was my future husband.

Cassion let out a sigh. He couldn’t take his eyes off the spot Dyson had sat.
His damp eyes and slumped shoulders reminded me of an orphaned kitten—so pitiful and sad.

“Damn it.”

But that look turned into the fierce glare of a predator in an instant.
His gentle eyes became terrifying, and rough curses poured from his red lips.

“What’s wrong with your brain for studying?”

Cassion flipped through the books Dyson had left and shoved them under the desk.
He wished he could throw them out the window, but he didn’t have the strength.

“Damn body!”

Fuming, he collapsed onto the sofa, panting.
Dyson’s words echoed in his ears. The “concerned” tone was insidious, meant to eat away at him.

I wanted to grab Dyson by the collar and shake him, but as Dyson had said, Cassion was too weak to fight back.

Even if he had the strength, he couldn’t oppose Dyson, who had been tormenting him.
Dyson, favored by the king and queen, versus Cassion, abandoned—there was no doubt who would win.

Ultimately, Cassion could only mutter self-deprecatingly.

“Even pretending to be stupid is hard…”