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Chapter 16
“Juhee, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Juhee blinked as she thought.
If Rowen really was the Crown Prince, then he shouldn’t be here.
Juhee instinctively felt it.
If Rowen stayed here any longer, something would go wrong.
The story was bound to get twisted.
“Rowen shouldn’t be here.”
“Why shouldn’t I be here?”
“……”
Even if she told him this was a world inside a book and that he was the male lead, he obviously wouldn’t believe her.
Instead, Juhee asked him,
“Why are you trying to stay here?”
“That’s…”
Rowen faltered.
There was something he wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Why do you keep trying to stay here when you have somewhere to go back to? I don’t want things to get troublesome anymore.”
“Juhee…”
“I think this is enough—for me.”
Juhee felt a faint sting in her chest, but she ignored it.
In a low, subdued voice, Rowen asked again,
“Do you… want me to leave?”
Juhee stared at him for a long moment before slowly nodding.
Her answer made Rowen choke up.
For a moment, he almost shouted, asking if she really meant it—but he held it in and let out a deep sigh.
After some time passed, Rowen spoke in a heavy voice.
“One week.”
“……”
“I’ll stay for one more week, then I’ll leave.”
“Do that.”
After all, she had heard that the time Rian gave him was one week anyway.
The atmosphere between them sank.
Mel looked between the two nervously and kept her mouth shut.
And so, the night passed.
Rowen sat quietly, lost in thought.
He always wanted to stay with Juhee, but it didn’t seem like she felt the same.
It was hard to tell because she rarely showed expressions, but one thing was certain—
Even if he left like this, she would be completely fine.
“Crown Prince…”
If what that man Rian said was true, then once he returned to the imperial palace, he would become the Crown Prince.
If that happened, wouldn’t it be easier to bring Juhee with him?
Then returning to the palace should come first.
He could sort everything out there, prepare a place for Juhee, and then come back for her.
Since she still didn’t know his true identity, asking her to come with him now would probably sound absurd.
But what if his status became certain?
Until then, he couldn’t afford to earn her resentment.
So Rowen suppressed the surging feelings of hurt—and the impulse to take her by force.
Just then, he saw Juhee walking out of the forest and hurried down the hill.
“Juhee!”
Rowen ran over and took the basket from her hands.
“You worked hard. You must be tired—let’s go home and rest.”
In truth, Juhee’s life was always simple.
Nothing particularly special had happened.
They just ate together, took walks, and spent time like that.
A week passed quickly.
Tomorrow was already the day Rowen would leave.
Lying on the bedding, Rowen spoke.
“Juhee, are you asleep?”
“…No.”
“Make sure you eat well after I leave.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t get hurt.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll walk me to the village entrance, right?”
Juhee stayed silent.
Rowen felt anxious.
Just as he was about to ask again, she answered,
“Yes. So go to sleep.”
“…Okay.”
Rowen replied gloomily and closed his eyes.
But sleep didn’t come.
In the end, he stayed awake until morning, rubbing his dry eyes.
Juhee also woke early and got dressed.
Seeing her hurry made Rowen feel like she wanted to part with him as quickly as possible.
Of course, he planned to come back for her—but it still hurt.
“Come out quickly.”
“Yes, I’m coming.”
He forced his unwilling feet to move.
Juhee handed him a large amount of jerky.
“Juhee, when did you prepare all this?”
“When I went down to the village last time. Eat it on the way.”
Rowen’s chest tightened.
Juhee looked around and shouted loudly,
“Lu! Ro!”
Even from far away, Lu and Ro recognized her voice and rushed over.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, okay.”
Rowen smiled brightly, carefully tucking the jerky into his clothes as if afraid of dropping it.
He probably wouldn’t even eat it easily—it was too precious.
Juhee and Rowen rode Lu and Ro toward the village entrance.
When they reached the hill near the entrance, they saw Rian pacing anxiously in the distance.
Juhee jumped down first and headed down the hill.
Rowen hurried after her.
Rian’s anxious expression instantly brightened when he saw them.
“Lord Rowengreen!”
He ran over.
“I knew you would come! If we leave now, we should arrive just in time.”
Rian handed over the reins with a cheerful smile.
It was time to part.
Rowen and Rian mounted their horses.
“…Take care.”
Juhee gave a short farewell.
Rowen bit his lip, hesitated, then finally whispered,
“I won’t forget you. I’ll definitely come back—so don’t forget me.”
Juhee flinched.
Even if she nodded now, once Rowen returned to the palace and became Crown Prince, he would fall in love with the female lead.
And then he would completely forget her.
That would be better.
Rowen wanted her answer, but Rian began urging him.
“My lord, we must depart.”
“Ah, damn it.”
Rowen shot Rian a glare, then turned back to Juhee.
“Don’t forget me. I’ll get mad if you do. Take care.”
Thanks to Rian’s urging, their farewell was short.
As Rowen and Rian rode away, Juhee stood there until they disappeared into a dot in the distance.
Mel hovered beside her and asked carefully,
“Juhee, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Juhee quietly turned and walked away.
Something felt empty in her heart, but she ignored it.
Remembering would only hurt her in the end.
So she pushed it away.
More than two months had passed since Rowengreen went missing.
Arsen had finally expanded the search beyond the capital, but there was no way to find someone already presumed dead.
In his mind, Rowengreen had long since disappeared.
What mattered more was becoming Crown Prince as soon as possible.
“If possible… I’d like to become Emperor too…”
But his father was far too healthy.
He didn’t even suffer from minor illnesses.
“What should I do…”
There had never been any real family affection.
The Emperor valued Rowengreen highly—
because he excelled over Arsen in every way.
But Arsen believed it was only because Rowengreen was the Empress’s son.
“If you hadn’t treated people differently, Father, I wouldn’t have thought this far.”
Arsen muttered darkly.
The easiest way to kill someone was poison.
From that day on, Arsen began making secret preparations.
“The effect is certain, right?”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
The chamberlain bowed deeply.
As Arsen’s eyes, ears, and feet, the chamberlain carried out every order without question—even procuring the most potent poison.
“The plan is perfect?”
“Yes. We’ve bribed a maid in the imperial palace. Everything is proceeding without issue.”
Next week, Arsen had a dinner scheduled with the Emperor.
The poison would be mixed into the wine.
Of course, to avoid suspicion, Arsen planned to drink just enough not to die.
He also began searching for a corpse to pass off as Rowengreen.
“Have you found a substitute body?”
“Not yet. Black hair is rare.”
“Tch. Hurry. The face will be destroyed anyway—only the hair needs to match.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After the chamberlain left, Arsen smiled deeply.
Everything was falling perfectly into place.
If the Emperor died of poison, the Crown Prince position would be vacant—and he would ascend the throne.
“Ha… haha… hahaha!!!”
As for the Empress, whom he had always looked down on, he planned to exile her immediately after becoming Emperor.
Since Arsen had no intention of finding Rowengreen, the search effort was completely disorganized.
Naturally, the search parties were in chaos.
“Damn it! Found anything?”
“No.”
The captain of Rowengreen’s knight order ran a hand through his hair.
Rian, who had gone to find Rowengreen himself, had only about twenty days left.
At this point, he would either return with good news—or bad news.
“I hope it’s good news…”
The captain let out a deep sigh.
