LFLH 53

Chapter 53

‘So, he knew everything and still kept trying to mess around with me?’

Instead of feeling flustered, anger surged up in her.

‘Why should I bow my head to some bastard who threw away courtesy first, when I’ve done nothing wrong?’

The smile vanished completely from her face.

On the proud face of Calliope Verdi, heir to the Border Duke who guarded the eastern frontier of the Empire, an arrogant light glimmered.

“So, Your Highness the Crown Prince… knowing full well what kind of relationship I have with the Seventh Prince, you still insisted on meeting me alone?”

Lucius had not expected Calliope to be this direct, and for a moment, he was taken aback.

But with his usual quick wit, he boldly retorted.

“What does it matter? You two aren’t engaged. And even if you were, engagements can always be broken between a man and a woman, can’t they?”

‘Listen to this bastard talk?’

At that point, Calliope could no longer keep her expression in check.

“Besides, Leraige will have to step aside if I wish it…”

“I don’t wish it, though.”

Her voice was bright, almost cheerful, yet her words said the exact opposite.

The contrast left Lucius momentarily confused.

“What?”

“I said I don’t wish it.”

The Crown Prince frowned, uncertain if he’d heard correctly.

“What did you just…”

“Since it seems you didn’t understand, let me say it again, just once more. Please make sure you remember this time, alright?”

Calliope’s lips curved into a dazzlingly beautiful smile.

And then, she drove in the cruelest, sharpest nail.

“I’m terribly sorry, Your Highness, but you are absolutely not my type.”

It was an outright rejection, leaving not the slightest room for reconsideration.

“Lady Calliope!”

Lucius shouted in outrage.

Never in his life had he imagined a situation like this.

Every woman he had set his sights on had eventually given in. Even if they resisted at first, they always yielded in the decisive moment and threw themselves into his arms.

But Calliope Verdi had cut him off without hesitation.

It wasn’t just embarrassing; it was humiliating to the point of insult.

“What fault of mine…?”

And she had the gall to look so calm while he was losing his temper.

Lucius, who had only ever seen people grovel and flatter before him, could not bring himself to accept what was happening.

“How dare you say such things to me—”

“Surely, you’re not telling me you’re angry simply because I refused Your Highness’s confession?”

Her sharp, unflinching words left him without any rebuttal.

“It was Your Highness who repeatedly made improper proposals to me, though I am in a relationship with the Seventh Prince. Surely you understand how scandalous that would be, should society hear of it?”

The words carried an almost imperious weight, and Lucius involuntarily flinched.

But he could neither believe nor admit that he had been intimidated.

Grinding his teeth, he spat out,

“And what are you doing now—threatening the Crown Prince of the Empire, when you’re just the daughter of a border lord?”

Calliope’s brows twitched.

She could endure insults to herself, but slights to her family? Those had to be repaid double.

“I am not ‘just’ the daughter of a border duke. I am his heir. From now on, you may address me properly as Countess Verdi. And furthermore—”

She first corrected him, then let her lips curl in disdain.

“Choose your words carefully. Have you forgotten what kind of house Verdi is?”

Though the Verdi family had never sought central power, their lord still held full autonomy and command over his domain’s military as a sovereign ruler.

“For the heir to the throne to scorn a house that faithfully protects the Empire’s borders… Does His Majesty the Emperor know you speak this way?”

It was both a questioning of his qualifications as Crown Prince and a veiled threat that she might report him to the Emperor himself.

Lucius’s face flushed crimson in an instant—rage boiling up to the crown of his head.

‘So, she’s not a complete fool after all.’

Calliope smirked faintly at his reaction.

Finally, Lucius exploded.

“You… you insolent—!”

Unable to contain his fury, he raised one hand high.

‘What, he’s going to slap me? How pathetic.’

In the brief moment that followed, Calliope debated whether to block the blow—or let him strike her and then use it to wring a political advantage for her family.

But just then—

“L-Lady Verdi…?”

A trembling, tearful voice came from behind. Calliope’s ears perked at once.

She turned, and her eyes widened.

“Prince Arsen?”

There stood the young boy, his eyes brimming with tears, looking on the verge of sobbing.

Arsen looked back and forth between Calliope and Lucius, his lips trembling.

“Wh-what are you doing, right now… h-hic…?”

Lucius’s hand, caught awkwardly in midair, lowered uselessly with nothing accomplished.

“It’s nothing!”

He barked irritably, then spun on his heel and stormed off.

‘Tch, what a rotten temper he has!’

Calliope silently cursed at his back, then quickly turned her attention to Arsen.

“Your Highness, how did you get here? No—what’s the matter? Why does your face look like that…?”

It was only then that Arsen remembered what had driven him here in the first place.

The tears he’d momentarily forgotten began flowing again.

“Sniff… it’s… uwaaah!”

The boy suddenly burst into loud sobs, clutching at Calliope’s skirts.

“M-my brother…! H-he…!”

Sensing at once that something had happened to Leraige, Calliope urgently asked,

“Your Highness, where is he?”

“I… I don’t know…”

Arsen shook his head miserably, clinging to her in desperation.

“But you… sniff… you’re a mage, right? You can find him, can’t you?”

Instead of explaining to the child that magic was restricted inside the palace, Calliope simply squeezed his small hand reassuringly.

“Don’t cry, Your Highness. Let’s search for your brother together.”

“O-okay…”

Arsen wiped at his falling tears with his sleeve and nodded.

So Calliope began walking in the direction Arsen had come from.

‘If the young prince made it here without meeting anyone, he must have taken a secluded path.’

Carefully retracing the way, she listened as Arsen pointed out places he recognized.

After about ten minutes of walking, Calliope suddenly spotted a man pushing through the shadows of the thick trees ahead.

‘…!’

She froze in her tracks.

For the aura radiating from Leraige, his head bowed slightly as if lost in thought, was frighteningly dark and menacing.

It was as if thousands of razor-sharp blades had been unsheathed around him, the air rippling with deadly energy.

‘This is…’

Shaken, Calliope hesitated to approach.

But Arsen, puzzled by her stillness, looked up—then spotted his brother.

“Brother!”

Crying out joyfully, he rushed forward.

Startled, Leraige lifted his head and blinked, recognizing Calliope and Arsen.

“Calliope Verdi? Arsen?”

In that instant, all trace of his killing intent vanished, as if it had never been.

The change was so absolute that Calliope even wondered if she had imagined it.

“Brother! Hic…!”

By then, Arsen had already thrown himself into Leraige’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Sniff, are you okay? Did… did bad people hurt you…?”

His clear eyes darted quickly over his brother, searching for wounds.

“Oh, Arsen.”

But Leraige only chuckled softly and ruffled his younger brother’s hair.