CPBF 28

Chapter: 28

“Ah!”

The moment I opened the door, I screamed in surprise at the figure of a strange man standing there.

“Oh, you must have been startled. Sorry.”

The stranger slowly turned his head at my shout.

Though his face looked young, it was filled with the kind of worries that an 80-year-old would carry.

“W-Who are you?”

“I am Adrian Schultz, the vice-captain’s secretary and chief knight.”

Adrian Schultz?

The vice-captain from the original story…?

Could it be that Vinn became vice-captain and got pushed out as the chief knight?

No, this isn’t some cruel twist of fate.

How could he end up being the secretary of the person who pushed him aside?

“The vice-captain ordered a complete replacement of the Flower Wing facilities… so I took tiles from the Iron Wing and attached them to your room.”

“Uh…? I appreciate replacing the facilities, but why go that far…?”

“What can I do? When a superior says do it, you just do it.”

In the original story, he had blond hair and bright green eyes like fresh leaves, a cheerful young man—but the person in front of me now looked like someone completely worn down by society.

In the original, Vinn was only a chief knight, but he became vice-captain due to his achievements in the war. And the reason he joined the war? It was to find me.

In other words, Sir Schultz ended up like this because of me.

Feeling guilty was only natural.

So, even though I had my room suddenly taken over, I couldn’t react negatively to what he said next.

“It might be inconvenient, but you’ll have to stay somewhere else for now. It’s a complicated job, so it probably won’t be done in a single day.”

“Uh… you mean I should stay in another room in the Flower Wing?”

“No. They’re replacing the heating facilities there too, so that won’t work. You’ll need to stay in another building. How about the Commander’s quarters?”

“The Commander’s?”

In the Imperial Knights, the only residents here were Rappel Istdan and me.

So, the Commander must be a man…

Even if they’re both knights, sharing a space with a man! I felt a dark flush of discomfort.

Then Sir Schultz suddenly laughed heartily.

“Haha! You don’t know who the Commander is, do you?”

“Huh? Don’t know… I haven’t been introduced to him.”

“Haven’t you heard it from him directly? Your brother works as an operations commander in the Imperial Knights.”

…That explains it. I always wondered how that brat became a knight.

It wasn’t by strength, but by clever strategy.

And he’d risen all the way to the rank of Commander.

I had assumed he only gained some minor position by winning the Crown Prince’s favor…

But this guy… what on earth did he do, and how?

“Seriously, what did you do to become a Commander?”

I stormed into Sys’s room, where Sir Schultz had guided me, and asked him directly.

Sys, who was sitting at his desk scribbling something, stiffened in surprise at my sudden intrusion.

The wind from the door I flung open ruffled Sys’s blue hair.

It reached his desk, scattering the papers lazily across the floor.

Thud. One paper fell beneath the desk under the pressure of the wind…

And it had the Crown Prince’s face on it.

I picked up the paper with a stern expression and asked,

“What’s this? You switched to the Crown Prince now?”

“…Ah, you scared me.”

Sys, turning around, looked surprised but didn’t hurriedly hide the drawing like before.

He simply got up calmly and picked up the fallen paper, as if it didn’t matter if I saw it.

“Why did you come all of a sudden?”

He put the paper back on the desk and turned to sit again, asking me.

I looked away from the paper and at Sys.

“Let me stay here. The Flower Wing is under construction, so I can’t stay there. You’re supposed to be absolutely on my side. You’ll let me, right?”

“I don’t mind… but… what construction are you talking about?”

“They’re taking facilities from the Iron Wing and moving them to the Flower Wing.”

“What? Who’s crazy enough to do that?”

“Sir Adrian Schultz…”

“Why would anyone sane do such a thing…”

“He said it was an order from the vice-captain.”

Ah, so it was the work of a madman after all.

Having fought on the same battlefield for seven years, Sys seemed strangely accustomed to the Vinn I had become, unlike me.

“So… you’ll let me stay?”

“Yeah. Stay here until the construction is done. But it’s weird.”

“Weird?”

“You think I might not be Sys Header. Then we might not even be siblings. Even though we grew up in the same house, we never shared the same room, yet you’re asking me to let you stay.”

Now that I thought about it… why didn’t I mind sharing a space with Sys?

Maybe it’s because our bodies share the same bloodline…?

“I don’t know. Thinking about being next to you is kind of gross, but strangely not bad.”

“What kind of weird feeling is that?”

“I said I don’t know. It’s weird.”

“Stop saying weird things and go over there to unpack your stuff.”

The Commander’s room was surprisingly spacious, with two beds even though it was supposed to be a single room.

What a waste of space! Why give a single person enough room for two?

By the time I finished unpacking, Sys had resumed drawing.

I remembered how seven years ago, he had crumpled and thrown away Vinn’s drawings out of extreme dislike—but now, I couldn’t help but be curious.

Why was Sys drawing Vinn and the Crown Prince?

He hadn’t really switched allegiance to the Crown Prince, had he?

“What are you doing? Acting like a desperate puppy since earlier?”

I had been peeking out of curiosity, and Sys seemed annoyed.

Even so, his pen never stopped moving.

Seeing this completely different reaction from before, I felt a faint hope and asked quietly,

“I-I’m just… curious…”

“Curious about what?”

“Why… the Crown Prince this time.”

“Oh, that’s because I like the Crown Prince.”

“I see… wait, what did you just say?”

He really likes the Crown Prince?

You’re still using the shell of the subordinate role! What kind of insane, messed-up plot is this?

Before I could process it, Sys continued:

“The Crown Prince, Vinn, and…”

Sys pulled a notebook from his bookshelf.

Inside, it had drawings of the Crown Prince, Vinn, and…

Me. Including Irillin Header, all the main characters of The Crown Prince’s Lover.

“I like everyone. Seeing their faces makes me feel… something strange.”

“Strange? Why?”

“….”

He didn’t answer. I assumed it was because the answer would reveal his true identity.

Of course, obviously.

I still had no clue why he was acting like that…

“Anyway, one thing I want to ask. Seven years ago, you hated being seen drawing. Why now do you act like it doesn’t matter?”

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“Then why? I’m asking why.”

“Because I know who you are now.”

“Who do you think I am? And how did you find out?”

“….”

“Damn it. Shouldn’t have asked. Fine! I’ll just sleep.”

I shouted in frustration and headed to my bedroom.

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping from the door.

Sys and I looked at each other simultaneously.

“Who is it?”

“Obvious. Someone who would come at this hour…”

Sys, acting casually, quickly placed the scattered drawings back into his notebook and opened the door.

Soon, a guest appeared.

The only heir of the Abert Empire, the Crown Prince had everything—power, position, wealth—from birth.

Yet the one thing he lacked, and always longed for, was love.

His mother died at birth, and his father ignored him like filth. Those who cared for him dared not show affection fully.

He had never been loved by anyone.

Yet he never begged for love. He had never even felt it, so he didn’t dare hope.

No desire, no emotion—only darkness existed in the Crown Prince’s life.

Until he met Vinn.

In a world suddenly filled with light, Vinn became fire, water, air, and trees.

For the first time, he had someone he wanted to love him.

He gave everything he had to finally win Vinn, and believed that happiness would last forever.

If only Irillin Header hadn’t existed.

“Irillin Header…”

‘I started wanting her to like me again.’

‘Where my desires and instincts go, the Crown Prince isn’t there. The only one there is…’

The Crown Prince recalled the moments he was abandoned and brought the wine glass to his lips.

Usually flavorful, the wine tasted especially bitter today.

Probably because of the blood from his bitten lips.

“What should I do…?”

How can I get rid of this feeling of my heart being torn apart?

How can I live without Vinn?

No matter how much I drink, my reasoning keeps spinning tightly in my mind.

‘Where my desires and instincts go, the Crown Prince isn’t there. The only one there is…’

“The only one there is… that woman?”

Then… I just need to get rid of her, right?