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Chapter 14
‘Is he glaring at me right now? No way…’
No, that couldn’t be.
Instead of suspecting herself, Lucy glanced up at Lucas. She wondered if Edwin might actually be glaring at him.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t Edwin the one who shot an arrow at Lucas that day? Could it be… that he shot him on purpose during the hunting competition?’
A memory from that day, which she had almost forgotten, suddenly resurfaced and left her unsettled.
‘Have Edwin and Lucas been enemies all along?’
Tilting her head in thought, Lucy turned again toward where Edwin had been. Unfortunately, her gaze had to pass right over Duke Vallon, which was more than a little unpleasant.
It was definitely Edwin—no mistake. Edwin was staring fixedly in their direction with an unyielding gaze.
‘If anyone should be glaring, it should be me glaring at you! What’s with you?!’
If he really was glaring at her, Lucy found it absurd. She shook her head.
Noticing her glancing around repeatedly, Lucas’s curiosity seemed to be piqued, and he followed her gaze.
“Do you… perhaps know His Highness, the Fourth Prince?”
That was exactly what Lucy wanted to ask him.
“No! How could I possibly know someone as high-ranking as His Highness the Fourth Prince?”
She did not know Edwin.
‘It’s the real Lucy who knew Edwin, not me. No… even the real Lucy didn’t actually know Edwin as the Fourth Prince. The Edwin she knew as her fiancé was…’
An illegitimate son of a certain count’s family. That was why Baron Diallo had been so vehemently against her marriage to him.
‘Isn’t this basically fraud under the guise of marriage? How could he fool Lucy so thoroughly?’
The more she thought about it, the more furious she became.
“It seems His Highness does know you, my lady. If you’re in need of help, perhaps I could—”
Lucas, too, seemed to have noticed the prince’s gaze. But Lucy couldn’t understand what he was implying.
“That’s impossible. Someone like me could never be acquainted with—”
She cut herself off mid-sentence, suddenly feeling uneasy.
The music was drawing to an end. But before it stopped, Lucas’s steps did.
A chill swept over her. Someone was standing close—almost touching her.
“Ah!”
Lucy turned her head in puzzlement—then gasped sharply.
It was Edwin, the Fourth Prince, right in front of her, staring with intense eyes.
“Lady Lucy Diallo. It’s been a while. May I have this next dance?”
His voice was cold, his gaze sharp.
“…I’m sorry, but I’m not in the best shape. I don’t think I can dance any longer.”
It never occurred to her that he might approach her first. Lucy gave Lucas a polite nod before turning away without hesitation.
‘What? This isn’t how it went in the original story!’
She quickened her pace to leave. But Edwin rushed after her and seized her arm roughly.
“Just one dance. Please… just one.”
Even while using honorifics, his face looked strangely earnest.
‘Ha! Why are you making that face? You look like I abandoned you.’
She stared at him in disbelief, but Edwin pulled her insistently back toward the center of the hall.
He nodded toward the musicians, and the music began again.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, he took her hand with the other.
“Ow—ah! That hurts!”
It was her injured right hand. A sharp pain made her twist her arm away instinctively.
“Your hand… is hurt?”
He gently took her right hand again. It was trembling.
“Let me go!”
When she tried to pull away, Edwin gripped her wrist tightly and started dancing without her consent.
“I… I’m bad at dancing. I might step on Your Highness’s feet. Please, just let me go!”
“Lucy… have you really lost your memory? Did you… did you forget me too?”
His voice shook as he asked.
At his words, Lucy felt a surge of anger but bit her lip to hold it back. Finally, she looked up and met his gaze coldly.
“Your Highness… are you trying to toy with me like the others? There have been plenty of men who’ve used my memory loss as an excuse to approach me.”
She took a breath and continued firmly.
“But not a single one of them actually knew me. How could someone like me possibly have known someone as high as Your Highness?”
The more she spoke, the more confident she felt. She glared at him fiercely.
“Other men tried to fool you? Ha! But Lucy, you know I’m not like them. I… I…”
His words trailed off, his expression filled with sorrow.
Somehow, he had even stopped dancing, just standing there and staring at her with unsteady eyes.
Unbelievable.
“I don’t know what you mean, but please stop putting me in a difficult position. Even brushing past a man can start bad rumors. And for a prince with a fiancée to act this way…”
Her eyes blazed with anger.
“Now people will say I’ve tried to seduce an engaged prince.”
Her voice rose as she went on.
“If rumors like that spread because of you, my father will beat me again. And then, claiming I’ve disgraced the family, he might cancel my marriage to Duke Vallon and sell me off to some slave trader!”
The words poured out once she started.
‘If you have even a shred of conscience, you’ll understand why I’m saying this!’
At her outburst, Edwin looked stunned, as if struck.
“What? Duke Vallon? So the rumors were true? And beaten—wait… has the baron actually laid hands on you?”
His gaze dropped to the right hand he was still holding. The fingers, already irritated from earlier, were red and swollen again.
“So please, Your Highness, let me go. My partner, Duke Vallon, is waiting. Since I’ve already upset him, I’ll be beaten again when I return home.”
At her calm tone, Edwin turned toward the duke with a furious expression.
“No one will be allowed to treat you like that! A concubine? I’ll never let that happen.”
Completely unaware that he himself was manhandling her, he continued to grip her wrist so tightly that Lucy winced.
“What does any of this have to do with you, Your Highness? Even a prince has no right to interfere in another family’s affairs.”
“I! No… I will… I’ll talk to the baron myself. I won’t let him give you to that man!”
Edwin was speaking so incoherently that it was hard to follow.
‘This… isn’t how the original story goes at all.’
“And why would you persuade my father? Even if it’s not the duke, I’ll still be sold off to some stranger. People say that before I lost my memory, something shameful happened to me, and that a normal marriage is… impossible now.”
It was a direct accusation aimed at him.
‘Unless you’re a complete fool, you should realize by now what you’ve done to me!’
“In that case… I’d rather it be me!”
His eyes blazed with fury.
“…What?”
Something felt very wrong. Lucy instinctively took a step back.
‘Don’t say it! Don’t cross that line!’
She could already guess what he was about to say, and it frightened her.
“I’ll ask the baron for you! Better me than that old man!”
But he crossed the line anyway.
“…Surely, Your Highness isn’t suggesting you’d take me as a concubine or mistress… are you?”
“…”
At her trembling question, Edwin said nothing.
