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Chapter 8
Aella looked at the clock with an anxious expression. The appointed time was approaching. Soon, Seamus would come to her bedroom.
Her hair and body, fresh from a bath, smelled of fine perfume, and her white négligée was so thin that she felt a slight chill.
“Ha.”
Just as she sighed and turned her gaze away from the clock, Aella’s body stiffened at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Remembering that Seamus had ordered everyone to clear the area outside her door, leaving no one guarding it, Aella approached the door.
Thinking it would be less nerve-wracking to open the door herself than to see Seamus enter, Aella opened it.
“Oh…”
But the person standing outside was not Seamus. At the unexpected figure, Aella’s eyes widened.
“Ther?”
“Ah…”
Not having expected the door to open, Ther’s face also showed surprise.
“Blood? Is that blood?”
Aella belatedly noticed the blood on Ther’s face and, startled, grabbed his arm.
It wasn’t just his face. Seeing Ther covered in blood, Aella instinctively pulled him into her bedroom.
Ther, having ended up in Aella’s bedroom by accident, had his eyes trembling. Aella was in her négligée, and this was her private bedroom, where no one was allowed to enter.
“Are you hurt? Are you injured? What happened?”
Seeing Ther covered in blood, Aella couldn’t collect her thoughts. She was worried that he might be wounded.
“This isn’t my blood…”
Ther began to deny it but then stopped.
Another set of footsteps was approaching from outside. Ther’s face hardened. If the door opened like this, Aella’s presence with him would be exposed. Ther quickly lifted Aella into his arms.
“Ther?”
Despite Aella’s flustered voice, Ther did not hesitate and ran to the window.
Just before the door opened, Ther leaped out the window with Aella in his arms.
“Ther…!”
Startled, Aella wrapped her arms around Ther’s neck and buried her face in his chest.
The next moment, Ther’s feet landed steadily on the ground, and he disappeared into the darkness with Aella in his arms.
—
**\*\*\***
Seamus walked toward Aella’s bedroom with a sinister smile. Checking his pocket watch, he muttered.
“It should have happened by now.”
It was time to witness his wife rolling around in bed with another man.
*Shall I go catch the bastard panting on top of my wife?* Seamus curled one corner of his mouth.
Arriving before Aella’s bedroom, Seamus grabbed the doorknob. He was curious how Aella’s expression, always so haughty despite being ruined, would change. With a broad smile on his face, Seamus slowly opened the door.
But he couldn’t see the scene he had expected. Instead, he saw a dark figure disappearing out the window.
“What?”
Seamus twisted his face and ran to the open window.
Looking down outside the window, Seamus spotted a man’s back disappearing, carrying Aella in her négligée.
“Ther Motita?”
Seamus was certain of the man’s identity.
He struck the windowsill with his fist, his face crumpling. Furious, Seamus let out a scream of “Arrgh!”
“How dare he! How dare he!”
Seamus’s rage surged.
The fact that the plan had failed was unimportant. He was going mad at the fact that Ther Motita had stolen his wife and fled.
“That goddamn bastard!”
As he stamped his feet in anger, Seamus heard footsteps behind him and turned around.
Media, her eyes wide with shock, approached Seamus.
“Why are you alone? Where is Aella?”
Media looked around the bedroom, searching for Aella. Instead of seeing Aella with another man, only Seamus was in the room.
“You!”
Seamus grabbed Media by the neck, shoved her against the wall, and shouted.
“You conspired with the Crown Princess to deceive me, didn’t you?”
“Pardon? What are you talking about?”
At Seamus’s visibly furious state, Media’s eyes filled with fear. It seemed the plan had failed.
Just then, the Crown Prince’s head chamberlain ran into the room through the open door. The moment he saw Seamus, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
“Hiiik! Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince, you’re alive?”
The chamberlain spoke to Seamus in a trembling voice.
Seamus frowned and turned to look at the chamberlain.
“Of course I’m alive! Did you think I was dead?”
“Th-Th-The severed head of Your Highness the Crown Prince is in the office…”
The chamberlain trailed off, his voice frightened and gasping for breath.
“Ha! Damn it all.”
Seamus let out a hollow laugh, passed the chamberlain, and left Aella’s bedroom.
Media, startled, quickly followed Seamus.
Arriving at the office, Seamus saw a man’s head on the desk and let out an exasperated scream.
“Ther Motita!”
“Th-This can’t be…”
Recognizing the owner of the head, Media stammered in shock.
This was the man who was supposed to enter Aella’s bedroom in Seamus’s place. The one she herself had fed the face-changing magic potion.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Didn’t you conspire with the Crown Princess to toy with me! I should have realized it when you first suggested using Grand Duke Motita!”
Seamus erupted in anger, looking at Media.
Seamus recalled Media whispering plans in bed and twisted his face.
*”Then how about this?”*
*”Do you have another good idea?”*
At Media’s words, Seamus had asked.
*”First, tell Aella that you will consummate the marriage.”*
*”I don’t feel desire for that disgusting face.”*
Seamus had frowned.
Media shook her head and stroked Seamus’s cheek.
*”I don’t mean you should actually embrace her. That would make me sad.”*
*”Then?”*
*”I can obtain a magic potion that changes one’s face.”*
*”Isn’t that a forbidden magic potion?”*
*”Yes. But if Your Highness the Crown Prince wishes to use it, who would dare say anything?”*
*”That’s true.”*
Seamus had chuckled and agreed with Media.
*”On the night of the consummation, give the potion to someone discreet. Send him to Aella’s bedroom disguised as the Crown Prince.”*
*”And then?”*
*”At the time when the man’s face returns to normal, Your Highness enters Aella’s bedroom.”*
*”If I time it right, I’ll witness my wife rolling around with another man with my own eyes.”*
*”Exactly. No matter how Aella tries to explain, you won’t believe her. Who would dare think of using a potion to transform into the Crown Prince’s face?”*
*”I’ll have the area outside the Crown Princess’s bedroom cleared that night.”*
Seamus had been very pleased with Media’s plan. Until he saw this outcome.
“You orchestrated this from behind so that Ther Motita could spirit away the Crown Princess!”
“No! Absolutely not!”
Media, frightened by Seamus’s anger, stepped back.
“You say no? Only you and I knew about our plan! How did Ther Motita find out and pull this off!”
“I truly know nothing about this! Why would I betray Your Highness? I am no longer Aella’s person, but Your Highness’s!”
Media pleaded with Seamus, crying. Even as she cried and pleaded, Media was furious at Aella for putting her in this difficult position.
*Wicked girl.*
At Media’s tears, Seamus looked at her with a slightly softened expression.
“Truly not?”
“Yes, I swear on my life, it is absolutely not.”
“Fine. I’ll believe you this once. Since you caused this, you deal with this head.”
Seamus grabbed the dead man’s hair from the desk and thrust it into Media’s arms.
“Kya!”
As the severed head came into her arms, Media felt chills down her spine. She screamed and dropped the head.
The head chamberlain, who had belatedly followed Seamus and Media to the office, widened his eyes at the head that rolled toward him.
“Until just moments ago, this was definitely His Highness the Crown Prince…”
The chamberlain was confused about what had happened. It had clearly been the Crown Prince’s head.
“Who else knows about this head?”
Seamus asked the chamberlain.
The chamberlain collected himself and answered Seamus’s question.
“No one but me so far. I was so shocked that I went to find the Crown Princess.”
“Keep your mouth shut. If this story leaks, you will meet the same fate as this.”
Seamus gave the chamberlain a cold-faced order and left the office, heading toward Aella’s bedroom.
—
**\*\*\***
Aella, sitting on the edge of the bed, adjusted the blanket draped over her shoulders and looked around.
This place was Ther’s bedroom in the lake castle. With only a large bed in the vast space, it felt empty. The room gave off a lonely feeling, and Aella felt as if a cold wind was blowing through her chest.
Having escaped the palace in Ther’s arms, Aella had asked nothing until they reached the lake castle.
It seemed that something she didn’t know about had happened, but she was at a loss as to what or how to ask.
“Ha.”
As she sighed, the door opened. Aella, tense, sat up straight.
Ther, who entered through the door, also had tension written on his face.
