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Chapter 37
‘There are going to be a lot of questions. About River… no, Damien and me—where we met, things like that. Shouldn’t I coordinate with Damien beforehand?’
As her thoughts reached this point, Bada asked Lea.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but where is His Highness right now?”
“He’s having breakfast in the dining room. Since he has a busy schedule today, it seems difficult for him to dine with you, Lady.”
At that, Bada’s heart raced, and she leapt from her seat.
“Lady?”
“I’m sorry, but I need to speak with His Highness for a moment. I’ll be right back!”
Leaving a bewildered Lea behind, Bada hurried out of the bedroom.
She descended the staircase to the first floor, but the labyrinthine layout made it impossible to locate the dining room.
The busy house staff were startled to see her.
“Excuse me, where is the dining room?”
“Go down the left corridor and turn right.”
“Thank you.”
Finally, she found the dining room, and Damien was finishing his meal.
Surprised by her sudden appearance, his pupils widened slightly.
“Good morning.”
Seeing her, Damien wiped his mouth with a napkin and rose from his seat.
“Enjoy your breakfast.”
“W-wait! I need to say something.”
Damien’s calm gaze lowered onto Bada, and he gestured for the staff to leave.
Once the door closed, leaving only the two of them in the dining room, silence fell.
“What is it?”
“There’s a press conference this afternoon, right? Shouldn’t we coordinate in advance for possible questions?”
“I’ll handle the answers to the questions. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“But…”
“What’s the problem?”
Bada shrank a little under Damien’s cold tone, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“The reporters might ask me questions about you.”
“About me? Look it up on Wikipedia. My life is all summarized there.”
Bada frowned.
She had already read his Wikipedia profile more than five times.
But in her opinion, at least half of the information there was false.
“Oh, and what about the ring?”
Damien, staring at her with an unreadable expression, pulled a velvet case from his pants pocket.
Opening it, to her surprise, it contained the ring she had lost.
“I was going to give it to you before the press conference.”
“…You found this?”
“It’s a replica. But it’s so finely made that no skilled jeweler would notice unless they looked very closely. Still, manage it carefully so it doesn’t end up in anyone else’s hands.”
“Ah, okay. Got it.”
Damien handed the ring case to Bada, then turned away.
“I have work to do, so I’ll be back just before the press conference starts.”
“Alright, understood.”
He left the dining room, opening the door with a businesslike manner.
Bada smiled faintly toward his back.
“Have a good day, Damien.”
Hearing this, he stopped and slowly turned around.
His complex gaze lingered on her, then he stepped forward.
Click.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Startled by the unexpected gesture, Bada’s eyes widened. Damien quickly added, as if to justify himself:
“If we’re going to act, we need to do it properly.”
Straightening his posture and brushing back his hair, he walked away again.
Winswood House had more than twenty-five rooms.
Although considered modest among royal residences, to Bada, who had lived in a two-room apartment in Shindaebang-dong, it felt extremely luxurious.
‘How much bigger are the other palaces?’
A fireplace mantelpiece made of deep green marble. A plush violet velvet carpet that muffled footsteps. And a ballroom with a massive crystal chandelier.
Lea led Bada around, explaining the house’s structure and purpose in detail.
“This is the Mooring Room, used by His Highness as a study and reception room.”
The 19th-century-style study exuded calmness.
As Bada looked around, she smiled at the framed photos on the desk.
A young Damien holding a puppy with Charlotte. A photo of him at Oxford University with a book tucked under his arm. A photo with fellow naval officers during his service.
‘As a child, he was like an angel.’
While admiring the photos, Bada’s gaze landed on a portrait on the wall.
It was of a middle-aged man, and oddly, both of his eyes had darts stuck in them.
Startled, Bada asked Lea,
“…Whose portrait is this?”
Lea quickly went over and removed the darts.
Catching Bada’s confused expression, Lea sighed.
“The portrait is of His Majesty, King Richard.”
“Damien’s father?”
“…Yes. His Highness can be quite mischievous. Once, the King visited unexpectedly and almost saw a scene like this—it caused quite a stir.”
Bada smiled softly.
The playful side reminded her of River in Bali.
Beneath the porcelain-perfect, solemn exterior of the Crown Prince, his true nature seemed to breathe.
“How is their relationship?”
“I can’t comment definitively, but as you can see, it’s not an especially warm father-son relationship.”
“…I see.”
Bada recalled what Damien had said earlier.
‘The royal family will never approve our marriage. They’ll use that as an excuse to break the engagement.’
Then perhaps the King isn’t pleased with their engagement either.
Bada became increasingly worried about the reckless acts she had committed as Damien’s accomplice.
‘I wonder what the Queen is like.’
Bada remembered photos of the Queen circulating online.
Luxurious blonde hair and blue eyes just like Damien’s.
A strangely ageless beauty that seemed almost untouched by time.
‘I wonder what they think of me… probably not anything good.’
Uneasy, Bada pulled a book from the shelf.
Flipping through the pages absentmindedly, her brows furrowed.
‘…What is this?’
The cover clearly said Hannah Arendt, but the contents seemed strange.
Removing the leather cover revealed “The Return of Sherlock Holmes.”
‘So she covered a detective novel with a serious book cover?’
Bada chuckled and flipped through the pages.
Scattered throughout were notes: one character circled with “This person is the culprit” written next to it.
‘No need for spoilers here, clearly.’
She returned the book to its place, then picked another one from the next shelf.
Inside a Charles Dickens cover were the Harry Potter books.
The pages were yellowed—apparently books Damien had read as a child.
In the corner, a note read: “I want to get my Hogwarts letter too. The palace is stifling.”
Seeing this, Bada imagined young Damien secretly reading fantasy novels.
‘I was obsessed with this series when I was young too.’
Flipping through the pages, Bada paused at another note:
[Charlotte will become the Queen. But I… I don’t know.
Where there is light, shadows follow.
Then I must be the shadow.]
