| 11. It’s Fun Because You’re Innocent

“Beaucater.”

Celestian seemed to have taken a sharp breath, covering his mouth and coughing lightly.

“I didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl, but I just thought it would be a girl and decorated accordingly. I’m foolish, aren’t I?”

Daphne said this while looking into his pale face. She was quite amused to see him frozen, unable to find words to respond.

“If you look in that wardrobe, you’ll see the baby items I bought back then are still there. I received so many gifts too.”

Stretching her hand to point at the wardrobe with its cute door, Daphne mumbled with her lips pressed against her knee.

Of course, there are no baby items. Only boxes of firearms Daphne had collected since childhood are stacked there. Besides that, there’s a high-quality diary made by her godfather, unsent letters.

Also, a love letter she received from someone at some point, and outdated accessories she no longer uses.

“At that time, I was in the planning stages for the tea cafe and the art talent business, so I overworked myself.”

This wasn’t a lie. Daphne felt like she had shed all the nosebleeds of her life during that period. Recalling that busy time made her head throb.

Daphne pressed her index finger to her temple and spoke, deliberately sighing several times in between.

“Sometimes when I think about it, I feel like it was my fault.”

Celestian kept his lips tightly pressed into a straight line. Eventually, he even started chewing on his lower lip.

“I should have been more careful, it’s as good as not protecting it, isn’t it?”

“What, whose child, was it?”

His voice was irritated and impatient. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand and cleared his throat with an “Ahem.”

“I don’t know either.”

Daphne answered simply, puzzled but not overly concerned. Celestian crossed his arms. He leaned back comfortably against the backrest and even turned his head away.

“Why did I live like that? That’s why the capital’s social circle calls me trash. Didn’t you know?”

At this point, she almost burst out laughing for real. Her voice started to tremble. She quickly hunched her shoulders to hide her expression.

It was then that Celestian reached out towards Daphne. She buried her face deeper into her knees to hide her laughter. His hand, unable to reach her, repeatedly clenched and unclenched.

“Don’t cry.”

His soothing voice was quite caring. These words made Daphne’s shoulders shake even more, as if she might burst into tears from laughing so hard. Perhaps due to the alcohol, Daphne found his lowered voice twice as cute.

“Hic.”

An irrepressible laugh escaped through her tightly closed lips. The large hand that had been hovering around Daphne’s face at an odd distance clenched into a fist.

“Beaucater.”

“Yes, yes.”

All his movements stopped. He seemed to have realized that Daphne wasn’t crying, but laughing.

“You.”

He seemed to be trying to gauge which was the lie — being abandoned or having a miscarriage.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Daphne continued to giggle, fanning her face that had turned red from trying to hold back her laughter.

“You’re lying, right?”

He asked again for confirmation. Daphne nodded.

“I thought it was real.”

Celestian smoothed back his bangs, then ruffled them irritably. Daphne lowered her legs from the stool and, bending over with laughter, almost fell face-first onto the floor.

“Be careful.”

Celestian stretched out his arm to provide support for her. Daphne grabbed his arm and continued to shake with laughter.

‘How could he plot rebellion when he’s this innocent.’

No. It must be because he’s this innocent that he firmly believed those who said they would make him king and fell for their temptation.

“Do you find such jokes amusing?”

Celestian frowned and tilted his head. His lips, which had been thoroughly chewed, were bright red.

“My prince, please don’t bite your lips.”

Daphne reached out and rubbed the side of his lips. It was a habit ingrained from being with her female friends.

‘…Have I gone mad?’

Feeling embarrassed, Daphne quickly withdrew her hand and also pushed away Celestian’s arm that she had been holding onto. Then she spoke in an exaggeratedly loud voice.

“My goodness, I didn’t know our dear prince was so innocent. To believe such a thing.”

“It’s not unbelievable. It was you who said it.”

Daphne paused momentarily at his casual remark. She felt odd. But thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t wrong. It meant he didn’t know how Daphne had lived until now.

“Why do you tell such lies?”

He calmly added. Emotions that Daphne couldn’t read crossed his face. The innocent prince with a rare expression. Perhaps because of this, she now began to feel a subtle sense of guilt.

“Because of your expression. It’s fun, isn’t it?”

“It’s not fun.”

How prickly.

“Then I’m sorry.”

Daphne, having composed herself, quickly regained her calm. As the laughter ceased and the sighs were withdrawn, silence once again enveloped them.

‘Why do you keep staring? It’s embarrassing.’

She tapped the carpeted floor with her bare feet.

As if annoyed at the woman who had mocked him — who was after all, a prince — he didn’t avert his gaze. Although Daphne’s cheeks were burning, she didn’t want to lose, so she continued to face him.

‘Right.’

Then, rolling her eyes upward, she thought about the schedule she had discussed with Romeo earlier.

Thirty days until the Crown Prince couple’s national wedding. The nobles of the capital’s social circle with some money were throwing parties one by one.

Tomorrow was the first day of the relay parties, also the day of the party at Psyche’s villa. A party where ‘not much fun is expected’ with only royalty and high-ranking nobles invited, and few people Daphne was close to.

Romeo’s secretary handed Daphne an elaborate invitation card embroidered with gold as she was getting into the carriage. The name written inside was for Celestian.

“Cele, we need to go to an organ concert and then a party tomorrow.”

“You make me feel like this and then ask for a date?”

Celestian was indifferent. Daphne’s cheeks tingled unnecessarily at the word ‘date’ coming from his mouth.

“What date? I’m just telling you my schedule?”

“Huh?”

Daphne replied, opening her eyes wide. Celestian raised his hand to cover his mouth again and let out a forced laugh.

“Fine, have a good time by yourself.”

Then he immediately became serious.

“Why would I go alone? I’m going with you.”

He frowned again at the continued teasing. The subtle pleasure of having such a kind-looking handsome man getting annoyed while looking only at her. Daphne liked feeling like she was constantly winning.

‘But… why call in the set of trash?’

Daphne didn’t know Romeo’s scheme. However, she was aware that Celestian’s current position in the country was that of disposable trash. Something everyone wanted to throw away.

Also, Daphne had little intention of taking this man to show off to Psyche. It was also because the blue eyes she had detested kept lingering in her mind.

“So I’m just your slave.”

“Slave?”

Celestian smiled wryly, lifting only the corners of his mouth. Then he nodded towards the small bed.

“Or a bed doll.”

It seemed he had regained his spirit after recovering from his illness. Daphne narrowed her eyes.

“Keep talking if you want your ears cut off.”

Her vision was narrowing, indicating that she was reaching her physical limit again. It was time to sleep soon. Daphne stood up first.

“Ghost Grand Duke, make sure to wake up before noon.”

And pretending to be courteous, she roughly lifted the side of her skirt and bent her knees. The sound of Daphne’s feet in furry slippers dragging across the floor reached the door.

Turning back to wish him goodnight, Daphne couldn’t help but be startled.

“Whoa, shit.”

Celestian was right in front of her eyes. To be precise, his shirt with three buttons undone, his inner… chest.

Daphne clutched at her pounding heart and looked up.

“Shit?”

Daphne was too shocked to realize that Celestian had sworn in a hard consonant.

‘No footsteps, no, not even the sound of the chair being pulled!’

“Where are you going?”

Celestian asked, raising an eyebrow slightly as he reached out somewhere near Daphne’s waist.

“To sleep.”

“Where?”

“In my room? No, how did you do that? Did you fly?”

“I’m a ghost, aren’t I?”

Celestian casually blurted out.

Due to the darkness, his eyes shone even more vividly. Daphne glanced sideways at her side. Celestian was gripping the doorknob.

“Where are you sleeping?”

“Prince, I have many rooms in my house. I don’t particularly want to sleep in that princess bed.”

“You let me sleep there.”

“It suits you well.”

No matter how she thought about it, Celestian seemed to have flown over. Daphne moved her foot to scan the floor, just in case. Of course, his ankle touched the side of her foot.

“What are you doing?”

“No, it’s at least fifteen steps from there to here…”

Having chanted so much about ‘angel princess,’ ‘prince prettier than a princess,’ and whatnot, Daphne peered behind his back, wondering if he had really grown wings.

“Beaucater.”

As he bent down, Daphne slightly closely sniffed at the scent. It was a familiar scent. To be precise, the same scent she always used. The perfume Narid had thrown a fit about when it disappeared!

“…What?”

He let go of the doorknob he was holding and wrapped a handful of Daphne’s wet hair around his hand.

“Stay and sleep. Sleep with me.”

Many situations occurred in a short time. And they keep happening. Daphne blinked her eyes slowly. Celestian, with his back to the dim light, bent down and whispered lowly into the ear of the stiff Daphne.

“You want to, don’t you?”