| 6. Rolling Together On The Bed

‘Where did I put that gun……’

Some people become unusually calm when they’re extremely agitated. Daphne belonged to that type.

While there were no inexpensive artworks in the Beaucater mansion, this portrait was particularly valuable as it was a gift from Daphne’s mother.

It was painted delicately and meticulously on carefully selected cotton canvas, with pigments chosen over several months and mixed into paint in just the right proportions!

When the painting, twice Daphne’s height, was completed, it had been displayed in the central hall of the main building for half a year, boasting its perfect value.

Daphne pressed her index finger against her temple and let out a long, silent sigh. Fortunately, the prince was behind her and couldn’t see her agitation.

If she had looked at his handsome face with her unrefined emotions, Daphne would have clearly lost to him.

‘Should I just shoot him once? Maybe in the leg or something.’

Daphne was somewhat impulsive.

‘No, I shouldn’t.’

But because she was very conscious of her social image, she also had remarkable patience.

She looked up again at the red-haired woman in the portrait, now grotesque with bullet holes.

As far as she knew, the genre of this novel was supposed to be a depressing romance, but judging by this portrait alone, it seemed more like a depressing horror story.

“Amen.”

Daphne muttered. From behind her, she heard the rustle of bedding as the prince moved.

“Celestian.”

“Don’t be angry, Beaucater. I was bored.”

It was a response that sounded almost coy.

‘That damned boredom!’

Is this what all those of Rodriguez blood do when they’re bored? The father gets addicted to gambling and takes out unmanageable private loans. The younger brother, that lunatic, blows up a garden. And now this idiot of an older brother……

It now felt like it was her own fault for showing them such careless goodwill.

‘So this is self-defense, right?’

She took a few steps and pressed the gap under the portrait frame with her toe. With a click, a secret compartment opened, and Daphne took out a long box. She sat down and moved her hands quickly.

Click, snap, click, click. Snap.

The sound of metal against metal was crisp.

“Beaucater.”

The prince seemed to find it strange that Daphne showed no particular reaction to the chaotic bedroom. It seemed he had already gotten used to simple violence after just two days of being hit on the back and having his legs kicked out from under him for every little thing.

Click, clatter.

“What is it, Cele?”

At his call, Daphne stood up and turned around. After cradling the heavy metal in her left arm, she looked at him while pushing cotton plugs into her ears.

“Oh……”

Celestian, who had put his feet on the floor and was sitting on the edge of Daphne’s bed, was once again breathtakingly handsome today. His golden hair was disheveled, and for some reason, the front of his shirt was completely torn.

Daphne briefly brought her fist to her chin and admired him, looking him up and down.

Celestian, whose overall coloring was on the lighter side, looked very holy due to the sunset light scattering through the cracked window like a spider web.

“What’s that?”

He said, looking at the Winchester rifle Daphne cradled in her arms.

“What do you think? It’s a gun.”

The Winchester rifle, with its body as black as obsidian and a lion emblem embossed in gold on the stock, signified that it belonged to Romeo Rodriguez.

“It was put up as a stake at a hunting party, and I won it. I really wanted this.”

Daphne boasted, rubbing her cheek against the barrel, then took a shooting stance, standing with her feet apart. The handsome man’s fine brow immediately furrowed in the aligned sights, then quickly relaxed as he gave a hollow laugh.

“Aren’t you scared?”

This prince has remarkable courage for an idiot.

“Do you even know how to shoot?”

Somehow, it felt like the words ‘for a girl’ were implied. Instead of answering, Daphne skillfully lowered the lever to load, then turned her body and shot at the window. She immediately reloaded and put another shot near where the ceiling met the wall.

The already cracked glass shattered like a landscape, making a clear, melodious sound as it fell to the floor in waves.

The long view of the Angel River, previously opaque, now spread out clearly. Warm reddish sunset light and a gentle breeze rushed into the bedroom, competing with each other.

“Miss!”

Startled by the gunshots, the servants burst through the mahogany door. Daphne hung the gun on a chair and arrogantly put her hands behind her back.

Those who had opened their mouths in shock at the abstract bedroom retreated behind the door with just one nod from Daphne. Misha’s face, which she briefly met, looked genuinely on the verge of tears.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“As you can see.”

But the Daphne in the portrait was not unharmed.

“Could you close the door? I have something to talk about with my love.”

The Shasha brothers stupidly repeated that they would help, fidgeting. Before Daphne could frown and sigh deeply, Narid stepped forward and dutifully closed the door.

‘Narid gets a bonus.’

She pushed the glass shards that had been pushed to the center of the room with her shoed feet as she advanced. On the bed, where the arrogant prince had been sitting until she fired the gun, there was now only one pitiful handsome man with his head hidden under the white blanket.

Daphne scratched the bridge of her nose as she looked at the broad back rising and falling sharply.

“Your Highness.”

There was no answer.

“Celestian?”

Princess Teriosa had died, mercilessly shot through the chest and waist with a rifle similar to Daphne’s.

It was the work of pure-blooded conservatives who loved the royal family, but sadly, the ten-year-old prince had to witness his mother’s cruel death right beside her.

Just as she was about to reach out and grab the blanket to pull it, he quickly grabbed Daphne’s wrist and subdued her.

Daphne’s red hair obscured her reversed view. She couldn’t properly see the prince’s facial expression as he was backlit by the window.

“By the way, only the bed is intact. Is it a signal that you wanted to sleep with me and I just didn’t understand? No wonder.”

Her captured wrist ached. With her free left hand, she swept back the hair covering her eyes, tidying it.

“Cele, I told you not to look down on me. You really…”

She was about to say something refined, but Celestian put the gun muzzle against Daphne’s forehead. Daphne quickly calculated the number of bullets that might be left in the revolver.

“Should I just kill you?”

‘I thought he would at least stutter.’

Basically 7 shots, 7 holes in the face in the portrait. But there was only one shot in the nostrils, and one lodged in the window, so this should be an empty gun. The feeling of ‘what if’ disappeared.

“If you’re going to kill me, hurry up.”

Limited bravado wasn’t very frightening.

“Cele, let’s say you kill me and subdue all the servants in my room and escape. Then, do you have somewhere to go?”

“There won’t be an ‘after that’.”

“What?”

“…I’ll ask Psyche for help.”

Even in this situation, he’s chanting about Psyche. Daphne squinted one eye, holding back laughter.

“Before you go to Psyche. What about the conservatives outside? Even if you manage to leave, what about Romeo?”

The prince seemed to have decided not to answer, firmly closing his mouth. Daphne wanted to tightly hug his hot body, but instead, she raised one hand to grasp the gun muzzle and lowered it towards her mouth. Thanks to Celestian, who had lowered the lever in this situation, she wanted to give him a one-handed applause.

“If you want to kill with one shot, aiming for the mouth is more accurate than the brain. Now shoot.”

Celestian gasped when she opened her mouth. It was irritating that she couldn’t see his expression properly because of the backlight.

“…Crazy woman.”

“What, did you get cold feet?”

“Value your life a little.”

‘Says the person who risked his precious life and even started a rebellion to get the female lead?’

The lines he was reciting while holding the gun were quite standard, to the point of being pitiful.

“Why? I don’t think it’s bad to die by the hand of the person I love.”

“You don’t love me.”

She frowned a little more, wanting to see his expression.

“Ah, really. I do love you. If I say it 96 more times, it’ll be a hundred times. In the time we’ve wasted, I could have shot the gun a hundred more times. Are you not going to shoot? Should I shoot instead?”

Now that she looked, Celestian hadn’t even put his finger on the trigger. His green eyes were quietly looking down at her. He looked incredibly calm.

‘This feels awful.’

Daphne pushed Celestian’s shoulders with all her might and straddled his waist.

Thanks to this, she could finally see the prince’s face clearly. Not only his surprised face but also his finely chiseled, muscular chest.

Daphne licked her lips and put her index finger in the trigger guard.

“Beaucater.”

Their eyes met directly. Celestian pulled the revolver towards himself, and Daphne continued to reach out to pull the trigger.

“Let go.”

“No, do it for me.”

“I said let go of this!”

“Why are you so scared? This gun is empty anyway……”

Bang!

With the sound of gunfire, an orange flame sparked. Daphne ungracefully tumbled under the bed, clutching her ear and cheek. And she blinked her wide-open eyes several times.

The bullet that had flown right past her ear pierced the canopy and lodged in the ceiling. If Celestian had been weaker than Daphne, or if he hadn’t hit her face to knock her off, it would have pierced Daphne’s eye.

Silence fell between the two. The prince looked at Daphne on the floor with an expression mixed with bewilderment and embarrassment.

“Where did you get the audacity to rush at a man holding a gun?”

“No. Revolvers usually have seven shots, right?”

“It was seven shots in a loaded state. It’s Mariel’s, why didn’t you know?”

Daphne pressed and soothed her startled chest.

“How was I supposed to know our butler would keep it fully loaded at home?”

“You really almost died.”

Celestian is someone who should be happy if Daphne dies. The Beaucater residence is close to the port, and if he plays his cards right, he could even flee overseas.

‘Why is he so flustered?’

However, what was reflected in his green eyes was confusion and anxiety. Daphne, who found herself staring directly into those irises rippling with these two emotions, was instead more flustered.

“You’re the one who pointed a loaded gun at my head, so why are you scolding me, Your Highness?”

The cheek that Celestian had hit throbbed unnecessarily. Daphne pressed the area near her cheekbone with the back of her hand, expressing her grievance. Judging by the stinging in her palm, it seemed glass shards had embedded themselves.

“I had no intention of shooting.”

“Really? Why?”

“If you die……”

Even as she got up and brushed off the glass shards on her pants, he seemed to be contemplating something, his lips moving silently. Whatever he was trying to say, he was taking an unnecessarily long time.

“I’m listening. Say it.”

At Daphne’s urging, Celestian muttered quietly.

“Psyche would be sad.”