Chapter 14

“The reason? What do you mean.”

“This.”

He gave a light glance toward their joined hands. Ellen realized she had been gripping Leonid’s hand tightly.

“Keep holding on like that.”

Ellen startled and tried to pull her hand away. He twitched an eyebrow and wrapped her hand even more firmly in his.

“It’s no use. I won’t let go.”

The tempo of the song grew faster. Leonid led the dance with ease and moved with Ellen through the very center of the grand banquet hall. The whispers of those watching them grew steadily thicker.

“What brings the cursed prince here of all places?”

“Indeed. He’s never shown himself publicly like this, let alone at an official imperial event.”

“That’s right. If he weren’t of imperial birth, there’s no way he could walk around unscathed after bringing such enormous calamity upon the Empire.”

“Shh, cursed or not, a prince is a prince. What if you’re arrested for insulting the imperial family.”

“The imperial family treats him like something they’ve thrown away. Who would punish me for insulting a prince like that.”

“That’s a fair point. But he really is striking.”

“Isn’t he. In truth, the moment he first appeared, I found myself staring blankly, forgetting entirely that he was supposed to be cursed.”

“Setting everything aside, those two are truly beautiful to look at.”

There were quite a few people dancing their first dance at today’s debutante. With guests from across the Empire, that was only natural. But the only two who had captured the eyes of the grand banquet hall were those two.

Ellen felt the blatant gazes pressing in and her eyes trembled.

Drawing attention was her purpose anyway, but it could be damaging for Leonid. Knowing what kind of life he had lived, she couldn’t simply ignore the attention now pouring down on him.

“Why is that?”

“Pardon?”

“Your eyes. They’re trembling right now.”

“It’s nothing.”

“A lie.”

The lively first song ended. Ellen released Leonid’s hand and stepped out of his arms. He was already someone who drew people’s eyes, and she couldn’t keep making him the center of attention like this.

“No. It’s my first time at a setting like this, so I’m nervous.”

“You’re simply nervous, is that all?”

At Leonid’s question, Ellen nodded and spoke.

“I’m not used to so many people’s eyes on me.”

“Ah. That was the problem.”

“Yes, so I should be going now……”

“It bothered me too.”

So that was it. Ellen glanced quietly around.

‘From the women there are looks of longing for Leonid’s appearance, but……’

Setting that aside, everything else was pure hostility. There was not a single gaze with genuine goodwill to be found anywhere.

Ellen finally understood a little. Why Leonid had had no choice but to climb to the throne with blood on his hands.

“I hope you won’t take people’s gazes toward you to heart, Your Highness. Those people are simply……”

“I couldn’t care less about something like that.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. Pardon?”

Ellen’s eyes went as wide as they could go. Leonid gave a faint smile and grabbed Ellen’s wrist. He moved quickly out of the grand banquet hall.

“What bothered me was only the gazes of other men toward you.”

“Why would that……”

“I wonder. I don’t know why myself.”

Coming outside, the splendid buildings of the imperial palace came into view.

Leonid took Ellen with him and entered the vast garden. Perhaps because the ball was in full swing, there was no one in the garden.

He confirmed there was no one around before finally stopping.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Ellen gave a quiet nod and cast her gaze across the garden.

A place she had come to with him. Time had been turned back, but the garden was no different from how it had been.

The fountain with moonlight breaking softly across it, the shrubs that wrapped around it with cool freshness, the flowers blooming in full abundance. The garden was still breathtakingly beautiful.

The only things that have changed are you and I.

Ellen let her eyes shimmer and nodded.

“Yes, thanks to you.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

Leonid had Ellen sit on the edge of the fountain. Then he looked down at her quietly.

“Is something on my face?”

“No.”

“Then why are you staring so intently?”

“Because I want to.”

“Why on earth?”

At her question, Leonid’s hand moved toward Ellen’s face. He touched her soft cheek gently.

“I didn’t feel this way when I saw you before. Right now it feels different somehow.”

“Before?”

“Kayul Del Raphae. The birthday party of the man who calls himself my older brother.”

“Ah.”

Her guess had been right.

Leonid had spotted her at the party she had attended to be shown off to Duke Shurn, which meant he had seen her before she entered the harem.

‘I was in a place where I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.’

Wasn’t it the same for Leonid. Just like her, he had been in a place where people’s eyes didn’t easily reach. That was why she hadn’t even known he had been there.

‘But why did he come here today? It’s an official imperial event, with far more people than his older brother’s birthday party……’

There was nothing to gain from exposing himself to people. Apart from the hostile gazes, there was someone who actively disliked it.

His birth mother, Eliza En Dri.

“Perhaps it was because I was wearing my sister’s borrowed clothes that time. Today I dressed properly for the debutante, so it makes sense that the impression would be different.”

“No, it’s not simply an outward difference. More than that.”

The hand that had been touching Ellen’s cheek moved downward. Leonid gripped her by the back of the neck and bent his head. He stopped at a distance so close their lips might touch and whispered with quiet intimacy.

“It’s a feeling that cuts right through me. Like seeing someone I’ve missed for a very long time.”

Ellen’s shoulders gave an involuntary shudder at Leonid’s whisper.

Missed for a very long time.

His older brother’s birthday party had only been at the start of this year. Not even a few months had passed.

And yet why……

There was no way he could feel that without having memories of their past life.

She barely managed to compose her expression and parted her lips.

“I honestly have no idea what you mean.”

“I know. It shouldn’t be possible.”

He curved one corner of his mouth and pulled Ellen’s wrist sharply toward him.

“Then why do I have the feeling that you already knew me?”

“……That’s……”

Because I remember.

You, who know only me…… I carry every memory of loving you to the point of death, all of it, right here.

Ellen reached for the place near her heart.

Thinking about it now, it was a rather cruel thing. That I alone know him, even the parts of himself that Leonid himself doesn’t know.

It feels like turning to sea foam without ever having confessed, like the fairy tale I read as a child.

“It’s because you are a prince, Your Highness. As a subject of the Cavern Empire, knowing who you are is only natural.”

A dull ache. Her chest stung.

But this is right.

We were a cursed bond that led each other to death. Even the smallest lingering feeling is a luxury.

Even if it came from a heart that had simply crossed paths with his and gone astray……

“Only natural.”

Leonid’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.

The words were perfectly correct, and that was precisely what grated on him.

“I don’t think so.”

“I, I’m not sure what you mean.”

“The way you’re stumbling tells me it isn’t.”

“Your Ma, no, Your Highness.”

In her panic, the old form of address had nearly slipped out. Ellen shook off his hand and stood up abruptly from the fountain. She pointed at the clock tower visible in the distance.

“I’m sorry, but the second part of the ball is about to begin, so I must return to the grand banquet hall.”

“What?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected answer, Leonid went still. Ellen gathered her skirt in both hands and ran with everything she had.

“Ellen!”

Realizing what she was doing, Leonid reached out toward her.

The retreating figure turning her back to him looked a little like the faint silhouette in his dreams.

“Hah, hah……”

Ellen ran like a madwoman without looking back once. She had run so hard it felt like her heart might leap out of her mouth.

She stopped and looked quickly around. Fortunately, no one was in sight. Only then did Ellen press a hand to her chest and sink onto a step.

She knew a noble shouldn’t behave like this, but since she was alone here, just for a moment it seemed all right.

“I, I made it.”

“Made it from what?”

“Aaah!”

Ellen startled at the voice behind her and fell flat on her backside.

“What is it? Why are you so shocked?”

“Deriel. You can’t just appear without any warning.”

“You must have forgotten. I’m the Spirit King. Appearing without warning is what I do.”

“Even so. From now on, at least in front of me, act like a person. Especially when you appear.”

“Fine. I understand. If there’s a door, I’ll knock from outside before entering.”

He took Ellen’s hand and helped her up. Ellen steadied her breathing and rose slowly.

“But wasn’t your plan to attend the entire imperial banquet? The second part should be well underway by now.”

“Ah.”

Her body had instinctively run in the opposite direction from the imperial palace. It was possible only because her body remembered the palace’s layout.

Ellen fell into a moment of deliberation. On whether to return to the grand banquet hall.

But that was not the right choice.

The likelihood of Leonid being there was high.

It was probably nothing, but she was uneasy wondering whether he remembered something. Above all, hiding her feelings in front of Leonid was difficult.

Memories of him had surfaced unexpectedly. The feelings imprinted on her like a brand had flowed out without her meaning to. Those memories that had become as though they never existed, cutting sharply through her chest.

Making it feel as though she still loved Leonid.