‘Ah… so this is the end.’

I’d been shot here, struck in the head with a club… and now, I was about to be stabbed with a knife.

Would it hurt less than a bullet? I hoped so.

Holding the child close in my arms, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Bang. Bang, bang.

That was when it happened—the sound of gunfire, now so familiar to me.

With a clattering crash, the blade before my eyes fell to the ground. The man who only moments ago had seemed like an impenetrable wall crumpled helplessly.

The child in my arms clutched me even tighter, frightened by the gunshots.

“Olivia! Are you all right?”

Amid the heavy pounding of countless boots, a man’s voice called out to me.

“You’re safe now. You don’t have to be so afraid.”

“Your Highness?”

Shamefully, as I lifted my head, a single tear slid down my cheek.

Was it relief that I had survived? The terror of having nearly died? Or perhaps guilt—that for even a fleeting moment, I had thought of abandoning the small warmth in my arms?

“Why? Do I look so handsome I made you cry?”

The curve of his lips tilted in a smile, revealing the beauty mark beneath his eye. If it hadn’t been for Lucid’s teasing tone, I might have burst into tears.

“Not funny.”

“You could at least call me handsome, even as a joke. I looked just like a prince on a white horse just now, didn’t I?”

He shrugged lightly. And the truth was, I had survived thanks to him.

“But… why are you here? And leading soldiers, no less… Wait a second. Did you just shoot that foreigner?”

At my question, Lucid shrugged again.

“There was a skirmish in a nearby village. We were on our way back.”

“His Majesty ordered you to use force as sparingly as possible!”

‘Don’t tell me… did he give up his claim to the crown prince’s seat?’

Of course, even now, the gap between him and Edmund was significant. The previous circumstances had already tilted far too much in Edmund’s favor. Yet Lucid had always seemed carefree, even knowing that.

“And what? Was I supposed to just stand there and watch my people get hurt? Even if they’re commoners, to me, they’re all precious citizens of my country!”

Lucid’s voice suddenly rang out.

The ever-smiling man who never let anger show, the so-called shadowy figure who didn’t even seem to value his own people—why was he suddenly like this?

“I am a prince of this empire! Yes, His Majesty’s command is absolute! But that doesn’t mean I can stand by and watch innocent imperial citizens be slaughtered!”

It was behavior completely unlike him.

And though his words were directed at me, his body was turned ever so slightly toward the people instead.

“Good heavens, is that really His Highness Lucid, the Second Prince?”

“I heard he didn’t care for commoners like us. But I guess the rumors were wrong.”

“Whatever the case, it’s thanks to His Highness Lucid that we’re alive! The Emperor, and even Prince Edmund—they only care for those damned foreigners and never for us imperials!”

‘Could this be deliberate?’

Did he bring soldiers here on purpose—so he could shoot down foreigners in front of everyone? All to win the people’s support?

“I won’t stand by any longer. Fire! I’ll take full responsibility for the aftermath!”

At his command, the soldiers opened fire all at once.

“Don’t be afraid. His Highness Lucid will protect you.”

“Over here! His Highness brought physicians with him. All injured, come this way!”

As if everything had been prepared in advance, Lucid’s aides moved seamlessly.

The sight of it all left me at a loss for words.

“Olivia, why are you looking at me like that?”

Watching those serpent-like eyes curve, I realized it anew.

This man truly was the shadow of this world.

Now the imperial citizens would surely rally behind him, the one who dared to wield force for their sake.

Gunfire crackled without pause, mingled with the screams of the people. I pressed my hands over the ears of the unconscious child in my arms, trying to shield them from the wretched scene.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

His smiling face, feigning ignorance, was unbearably infuriating. When I didn’t answer, he swept back his hair with infuriating ease.

“Either way, it turned out for the best. These people lived, and I’ll gain their support.”

So it had been planned after all.

He had killed foreigners intentionally, all to win the sympathy and loyalty of the common folk.

But if things continued like this, then civil war was inevitable…

As the sight of foreigner corpses piled up before me, just as they had fifteen years ago, I could already foresee what was to come.

A fierce migraine raged in my head.

💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠💠

“I’ll take you back.”

“I’m fine.”

“That child…”

Whether it was Lucid that frightened him, or simply the situation itself, the boy clung to me and refused to let go.

“Hey, little one. If you come with me, the soldiers will keep you safe.”

Lucid bent down on one knee and held out his hand. So he could be gentle with children, after all.

Wearing a kind smile and meeting the child’s eyes, he looked exactly like the prince on a white horse from a fairy tale.

But even with that seemingly warm smile, the boy shook his head furiously.

“Hmm. Then how about this—should I buy you some candy? If you come to the castle with me, you can eat all kinds of delicious food. How about it?”

So when the smile didn’t work, he tried to tempt him with food. I thought it was a rather one-dimensional approach. After ordering people to be shot dead, what good was such a smile? To me, it only made him look like a psychopath.

“No! I’m not going with you, mister!”

“Ah—‘mister’?”

Lucid scratched his cheek as if struck by the word. He was younger than me, wasn’t he? I’d almost forgotten that, blinded by his princely status.

“Well then, what do we do? I can’t just leave him here.”

Lucid leaned back and rose to his feet. It was true—there was no way to leave a child alone in a place reeking of blood.

“Little one, where are your guardians?”

“He lived with his grandfather. But not long ago, his grandfather was attacked by foreigners and ended up in the hospital. I doubt the child has any other guardians.”

The one who answered my question was a passing villager.

“And where is his grandfather hospitalized?”

“The hospitals in the capital don’t have any space right now, so I heard he’s admitted to a small clinic run by a foreigner.”

“A foreigner …”

That must be Galahad.

At Lucid’s gaze, I took the child’s hand.

“Then how about coming to the temple with me? We’ll ask them to bring your grandfather there to fetch you. How does that sound?”

“Really? Okay!”

In any case, I couldn’t just leave the boy alone. I wiped his cheek with my sleeve.

“Olivia, by the way… shouldn’t you be on duty right now? What are you doing here? Were you looking for someone?”

As if to draw my attention back from the child, Lucid leaned his face close to mine as he asked. The cruel image of him from earlier flashed through my mind, and without meaning to, I stiffened and stepped back.

“No… I just stopped by the temple, and they said they were short on medicine. I was on my way to Galahad to get some.”

In the end, I had to return without getting the medicine.

‘If I had known things would turn out like this, I should have secured the medicine first before picking a fight.’

“Even in a situation like this, the two of you seem to be getting on well. Do you like Galahad that much? Enough to meet your foreign lover in the middle of a civil war?”

Lucid’s mocking tone cut me to the core, as if she were condemning me for seeing a foreigner at a time like this.

“And why shouldn’t I?”

The sharp reply slipped out. I was already a little angry. He had ordered people to be shot dead for the sake of his popularity, and yet I was the one being condemned? I couldn’t understand it.

“I just find it strange. Why does everyone lose their senses the moment they like a foreigner?”

When I didn’t answer and turned my head away, Lucid muttered something under his breath and took a step closer.

“Is he really that good? That lowly blood of Puglish?”

The closer Lucid got, the harder it became to breathe. Had he always been like this? I had always thought of him as a frivolous man, always smiling. But now, he looked every inch the emperor’s son.

“Well, love is like that, isn’t it? It makes you lose your mind.”

The look in Lucid’s eyes when he said that was truly terrifying.

“I tried it myself. Love. You have to be mad to love—mad enough to do anything to get it.”

“…What?”

What was he even talking about? Was he saying he loved Ecla that much? Was that what drove him to become the shadow in the original story? Or… was this simply how he truly was?

How much did I really know about Lucid?

“Isn’t that right, Olivia?”

The touch of his hand against my cheek made my skin crawl, as if an insect were crawling over me.

Why was he looking at me like that?

“Come. I’ll take you to the temple.”

“I can go alone.”

I slapped his hand away coldly, but Lucid looked unbothered.

“But what if foreigners attack again? A woman and a child traveling alone in times like these? You know how dangerous that is.”

I glanced at the child, who clung tightly to my hand, unwilling to let go.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything. I’ll just see you there safely and return.”

I couldn’t trust those words—but with no better choice, I nodded reluctantly.