Although my life goal suddenly disappeared, I didn’t feel empty.
I opened the carriage window without hesitation and slightly leaned my head out. As I brushed my hair fluttering in the wind, a blue sky and a dense green forest stretched endlessly before my eyes.
Everything seemed to predict my bright future. A hum naturally escaped my lips.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
The Crown Prince, who was riding the carriage with me, sneered.
Ever since we were left alone in the carriage, he had thrown away his pretentious attitude and was openly showing his displeasure.
But I was in such a good mood today that I could gladly smile at him.
“Of course. It’s a rare outing.”
“An outing, huh. Outings are nice.”
When I asked brightly, pretending not to know anything, the Crown Prince’s already unpleasant expression crumpled even more. It seemed just seeing my face twisted his insides.
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand.
As an arrogant Crown Prince, he hated people who clung to him without tact, and for the past 10 years, I have done many things to earn his hatred.
‘Do you even know who you’re meeting today?’
“Your Highness’s birthday is coming soon. I want to give you a special gift this time.”
Even at the word ‘gift,’ the Crown Prince remained indifferent.
Well, as the Crown Prince of the Empire, what could possibly satisfy him?
I had given him countless gifts over the years, but he had never been pleased with any of them.
But this time, I prepared something he could never ignore.
‘A very special farewell gift.’
The Crown Prince didn’t know, but we were on our way to meet the heroine of the novel, Lina.
Since the main story hadn’t started yet, she couldn’t have met any male lead, including the Crown Prince.
If my plan succeeded today, the Crown Prince would become the first male lead Lina meets.
Being the first male lead among many candidates was a significant advantage.
The saying ‘first love is the strongest’ didn’t come out of nowhere.
“It’s a day when something special and pleasant will happen—for me and for Your Highness.”
I would have a reason to break off my engagement with the Crown Prince, and he would meet his first and last love. It was truly a win-win situation.
I turned my gaze back outside.
In the distance, a small village came into view. The heroine lived there.
After arriving at the village, the Crown Prince got off the carriage and looked at me with an incredulous expression.
“Have your tastes changed without me knowing? Such a backwater place.”
“Backwater? It’s only a day’s journey from the capital.”
“How did you even find a place like this…?”
“Don’t be so negative. There’s a very pretty bird that only lives in this village. I will definitely catch it and give it to Your Highness. I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“…”
“You always work in the palace. To prevent your brain from overloading, you need to come outside and cool off occasionally.”
I deliberately spoke in the way the Crown Prince hated the most.
It wasn’t wrong, but to him, always burdened by heavy duties, it must have sounded like a frivolous song.
Sure enough, the Crown Prince’s red lips twisted into a smirk.
“It’s amazing how you remain the same even after 10 years.”
He meant my mental age was still at a 10-year-old level.
‘Oh, you’re going for personal attacks now?’
“You’re making me feel embarrassed. Your Highness became such a dashing young man… Time really flies, doesn’t it? I can still vividly remember when you used to cry at the sight of me.”
The Crown Prince’s already cold face froze even more, looking terrifying.
But I was no longer the past me who trembled at his gaze or gestures.
I confidently looked straight into the Crown Prince’s eyes and brought up his greatest taboo.
“Do you still hate that nickname? What was it, Pin–.”
Before I could finish speaking, the air around us turned icy. Even though I was clueless about swordsmanship or magic, I could clearly feel the violent energy swirling around.
My confidence shriveled instantly.
“Oh dear, I misspoke. Haha…”
In the end, I backed down. It was pathetic, but my life was more precious than my pride. It was merely a strategic retreat for a greater advance.
‘Petty guy, holding a grudge all this time.’
The Crown Prince’s childhood nickname was ‘Pin.’
It was also a nickname for ‘Pinion,’ but it was mainly given to beautiful women with blonde hair and fair skin.
The Empress, who preferred daughters over sons, started calling him Pin as a joke, but he, who had an inferiority complex about his excessively pretty appearance, didn’t just dislike the nickname; he loathed it.
And on the day I first met the Crown Prince, I made an irreversible mistake by mistaking him for a girl.
— Princess Pin?
As soon as the words left my mouth, the Crown Prince’s white, prim face twisted.
His gaze, staring at me, was so fierce that he eventually burst into tears, unable to contain his anger. It was the moment I earned a lifelong grudge.
“Hearing that brings back memories. I have a better memory than I thought.”
“Of course. I remember every moment with Your Highness. For three years after that, you called me an old witch.”
The Crown Prince and I pretended to smile brightly while gritting our teeth, staring at each other’s faces for a long time.
‘Annoying guy…’
In fact, the talk about having a farewell gift was just an excuse.
I had grown too tired of him to wait until he met the heroine.
Afraid I might reveal my true feelings if I kept looking at his face, I left the Crown Prince behind and entered the village.
The village, with a large forest behind it and a small river flowing in front, was simple yet peaceful and beautiful.
‘Where was Lina’s house…’
I took out a map from my pocket to check the location of Lina’s house. It was a map I obtained by paying a considerable amount of money to the information guild.
Although I only knew her name and appearance, it didn’t take long to find out where she lived.
While there were many people with black hair and black eyes, the combination of both was extremely rare. Moreover, because the heroine had a strong attachment to this village, her characteristics were described in detail in the novel.
“There it is.”
Her house was a shabby hut in the most secluded part of this small village.
As I peeked at the almost collapsing hut, I recalled the contents of the novel.
Right after her dimensional travel, Lina was rescued by a kind-hearted old couple in the countryside and lived with them as if they were her parents. When a plague hit the village and the couple fell ill, she went to the temple to get medicine and accidentally met the holy knight, Gined.
Unlike the other priests, who ignored her because she was poor, the beautiful holy knight, though blunt, kindly gave her herbs. Lina admired him.
Even after meeting other male leads, the excitement she felt at that moment did not fade and remained in her heart for a long time.
I felt a pang of conscience, and my stomach twisted, thinking about replacing her precious first love, a noble holy knight, with the nasty Crown Prince Pinion.
But I tried to justify my decision by reminding myself that the Crown Prince was destined to be one of the heroine’s lovers anyway.
“What are you looking at?”
The Crown Prince, who had caught up with me, spoke.
I quickly stuffed the map back into my pocket and waved a small bow and arrow I had prepared. It was a shoddy toy that even a child would play with.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go, I’ll definitely catch a bird for you!”
Of course, it was impossible for me to catch a bird with my hunting skills.
And I had no intention of actually catching one.
To roughly explain my plan:
I would pretend to hunt until sunset, dragging out as much time as possible, and when night fell, I would make up an excuse to visit Lina’s house.
After arranging a natural meeting between the Crown Prince and Lina, I would withdraw at an appropriate moment once the atmosphere had ripened.
I decided not to imagine what the two would do afterward.
My role would end by congratulating the love-struck protagonists and then exit the story.
To ensure Lina wouldn’t need to meet another male lead before her relationship with the Crown Prince was fully established, I had brought plenty of herbs effective in treating the plague.
I wandered around the forest with the Crown Prince, shooting arrows aimlessly.
“I can’t watch this any longer. Give me the bow, I’ll catch it a hundred times faster.”
“No. The gift has meaning only if I catch it myself.”
“Who would even want a mere bird…”
Even though I was out of breath, I stubbornly insisted, and the Crown Prince’s patience finally reached its limit.
I looked up at him with earnest eyes.
‘Just say we should break off the engagement now. Then I wouldn’t have to ruin the heroine’s beautiful first love.’
But the influence of the Dronay family was too great to mention breaking off the engagement over something like this.
The Crown Prince forced a smile with superhuman patience.
“I’d rather receive jewels or weapons than a bird. Like the sword you gave me last year.”
“You didn’t like that sword because it was flashy but impractical.”
“Ahem, then how about clothes?”
“I’ve given you dozens of outfits, but you’ve never worn them because they weren’t to your taste…”
“…”
When I pretended to be sullen and made a sad face, the Crown Prince had nothing more to say and closed his mouth.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
chocolattes
the mental image of her trying her hardest to stall the prince with her poor archery skills wont leave my mind LMAO. i know she dislikes him but their banter is so funny 🤣