82. The Stuttering Prince

2023.12.21.

Yuan Pelliese’s downcast gaze swept up and down Noel Euphris.

The slender man had a youthful face with soft features.

His chocolate-colored skin resembled that of Empress Marilyn, and his disheveled blond hair framed round, gentle eyes. Yet his deep, translucent violet irises—so like Clade Euphris’s—fixed on her with sharp precision.

Under that stare, Yuan nearly lost her composure, but steadied her breath and met his gaze with dignified resolve.

Slowly emerging from behind the curtain, Noel Euphris approached her hesitantly.

“D-d-do I m-misunderstand? H-how c-could you, w-who were once c-close to C-Clade’s h-highness, f-follow B-Bollonico’s h-highness instead!”

Second Prince Noel Euphris, though frail in appearance, seemed wary yet determined to voice his thoughts fully.

Yuan surmised the reason people knew so little about Noel, and why his name rarely appeared in newspapers.

‘He stutters—probably kept from public view all this time.’

When Yuan remained silent, merely staring at him, Noel’s face flushed deeply red. He quickly bowed his head and retreated back behind the curtain.

“N-never seen a s-stuttering p-person before?”

“No. I’ve seen quite a few.”

Her calm reply to his insecure voice instantly brightened Noel Euphris’s expression.

“…R-really?”

“Yes.”

“Then!”

His face suddenly stiffened in embarrassment. He rolled his eyes for a moment, then raised his brows like an angry puppy.

“G-get out q-quickly! T-this isn’t a p-place for you! D-don’t h-hurt C-Clade’s h-highness! W-what B-Bollonico’s h-highness d-did c-can never be f-forgiven!”

Yuan narrowed her eyes, observing the young prince—barely older than her—who scolded her so earnestly.

He conveyed his message slowly but firmly: he deeply admired Clade and had been shocked upon hearing of Bollonico’s outrageous behavior.

The fact that Noel admired Clade more than his own full brother, Bollonico, was new information.

“A-Ariesta’s h-highness is still u-unmarried and r-residing in the N-north, d-don’t you k-know? Y-you s-shouldn’t d-dwell on f-foolish hopes e-either—j-just l-leave! W-we c-can’t show p-proper r-respect to a t-traitor!”

Traitor.

To hear those words from eyes so like Clade’s felt like cheating.

Yuan felt her stomach churn violently, as if overturning completely.

The pain she had barely sealed away since the carriage ride now surged up like a foot suddenly kicking her heart, erupting uncontrollably from her mouth.

Yuan quickly clamped a handkerchief over her lips.

Seeing half the cloth soaked in dark red blood, Noel’s face turned so pale with shock that Yuan saw three of him.

“B-blood—!”

The last thing Yuan saw was Noel rushing toward her in panic before her consciousness abruptly cut off.

***

Yuan opened her eyes to find Noel staring intently at her.

Up close, his irises resembled Clade’s even more than she’d imagined, making her chest ache further.

“I-I-I d-didn’t m-mean to d-do a-anything s-strange—”

The innocent Second Prince, face flushed, waved the white damp cloth in his hand.

“Y-you s-suddenly c-collapsed—”

Noel had been sitting beside where she lay, but abruptly stood and stepped several paces back.

Judging from the sky visible through the large window behind him, not much time seemed to have passed.

Yuan realized she was still in the detached palace’s reception room, lying on the vacant chaise longue. She slowly sat up. She could see Noel hesitating whether to assist her or not.

“Y-you c-collapsed after s-spitting b-blood. I c-called the c-court d-doctor, b-but you’ll n-need to w-wait a m-moment.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t cause a scene.”

“O-of c-course I s-sent for h-him d-discreetly! T-the r-royal f-family’s h-health is s-state s-secret!”

Noel paced nervously in front of her, still clutching the damp cloth, clearly shaken.

“W-where d-does it h-hurt? I-is it a c-chronic illness?”

“You’ve heard why I’ve come to the palace, haven’t you?”

“T-that’s—”

Noel opened his mouth awkwardly, saying nothing.

He seemed to believe the excuse—“the Crown Princess Consort is frail and will recuperate in the palace”—was naturally concocted by the Empress.

Well, of course it was fabricated. But given Yuan’s current condition, it wasn’t entirely baseless.

Yuan saw this moment, as Noel’s wariness softened slightly, as the perfect opportunity to assess his condition.

“I’m too weak to attend Clade’s highness. I have my own circumstances, so please don’t blame me too harshly. To be honest, I don’t particularly wish to stay here either.”

Yuan calmly waited for the turmoil in Noel’s eyes to settle.

He seemed torn between his indignation toward Yuan and Bollonico’s conduct, and his sympathy stirred by Yuan’s visibly pained state.

While he composed himself, Yuan surveyed the reception room.

Earlier, she’d been too focused on Noel to notice, but the room was unusual.

She’d heard that some hosts filled one wall of their reception rooms with difficult books to flaunt their knowledge, but this room had books on all four walls.

The sheer volume was overwhelming—enough to mistake it for a library if one didn’t know better.

Perhaps the books had overflowed even the dedicated study and spilled into this room. Considering the detached palace’s size, this hinted at just how voracious a reader its owner must be.

Listening to Noel, his judgment seemed sharper than his brother’s. And if these books weren’t mere showpieces, his knowledge must be substantial.

Yuan quietly posed a question to Noel, who still seemed conflicted about how to act.

“I have a question. If you admire Clade’s highness so much, why didn’t you attend the debutante ball? The entire palace would’ve been lively on the day he attended. From what I see, Second Prince, you’re certainly old enough to participate. Did you not wish to meet him?”

Noel flinched, then slowly lowered his head.

“T-that’s… b-because C-Clade’s h-highness d-doesn’t k-know I’m l-like this.”

“Like this? You mean your stutter?”

Noel’s face tensed, clearly uncomfortable with the directness.

His head dipped lower and lower, then gave a faint nod.

“You haven’t stuttered for more than ten years, have you?”

Noel remained silent for a long while, then cautiously lifted his gaze.

Perhaps it was Yuan’s utterly neutral, harmless expression that encouraged him.

He carefully spoke.

“I-I j-just d-don’t w-want to s-show it. C-Clade’s h-highness is the p-perfect t-treasure of the Euphris, b-but I’m n-not.”

“Did you know your eye color is almost identical to his?”

“O-of course!”

Noel suddenly exclaimed, his face flushed with pride. He answered her with sparkling eyes and a voice brimming with self-esteem.

“Grandfather, the late Emperor, and Clade’s highness—all had the same color! I-it’s not important, b-but I’m s-still proud of it…”

“I see. But Second Prince, you especially resemble Clade’s highness in your eyebrows. His are perfectly shaped, as if carefully groomed. And your long, thick eyelashes are just like his too.”

Noel couldn’t hide his delight. His chocolate-hued cheeks flushed a rosy red.

For a moment, that expression stirred something deep within Yuan.

Noel Euphris reminded her so much of Clade that he might as well have been his brother instead of Bollonico’s. The smooth cheeks that quickly changed color when embarrassed, the long fingers with thick joints—so alike.

Yuan firmly steeled her turbulent emotions and extended her hand toward Noel.

Whatever the reason, she thought it wise to stay on good terms with Noel Euphris for now. She didn’t know why the Empress had placed her in this detached palace, after all.

Noel, twisting the cloth in his hand as he replayed Yuan’s praise in his mind, wore an expression of bewilderment.

Yuan spoke calmly.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t need to formally address me as sister-in-law. Since we’ll likely see each other often, let’s just be friends. I’m Yuan Pelliese. Call me Yuan.”

She extended her hand further toward him.

“…F-friends?”

“If not, keep it as a backup—you can act like a friend only when you feel like it. If even that feels wrong, I’ll go directly to Her Majesty the Empress and say I’ll avoid you entirely during my stay.”

“Y-you d-don’t n-need to g-go that f-far on m-my account—”

Noel glanced at Yuan’s pale complexion and delicate hand, sighed, and then very cautiously took her hand.

“I d-don’t m-mean to b-be c-close. B-but I’ll m-maintain a p-proper d-degree of r-respect.”

His attitude was far better than when she’d first entered the reception room.

Yuan smiled faintly and gently tightened her grip on his hand.

Through the handshake, she sensed a fragment of his pain naturally transfer to her.

Beyond mild fatigue and a chronic-looking headache, there were no signs of pain or spasms in Noel Euphris’s neck or jaw.

‘It must be psychological.’

Yuan thought this as she watched the back of Noel, who fidgeted and then fled away.