Stolen Crown Princess (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15

“Yes, that’s right. From the moment you collapsed until now.”

“……”

“……I’ve been by your side the whole time.”

Caliph’s voice, confessing the truth, trembled precariously. Thump-thump—the rough pounding of his heartbeat violently echoed in his ears.

No one was choking him, yet Caliph couldn’t breathe. Every second spent waiting for Ibelia’s reply turned into unbearable tension, making his fingertips tremble uncontrollably.

A long while passed, yet no answer came.

Had he truly made the wrong choice after all? Should he have kept his feelings buried deep within the abyss, hidden away forever?

He thought he’d already felt fear enough to make his body shudder—but now an even greater dread coiled around his entire being.

Just then, a voice tangled in confusion pierced through his ears.

“……I really don’t understand why you’re suddenly acting like this.”

“……”

“You never acted this way before. Not once… not even a single time until now.”

Her voice, spilling out incoherently, was soaked through with tears. Instinctively, Caliph lifted his head without even realizing it.

The moment their eyes met, his heart seemed to plummet. Ibelia’s clear, shining eyes brimmed with tears—but what pained him even more was the sorrowful furrow in her brow.

“That night you returned from the battlefield, when you came to me and said we should try to get along… when you abruptly took me away from the morning meal… when you chose to attend the victory banquet with me instead of Lady Lellia…!”

“……”

“Your Highness may have done those things without any special intention, but I didn’t see it that way. I overthought every small gesture of yours, assigned it meaning, and then, realizing it was probably just delusion, forced myself to hold back—only to be disappointed again and again. Ah…!”

Listing off the events of the past few days with a half-dazed expression, she finally squeezed her eyes shut as if she could bear it no longer. Her slender shoulders heaved roughly, and her chapped lips trembled dangerously.

Caliph clenched his fists tightly. His knuckles felt as though they might break from the force, but he didn’t care.

That pain was nothing. A far deeper agony had already begun to tear into his heart.

[Perhaps she wished for me to die on the battlefield.] [I thought her wise—but it seems I was mistaken.] [It appears my consort is not content merely making me a neglectful husband; she’s now desperate to render me an unworthy crown prince.]

The words he’d once spoken of his own volition came back to him with painful clarity—and instantly transformed into sharp blades, driving straight into his heart.

He’d known this might happen. He’d known it was irreversible. And yet, it was he himself who had willingly chosen to wound her.

Thus, he had no right to feel this pain. He engraved that thought deep into his bones again and again—but still, his heart kept tearing apart.

“Your Highness was someone who never once looked my way. You always denied my very existence and waited only for the day you could depose me.”

“……”

“Perhaps these words I’m saying now will finally give you the justification you’ve been desperately waiting for all this time. But even so… even so…”

“……”

“But even so, I think I need to know now.”

Ibelia stared resolutely at Caliph, pinning him firmly in place—leaving no room for any other thoughts.

“Please tell me—why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

It was a perfect demand.

Caliph pressed his lips together tightly. He could feel it in his whole body—there was no place left to retreat.

Was this what it felt like to stand at the edge of a cliff?

He’d always pushed her to her absolute limits—had she felt like this every single time?

The thought that he himself had brought her to this state made his chest heavy, twisting his insides with indescribable anguish.

So Caliph moved his lips without hesitation—and dared to meet her gaze.

“……I don’t want you to suffer.”

“……”

“I… I just want you to finally find peace.”

May this choice I’m making now be the way to save you from terrible pain.

“I…”

“……”

“I truly wish for your happiness.”

Please… may it be possible.

Caliph whispered fervently, squeezing his eyes shut. Yet he could still clearly sense Ibelia’s turmoil.

Her irregular breathing, her faint trembling—even without seeing her, everything came through with perfect clarity.

Perhaps he’d vaguely sensed it all along—that the tragic moment he’d so deeply feared was now truly at his doorstep…

“……Liar.”

Ha…

A hollow sigh escaped through Caliph’s teeth. Between his suddenly lifted eyelids, Ibelia’s distorted face came sharply into view.

He’d desperately wanted to save her—but her expression showed no trace of salvation.

An unspeakable sorrow swallowed him whole.

“Today as well, Your Highness looked kindly—not at me, but at Lady Lellia. You comforted her before everyone’s eyes and even ordered dessert specially for her. Even though…!”

“……”

“…Even though I was clearly there in that very spot!”

Caliph gave a bitter smile. It was all undeniable truth. He had done it himself; he had given the order himself. But none of it had been for Lellia.

Lellia was someone who openly declared herself the Empress’s eyes and ears—simple-minded and lacking subtlety, which made her all the more dangerous.

He’d acted that way precisely because she could go to the Empress at any moment and confess everything.

Thus, he had to rescue Ibelia in that moment without arousing Lellia’s suspicion.

So he’d done it—the only way he could think of to avoid drawing Lellia’s doubt.

“Was it truly the Emperor who requested a meeting with Your Highness and me?”

“……”

“Did he really come looking for me personally—and that’s why you took me away from that place?”

“……”

“Was it… was it truly because you couldn’t even bear to see me sharing the same space as Lady Lellia?”

Ibelia laid bare her anguish with a face that seemed ready to crumble at any moment.

It was blind distrust—and it was the result created by two men: Liurian Petrov and Caliph Dwit, who had pretended to be Liurian.

That was precisely why he couldn’t even offer an excuse.

A foreboding premonition surged with crystal clarity. Ibelia’s pained eyes, her expression, her tone—everything signaled that the damnably dreadful regression was now right before them.

Caliph clenched his jaw shut. His jawline tensed, and an emotion beyond words filled his face.

Would they have to return to the beginning again? Would she once more make the choice that tore his heart to shreds?

If that was the case—if he had to face that wretched outcome once again…

“…Haah.”

He let out the breath he’d been holding.

If it had to be this way anyway, then, as Felix had said, he wanted at least to lay bare his entire heart.

“Yes, that’s right. It was unbearably painful for me to see you sharing the same space as Lady Lellia.”

“……”

“It was I who requested the meeting with His Majesty. At the very least, there was never any place for you in the appointment I had with him at noon today.”

Unlike before, Caliph answered her questions without the slightest hesitation. Though fear surged at the sight of her expression growing ever more distorted, he held firm.

“But why did you do it? Were you afraid I might mistreat Lady Lellia? No. If Your Highness hadn’t taken me away from that place, I would have been the one hurt in the end. Didn’t you know that? Didn’t you realize how it would turn out?”

“No. I knew—and that’s exactly why I did it. Because I knew that if you stayed in that place, you’d be the only one to get hurt.”

“……”

“That thought was unbearable. So I even used my father as an excuse to take you away from there.”

At his blunt reply, a pained breath escaped through Ibelia’s teeth. Her half-dazed face still couldn’t shake free of confusion.

Trapped in that turmoil, she finally let out a cry of despair after a long silence.

“Why?! Why on earth?!”

“……”

“Your Highness hated me. You were always cruel to me. You waited only for me to exhaust myself and collapse from my own efforts. Then why?! Why now… why now?!”

She couldn’t control the overwhelming emotions surging within her and tears streamed down her cheeks.

So it’s true… I can only bring you pain.

Caliph lowered his head helplessly and whispered sadly.

“You can’t even believe my wish for your happiness—so will you believe these words?”

You won’t. Whether as Liurian or as Caliph, I’m nothing but confusion to you.

“Ibelia.”

“……”

“I think… I’ll try to love you.”

“……”

“Even if you can’t understand someone like me.”

The man’s voice as he confessed his love was strangely plain—but the sincerity within it was anything but.

His heart, having spoken his true feelings for the first time in his life, felt far from relieved. And it couldn’t be otherwise.

The man who loved her more than his own life couldn’t reveal his true identity in the end—and could only confess his feelings as someone else.

But even so, he felt no regret.

Even if confessing as Liurian Petrov instead of Caliph Dwit was the wrong way—if it could ease even a little of her confusion…

Then he would gladly do it. That was simply how he loved her.