Such radiant golden hair and violet eyes.

With a face that closely resembled the current empress, there was no way to mistake him.

‘Wait, why would the crown prince come with his face uncovered? And on a white horse no less?’

Even the white horse was lavishly decorated with red seals and jewels.

I knew from the original work that he had an arrogant nature, but he was an even greater attention seeker than that.

“I greet the little sun of Rihart.”

Still, as he was the crown prince, I had to show proper etiquette.

As Jeiana and I bowed, Valentied leapt nimbly off his horse.

The crown prince looked back and forth between me and Jeiana, then gave an indecipherable smile only to Jeiana.

“I didn’t know you two were acquainted.”

His hinting was extremely blatant.

“I just happened to run into Lady Enders. Something got on her dress because of me, so I offered compensation.”

I sighed and made a show of adjusting my dress.

It was easy to guess what the crown prince would say to the empress when he returned. Then Jeiana’s family would bear the full brunt of the damage.

“Is that enough? I’m truly sorry, so please be on your way.”

At my words, Jeiana averted her gaze.

She seemed to hesitate, but ultimately bid farewell to the crown prince.

“Then I shall take my leave, Your Highness.”

“You may go.”

The crown prince nodded readily.

Jeiana immediately turned her back and brushed past me.

“Be careful.”

It was a whisper so soft only I could hear.

Jeiana acted as if she knew the crown prince was a dangerous person.

Soon, Jeiana disappeared beyond the alleyway.

I prepared to leave following after her.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave as well.”

What use was there for me, the duke’s lover, to be with the crown prince?

‘It would only lead to unsavory rumors.’

Valentied was undoubtedly aiming for that by approaching me.

I felt regretful, as if I’d just lost a shopping companion for nothing.

But Valentied did not allow me to withdraw.

“I have a proposal for Lady Hallen.”

“A proposal?”

His sturdy frame stepped closer before me.

The crown prince lowered his head to bring his lips to my ear.

“Aren’t you curious about how to break Kashar’s curse?”

For a moment, my body stiffened.

I hurriedly pushed against his chest to create distance between us.

I could hear murmuring from the surroundings.

The more onlookers gathered, the deeper the smile on Valentied’s lips grew.

“Shall we move somewhere else first?”

I had no choice but to accept his proposal.

After entrusting the white horse to a hidden guard, he guided me to a tea room in a cafe.

“This is my private room. Please enter.”

To think he’d have a private room in someone else’s shop. How fitting for a crown prince, I suppose.

When Ludvion tried to enter with me, the crown prince’s guard stopped him.

“I’ll be out soon.”

“…Understood.”

Ludvion’s eyes showed concern, but I figured nothing could happen right in front of him anyway.

A moment later, the room I faced was truly extravagant.

‘Ugh, it’s blinding.’

It was so packed with decorations that I couldn’t tell if it was beautiful or just gaudy.

I felt like I might go blind if I stayed here too long.

As soon as I sat on the sofa, I got straight to the point.

“A curse? What do you mean by that?”

“You already know well, don’t you?”

Unlike me, the crown prince leisurely sipped his tea.

That sight was so annoying I wanted to slap his forehead.

‘There are few people who know Kashar’s illness is a curse.’

Only Kashar himself and his close associates, as well as the one who cast the curse and her sons.

The irony here was that the emperor, who had put a leash on Kashar, didn’t know that the madness was caused by the empress’s curse.

“I know a way to break the curse.”

This was something that didn’t even appear in the original work.

‘They probably never intended to break it in the first place.’

Yet why was he deliberately approaching me to tell me this?

Seeing my suspicious gaze, the crown prince arrogantly tilted his chin up and said,

“I’ll tell you after you start dating me.”

…What nonsense is this now?

I almost dropped the cup I was holding.

‘I’m seeing your half-brother from a different mother, you know? And your mother even tried to kill me.’

To think I nearly received thirty lashes of the whip.

Just thinking about it still made my body shudder.

“Ah, if it’s because of Her Majesty the Empress, you don’t need to be so afraid.”

The crown prince, mistaking my dumbfounded reaction for shock, used a rather kind tone.

“If you say you’re meeting with me, our mother will surely understand the rudeness from that time.”

“Rudeness? And it’s my fault?”

I was so flabbergasted I didn’t even realize I’d cut off his words.

Seeing me unable to even compose my expression, he continued shamelessly.

“It’s true that she’s a bit difficult due to being very sensitive about manners. But if the empire’s empress doesn’t establish discipline, who will set things right?”

When I was at a loss for words, he only rambled on more.

“She’s actually quite tender-hearted. Rather, that day she was hurt because of Lady Hallen. But if you offer a sincere apology, she will understand…”

“Wait, wait a moment.”

I couldn’t listen anymore.

I ended up holding my forehead in front of the crown prince.

‘Is this guy completely insane?’

So, not only was it natural for me to date him, but I was supposed to beg his mother, who had tried to kill me, saying ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t whipped that day.’

‘I see why Elcius was so repulsed.’

In the original story, it was written that Elcius refused his courtship, but now I realized even that was a very polite expression.

‘I know how to break the curse too.’

Although I would need to borrow the female lead’s power.

The method the crown prince knew might be different, but it wasn’t information worth enduring this nonsense to obtain.

“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear what you said.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m refusing.”

I had followed him just in case, but it felt like I’d just wasted my time.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave now, Your Highness.”

I tried to stand up, but Valentied was faster.

He circled around the table and pinned me to the sofa.

“Ugh…!”

“I was being kind to you. You don’t even know how to be grateful.”

The crown prince’s expression was ominous.

This guy was even worse than I thought.

“Hanging around with that rabid dog, no wonder your level has dropped to this. I’m graciously offering to pull you up, and you dare refuse?”

“Mmph…!”

Not content with badmouthing Kashar, he seemed ready to strangle me.

I struggled to call Ludvion outside, but I couldn’t even move my hands, let alone scream.

It seemed I had no choice but to end his family line.

Just as I was about to knee the crown prince between the legs—

“Lady Eileen!”

Bang bang bang—!

Along with the sound of someone pounding on the door, I heard the guard’s voice saying this wasn’t allowed.

‘That’s Jeiana’s voice.’

The moment the crown prince’s gaze turned towards the door, I used all my strength to push him away.

“Kuk…!”

“Come in!”

I quickly shouted, not missing the opportunity.

Ridiculously, the first thing the crown prince did just before the door opened was to straighten his clothes.

Soon, Jeiana entered.

The look of relief in her eyes as she surveyed the room was fleeting.

Jeiana threw a bracelet towards me.

“I’m not a beggar, and thinking about it, this kind of compensation won’t do. You’ll have to write me a check instead.”

The bracelet she threw at me was hers to begin with.

“How could you think to make up for your rudeness with a mere bracelet? You really are as shameless as the rumors say.”

Jeiana’s eyes trembled as she spoke harsh words.

I didn’t miss the signal and joined in the fake argument.

“Lady Enders, what are you so upset about that you keep tormenting me?”

“My goodness, when did I ever? What’s wrong with asking for proper compensation for rudeness?”

“Such a lack of manners…!”

In an instant, it seemed we were about to grab each other’s hair and fight.

The crown prince looked at us with bewildered eyes.

“What are you two doing right now?”

Jeiana pretended to apologize to him, bowing deeply, and then pulled me close.

“Your Highness, please forgive the rudeness. I’ll take responsibility and educate this utterly uncultured lady myself.”

It meant we’d fight outside, so he should stay out of it.

Jeiana’s eyes blazed as if it were real.

Finally, the crown prince clicked his tongue and nodded.

“Tch. I was planning to leave anyway. Let’s go out together.”

The crown prince lied without even wetting his lips. His gaze as he looked at me, as if this wasn’t his only chance, seemed extremely sinister.

‘This is really infuriating.’

Although I escaped the situation with Jeiana’s help, the more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

‘What, rabid dog? What about my level?’

Even with these thoughts, I still had to see the crown prince off.

“Your hair is like pig bristles.”

“And what about that tacky red hair of yours?”

“Are you done talking?!”

Even as we walked to where the white horse was, Jeiana and I continued to bicker endlessly.

Faced with our growling demeanor, the crown prince didn’t even try to speak to us, wearing a fed-up expression.

Like that, we arrived at our destination quarreling, but it wasn’t just the white horse that was there.

‘Why is Kashar here?!’

The sight of him slowly stroking the horse’s neck was like a scene from a pictorial.

Kashar looked more like the white horse’s owner than the crown prince, but that wasn’t the important thing.

“Duke Bladis.”

“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”

It was a meeting between the former crown prince and the current one.

At first glance, Kashar, who had lost the position of crown prince, seemed at a disadvantage, but the reality was entirely different.

Valentied had an inferiority complex towards Kashar.

There were many rumors that if not for the former crown prince’s madness, Valentied wouldn’t have dared to covet the position of crown prince.

In terms of ability as a royal, and the power to move forces.

Valentied was defeated in every aspect.

The only thing he had was the position of crown prince. Even that was created by Empress Wayeno.

‘This could turn into a mess.’

I hoped the crown prince would just leave like this, but the madman who only knew his mother didn’t disappoint my expectations.

“I’m sorry to say this after not seeing you for so long, but you should be careful.”

The crown prince wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Lady Eileen seems to have a lot of interest in me.”

Kashar’s eyebrow twitched.

It was a signal for ignition.