CH 116

“…Eh?!”

It stung like static electricity. My muscles tightened as if the veins in my body were about to burst.

After that, I lost some strength. The heat rising from my legs rose like smoke from a furnace, warming my cheeks.

The freshly dissipated body heat from my lips was eaten by Benny.

Benny’s right eye, trembling in sight, slowly changed. Black veins were coming up on the whites.

The boy’s eyes instantly turned into reverse eyes.

Benny’s eyes shifted as he kissed me, gazing towards the cracked ground.

The tremor I felt under my feet gradually subsided and then stopped.

Benny then looked up.

I looked down at the crack, soulless.

The evil spirits, which had been waving their arms violently were curling up, as if frightened by something.

They lowered their elongated bodies and went back to the ground they had just come out of.

The ground, which was a mess, shook gently a few times before becoming moderately flat.

A sudden silence came to the collapsed ant cave. If there were no cracks on the ground like they were scorched by a drought, you wouldn’t even know what had just happened.

“All right.”

The beautiful boy said calmly while holding me, who was trembling as if about to fall.

“Let’s get married.”

***

“…Lily.”

Hugo opened his eyes, calling out his sister’s name.

Chirping, chirping.

Instead of Lily, the birds outside the window answered. The afternoon sunlight brightly colored the familiar ceiling.

He fumbled around, looking for his glasses.

Even with blurred vision, he could tell that this was his bedroom.

However, it was still unclear whether what had just happened was a dream or a reality.

He found his glasses on the side table and raised his upper body. It felt like his muscles were going to break.

As he touched his nape, a neatly attached gauze was felt by his hand.

“Are you awake?”

It was a familiar voice.

Hugo glanced around the bed. Nearby, the head maid, Verney, was arranging a basin of water and towels.

She politely curtsied to greet him, clearing away any doubts he had just raised.

“The Princess confessed her secret.”

It wasn’t a dream. Hugo clenched his fist.

“If it’s a secret…”

“The fact that Princess Lilietta von Bauner’s soul no longer exists in this world.”

Verney said the shocking fact calmly and folded the nursing towel neatly.

All his memories came back to him.

He went to the ant cave with Lily, the ground collapsed… and he heard the truth

As he grabbed his throbbing head, Verney came up to him and wiped the cold sweat from the back of his neck.

“I gave the Princess two pieces of advice.”

After thoroughly wiping Hugo’s arm, Verney raised her index finger as if counting.

“First, don’t tell the Duke’s exclusive attendant any secrets yet. It’s not just because Nike is very talkative. That human always puts the Duke’s orders first, so he might expose the truth before the Princess even speaks directly.”

Following her index finger, she lifted her middle finger.

“And the second… She said Michael was not the culprit in the attempted poisoning.” 

Hugo blinked blankly, saying, ‘Is that so?’

It wasn’t that surprising.

It was absurd from the beginning that Michael made such a foolish self-play.

He just let it go because it didn’t matter what happened to the kidnapper’s son.

“The Princess was said to have grasped that fact in a dream. So she said that she would need more detailed evidence.”

Verney folded the towel, draped it over her arm, and lifted the basin.

“The Princess listened to my advices and headed to the Crown Prince Palace.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

Hugo shook his head. Being flustered, his usual habit of speaking came out.

“My angel went to the abode of that rascal? Why the hell did she go there?”

“I do not know. I’ll take my leave.”

Verney left the troubled Hugo and sprinted towards the door.

Hugo roughly scratched his disorganized gray hair and called after her.

“Verney!”

“Yes.”

“…What do you think?”

“Are you talking about the continuation of the Princess’ status?”

Verney lowered the hand that was holding the doorknob and shook her head softly.

“It’s not something I can manage.”

“But please tell me.”

“It would be useless to listen to the opinion of one employee.”

“Verney.”

Hugo’s feet hung on the sides of the bed as he stretched his upper body toward Verney.

He had a teary face like a child. His mind was complicated. He wanted to hear advice from others.

He was able to hang on like this because the person was the head maid who took care of him like a mother since childhood.

“If you insist…”

Verney turned with perfect posture and spoke clearly.

“I think the Princess should be recognized as a member of House Bauner.”

Her voice was clear enough to give clarity to the listener.

“I don’t know if it’s a complete fake, but the princess’s blood runs through the girl’s body. Even if it’s the result of taking the real princess’ body.” 

“Is that… so?”

Hugo lowered his head. He listened to the advice, but his mind was not organized.

Verney looked at Hugo’s drooping shoulders and sighed softly.

“Because I am the Princess’ nanny, I have no choice but to draw this conclusion, Prince.”

“….…”

“Birth is not important for a nanny to love a child. The time spent with the child is more important.” 

Verney paused for a moment, then added slowly.

“She’s a child I’ve been taking care of for the past four years with my own hands… She can’t be thrown out so easily.”

Hugo was silent, neither agreeing nor rejecting Verney’s words.

Verney looked at the second prince, also raised by her own hands, and then turned around again.

“…But, like I said, this is a nanny’s opinion. The opinions of family members connected by blood are bound to be different. That’s why I said it would be useless to listen to me.”

“I think the same as Verney.”

At Hugo’s words, Verney immediately closed the slightly opened door.

The man’s voice trembled softly.

“The child who entered Lily’s body is a good child.”

Hugo patted his pale hand and muttered gibberish.

“Still, I feel like… I’m betrayed. Maybe I…”

He bowed his head deeply. As if he came to a sudden realization, his shoulders fell and curved heavily like wet laundry.

“Even if Lily’s real, and if she isn’t a spirit… I may still be cowardly like I am now.”

Verney was silent for a moment.

Hugo was the only spirit in the beast family. Verney, who had cared for him, was well aware of he had been bullied as a child. How desperately he wished for someone similar to himself.

“…After that?”

As Verney muttered, Hugo’s eyes widened as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

She pushed her glasses up and asked slowly, as if appeasing a child.

“What would you like to do after you complained about your disappointment?”

Hugo licked his lips but didn’t say anything.

Verney turned away. There was someone else who needed to hear the answer to the question.

“Get a good rest.”

Verney left, and silence fell in the neat bedroom.

Hugo stared blankly out the window and got up from the bed. When he touched his nape, he felt a wound under the gauze.

The larks must have been called out because of the earthquake and aftershocks that followed, and Verney, who had no aptitude for magic, took care of him in primitive ways.

Hugo removed the gauze and placed his hand on the bloodstain. When he chanted a spell, the wound healed as if it had been washed.

He opened the window and a cool breeze brushed his cheeks. Suddenly, he saw a pile of yarn lying next to the rocking chair.

It was a knitted doll. He was going to give it to Lily when it was finished, but since he abandoned it after her debut, there was a lot of dust.

“…….”

Hugo sat in the rocking chair and picked up a knitting needle.

He couldn’t remember what kind of doll he was originally trying to make, perhaps because of the shock he had been through these few days.

It was easy to throw away the tangled bundle of yarn, but strangely, he didn’t want to do so.

Hugo pondered, and eventually started knitting again.

The crumpled doll gradually took shape. Half of it was a pattern he had thought of before, and the other half was a new pattern.

Somehow, he had a foreboding feeling that he would like it the most out of all the knitted stuff he had woven so far.

***

“It’s about our marriage. What should we do to get permission?”

Rumble rumble. 

The sound of carriage wheels heading towards the Crown Prince Palace filled the silence.

Benny looked at me silently. It was an expression that showed he didn’t know what I was talking about.

I rambled on, with both hands in the air.

“That, so… I think we’ll have to prove that we really like each other in order to get married…”

‘If it was Alan, even after the truth was revealed, he would be against marriage. After all, this body belongs to Lily.’

Marrying meant that my husband could do one thing or another to Lily’s body.

I didn’t know about Pedro, who accepted me, but Alan couldn’t stand it.

‘But I have to get permission. To protect Alan.’

My marriage was in exchange for Benny’s revenge. I promised to remain by his side forever, and for that to happen, the formal bond of marriage was indispensable.