CH 135

Max hated sweets, but the sweetness he felt at the tip of his tongue was quite pleasant. Perhaps it was because the cream had touched her lips. ‘Will she be angry or embarrassed?’ After witnessing a huge change in her emotions yesterday, his vivid memories of her crying face and complaining voice kept coming to mind. At first, he was taken aback by her foreign expressions, but now he found them entertaining. Max was secretly hoping to see her give an agitated reaction like she had done last night.

Her cherry-colored lips soon opened. “I was thinking about doing that anyway,” she huffed in a clear, ringing voice. Contrary to what he had wished for, Jubelian unfortunately remained unflustered and only frowned slightly.

Despite her reaction, Max wasn’t disappointed. ‘I’m glad she at least agreed to hide.’ He was actually feeling down when she was talking about her dress because whenever he thought about other people seeing Jubelian in the dress, an unpleasant feeling would emerge inside him. ‘If I could, I’d like to tell her the truth.’ He thought about revealing his identity for a moment, then gave up on the idea, afraid that the trust he had built up with her until now was all going to crumble if she had a logical reason for being scared of the crown prince.

‘It’s not the right time, yet.’ Still, he had no intention of giving up on revealing his identity like this. ‘First of all, I need her to leave the ballroom during the banquet, so that we can be alone. Then I’ll clear up any misconceptions she has about me.’ Max decided that he was going to meet her in an isolated location where she couldn’t escape and prove to her that the crown prince was harmless. As expected, Jubelian easily disclosed what she was going to wear and what she was going to do at the banquet, unaware that Max was the crown prince who she wanted to avoid so much.

‘The only thing left is to pick a place.’ Max hid his intentions and asked indifferently, “Where are you going to hide?”

“The terrace,” Jubelian disclosed the place, still not doubting him.

Max frowned at her answer. ‘That’s not good. Since it’s part of the banquet hall, we might stand out there.’ He knew people were going to cause a ruckus the moment someone caught sight of the crown prince entering the terrace where Jubelian was. Judging by her personality, Max inferred she wouldn’t want such attention. Furthermore, if the emperor or empress saw this, then they would definitely try to use Jubelian to their advantage. For these reasons, Max thought of a deserted place in the imperial palace that often went unnoticed.

“Isn’t that too boring?” 

“Then what’s a not-boring hiding place?” 

Max smirked in satisfaction at the sight of Jubelian taking his bait as soon as he threw it. “I’m told there are places called lounges in the palace.”

“Ah, I see.” 

Max watched Jubelian nod for a moment, then opened his mouth again to help guide her to the answer he was looking for. “The lounge at the end of the hall will probably be the quietest.”

At that moment, she creased her forehead and gave him a look. It was the same look she had given him when he first met her at the store. “How do you know that when you’ve never been to the palace?”

Max realized she was doubting him. ‘Good. It makes me feel relieved when she answers me sharply like that from time to time.’ Max sliced the piece of cake in front of him with his fork and replied calmly, “I overheard the imperial knights talking about it on the battlefield. They say that it’s the perfect place for a nap since it’s quiet there. I’m saying this because I think there won’t be anyone there during the banquet.”

Jubelian, who was quietly listening to him, slightly lowered her eyes and stared at her teacup in thought. She soon took a sip of tea, then parted her red lips. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

Max was watching her, unable to take his eyes off of her for some reason, when she slowly lifted her eyes back towards his. There was still a sense of doubt lingering in her eyes. ‘Now I just need her to realize who I am… before I get to tell her.’ He was afraid that she would find out about his identity, but at the same time had a stronger wish for her to notice who he was. ‘Should I just kidnap her and tell her I’m the crown prince?’ an atrocious impulse flashed through his mind.

At that moment, Jubelian’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as if she had become aware of his evil thoughts. “You actually don’t know that and are just joking with me, aren’t you?”

Max had become nervous that she had found out, but when he heard her words, he became discouraged. He had given her quite a few hints, but Jubelian was still making the wrong assumptions. ‘I guess… this is more like you.’ Max tried to maintain his composure like he did in front of others, but he could no longer hold back the laughter rising inside him.

“Why are you laughing? Were you actually joking?” 

Max looked at Jubelian’s pouty face for a moment, then realized that his heart was beating violently. ‘… It’s too late to try to run away, anyway.’ After numerous denials, Max finally decided to admit to himself that he couldn’t escape from Jubelian.