CH 118

“There is no such thing as a conversation with Your Highness.”

Azela jumped up from the bench with a wild gesture.

When she tried to turn around, Chises hurriedly grabbed her wrist. As he grabbed her by the wrist, goosebumps ran through her body as the incidents in the Imperial Palace came rushing into her mind.

“Oh, sorry.”

Seeing her frown as she saw her wrist held, Chises let go of her hand in surprise and continued to speak in a hesitant tone.

“Just listen to me.”

Azela turned her gaze back to the window.

Zagnac didn’t seem to look through the window as the serious conversation continued. Even if she avoided him anyway, Chises would definitely follow her until the end, so it would be better than making a fight between Zagnac and Chises.

In the end, she spoke with a frown.

“Please finish it as quickly as possible.”

With her answer, Chises nodded his head with a bright expression before he took a step closer to her and opened his mouth.

“First of all, I am really sorry about that day. I…”

“You were very drunk.”

“…Yes, you are right.”

“You were very drunk, but you will remember everything you did.”

“…Yes, shamelessly, that is also true.”

“The really shameless thing is that you showed up in front of me so brazenly even though you remembered everything.”

Chises didn’t respond to Azela’s blaming voice.

Even though he was the Crown Prince of an empire, he was always a weakling in front of her. Chises raised his head, which had been lowered, and looked at Azela with pitiful eyes. Anyone else would have sympathy for such an attitude and move on, but Azela was different.

She knew.

“Don’t act. Your Highness came because he just wanted to talk with me rather than feeling guilty.”

He sighed lightly when Azela shot at him, and he raised his head to the sky and brushed his hair. His gaze looking down at her was extremely stiff. Chises, who lowered his head and gazed at her squarely, painted a bright smile different from a moment ago.

….A bright smile that didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.

“This is why I like you, Azela. You are really smart. And you know me too well.”

“This is why I hate Your Highness so much.”

“That’s even better.”

Chises nodded his head and laughed.

This was what he looked like. Azela was almost fooled when he treated her cautiously. If only she hadn’t questioned him.

“Why are you really here?”

“You said it. Azela, I wanted to talk to you.”

“I don’t want you to apologize to me.”

“No.”

He gazed at her with a smile. It was a resolute voice without the slightest hesitation.

“I still want to do the same to you.”

“….”

“I want to touch you, kiss you, and make you mine.”

As Chises stepped in front of Azela, the gap that had opened between the two quickly narrowed to a dangerous point.

“Why do I have to apologize to you, Azela?”

She couldn’t feel the slightest flutter nor the thumping of his heart. Azela glanced up at him with an emotionless face, she uttered.

“This is why I can’t be by your Highness’ side.”

“Because you’re like this, I want you.”

“You are still like that.”

“Azela, you are still the same. From the day you stole my heart and my eyes, you are the same… you don’t change.”

Chises raised his hand and gently brushed each strand of her hair. She wanted to push him away right away, but this was the mansion of Marquis Delter. Causing a disturbance in someone else’s mansion did not do Zagnac well.

Azela frowned and turned her face to the side.

“Azela, it’s true that I wanted to talk to you, but I want to ask you something.”

“….?”

What do you want to ask?

She looked at Chises again with a questioning gaze. He wasn’t one to ask her questions. Was there something the Crown Prince wanted to ask?

“You have a curious face.”

“….”

“No, is that an anxious face? You look worried about what I will ask.”

Chise smiled bitterly.

He was right. She didn’t know what he was trying to ask, but strangely, anxiety preceded her. When she didn’t answer, Chises laughed and leaned over her ear. The gap between the two grew closer than before and his scent hit the tip of her nose.

“Duke Ferial.”

Zagnac came out of Chises’ mouth. Azela’s heart was thumping.

“Is he really… a human?”

Azela’s eyes widened at Chises’ question.

Her heart, which had been beating, fell down. Looking over Chises’ shoulder, she involuntarily turned her gaze to the parlor window. And at that moment, her eyes met with Zagnac, who turned his head to the window.

‘Oh, no…’

Zagnac, looking at Azela through the window, saw Chises by her side and clenched his teeth.

It was the devil.

A devil face bloomed in his face. The glass in Zagnac’s hand was shattered by his grip as he jumped out of his seat and stood up, wanting to kill Chises at any moment. It seemed that Marquis Delter’s voice, who hurriedly grabbed him, could be heard all the way to the garden.

‘No.’

It occurred to her that if Chises saw him now, he might learn that Zagnac was a devil. As she thought that, Azela turned her stiff face to look at Chises’ face.

He was still smiling at her.

“It’s important to keep a straight face. Just like admitting everything in one question, it would be a big deal if you froze like that.”

She suddenly remembered what he had said to her at Todd’s mansion. Chises’ eyes changed from doubt to confidence when he saw her face.

“What… nonsense.”

Her insides trembled. Even though Azela tried to manage her hard expression belatedly, Chises’ gaze had already moved away from her.

“I see.”

As his confident voice reached her ears, her heart trembled. It wasn’t just the heart. Her whole body was trembling. How the hell did he know? Azela’s head was full of that thought, but now was not the time to think about the answer to that.

“…You’ve read too many books?”

Azela, who had cleared her mind, entered Chises’ gaze, and she said firmly. Interest flashed in his eyes.

“This is my first time. Azela, you came into my sight first.”

“….”

“My question seems to have startled you quite a bit.”

He laughed.

Azela was not reflected in his curved eyes. Chises said pleasantly while looking around the garden of Marquis Delter.

“If Duke Ferial is not human, then what is he?”

“….”

“Let’s see, there are different races that I learned about in the previous class.”

Chisesu raised a large hand in front of her and slowly folded his fingers before smiling.

“There were dragons.”

“….”

“There were elves.”

He observed Azela’s expression whenever he said the name of different races, hoping that her expression would tell him the answer.

“There were dwarves.”

“…This species has already become extinct hundreds or thousands of years ago. All we have left now is humans.”

“Well… I knew humans were like that, but in fact, it might not be the truth. I learned that the lifespan of different races can easily exceed several hundred years.”

“….”

“Shall we continue? There were spirits.”

“Even if you ask me for an answer, Duke Ferial is still human.”

“There were shapeshifters.”

“If you went and said that to other people, they would call you crazy.”

“There were also angels.”

Azela’s fingers twitched at the word angel. Fortunately, Chises didn’t seem to notice. The words following the angel naturally came to mind.

Devil.