The quiet villa in Haven was in an uproar, as if a war had broken out.
Serge’s congratulations were so violent and tactless that they were quite entertaining to watch.
‘Aeplin is a very wise woman.’
Watching Serge’s behavior, Lucent’s impression was very short and clear.
He watched the Crown Prince shouting stubbornly before him without any emotion.
As if all sound in the world had vanished, he could see only Serge’s heated expression and the movement of his lips, and could not actually hear what he was saying.
Perhaps, in his heart, he had hoped this situation would occur.
In addition, he himself was extremely curious what choice Aeplin would make.
“Bring me my Aeplin at once.”
Serge shouted at the villa’s servants.
But they all only looked troubled, and no one moved at his command.
“How dare a vulgar creature who does nothing but peddle money covet the Crown Prince’s betrothed. I will never forgive this. He must have threatened her by exploiting Aeplin’s desperate situation. Or else—was it also the scheme of a vile gang that put Count Hapen in danger in Senebaron?”
From the mouth of His Highness the Crown Prince poured all kinds of filth.
Even so, Lucent was not particularly angry.
It may have been because he had expected the Crown Prince to come out like this, but as for the words that demeaned the other party, well.
‘It is tiresome.’
Lucent barely suppressed a yawn.
He should have offered criticism that lacerated a human heart more thoroughly and gnawed at the nerves bit by bit.
It was merely pitiable that Serge was throwing a fit all alone, within the expected range.
Perhaps because Lucent’s attitude of consistent non-response only fueled his anger, Serge gradually lost his reason.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the car is ready. Please come to the reception room.”
Lucent paid no heed to Serge’s frenzy.
Rather, he treated him courteously.
“I have no business facing a gutter rat like you.”
He looked at Lucent with a face full of loathing and spat out every kind of harsh word.
* * *
Aeplin’s heart went cold at the noise that reached even the bedroom.
Just then, with a hurried knock, the door opened.
“My lady, we are in trouble!”
Laurel rushed into the bedroom with a face on the verge of tears.
“Why? Has something happened to Father?”
Aeplin’s heart chilled, and goosebumps rose on her scalp.
Her father in Senebaron, at last……?
“His Highness the Crown Prince has come.”
“What?”
Fortunately, it was not the matter of her father she had feared, but the shock did not fade.
Why had Crown Prince Serge come to Haven?
Only then did she realize who the ‘guest who had not yet congratulated our wedding’ Lucent had mentioned was.
That uninvited guest was none other than Crown Prince Serge.
“He is causing a scene in the lobby right now.”
“A scene?”
“He is throwing a fit, saying your marriage is invalid and that he will take you to the palace at once.”
“Ha……!”
Aeplin let out a sigh at the utterly absurd situation.
“Laurel, I need to change my clothes.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Truly, she had never expected Serge to be this stubborn.
She keenly realized that expectation, disappointment, and even the last remaining good memories of him were no longer necessary.
Since it seemed she was the only one who could clean up this mess, she straightened her clothes and was about to descend the stairs when Laurel stopped her.
“My lady, will you be all right?”
“About what?”
“Well, that is…….”
Seeing how Laurel struggled to speak, it seemed even she doubted Aeplin.
The imagination that, since the first night had not yet been spent, she might follow the Crown Prince……. That kind of thought.
No matter how much of a scoundrel Serge was, was he not the empire’s Crown Prince?
This situation was the last chance for Aeplin to reclaim the glory of becoming Crown Princess.
“You have misunderstood me.”
“Pardon?”
Standing at the corner of the stairs leading from the second floor to the first, Aeplin shuddered at the filth the Crown Prince was spitting at Lucent.
“I was not discarded—I discarded His Highness.”
When he had told her goodbye, she had realized that she knew nothing at all about Serge.
It was excessive confidence, but if she had wanted to hold on to Serge, she could have achieved it easily.
But seeing what he was doing now, she thought it was truly fortunate that she had discarded him.
Dignity and character are revealed in a single manner of speech, and from the start, Serge had been a man wearing clothes that did not fit him.
Aeplin forced her expression to change and descended the stairs to receive Serge.
At last, when she appeared, the noisy lobby immediately fell silent.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Aeplin, and the gazes of the two men in particular were very heated.
“Aeplin!”
Serge saw Aeplin and ran to her in a single stride, embracing her tightly.
He looked moved, as if they had met after a very long parting.
In that moment, Aeplin looked at Lucent, who stood some distance away with his arms crossed.
His eyes, watching her and the Crown Prince with interest, looked very ambiguous.
She felt as though she had been placed on his testing ground.
Soon Aeplin lightly pushed Serge away from her body.
“I did not know Your Highness would come all the way to Haven. You could have offered your congratulations later…….”
“I came to get you, Aeplin. We can simply pretend this absurd marriage never happened. Come with me to Lount.”
“Pardon……? Who is it that made an absurd marriage?”
“Aeplin, if Count Hapen was in trouble, you should have come straight to me. Why did you do such a foolish thing? Ah……! You were hurt by what I said at the party that day. So you did this childish prank to provoke my jealousy? If that is the case, then we can fix things one by one from now on. I love no woman but you, Aeplin.”
Did Serge think himself the creator of this world?
Or did he think that another person’s life was merely a chess piece on a board he played with, to be moved as he pleased?
If it was not a delusion but a conviction, then it was truly a chilling thing.
Aeplin smiled gently at Serge, then walked over to Lucent.
“Darling, let us formally greet His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Aeplin held out her hand to Lucent.
He looked at her with a rather surprised face.
He had thought she would take the Crown Prince’s hand, not his, and leave this place at once…….
Bring any noble lady in the world here, and the natural choice would be to follow the Crown Prince.
Even if he were Aeplin, he would have done the same.
Yet she was holding out her hand to him.
And calling him ‘darling,’ at that.
“Very well.”
Lucent smiled as if nothing were the matter and took Aeplin’s hand, but a faint twitch had already appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Aeplin pulled Lucent’s hand with force and returned to the Crown Prince.
“We married for love. Of course, it is true that various things happened to my family and that Lucent resolved them, but……. This marriage is love.”
At Aeplin’s calm tone, not only Serge but even Lucent was taken aback.
Not a trace of falsehood could be felt in the words of the woman stating her opinion so composedly.
“Th—that is a lie. Aeplin could not possibly do that. From childhood until now, the only man in your life has been me!”
Serge’s face turned pale as he desperately denied her words.
Moreover, since he had never seen this side of Aeplin, he could not hide his bewilderment.
Because she had always smiled at him like the morning sun.
Aeplin watched Serge’s pupils waver frantically.
Until now, he must have believed that everything in the world went his way.
She only hoped that even now, he would realize reality.
“Your Highness, I……”
