Chapter 41
‘What on earth is she up to now.’
Axel stared at the pink bunny pin resting on his palm. To think she’d gone so far as to pull something like this on him. It was utterly absurd.
Was she fearless… or just audaciously cheeky?
Yet, what baffled him even more than Judith’s behavior was his own lack of anger upon seeing her.
Far from anger, a soft chuckle escaped his lips, like air leaking out.
Her actions certainly grated on him. But it wasn’t what one would call rage.
Axel tapped the table at regular intervals. Even he didn’t fully understand why.
‘Why is that?’
Whenever he was with Judith, at some point he’d get swept up in her pace, and everything would flow just as she wanted. Among those moments were strange emotions he’d never felt before.
He could have persistently dug into her obvious lies or easily stopped her suspicious behaviors, yet every time, he let them slide.
…Why, exactly?
That was the question plaguing Axel. He kept acting on emotions rather than reason, behaviors that escaped his control, but oddly, he didn’t entirely dislike it.
It was a way of thinking completely unlike him.
‘I don’t know the reason, but I don’t hate it…’
As he pondered this deeply, his gaze suddenly fell on one of the photo cards Judith had given him.
The moment he saw it, her voice echoed in his mind again, chattering away like a baby duckling glued to his side.
‘I gave it to you so you can look at it whenever you’re feeling tired. This one’s completely special, unlike the usual photo cards!’
A special photo card, she said.
‘It’s even cuter and more adorable! Look at these cheek hearts!’
Judith had pointed to herself in the photo card with a shameless face, saying that so boldly.
It certainly looked different from the usual ones she gave him.
Her puffed-up cheeks resembled a squirrel hoarding food. A half-heart shape touched her rounded, raised cheeks.
‘She called that a cheek heart. I still don’t see the appeal, but that look does seem kind of funny.’
Perhaps her utterly unpredictable actions intrigued him. She certainly spouted words he couldn’t understand from time to time.
Photo card was one of them.
He recalled her babbling earlier about “ultimate bias” or something.
‘Ultimate bias means the person you love the most.’
…Speaking of which, her ultimate bias was him.
From Judith’s perspective, who claimed to like him, it was only natural that he was her ultimate bias.
For some inexplicable reason, the thought lifted his mood subtly, and the corners of Axel’s mouth began to twitch upward when a voice called out to him.
“Uh, Your Highness!”
At the call, Axel hardened his lips once more and glanced up at Lord Shuian. For some reason, his face looked as resolute as a soldier heading to the battlefield.
“Why are you calling me?”
“…I have something to tell you.”
“Say it now.”
Even though Axel nodded, signaling him to speak, Lord Shuian hesitated, unable to continue immediately. His eyes darted toward Xenon.
Noticing the glance that seemed to gauge the situation, Axel furrowed his brows briefly before realizing Lord Shuian’s intent.
‘Words that Xenon shouldn’t hear…’
Axel straightened his posture and turned to Xenon.
“Xenon. Step out for a moment.”
“Ah. Yes!”
Xenon, without much thought, left the study with a bright expression, and Axel turned back to Lord Shuian.
“So. Now tell me. What’s got you acting like this?”
“…Your Highness. I’ve discovered Lady Judith’s true plan that she’s been hiding.”
Axel’s eyebrow arched crookedly.
“…True plan?”
“Yes. The reason Lady Judith deliberately approached you.”
Axel had initially thought the same—that Judith was intentionally getting close to him. That’s why he’d decided to keep her nearby and watch her.
But as time passed, that suspicion faded. At some point, her actions no longer seemed like an act. Instead, he saw her for who she truly was.
‘A reason for deliberately approaching…’
The suddenly resurfaced fact, which he’d forgotten, inexplicably soured his mood a bit.
Axel knew Lord Shuian wasn’t the type to bring up something like this without evidence. With a low voice, he addressed Lord Shuian, who was looking at him with a tense face.
“…Go on, tell me.”
Lord Shuian, momentarily tense at Axel’s somewhat displeased appearance, fortunately managed to speak without stuttering to the end.
“…That’s all, Your Highness.”
“So, you’re saying the lady is doing all this to tarnish my reputation?”
“That’s correct.”
Axel, who had been tapping the table thoughtfully, finally spoke.
“That doesn’t hold up—your claim lacks sufficient evidence. You know as well as I do that she’s not the type to go to such lengths, even putting on an act, just to ruin my reputation. Even if we assume she approached with that intent, as you say, she should have backed off soon enough. She doesn’t have the patience for it. And above all, you know that my reputation can’t sink any lower than it already has, right?”
His sharp gaze pierced Lord Shuian. He bit his lip tightly.
Lord Shuian was currently steeped in frustration. It wasn’t just because Axel hadn’t accepted his words, but there was a bigger reason.
‘Your Highness… seems relieved…?’
In Lord Shuian’s eyes, Axel appeared somehow relieved. When he’d first mentioned discovering the reason for the lady’s approach, his expression had been coldly set, but now it seemed subtly relaxed.
Moreover, Axel’s words sounded as if they were subtly defending the lady. Though the one saying them didn’t seem to realize it.
Lord Shuian ground his teeth in indescribable dismay.
‘What on earth am I supposed to do…!’
Lord Shuian had deliberately omitted mentioning the ‘second reason’ he’d uncovered.
Since His Highness seemed unaware of his own feelings at present, he judged it unwise to bring it up.
It could backfire if it led to an unwanted realization.
Axel looked down at the now-silent Lord Shuian and opened his mouth.
“If you have nothing more to say on this, I suppose you can call Xenon back in.”
He couldn’t end the conversation like this. He had to convince His Highness somehow…!
‘In the end, do I have no choice but to bring this up…’
After agonizing fiercely, Lord Shuian finally squeezed his eyes shut and broached the subject.
“…That’s not all.”
“Not all? Meaning there’s another reason?”
At Axel’s question, Lord Shuian nodded with an even more rigid face than before.
“Your Highness… Don’t you have an interest in Lady Judith?”
Upon hearing the question, Axel furrowed his brow.
“…Interest in her? What do you mean?”
“Just as I said. I’m asking if Your Highness isn’t interested in Lady Judith in a romantic sense.”
“What nonsense is that, Lord Shuian? I told you to speak of other reasons, not to spout drivel.”
Lord Shuian flinched, his shoulders trembling at the voice laced with menace. Axel, who had been staring at him coldly, let out a faint sigh.
Perhaps he’d overworked him, and his mind had gone off-kilter.
To think that he, of all people, was interested in the lady. It was ridiculous.
Axel denied it strongly without needing to hear more, deciding that he should let him rest today after all.
