The Crown Prince’s Courtesan - Chapter 94

“Do you know something?”

For some reason, it reminded her of the man who had once pulled her away from the maids’ cold treatment and personally taught her proper dining etiquette.

The kindness he had occasionally shown, even through all that ice.

“There was a time when I wished that, if you were going to be cold, you would stay cold to the very end. Those rare moments when you were kind only made me resent you more.”

“…I see.”

Even though she knew his expression had stiffened, she did not stop speaking.

“You have no idea how much I resented you. At a time when I didn’t want to be swayed by anyone, you shook me to my core and made me fall for you.”

“Marie, I—”

She smiled as she watched his lips part.

There had been many painful and difficult moments, but after their passionate nights together, they had often spoken quietly, little by little, uncovering feelings about moments she had once overlooked.

Back then, she had never understood why he had acted the way he did.

But now she knew.

Those conversations had piled up, one after another, until she could finally look at Russell with ease.

No, now she could honestly look at the man she loved with a heart full of fluttering affection.

How could she possibly put into words the feeling that, after only a few months, the wounds that had accumulated over so many years had finally healed, leaving behind nothing but scars?

“Your Highness, I want to kiss you right now.”

“…Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

His eyes widened at the sudden declaration, and the sight of him looking so much like a startled child made her laugh.

So this man can make an expression like that, too.

She hoped she would get to see it more often in the future. And she thought she would be even happier if she, too, could continue to speak honestly.

For Marie, who had always found it awkward to ask things of others, to plead, or to lean on someone, Russell had been the first person to make her feel such emotions.

“I think you sometimes forget that, despite everything, my time in the palace was also a happy one.”

“Marie?”

“Warm meals, soft clothes, and nights where I could fall asleep without worry. You said you brought me here to break me, but… I truly loved my very first night in this palace. And it all began with you.”

She took a step forward and looked up at him.

Then, unable to resist the impulse, she stole a kiss from those beautifully shaped lips. Peck. At the soft sound of their lips brushing together, her face flushed bright red.

“And the nights I spent with you, too.”

Perhaps it was because his eyes had gone wide with surprise, despite the countless far more passionate kisses they had already shared.

“It hurt, but it was just as intoxicating.”

“Right now…”

“Yes, Your Highness. I’m seducing you.”

She loved him. She loved this man.

“You can feel my heart, can’t you? What do you think I’m feeling right now? I’m certainly not afraid.”

My Alpha.

I love you.

As the father of her child, and as the partner with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life.

“I…”

As if consumed by instinct, his rough breath brushed against her.

“I want to devour you, Marie. I want to strip you bare, taste you, hold you.”

The voice that sounded almost like a growl was unbearably sweet. Enraptured, Marie took in the sight that only she was allowed to see.

Him, undone and falling apart, breaking apart only for her.

“Do you feel the same way I do?”

She loved the way his eyes would often cloud with remorse. And after their hearts had finally become connected, she loved how he would hurt even more than she did, trying so earnestly to be honest with her feelings.

“Tell me. Do you feel the same?”

“…My Alpha.”

The man who, after hearing her say that waking up alone in an empty bed had been painful, stayed by her side as she slept and never left. The man who released his pheromones for the sake of the child in her womb, so that she would not suffer.

Before she knew it, she had come to love him more and more.