Chapter 129
Even though her heat cycle had already ended, Calix simply wouldn’t leave her side, and Lea felt extremely troubled by it.
Was this man always this persistent? Or had Cal’s personality changed because he was living differently from before?
With him constantly by her side, she kept finding herself asking questions for which there were no answers. And every time, those questions ended the same way.
If Lucy were to appear, would you still like me just as I am now?
The last time she’d seen him and Lucy at the gallows, they’d looked so well-matched, like a perfect pair. So, in this life, she had wanted to ask him for forgiveness, but the desire to be loved by him… She had erased that wish long ago.
Of course, it wasn’t as if she completely believed Lucy to be someone trustworthy. Up until her death, the Lucy she had seen had indeed seemed like a good person.
But then, what was that snide smile she saw? Had she missed something?
Well, given how terrible she was at human relationships, it was no surprise there were more things she didn’t know. As Lea fretted alone, she glanced over at Calix.
It was clearly her palace, but for some reason, he looked more like the master here. Was it the natural aura of a royal?
“Do you have something to say?”
Even though she was watching from a distance, Calix sensed her gaze and asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Go ahead.”
“When are you going to go back?”
She needed to start planning her schedule again, and there were important matters to attend to, but she couldn’t move at all because Calix simply wouldn’t return to his own palace.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“…No, it’s just, it seems like you’ve left your own palace empty for too long.”
“So when you need me, you call for me, but when you don’t, you kick me out without hesitation, Sister?”
“Please…”
She felt like she was developing a complex from that constant ‘Sister’ of his. She almost wanted to go back and give her past self a good smack.
As Calix watched the flustered Lea, he casually asked a question.
“Why don’t you usually show your ears and tail?”
“You know it’s a secret that I’m a werebeast, right? That’s why you’re asking?”
“Is it?”
“If rumors spread that there are werebeasts living in the Cantabria Empire, I could be caught and skinned, you know…”
Her voice trembled as she spoke, and Calix couldn’t deny it.
For a long time, Cantabrian and Leonis had been enemies in many ways. For one, there was the stark difference between a human nation and a werebeast nation, and the national temperament was vastly different as well.
Because werebeasts were, by nature, more attuned to their instincts, the Cantabrians were quick to disparage them as ‘beast-like creatures’.
So relations between the countries were very poor. Maybe that was why she had drawn even firmer boundaries with people, wanting to hide the fact that she was a werebeast. She now realized that her attempts to hide and behave with pretense could never have looked good to others.
Of course, those people had also been quick to judge her by their own rigid standards.
“In any case, Your Highness, please return to your own palace now. I have a lot to do.”
At her resolute tone, Calix felt a burst of annoyance. When had she ever wanted to be in his arms so badly, and now she was throwing him out as if she didn’t need him anymore.
“You’re lucky, Sister. You don’t remember anything.”
“……”
“I’m still burning up from that hot night, but I’m the only one who remembers it? What a shame.”
His blatant teasing made not only Lea’s face, but even the back of her neck flush red. It was true she didn’t remember well, but it wasn’t as if she didn’t remember anything at all.
Here and there, she remembered the intense look in his eyes, the rough way he’d acted, and those explicit words he’d spoken. She remembered what she needed to, but chose not to say anything about it.
And really, there was no need to mention she remembered those things.
Lea liked him, but lately, she was finding it a bit… exhausting to interact with him. It was because she had too many thoughts.
“If you dislike it that much, I’ll go. When you wanted me to be treated properly as Crown Prince, you were all for it, but now you’re kicking me out first. Well, the person who wants it more is the one who should give in.”
With a sullen tone, Calix strode out of the palace. After making Rose check to confirm that he had really left, Lea immediately pulled out her cloak as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Lady, where are you going?”
“Rose, help me.”
“Yes, what do you need?”
“I need to go to the pharmacy in the back alleys.”
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