* * *
The Emperor, even if he were to generously overlook Joel’s lack of status, could only accept him as his son’s mistress—never as the Crown Princess.
Cruel and cold-hearted as he was, the Emperor had already made preparations to force a miscarriage.
If the Crown Prince hadn’t adamantly insisted that he would never allow harm to come to his child, Joel would have already been forced to take the abortifacient long ago.
Knowing this, Joel and his adoptive father could neither move forward nor retreat.
The Crown Prince refused to allow anything that could endanger the child, making actual pregnancy impossible.
But faking a miscarriage would mean the engagement would be annulled.
As Joel withered in anxiety, unable to eat or sleep, his dilemma was suddenly resolved—not in the way he had hoped.
As the saying goes, no secret lasts forever.
The truth—that the pregnancy was fake—was exposed to the Emperor.
Joel had never been a good liar to begin with.
The sharp-eyed Emperor grew suspicious of Joel’s evasive behavior and ordered a secret investigation.
The investigator, acting under imperial orders, uncovered the full truth: Joel and his adoptive father had conspired to fake a pregnancy and deceive the Imperial Family.
“My god, Joel. No matter how much you love the Crown Prince, how could you stoop to such a vulgar scheme?”
Once the truth came out, Joel’s adoptive father immediately threw all the blame on Joel, cutting ties to protect himself.
Though Joel felt both betrayed and unjustly scapegoated, he had no choice but to shoulder the blame alone.
He couldn’t allow the fallout to reach the House of Lucas or the Bennet family.
Thus, Joel confessed to all charges before the investigator.
Overnight, he went from the Crown Prince’s fiancée to a criminal.
Enraged, the Emperor wanted to behead Joel and hang his head from the palace walls.
Joel’s crime was severe enough to warrant such punishment.
Fortunately, thanks to the Crown Prince’s desperate pleas, Joel was spared execution.
But that didn’t mean the Crown Prince had forgiven him.
“I knew what kind of person you were… but I didn’t realize you could fall this low.”
Bitterly disappointed by Joel’s lack of character, the Crown Prince declared he would never see Joel again.
As he turned his back coldly, Joel was left speechless.
Thus, Joel was expelled from the palace in disgrace and confined to the Lucas estate, awaiting his final punishment.
And then—
“This marriage has been arranged by the Crown Prince himself. You are to leave immediately for Duke Julian’s territory.”
The Crown Prince’s final judgment was for Joel to disappear forever—banished to a distant region, far from the capital.
“B-But Father, Duke Julian is thirty-five years older than me!”
“So what if he’s old? Be grateful you’re even allowed to marry. With your reputation in shambles, do you really think any other noble would want you?”
Joel had no rebuttal for his adoptive father’s mocking words.
As he said, Joel had become nothing more than a laughingstock among the nobility.
If it weren’t for his desperate desire to see the Crown Prince one last time, Joel would’ve taken his own life from the shame.
Noticing Joel’s silence, his adoptive father leaned in and whispered in a low voice:
“Don’t be so discouraged. You’re being cast out for now, but this doesn’t mean there won’t ever be another chance.”
“A… chance? You can’t mean…”
Joel quickly understood what his adoptive father meant.
The Empire followed monogamy in law, but for high-ranking nobles and royals, having a concubine or mistress was commonplace.
The current Emperor, who had deeply loved his late Empress, had remained celibate for over ten years, but that was rare.
The previous Emperor had an official mistress alongside the Empress, and the one before him had replaced his mistress five times during his reign.
A mistress, while not a legal spouse, was a recognized lover.
Even married individuals could become mistresses.
There were many benefits to being the Emperor’s mistress—so much so that some deranged nobles even offered up their own wives to him, hoping to gain favor.
Joel’s adoptive father was now suggesting that since becoming Crown Princess was no longer an option, Joel should at least aim to become the Crown Prince’s mistress.
But while the word might sound glamorous, everyone knew it for what it was: a thinly veiled form of prostitution driven by the lust for power.
Would his adoptive father suggest such a thing to his own son, Isaac?
Joel asked bitterly.
“Are you seriously suggesting I should become the Crown Prince’s mistress?”
“Quick-witted as always. Yes. Once the rumors die down, I’ll call you back to the capital. Wait until then.”
It was clear that his adoptive father intended to squeeze every last drop of usefulness from Joel until he was of no more value.
Joel, feeling like a pawn on a chessboard, could only follow orders as he always had.
And so, on a snowy winter day, Joel boarded a carriage headed to the distant duchy.
Inside, he stared blankly out the window.
Everything had changed in just a few days.
It had all happened so fast, he could barely grasp that it was real.
He could still see the Crown Prince’s gentle smile so clearly in his mind.
Maybe this was all a dream?
Maybe, if he closed his eyes and opened them again, he’d wake up in that warm embrace.
As he thought of the Crown Prince, his eyes stung with tears.
But Joel resolved not to cry.
He may have been foolish and pathetic, but he still had his pride.
He was being punished for his own wrongdoing—crying about it would only make him more pitiful.
So Joel swallowed down the rising sobs and forced himself to remain composed.
It was pathetic, but even now, Joel couldn’t give up his feelings for the Crown Prince.
From the very first moment they met, he had loved him with all his heart—and he still loved him now.
And that was precisely why Joel did not want to become the Crown Prince’s mistress.
If he had desired wealth or power like his adoptive father, he would have gladly taken the role.
But Joel had never once coveted the Crown Prince’s status or fortune.
He had only ever wanted the Crown Prince himself—and that’s why he could never accept a mistress’s role, forced to share him with his legal spouse.
Besides, he wouldn’t get the chance anyway.
The Crown Prince had said they would never meet again.
Unless he suffered a fall from his horse and hit his head, there was no way someone with such a resolute nature would ever call Joel back as a mistress.
Joel knew that better than anyone. He no longer dreamed of standing beside the Crown Prince.
All he hoped for now was a chance—any chance—to redeem his image, to no longer be remembered as the pitiful, foolish villain.
If that chance were to come…
What would he have to do?
As the carriage rattled toward Duke Julian’s estate, Joel quietly pondered his path forward.
The Crown Prince kept virtuous, wise, and kind people close to him.
But Joel thought that no matter how many times he was reborn, he would never become wise or virtuous.
After all, he had been consistently stupid since the moment he was born.
Still, becoming a good person might be possible with enough effort.
Back when he was still Joel Bennett, people occasionally called him kind.
If he dedicated the rest of his life to helping others—say, establishing a poorhouse to aid the needy or running an orphanage to care for abandoned children—maybe the Crown Prince would want to meet him at least once, even just out of curiosity.
It was while Joel was indulging in such hopeful thoughts that—
With a loud crash, a violent impact struck Joel.
The carriage, racing down a secluded forest path, had suddenly overturned.
Joel hit his head hard against the wall and lost consciousness.
If he had died instantly, that might have been a decent enough ending… but unfortunately, Joel had only blacked out for a short while.
He came to with excruciating pain.
Fully awake now, Joel realized in horror that he couldn’t move the lower half of his body.
Something had clearly gone very wrong in the accident.
He called out desperately for the coachman, but no reply came.
Only then did Joel notice the unnerving silence outside—and a deep fear gripped him.
He couldn’t just lie there. Forcing himself to remain calm, Joel used every ounce of strength to crawl out of the wrecked carriage.
* * *
