“…What? Don’t tell me you guys didn’t believe me?”
At Joel’s sharp question, Benjamin and Felix flinched. They both shouted back with overly stiff attitudes.
“No? Why wouldn’t we?”
“How could we possibly not believe you, Young Master?”
Joel looked at Benjamin, who was laughing awkwardly, with suspicious eyes.
Something felt fishy…
As Joel refused to pull back his doubting gaze, Benjamin hurriedly tried to change the subject.
“Joel, more importantly, finish the story about the demon. People are saying you defeated it. Is that true?”
“Huh? Oh, that…”
Just as Joel was about to fall for the simple trick and open his mouth, Robert interrupted without a hint of tact.
“Lord Joel, much time has been delayed. I believe we should start heading out soon.”
“Ah… lunch did take a while. It can’t be helped, I’ll tell you the rest later. Come on, everyone, let’s move.”
If the schedule got pushed back, it might interfere with his escape plan.
Feeling rushed, Joel quickly vanished back into his carriage.
The soldiers, who ultimately missed out on hearing how Joel defeated the demon, couldn’t hide their resentful glares toward Robert.
But the dull-witted Robert felt nothing and climbed onto his horse, humming a little tune as he followed Joel.
Besides, since Robert had already heard the whole story while treating Joel at the underground mansion, he wasn’t particularly curious anyway.
Joel’s group arrived at Count Gray’s castle three days later without any major incidents.
Count Gray, who had left for his own castle a day ahead of the group following the Crown Prince’s orders, welcomed Joel’s party with great hospitality.
Count Gray requested to shake Joel’s hand several times.
He patted Joel’s shoulder as if they were very close, bragging to the people of the castle that he had recognized Joel’s brilliance and cherished him for a long time.
Joel found it absurd that Count Gray—who hadn’t shown him an ounce of interest until he was adopted into the Lucas family—was suddenly acting like an old friend.
However, Joel wasn’t so tactless as to let his true feelings show.
The castle’s butler led Joel to the largest and finest guest room with a very polite manner.
The bedroom Joel stayed in was so spacious that it couldn’t even be compared to his bedroom back at Sir Bennet’s estate.
While Joel was resting on the sofa, a servant of the Count came by to inform him that a banquet would be held that evening.
This was exactly what Joel had guessed.
Having predicted that Count Gray would throw a party, Joel had purposely chosen this date for his departure. He let out a determined smile.
If everyone was drunk and staggering around, it would be much easier to slip away.
He carefully reviewed his plan in his mind and waited calmly for evening to arrive.
The banquet hosted by Count Gray was grand, and the castle was crowded with guests.
Among the tourists who had visited Sir Bennet’s estate, the quick-witted ones had already flocked to Count Gray’s castle.
Joel spent a hectic time telling his adventure stories to the crowd and accepting countless requests for handshakes.
Everyone was desperate to say even a single word to him.
Joel laughed and chatted among the people, but he never let his guard down.
Sure enough, as the night grew deep, the gathered guests were stumbling around, completely drunk.
Robert, too—though Joel wasn’t sure when they had become friends—was playing a card game with Benjamin and Felix, his face flushed from alcohol.
Joel approached Robert and told him he wanted to go up to his room and rest.
Robert put down his cards and stood up.
With Robert’s support, Joel left the noisy banquet hall.
Robert returned to the party after dropping Joel off at his bedroom.
Joel waited with his ear pressed against the door until he was sure Robert’s footsteps had faded away, then he moved like lightning.
He bunched up the blankets to make it look like he was sleeping inside, changed into dark clothes, and grabbed the travel bag his father had prepared.
Having finished his preparations, Joel sat at the desk and pulled out a pen and paper.
Even though he was running away, it felt impolite to leave without writing a single letter to the Crown Prince.
Besides, if he just vanished, there would surely be a massive uproar.
Since Joel didn’t want to cause any unnecessary chaos, he gripped the pen and wrote the letter in clear, steady handwriting.
[To the Crown Prince,
I have grown tired of life in the capital and have decided to leave. Please forgive me for disappearing so suddenly.
You will likely be confused when you see this letter, but if you think about it carefully, me leaving will be better for your future in many ways. I am sure of it.
I am deeply grateful for how kindly you treated me and for how you stepped up to help with my father’s affairs. I know I am in no position to ask you for favors, but for the sake of the bond we shared, could you occasionally check to see if anyone is bothering my father?
I wasn’t a suitable match for you anyway, so I hope you aren’t too hurt by this sudden goodbye. Please stay healthy and be happy forever. Farewell.]
Joel wanted to leave his goodbye as calmly as possible.
Because of that, he had to struggle immensely while writing to ensure that no traces of his lingering attachment or unrequited love leaked onto the page.
It was by no means easy.
Especially while writing the part, “me leaving will be better for your future in many ways,” he almost dropped a tear onto the paper.
Joel had to stop writing and snap his head up to keep from crying.
After finishing the letter, Joel scratched his cheek and read it over one more time.
He felt embarrassed because his writing skills were poor, but he felt it was a clean goodbye that didn’t seem too pathetic.
He was somewhat satisfied, but something felt off.
“I feel like I forgot something…”
Joel thought hard until the image of the old butler, Wickham, flashed through his mind.
Joel clapped his hands.
“Oh, right.”
[P.S. Also, if you have some spare time, could you help my butler Wickham, who is staying at the Lucas capital mansion, return to my birth father’s estate…? He is like a grandfather to me, so I truly beg this of you.]
After leaving a request for Wickham’s safety, he had nothing left to say.
With a complex heart mixed with both relief and regret, Joel placed the letter on the desk where it could be easily seen and stood up.
It was truly time to leave.
Even though he knew time was tight, Joel stood still for a while holding his bag.
Leaving behind his family, friends, and lover to go on a long journey alone made it hard to move his feet.
“No, I’m not alone.”
Joel spoke bravely and stroked his lower belly.
Thinking of the baby gave him a little strength.
He took one last look around the room.
His gaze, still thick with lingering feelings, landed on the white fox cloak draped over the sofa.
Before he knew it, Joel walked toward it.
He reached out and stroked the cloak, the pleasant texture tickling his hand.
Even though three days had passed, he could still smell the Crown Prince’s pheromones on it.
He had been given countless pheromone showers by the Crown Prince over the past month, yet Joel was still thirsty for his scent.
Joel set down his bag and hugged the cloak.
Recalling the kind image of the Crown Prince wrapping this cloak around his shoulders made him feel like he was going to cry.
At that time, the Prince hadn’t dreamed that it would be the last moment they would see each other face to face.
He had even clung to Joel desperately, saying, ‘Are you really okay with being apart from me? I… I am not.’
Joel felt a little sorry for him.
Come to think of it, he remembered how extremely anxious the Crown Prince had been when Joel disappeared during their journey.
Was it really okay to vanish like this?
Leaving so abruptly felt like a very selfish thing to do.
He worried if he should really leave, but Joel decided to believe that the Crown Prince would soon forget a “moron” like him.
He couldn’t take such a large cloak with him while running away, but he felt so sad leaving behind something that held the Crown Prince’s trace.
Joel struggled to let go while fiddling with the edge of the cloak.
In the end, he used a dagger to cut off a small piece of the hem and hid it in his shirt.
He felt bad for damaging such an expensive cloak, but he figured a cloak like this wouldn’t be very expensive for someone like the Crown Prince.
As the soft fur holding the Prince’s pheromones tickled his chest, his sadness faded slightly.
Joel rubbed his blurry eyes and walked bravely out of the room.
