“H-how did you…?”
Though his belly was prominent enough that it could no longer be hidden, Joel had hoped the Crown Prince might just assume he had been eating well.
As Joel shrank back with a frightened face, the Crown Prince kissed the back of his hand soothingly.
The rough stubble pricked his skin. “Ouch,” Joel winced before he could help himself.
The Crown Prince let go of his hand and instead gently caressed his knee.
“I remembered… what happened the night of the graduation banquet. And you were constantly rubbing your stomach; it felt a bit strange…”
“…Ah.”
Joel felt a wave of embarrassment.
He thought he had hidden it well, but considering that Becky, the Baron, and now even the Crown Prince had figured it out, it seemed he had absolutely no talent for acting.
In truth, Joel had been worried that the Crown Prince might doubt the baby’s lineage.
Fortunately, since the Prince seemed certain it was his own blood, one major hurdle had been cleared.
Joel felt relieved, but a new anxiety soon took hold.
In his past life, the Crown Prince had wished he were in prison the moment he found out they had spent a night together.
If, this time as well, the Prince viewed the pregnancy as an unwelcome burden…
To the anxious Joel, the Crown Prince spoke in a voice heavy with regret.
“I have more than a few things to apologize to you for. First, I must apologize for that night at the graduation banquet. I am truly sorry.”
Joel barely heard the apology. He had no intention of blaming the Prince for that night; he was simply worried about how the Prince felt about the baby’s existence.
The Crown Prince gently took Joel by the shoulders to focus his attention and continued in a somber tone.
“When I turned back time… I told myself that seeing you insulted in the snow once was enough, and I vowed never to treat you carelessly again. Yet, I was so foolish that I remembered nothing and ended up committing the same wrong against you.”
“Pardon?”
The confession was entirely unexpected.
Joel, who had firmly believed the Crown Prince had no memories of the past life, fell into shock.
After a long silence, he managed to find his voice.
“…Y-Your Highness, could it be… your memories of the past life…?”
The Crown Prince gave a faint smile and nodded.
“Your Highness.”
Staring blankly at the Prince, Joel suddenly blurted out the question that had been burning inside him.
“The demon John told me… that Your Highness turned back time specifically to save me. Is that true? If it is… why on earth did you want to save someone like me?”
The moment he realized the Prince remembered the past, the question came out reflexively.
The man who had turned away as if he never wanted to see Joel’s face again—why had he given up his precious soul just to save a person like him?
Joel truly wanted to know the reason.
He thought the answer would remain a mystery forever since the Prince didn’t remember… but now, everything had changed.
Hearing the question, the Crown Prince’s lips parted, but he hesitated for a long time.
A flood of emotions seemed to overwhelm him, making it difficult to choose his words.
Finally, in a pained voice, he spoke.
“Because I realized far too late… that I loved you.”
‘After I had caused you such terrible pain. After everything had become irreversible. There is no bigger fool in the world than me,’ the Prince added self-deprecatingly. Joel remained silent.
“…Liar.”
“It is not a lie.”
Joel reached out and pinched his own cheek.
The Crown Prince didn’t just like him, he loved him?
He had to be dreaming.
But the spot where he pinched himself stung sharply.
This time, Joel reached out to touch the Prince’s forehead.
“…You don’t have a fever.”
‘How strange,’ Joel tilted his head.
The Prince’s forehead was slightly warm, but his temperature was clearly normal.
The Crown Prince gently lowered the hand Joel had placed on his brow and said in a clear, firm voice, “Joel, I am perfectly sane.”
“It may be hard for you to believe, but I truly, sincerely love you. Perhaps I fell helplessly for you from the very first moment I saw you. Before the time turn and after it, no one has ever been as special to me as you. I made up all sorts of excuses to keep my distance—that your foster father was Count Lucas, that my father would oppose the marriage—but those weren’t the real reasons I pushed you away. The truth is… I was afraid. I was afraid of myself, of how recklessly I wanted to run to you like an unbridled horse. So I constantly denied the love in the depths of my heart. But the moment I held your lifeless body in my arms, even a coward like me could no longer deny the truth.”
While the Crown Prince continued his mournful confession, Joel maintained a blank expression.
In reality, his brain was practically steaming as he tried to process the Prince’s words.
The Prince’s speech was far too metaphorical and pedantic; it wasn’t easy to grasp the core meaning.
‘Basically, he hated himself for becoming a fool because of love… so he actually liked me but pretended to hate me? Is that it?’
Joel wasn’t confident he had understood correctly.
The Crown Prince cautiously stroked Joel’s cheek, which was frozen stiff with tension.
“Yes, it must be ridiculous and absurd to hear me ramble like this now.”
The Crown Prince muttered with a sad smile.
Seeing Joel’s stiff expression as he racked his brain, the Prince had misinterpreted it as deep-seated anger.
Realizing the awkwardness, Joel quickly softened his expression and said, “No, Your Highness. It’s not like that…” but it was too late.
“Joel, you don’t need to hide your resentment toward me. I deserve your scorn. I only uncovered the truth of what happened between you and Count Lucas after you had closed your eyes forever. You endured your foster father’s harsh beatings to protect me and told lies for my sake, yet I labeled you an accomplice and condemned you… even after saying I love you, you must have hated and resented me for not believing in you. The image of you in the dungeon that day, refusing to show me your face until the very end, is still vivid before my eyes.”
The more the Crown Prince confessed, the more awkward Joel felt.
The only reason Joel had kept his back turned that day was simply because he hadn’t been able to groom himself.
Since his looks were his only pride, how could he show his face to the Crown Prince when it was a mess from the interrogation?
Joel tried to grab the Prince’s shoulders to stop him, but the Prince, convinced Joel resented him, only blamed himself harder.
“Yes, I was a truly damnable bastard.”
Joel tried again.
“Excuse me, I’m telling you it really wasn’t like that?”
But the Prince spoke first once more.
“You asked me why I sacrificed my soul to turn back time?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I wanted to take back the wrongs I committed against you. I wanted to start over and treat you, who are so precious, with only the highest regard. That is why I turned back time. If I could just have a second chance, a soul was a small price to pay.”
The Crown Prince looked up at Joel with agonized eyes.
Joel, with his innocent, shimmering eyes, was still as lovely as a baby angel.
He wanted to hold the man he had barely recovered and never let go, to pour out all the love he had gathered into him… but…
“The reason you left me was…”
‘Because you grew to hate me.’
The Crown Prince bit his lip, unable to finish the sentence.
While he was chasing after Joel, the Prince had constantly wondered why Joel had run away while carrying his child.
Though he had once been confident that Joel couldn’t possibly dislike him, the situation had shaken that belief.
Now, he feared that Joel had fled because he had come to loathe him.
He needed to beg for a chance, but he feared Joel would shake his head, so he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
Seeing the suffering Crown Prince, Joel spoke up quickly.
“It was because I thought it was the right thing to do. Not because I grew to hate Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince looked at him with eyes full of disbelief.
Joel reached out to the Prince, who was trembling like an abandoned puppy, grabbed both his cheeks, and brought his face close.
“Your Highness, I told you it’s not like that. Please listen when someone speaks. Whether it’s now or in the past life, I have never once resented Your Highness… well, honestly, I might have a little, but I never resented you as much as you think!”
“That’s impossible.”
The Crown Prince tried to deny it, but since his cheeks were being held, he couldn’t shake his head.
Joel had to start by explaining the real reason he had kept his back turned in the dungeon during the past life.
“It’s true. The reason I kept my back turned in the dungeon was just that I didn’t want to show you my haggard state; it wasn’t because I resented you!”
Hearing the explanation, the Crown Prince felt even more guilt.
He felt even more heartless for having denounced such an innocent Joel as an accomplice to Count Lucas.
“Your Highness, I have never once stopped loving you. I only left because I thought you wouldn’t want this child. Because a foolish Omega like me doesn’t deserve to be the Crown Princess.”
“Nonsense. You are a national hero who defeated a demon and saved me. Furthermore, because you noticed the circumstances of Count Lucas’s deal with the demon, his crimes hidden for 25 years were brought to light. Thanks to you, His Majesty the Emperor has recovered his health. Who would dare doubt your qualifications?”
The Crown Prince shook his head immediately.
He took Joel’s hands and said pleadingly:
“Then just once, give me just one chance. I will never hurt you again. You don’t even have to love me; you can resent or hate me until the day I die. Just… just let me stay by your side.”
Joel stared at the Crown Prince for a long while.
He had never imagined the Prince would cling to him like this.
As Joel’s silence stretched on, the Prince’s eyes shook with increasing anxiety.
Since he couldn’t leave the already gaunt Prince in such a state of worry, Joel took the Prince’s cheeks in his hands and kissed him softly.
It was a gesture of acceptance.
The Crown Prince froze in surprise at Joel’s bold action, but soon he pulled Joel into his arms and began to kiss him passionately.
“I love you. It’s a very late confession, but I truly love you.”
Breaking away for a moment after a breathless kiss, the Prince whispered.
No matter how much of Joel’s warmth he felt, it wasn’t enough, and he tightened his embrace.
He wanted to hold him tight enough to become one, but fearing he might harm the life growing in Joel’s womb, he didn’t dare squeeze too hard.
Savoring Joel’s presence, the Crown Prince vowed to himself over and over that he would never let this small person go again.
