ETHTKE chapter 37

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The sudden appearance of a stranger made my vision go dark for a moment.

Who could it be? With Baek Yigang absent, the Crown Prince’s Palace should only have a few attendants, Philip, Asel, and me.

As I lifted my head in confusion, a man was standing in front of me.

His platinum blonde hair was dazzlingly bright, even in daylight, and his platinum eyes under long eyelashes held a gentle gaze.

When our eyes finally met, I instantly realized who he was.

“Oh dear, I almost ran into you. Where are you rushing off to?”

A soft voice drawled lazily. The mystical and sweet tone hovering around my ears melted away any wariness.

There was no way I wouldn’t know who this man was.

He was the person I most wanted to meet since my transmigration and, simultaneously, the one I least wanted to encounter.

“…May the goddess’s blessing be with you.”

It was none other than the infamous Second Prince, Piel Dirzio.

“Oh, it’s our first time meeting, isn’t it… Do you know who I am?”

He seemed pleasantly surprised, as if he hadn’t expected me to greet him first. His smile was incomparably kind and benevolent.

Like with the crow beast incident last time, Piel tends to pop up out of nowhere at the most unexpected moments to startle me—just like now.

More importantly, I made a mistake just now. I should have pretended not to know him, but in my fluster, I…

“Well… Your Highness is quite famous.”

When I responded as casually as possible, Piel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Ugh, I thought only Baek Yigang could look so eerie with such a pretty face.

Piel’s appearance matched exactly as described in the novel and depicted in the webtoon.

It was only natural to recognize him at a glance.

Above all, Piel shared a subtly similar set of features to Baek Yigang, making it apparent they were brothers.

Of course, with different hair and eye colors, it wasn’t easy to immediately guess they were siblings, but there was an odd sense that Baek Yigang’s face was somehow reflected in his, creating a strange sense of dissonance.

Fortunately, the two had completely different auras.

Baek Yigang, with his silver hair and red eyes, resembled the late Empress, while Piel, with his platinum blonde hair and platinum eyes, bore a striking resemblance to the current Emperor.

If Baek Yigang felt like a cold, iron-blooded chancellor, Piel had the gentle and delicate impression of someone who might tend a flower field under the sun.

Considering Piel’s actions and nature in the original work, his friendly appearance certainly seemed out of place.

But then again, you can’t judge a person by their appearance alone.

“Am I famous? I wasn’t aware. Famous for what?”

Piel asked with a friendly smile, looking intrigued.

I wanted to pretend not to know and brush it off, but his platinum eyes, glittering like stars, demanded an answer.

Ugh, why ask such a thing? What could you possibly be famous for, other than being a sneaky, cunning fox with a dark heart?

If you think about it, you’re an even bigger mastermind than Baek Yigang.

“Um… your looks?”

Oh, whatever!

At my blunt reply, Piel’s face went blank for a moment.

He looked genuinely surprised, as if he hadn’t expected that answer.

I said it because his face was similar enough to Baek Yigang’s to be tolerable, but luckily, it didn’t seem to offend Piel.

Hmm, seeing such a wide range of expressions on someone is a bit strange…

Perhaps because the people around me—like Philip, Asel, or Baek Yigang—usually wore stern faces, in this aspect, Piel seemed a bit more… human.

“…Pfft.”

Hearing my awkwardly blurted response, Piel burst into a series of amused laughs.

“I know you too. Your name is… Cheong Dowoon, right?”

Quickly collecting his smile, Piel narrowed his smooth eyes and tilted his head slightly.

That… is a gesture often seen in people trying to match eye level with their conversation partner.

In other words, Piel was currently behaving favorably toward me.

Piel’s height was about the same as mine.

I was slightly taller, but his elaborate attire made the difference not too noticeable.

“Do you know me?”

Maybe that’s why I found it impossible to avoid Piel’s gaze when looking straight at him.

I already knew that Piel knew me, but I asked as if I didn’t know.

“How could I not know you? These days, the imperial palace and social circles are all filled with stories about you.”

What a smooth liar. He’s the one who set the crow beast on me, after all!

The more I looked at Piel’s pleasant face, the more uncomfortable I felt, as it kept reminding me of Baek Yigang.

In truth, the two were not alike at all, yet they strangely resembled each other. It sounds contradictory, but it was true.

“Oh, I see…”

I wanted to leave here right away and go to where Baek Yigang was, but with Piel blocking the way, I couldn’t just slip past him.

There was plenty of space to the side, but turning around and darting away… well, he was still a royal.

If I acted rudely here, who knows what consequences might follow later? Damn this status-conscious society!

“Did you receive my gift well?”

Despite my indifferent response, Piel asked with a warm smile.

A gift? What gift?

…Oh, could it be the thing Baek Yigang burned except for one?

Come to think of it, that crazy guy who sent that was Piel, wasn’t he?

Perfect, let’s find out why he sent something like that out of nowhere.

“Why did you send that, exactly?”

“Because you like it.”

Piel answered my question immediately, as if it were obvious.

Given his lack of hesitation, it seemed he genuinely did it himself rather than ordering someone else.

Like it? Who told you that?! What kind of misunderstanding led to that…?

“I don’t like it.”

“What do you like, then?”

When I firmly denied it with a serious look, Piel asked again with a regretful face.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain my composure.

If I kept this up, my face would soon be covered with irritation… It would be better to play along and escape somehow.

“Why do you want to know that?”

“Because I’m curious. Perhaps I could be among your preferences.”

…Huh? What kind of nonsense is this?

As I took a shocked breath, Piel smiled brightly with a shameless face.

He said it so naturally that I almost nodded in agreement without thinking!

“Whatever I like, Your Highness is not among them.”

“Why so guarded? It was just a joke.”

Piel chuckled like a child, with no malice at all, and his playful smile seemed to melt away my wariness.

That was Piel’s unique charm.

It wasn’t about borrowing the power of a beast; it was a mysterious charm that simply relaxed and comforted those around him.

But that’s one thing, and this is another. I need to make my preferences crystal clear.

Just thinking about the misunderstandings I’ve had with Baek Yigang because of you keeps me up at night!

“…Anyway, I don’t like you. Don’t send things like that.”

“Sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Honestly, judging from appearances alone, Piel didn’t look like someone who’d commit evil deeds or harbor malice.

If anything, Baek Yigang looked the part much more than Piel, who always had an innocent expression, radiating warmth like a sunny spring day.

Though in reality, that wasn’t the case.

In the original story, Baek Yigang, who kills people with dark magic, appears as the final villain.

However, in my opinion, the most wicked person is the second prince, Piel.

Just because he doesn’t kill people doesn’t mean he isn’t a villain.

Isn’t the greatest evil the one who destroys people’s minds with a kind smile?

That’s exactly who Piel is.

So, you have to be on high alert around Piel. He may look harmless, but that’s his most dangerous weapon.

“Well, do you have anything more to say…?”

For some reason, Piel started to move closer.

As I backed away from him, my back soon hit a cold wall.

There was no room left to retreat.

Of all times, there’s no one around… What is this? Is he really planning to kill me?

Was Asel right when he said Piel was targeting me?

Only after finding myself in this less-than-ideal situation did a sense of danger begin to rise.

I tightened my grip, gathering magic in the palm of my hand, prepared to counterattack if needed.

But then, unexpectedly, Piel spoke completely different words.

“Cheong Dowoon, I’m very interested in you. Your abilities, your personality, your background — everything about you intrigues me.”

Piel’s face was so close that I couldn’t move at all.

His calm gaze, scrutinizing my face as if he didn’t want to miss a single detail, was as slippery as a snake.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something… I’m just an ordinary Wizard.”

We were so close that I could feel his breath. His platinum eyes, facing me from this distance, no longer looked as innocent as they had earlier.

Then his lips parted once more.

“No, you’re not.”

“…Pardon?”

His demeanor changed instantly. Piel looked like a completely different person than just moments ago.

The warm, sunny aura was gone, leaving only a distorted prince with sharp eyes in front of me.

“You’re not just an ordinary Wizard.”

The corner of his mouth twisted up into a crooked smile.

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