* * *
The Crown Prince, after straightening his clothes, followed closely beside him.
“You’ve done well.”
Lowell gazed at the fresh wound on Felix’s neck, his expression twisting as if he were the one in pain.
“You promised you wouldn’t get hurt…”
For Felix, this level of injury was no different from a mere insect bite, so he hadn’t paid it any mind.
But seeing how deeply troubled Lowell seemed, an inexplicable sense of unease settled in.
He suddenly felt the urge to do something to ease his worries.
“This was just a tactic to create an opening. It’s hardly significant enough to call an injury, so you don’t need to look at me like that.”
“Your Highness isn’t afraid of getting hurt, so there’s barely any difference between your feints and actual movements. Even when I know that, I still end up falling for them.”
The Crown Prince shrugged, assisting in Felix’s explanation, but Lowell’s mood didn’t improve.
It had seemed fine from a distance, but now that he was up close, watching the blood continue to trickle down made it impossible to ignore.
“Then I suppose it wouldn’t be a problem if I got a wound like that too.”
Pouting, Lowell reached out and placed his fingers near the injury.
He hesitated, unable to actually touch it, his hand merely hovering there.
His expression made it clear—he was struggling to endure his own worry.
“How is that the same? My body is far more durable than yours.”
Felix bent down slightly to make it easier for Lowell to examine his neck, but his face twisted in frustration as he spoke.
“It’s not different at all.”
Lowell’s voice was thick with distress.
Felix, who had momentarily raised his voice, felt his irritation subside at the sound.
“I mean it… It’s not different at all. Please, don’t get hurt.”
That voice, so fragile it seemed ready to sink into the ground, made Felix pause.
He let out a breath and met Lowell’s eyes.
“Alright. From now on, I promise not to let myself get even the smallest scratch.”
“Okay.”
Watching the two of them, Robin—who had been observing from the side—let out a disbelieving sigh.
He leaned in and muttered, “I’m not even sure if that’s really the Felix I know.”
“You should go get treated.”
“It’s not a big deal… Fine. I’ll go, so get some rest.”
Felix had been about to brush it off again, but when he saw Lowell’s face crumple in distress, he reluctantly stood up.
If he refused any further, Lowell might decide in the future not to seek treatment for his own wounds, and that was a risk Felix wasn’t willing to take.
“Robin, could you go with Felix? Please make sure he applies the medicine properly.”
Robin hesitated at the sudden request, momentarily failing to grasp the intention behind it.
But soon enough, he nodded and got up.
“Understood. I’ll be back soon.”
As Felix and Robin left, the Crown Prince dropped himself onto the seat beside Lowell.
Letting out a deep breath, Lowell sat down as well.
“Why did you send Robin with him?”
“It seemed like you had something you wanted to say to me.”
“I’ve been thinking… Was the Count’s household intentionally pretending to be foolish? You’re nothing like what I heard.”
‘Obviously, because I’m not the same person,’ Lowell thought, swallowing down the words he couldn’t say out loud.
Conversations with people like the Crown Prince were exhausting, so he had prepared himself before engaging in one.
“Felix will be back soon.”
His pointed remark—urging the Crown Prince to get to the point instead of playing mind games—was met with an unreadable expression.
“Fine. This way is easier to talk, anyway.”
With that, the Crown Prince lost interest in Lowell altogether.
“…Is the child inside you really Felix’s?”
Even Lowell, who had braced himself to not be surprised by anything, found his jaw dropping at the unexpected question.
The knights stationed nearby, pretending not to listen, flinched almost imperceptibly.
“I don’t know why you’re asking, but yes.”
“I hope he keeps loving you.”
Lowell barely resisted the urge to rub his temples.
The meaning behind that remark was unclear, but the Crown Prince, sensing Lowell’s confusion, elaborated.
“If he were the same person I used to know, he would’ve rejected this proposal outright. No—he wouldn’t have even responded to the first suspicious letter.”
Now Lowell understood.
If Felix had remained unchanged, he would never have involved himself with the Crown Prince in the first place.
What moved Felix this time was his unwavering determination to protect Lowell.
“I don’t know whether this change is good or bad. But it works in my favor, so I hope it lasts as long as possible. That’s why… it would be best if the child carried the Grand Duke’s blood.”
It was an utterly self-serving statement.
But Lowell had known from the start that expecting anything else from the Crown Prince was futile, so he wasn’t disappointed.
‘Honestly, why does Robin even like this guy?’
Still, he couldn’t help but question Robin’s taste in men.
“I don’t know how long Felix’s feelings for me will last.”
It was absurd that he was revealing to the Crown Prince thoughts he hadn’t even shared with Felix himself.
“But I’ll do my best to maintain things as they are, so you don’t need to worry unnecessarily.”
“Good. I can’t afford any unpredictability from my biggest ally.”
Satisfied, the Crown Prince’s tone lightened.
“Still, I never imagined that rigid man could change like this. Did you cast some kind of spell on him?”
“I didn’t change him.”
“As if. Everyone says the fairy of the Clarke family bewitched the Grand Duke. Some even whisper that you’re controlling him with dark magic.”
There were plenty of factions eager to use Felix as a pawn, so rumors linking him to dark magic were bound to spread even further.
For now, the gossip revolved around Lowell, but eventually, the narrative would shift, placing emphasis on “black magic” itself.
However, fixing rumors across the entire capital was beyond Lowell’s ability.
‘That’s the Crown Prince’s problem to deal with.’
Lowell ignored the comment, deciding to simply focus on wrapping up this conversation as smoothly as possible.
“Felix changed on his own. If he had no will to do so, nothing would have happened.”
“So, you’re saying you had nothing to do with it?”
“I’m not denying that I had an influence. But no one can simply mold another person to their liking. Humans don’t change unless they choose to.”
It was as much a warning as it was a statement.
The Crown Prince had spent years scheming to shape Robin into the person he wanted.
But in the end, it would be the Crown Prince himself who changed.
This remark wouldn’t make him reform overnight, but Lowell hoped it might push him toward the right choice when the time came.
“That’s an interesting way to put it.”
That was all the Crown Prince said in response.
“Lowell.”
Just then, Felix returned, and Lowell immediately stood up.
The Crown Prince, as if he had never been there to begin with, fell silent.
The next morning, before the sun even rose, the Crown Prince left the castle.
‘Finally, I can breathe again.’
Or so Lowell thought—until things started to take an unexpected turn.
* * *
