The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 79

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 79
There had been no footsteps, no sound—so where had he come from?
One rigid arm wrapped around my stiffened waist, and a sharp jawline rose above my shoulder.
“I thought I’d go mad missing you.”
A voice sickeningly sweet reached my ear along with damp breath.
Only then did I understand.
‘Frederike was the bait.’
Thud.
A dull impact followed by searing pain as if my skull were shattering.
“Now I’ll protect you. No one will ever kill you again.”
Those words, laced with laughter, were the last thing I heard.
Then everything went black.
***
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling.
Not the Grand Cathedral, not Graupels, not the Emperor’s Bedchamber—some other ceiling entirely.
‘Damn it.’
Should I be grateful? If it had been the Emperor’s Bedchamber, I would have foamed at the mouth and convulsed.
When I thought about it, it made sense. Maximilian wasn’t Emperor yet.
So was this the bedroom of the First Prince’s Palace?
“Elise, you’re awake.”
At Maximilian’s voice, I squeezed my eyes shut again.
No, I’m not awake. I’m going back to sleep, so get out.
But when his hand pressed firmly against the center of my throat, my mouth opened involuntarily.
“Gack, cough—!”
“No pretending to sleep.”
I sat up immediately, coughing violently.
Insane bastard. Completely unhinged lunatic!
I glared at Maximilian, who sat perched on the bed wiping away my tears, his expression radiant with delight.
He wore a brighter smile than I’d ever seen.
“Does your head hurt? I’m afraid I had to hit you rather hard.”
“….”
It hurts. It’s still throbbing, you bastard.
Instead of responding, I quickly scanned the room.
This was clearly a bedroom I’d never entered before. Yet it didn’t seem to be from the First Prince’s Palace.
The room was slightly smaller, and the furnishings didn’t match the fashion of this era.
Maximilian gazed at me as though I were unbearably adorable and opened his mouth.
“This is an abandoned palace that’s no longer in use. Officially, that’s what people believe. But in reality, it’s also my personal workspace.”
“….”
Personal workspace.
Just hearing those words sent chills down my spine.
Now that I thought about it, I recalled hearing that before becoming Emperor, he had a private space where he could indulge his personal desires away from his retainers’ eyes.
In this life, I had walked straight into that very place.
‘Is Frederike… an accomplice to all these traps?’
The first note she sent. The hint from her lips. Her evasive manner that kept me anxious and desperate for a meeting.
Was it all a foundation laid for today’s abduction?
Something felt off, but that wasn’t what mattered now.
I knew how this would unfold. From my first life through my fourth, this was the tediously repeated pattern of my existence.
“…Um, Your Highness. I wish to return to the Second Prince’s Consort Palace.”
“That won’t do, Elise. Didn’t I promise to protect you? I can’t send you back to a place where even a single assassin slipped through.”
“…Then would it be acceptable to return to Graupels?”
“Haha, Elise.”
Maximilian reached out and seized my chin. Above his pale blue eyes, an indescribable madness churned and swirled.
“If you keep that up, I’ll have to punish you.”
“….”
Confinement. And domestication.
Maximilian’s specialty.
“…Yes. I’ll be careful.”
In other words, my specialty as well.
There was nothing to gain by provoking Maximilian’s mood now. I had to buy time however I could.
To slow the pace at which he defiled my body and soul.
Until those searching for me—who would find me never returning to the Princess Consort’s Palace—grasped at even the faintest thread of a clue.
To achieve that.
“…Um, Your Highness Maximilian.”
“Hmm?”
“How did you lure me to this place?”
Conversation.
I had to keep speaking so that boredom wouldn’t drive him to use me as immediate entertainment.
On topics that would hold his interest, if possible.
“Ah. You’re curious about that?”
Fortunately, rather than slapping my cheek for broaching a pointless subject, Maximilian tilted his head and laughed.
He seemed eager to boast of his success.
“You kept wanting to meet with Frederike, didn’t you? You were rejected three times, or so you said.”
As I suspected. Maximilian knew everything about my attempts to contact Frederike.
“When I asked Frederike, she said seeing your face would put her in a foul mood.”
This was one reason I had anticipated, though I hadn’t expected it to be true.
“I exploited that part a little. So I asked Frederike for a favor—to write a single note.”
“….”
Wait.
Then did Maximilian’s involvement only begin today?
The carrier pigeon I received before I even arrived in the Imperial Capital. And the shape of Frederike’s lips that I saw in the Audience Chamber.
Maximilian mentioned neither of those matters, as though he knew nothing of them at all.
My mind churned in confusion as his narrative continued unabated.
“I even tried using Hanna, Elise’s new attendant. When I had someone mention her affair with the Kitchen Master in the Guard Corps Headquarters’ reception room, I’m told her face went ashen.”
So Clara hadn’t been the only one to uncover that secret. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“I told her that if she did as instructed, I wouldn’t have the Kitchen Master’s limbs severed and sent to her family home.”
“….”
“She didn’t seem particularly clever, so I didn’t assign her anything difficult. I had her pass a note to Elise, claiming it came from a Guard, and instructed her to persuade Elise to resolve to meet with Frederike.”
“I see.”
The rest was predictable enough.
I harbored no anger toward Hanna. She was merely one of countless wretched souls, tossed about by those of higher station until death claimed her.
In the end, it was I who had stumbled into that foolish trap.
‘Yet it still isn’t over.’
Before silence could settle over the bedchamber, I broached the next subject.
“Then I’ve always wondered… does Your Highness truly favor me more than Lady Frederike?”
It was a provocative question, if one could call it that. In truth, I felt no curiosity whatsoever.
‘Besides, “favor” is hardly a word that applies to him.’
It was an even more inadequate term when applied to the relationship between Maximilian and myself.
Ordinarily, one doesn’t wish to grasp a favored person in their palm and destroy them to the very bone.
Yet the Maximilian of the past had said it countless times.
‘I love you most in this world, Elise.’
Pointing out that what he did was not love would have been meaningless.
But now it was better to cultivate the illusion that Maximilian and I were engaged in some sweet game of love.
‘So that Maximilian might be moved, even out of mere amusement, to play the part of an ordinary lover.’
Yet Maximilian’s lips curled upward as he responded.
“Elise always cares more about Frederike than about me.”
“What? No, that’s not quite…”
“The woman who once loved Rotar? Are you jealous?”
“….”
Damn. Was that it?
My mind went blank. I needed an excuse, anything—some explanation…
Then Maximilian released my chin.
He rose from his seat and spoke.
“Well, we can discuss that again when I return.”
“…W-where are you going?”
“The Imperial Palace has grown quite chaotic with Elise absent. There’s still cleanup to be done.”
“Ah….”
That absolute madman.
Not merely a Holy Maiden in name alone as before, but he’d actually abducted the Second Prince’s Consort—of course the Imperial Palace would be in an uproar!
“I’ll be back soon. You should wait here quietly, yes?”
“….”
“Answer me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Maximilian patted my head approvingly as I prostrated myself in obeisance, as though I were a favored hound basking in my master’s affection.
“Oh, and if you wish to avoid giving me cause for regret, don’t even think of touching that bedroom door.”
He flashed a sinister smile and departed, leaving his warning hanging in the air like a blade.
Click. The bedroom door closed, followed by the distinct sound of a lock being engaged.
Only after a considerable time had passed
“…Phew!”
did I finally release the breath I had been holding.
“Damn it, haah…”
Cold sweat drenched my brow and the nape of my neck.
I still trembled with fear of Maximilian—a terror I seemed powerless to overcome.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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