The Prince Who Loved Me - Chapter 33
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33
Damien took it and quickly skimmed through the contract while scrolling down.
Suddenly, he smiled when he saw the compensation amount she had written herself.
“600 million.”
Bada stared at him.
‘Did I write too shamelessly high an amount when I even lost the ring?’
But then, he picked up the pen on the table and added one more zero at the end of the amount Bada had written.
When Bada’s eyes widened at this sight, he said nonchalantly.
“Do you think that’s all your worth amounts to?”
“….”
“I hope the day comes when my fiancée properly evaluates her own worth.”
He gathered the tablet PC and offered a handshake.
“I’m counting on you, Bada.”
The moment she grasped his large, warm hand, her heart fluttered for some reason.
Remembering that this was the very hand that had once touched her entire body made her feel strange.
“…Me too.”
At the same time, Bada felt suspicious about the burdensome large amount.
6 billion.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
At least that’s what Bada thought.
No matter how much he was a crown prince who would inherit tens of trillions in assets, 6 billion wasn’t exactly a small amount, was it?
There must be some calculation behind it.
‘…What did I know when I signed this?’
On the other hand, Damien’s expression looked much more relieved.
Bada couldn’t shake the impression that he looked exactly like a ruthless M&A specialist who had just closed a long-awaited deal.
Bada watched him quietly as he put the tablet PC into his leather bag, then asked.
“But why River Grant of all names?”
“….”
“Your fake name, I mean. Why that one specifically?”
“It’s just an alias I’ve used occasionally when needed for a long time. When going on vacation, or when I didn’t want my identity discovered.”
When Damien averted his gaze as if trying to hide something, Bada tilted her head.
‘But if you’re going to use an alias, shouldn’t you pick something less conspicuous? That name meaning ‘river’ is too flashy.’
Honestly speaking, she still felt like she should call him ‘River.’ The name Damien felt awkward.
“Then what about Lancaster? Why was Lancaster’s alias Morgan?”
“Ah, it wasn’t an alias, I just gave him that name.”
Then suddenly a mischievous smile crossed his face, and River’s smiling face overlapped with his.
At that sight, Bada unconsciously bit her lips.
“Lancaster has been in charge of my security for a very long time. Do you know what Lancaster set as my security codename?”
“What was it?”
He let out a languid sigh and said.
“Royal Jelly.”
Upon hearing this, Bada burst into laughter.
Usually, codenames for male security subjects used words that sounded strong and dignified.
Like Bill Clinton’s Eagle or Donald Trump’s Mogul.
In contrast, the name Royal Jelly brought to mind a yellow container filled with honey.
It might have suited little Prince Damien’s codename, but it didn’t suit him at all now.
“Well, you are royal, so it’s not wrong. So you gave Lancaster the feminine name Morgan as revenge?”
“Yeah. More precisely, it’s the name of a royal administrator who doesn’t get along well with Lancaster. It was quite entertaining to secretly watch that retired naval officer-like man frown every time you called him Morgan.”
“Really now. Such a prankster. But Royal Jelly is really cute. Should I call you that from now on?”
“Oh dear, I shouldn’t have told you.”
The moment Damien smiled, their gazes intertwined for several seconds.
As if time and space had stopped for a moment, he looked at her smiling while receiving the white sunlight pouring through the window.
In that moment, his instinctively hardened gaze softened. His eyes, which had been wandering over her facial features, moved toward the outfit she was wearing.
A pressed-down baseball cap and training clothes.
She’s relying on her beauty and dressed carelessly again. Well, she’s still troublingly pretty even like that.
“….”
Suddenly realizing he had been staring at her for too long, he cleared his throat and turned his steps.
* * *
After finishing the contract, Damien finally let out a sigh of relief.
He ran his hand through his hair and thought.
‘I don’t know if this is the best method either. But at least this way, I won’t have to see your corpse.’
A month ago.
More precisely, the dawn of the day he disappeared.
In fact, Damien had received an urgent call from an informant.
‘Your Highness! The contact’s boat exploded at sea. It seems the other side caught on. We need to destroy the evidence, so you must leave here immediately.’
Upon hearing this news, Damien despaired.
Obsidian appeared on the surface to be a cutting-edge security consulting company shrouded in secrecy.
But in reality, it was a terrifying organization involved in the weapons industry, engaging in information warfare and chemical warfare, and even manipulating governments.
He had been digging for insider information from that organization to uncover the truth behind Charlotte’s death.
But coincidentally, the contact’s boat that was supposed to secretly exchange information had exploded.
‘Damn it.’
It was clear that Obsidian had noticed suspicious circumstances and blown up the boat.
While he was frozen by the shocking news, the informant urged him again through the receiver.
‘Your Highness! You must leave this place immediately. You cannot delay even for a moment.’
In information warfare, when one’s identity and location were discovered, the priority was to leave in the shortest time possible and destroy evidence.
‘But… what about Bada?’
Damien stared at Bada sleeping unknowingly in the darkness.
The moment he saw her face, a terrifying fear consumed him.
‘If I stay here, Bada will be in danger because of me too.’
He thought about waking her up immediately to explain, but time was of the essence.
To explain, he would first have to reveal that he was a prince, and he would also have to disclose the secret that he was pursuing his sister’s death.
He couldn’t tell her. The moment he shared the secret, Bada would become his accomplice and fall into irreversible danger.
Though he couldn’t bear to take a step away, it was obvious that the longer he delayed, the worse the situation would become.
‘I’m sorry, Bada. Once the situation is sorted out, I’ll come find you again.’
He hastily left a note for Bada, earnestly asked Lancaster to protect Bada’s safety, then hurriedly returned to Bernhardt.
Then he stayed quiet for a while, observing the movements around him.
Who on earth could have committed such an act?
Since the organization’s tentacles reached into Bernhardt’s upper class, he had to be extremely careful.
While outwardly pretending to be a crown prince returning from vacation, his mind was filled entirely with worry about Bada.
He could no longer imagine a life without her.
It seemed he would have to keep her by his side.
Even as he searched for a suitable method, he would scold himself for having such selfish thoughts.
In the midst of this, an unexpected incident occurred. A scandal article about the two of them was published.
He thought he had thoroughly hidden the fact that he was in Bali. It was a misjudgment.
Perhaps Obsidian had deduced that it was Damien who had orchestrated the contact.
Come to think of it, it was strange.
No matter how much a tabloid made money by selling royal stories, industry common sense dictated that they would negotiate with the royal family first before revealing a scandal of this magnitude to the public.
This meant they had backing powerful enough that they weren’t afraid of offending a successor to the throne.
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
‘Perhaps Obsidian was behind the scandal. As a warning… directed at me.’
At that thought, the blood in his entire body ran cold.
His mind was going crazy with worry about Bada.
Obsidian might be mistakenly thinking that Bada was involved in the incident.
Moreover, given her fluent English skills and exceptionally outstanding appearance, it wouldn’t be strange if Obsidian suspected her of being an international spy.
If his speculation was correct, Obsidian wouldn’t hesitate to kidnap and torture her to extract information.
Bada was innocent. It was entirely his responsibility for dragging her into this affair.
So he had to resolve it.
But how?
Secretly assigning people to watch over her had its limits.
After much deliberation, one solution came to his mind.
He could keep Bada by his side by pretending she was his fiancée.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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