The Prince Who Loved Me - Chapter 51

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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 51

“Sigh…”

Recalling her wounded eyes made his chest tighten. A sudden wave of self-loathing washed over him.

‘I wanted to protect you. Why did such harsh words come out?’

He slumped into his chair and massaged his temples with his thumbs.

Perhaps all of this was anger and frustration directed at himself for dragging Bada into this situation.

Canceling all the house tours was for her safety.

Who knew if those targeting her would attempt terrorism once rumors spread that the prospective crown princess was personally conducting house tours?

It might be his excessive paranoia, but for now, Bada’s safety was the top priority.

Also, seeing Bada unable to sleep until dawn, replying to letters, made him uncomfortable.

He felt guilty for pushing Bada, who was already overly responsible by nature, into unnecessary hardship.

At the same time, he worried she might get hurt by people later on.

He too had received thousands of letters from citizens throughout his life. The letters expressed passionate affection that resembled fan mail.

He had always maintained a rebellious prince image, but that didn’t mean public opinion about him was particularly bad.

Rather, girls his age admired that image and even wrote fan fiction about him.

However, after ‘that incident,’ he became a target of media attacks.

The culprit was a tabloid article claiming he had brutally assaulted classmates during high school.

The truth was this.

The high school he attended was a top prestigious institution where children of nobility and prominent families studied, like England’s Eton College.

But due to conservative and strict school rules, there were often children who engaged in deviant behavior.

At the time, there was a group of aristocratic children who moved around in a gang, and they severely bullied one particularly gentle male student.

Despite Damien’s continuous warnings, their school violence became more vicious day by day.

One day, they tricked that male student into drinking urine from a plastic bottle, telling him it was white wine.

Damien could still picture that scene clearly. The male student who mistakenly drank urine and vomited everything in his stomach onto the corridor.

And the demons who laughed hysterically while urging him to eat what he had vomited again.

When Damien began to stop them, a fight broke out. Then one of the gang members spat at Damien.

‘So what if you’re a prince? You’re just a second-in-command who’ll spend his life cleaning up after Princess Charlotte anyway. Instead of standing around like a folding screen your whole life, why don’t you try poisoning her, Wexley?’

The moment he heard those words, Damien lost his reason.

When he came to his senses, three aristocratic children were unconscious, beaten to a pulp.

One of them had lost sight in one eye and needed a prosthetic eye implanted.

The gossip magazines excitedly reported Damien’s assault incident on a large scale.

The background of the incident was completely omitted, and Damien was portrayed as a thug incapable of anger management.

Even his psychiatric treatment records were leaked, spreading rumors that he suffered from schizophrenia.

It was merely counseling he had received to treat trauma from being kidnapped as a child, but this was exaggerated and inflated.

Moreover, instead of stepping forward to clarify this, the royal family actually exploited the situation.

The King and Queen crafted their image as virtuous parents who disciplined and made their delinquent son reflect. Charlotte, though unintentionally, was praised as an excellent heir to the throne in comparison to her younger brother.

The perpetrators from aristocratic families also used their backgrounds as weapons to deflect blame onto Damien.

Since Damien was the second-in-line with low chances of inheriting the throne, he was an easy target for attack.

After that, Damien received letters filled with all kinds of profanity.

Some were even written in pig’s blood, making them eerily disturbing.

Although the people were currently friendly toward Bada, the situation could change at any time.

The most painful thing was experiencing people who once genuinely supported you turning their backs.

Just imagining Bada going through such an experience because of him made Damien’s body tremble.

‘So it’s better to make sure people don’t have expectations in the first place.’

He steadied his breathing and picked up his fountain pen again.

Soon, the scratching sound of the pen nib filled the quiet office.

* * *

After that day’s confrontation, an awkwardness settled between the two.

Even when they sat facing each other for meals, long silences would often flow.

The servants didn’t show it outwardly, but they seemed to sense the unusual atmosphere.

Everyone was clearly being careful not to upset Damien’s mood.

Living under the same roof but having become less than roommates to each other left Bada feeling bitter.

Whenever she happened to encounter Damien in the corridor, he would simply greet her like a stranger and pass by.

Bada would sometimes deliberately pass by Damien’s office when moving around. But he was so busy that he never showed himself outside his office.

Moreover, for the past few days, it had been difficult to see him even at dinner.

Since Windswood House was so vast, it seemed possible they might never encounter each other again for the rest of their lives.

This evening too, Bada sat alone at the dining table waiting for Damien.

When the clock hand on the wall pointed to 8 PM, a servant gently asked.

“It seems His Highness will be late again today. Shall I bring your meal first, my lady?”

“He came home at 8:30 last Tuesday too. So I’ll wait a little longer.”

“Then shall I bring you a bit more aperitif?”

“Yes, please.”

Bada sipped the lemon-flavored aperitif the servant brought her. While doing so, she quietly stared at the empty chair positioned across from her.

A self-deprecating laugh escaped her.

‘What am I expecting?’

Looking at the empty chair made her heart feel desolate and lonely. It was as if she had been stood up on a date.

Bada shifted her gaze to look out the window.

It had been drizzling continuously since the day she had that confrontation with Damien.

It was the typical weather of northwestern Europe – damp and cool.

The moisture-laden air blowing from the Dover Strait, the gray sky, and the hazy pearl-colored sunlight naturally made anyone fall into contemplation.

As a result, Bada’s mood also sank.

‘Actually, Damien did nothing wrong. He made it clear from the beginning that this was all a contract. It’s my fault for still harboring feelings.’

It was strange.

When she closed her eyes, the memories from Bali were still vivid, but when she opened them, those memories felt like they were from a previous life.

‘To be honest, the reason I agreed to this contract was because I wanted to be by Damien’s side.’

Of course, there was also the matter of paying off debts and taking responsibility for the lost ring, but ultimately, the biggest reason was her desire to keep him close and watch over him.

Even knowing that pretending to be his fake fiancée by his side would someday return as a greater wound.

Yet she couldn’t stop. She felt like she would wither and die if she couldn’t see him right away.

Acknowledging her true feelings made her feel pathetic.

‘Crossing the entire ocean because of a man. I must be completely insane.’

Bada let out a bitter smile and signaled to the servant.

It was a signal to bring dinner now.

That day, a truffle dish that the chef had prepared with utmost care was served on her table.

The dish was exceptionally excellent, but the aftertaste was bitter.

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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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