The Prince Who Loved Me - Chapter 86

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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 86

* * *

Bada called Lea to inform her that she would be having dinner with Jacob before returning, and after receiving permission, she headed to his guest cottage.

The lodge, which was in the form of a small annex, also had a kitchen with an old-fashioned design.

Jacob said he would cook dinner himself and took out cans of Kraft Heinz mac and cheese and mushroom soup from the cupboard.

When the cooked food was placed on the table, Bada chuckled.

“What? You said you’d cook something delicious, but it’s instant mac and cheese?”

“To reminisce about old memories. Here, and I have a secret weapon.”

Soon Jacob opened a can of kimchi he had brought from the refrigerator, and Bada cheered.

“Oh my! When did you bring this?”

“Haha, you always said you needed kimchi to cut through the greasiness.”

“You remembered that?”

“Well, this may be too simple a meal for someone who will become Crown Princess. Please enjoy it.”

“Thank you, Jacob. I’ll eat well.”

Bada took a spoonful of the yellow mac and cheese with its savory cheese aroma and put it in her mouth, then bit into the crispy kimchi. Jacob watched her with satisfaction.

“It’s really delicious eating this after so long.”

“That’s a relief. You can never eat stuff like this at the palace, right?”

“Of course, it’s a complete delicacy.”

“So, how’s life in the new place?”

Smiles bloomed on both their faces as they chatted about various things.

During the conversation, Jacob casually asked.

“You’re not having any difficulties?”

“Yeah, well, adapting to a new environment isn’t easy, but I’m doing okay.”

He scraped the remaining mac and cheese chunks with his spoon and let out a low sigh.

“…You are happy, right?”

Bada flinched at his eyes filled with worry. As if he knew something.

“Why do you keep asking that? Do I not look okay to you, Jacob?”

“I don’t know. You and this place… somehow don’t match.”

“What?”

“I’m not saying you lack the qualities to become Crown Princess. You’re someone who can do anything if you set your mind to it. But I can’t really imagine you living in a stuffy place like the royal court.”

Bada was surprised that he was suddenly saying such things, but tried to act nonchalant as she asked.

“Hey, then what would suit me?”

Jacob, who had been lost in thought for a moment, spoke up.

“A life of freedom on vast ranches, wearing checkered shirts and jeans instead of dresses, being chased by packs of dogs instead of paparazzi.”

Seriousness and desperation filled Jacob’s eyes. Soon his expression contorted as if in pain.

“Do you really not know why I came here?”

“…Jacob.”

Jacob shook his head and laughed as if he found himself ridiculous.

“What crazy person would gamble on bringing a horse that won the Kentucky Derby all the way to Europe? I came to see you, Bada.”

“…”

“You can say I’ve lost my mind and I wouldn’t argue. But if I let you get married without confessing my feelings, I felt like I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”

Bada, who had been unable to speak for a while, slowly opened her mouth.

“…I don’t know how things got so tangled up. Do you remember that day a few years ago?”

“I remember. Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot since that day. Whether I was being inconsiderate and burdening my sister’s friend, whether I was making foolish assumptions all by myself.”

“…”

“Father wanted me to marry early and start a family before taking over the business. But you were very young, Bada, and didn’t seem to want a settled life. So I had the foolish thought that maybe if I got engaged to another woman, I could erase my thoughts of you.”

“…So that’s what happened.”

“It didn’t take long for me to realize I had made a huge mistake. The day I went north to confess my feelings to you, I found out you had already left for Korea.”

“…”

“I felt pathetic. So I thought I’d come find you with dignity after winning the Derby with a horse named after you.”

Jacob continued with a trembling voice.

“Bada, the person I truly love is you. Then, and now.”

Bada looked at him with confused eyes.

In the darkness, tears were already glistening in Jacob’s eyes as he confessed his love.

* * *

Damien was leaning against the sofa in his office, swirling a crystal glass.

It was already 10 PM, but Bada still hadn’t returned home.

Just as he was swallowing his anxiety and running his fingers through his disheveled hair, he heard a car engine outside the window.

Soon Lea entered the office and reported on the Crown Prince’s fiancée’s activities.

“After double-checking, it appears the Lady did indeed visit the royal stables on Her Majesty the Queen’s orders. It rained on the way back, so she had a simple dinner at MacAllister’s guest cottage.”

The moment MacAllister’s name was mentioned, Damien’s face hardened instantly.

Damien suppressed his anger that made him want to burn down that damn guest cottage immediately and said.

“I see. Good work, you may go.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As Lea disappeared, he approached the console table, picked up the whiskey bottle, and muttered.

“Just what insane person invited MacAllister to the Derby…”

Suddenly, Damien stopped his hand and narrowed his eyes.

‘The perpetrator was Her Majesty the Queen.’

After the Queen had summoned Bada to Windmere Palace to reprimand her, Damien had threatened her.

‘Ordering my fiancée around as you please should be the last time.’

Beatrice had smiled while swallowing her anger.

‘Let’s see just how far you can act so selfishly, Damien.’

His eyes sank with a cold light like the cloudy North Sea.

To systematically invite MacAllister to the Sovereign Derby and even set up a situation for Bada and him to naturally encounter each other. She really was quite the cupid of love.

Creating circumstances to achieve her purpose and watching from afar until the target fell into the trap was exactly something Beatrice would do.

Blue veins bulged on Damien’s forehead.

The thought of Bada being manipulated by his cunning mother made his anger surge.

Damien stared at the light turning on in Bada’s bedroom window in the distance.

The moment Bada’s silhouette appeared by the window, he clenched his fist as if grasping her in his grip.

Then everything he had been agonizing over became ridiculously clear.

‘This won’t do. I can’t let you go.’

All this time, he had been wavering at the thought that Bada’s sacrifice by his side was inevitable.

Maybe it would be right to let her go freely. That might make her happier than becoming the last Crown Princess of a crumbling royal family.

But thanks to the unwelcome guest MacAllister, the answer to that question became clear.

‘I never intended to let you go willingly from the moment I brought you here.’

Come to think of it, it was ridiculous.

Since when had he been such a gentleman who deeply considered others’ circumstances?

That was only possible when he had leisure, but now his whole body ached with jealousy and he was going crazy.

Contract engagement?

If he had been in his right mind, he never would have made such an absurd proposal.

That was just his selfish desire to tie you to his side and bind you, packaged nicely.

Because I’d die without you by my side.

During that month apart from you, I felt like a cold buoy drifting alone in the vast ocean.

So you need to stay by my side, think of it as saving a person’s life.

After acknowledging the true feelings I had tried so hard to ignore, my mind felt refreshingly clear with a sense of liberation.

Let you go? For whose benefit?

Damien let out a bitter laugh like someone who had lost his mind.

Suddenly, the rain that had briefly lessened began pouring down again.

It was a fierce rain that seemed ready to swallow Windswood House whole.

Raindrops that came through the open window splashed on his face, but Damien remained motionless like a stone statue.

‘Just live with me in this hell. I’ll do better.’

Before long, a deep shadow had fallen across his face.

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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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