Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince-Chapter 43 — Have You Looked at Yourself?

Hearing a knock, Lucian quickly turned to Keal.

"Hide," he commanded.

"But they can’t see me. You’re the only one who can... I am after all—" Keal chuckled, amusement clear in his voice.

"Leave," Lucian growled, interrupting the dark smoke hovering around him, his tone harsher.

"And you call me a monster. Have you looked at yourself?" Keal’s words struck a nerve.

Lucian clenched his fist in frustration. He hated to admit it, but Keal was right. He was just as monstrous.

"Your Highness! Are you alright?!" Dylan’s voice broke through the tense silence as he barged in. "That woman wouldn’t let anyone enter! Can you believe it?! She acts like she’s in her own kingdom. She should stay as if dead—"

Lucian glared at him, making the blonde-haired man cough awkwardly.

"I mean... she should behave properly. We won’t tolerate any villainous behaviour toward you, Your Highness!"

"Did she hurt you?" Adrian, who entered the hall briefly after Dylan, asked, his voice full of concern.

"No. We had matters to discuss, that’s all."

"For a week?" Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Did you two...?" His eyes narrowed, suspiciously.

Glain, who had entered with Adrian, carried a couple of papers in his hands. Although known for his serious demeanour, surprisingly he joined in with a joking tone.

"I didn’t know you were this wild, Your Highness... isn’t a week a little?.."

"What?" Lucian stared at them in disbelief, baffled by their demeanour.

"We’re all adults," Glain continued with a shrug. "But... doing it for a whole week? Isn’t that a little—"

"Shut up, all of you!" Lucian snapped, his face heating up in frustration. "It’s nothing like that."

Frustrated, he sat on his chair, looking up at the three men before him.

"Why did you three come at the same time?"

"Uhm... Adrian followed me," Dylan pointed towards the red-haired man.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Adrian glared at Dylan however, quickly pointed towards Glain, "And he followed me."

The three exchanged glances, failing to hide their subtle chuckles and smirks. Despite Lucian’s protests, they couldn’t help but think something had changed between him and that woman. What exactly had happened, though, remained a mystery.

"I’m asking seriously. If you have nothing to tell me, you might as well leave," Lucian picked up his quill, looking through the pile of papers he hadn’t gone through.

He couldn’t continue due to the strange unbearable pain he felt in his chest, different from his usual seizures. He believed it was because he had weak health ever since he was poisoned when he was younger, yet, the words Princess Cynthia told him stuck to his mind.

Did he really awaken magic? And it was merely because something chained his powers that they couldn’t emerge yet?

If the king knew... would I have been the crown prince?

With a bitter laugh, he shook his head.

No matter what, because of his bloodline, he wouldn’t have ever been the crown prince. Even if he were the strongest magician, or what he already was— a swordsmanship master; it didn’t matter. All his achievements were under the weight of his ’low bloodline,’ as the royal family members would say.

"I did come for a reason," Glain, Dylan and Adrian spoke in unison.

The three glared at each other, all wanting to speak to Lucian first.

Letting out a deep breath, Lucian pointed to his left.

"Let’s start with Glain because he is in a higher rank. Then it will be Adrian then Dylan."

Glain smirked, while Adrian curled his lips into a satisfied smile whereas Dylan scowled.

"But I arrived first," he mumbled.

"It cannot be helped," Adrian whispered and leaned against his ear, letting out a soft chuckle.

Feeling his breath against his nape, Dylan flinched, covering his neck.

"You..." He narrowed his eyes, suppressing his fury.

"I have investigated the poisoning thoroughly. It seems your suspicion was correct. That cook was the culprit. Although he tried to blame it on someone else, his story kept going astray from his previous statements. And soon, he became confused enough to speak the truth about his deeds," Glain statues, handing over the papers in his hands.

Lucian took the pile of papers in his hand and skimmed through them.

A faint smile appeared on his face, he was once again right.

[This obsession of yours...] Keal’s voice echoed in his mind.

Hearing so, the corner of his lips dropped and he put away the papers.

"Did he say who sent him?" He demanded.

"Unfortunately, he committed suicide. We made sure there won’t be any knives in the hall but... he used magic," Glain sighed, disappointed to have failed in finding out about the person who tried to poison his master.

"And what brings you here, Adrian?" Lucian raised an eyebrow.

"You told me to look after the monsters if you weren’t able to join, but it seemed the amount keeps increasing in the forest. Also..." he hesitated.

"Also?"

"Some strange things have been happening in the villages near the forest."

"Ah! I came here for that too!" Dylan exclaimed.

Lucian glared at the blonde-haired man who flinched once he felt the intense pressure of Lucian’s gaze.

"Y-You can continue," Dylan pursed his lips, lowering his head. "I apologize, Your Highness."

"It’s alright. So, you were saying?" Lucian’s emerald gaze shifted back to the red-haired man.

"Well, some people have been going missing... so I was thinking... as you said about the grand duchess— I mean Princess Cynthia—"

"Grand duchess," Lucian interrupted Adrian to correct him.

Although surprised by his statement, Adrian nodded.

"The grand duchess disappeared as well, right? I was wondering if these events and her event were related. Did she happen to tell you anything about it?"

"Well, all I know is that she was brought to a strange place. She told me it looked like some estate, with plain walls, and that’s all," Lucian recalled Cynthia’s words. "Although," he paused, looking at his subordinates.

"I think she might have hidden something from me."

"Then she could be involved! We can’t trust her. Maybe she tried to be a victim," Adrian stated, looking down at the man seated before him.

"I agree that is a possibility, however, we can’t blame her without evidence," Lucian nodded in agreement.

"Give me some time. I will try to investigate her further."

"But don’t you hate the sight of her?" Dylan asked, his face filled with worry for his master.

"But the lives of a lot of people are in my hands. Am I supposed to care about my preferences and let them die? As their landlord, I can’t do that," Lucian pressed elbows on his desk, interlocking his fingers as he placed his chin on his fingers, gazing up at his knights.

"You have also sworn loyalty to me. I hope you respect that and stay within your limits," Lucian’s eyes flickered a faint golden, however, it quickly shifted to emerald, and the three men barely noticed the shift.

"I understand, Your Highness," the three knelt on the ground, placing her right hand on their chest, and bowing their head.

"You are dismissed," Lucian commanded, waving his hand at them.

With a nod, the knights left the study room, leaving the dark-haired young man alone in the hall.

"It seems things aren’t as simple as they seem," Lucian sighed, slumping his head between his hands.

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