Staring blankly at Calisto's head, I belatedly asked what had happened.
“We... what happened? We fell off a cliff.”
“There was a waterfall at the bottom of the cliff. Thanks to the river, we didn't die and managed to survive.”
The crown prince, poking at the campfire with a twig, replied in an indifferent tone.
“When I carried you out, unconscious, I found this cave nearby.”
Only then did I look around more carefully.
We had built a campfire not far from the entrance.
The rain seemed to have stopped, but outside the entrance, the sky had darkened, making it impossible to see even a foot ahead.
The occasional refreshing sound of water was the only proof that there was a waterfall.
I turned my head again to look deeper into the cave.
It was quite deep, and the darkness beyond was pitch black.
‘What if this is the territory of a wild beast? Or snakes...’
Quite realistic thoughts flashed through my mind.
I fumbled for the crossbow lying beside me, but soon remembered that I had used up all the bolts to kill the assassins.
“It's not an animal's den.”
Noticing my anxious face, the crown prince added bluntly.
“I checked it out while you were asleep, and it was strangely empty.”
“...Do you know where we are?”
I asked the most important question first.
Even if we couldn't move because it was dark, we needed to get back as soon as possible when it was light.
I had hoped the crown prince, who came from the palace, would know, but he shook his head pitifully.
“We always held the hunting competition in the northern forest, but I didn't even know a place like this existed.”
I sighed.
‘There must be chaos by now.’
Thinking about the forest outside, which must have been turned upside down due to our disappearance, I looked at the crown prince with a troubled expression.
I saw a dried bloodstain on his shoulder, where he had been hit by an arrow.
At the same time, I recalled him being stabbed by the assassin's sword just before we fell off the cliff.
“Are you... okay?”
Even though I was almost killed by the assassin because of him...
I was still concerned that he had been injured in my place.
“Are you asking now? You should have asked earlier. I'm so touched I could cry.”
His sarcastic remark made me feel a bit embarrassed.
Actually, I wasn't particularly worried because I knew the main character wouldn't die.
“Did you get badly hurt? Let me see.”
“Don't bother.”
He coldly stopped me from getting up to check his wound.
“It didn't penetrate deeply because I was wearing armor. I just lost a little blood.”
I was relieved, but I couldn't help frowning at the mention of blood.
“We need to get back and get you treated...”
“Are you worried?”
“Of course.”
I replied sternly. Of course, I wasn't worried about him.
“Don't die in front of me.”
I was only worried about myself.
‘If you're going to die, do it somewhere else. Don't die in front of me...’
Muttering to myself, I raised my gaze.
He was looking at me with a strange expression.
Realizing that my words might have sounded odd to him, my face suddenly felt hot.
‘It sounded like I was telling him not to die at all!’
Feeling flustered, I quickly changed the subject.
“And...”
“...”
“Thank you for saving me, even though it's late.”
I had to acknowledge it, regardless of the damn quest.
I had to acknowledge that Calisto had been injured in my place.
Moreover, he hadn't abandoned me after we fell off the cliff and had carried me all the way here.
‘...Have we moved past the point where meeting him would be a disaster?’
I still vividly remembered the crazy guy who had threatened to cut my throat and bid me farewell.
As I looked at him again, I met his blood-red eyes.
He was still staring at me with an inscrutable expression.
Feeling a bit awkward, I turned my gaze away.
[Goodwill 27%]
My goodwill increased. He curled his lips into a smirk.
“If you're that grateful, make me fall in love with you again.”
I scowled at his relentless persistence.
“Are you going to say that again?”
“Isn't this the perfect opportunity for the princess to fall in love with me?”
“Not at all.”
I answered immediately. Then, feeling suffocated, I asked,
“Why are you so obsessed with hearing my reasons?”
His obsession had reached the point where he even sent a threatening letter demanding that I not forget the promise to tell him my reasons.
The crown prince looked even more incredulous at my question.
“I can't help but be curious and unable to bear it, wondering why the princess suddenly came to me and confessed her love out of the blue.”
“That...”
‘I tried to die once to see if the reset button would appear.’
I couldn't say that.
Feeling tears of frustration, I opened my mouth to avoid the crisis again.
“...I must have been out of my mind back then. I'm sorry, Your Highness.”
“Hmph.”
The crown prince sneered coldly.
“I waited for weeks for the poison to wear off just to hear that one reason, and now you suddenly change your attitude and dislike me. Wouldn't any princess feel wronged?”
I wanted to retort that it was his fault he was poisoned.
But I didn't want to recall that terrible memory again.
So I only corrected his excessive criticism.
“...I didn't say I disliked you.”
“Then do you still like me?”
“No!”
I shuddered and changed my words again.
“Then why don't you tell me why you suddenly started to dislike me?”
‘I could talk about that reason with you all day!’
But the crown prince grinned like a ghost, showing his teeth.
“That would be a great topic for a conversation in the palace's underground torture chamber for insulting the royal family. Wouldn't it?”
‘Scary kid...’
I was speechless and closed my mouth.
A chilly silence settled in the cave.
As I stared blankly at the flickering campfire, wondering how I ended up in this situation, he suddenly asked,
“...Why did you start to dislike me?”
“...What?”
“Why did your feelings suddenly change?”
“Isn't that insulting the royal family?”
“I'll let it slide this time, so tell me.”
I stared at him in disbelief, then scrunched up my face.
‘Does he really not know?’
If so, he was the worst person in the world.
“You tried to kill me.”
Since he said he would let it slide, I boldly stated the reason.
I had marked 'X' countless times in the game because of that.
I had suffered for days, plagued by nightmares.
I must have looked like a sick person, wrapping my neck in bandages, for even the duke and Derrick didn't scold me much.
“That...”
The crown prince looked unusually flustered at my words.
“I didn't really mean to kill you.”
‘X it.’
I couldn't say it out loud, so I just looked at him with my thoughts clearly visible in my eyes.
In the game, I had died so many times in the maze garden that I couldn't progress in the crown prince's route.
“I was in a really bad mood that day. I was so blind with anger that I would have drawn my sword at anyone who appeared in front of me.”
The crown prince, who had no way of knowing my thoughts, muttered defensively.
“But I found your confession interesting and decided to spare you, didn't I?”
“...I'm so honored that I'm trembling and crying, Your Highness.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No way.”
I turned my head away, replying curtly.
But the crown prince, undeterred by my attempt to end the conversation, pressed on.
“Then tell me why you fell in love with me.”
“Ha... I already told you.”
I sighed deeply and muttered in a tired voice.
“Because you are handsome, brave, and skilled with a sword...”
“Stop lying. Do you think I'm blind and deaf?”
The crown prince's red eyes flashed at my insincere attitude.
“Every time you see my face, you make that kind of expression, and now you expect me to believe this?”
“What's wrong with my expression?”
“You look like you've eaten dog poop.”
“...”
He saw it so clearly that I had nothing to say.
Seeing me at a loss for words, the crown prince spoke in a slightly softer tone.
“Tell me honestly. Did someone threaten to kill you if you didn't confess to me?”
I thought to myself.
‘It would be better if that were the case...’
I had no idea why I had said such things back then, and I didn't know what to answer even if he kept pressing me.
“...”
I met the crown prince's intense gaze, which seemed ready to shoot me, and finally confessed in a resigned tone.