Shocking rumors spread through the Imperial Palace.
The third prince, who was like a ghost, brought in a woman and a child to the palace.
āWho said they saw a woman and a child enter the third princeās palace?ā
A maid, who was heading toward the back door with the laundry, whispered.
āThe third prince was stuck in his palace, and never came out. But suddenly he has a girl?
A lightly freckled maid murmured in disbelief.
As she said, few people had seen the third prince.
Rumor had it that he didnāt show up because he was an ugly man who you couldnāt see with your eyes open.
But what did she mean? The prince had a woman and a child. Did they fall from the sky?
āYou didnāt mistake it for another nobleās child, did you?ā
āEveryone can tell that heās a child of the royal family.ā
Everyone shut up at the other maidās words.
They wondered what kind of woman bewitched the third prince.
No matter how much she dreamt of raising her status, how could she give birth to a child of the third prince, an ugly lunatic.
āIs she from Imperial City?ā
āI heard they came in by carriage.ā
Then that meant that she wasnāt from the Imperial City, but an outsider.
One person, who was listening silently, asked quietly.
āSo what will happen to the child?ā
āIf they donāt get married, heāll have the same fate as the third prince.ā
She meant that as an illegitimate child, he would be pushed into the corner of the imperial family.
As they were talking about the third prince, a maid gasped and lowered her head in a hurry.
The maids who were in the Imperial Palace bowed their heads together.
It seemed like a person with a high rank was about to pass by.
The girls were restless in case the stories they talked about had flowed out.
The maid, who lowered her head first, raised her eyes and looked around.
Another maid asked with a very curious look.
Usually, this route was not used by nobles or royal family members of high rank.
āI donāt know. But looking at the golden hair, it looks like heās from the imperial familyā¦.ā
Her eyes followed the person who had already disappeared and muttered as if she had lost her mind.
āBut he was a veryā¦ beautiful person.ā
āIs he the Crown Prince?ā
She shook her head. She spent 10 years in the Imperial Palace, there was no way she couldnāt recognize the Crown Princeās face.
After agonizing for a long time, she could only conclude that he must be a member of the imperial family.
So while talking, the girls went back to the laundry room.
On his way to the back gate, Yerhan heard the voices of the chattering maids.
Usually what the maids were talking about just passed in and out of his ears, but this time he listened to it clearly.
They were talking about Rosena and Illian.
Yerhan let the maids chatter as they pleased.
Rather, he is sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the rumor to spread.
When the rumor spreads and everyone finds out, there will be no way for Rosena to escape.
Yerhan looked back at the path he had walked with a calm face.
Then he stared at his palace where Rosena was staying.
7 years. It had been a hell of a long time.
It had already been seven years since he lost her and entered the Imperial Palace by himself.
Yerhan worked like a dog under the emperor.
He traveled around the empire to defeat the monsters, and secretly purged those who opposed the imperial family.
Yerhan fulfilled the emperorās orders without ever going to official events as a member of the imperial family.
And in return, the emperor offered Yerhan power.
He gathered some of the best knights in the empire and created a squad.
During such expeditions around the continent, Yerhan never forgot Rosena.
Rosena was all over his head, even when he cut through the monsters, or when his life was in danger.
For a long time, Yerhan lived in regret.
When that woman disappeared, everyday was a time of self-reflection for Yerhan.
He should have been nicer, pretended to be pitiful, he shouldnāt have left when she fell asleepā¦
A series of regrets swallowed him.
He pursued Rosena more persistently than anyone else.
But she was like smoke, and he never got hold of her.
For seven years, he had repeatedly gained expectations and been frustrated countless times.
A lot of time passed and a thought suddenly dominated Yerhan.
Maybe she was not in the empire.
Maybe that night he went mad and hallucinated, or maybe there was no woman named Liden in the first placeā¦..
It really drove him crazy to think like that.
Embracing his longings, Yerhan went on an expedition to defeat the monsters.
And when he visited a local county, he saw a piece of paper on the wall.
The person painted on the paper was none other than Liden.
Yerhan ripped the paper off and engraved the portrait in his eyes over and over again.
At the bottom of the painting was a brief statement saying that it was looking for a countās daughter, Rosena Estarot.
Her name was Rosena Estarot, who looked so much like Liden.
Yerhan looked at the portrait and realized.
The woman he was looking for wasnāt an illusion.
Yerhan cherished the piece of paper that had been randomly attached to the wall.
Then a few weeks ago, Yerhan came across some information while touring a local town.
ā I told you I made a huge fortune. A woman told me to let her in and gave me gold.
ā Gold? Isnāt she either a runaway slave or a criminal?
ā I donāt think so. She looked pretty cute.
ā What did she look like to be described as cute?
ā Hm, she had red hair and dark red eyes. Red hair isnāt that common, is it?
Yerhanās body hardened as he was listening to their conversation.
Eating quietly in the corner of the restaurant, he rose silently from his seat and approached them.
ā Iād like to hear the story in detail.
The guards told Yerhan what he knew.
A few days ago, a woman with red hair passed by around here.
Starting from there, as he chased step by step, clues began to be put together one by one like a puzzle.
She was heading for the capital.
It was not clear whether the woman was Rosena.
But Yerhan began to chase her without any hesitation.
Yerhan and the knights forwent sleep, and searched for her in every nook and cranny of the capital.
And he ran immediately to the words that someone saw someone who looked almost like her.
Numerous thoughts passed by while riding a horse.
What if it was not her again this time? What should he talk about if it was her?
But the moment he met Rosena, only one thought filled his head.
He has to catch her at all costs.
Yet Rosena pushed Yerhan away.
It felt like he was being robbed of his chest with a sword.
It hurt to even breathe, but he couldnāt lose her again.
Then a child in Rosenaās arms caught his eyes.
Everyone who saw him would say that the child looked like him.
As he felt dizzy, what happened that night passed by his eyes.
The child was the result of him and Rosena.
Yerhan quickly examined the childās condition.
As expected, the child was suffering from the same disease as he did.
He decided to take advantage of the child.
ā If you leave him like this, heāll never wake up.
Rosena was visibly shaken by Yerhanās words, and in the end she held Yerhanās hand.
Yerhan deliberately took Rosena and the child through the main gate of the Imperial Palace.
Heād never used the main gate, but this time it was an exception.
He had planned to cut as many holes as possible to prevent Rosena from escaping.
The more people find out about Rosena and the child, the less holes she can get out of.
Yerhan is not going to repeat the same mistake.
After a day, everyone knew about Rosenaās and the childās existence.
Yerhan used that as an excuse to urge Rosena to choose.
Leaving the child alone, or marrying him.
Yerhan was convinced, though he gave her a choice.
That weak-hearted Rosena couldnāt leave the child alone.
And as he had expected, she chose to marry him.
However, the condition that followed was something that Yerhan did not think of.
ā When the child grows up, letās get divorce.
Yerhanās expression collapsed when he heard the word divorce.
He couldnāt keep the expressionless mask on his face intact anymore.
Divorce? That was not acceptable.
The insidious and fierce desires were overflowing inside Yerhan.
Heād always wanted Rosena for so long that it felt like he was going to hurt her because there was too much emotion coming out.
Yerhan tried his best to cover his face.
And he spit out things that heād rather die than saying it.
Instead, he decided to change the route.
If she didnāt love him now, Yerhan thought of winning her love little by little.
ā Pretend to be a good couple. Because I want to be a good father to my child as much as I wasnāt able to.
He would even sell his soul just to hold her.