Chapter 6

All the spies planted around the crown prince are kicked out. Ancia fired a large number of senior servants and courtiers. The Duke of Cassil and his half-brother Frank were furious. But Richard smiled inwardly.

Not only did the spy they had planted are kicked out, but all his father’s spies disappeared. The result was a gain. The maid, who had been aiding Blake, was a good card, but he had a better card left. It was ‘Ancia’ who became the Crown Princess.

Ancia liked Richard. She found herself glancing at him now and then. Coaxing Ancia, a little girl who longed for familial love, was a piece of cake. When Ancia heard she would be married off to the Crown Prince, she attempted suicide out of desperation. Lamentably, she managed to survive and lived the rest of her hellish life with the Monstrous Crown Prince.

It was simple to seduce a little girl who was in loneliness and despair. If you could make a puppet of the Crown Princess, it would be more effective than planting ten spies. Richard smiled lightly and headed to the Crown Prince’s palace.

“Ancia, you’re nice, so you understand my heart, right? You love me.”

Is there anything else as easy as winning the heart of a girl thirsty for affection?

Richard made a sad face and laughed at Ancia inwardly. But his prediction was off for once. Her eyes, were full of irritation towards Richard instead.

Richard was shocked.

Has she always looked that pretty?

In fact, she was always pretty. The social circle noted Diana’s bright refreshing beauty at an early age, but in fact, Ancia’s features were much more prominent than Diana’s, making her appear more beautiful.

However, her face express her timid personality underneath, longing for affection. It made her appeared wretched, seeming like a jewel that lost its light.

But now she looked like a completely different person. With her beautiful appearance and imposing dignity, she was not just a ten-year-old girl, but the perfect ‘crown princess.’

I thought she was just one of the women who liked him. I thought she was a stupid girl who became a princess and became a little more useful.

“Ancia, are you still angry?”

Richard somehow became impatient and took Ancia’s hand. But his hand was soon seized. It was Blake, the Crown Prince.

‘How dare you touch this body when you’re just a monster.’

Richard did not believe the rumor that the heir of the curse will transmit their curse to another, but he did not intend to be close to a cursed monster with no value, Richard angrily tried to strike Blake’s hand. At that moment, Blake’s body spewed out a powerful force. Through his hand, a mana burst out, as if it was ready to pierce Richard’s body.

“Get lost.”

As soon as Blake let go of his hand, Richard left the palace. After returning to the mansion, he looked at his hand.

It’s been one hour since he left the palace, but his hands still haven’t stopped shaking. What happened? How can he use this powerful force for a cursed monster?

What did the Emperor do? Although the emperor pretended to ignore the crown prince, he knew that he was trying hard to lift his son’s curse.

He may have found some way. Richard shook his head, that can’t be it…

Emperor Tensteon left for the valley of Chaos to seal the gate of darkness. Even if he wanted to release his son’s curse, He didn’t have time for it.

He didn’t have time to do that even if he wanted to. Looking back at his hands, Richard recalled what had happened in the palace. The curse sentence that covered the crown prince’s hand remained the same. Perhaps it was not the use of power, but simply the energy that the curse sprouted.

“Richard, she’s no longer a Lady, She’s the Crown Princess.”

He glared at Richard and proudly expressed his intention. The Crown Prince has changed. Something fundamental has changed as well as his use of power. Is it because of Ancia? Did Ancia’s presence affect the monster?

At that moment Richard’s crimson eyes flashed with a deep possessiveness.

Interesting,…

Richard thought of himself as a man without greed. He’s never been interested in anything except for wanting to become the Emperor ever since he was young. But today,

‘Ancia.I wanted the girl.’

***

The next day, Richard sent me a gift with a letter saying he was sorry.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Did I look worth using? Are you trying to seduce me, making a spy of the Crown Prince?

I need to refuse more firmly. So, I sent back his presents and letters.

Melissa said it was polite not to refuse the letter, but it seemed that arrogant son of a bitch would finally give up if I send back his letters too.

Yet, another gift arrived the next day, and the day after. I kept refusing. Rather than cutting off the gifts, the scale grew bigger.

“Your Highness, Richard has sent you another gift,”

“No need tell me everytime, just say no.”

He was attacking me with gifts every single day.

“I tried too, but I heard it’s a valuable treasure.”

“Treasure?”

“Yes. It’s a ring made of mermaid’s breath.”

He’s crazy. I almost spat out a curse without realizing it.

‘The breath of a mermaid’ was a mana stone with the power of the sea, a jewel that looked like a pearl.

In the original story, Richard gave Diana ‘The Breath of the Mermaid,’ a rare treasure. But why is he giving this to me instead?

Your eyes must have been shrouded just because you wanted to plant a spy in the Crown Prince’s palace.

To be honest, I wondered what ‘the breath of mermaid’ looked like. It was a jewel that was praised for its beauty in the novel.

“I don’t need it. Tell him not to send again because I will not accept anything.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Hans went out with a big smile. He told me that the present had arrived, but he seemed happy to refuse.

***

Hans felt good.

It’s been happy days since Ancia came.

Warm light began to pour into the Crown Prince’s palace. Although he was nervous for a moment because Richard showed interest in the Crown Princess, she flatly refused Richard’s gifts and letters.

Rather than condescending to the rare treasures, she was rather annoyed. Ancia pass her days peacefully, she devoured various books, and made delicious dishes that were bizarre.

At night, she fell asleep holding the crown prince’s hands tightly, she also help the prince take a bath. She didn’t care about Prince Richard’s blatant courtship.

Hans, Melissa, and Edon saw that and vowed once again to be loyal.

‘But I didn’t know she’d refuse the breathe of mermaids.’

I can’t believe she doesn’t even look at the treasure, which is less than thirty in amount, even if you search the whole world.

Hans, with tears of emotion in his heart, prepared a refreshment for the Crown Prince.

He cracked a smile as soon as he saw the boy.

“Your Highness, what brings you to the kitchen?”

The Crown Prince rarely came out of his bedroom. The emperor was not interested in Blake, and the courtiers despised him as a monster.

But Blake never got angry. Nor did he resent his cursed fate. He just stayed in the bedroom alone with empty eyes, like a man who couldn’t feel sadness, anger, loneliness, or even pain.

He spent each day with a dry face as if he didn’t care even if he died under the curse.

Though hidden, his mind seemed to be already dead. Such a crown prince has changed. Laughing, crying, bewildered, ashamed, he started revealing his feelings to the fullest. His eyes were dim, and were covered with despair, unlike normal eight-year-old boy.

“Hans.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After marrying Ancia, Blake began to call the courtier’s names. Before that, he only gave orders, but did not call out names or build relationships with courtiers.

Blake had distanced himself from the people around him as if he would disappear at any moment. But now it’s different.

“When’s Ancia coming?”

Blake hesitated and opened his mouth. Hans had a warm smile on his lips.

“She’s gone to the blacksmith, I think she’ll be back soon.”

Ancia went to the blacksmith’s, saying she’d make a ‘cauldron.’

It was her first outing since she got married.

“It’s been two hours, …”

“She’s out in a long time, I think she’s stopping by somewhere else in the process.”

“There’s a lot of dangerous people in the square…”