Chapter 79: The Villain's Ending is Only Death
The prince's eyes widened slightly.
"…When I saw you at the banquet celebrating your return, Your Highness."
I managed to change the story of our first meeting to avoid creating an awkward atmosphere.
Actually, the first time I saw the prince was at the second prince's birthday party.
Because of this, the image of the prince on that day naturally came to mind.
The tall man striding confidently across the red carpet, his red cloak billowing in the wind.
"Your hair was shining in the chandelier's light, sparkling… it looked like gold dust was floating around."
Before he discovered the assassin trailing behind him, I thought he truly looked like a member of the royal family.
The prince's real appearance, which I had only seen in illustrations, was shockingly noble and imposing.
I blurted out my impressions from that moment without reservation.
"Moreover, your eyes looked like they were set with top-quality rubies, making me feel like I was in the presence of royalty."
The prince repeated my words in a tone of disbelief.
"Does that mean you fell in love with me at first sight?"
"It's nice when someone looks wealthy."
Since I wasn't really in love, I answered evasively.
"I've always liked jewels. Of course, gold too."
The prince seemed to find my reason absurd, and he let out a series of exasperated sighs.
The prince looked at me with an inscrutable expression, muttering to himself.
At the same time, something above his head flashed.
Why would my goodwill increase when he called me odd?
'You're the one who's odd!'
Feeling as if I had been unjustly insulted, I asked bluntly.
"Are you done? I've told you everything, so don't ask any more questions."
The prince stared at me for a long time before letting out a hollow laugh.
Then, he gestured with his chin and said,
"…We need to leave the forest as soon as it gets light, so go to sleep."
It seemed he had roughly accepted the reason I had fabricated.
"Good night, Your Highness."
As if waiting for those words, I immediately turned my back and lay down.
I heard a dissatisfied click of the tongue from behind but ignored it.
Feeling relieved to be free from his obsession, I closed my eyes.
Since I was covering myself with the prince's cloak, I realized he would have to sleep naked except for his pants, but I didn't care.
'It's none of my business.'
Despite having just woken up from a faint, I was extremely tired and exhausted.
Today had been incredibly spectacular. How many things had happened from early morning?
If I continued to play the game like this every day, I would die before I could even gain his goodwill.
'No! What am I thinking?'
I shook off these ominous thoughts and tried to fall asleep.
But no matter how much time passed, I couldn't fall asleep.
I forced myself to close my eyes and imagine sheep scattered across a meadow, counting them.
As I counted the sheep, I gradually drifted into the world of unconsciousness.
Suddenly, the sheep started to decrease.
Because a massive something was eating the sheep one by one, starting from the farthest one.
The sheep in the meadow quickly dwindled.
Finally, the massive something, dripping with blood, approached me with its mouth wide open, roaring to devour me.
I flailed and opened my eyes wide.
I rolled my eyes reflexively, but there was no monster bear in sight.
The crackling sound of the bonfire.
I was still in the dark cave.
I took shallow breaths and slowly got up.
Then, I met the eyes of the man poking the bonfire with a stick.
"…Ah, not sleeping, Your Highness?"
The prince, who had been sitting in the same spot, looked at me with a surprised expression for a moment.
"If we both sleep and become a tasty meal for the beasts, that would be just perfect, wouldn't it?"
It was quite a skill to twist my offer to stand guard into such a response.
I was momentarily stunned by his unexpected reliability.
At that moment, the prince spoke up.
I denied it, not wanting to reveal my state.
From his unchanged posture and the dim view, it seemed he had only dozed off for a short while.
Even though I was fully awake, my head felt fuzzy.
Suddenly, I felt a chill.
The heavy rain and falling into the river had clearly had a bad effect on my frail body.
I wrapped the cloak tightly around myself and crouched in front of the bonfire to warm up.
The prince raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say much.
But even sitting by the fire, the cold didn't go away.
Not only did it not improve, but I could feel my body shivering uncontrollably.
I realized belatedly that this wasn't just due to the cold.
'…Should I take a sedative when I get back?'
I was usually slow to recognize my emotions, and the aftereffects were equally delayed.
Just like when I couldn't control my trembling hands after defeating the monster the day before.
The trauma from the shocking situation I had experienced was now hitting me like a delayed reaction.
Actually, it was strange that there wasn't a single shocking moment in the day.
The bear swinging its paws, the prince collapsing from an arrow, the assassins hot on our trail…
I thought the prince wouldn't notice, but he immediately picked up on my condition.
I denied it, not wanting to reveal my state.
However, the prince, with a doubtful look, added a few more logs to the bonfire.
Whoosh. The fire grew even stronger.
But the shivering didn't stop.
At that moment, the prince abruptly got up.
His well-built upper body, which had been hidden by the flickering firelight, was now fully exposed.
"Ah! What, what are you doing?!"
I let out a small scream and covered my eyes with both hands.
Of course, I had my fingers spread wide to peek at what he was doing.
The prince walked over to me, circling the bonfire.
"Stop this ridiculous act and move over."
I was very flustered by his sudden behavior.
"Why, why are you doing this?"
The prince raised an eyebrow and pressed me with a threatening tone.
But since I didn't budge, he plopped down and pushed me roughly with his body.
I jumped up in shock, intending to run to the opposite side of his original spot.
But that wasn't possible.
The prince had grabbed the end of the cloak I was wearing.
With a yelp, I fell helplessly.
I braced myself, thinking I would hit the hard cave floor.
But I didn't fall on the cold cave floor…
I was in the prince's arms.
I could feel the warm heat radiating from his body.
Our bodies were tightly pressed together, separated only by a thin layer of the cloak.
"…What, what's going on?"
"…Hey, what are you doing? Let me go, let me go!"
A bit late, I regained my senses and struggled to get out of his embrace.
But the arms around my waist and back didn't budge.
"Rude. How dare you say 'hey' to the crown prince of the empire?"
The prince spoke without changing his expression.
"Stop struggling and stay still. I'm not doing this because I like you."
"Th-then let me go! This is harassment…!"
"Whatever strange thoughts are in your head, get rid of them."
The prince's face hardened, clearly displeased by my accusation of harassment.
"When isolated on the battlefield, maintaining body heat among comrades is most important. Many die from hypothermia just a couple of hours after underestimating the cold."
I stopped moving at his words.
His reason for suddenly hugging me made sense.
But when I looked at his face again, his eyes seemed extremely displeased, as if he really didn't want to do this.
'Well, we were trying to kill each other until recently. Even if it's just a game, it wouldn't be so casual…'
If I were the normal female protagonist, there would be no chance of such a strange atmosphere between the prince and me.
'But, why does he look more annoyed than I do?'
His behavior made sense, but his reluctant expression was oddly annoying.
I grumbled in a sulky voice.
"This isn't a battlefield."
"Then you can either tough it out and die of hypothermia in an hour."
I tightly shut my mouth at his almost-curse-like remark.
Otherwise, I might say something that would erase the '29%' I had barely managed to gain.
After our exchange, the cave fell silent again.
I was awkwardly hugging the prince, stiff as a board, staring at the cliff beyond the bonfire.
"…Why are you still shivering like a dog?"
The prince narrowed his brows, asking in a tone that suggested he didn't understand.
At the same time, the arm around my waist tightened.