Chapter 55: Aftercare

“…Huh?”

Making a strange sound, Sejeong raised her head.

Her gaze was also somewhat dazed, and her eyes weren’t focusing on anything.

‘Did she lose her mind?’

Flick, flick.

I waved my hand in front of her eyes, and only then did the large pupils begin to focus.

“…Really?”

Her golden eyes sparkled with life again, and the sight was as beautiful as a flower bud blooming.

Is there anyone who wouldn’t fall in love with those eyes?

“Really? Really!?”

“Ugh…s, stop….”

If you suddenly grab my shoulders and shake me like that, my head will spin….

“Ah.”

When I asked her to stop, Yoon Sejeong immediately stopped shaking me.

However, just because she stopped didn’t mean her excitement subsided, and she maintained a sparkling gaze towards me.

It was a gaze as if expecting something.

I knew what she wanted.

She probably wants confirmation that my answer is the kind she’s thinking of.

However, to go along with that as it is….

‘…It’s very embarrassing.’

In my previous life, I never had a girlfriend.

There were a few women who clung to me.

However, either I didn’t like them, or the women would distance themselves at some point.

The longest I had been with the opposite s*x was a younger sister from the same orphanage, but she wasn’t a romantic interest in the first place, so she was out of the question.

As a result, I was often teased by my close friends for being a virgin, and one of my older brothers even seriously asked me if I wanted him to introduce me to a brothel.

Of course, I refused that kind of offer.

It wasn’t like I was that desperate for women, and I felt some resistance somewhere.

…Anyway, what I want to say is that the answer just now is the first time I’ve ever responded positively to a confession, in both my past and present lives.

‘Normally, I would have postponed the answer, or refused.’

There was one reason.

I wasn’t sure if I was the right person to date Yoon Sejeong.

I approached her based on the memories of my previous life just to preserve my own body, and the reason I initially hung out with her was because I knew that Yoon Sejeong would become a princess.

Could I, such a person, accept Sejeong’s feelings of affection?

…However, I realized something through this incident.

That my feelings for her were greater than such trivial things.

The first day I met her.

My heart, had already fallen for her.

“…Do I really have to? I think I’ve already said enough….”

Then, Sejeong’s head nodded vigorously.

“Just say it one more time, please? Hayeon-ah~.”

She even added a cute tone to her voice as she pleaded, and I felt my face turn red in real time.

“Haa…okay. I understand, so please move back a little.”

Then, Sejeong quickly moved back, which was a little annoying somewhere.

Her expression was full of excitement and playfulness, and if she always had that expression, she would probably have quite a few followers in the academy.

‘No, in the first place, if it’s revealed that she has royal blood, people will flock to her even if she’s always frowning.’

“Sigh, ha….”

A brief deep breath.

It was a ritual to calm the heartbeat that had begun to ring in my ears, but it resulted in speeding up the beat.

My brain swayed along.

I was about to lose my mind.

However, even while beating, there was one person I was looking at clearly.

“Yoon Sejeong.”

My voice naturally lowered.

At the voice I called out softly, a red flower bloomed on Sejeong’s pure white face.

That sight made my heart feel a little more at ease.

Someone said that confession is not an area of challenge, but a final work for confirmation.

The person in front of me now was someone who would accept me no matter how I confessed.

However, that didn’t mean that I should confess carelessly.

Because every single letter of the words I say now will remain in her memory.

So, gathering the words I had kept in my heart.

With uncooled heat.

“I like you.”

Perhaps, from the moment I first saw you.

“Not as a friend, but as a romantic interest.”

I forcibly held onto the hand that was wriggling and trying to escape.

Likewise, I also held onto the heart that was trying to abandon its owner and run away.

As a result, both hands were placed on my left chest.

“So…will you, go out with me?”

Ah, I stuttered a little at the end.

Did she notice?

I hope she didn’t notice because I’m embarrassed.

“Yes! I will!”

In fact, Sejeong threw herself at me with a bright smile, making such thoughts seem trivial.

Hug.

Looking at her, who was now completely snuggled up, the corners of my mouth rise endlessly.

‘It’s serious.’

Perhaps because I spoke the confession out loud.

Sejeong, felt much more lovable than before.

“…I see.”

Leaning against the firmly closed door of the hospital room, Baek Ahra slid down and sat down.

“In the end, the two of them….”

Tap, tap.

A regular shoe sound echoes in the wide hallway.

If the general public were to think of a palace, they would probably think of a grand and large, luxurious building.

It’s roughly similar.

A large space was needed to do national affairs, and since appearance was important, they poured in architects who were among the best in the country to design and build it.

However, it wasn’t like the emperor used the entire palace on a regular basis.

There was no reason for the space needed for one person to live to be so large, and they couldn’t live in all of it.

In the end, there is a limit to where one person’s feet can reach.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this person I’m going to meet now spends most of his time in this inner palace.

“….”

I stopped walking.

The eunuch waiting in front of the door confirmed that I had come and rang the bell once.

It was a signal that a direct family member had come to visit.

-Who is it?

“Princess Seorin has come to visit.”

‘That damn princess sound.’

The ‘princess’ mentioned here was not a cute title, but rather a kind of title.

Only a daughter born from the womb of the empress, the emperor’s legal wife, could be called a ‘princess’.

Therefore, my official title in official settings was ‘Princess Seorin’.

I was also called that in places like internet news.

It’s not a title I like very much.

-…Come in.

“Yes. Father.”

Creak.

I carefully opened the three-panel door and went inside, and there he was.

The man who watched the empire become a republic, and yet remained as a nominal emperor.

The emperor and my father, Lee Cheong.

His eyes, surrounded by documents in the middle of the wide room, had dark circles under them, so that anyone could guess his fatigue.

However, his gaze was intense as if he would devour something, so even though he was at an age where white hair was starting to appear, it was still uncomfortable to deal with him.

“So. What brings you here?”

‘You know.’

Pour.

Otherwise, how could he serve tea that was just prepared as if he knew you were coming?

The fragrant scent of tea was now just a device to fuel anxiety.

“…Yoon Sejeong.”

When I mentioned her name directly, my father’s expression hardened.

“That child, is she by any chance Father’s illegitimate daughter?”

That day when the fire broke out.

When I heard that my junior had entered the fire scene, I was anxiously waiting for the fire to be contained for the rescue team to enter.

Most of the students were in the shelter and didn’t see it, but those of us around the fire scene, including me, witnessed it.

That light that pierced through the black smoke and radiated in all directions.

And, what appeared in the center with wings made of light was Sejeong, my junior.

Her appearance, holding the unconscious junior and appearing from the fire, had the beauty and atmosphere that could be called an angel….

However, what I focused on was something else.

‘Golden eyes.’

The shimmering golden eyes were telling.

The fact that she is a person who inherited the blood of the royal family.

“…We’ll have to wait for the test results. Sigh.”

My father, who slightly rubbed the back of his neck, completely put down the documents he was holding.

“First of all, it’s definitely not my child. The people registered as parents were people I didn’t know at all.”

“…Haa.”

It was a relief.

I didn’t want the family tree to get any more complicated.

“However, it might be better if it were my child.”

“…What do you mean?”

At my question, my father took a sip of tea almost silently and spoke carefully.

“It’s just a guess based on circumstantial evidence…but it seems that your uncle caused an accident.”

“That, you mean.”

“An illegitimate child. Moreover, it seems that he had it with a commoner after the marriage with your aunt. Geez…I never thought I’d see a niece at this age.”

So, that means.

‘Cousin…?’

Moreover, a story that looks like it will cause a storm just by looking at it.

My head was a little dizzy.

“Then, is that all you wanted to talk about?”

“…No. There’s one more thing.”

The matter about Sejeong was certainly one of the reasons, but….

“The fire incident. Please lend me the Geumyeongdae (Golden Shadow Squad) to catch the culprit.”

The foundation of the royal family’s intelligence.

If they, who can handle any information, domestic or foreign, skillfully, they would surely be able to solve the investigation that has been dragging on for three days.

“Do as you please. But, make sure there’s no noise.”

“…Really?”

The permission was given so easily that I inadvertently questioned it.

“Yes. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, no. Thank you, Father….”

I bowed my head once and slowly retreated.

Thus, the meeting with my father after a long time ended rather blandly, but the content I heard was not light at all.