TBKBS 30

Chapter : 30

Yeah, it was Calix.

The man standing there like a tree in front of the ball I had thrown—when had he appeared?

“Ah! Your Highness, the Crown Prince! What brings you here?”

Abby, who was beside me, murmured and stood up.

I had been staring blankly at Calix, but seeing Abby bow politely, I snapped back to reality and hurriedly bowed to him as well.

“Please throw the ball.”

At that moment, the child shouted again.

Ah… right! I was just about to throw the ball.

Remembering the ball I had forgotten because I was staring at Calix, I walked over to pick it up in front of him.

I had to grab it quickly.

Since approaching Calix felt a bit daunting, I resolved to pick up the ball as fast as possible and leave.

But just as I almost reached the ball…

Calix, who had been standing still, suddenly picked it up himself.

Huh?

Was he going to throw it instead?

“Ah, I…”

I was about to say I could throw it, but Calix didn’t wait to hear me. He threw the ball toward the child.

Well, you’re probably better at throwing it.

I, on the other hand, would have thrown it weirdly…

“Uh? Uh, uh!!”

But absurdly, the ball flew far past the child and landed near the riverbank.

It seemed Calix had misjudged his strength.

I watched the ball roll and almost fall into the river, and I looked at Calix in disbelief.

Too weak me, too strong you, and neither of us can aim properly, huh.

Calix watched as the child ran toward the ball.

If our eyes meet again, I need to quickly bow and leave the park!

I thought to myself, I need to disappear from his sight as soon as possible, and I waited for him to look at me again.

But that was the exact moment…

Calix’s face, following the running girl with his eyes, twisted in an almost terrifying way.

His pupils shook violently, filled with fear, as if he had seen something terrifying.

He murmured something.

The voice wasn’t loud, but I was close enough to hear clearly.

“Kailin… no!”

???!!!!

What did he just say?

“Kailin, no?”

What on earth does he mean?

I alternated between looking at Calix and the child he was watching, puzzled by the desperate whisper that followed my name.

Then, suddenly, Calix started running toward the child who was picking up the ball.

I stared blankly at him running at full speed.

What’s going on?

Why is Calix running like that?

Watching his bizarre behavior, he reached the riverbank in an instant, and just as the child bent to pick up the ball, he reached her.

Even Calix’s actions up to that point were already strange.

But compared to what happened next, that was nothing.

I literally gaped in disbelief at what he did next.

As soon as he reached the child, Calix grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, dragging her onto the grass behind him.

He pulled with such strength that they both tumbled onto the grass, and the ball the child had dropped slipped into the river.

What… what kind of situation is this?

Calix calling my name while chasing a little girl.

Calix embracing the girl and rolling on the grass.

My head was spinning in confusion.

Why did he run toward the child while calling my name and grab her so desperately?

At that moment, I heard the crying of the girl Calix had grabbed and rolled with on the grass.

I reflexively ran toward where Calix and the girl were rolling.

Abby was running behind me as well.

Abby and I approached Calix and the girl almost simultaneously, and what we saw was the crying girl and Calix, who had fainted.

Calix had fainted……

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my God!

Fainted?

He fainted? Calix?

It was truly shocking.

At that moment, I saw Rajiv running toward us from somewhere unknown.

I was dazed for quite some time after returning home.

My male lead fainted…

It was unbelievable.

The Calix I had designed in my mind was a character with steel-like stamina who could chew through railroads, unbeatable in any fight.

Where in the world does it say he could faint?

And over just a little girl, no less.

Well, aside from his appearance, his behavior so far had been very different from my setting.

He had gained some social awareness, and although he wasn’t necessarily kind, he had learned proper etiquette, and he didn’t seem to have ever loved anyone before, much less obsessed over someone.

Yes, there were plenty of oddities.

The moment he ran toward the girl, his muttered words stayed in my mind.

“Kailin… no!”

What the hell?

Why did he call my name, run to that girl, and even faint?

Truly strange.

Even until Rajiv arrived and took Calix back to the palace, he had not regained consciousness.

Everlen would probably be buzzing for a while now.

The Crown Prince had collapsed for no reason at all.

Come to think of it, why did he appear in the park?

Since Rajiv ran over, it seemed he had come along but appeared in front of me alone.

It made no sense; everything was incomprehensible.

The moment Calix saw the girl running toward the river to pick up the ball, he felt all the memories that had vanished from his mind return violently, like a whirlwind.

Kailin Brockburke!

It was Kailin.

The lost memories were the time he had spent holding Kailin Brockburke in his heart.

Kailin Brockburke!

“Kailin… my little girl, Kailin…”

The Kailin who had almost drowned because of his jealousy and spite, who had struggled for her life, blamed him, and had liked Leon.

“No!”

Regaining consciousness, Calix clenched his left hand.

Kailin—she was his girl.

The girl who had taken the most precious place in his heart since he was ten years old.

For six years, Calix had believed his anxiety stemmed from the fear that losing partial memories could threaten his succession to the throne.

Therefore, he suppressed all his desires and worked relentlessly to become the perfect Crown Prince, the heir to the throne. He polished himself so that no flaws could be seen.

But once his memories returned, he realized it wasn’t the loss of memory itself that had made him anxious—it was the void created by the lost memories.

Those memories were the most precious to him…

Because he had lost the most precious thing.

Finally, he remembered everything completely.

As I expected, the news that the Crown Prince had fainted in Letian Park for some unknown reason became a huge issue in Everlen.

However, soon after returning to the palace, he regained consciousness, and apparently, no separate royal physician was summoned.

The rumors about the Crown Prince’s condition, which had been circulating for days, gradually faded as he appeared, performing his duties as if nothing had happened.

When Everlen became quiet again, Abby came to suggest visiting the card fortune teller she had booked.

The fortune-telling shop was a small store on the second floor of a busy street.

Guests were allowed in one at a time.

Abby went in first, and then it was my turn.

Inside, there was only a small table and a shelf displaying colorful beaded necklaces.

A middle-aged woman sat at the table holding cards.

When I sat down, she spread the cards in a semicircle and told me to pick one.

I picked a card, thinking to myself,

Is this really right?

But she looked serious, took the card I chose, shuffled the deck again, and laid the cards in a semicircle once more, asking me to pick another.

I picked one again and handed it to her. She examined the cards for a while, then flipped over some from another stack she had kept aside.

Finally, she began the interpretation.

“I see two lives. How strange.”

Huh?

Two lives?

Two lives….

!!!!!

My heart started pounding wildly.

Two lives?

That’s me!

Could the cards be showing the life I’m currently living, possessed by someone else?

Excited, I waited for the woman to continue.

“Both end in death. A tragic death.”

“What?”

An unrefined, twisted voice escaped me.

No way!

This life isn’t supposed to end prematurely.

I planned to live well in this life.

I even arranged to marry a man I didn’t love… and yet it says I’ll die tragically?

I was silently furious, denying her words.

As if aware of my thoughts, the woman calmly continued.

“This life places you among noble people. But one will cause your tragic death, while the other will save you. Choose carefully. If you choose well, your death may differ from the first.”

My body trembled.

Noble people?

Does she mean royalty?

Her words matched my situation more than I expected, and I was getting more and more intrigued.

If I choose correctly, I won’t die tragically?

Hmm…

Calix seems to hate me rather than love me, so it’s probably not him….

She must mean Duke Leon and Eden.

Although from different empires, both are royalty anyway.

If I choose Leon, I’ll die, so I should choose Eden?

Then I guess I made the right choice?

That’s probably it.

This card fortune-telling is surprisingly accurate.

I was about to pay her and leave, satisfied.

But she seemed to have more to say.

“Even if you choose well, you could still die.”

!!!!

“What?”

What does that mean?

Could it mean that I could die even if I leave Everletian?

Why?