Chapter 5
Contrary to her words, Olive’s eyes were firmly fixed on Prince Carlos.
Tsk tsk, she’s making it too obvious.
A perceptive young lady jabbed Olive in the side with her elbow.
“Don’t even dream about something that’ll never happen. Prince Carlos always dances his first dance with the Crown Princess. Do you know how many noble ladies try to win him over every time? But he never accepts any of them. There’s even a rumor that he has a lover from a commoner background.”
“A lover?”
“Yeah, not officially dating, but like… you know.”
“Like what?”
“You know, like a mistress or something.”
Lily twisted her body, her cheeks turning red. Olive, understanding what she meant, flushed as well.
“So maybe you should give up on Prince Carlos and look for someone else?”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“I’ll help you! So what’s your type?”
“Hmm—someone charming?”
“Okay, but what kind of charm?”
“Well… someone I just can’t take my eyes off.”
“…So, basically, you like handsome men? Be specific.”
Lily looked at Olive with eyes full of curiosity.
She’d even whipped out a notepad and pen from who-knows-where.
Encouraged by her enthusiastic response, Olive began to list her ideal type—though in truth, she was just describing the male lead from a play she once liked.
“First, he should be kind, and if possible, have a high title. He should be capable, wealthy, strong, and handsome. I’d like his hairstyle to be like Prince Carlos’s.”
As Olive added more and more criteria, Lily’s expression darkened with every note she scribbled down.
“Hey, Olive…”
“…Yes?”
“I always thought you were really realistic. But every time you talk like this, I wonder if you’re actually an idealist.”
Someone like that probably doesn’t even exist in this world.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Lily walked away from Olive.
Frowning at Lily’s reaction, Olive turned and disappeared into the crowd, heading to find her brother, Planus.
The party was boring. Batting away noble ladies drenched in perfume who approached him was tiresome, and receiving fake greetings from nobles who recognized him as a prince was annoying.
But Ludwig endured the party to the end. Because, unexpectedly, he gained more than he had anticipated.
“Here you go.”
Lady Lily Conwell handed Ludwig a notebook as she passed by.
“You’ll give me the promised reward, right, Your Highness?”
“Yes, I’ll retrieve that item you said was stolen by Lady Stephanie Carhu.”
Ludwig was too focused on reading the contents of the notebook to look at Lily’s face.
Furrowing her brow, Lily finally asked the question she had been holding back.
“Um… Your Highness, if I may ask—do you have feelings for Lady Olive?”
It was a question that took a lot of courage.
In truth, Lily had been interested in the prince herself.
The label of “cursed prince” didn’t matter to her. This man, who exuded a mysterious aura that made him seem untouchable, was extremely attractive.
So much so that many of the young ladies in the ballroom couldn’t take their eyes off him.
They had all been wondering about Ludwig ever since he appeared with Prince Carlos.
Lily bit the inside of her lip, preparing to confess, and waited for his answer.
“I’ll at least tell you that I’m not interested in you.”
“Oh… okay.”
Wow. Rejected in ten seconds.
This man wasn’t just handsome—he was decisively brutal. Lily shut her eyes tightly.
She gave a brief reply, forced a bitter smile, and turned away.
Her crush, which hadn’t even lasted a full week, snapped like a twig in the wind.
Though she hadn’t debuted yet, Lily, feeling gloomy, grabbed a glass of champagne and downed it.
It tasted bitter in her mouth.
―Daily Life of the Tyrannical Villain Before Regression―
Everything appeared in shades of gray to Ludwig.
The emperor who sired him had called him cursed and rejected him, but Ludwig didn’t care.
He never needed emotional support from others.
He was simply born that way.
Everything came too easily. People around him were always easily manipulated to his will.
Since childhood, he had no particular fondness for any object or person. The only thing he genuinely enjoyed was hunting.
The act of driving prey into a corner and slowly suffocating it was immensely enjoyable.
One particularly dull summer day at age twelve, he had released a white rabbit into the maze garden for fun.
He was strolling slowly through the maze, twirling a sword in his hand, when he sensed a presence under a tree at the other end of the maze.
Found you.
He quietly crept toward the tree where he sensed the presence.
He thrust his well-sharpened blade swiftly in that direction.
“Kyaaa!”
But instead of silence, he heard a short scream.
“P-please don’t kill me…”
Behind the tree, he saw eyes that sparkled like emeralds.
The girl with light green eyes trembled as she clutched her stabbed leg.
She was more appealing than the rabbit he had been hunting.
A rabbit who trembled in such a memorable way.
Her name was Olive Chartreuse. Same age as him. Youngest daughter of the Marquis of Chartreuse.
Her name suits her. A perfect green rabbit.
Since that day, Ludwig began to occasionally attend banquets whenever Olive visited the palace.
His green rabbit would always look slightly terrified whenever she saw him—and that look made him even happier.
As time passed, Olive grew into a beautiful rabbit.
Annoying flies gathered around her. But it wasn’t a problem.
He tore off all their wings.
After that, Olive stopped making friends.
As she got older, she became better at hiding her fear, but Ludwig could easily read the fear deep inside her.
That made her even more tantalizing.
Every time he tightened his grip on her, she would tremble and gasp for breath—yet she would bare her sharp little teeth.
Whenever she bit her own hand to escape, whenever blood trickled down his hand—his gray world would regain its vibrant color.
Then one day…
A marriage proposal arose between the Chartreuse and the Cobalt families.
To think they were planning to toss his rabbit into the Cobalts’ jaws.
The audacity of Marquis Chartreuse deserved punishment.
So Ludwig decided to tamper with the tea the marquis drank.
With the marquis bedridden, his cunning eldest son, Planus, took his place as acting chancellor—and began to watch Ludwig closely.
As did his brother, Carlos.
Their pathetic scheming amused him, so he even stirred up a little drama with the Crown Princess.
Such a boring woman—how did she even become Crown Princess? The emperor’s judgment was truly lacking.
Still, he admired Carlos’s attempts to catch up to him. So Ludwig allowed himself to be caught once or twice.
But then Carlos had the gall to mention his green rabbit—as if he could claim her as a leash.
People call me inhuman, Ludwig thought.
But Carlos is no different. Trying to use his best friend’s little sister like a pawn.
What a bastard.
The only difference between that bastard and himself was that Carlos pretended to smile at idiots.
Meanwhile, that fox Planus began pushing the marriage with Cobalt forward, having sensed something.
So on Planus’s birthday, Ludwig made it clear who Olive’s true husband would be.
Since then, there had been no more talk of marrying her to Cobalt.
Well, for now, that was enough.
If his green rabbit kept running away, he’d just cut off the branches.
One by one.
One by one.
Until there was no one left… but him.
Early spring came, and the frozen earth thawed. It was planting season.
The royal family held a ceremony at the temple of Jupiter, god of harvest, and followed it with a small banquet to pray for a bountiful year.
Olive was dragged to the banquet by her parents.
Frightened by the cutthroat tension between nobles, she sat huddled in a corner sofa, head in her hands.
Resting her head on the backrest and closing her eyes helped her feel a bit better.
“Are you alright?”
A pleasant voice echoed behind her. Leather shoes clicked steadily on the marble floor.
Olive slowly opened her eyes and looked up.
Ludwig stood before her, walking over with a soft smile.
“Y-Your Highness?”
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Ludwig gestured with his hand, pointing to the seat beside her, asking if he could sit.
Olive nodded.
“Oh? But Your Highness… your hair… you cut it?”
Ludwig, who always kept a bob cut, now had it trimmed shorter, revealing his ears—like his brother Carlos.
Olive stared at his new haircut curiously and gently pursed her lips.
Where his longer hair had made him look serene, his short hair now gave him a distinctly masculine charm.
“Does it suit me?” Ludwig asked calmly.
Olive turned her eyes slightly and gave a small nod. Honestly, he’d look good even with a shaved head.
“I cut it to look better. To be more attractive.”
“…Pardon?”
“I heard the person I want to impress likes this style. I’m glad you think it suits me, my lady.”
Ludwig smiled gracefully, eyes crinkling.
At that moment, Olive gripped her skirt tightly, her fingertips tingling.
Who is this woman that made a stunning man like him change his hairstyle—even if he were bald, he’d still shine!
And the worst part—how deeply must he be smitten to cut his hair for her?
As Olive blinked in silence, Ludwig exhaled through his nose and gave a short laugh.
He could almost hear the cogs turning in her small head.
Her pale green hair, soft and silky, framed her tiny ears—ears he already knew the feel of.
Without thinking, Ludwig reached out.
His thick fingers gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
