Chapter 32…
Clarissa did not slow her steps as she recalled the silver-haired boy who still lingered in her mind.
Just how badly injured was he? Even amid all that commotion, he had not been able to open his eyes.
The area wrapped in bandages was larger than she had expected, and his body—already smaller than that of his peers—looked as though it was steadily losing its vitality.
Though it was nothing more than a fragment of memory, her nose stung and tears welled up. Heat gathered at the corners of her eyes.
Still, she barely managed to endure the rising pain. She wiped her gaunt face.
“If you want to cry, then cry after everything’s been settled.”
She steadied herself with a cold voice. It was closer to a rebuke than comfort, but that did not matter.
“You don’t have that right yet, Clarissa.”
She straightened her trembling knees once more. No one would solve anything just because she collapsed and cried.
If there was something she wanted, she had to move on her own two legs.
The time had come to say goodbye to the days when she could obtain everything with nothing more than the flick of a finger.
After becoming “Clarissa,” everything had been easy.
If she cried, jewels piled up before her eyes. If she grew angry, anything unpleasant was swiftly swept away.
But not anymore.
What she truly desired now was not something she could obtain so easily by throwing a tantrum.
Only after things had come to this did Clarissa realize just how careless and arrogant she had been.
The memories of her previous life—where she had achieved success at an early age—and the memories of Clarissa, who had lived while reigning as a high noble, merged within her, creating a maddening synergy.
Arrogance had invited disaster. But—
“There won’t be a second time.”
She would no longer intoxicate herself with her own foolishness. No—she had to make sure of it.
Agreeing with her own calmly spoken words, Clarissa looked ahead at the white castle spread before her.
Though this was clearly her second visit, her heart felt heavier than ever.
The spirited young lady of the Marquess Lisette was gone.
All that remained was a stubborn yet desperately earnest young girl.
Her hands were now empty, and all she had left to show was her sincerity.
It was like stepping forward to seize a ferocious beast with bare hands.
Even so, Clarissa—
“All right. Let’s do this.”
She steeled herself to give up her bones in order to gain flesh.
Adria was enjoying a brief moment of respite atop the tallest tree in the Lua Palace.
He closed his eyes, listening to the fresh, singing rustle of leaves that had yet to fully mature.
For just a moment, it felt as though he could forget all the troublesome matters plaguing him.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
But Adria’s peace was shattered by the voice that followed.
Peeking his head out and looking down, he saw a maid in a white hood—someone he had never seen in the imperial palace before—standing there.
A complete stranger.
That would have been the case, if she were merely a maid.
Unfortunately, Adria recognized the sparkling golden eyes looking up at him.
Frowning, Adria descended safely with a small movement.
The girl stepped back half a pace without showing the slightest sign of surprise.
Even that reaction displeased Adria.
At times she seemed utterly immature, yet at others she acted as though she had seen and experienced everything in the world.
Making no effort to hide his discomfort, Adria spoke sharply.
“How did you get in here?”
He had already discerned that Clarissa had not entered this place through any legitimate means.
Her appearance was far too different from usual.
Of course, Adria neither knew nor cared what her “usual” appearance was, so he could not be certain—but her current state was suspicious, to say the least.
“That’s not very important, is it?”
“No. It’s extremely important. I may have to behead those who neglected their duties.”
Clarissa merely shrugged, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
Adria ground his teeth as he felt the heat rise in the head he had just managed to clear.
It was a thinly veiled threat—asking whether she would be fine with blood being spilled because of her.
Ordinary noble ladies might have collapsed in shock just from hearing such words.
“That really isn’t my concern.”
But Clarissa was very different from those typical noble ladies.
“You certainly make it difficult to say you want to be dragged out.”
“If you’d spare me a moment of your time, I’ll tell you how I broke through the imperial guards in return.”
At Adria’s threat to throw her out if she kept her mouth shut, Clarissa changed her approach.
Her almost excessively polite attitude grated on him.
“Didn’t you just say it wasn’t your concern?”
“You’re taking the time to see me, Your Highness. I thought that much courtesy was only proper.”
“Ridiculous.”
“I’m honored.”
Finding himself in a position where he had even lost time he never meant to give, Adria let out a twisted laugh.
Having lost both his time and his patience in an instant, he finally stepped back half a pace.
Clarissa, in turn, “politely” explained how she had breached the imperial security.
However, rather than that story, Adria seemed far more curious about what had driven her to such uncharacteristic behavior. He waved a hand lightly.
“Drop the manners that don’t suit you and get to the point. I’ll listen, at least.”
The Crown Prince of the great Asgard Empire tilted his head as though graciously lending an ear to the most ignorant of his subjects.
Contrary to his expectation that she would immediately start rambling, Clarissa paused and looked at him.
Her long lashes fluttered once.
The arrogance on her face dimmed in an instant. Lowering the corners of her mouth, she spoke as though uttering the hardest words in the world.
“Please help me.”
“What?”
Adria had to doubt what he’d just heard from Clarissa’s fleeting voice.
As he blinked in confusion, she bowed her head deeply.
“Please help Aryan.”
Adria’s eyes widened before he could stop himself. He had wondered what great request she would make—only to hear that again.
The curiosity that had sparked within him quickly faded.
With the boredom of someone hearing the dullest story in the world, Adria asked,
“Why should I?”
He did not bother to ask what had happened to Aryan.
Before their last meeting, driven by a brief curiosity, he had used his capable aide and learned that there were quite a few suspicious aspects surrounding Aryan’s family.
But that, too, was none of Adria’s concern.
He even waved his hand, gesturing that he had heard enough and that she should leave.
Yet Clarissa did not falter before his indifference and continued,
“Because it’s something only Your Highness can do.”
Adria let out a small scoff.
Roughly raking his black hair back, he narrowed his eyes.
He had no desire to indulge Clarissa’s sophistry any longer.
“Just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should. Even with a hundred bodies, it wouldn’t be enough.”
His words were largely correct.
But while Clarissa agreed, she did not accept them.
Instead, she lifted her chin, acting as though she were making an entirely reasonable demand.
“He is a citizen of the Asgard Empire—someone the Crown Prince is duty-bound to protect.”
“Don’t try to appeal to my emotions.”
“This isn’t an emotional appeal. I’m speaking of Your Highness’s clear duty as Crown Prince.”
The relatively relaxed expression on Adria’s face hardened.
The red of his eyes darkened further as he fixed Clarissa with his gaze.
If a look alone could kill, Clarissa would have been writhing on the ground long ago.
“Are you commanding me now? You—a mere marquess’s daughter?”
