My Sweet Deceiver - Chapter 69

“Why?”

 

“…”

 

“Why are you saying he will appoint the Second Prince as Crown Prince over the First Prince? Huh?”

 

Dennis made a puzzled expression.

 

“Are you really, really, really telling the truth?”

 

Tehez felt like her pulse was running out.

 

If the Second Prince was declared the Crown Prince, wasn’t treason the only way to get the First Prince to the throne?

 

It was a completely different plot from what she had been scheming so far.

 

“Tehez!”

 

“Yes?”

 

She suddenly came to her senses.

 

Dennis patted her dishevelled hair.

 

“Would you like to go down south for a while? Let’s restore your strength there and come back in the spring, okay?”

 

“With the Prince?”

 

Dennis shook his head.

 

“No, I have work to do.”

 

“I have work to do here, too.”

 

She gave a flat refusal.

 

Dennis looked at her with a serious expression.

 

“Now, the capital is too dangerous for you.”

 

“It’s okay, Prince. I’m used to the winter weather in Lubern. I can’t be away because I have a lot of urgent things to do.”

 

At her resolute words, Dennis shut his mouth tightly.

 

“So, will you stay in the capital?”

 

“Yes.”

 

He asked Tehez as if demanding another answer.

 

However, her answer was as if it were pre-determined.

 

Why would she leave Lubern?

 

Dennis removed his hand and took a few steps back.

 

After noticing that the atmosphere between the two was unusual, Sylvan quickly ran away to the next room.

 

He crossed his arms and pressed his forehead. He habitually brought his hand to the cigar, looked at her, and then put the cigar back into the box.

 

“…Why do you always make me a bad person?” he said in a low voice.

 

“What do you mean…?

 

Tehez looked at him with a bewildered expression, like someone who had been covered in cold water.

 

At first glance, his cold-looking face looked drained, as if he had stayed up all night for several days.

 

“Do you want me to feel guilty about you? Is that why?”

 

Tehez stared blankly at him, unable to grasp the context of his words.

 

It might be natural for her to be dazed since she had just woken up in bed and hadn’t eaten much.

 

But this seemed like a different issue.

 

It wasn’t that she was dumbfounded because she had no energy, but that she was staring blankly at him because she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

 

Standing crooked, he looked at her and said, “You. You absolutely need medical attention. The royal physician said you need rest, both physically and mentally. You can’t even eat properly, and I heard you had asked for digestive medicine.”

 

“It was recently, but…”

 

Tehez forced her mouth to make an excuse.

 

It was true.

 

But that was something that couldn’t be changed.

 

She has been sensitive since childhood.

 

“I heard she couldn’t sleep.”

 

“I have had insomnia since I was a child. And doesn’t the Prince have it too?”

 

Dennis shouted as Tehez responded with a sullen face.

 

“At least I’m not starving like you! Not collapsing! You won’t have a baby this way!”

 

When he mentioned ‘baby’, Tehez’s heart collapsed in an instant.

 

It was taboo.

 

It was a line that should not be crossed.

 

Dennis shouldn’t have said that, knowing what kind of struggle she was struggling alone.

 

He couldn’t appreciate her hard work, but when she heard him attributing her infertility to her, implying it was all because of her, Tehez felt heat rushing to her eyes.

 

She crumpled her face as if crying.

 

But she didn’t shed a tear and said to him, “…Are you serious?”

 

“Take care of yourself! If your body is not healthy, how will you have children?”

 

Dennis pressed his right hand to his temple as if his head was pounding.

 

Even though it was Tehez, pierced by his thorny words and bleeding.

 

She didn’t seem to be seen by him.

 

Tehez felt sarcastic, not expressing her hurt feelings.

 

Because if she had anything to say, she had a lot.

 

“…Do you think it’s my fault that I can’t have a baby? Have you shown any interest in having an heir? Have you raised the matter of having an heir before?

 

Dennis, who remained silent without answering, denied it.

 

“Of course… I never said it first. But what I want to say is not about the child but about your safety.”

 

Tehez clenched her fists and glared at him.

 

Otherwise, she felt like she was going to lose her temper.

 

As he had mentioned ‘baby’ in this context, nothing else had crossed her ears.

 

“Whatever. I mean, don’t hang up. Hear me out, Prince.”

 

“…”

 

Dennis shut his mouth at her wistful spirit.

 

“The Prince doesn’t even get a checkup from the palace every month as I do, right? No, did he ever ask the doctor for advice on how he could have children? Once a month, I hear all sorts of nagging and reprimands from the royal physician. I’ve been trying to have a baby, but do you think that’s entirely my problem?”

 

She took a step in front of Dennis.

 

Trembling, her body shook.

 

“You’re welcome! Could it be that you don’t have baby seeds? Have you ever thought about that? Why didn’t you try it? We’ve been married for five years! How many years has it been? You’ve never doubted yourself, have you? Every month, every time I see lumps of blood pouring from my body, I blame and doubt myself. How come it’s my fault?”

 

“…”

 

“You are wrong about what you just said. You can’t blame me for that problem!”

 

As if the dam that had been built up all of a sudden burst, the words inside flowed out nonstop.

 

It was a switch he shouldn’t have pressed.

 

In the midst of a lack of energy, when she spoke for a long time in a state of exasperation, she lost strength as if her physical strength was exhausted at once.

 

She staggered, and Dennis took her in a hurry.

 

Tehez glared at him with red eyes.

 

Her sorrow and injustice were about to boil over within her.

 

She hated him for speaking carelessly without even knowing the hardships of the past years.

 

She couldn’t express her hatred in words.

 

Dennis laid her down on the couch.

 

Tehez closed her eyes tightly as her head seemed to be spinning.

 

The heat was rising in her head.

 

He placed her head on his lap and gently stroked it.

 

The rising heat seemed to be calmed down by his touch.

 

Despite being a hateful person, it felt unbearable that his touch made her feel good.

 

The person who hurt her and healed her at the same time…

 

“It’s my fault for mentioning the baby, sorry. I got angry and said something I shouldn’t have said. And I had no idea you were thinking that way,” he said in a serious tone.

 

Dennis was looking at her with a face mixed with concern and sorry.

 

“I know you… I wish I could value you more. It upsets me when I see you acting like you’re going to burn everything you own without even looking around. And every time I think about it, I feel pathetic. How lacking I must have been if you…”

 

Dennis was speechless at the end.

 

“You know that’s not what I meant. That’s the only thing I can give you.” The only duty of a Princess who could not have children.

 

Tehez swallowed the words inwardly.

 

“Is that the only thing I can give you? The throne-” he snorted.

 

“When did I say I wanted to sit on the throne I had obtained by sacrificing you? Or did I beg you to put me on the throne? Or do I look like an eight-hundred-year-old who can’t even sit on the throne alone? I told you, I’m trying to be a king for you. What’s the point of it when you are sick? I don’t need the throne or anything without you.”

 

“…”

 

His words, which seemed to be chanting quietly, somehow sounded like a confession to Tehez.

 

He never told her he loved her, but he did.

 

Was this the way people who hate ‘love’ talk about ‘love’?

 

Even if the concept of ‘love’ has been polluted forever, the way to say it was similar.

 

Tehez lay on his lap and looked up at him.

 

The eyes of that man who kept the greenness of life.

 

Every time she looked into those green eyes, she prayed that she would be included in those eyes and in his heart.

 

Dennis was looking at her with eyes mixed with concern and worry. She was contained in his eyes, as she had longed for.

 

A feeling of satisfaction welled up in her heart.

 

“I don’t care if we have a baby or not.”

 

“If you ascend the throne in the future, there will definitely be problems…”

 

“I do not care. I just need you by my side.”

 

When he said that so plainly, she felt a fever rise at the tip of her ears. He stroked Tehez’s hair affectionately.

 

“But if you say it’s necessary, I’ll want a son.”

 

“Huh? Do you not need a daughter? I’ll take care of both my daughter and son.”

 

“Then the throne…”

 

“Let’s think about that then, Tehez.”

 

“Still…”

 

“Don’t worry about the distant future, Tehez. More important than that is now. As you may have heard, His Majesty has decided to appoint Fabrice as the Crown Prince.”

 

“…”

 

“Yes.”

 

Dennis’ expression became serious for an instant.

 

“As soon as the news broke, people in Lubern were shaken. Plus, the body floated up last night… The atmosphere is not unusual.”

 

“Whose corpse do you mean?”

 

“The body of the ringleader, who advocated the dissolution of the royal family and the establishment of a republic, floated in the Allir River. The prison warden made a statement when people suspected he had died from torture because he was so damaged that they couldn’t bear to open their eyes to see the corpse. While the prison guards were away, the prisoner was dead.”

 

“…Who on earth would believe such an excuse?”

 

It was an excuse that didn’t even show the slightest sincerity.

 

She frowned.

 

“Of course, nobody believes it. Tehez, Lubern is burning. So, can’t you go down to the south, please?”

 

A look of desperation flashed across his face.

 

Tehez, who was lying on his lap, got up.

 

She understood why he recommended going south.

 

But she also had work to do in the capital.

 

Tehez stroked Dennis’ face.

 

His face also seemed to have lost weight in the past few days.

 

“Just as the Prince worries about me, I also worry about the Prince. I will not run away, leaving the Prince alone. You told me that we’d solve everything together. Was that a lie?”

 

Dennis was silent for a moment at her words that hit his head.

 

“…It wasn’t, Tehez. Promise me instead. You will not do anything dangerous.”

 

“I promise.”

 

“I really can’t beat you at this.”

 

As if realizing it again, he murmured.

 

He then got up from his seat, went to the desk, took something from her drawer, and handed it to her.

 

“What is this?”

 

“Birthday present. Your birthday banquet must have been cancelled too, so I’ll give it to you in advance. Open it.”

 

She looked at the small, square box in the palm of her hand.

 

A pink ribbon was wrapped around the pristine white box.

 

A birthday present from him…

 

Tehez grabbed the end of the ribbon and carefully untied it.

 

“It’s a necklace.”

 

“Open it.”

 

In the middle of a necklace of thin gold, strings hung a plain round pendant. She twisted the clasp open.

 

There was a picture of Dennis on one side and hers on the other.

 

“How did you come up with this…? It’s pretty. It’s so- Thank you.”

 

Moved by his unexpected gift, she looked down blankly at their pictures.

 

He was looking straight ahead, smiling with his teeth exposed.

 

And she was looking in his direction.

 

The photos were taken separately, but it looked like they were in the same space.

 

Dennis shook his head, seemingly embarrassed by her reaction.

 

“The only photos were taken at official events. Still… do you like it?”

 

His tone was cautious, asking if she liked it.

 

“Yes! Thank you very much. I could never have imagined that I would receive a gift like this.”

 

“Turn around.”

 

He gathered her hair on one shoulder and put a necklace around her neck.

 

“Happy birthday. Heartily.”

 

(To be continued in the next episode)

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