To You Who Forgot Me - Chapter 3

It wasn’t long before Leah met the boy again and learned he belonged to the royal family.

 

The places allowed for Leah in the Empire were limited, but it was different when there was a national event.

 

On such days, Leah was also given the right to attend as an external ambassador.

 

It was one of those days that she met the boy again.

 

“First Prince, His Highness Caius is entering.”

 

Originally, she would have been busy bowing her head to whoever came in, but on that day, for some reason, her gaze naturally lifted.

 

It was a strange and familiar boy who came into Leah’s sight when he turned his head toward where the people looked on.

 

Hair like the night sky.

 

Dark blue eyes.

 

The face that Leah often thought of.

 

She only found out that day. The fact that the beautiful boy she met at the lakeside was the Prince.

 

The chandelier light was shining straight in the direction he was walking.

 

The figure stepping on the splendidly embroidered carpet was the appearance of a perfect royal.

 

The boy who climbed onto the podium looked at Leah for a split second. But the gaze just passed by.

 

Indifferently, as if he didn’t know Leah at all.

 

Leah thought that the meeting that day might have been her own dream.

 

Even after that, there were often moments when she looked at him as if she was stealing glances at him.

 

It wasn’t many days, but when the occasional official opportunity came up, Leah’s gaze was always drawn to the boy.

 

‘First Prince’ – when she heard that title somewhere, her heart would rattle for some reason.

 

Summer in the Empire passed without her realizing what that feeling was.

 

After the first fall in the Empire, winter arrived.

 

A hostage still despised by the entire Empire. Nothing more, nothing less, but time allowed Leah to grow without fail.

 

It was the same with the boy. Every time they ran into each other, the boy was growing differently day by day.

 

A clear line appeared on the face, which had been marked by youth, and the stout body stood out more day by day.

 

Sometimes, there was a moment when she felt like she met eyes with the boy. But Leah assumed it was all her own illusions.

 

“I heard that the First Prince will soon be engaged to the eldest daughter of the Duke of Bellior?”

 

Unlike Leah, who was still in and would remain in the mud, he was steadily advancing towards the given future.

 

Around the time when the story of the First Prince’s engagement was spreading throughout the Imperial palace, Ainel sent an envoy.

 

Since the only royal daughter had been living as a hostage since Ainel surrendered, it would have been an ideal picture for Ainel to interact with the Empire uneventfully.

 

However, it was unexpected that her half-brother, Derek, appeared at the forefront.

 

“You look good.”

 

Derek, whom she met after half a year, was no different from when she was living in Ainel.

 

Even though he was in a foreign country, he still held his head stiffly as if this place was his territory.

 

It was the same with his intense loathing of Leah.

 

“If you’re a hostage, you’ll be crushed like a pawn, and you’ll be unlucky enough to stand out.”

 

Derek changed his demeanor as soon as the door closed, and he brought her to the balcony as if to vent his anger in front of his sister, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

 

Abusive words poured out for Leah as if trying to relieve him of a long and exhausting journey.

 

“Tsk, I don’t know why I have to face you. But if you say you don’t know me, there will be back talk.”

 

“…”

 

“You, I dare you to make a mistake here. I won’t let you go if you show lowliness and damage our Kingdom.”

 

Leah was just silent. She knew very well that if she answered or looked straight ahead, he would immediately raise his hand.

 

However, Derek frowned as if he didn’t like her lack of response.

 

“What’s with that expression? You lived in the Empire, and now think I’m funny?”

 

Contrary to expectations, Derek ferociously raised his hand and grabbed Leah’s hair.

 

“Aahh!”

 

“A b!tch who doesn’t even know her place.”

 

Even when she was young, she had been slapped and hit a lot, but being hit by a grown man, not a young boy, gave her a different level of pain.

 

“For a b!tch like you, living here as a hostage is a luxury. Originally, like your dirty mother–”

 

Derek’s speech was interrupted when the balcony door opened.

 

Along with the shudder of the door almost about to break open, the sound of unidentified footsteps approached.

 

Then Derek’s grip on her hair fell off.

 

“Argh!”

 

Instead of Leah’s head breaking free, a shriek escaped from Derek.

 

Raising her head slowly, Leah looked at Derek’s wrist being held and then to his broken tooth.

 

The boy who still resided in a part of Leah’s heart.

 

No, he was the First Prince, Caius, who had grown to the point where it would be embarrassing to call him a boy now.

 

“F*ck! What are you!”

 

Derek, not recognizing him, spat out abusive words without hesitation.

 

Caius looked at the struggling Derek with frighteningly calm eyes, then let go of Derek’s wrist, which he had gripped as if he would crush it in an instant.

 

An angry Derek swung his fist, but the large hand that moved before him grabbed Derek’s neck this time.

 

“Keep it off!”

 

Leah was looking at the whole scene with no sense of reality.

 

That boy, the First Prince, appeared. Suddenly, when she least expected it.

 

While she was just standing in a daze because she couldn’t grasp the situation, he dragged Derek and approached the balcony railing.

 

“Haahh, ahhhh!! Save me!!”

 

Derek, who was completely pale, began to beg without pride, as if he had never swung his fist.

 

Caius, who had pushed Derek down the railing, was the first to speak.

 

“It’s a pity, but you can’t die from this height.”

 

Derek’s large body leaned half over the railing. Correspondingly, the shrieking screams increased.

 

“I wonder if you will lose at least one limb.”

 

Caius, who murmured calmly as if he were talking about everyday things, glanced down as if he was really going to make it happen.

 

“It doesn’t seem useful anyway, does it even matter?”

 

Derek’s face turned blue as he looked down in the direction Caius glanced at.

 

Even if it wasn’t that high, it was a balcony as high as the 4th floor. The view from above would have been petrifying.

 

Derek, who had been shaking his body like an aspen leaf, finally slumped. The appearance of violence against Leah was colorless, and he passed out.

 

[T/N: ‘To shake like an aspen leaf’ means ‘To tremble.’ Aspen leaves have long, flat stalks easily blown by the wind. ]

 

Caius tossed Derek to the floor as if throwing him away. Derek, still passed out with his white face showing, tumbled randomly on the balcony floor.

 

Leah came to her senses when his blue eyes met her.

 

Caius, who strode across, soon stopped in front of Leah. His eyes ran slowly through Leah’s tousled hair.

 

“Have you always been treated like this in Ainel?”

 

When a still voice came out of him, Leah completely froze.

 

She never thought she would see him again this way, much less that he would find out about her situation.

 

Of course, she couldn’t be happy with this situation.

 

‘Would he tell the Emperor everything he saw today?’

 

When Leah looked at him in confusion, he replied as if he had read her thoughts.

 

“I have no intention of telling anyone.”

 

She didn’t know whether it was a relief, but Leah felt relieved for now.  Then she felt a sense of shame belatedly.

 

Leah bowed her head and barely thanked him.

 

“Thank you for helping me… thank you.”

 

Her ears were burning. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought he had seen all the ugly scenes of her brother grabbing her hair.

 

She felt as though she had been caught all over the floor.

 

At that moment, she felt a warm touch near her eyes. When she raised her head, he had stretched out his hand and was gently touching the rim of Leah’s eyes.

 

“You’re not crying.”

 

Leah’s face became a little dazed at the muttering voice that seemed to be talking to himself.

 

His unfamiliar lingering touch scattered the shame that filled her chest. A strange tremor filled the place.

 

“Your eyes always looked like they were crying.”

 

He tilted his head as if he knew. Leah just blinked her eyes as if she was stuck in the spot.

 

Your eyes always looked like they were crying…

 

It was strange to say that. Because it sounded like he had been watching her the whole time.

 

When Leah didn’t answer, he turned his gaze across the sky. He seemed to be looking at the moon.

 

“It was like that day too. The day you ran away from the banquet hall.”

 

He turned his face again and looked straight at Leah. Just like that day, the eyes of the two were deeply intertwined.

 

Leah asked as if possessed, “That day… Do you remember?”

 

She thought he had forgotten her existence. She hadn’t had a single conversation with him since then.

 

Leah mustered up the courage to look up at him. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t avoid Leah’s gaze.

 

“I never forgot.”

 

At the sound of a voice that fell like a whisper, her heart started beating fast.

 

“Because I thought of you quite often.”

 

Could it be that it wasn’t just her who couldn’t keep their eyes to themselves?

 

As if confirming that question, Caius took a step closer. As they got closer, their shared gaze deepened.

 

“I care about you.”

 

Leah’s amethyst eyes shook faintly. He whispered in a firm voice, as if he had reached conviction after a long period of confusion.

 

“So now, I won’t pretend I don’t know anymore.”

 

“Ah…”

 

When her heart pounded, and she involuntarily took a step back, Caius slowly reached out and closed the distance between them.

 

His blunt but gentle hand gently stroked Leah’s messy hair.

 

Just like on the shore of the lake, time seemed to have stopped. Leah couldn’t even breathe and captured his beautiful blue eyes in hers.

 

It was from that day.

 

It all started with that.

***