Chapter 149 – Why It Has to Be You

Click—

The office door swung open, and the Crown Prince entered with Serpene’s administrator at his side.

‘Have they already put out the fire?’

Thanks to Axion, who had pulled her into a connecting room, she narrowly avoided the crisis. The urgency of erasing their magic traces had prevented them from using a teleportation scroll.

Still, there was one pressing problem, which was that the space they hid in was far too small. Barely large enough for two, it left them with scarcely any room to breathe. Forced into such close quarters with her fiancé, she couldn’t help but feel awkward and uncomfortable.

More than that, his breath brushing against the nape of her neck had been distracting her for some time now. Just as she wriggled, trying to create even the slightest distance between their pressed bodies—

“…Hold still.”

“S-Sorry.”

With no way to ease the closeness between them, she lowered her gaze, forcing herself to focus on the voices drifting in from the office.

— The monster ended up getting damaged.

It seemed that in the chaos of extinguishing the fire, the monster had been neglected. Serpene’s administrator seemed more regretful over losing the chance to sell the creature than concerned about the fire itself.

The Crown Prince’s reply came sharp and imperious, as if asking what the problem was.

— Dispose of it. It’s a little more than a corpse now.

— …That’s true, Your Highness.

As if trying to change the subject, the administrator pressed on with forced enthusiasm.

— Perhaps it is all for the better. Just this month alone, we have already broken our record for highest earnings.

As he listened to the report on profits, Erden’s lips curved into a thin, sardonic smile.

— Of course it should be, considering how much I’ve invested.

— Indeed, Your Highness, quite so.

The administrator of Serpene bowed deeply, then added in a voice tinged with excitement.

— It won’t be long before we’ll be able to flatten the Desmon Trading Company’s nose.

The Crown Prince puffed up with pride, as if in agreement.

— What a shame. It seems the Valentino family’s prestigious business will end with this generation.

No one could say precisely when Erden had begun laying the foundations of this scheme, but one truth was certain: he was running the black market not for wealth alone, but to weaken the Desmon Company.

Of course. That inferiority complex of his had to go somewhere.

Driven by his inferiority complex toward Axion, the Crown Prince had essentially chosen the path of his own ruin.

Evelyn clicked her tongue inwardly and stole a glance at her fiancé. His face remained impassive, but a chilling aura coiled around him. The strained vein at his neck made it clear how fiercely he was holding back his anger.

‘This is no time to let emotions rule…’

Worried about him, she was about to gently grasp the edge of his sleeve when—

Squeak, squeak—

…Squeak?

A sudden unease prickled her, and she glanced down.

Her breath caught in her throat, nearly escaping in a startled cry. It was because a rat, no larger than her palm, dragged its long, thin tail across the floor as it scurried about.

‘What? Since when has that been here?’

Each time the creature paused to sniff about or darted nimbly across the shadows, gooseflesh rippled up her arms.

Evelyn, her face pale with shock, dove desperately into her fiancé’s embrace. Caught off guard by her sudden action, Axion seemed uncharacteristically flustered.

“What is it, all of a sudden?”

“T-There, a rat! There’s a rat!”

Her trembling voice quavered with fear, and the man let out a soft, almost pitying sigh. On the verge of tears, she grew even more frightened and held onto him tighter, refusing to let go.

Aahh, I’m scared! It’s so scary!

In the cramped space, the presence of a rat made it feel unbearable, as though she might faint at any moment. And yet, when she glimpsed the twitch of amusement tugging at her fiancé’s lips, she found him insufferably exasperating.

He’s smiling? He can laugh at a time like this?

She shot him a sharp glare, eyes narrowed with indignation.