Chapter 4.2

Deric, who was left alone in the room, held up a hand mirror, biting his lips tightly. When he checked the image in the mirror, he had a headache. Why was her face reflected in the mirror?

‘What the hell did Irene do?’

Deric couldn’t easily accept this situation. After spending a night with Irene and falling asleep, he opened his eyes as soon as he felt a sense of emptiness and sharp pain.

Then he saw that the place next to him was empty.

Thinking that Irene had left the place while he was sleeping as if she were running away, he felt his stomach twist and he broke out into a cold sweat.

But that was just the beginning of the troubles that Irene had left for him.

Deric felt a splitting pain and gritted his teeth. He had never experienced pain like this, even during the war.

His arms weren’t generally weak, but for some reason, he could barely move his arm to remove the blanket. When he somehow managed to do so, he saw a smooth and bewitching pair of womanly legs.

“…..”

He was tired because he had spent the night with a woman for the first time. Deric calmed himself down and looked down at his hand.

He could see a soft and fair hand of a woman. When he clenched the fist and opened it, it was moving according to his will, but there were no familiar calluses or scars.

‘A woman’s hands?’

It took a while for him to realize that his soul was now not in his body but in the body of Irenea Chandler.

Just in time, he heard the voices of the knights talking about the crown prince. Deric raised his heavy lead-like body with great difficulty, then opened the door, and looked at the lobby. Then for some reason, he saw his body leisurely leaving the villa.

“What the hell! What is going on?”

Deric had experienced many crises while living as a hostage in the enemy country, but it was the first time he had ever experienced something as ridiculous as this.

“Princess, don’t bother me.”

When he heard the voice, his mind went blank and he felt all his energy being drained from his body. But Deric could instinctively tell that it was Irene’s soul that had occupied his body.

‘But how? Why?’

Deric kept thinking about this while taking an unwanted nap. Irene’s imitation of him was quite natural.

Maybe she had expected this…

He didn’t know how she did it, but the assumption that she stole his body and ran away seemed most plausible to him right now.

When he thought so far, he felt like a fool for feeling dissatisfied on not seeing her by his side when he opened his eyes.

“Damn it.”

Deric gritted his teeth for a while to grasp the situation. Even the maids Irene brought from the Duchy of Chandler did not notice that their owner’s soul had switched with another. He thought it was alright that they didn’t notice it, but they were crying and hugging him tightly.

“My Lady … it’s not your fault. His Highness is really too mean.”

“How can he just leave like that after spending a night with you? He’s really the worst!”

The maids, who adored Irene, began to fiercely rebuke the Crown Prince. Even though it was him who had woken up to an empty bed after they had spent the night together.

‘Who’s really the worst?’

Deric felt suffocated with injustice, but now that he couldn’t even figure out what was going on right now, he didn’t want anyone to be suspicious of his behavior. If one didn’t have a good idea, then it was better to act and follow the script for the time being.

This was the biggest course of action that allowed him to overcome many life threats and survive.

“I want to be alone for a while.”

Deric sent the maids out imitating Irene’s tone, which he had been observing. He only said a few words because his voice was hoarse, but it still stung.

There was cooled soup, bread, and a small box on the table. The box was left behind by a Palace servant.

The red box was neatly tied by a gold ribbon. It was the finest packaging that was used when the imperial family gifted something.

It was unpleasant to think that he had received the very present he had prepared to give to Irene.

Deric’s brow furrowed when he recalled what he had put in the box. He couldn’t understand why Irene, who was always following him and smiling with her eyes, would suddenly do this.

Last night wasn’t so bad.

“I won’t let you have my child.”

He thought he had conveyed his intention of wanting to enjoy their time together even if it was short. Irene was exceptionally clever among the young ladies and always smiled softly as if she understood what he meant. So, he thought that this time again, she must have understood his intention of making her his Crown Princess.

But he didn’t know that leaving him alone was her answer to last night’s request.

“……”

But why? Deric gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand why she refused him and ran away with his body like this.

She had been following him all this time. Was she fed up, now that she had spent the night?

‘… She was thinking of running away from the beginning after taking my body.’

Last night, when he lightly hugged her after their affair, she turned her body. He didn’t realize that it may have been to avoid him, not because she was uncomfortable.

As soon as he realized that, Deric threw the small box in the trash can. It was the best thing he could do.

It was clear that he would not be able to think rationally if he saw the necklace with the crest of the Emperor of Leffeirze with his own eyes.