Chapter 15
You’re My Irreplaceable, Precious Friend
When Laurencia opened the parlor door and stepped inside, she greeted Loryrolls with a bright smile.
“Mr. Loryrolls.”
“Miss Loa. I’m late, aren’t I?”
“Yes. But it’s fine.”
Before entering the parlor, Loryrolls had been summoned by Madam Anne.
“I never told you to date her, Mr. Loryrolls.”
“Madam Anne, I admit I first tried to force myself on her. But the way she darted around like a frightened rabbit, throwing whatever she could get her hands on—it was quite adorable. Ha ha.”
“Break up with Laurencia.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve truly fallen for her, Madam Anne.”
“What did you just say?”
“That slender type of woman is exactly my ideal. I fell for Lady Laurencia the moment I saw her. I sincerely wish to date her and marry her.”
Loryrolls had remembered Laurencia’s warning while talking to Anne. She had said that if he only pretended to date her sincerely and promised to break up at the right time, she wouldn’t kill him.
So, he had no choice but to obey the monster’s words.
He didn’t know what secret the Pol Heredian family hid, but he only wished to be used and discarded by the monster as soon as possible.
The power she’d shown last night—it wasn’t a magician’s power, nor a spirit master’s. She could move objects freely.
And above all, she knew of Sophie’s existence. Just remembering it made goosebumps rise all over his body.
“Madam Anne told me to break up with Lady Laurencia.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told her Laurencia was my ideal woman and that I wanted to date and marry her.”
“You did well.”
Just then—
Bang!
The parlor door swung open, and Luance strode in.
“Well, well… who do we have here? Laurencia’s dance instructor was none other than young master Loryrolls.”
“Your Highness Prince Luance.”
The moment he saw Loryrolls, Luance understood at once who the man Laurencia had fallen for at first sight was.
Wasn’t this the pervert who went crazy for any man wearing a skirt—Loryrolls?
“How dare you seduce the prince’s lover?”
“Why am I Your Highness’s lover? Don’t misunderstand, Mr. Loryrolls. I like you!”
“Laurencia! Be quiet! Unless you want to see me completely lose my mind!”
Luance removed the white glove from his right hand and strode up to Loryrolls.
Then, without hesitation, he threw the glove straight at Loryrolls’s face.
It was a declaration of a duel.
“Your Highness, I didn’t know Lady Laurencia was your lover.”
Loryrolls couldn’t hide his bewilderment. He showed it openly.
For a noble to be challenged to a duel by royalty was an honor—one he had no wish to accept.
He hadn’t touched a sword in ten years.
And he certainly didn’t want to risk his life fighting for a monster like Laurencia.
“Madam Anne clearly said she wanted me and Lady Laurencia to marry. I confessed that she was my ideal type, and she accepted my feelings. So as of yesterday, we’ve become lovers.
Had I known she was involved with Your Highness, I would never have gone anywhere near the Pol Heredian estate.”
Loryrolls defended himself, claiming all the fault lay with Anne, not him.
“I’d like to cancel the duel. If I’d known, perhaps Lady Laurencia and I could have been a good couple, but since I do now, I withdraw my confession and any talk of marriage.”
He bowed deeply to Luance.
He feared Laurencia’s monstrous power, yes—but the prospect of dueling a prince terrified him far more.
He’d have to fight in front of countless nobles, and he’d forgotten how to even hold a sword.
Defeat and disgrace, followed by death, were inevitable.
“Please spare me, Your Highness!”
“Mr. Loryrolls. I am not His Highness’s lover. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“My apologies, Lady Laurencia.”
“Then all the things you said and did to me yesterday—were they all lies?”
Her words shocked him. Even if Luance weren’t there, any third party hearing her now would surely misunderstand.
“You said you fell for me at first sight—and the things you did afterward…”
“What are you implying I did?”
“I was a maiden yesterday!”
“Lady Laurencia, please stop talking. His Highness will get the wrong idea.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you since yesterday. My heart’s been pounding strangely. You don’t know how long I waited to see you today.”
As Laurencia confessed, Luance’s teeth ground together.
The monster he had so carefully raised and caged was slipping through his fingers.
That monster was supposed to look only at him, love only him, and be willing to die for him.
She was born for him alone.
No one else could have her.
“She’s mine. My monster.”
“Laurencia, what are you saying in front of me right now? I thought I’d shown you my feelings clearly, but I guess not.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Your Highness.”
“What am I to you, Laurencia?”
“Your Highness is my irreplaceable, precious friend.”
Laurencia smiled warmly, sincerely.
“You don’t love me?”
“I can’t love you, Your Highness.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m illegitimate. I can’t be a princess consort.”
“That’s not true. I’ll make you one.”
The words slipped out before Luance could stop himself.
Her tendency to slip away from his grasp like a fish made him lash out impulsively.
What if she actually believed he meant to make her crown princess?
“I know my place, Your Highness. That’s why someone like Mr. Loryrolls is just right for me.”
It felt like lightning struck his head.
Had she just shattered his pride?
“Laurencia, I love you.”
“You love me?”
Laurencia, love and delusion are the same thing. Don’t mistake my delusion for love.
The words he’d spoken before killing her echoed in her head.
“I love you, Laurencia. Truly.”
You really believed that? That ‘I love you’? You really mistook it, didn’t you?
Love cannot be a reason to kill.
To say one can do anything for love is only self-deception.
“I can’t accept Your Highness’s feelings. Please don’t ever call me your lover again, even as a lie.”
“All right. I was hasty calling you that. But my feelings are sincere.”
“I’m currently Mr. Loryrolls’s lover. And please, I ask you to retrieve the glove you threw and cancel the duel.”
Luance clenched his teeth.
Laurencia was bowing her head and asking on behalf of another man.
It was intolerable—unthinkable.
“Lady Laurencia, please! Be quiet!”
Loryrolls’s face had turned ghostly pale as he began to beg her.
If only he could turn back time and refuse the proposal from the Pol Heredian family!
“Please! Stop talking, Lady Laurencia! I’m begging you!”
His pleading became desperate.
But Laurencia only smiled.
Luance grew frantic.
The way she looked at Loryrolls wasn’t normal—the violet of her eyes shimmered with the color of love.
Something inside him twisted painfully.
Was it hatred? Or something worse?
Whatever it was, the urge to vomit from the intensity of it rose uncontrollably.
If he gave in to impulse now, he might kill both of them on the spot.
“Laurencia. Do you really want to be with a man like that? Is that your true feeling?”
“Yes. We’re already deeply connected.”
“That’s not true, Your Highness! Nothing happened between us! Please don’t misunderstand!”
Loryrolls fell to his knees.
He thought he might die right then and there.
Luance also felt close to madness.
He had to say what he didn’t mean.
He had spent so much time and effort making Laurencia depend on him—only to hear that she’d become “deeply connected” to this pervert.
“No matter what anyone says, you’re mine, Laurencia.”
“Your Highness, the one I love is Mr. Loryrolls.”
“Please be quiet! Miss Laurencia! Your Highness! I’ll break up with her, just cancel the duel! I don’t love her!”
“Mr. Loryrolls! What do you mean, break up? Was everything you said to me yesterday a lie?”
“I can’t fight royalty, Lady Laurencia. Please, let’s end this. I’ll pretend nothing happened yesterday.”
“Pretend nothing happened? You said you’d marry me!”
Laurencia’s voice trembled, tears welling up.
“Madam Anne said since Lady Laurencia was already nineteen but hadn’t even started menstruating, she couldn’t marry her off anywhere. So I jokingly said I’d take her instead.”
“Joking? Then why did you confess to me? Why did you hold and caress me in that room?”
“T-That was—!”
The more Laurencia spoke, the paler Loryrolls became.
Luance’s lips twitched.
Now he understood why Anne had called Loryrolls there.
This whole mess was her doing.
He was so furious his head throbbed.
And Laurencia had begun to cry, covering her face with both hands.
A sigh escaped him.
“Laurencia, don’t cry.”
Luance stepped closer and wrapped her shoulders in his arms.
“What did that man do to you yesterday?”
“I can’t say.”
“I won’t ask what happened. But I’ll eliminate the one responsible. Is that all right?”
“Huh?”
“I mean I’ll protect your honor, whatever happened yesterday.”
“Can an illegitimate child even have honor worth protecting?”
Luance sighed deeply.
“My beloved Laurencia, as your friend, let me protect it.”
Laurencia nodded.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Luance looked coldly down at the kneeling, pleading Loryrolls.
“I, Luance von Ishter, formally challenge young master Loryrolls of the Stopuga family to a duel—to defend the honor of Lady Laurencia Pol Heredian.”
“I refuse! I will not accept a duel! Lady Laurencia!”
