<CHAPTER 05>
The Greatest Fake
He had to kill her.
Rexfail’s resolve was clear.
He forced his blood-drained and weakened body to move somehow, trying to kill the woman before his eyes.
However, his cold and stiff body could barely move even a single finger.
Grinding his teeth, Rexfail glared at her, and astonishingly, she stepped closer.
“Your Highness.”
With a careful movement that seemed as though she would not harm him at all, the woman’s hand reached Rexfail.
Against his chilled body, her warmth felt excessively hot.
Without realizing it, he flinched and trembled.
When words he had once heard slipped once more from Rexfail’s lips, Evelyn’s eyes widened without her noticing.
“Do you recognize me?”
Even knowing he could not possibly do so, Evelyn bent down and brought her face closer to his.
Rexfail glared at her with killing intent, but the pupils of a man on the brink of death were unfocused and blurred.
For some reason, Evelyn almost laughed.
Had this man ever looked so weak and small?
Having found a healing potion in the bag tied to the saddle, Evelyn regained some composure and laid Rexfail properly on the ground.
“I’ll help you.”
The trembling of his wandering pupils and restless movements stilled the moment he heard those words.
“You’re going to die anyway if you keep moving.”
Strange.
Rexfail thought.
He forced open his fading eyes and examined the woman tending to him.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
A small frame.
The only resemblance to Evelyn was that she was a woman and that she had long hair.
But.
The signal of lightly tapping the corner of her lips with a slightly bent index finger.
The faint smile she gave while slightly creasing the corners of her eyes when she hesitated.
Evelyn.
She was the greatest fake among all the fakes.
Yes, if one were to deceive him, it had to be done to this extent.
Rexfail trembled with a strange satisfaction and rubbed his cheek against her finger.
Evelyn’s finger stiffened in embarrassment and surprise.
He was like a puppy that could not even open its eyes.
Like a fragile newborn blindly crawling in search of milk, barely able to distinguish anything.
Thinking she had to save him, Evelyn moved her hand and held the healing potion to his lips.
After pouring about half into him, she carefully began to apply the rest over his largest wound.
At the same time, her mind was complicated.
Was he always capable of being like this?
Was he someone who could rub his face against her like a spoiled child.
Someone who could relax every muscle in his body as though disarmed and smile so brightly without realizing it?
Perhaps.
Was the coldness and indifference that had become Rexfail’s symbol directed solely at Evelyn alone?
In places where she was absent, had he always been able to soak in happiness like an unwrinkled, untainted child?
A wound she had not even known existed painfully tightened around Evelyn’s heart.
The expectations she thought she did not have and the sense of solidarity she thought existed shattered into pieces.
Like a light injury, tears slowly traced a long line down her face.
Move, Evelyn.
She ordered herself.
The healing potion had soothed the wound to some extent and was drawing out his natural regenerative ability.
There should be no immediate danger now.
But he was still a patient, and if left in his room like this, his life would be at risk.
You always wanted to help him.
Now is the time you can help him.
Now is the chance to save him.
Yet her body would not move.
The sense of betrayal from expectations she had never allowed herself to have was something she would have to bear alone, and yet she wanted to demand accountability.
For making her misunderstand.
For making her feel this miserable.
How petty, Evelyn.
Raising both hands, she slapped her own cheeks.
Then she bent down and hoisted Rexfail onto her back.
No matter what, this was the moment she had to save him.
The smell of rain lingered.
More precisely, the scent of wet soil and fresh, vibrant grass stirred him.
Cold droplets, scattered across his skin, pulled his consciousness fully to the surface.
“Where am I…?”
It was a small and shabby cabin.
Though traces of careful upkeep were visible, it was undeniably small and old, hardly a pleasant space.
He was perched awkwardly on a small bed by the window, his feet hanging off the edge and dangling in the air.
Rexfail drew his legs up onto the bed and leaned back.
Who brought me…
Resting against the wall, he examined his wounds.
The injuries that must have been severe were now mostly treated, except for the one on his thigh.
“You’re awake?”
A quiet presence approached and spoke.
It was an unfamiliar voice, and it belonged to a woman.
No, was it truly unfamiliar?
Rexfail recalled hearing that voice before.
It resembled the gentle voice he had heard when his mind wavered from blood loss.
She spoke in a way that reminded me of Evelyn.
But something was different now.
The tone was stiff, and the beginnings of her sentences were flat.
The squared, featureless manner of speech made it difficult to associate her with anyone.
Yet Rexfail trusted his memory.
“Who are you?”
“Leave.”
Their words collided as they spoke at the same time.
Rexfail’s brow furrowed.
“You dare to command me?”
“I do not know who you are.”
Hidden in the darkness, Evelyn continued speaking.
She wished he would leave immediately.
In her previous life, he had been her everything.
A man who had not loved her.
She would not allow such a man to claim her again in this life.
She would let him exert no influence.
She would let him claim no emotion.
Evelyn made that vow.
“You were injured, so I searched your saddlebag.”
“There was a healing potion, so I used one.”
“The rest had shattered from colliding with each other.”
She raised her arm and pointed toward the chestnut horse outside, standing beneath a tree.
But the man’s gaze followed only her arm, not the horse.
“You seem able to move now, so you can ride and leave.”
“Your horse is over there.”
Rexfail felt thirst.
He thought he needed to confirm the face of the woman hidden in the darkness.
He commanded.
“Bring a light.”
“Why would you need one?”
Evelyn responded curtly.
She did not want to comply obediently.
Seeing him demand as though entitled to the kindness he had once ignored made her unwilling to give more.
“I will not demand gratitude for the favor you received.”
“If you have any conscience, repay me by leaving.”
At her cold reply, Rexfail lowered his legs off the bed.
As he moved to stand, Evelyn flinched.
“Your leg—”
“If you’re worried, come and see for yourself.”
It was strange.
Rexfail had never kept anyone so close before.
Yet strangely, he felt he wanted to keep this woman near.
He did not wish to doubt her.
He wanted to keep her by his side and do something for her.
But the woman hesitated and stepped back.
The faint outline revealed by the light through the window was swallowed further into darkness.
“Go back.”
“With this leg?”
He pointed at the injured area with his fingertip as he asked.
Evelyn bit her lip.
After a long moment of hesitation, she spoke.
“I know you’re someone of high status.”
“Is that so?”
People of high status do not travel alone.
Rexfail’s eyes gleamed with interest.
She clearly did not appear to have trained in swordsmanship or martial arts.
There was no way she could have sensed the presence of the knight guarding outside the window.
How did she know?
As if answering his question, she spoke.
“I was too focused on you to check the horse.”
“I tied it there and forgot, but someone has fed it well and taken care of it.”
“That person must be yours.”
Rexfail pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, intrigued by her deduction.
Was it possible for a mere woman living alone in a deep forest cabin to infer another person’s existence simply by observing a horse’s condition?
Rexfail did not think so.
“So accept that person’s help and return.”
“There’s nothing here that will aid your recovery.”
She had not failed to consider that mentioning the guard might invite unnecessary suspicion.
But Evelyn was exhausted and weary.
She only wanted to send Rexfail away quickly.
She wished to enjoy her lonely and quiet time in the forest cabin once more.
“All the medical supplies in this house are in that basket.”
“Take whatever you need.”
She believed it would happen that way.
There was no reason for a Crown Prince to remain in such a shabby cabin once he had recovered.
Surely, while she returned to her room and buried herself in bed, everything would go back to where it belonged.
“Your Highness.”
When she left her spot, the escort knight Fenril revealed himself.
Kneeling, he waited for orders, appearing relieved that his lord had regained consciousness.
After giving a brief report of the situation and asking forgiveness for failing to properly guard his master, the knight offered to escort him to a safer place.
“Everything is prepared.”
Hearing Fenril say they were ready to return to their original place, Rexfail fell into thought.
Of course, that was what should happen.
Yet his attention was drawn to the woman who had climbed the stairs to the second floor.
He called his knight.
“Yes.”
The man who had seemed ready to depart immediately straightened.
But Rexfail lay back down on the bed once more.
Staring at the ceiling, he thought of the woman somewhere above.
“Investigate her.”
He could not leave yet.
