The Dangerous Honeymoon Diary of the Fake Empress

As the clock struck 1am, I automatically opened my eyes.

‘Time to report.’

The crown prince had ordered me to report every day for about three days after my marriage to the prince. I dozed off, but fortunately, it wasn’t too late. As I tried to get up to make the report… I suddenly realized that the place I woke up wasn’t the sofa.

‘Huh? Why am I in bed?’

It’s strange because I clearly fell asleep on the sofa, but I woke up on the bed. Even my pillow and quilt had been moved to the bed.

‘Did the prince move me to the bed?’

I looked at the prince, who was fast asleep next to me, and shook my head. There was no way he could’ve moved me without my extra perceptive knight’s instincts noticing.

‘What, then did I crawl into bed while asleep?’

That seemed more likely.

Whoa, how ridiculous. I imagined the prince scooping me up in his arms and carrying me to bed.

‘You’ve lost your mind, Hailey; you’re going to have another nosebleed.’

I shattered that absurd image I had conjured, fearing that my body wouldn’t survive the temptation. And then I tried to get up.

“Mmm…”

Suddenly, Jeremy, who had been sleeping soundly, turned towards me and placed his hand on top of the hand I’d left on the bed.

“Hmm,” he mumbled again.

Did he wake up? Since he still had his eyes closed, it didn’t seem like he did.

By the way, the prince’s hand…… is very warm. How nice it would be to sleep in a warm quilt, holding hands with the prince. Just thinking about it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

‘Am I dreaming too big about being a fake princess?’

Hiding my bitter feelings, I watched him sleep like an angel for a while. It was regrettable, but it was time to let go of his hand.

‘I’ll report quickly and come back, Your Highness.’

I lit some sleeping incense and changed into the knight’s robes I had stashed under the bed. When I opened the window, a particularly chilly breeze brushed through my hair.

As if to say that this wasn’t a time to rest in a warm place, the freezing cold penetrated deep into my heart.

* * *

Jeremy opened his eyes at the sound of the window opening. In fact, he had been awake even before holding Hailey.’s hand.

‘A sleep scent….’

Jeremy’s gaze turned to the scented candle on the side table.

He had a resistance to most drugs and scents. As a result, no matter how strong a sleep scent he smelled, he never fell asleep or anything of the sort.

‘You’ve lit a sleeping incense, which means you’ve gone to Ain, as you did the other night. Do you have to report every night?’

He stared at the side of the window where Hailey had disappeared. Surprisingly, the window was tightly closed.

‘What does she have to report?’

Jeremy pushed himself out of bed and walked to the door. He knocked a couple of times, and a moment later Retin appeared, unnerved by the spy, and claiming to be his secret escort for the next few days.

“What’s the matter? Did that spy sneak out of the room again today?”

Jeremy nodded his head, and Retin narrowed his eyes.

“She’s probably going to report every little detail to the Crown Prince.”

“But isn’t it strange?” Jeremy mused.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s completely unsuited to be a spy.”

A chuckle escaped Jeremy’s lips. He remembered Hailey’s embarrassed face, blushing.

Earlier, when Hailey stroked his cheek, Jeremy closed his eyes, telling her to do it again. It was a test to see this mischievous spy trying to seduce him. If she was experienced in such missions, she would have made an effort to seduce him at that opportune moment.

But what were the results? She swatted away Jeremy’s subtle provocation and walked to the sofa, as if signaling her limit.

“…..I wonder why the Prince would send someone like that to me.”

A smile lingered on his lips, but his heart was complicated. It would have been less confusing if she had consistently shown attempts to seduce him.

Her behavior, starting off well but veering off track at the end, left Jeremy with nothing but questions.

“Are you still confused? She’s a sly spy sent by the prince. Every action of hers seemed like an act to me.”

“Yeah, it must be an act,” Jeremy muttered to himself, as if trying to convince his own mind. But just like before, it didn’t work out well. Doubts arose in him once again.

‘Is it really an act?’

Aside from the couch, there were a few other things that confused him.

The action of pulling his waist in concern while dancing, the smile that lasted while dancing together, the expression when she angrily jumped off the second-floor terrace.

‘I will protect you, my prince.’

Her sincere gaze towards him.

“Was it all just an act?”

If that was the case, she would be the most skillful spy. If her mission was to shake his heart and find his weaknesses, then she was already halfway to success.

He knew she was a spy, but she was still coming at him, and he was finding it harder and harder to keep her at bay.

“Prince, don’t be fooled. I told you to open the heart of the spy, but when did I tell you to open your heart to the spy?”

Rhetorically, Retin looked suspiciously at Jeremy. In an instant, a torrent of suppressed complaints burst forth.

“To be honest, you don’t know how surprised I was when you used magic today. Even if you could use memory erasing magic, it was too reckless to expose your magic in front of so many people.”

“I was surprised too…,” Jeremy murmured absentmindedly, looking down at his own hand.

Then, Retin asked Jeremy in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“When they attacked Hailey, it… became intense… here,” Jeremy said, placing his hand near his heart. His expression was bewildered even as he spoke. “When I came to my senses, I was using magic. Why did I do that?”

As Hailey was being pushed down by the two men, a strange heat rose in his chest. When he regained his senses, the magic to save her had already been cast.

“I know she is a Shadow Knight here to watch over me, and I know that the way she is wrapping herself around me is an act.”

Jeremy’s expression became complicated. He looked frustrated, as if he had been wandering around the right answer the whole time.

“Why did it happen? I…”

It felt as if his head and heart were playing separately.

“Maybe she did something to the prince? A drug or something.”

“There was no sign of a drug.”

Although he’d never drank a substance like that before, he was pretty sure this was not what it feels like.

It wasn’t like being drugged and unable to control your emotions, but rather a feeling that slowly spread from deep within the chest.

“Be careful though. She’s like poison to the prince.”

Yes. Like poison.

* * *

“I see you’re in uniform today.”

Ain leaned back in his chair and tilted his head. His blood-red lips drew a crescent-shaped arc.

“Yes. It makes me feel more comfortable.”

The shadow knight uniform was a deep, dark green, making it convenient to operate in the dark night. Moreover, since it was pants rather than a dress, it was much easier to move around.

“How do the noble ladies manage to wear dresses?”

With all the jewels and layers of fabric hidden beneath the skirts, it made movement extremely uncomfortable. How do those delicate ladies with seemingly no muscles carry and walk around in those heavy garments?

“Well, I haven’t tried wearing one myself.”

Ain chuckled at my words. After a moment, he stopped laughing, and a languid smile formed on his lips as he stroked his chin.

But then, suddenly, without saying a word, he stared at me intensely.

‘Why, why is he looking at me like that?’

His insistent gaze practically stung, and I became unnecessarily nervous. It’s strange; I don’t recall experiencing anything like this in my past life.

Normally, I would have finished the brief report and safely returned to the prince’s palace. There was no reason for me to be subjected to Ain’s intense gaze like this.

‘I wonder if he noticed something.’

Otherwise, there’s no way Ain would be staring at me so intensely.

‘Is it because I’m acting differently from my past life?’

Thinking of a future where even small changes didn’t go as planned, I felt a deep sense of discouragement. I had spent the entire day assisting the princess and even helping the prince, working diligently to change the future. It’s undoubtedly because of that effort that Ain must have noticed something.

‘Ugh……. I’ve only just regressed. And I’m already in trouble.’

Tension gripped my whole body. It was at that moment, when I was barely able to catch my breath due to the tension.

“I must say, you looked good in that dress.”

As if mocking my heightened tension, a languid voice flowed from Ain.

Huh? He said I looked good in the dress? Then, the intense stare he gave me just a moment ago… was it because I wasn’t wearing a dress?

I suddenly felt a profound sense of emptiness, wondering why I had been so tense. I responded to his words with a voice devoid of strength.

“……Please don’t ask me to wear a dress for the report.”

“Why?”

He asked because he didn’t know. Sneaking in for a report while wearing a dress is such a hassle. Besides, it’s cold, freezing!

I replied firmly with a resolute expression, so that he wouldn’t give any futile orders.

“It’s cold. Very cold.”

Just in case, I prepared myself for resistance, but Ain seemed disappointed as if he regretted something. In the meantime, I hurriedly began the report, afraid that Ain might change his mind.

“Then, I’ll start the report.”

I highlighted Jeremy’s foolish act that occurred today. I wondered if my lie would be exposed or if it would arouse suspicion. With an anxious heart, I finished the report and looked up at him.

“So, you had something to do with Perdell’s group?”

“Yes. I judged that it was better to be on the prince’s side to maintain appearances.”

“Was it because of you that Perdell’s arm was broken? He only mentioned that he fell in the garden.”

The prince’s magic had broken his arm, but none of the others seemed to be aware of the fact.

‘It must have been the effect of the memory erasing spell.’

“They won’t tell you the truth, because they’re embarrassed to have been hit by me.”

I didn’t panic and replied with a moderate amount of reasoning. Fortunately, Ain didn’t seem suspicious.

“You know better. You should have been more moderate.”

“His swearing at me was too much for me to handle……. I’ll be more moderate next time.”

“…..swearing? What did he say?”

“Saying that instead of the prince, he should embrace the bride. Anyway, it was vulgar content.”

Ain, who had been listening to my story with interest, paused. His mouth, which had been drawn in an arc, closed in a straight line as if something had offended him.

With even the slightest change, he appeared completely different.

“Well, that’s what happened…….”

A serene madness glinted in Ain’s golden eyes. The smile that lifted only one corner of his red lips was eerie, like a devil’s smile.

“Prince?”

“So, how many times did you hit them?”

Huh? Is that important right now?

“I slapped their faces and punched them a few times. I might have grabbed their hair afterward…”

Isn’t this how you get called out for hitting your own supporters?

As I hesitated, unable to continue speaking, a dark light flickered in Ain’s already eerie face.

“Is that all?”

He furrowed his brows.

From his slightly raised eyebrows, I could tell that he was currently in a state of anger.

“……Huh?”

“Is that all you did, just that little, to them?”

Those people… They’re supposed to be supporters of the crown prince.

‘You’re asking me why I didn’t beat him up more, not warning me that I can’t beat him up more.’

I looked at Ain with a puzzled expression. However, no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t read his intentions.

‘I guess it’s true that reading people’s hearts isn’t my specialty. Especially not the heart of a prince. Ugh, I don’t know, I don’t know!’

I gave up thinking about what to reply that would make him see me in a better light.

“I see. Next time… I’ll try to be more violent.”

I roughly answered as it came to mind. Surprisingly, Ain seemed satisfied with my response. He relaxed his brows and let out a chuckle. Nodding his head.

“Fine. Be that way next time.”

His platinum hair swayed slightly as he nodded. The beautiful golden hue was so dazzling that one might suspect it was made of gold, swirling gracefully beside him.

“Now go. If there are no special reports in the future, come see me only once a week.”

“As you command.”

I inwardly felt proud that the surveillance had weakened. Well done, Hailey. You did well, Hailey!

‘It’s all thanks to the prince and my acting skills. No doubt.’

With this level of acting, there should be no problems in the future, I thought, as I gracefully exited the prince’s chamber.

However, my elated mood was short-lived. As soon as I arrived at the prince’s palace, my soaring spirits plummeted.

“All the windows of the prince’s palace… are locked.”