We Lost Our Engagement

Chapter 8

***

He turned and stared at April. It was as if he was observing her.

“I’m …….”

After a moment, he opened his mouth quietly.

“I’m not Lochlan, April.”

As if he could look in her mind, he answered it without knowing her question.

April looked up at him with her lips slightly open. Dominic gave her a stern look.

“I can’t listen to your sweetness, you know.”

At that, he left quickly and shut the door.  April didn’t even have a chance to grab him again.

She could only stare blankly at the closed door.

****

Lochlan, who had slammed the door shut hard, turned around in surprise.

“…… ah.”

‘…What to do, April must have been surprised.’

In the past, April was always startled by such a rough sound.

Lochlan knew that it was the influence of her new parents. Every time they were angry with April, they would slam the door behind them like this.

He couldn’t leave the doorsteps and continued his confused worries.

‘Should I say sorry and open the door again?’

No, April was still sad, and Dominic was not a considerate person… 

He didn’t want it to happen, but it was inevitable due to circumstances.

Lochlan was worried and not knowing what to do, began to scratch his head.

‘Oh, I didn’t make you cry again, did I? Your eyes were all swollen…’

Lochlan put his ear to the door and concentrated on the sounds coming through the door.

‘Is she crying? No, right?’

Fortunately, he didn’t hear any sniffles. He was relieved.

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

As Dominic stood at a loss in front of Lochlan’s room, a servant approached him with a worried look on his face.

Lochlan’s immediately made a generous smile similar to Dominic’s.

“Yes, I’m okay. Nothing to worry about.”

“Okay. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

As the servant was about to leave, Lochlan, remembering something, called him back.

“I have a favor to ask.”

***

‘I really am an idiot.’

It was the same for April as she stood at the door and despaired.

Even if she suspected that Dominic’s true identity was Lochlan, 

she should’ve been polite to the Crown Prince when dealing with him.

‘I’m not even a child anymore. Why in the world did I act so hastily?’

‘Should I go and apologize now? He just left, so I might be able to catch up with him if I run down the hall.’

April quickly grabbed the doorknob.

At that moment, the doorknob, which she hadn’t even turned, spun around and the door opened.

She raised her head as she retreated.

“…Your Highness?

Dominic saw the surprised look on April’s face and chuckled in amusement.

“What is it, April?  Are you still depressed?”

 “No, that’s not it.”

April hurried back a few steps.

“I was just about to go to apologize to Your Highness.”

“All right, I accept your apology.”

“But I haven’t done it yet….”

“That’s how generous I am. Just lie down over there for now.”

He pointed to the bed with his chin’s gesture, and April looked at him strangely.

“I could tell by the look in your eyes that your criticism of me was great today.”

Dominic put the white pocket he was holding on April’s eyes.

“Oh, it’s cold!”

April stepped back quickly in surprise.

“If you’re in this room with that look in your eyes, Lochlan is going to be very upset.”

“….”

“So I’ll have to help you. Hurry up and go lie down. If you don’t want it, I’ll leave.”

April quickly shouted, “I’m going to lie down,” when Lochlan said he was going to leave.

“Good.”

He went to the bed and tapped the top of the plump pillow. April flinched and somehow went over and lied down at his authority.

It was awkward.

Soon, however, a soft cloth was draped over body, and the cool ice pack was placed over her eyes, and her mind was relatively at ease.

It was as if Prince Lochlan was here with her.

April remembered her assumption that maybe he really was Lochlan, and listened to the sounds coming from nearby.

Lochlan pulled out a chair and sat down beside her.

“…Thank you.”

“No, I was sensitive, too. I shouldn’t have put my status before my friend.”

“Friend……..?”

“No? I always thought we were.”

April bit her lips.

It was as if Lochlan were saying the word ‘friend’ to her….

She faked a cheerful voice, pretending not to know as her heart was racing.

“Then I have a question for my friend, Your Highness.”

“I know what you want to ask.”

Before long, his hand was inside the blanket, tugging on the back of April’s hand.

“…!”

April flinched for a moment, startled by the suddenness of the situation, and then the soft cloth wrapped around her wrist.

April immediately realized, even in her pitch black vision, what it was that he had given her. It was her blue ribbon.

His fingertips grazed her skin and tied a knot in the ribbon wrapped around her wrist.

“You must have seen this at the funeral.”

“….”

“I felt compelled to explain myself to you.”

April squeezed the end of the ribbon in her palm.

“This is a token that Prince Lochlan himself took from me.”

“I know.”

“It’s something that no one else but the Prince can have.”

“Yes.”

“His Royal Highness, Dominic, is not the kind of person who would keep someone else’s token.”

“…No.”

When he didn’t deny it, April couldn’t hold back any longer as she barely moved her painfully puckered lips.

“Prince Lochlan.”

“….”

He didn’t reply. She could hear his labored breathing for a while, but that was all. The sound of her heart in her ear was enough to make her dizzy. After a while, Lochlan finally spoke.

“Don’t tease me too much. April.”

“…It’s you.”

“You know he was caught in a catastrophe in the wrong place, right?”

What does that mean all of a sudden? April listened to him curiously.

“He shouldn’t have been there in the first place, as it’s a serious offense to leave a designated area in time of war.”

April had read that story in an article and knew about it. Lochlan’s honor had fallen horribly because of the article.

“On the last day I met him…he gave me this.”

“What?”

 “I don’t know what Lochlan was thinking, or what happened. I just know that at the last moment, he handed this to me.”

“You said the Prince gave you the token…..?”

“Yes, so I thought I should have it in a place like Locklan.”

He put April’s hand in the blanket again.

“Now that I look at it, I think it’s meant to be returned to you.”

“…”

April fiddled with the ribbon again and again with her other hand.

“It’s odd, because I gave it to him to keep him company at any moment, but why ………..” 

“Lochlan….”

He broke off April’s attempt to interrogate him.

“My silly brother loves anything that belongs to you with all his heart. ……”

“…”

“It had to be April Campbell herself.”

He corrected the position of the ice pack again as it tried to drift away. It was almost as if he was trying to block her view.

“You can’t take someone you love to death, can you?”

 “But that’s the thing.l.l”

April huffed as she pulled down the ice pack.

When she looked at him with a teary face, Lochlan, who was about to say more, closed his mouth.

“I want to die with the Pince!”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

“I like Prince Lochlan.”

April said, putting more effort into each syllable. She thought of something Lochlan said to her one day.

 “I like you, April. So be sure to remember what you wanted to say to me. Without those words, I probably wouldn’t be able to live.”

 “Where there is Prince, pain or death is fine, even if it’s a seat dotted with lies…”

Lochlan stared at April, and his lips began to quiver minutely. In April’s eyes, it felt as if it was a confession of some truth.

“Of course I like April, too. If you wish only that much….”

With a small sigh, he stood up and bowed his head deeply. His large palm grazed her cheek, his fingertips secretly digging into her hair.

“…I.”

April paused, startled by the unfamiliar touch. He smiled a cruel, beautiful smile.

“I can play with you by imitating your beloved fiancé. Any willingness to play…?”

He tried to kiss her. Startled, April quickly pushed his shoulders away.

Lochlan stepped back easily, as if he’d expected such a reaction. 

“See? Now that I’m imitating Lochlan, you can feel that we’re different, right?”

He moved the chair back to its original position. It seemed that he was going to leave like this.

April couldn’t even think of stopping him. It was because she had been caught up in the sensation that had almost reached her lips earlier.

“Right now, it’s natural for you to see Lochlan’s shadow from me.”

He shrugged his shoulders and headed for the doorway.

“But that’s something that will be resolved in time. Don’t think too much about it.”

“…”

April didn’t say anything as she bit her lips, so he smiled and gave his final greeting. 

“I’m going now, and you should too. It’s not very good to be in a man’s bedroom for so long even if it’s your first time here.”

He closed the door gently and walked away. April sat on the bed and recalled his words.

“First time….?”

***

April concluded on the carriage ride back to the mansion.

‘It’s Prince Lochlan. I’m sure of it.’

If he really was Dominic, he wouldn’t have said it was her first time in the room.

Because Dominic had pranked her several times since her thirteenth birthday, telling her that he could take her to Lochlan’s room anytime she wanted.

“It’s real, it was Prince Lochlan. It’s really him………!”

April sobbed faintly, somewhere between relief and self-destruction.

“Prince Lochlan…..”

She wasn’t sure exactly what the circumstances were for him to pretend to be Dominic.

But no one could live in a lie like that for the rest of their life, because one day their heart would crumble.

April gripped the blue ribbon wrapped around her wrist tightly.

“I have to save the Prince.”

She didn’t know what to do, but she couldn’t leave him like that.