I Reject the villain’s ending.

Episode 54.

The crown prince stiffened in response to my question.

‘’Bullshit. I’m not one of your kind. I’m my saint’s sweet dog.’’

‘…….’

‘What did you do to Lord Iros to make him think he’s a dog and not a human? He’s given up all his human rights.’

‘Yeah, I’ve been wondering that myself.’

‘Always ‘my little pinkie’, always ‘my little dog’. I was like, ‘Does he think he’s a dog?

I had a reasonable suspicion, but now was no time to think about that.

I wondered, half-heartedly, if the crown prince knew.

‘Is it possible that Lord Iros is not human?’

‘That’s impossible.’

I can’t hide the despair in my voice. I wondered if the crown prince suspected Iros’s true identity.

‘The grey-haired raider is not a wizard, yet he transformed into darkness and moved freely. As a holy woman, you should know better than to think that only a half-man-half-horse could do that.’

‘I don’t.’

‘Even if you denied it, you would have known. Your guardian is a half-elf…….’

‘I said never, didn’t I?’

I was about to say more, unable to hide my impatience with the crown prince accusing Iros of being a half-elf.

From behind, someone hugged me tightly.

‘Stop there, please, Saint.’

‘I, Ross?’

The weight of an arm around my shoulders, the lukewarm body heat against my back. A sweet, cool scent descended on me, along with a trembling voice.

‘Don’t listen to that, don’t listen to that. Don’t doubt me.’

‘Pink.’

‘Don’t listen, Sierra. Please. Your sweet dog wants this.’

I rolled my eyes at Iros’ pleading.

When the hell had he opened the door and walked in?

In social circles, it’s considered incredibly rude to let anyone onto a curtained terrace.

I’m sure he knew that, but to open the door like this…….

‘You don’t want to let me know.’

That he might be half human, half a mile.

Iros’s arm around my shoulder trembled slightly. The crown prince’s eyes fluttered as well.

‘Let’s go back. Back to the temple, we should go. I want to… go home.’

He spoke softly to Airos, who stood spiky and chewed his lip like a hoser on high alert.

‘Okay. Let’s go home.’

I groped for Iros’s cheek, still clutching me tightly and refusing to let go.

‘I guess banquets aren’t for us after all.’

‘…….’

I gripped Iros’s cheek tightly and turned to look out over the crowded ballroom.

Everyone’s eyes darted around the room like vultures searching for prey. I grew tired of seeing so many pairs of eyes turned this way.

I wondered if others realized that the sight was familiar to me.

‘Isn’t that the girl who was a national archer and had an accident?

‘I heard he broke his hand. Poor guy.

‘ ask him if he has anything for the story. If he swears, record it right away. ‘National archery champion with broken wings, humanity crashes!’ Don’t you think that would get a lot of hits?

I went through a lot of that when I was Kim So-won.

But not Iros, a naive kid who’s lived his whole life in a barren countryside, in a temple.

‘Crown Prince, please take off your robe.’

‘Why? You said you didn’t need it.’

‘Yes, I do. I’m going to put it on my dog.’

‘I want it clean and washed and returned to me.’

Feeling like I’d stolen a robe from the crown prince, I slipped the colorful jacket over Iros’s head.

Airos lifted his head, his pitiful eyes glistening with tears, and looked at me alone.

I smiled at his blind gaze and held out my hand.

‘Let’s walk home together. Why don’t you and Mei go back and have some warm milk and go to bed?’

At my words, Iros bit his lower lip hard, as if he were choking, and nodded.

‘Yep. Go back and hold her until she falls asleep.’

‘Okay.’

I decided to let Iros’s foolishness get the best of me today, and we left the terrace, hand in hand.

Before I left, I glanced back and gave the crown prince a stern glare.

‘I trust you wouldn’t think of messing with my sweet puppy.’

‘Are you threatening me now?’

‘I’m saying that if you go anywhere near her, I won’t let you get away with it.’

‘I expect it.’

I turned on my heel and stalked out of the ballroom.

* * *

Sierra did not see me.

I saw the crown prince’s eyes twinkle and Iros’s eyes twist under his colorful jacket as he looked back.

And Iros’s lips curled into a smirk.

‘No saint.

Sierra hadn’t realized she had a fox, not a golden retriever.

Alas.

* * *

The next morning, after a long, hot night of enduring Iros’s foolishness, Saxin woke up aching.

There was an uninvited visitor.

‘Good morning.’

‘Woe, Crown Prince?’

I croaked out, looking at the crown prince sitting in the drawing room, savoring the tea as if he had the space since birth.

What is he doing here, and who let him in,?

I looked round to see Mei looking down at the floor, her mouth agape and sweating profusely.

‘You’re the culprit, we’ll see about that later.

I telepathized inwardly and turned to see the crown prince chuckling crisply.

‘With your highness on the back, I’ve missed my jacket so badly that I’ve come to retrieve it for you.’

‘What kind of bullshit is this?’

The words came out of my mouth, bypassing my brain.

Iros, fresh from the bathroom, was about to enter the room when he saw the crown prince sitting in the parlor, drinking tea as if he had the place to himself.

‘Why is he here?

He looks at me as if to ask, I don’t know. I don’t know why he left his nice house to come here.

‘If I give you my jacket, will you leave?’

‘Of course not. I’ll give you some of my time, too. I have something to tell you. You’ll have to shut me up, won’t you?’

I’ve never seen a human being say such a stupid thing while smiling so coolly.

What a waste of talent.

‘Aren’t you busy?’

‘The Saint says I should go back to the palace and do my work instead of fooling around here.’

‘Tell her I’m not busy.’

‘Huh.’

‘She says the future of this empire is bleak because the crown prince of a country is like that.’

Iros instantly interpreted my words and relayed them. The crown prince was undeterred, smirking and blabbering away.

‘I am very capable, and I have many good servants. It’s the lower ranks that are the ones who are going to be torn apart, and the upper ranks can play.’

‘…….’

I was stunned by the nakedness of his words.

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem to come out of a normal crown prince’s mouth, but it was so natural that it was ridiculous.

‘My mouth, shouldn’t I shut it?’

‘Talk, talk.’

‘Saint!’

‘I’ll only give you thirty minutes, for I’m quite expensive.’

‘Of course.’

Iros started to say something about being a moor, but just as on their first meeting, the crown prince’s knights appeared and escorted Iros and Mei out.

Once the door was closed and his son-in-law was quiet, the crown prince relaxed, crossed his legs, and sipped his tea.

‘Now that the interruptions are out of the way, we can begin our conversation. Unlike yesterday, I have soundproofed the room, and I’ve assigned the knights, so your guardian won’t be able to overhear or barge in on us.’

‘You’re being unnecessarily scrupulous.’

‘What I’m about to tell you is highly confidential. To me and you.’

‘…….’

‘Lord Iros, you’re half-human, aren’t you?’

I knew it, I knew it. I told him to keep his mouth shut, but I didn’t expect him to ask so bluntly.

He’s too sure of himself, and it’s too late to deny it.

‘Mm-hmm. Didn’t you already know that?’

‘I guessed it from the start. Lord Iros became a Guardian within a few years of entering the Temple. Few people can rise so quickly.’

‘Indeed. Our pink must be very talented.’

When I first saw her, I thought she was skinny and weak, but after I fed her well and gave her a sword, she flew around.

His stamina and strength were superior to the others, and he learned things much faster.

Plus, he was a diamond in the rough, so he was bound to stand out no matter what he did.

‘So, are you going to tell everyone this officially?’

‘No. You won’t believe me if I say so, but I’m quite fond of Lord Airos.’

‘…I’ve told you before, he’s not the one for you.’

‘I’m not a sodomiser, either. It’s just a human attraction. And a little gratitude.’

‘……?’

I don’t know if I’m grateful for the last time I saw Iros, but whatever.

‘You’re going to keep this a secret, right?’

‘Yes. Besides, Lord Iros seems to be the only one who can hold your reins and calm you down when they get loose.’

‘We’re just holding each other’s reins.’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘What?’

The crown prince shook his head at her words, leaped from his seat, and stalked over.

‘No.’

‘……!’

‘You didn’t listen to Lord Iros when he tried to talk you out of it once upon a time.’

My heart leaped into my throat as his rakishly handsome face came within breathing distance.

‘But in the old days?

Did the crown prince know the old me?

I lifted my head and the crown prince tilted his lips in a pout and spoke in a low voice.

‘Don’t look so naive. I wonder when you changed from a woman who always did as she was told to do.’

‘……!’

The crown prince’s face came closer and closer.

She flinched and tried to pull back, but her hands found nothing but the back of the sofa.

He backed up to the edge of the overstuffed couch, and when he realized he couldn’t back away any further, he squeezed his eyes shut and hunched his shoulders at the face that was so close.

The crown prince’s breath and warmth tickled her right cheek.

Strangely, she could not kick or push him away as she had done with the others. Like a mouse in front of a cat, I kept cowering.

Meanwhile, as if to gauge my reaction, the crown prince pressed his knees firmly into the couch and leaned in, trapping me, whispering.

‘I want to know you.’

‘Hmph!’

‘I want to know why you’ve changed. I want to know what made you change.’

Goosebumps rose in my ears.

The crown prince spoke, curiosity and chill in his golden eyes.

‘You weren’t acting like such an innocent screw-up when you killed me, were you, Sierra Elgraton?’

‘……!’

My heart dropped at his words.