I Reject the villain’s ending.

Episode 61.

‘That’s the room.’

He didn’t need to be told.

His senses, already at mastery, picked up the scent of wine and Sierra’s sweet body odor wafting through the room.

There were only two people in the room. One was Sierra, and the other was…….

‘The crown prince is crawling-’

Leo patted Iros on the back and disappeared, seemingly aware of the situation in the room.

Iros walked with trembling steps toward the slightly ajar door.

His heart was pounding.

With a thud, he gripped the doorknob as he would break it, and opened the door to find Sierra embracing and kissing the crown prince.

‘……!’

The crown prince, his arms wrapped around Sierra’s waist and back hair, his face buried in hers, jerked his head.

His golden eyes, wide as a hungry lion’s, stared at Iros. Like a lion at the top of a food chain.

Iros watched it from the doorway. With eyes as wild as his beating heart.

As he watched them kiss for a long time, Iros backed away on shaky legs, his scabbard catching on the door and making a dull thud.

The sound woke Sierra, who blinked open her half-open eyes and whimpered.

‘What was that……? I heard a noise.’

‘Your sword.’

‘Sword? No, more like-’

Why are you so close to me? Sierra said in a puzzled voice as if thinking, ‘Why are you so close to me?

The crown prince looked at her and smirked.

‘Have you finally regained your senses enough to recognize who you’re holding? You’re quite the quick learner.’

‘…The crown prince?’

‘Yep. It’s me.’

Looking at the crown prince, who was smiling brightly, Sierra, who had been trying to make sense of the situation for a while, was sobered up.

Frozen, Sierra screamed and flailed her arms and legs.

‘Ugh, gahhhhh!’

‘Whoa, whoa. Calm down, you’re going to fall.’

‘No, no, let go! Let go!’

Sierra gasped like someone who’d seen a dragon right in front of her nose, twisting and turning to get out of the crown prince’s arms.

‘Ew, I’m dizzy.’

‘I’m surprised you’re wobbly. It’s refreshing to see you disheveled.’

‘What nonsense……. nonsense.’

Sierra leaned back against the couch, holding her dizzy head.

‘Ugh, hair, why was I stuck with him anyway?’

‘You must have panicked.’

I looked up to see the crown prince grinning like a maniac with delight.

‘But what can I do? I’m having too much fun. I’ve got two people I can take revenge on with this.’

‘What?’

‘The first is you, and the second is him.’

Sierra turned her head to where the crown prince’s finger pointed.

Her head turned slowly, as if against time, and stopped when she saw something.

There stood Iros, dripping with what she couldn’t tell was tears or rainwater.

Sierra felt her blood run cold all over her body. Behind her, frozen in place, the crown prince spoke villainously.

‘……!’

‘Lord Iros, this composition is so different and satisfying from here, and I used to stand there.’

Through the open doorway, Iros’s tearful eyes met mine, and they trembled like an aspen tree.

His pretty eyes, which smelled like violets, were wet to the lashes, and he was shaking off the tears.

He bit his lips so tightly they were white.

‘Why……. Why did you do that?’

The words came out piteously. The pitiful voice trembled pitifully and seemed to fade away.

‘Was I not good enough?’

Iros felt the pain of his heart being ripped to shreds with each word.

Tears streaked down his hardened face. Something hot, not sure if it was rain or tears, ran down his cheeks.

‘Why do you always make me miserable.’

It hurt. My heart ached more than ever.

It hurt more because I loved her, an unrequited love with no reason, no expiration date, and no escape.

I drove through the rain, through the night, and finally arrived at dawn, but it was still dark. The sun hasn’t risen yet.

Why can’t morning come like this?

‘When will I ever see the morning? It’s too dark, Saint. It’s too dark.’

Iros’s expression was so sad as he spoke that Sierra could say nothing.

She could not comfort him, could not reach out to him, could not call him, could not approach him.

The resentment in Iros’s eyes was too clear.

‘Boo, pinkie…….’

‘…….’

‘Pink! Iros Elijah, it’s not like that!’

Iros didn’t answer Sierra’s call, turned, and walked away.

Sierra turned to run barefoot, but the crown prince grabbed her wrist.

‘You’re going out like that, with no shoes on?’

‘Get off me!’

Somehow her shoes and clothes were dishevelled, but she couldn’t see them.

Sierra’s mind was filled with Airos, who was crying in pain all over.

‘Just stay here. Stay with me.’

‘Did you put sleeping pills in the wine? I don’t know why I don’t remember, or why you were holding me, or why Iros saw me at this time and misunderstood-’

‘Misunderstood what?’

‘…….’

‘A misunderstanding? How can you be sure I did nothing to you in your sleep?’

With a thud, Sierra pushed the crown prince away and glared at him with clenched fists.

‘This is the biggest mistake of my life, and it won’t happen again, Crown Prince, you bastard.’

Sierra turned to run out the door after Iros without looking back, but the crown prince’s voice came from behind her.

‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘What?’

‘I didn’t do anything.’

His tone was calm, and Sierra turned to face him. Left alone on the couch, the crown prince sat with his cheek resting on his knee, a languid smile tugging at his lips.

‘There’s no way I could have done that, such bad manners.’

He noticed Lord Iros had arrived, and played a little prank for revenge.

‘It doesn’t matter, Pink will believe me when I tell her whatever misunderstanding she has.’

With those words, Sierra disappeared down the corridor. The crown prince left behind smiled bitterly and muttered to himself.

‘Do you think you’ll get your way, Sierra? I have no intention of giving up.’

‘I’ll leave it at that, Your Highness.’

‘Leo.’

The crown prince wiped the blood from his busted lip without looking back.

‘Ouch, that hurt. You hit him with all your might.’

‘You deserved it.’

‘Is that why you brought Iros, so I could sleep with a saint?’

The crown prince’s dangerous gaze swept over Leo.

‘Answer me this. If you’re my knight, why did you disobey my orders, leave your post, and bring Lord Airos to me?’

Leo bowed his head in silence at the crown prince’s question.

‘I’ll take my punishment sweetly, but I won’t stand for you stealing someone else’s lover. It’s unbecoming of a human being.’

‘I don’t think that’s any of your business.’

‘It is my business, and I knew it wasn’t when you suggested putting a mild poison in the wine to cloud my judgment.’

‘…….’

‘It’s a little too cheeky, and it’s not like you, Your Highness, to use poison when you’ve been the victim of countless poisoning attempts in your life.’

The crown prince has been the victim of countless poisoning attempts and assassination attempts since he was a child by those who support the Second Prince Rivier.

Now that Rivier had declared himself unworthy of the throne, the attempts had diminished, but he had already developed insomnia.

So, despising the poisoners beyond all recognition, he spiked the saint’s wine with poison.

His intentions were all too clear.

Lysen informed Leo of this, and Leo made his move.

‘And who else can bring Lord Iros from the shrine at the edge of the empire to the imperial castle at this hour?’

At Leo’s bravado, the crown prince finished off the poisoned wine that clouded his judgment.

‘You have the nerve to suggest someone is cousins with Lysen.’

‘I’m just trying to keep my boyfriend from going down the wrong path. What better friend could you have?’

‘…….’

‘Fritzie, as Liesen said, you get weird when only saints are involved. Take care of yourself. You’re the crown prince of a kingdom.’

At Leo’s sincere advice, the crown prince swiped at his face and muttered tiredly.

‘I know.’

The wine tasted bitter today.

* * *

The rain pounded the ground in such a dense, blinding downpour that Iros couldn’t see.

Iros ran and ran through the palace, lost his way, and spilled into the overgrown gardens.

The rain pounded hard on his shoulders.

In the garden, bathed in a blue dawn that would normally have intoxicated him with its beauty, Iros bowed his head and buried his face in his hands.

Then he heard a merry voice in the trees.

‘Even the sturdiest half-man-half-horse would catch a cold after all that rain.’

‘…What are you?’

‘A little blue one. I’m a few years older than you.’

Moringa, perched on a tree with an umbrella, stared down at them, treading on thin air as he slowly approached.

Iros knew Moringa was coming, but he had no energy to react.

The feeling of shabbiness that enveloped him weighed heavily on him.

‘So, have you come to show off your old age, or have you come to kill the Saint again?’

‘Oh, dear, do I look like such an idle half-man-half-horse? It’s my day off, and I’m not here to do anything in particular unless you count-’

Moringa didn’t seem particularly offended or snappy at his tone.

Instead, he spoke in a calm, old-fashioned tone and held out his umbrella.

‘I was bothered by the fact that some stupid kid of my kind didn’t know who he was, and was attached to a saint and living in a temple.’

No half-human half-horse has ever had a happy ending after giving his heart to a human. Even less so if they were attached to a saint and a temple.

But Iros is all of those things.

‘So I was going to give you a lesson in reality, but then I changed my mind and came to give you an umbrella.’

‘Did you see it all?’

‘I didn’t mean to see it, I just happened to see it when I came to deliver something.’

Iros shut his mouth in misery.

The rain had stopped pounding his head and shoulders, but the tears hadn’t.

Moringa offered no hasty words of comfort, just stood still and watched the raindrops beyond the umbrella.

‘Shall we talk about something else? I know a place where half-humans and half-horses live, and you might be more comfortable there.’

‘…….’

‘If you don’t want to answer, just keep listening.’

Moringa looked up at the dark cloud-filled sky and spoke.

‘You know, if you keep living in the temple, you won’t live another ten years.’

‘……!’

Iros’s shoulders twitched. Moringa, sensing the movement, let out a small sigh.

‘You didn’t know, but you do feel it instinctively, don’t you? That a temple full of divine power is nibbling away at your life force.’