The Villainous Family Loves Me Too Much!

“Kyaah!”

Hailey screamed in shock at my abrupt action.

“Long time no see, Gabriel.”

As I removed my disguise mask, not only Hailey was aghast.

Gabriel himself recoiled as if he had seen a ghost.

“Hailey… This is the woman I spoke of…”

With a sigh, Alexi smiled wryly as she introduced me to them.

“Allow me to formally introduce her. This is Her Imperial Highness Princess Karena, the Archduchess of Felosite in and the Princess of the Castien Empire.”

Hailey’s eyes widened.

“Her Imperial Highness… This is the Princess we know of from the Empire?”

When Hailey asked, Alexi simply nodded in silence.

After staring at my face for a while, Hailey turned to gaze intently at Gabriel’s.

It was only natural – we resembled each other too uncannily to deny.

As if unable to believe it, Hailey alternated glances between Gabriel and me before tentatively speaking.

“But why… do the two of you look so alike?”

Her expression showed she had already drawn her conclusion, yet seemed unable to accept it readily.

“Because Gabriel is my elder brother.”

“So that means…”

Hailey, Gabriel, and even Alexi appeared bewildered.

“It means Gabriel is the missing Imperial Crown Prince of the Empire.”

* * *

The wedding consultation scheduled for that morning, unfortunately, devolved into chaos thanks to my little surprise.

But if the missing Gabriel was the groom at the heart of this wedding, the situation changed.

At the very least, I should disclose what needs to be disclosed.

And I, too, must listen to what needs to be heard.

After hearing my account of the events in the Empire, Hailey briefly explained Gabriel’s first encounter with her and the events since.

“He was floating on the lake, like a dead man?”

Perhaps Gabriel’s ‘Power of Water’ had sent him here to preserve his life.

“At first, I thought he was dead.”

A maid entered the reception room where we sat and handed something to Hailey.

“Here are the clothes he was wearing at the time, Your Highness.”

The very ceremonial uniform Gabriel had worn at the wedding ceremony.

The white tailored suit I had specially commissioned for my brother’s happy ending.

Its golden ornaments, once shining brilliantly, were now blackened from passing through the Wormhole.

“Though in this state, I could still tell it was a fine outfit at a glance.”

Hailey’s voice trembled.

“Hailey…”

Watching her, Gabriel took Hailey’s hand in his.

“N-No, Your High-, Crown Prince.”

“Hailey.”

“You two should talk. I’ll step out for a bit.”

With tears brimming in her eyes, Hailey hurriedly rose and exited.

Though striving for composure, this was undoubtedly a thunderbolt for Hailey.

For the Crown Prince was already a married man.

At my glance, Alexi followed after her.

Leaving just Gabriel and me behind.

“I saw you, no, dreamed of you every night.”

“Gabriel.”

We gazed at each other wordlessly.

It was clear how much I had longed for Gabriel.

How much he must have longed for me as well.

“I’m sorry, I can’t remember…”

“No, I’m just grateful you’re alive, brother. Let’s focus on that for now.”

Though many issues remained, we decided to tackle them one by one.

For starters, Hailey and Gabriel’s wedding was put on hold.

Having originally come as the owner of the wedding consultation company, Lord Roati, I couldn’t impose further and prepared to depart. But at Hailey’s earnest request, Gabriel and I agreed to stay at the Baron Fenris’s Estate a while longer.

Instead, we would send word of Gabriel’s situation to the Kenoch County and Felosite Duchy through Alexi, who had to return soon to Marquis Lloyd.

“What is the meaning of this, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

A few days later, the Kenoch Count and Countess, along with Gebino and Jonathan, arrived. Then Sylonne followed by Lucian, filling the once quiet Baron Estate with guests.

“I am truly grateful, Lady Fenris.”

For a while, the only words Hailey could muster were ‘No, that’s…’ But that day, she seemed resolved.

“May I ask you something, Your Highness?”

As I walked down the hallway, Hailey addressed me first.

“Of course, Lady Fenris.”

In contrast to boldly speaking up, Hailey hesitated, struggling to continue.

“Please, feel free to say what’s on your mind.”

“Gabriel, no, His Highness the Crown Prince and I… can we not marry now?”

Tightly grasping my hands, Hailey kept her head bowed.

Tears dripped from beneath her skirt.

“I heard… The Crown Prince can only marry a Saintess. But if I could later become the Empress… If that truly cannot be, then to become a second wife…”

“May I call you Hailey?”

I asked, taking Hailey’s hands in mine.

Her eyes were brimming with tears.

Slowly, she nodded, her trembling hands conveying the depth of her love for Gabriel.

“Could you wait, just a little longer?”

I wanted to protect that sincere heart.

“It may not be possible immediately, but I will try to make it so, somehow.”

For that seems the path to my brother’s true happy ending.

* * *

On my way back to my room after speaking with Hailey.

“It may be best not to make promises you can’t keep.”

Leaning against the wall, hidden in the shadows, was Lucian.

“Don’t make such negative assertions, Lucian.”

“If the world is destroyed, marriages and such won’t matter. You must first prevent that destruction.”

“I know that full well.”

Rising, Lucian approached me closely.

“Go to your room. I’ve brought you what you wanted.”

“Anyone listening would misunderstand.”

“So what between husband and wife? We’re sharing a room anyway.”

Indeed, as we had shared a room at the Felosite palace, Lucian naturally took up residence in my guest room as well.

“So what did you bring?”

What Lucian produced from his pocket was the prophecy book.

“How did you get this? I’m certain I left it in the tower.”

“My apologies, but I can enter there as well. After all, I’m the one who set that spell on the tower in the first place.”

“So much for privacy with that spell.”

“Huh, what was that?”

“Nothing.”

Taking the prophecy book, I immediately opened it and flipped through the pages.

As Lucian sat on the balcony railing, taking in the crisp wind, he asked me:

“Has anything changed?”

“…Hmm. Not yet. But minor changes won’t be recorded in the prophecy book.”

Only significant story flow alterations or ending changes get recorded.

Gabriel was alive, yet the prophecy book remained unchanged.

Did that mean Gabriel was no longer an important existence in this novel? Or had all previous records already accounted for the possibility of him not dying?

“Do we really need to take Gabriel with us? I don’t want to entangle my brother in this crazy fate.”

I posed the question to Lucian without expecting an answer I wanted.

“It may not be necessary. He could just stay here, happy…”

“Actually, I just realized something.”

Lucian began speaking as if deep in thought, gazing outward in that same pose.

“Do you know what existence was absent from the destruction prophecies we’ve received until now?”

“An existence absent from the destruction prophecies?”

With arms folded, Lucian slowly approached me.

“Your elder brother. All prophecies of destruction featured the Crown Prince’s death.”

He spoke the truth.

Every prophesied destruction in the book premised the death of Gabriel, the original protagonist.

“But now, Gabriel is alive.”

Then the implication of those words is…

“Interpreted differently… the most crucial key to preventing destruction may be the Crown Prince himself.”