The Third Prince Of Darkness

(Roxanne's POV)

The room I had just entered was suffocatingly gloomy. I tried to steady my trembling hand with my other trembling hand, which felt somewhat comical, as I walked toward Ethan, who had been unconscious in bed for three days. Despite being personally treated by the chief wizard, his condition remained critical for a long time, but the chief wizard said Ethan would wake up today or tomorrow.

Even with all his limbs and torso wrapped in bandages, he looked very handsome. Luciana was sitting right next to Ethan, so focused on him that she didn't even seem to notice I had come in. The dark circles under her eyes clearly showed her state. Every day I was allowed to come here, I saw her anxiously by Ethan's side.

Even I, who knew this day would come and what would happen, hadn't slept for days. When Queen Luciana finally noticed someone had entered the room, she straightened her posture, but her eyes betrayed her noble stance.

"Has Richard left?" Luciana asked.

Her voice was so faint that I had to focus on her mouth movements to hear it. Clearly, she had cried a lot.

"Y-yes... he left a few hours ago" I said.

I was surprised at how much my voice resembled Luciana's at that moment. I guess I had worn myself out, too..., by the way, Richard went to the rebellion region to enforce his own "justice." I had seen this in my previous life.

Hundreds of rebels were killed painfully, and harsh execution orders were issued in all the rebellion regions. He even executed soldiers among those commanded by Ethan. Richard went further and claimed that the Tamerid Empire was behind this and wanted to form a coalition against the Tamerid Empire on the continent. But the Tamerid Empire tried to prevent a possible bipolar war by sending their own princes.

Of course, the reason Richard did all this wasn't that he loved Ethan so much. After all, Ethan was a prince representing the Asina Kingdom, and an assassination attempt on the prince of the Asina Kingdom was a big deal. Naturally, if King Richard didn't react and remained passive, other states might question the legitimacy of the Asina Kingdom and even act boldly.

If Richard truly loved his son Ethan and was genuinely worried about his death, he would have executed Fiona first, but since Fiona's responsibility for the assassination attempt was kept secret, he didn't do much. Heh... Anyway, since I know the future, I just keep quiet to Richard...Frankly I feel nothing but pity for him.

When the door of the room opened, I turned toward it and saw Isabella's tired face entering. She looked like she had gone through some kind of trauma from that incident. Her black hair was messy, and her red eyes revealed her state of mind more clearly.

"How is he?" she asked in a faint voice.

After looking at Luciana, who was too tired to speak, I answered.

"Good... The chief wizard said he would wake up today or tomorrow."

Isabella approached and sat on the chair opposite Luciana, looking at Ethan's condition. Just then, as if by a miracle, Ethan's eyelids moved.

Luciana and Isabella held their breath with great hope as they saw his eyelids slightly flutter. I, on the other hand, was staring at Ethan's face in astonishment. In a moment of deep silence, Ethan's eyelashes trembled as his eyelids slowly opened.

Breaking the silence in the room with a faint voice, Ethan mumbled, "What happened?" His voice was tired and hoarse, but there were sparks of joy in Luciana and Isabella's eyes.

Luciana, unable to hold back her tears, approached Ethan and gently held his hand. "Ethan, thank goodness you woke up! Thank you, God, thank you so much...!" she said, her voice a mix of joy and exhaustion.

Isabella also moved closer. "The chief wizard healed you. Your condition was critical, but you're safe now," she said. Her wet eyes begged for tears, but she held them back.

Ethan, struggling to focus his eyes on those in the room, asked, "How did I get here...?"

"This... I think it was thanks to the dragon relic I gave you..." Isabella said. Her expression showed that a terrible memory had come to mind.

"Hah... Where's my father?" Ethan asked after a deep sigh.

"He went to the rebellion region..." Isabella replied.

Ethan tried to sit up but gave up when he saw the worried looks of both Luciana and Isabella. Since I was right behind Isabella, he seemed not to have noticed me... Still; it was very hard to hold myself back. I wanted to run and hug him tightly, but that wouldn't be proper. Also, since his whole body was bandaged, hugging would be the worst thing to do.

"I need to send a message immediately."

"What? Tell me, and I'll make sure it reaches Richard. His army should be a few hours away now," Isabella said.

"Emilia... I froze her body with magic, and with the spell I created, it can stay intact for a few days at most. I need someone to go and renew the ice spell I cast and bring her here..."

After his words spread through the room, there was a deep silence. The gloomy atmosphere in the room intensified. But I was more surprised by this situation. I thought Emilia had died in my previous life... Maybe Ethan had hidden this truth from me and the others... I don't know.

"Okay, I'll send a messenger immediately, but can you tell us what happened first? If you feel bad, you don't have to, but we're curious about how this happened" Isabella said in a low voice.

"Alright... The person who attacked us was  The jester."

This time the silence in the room was for another reason, but lasted just as long.

"The court jester. It seems he hid his strength quite well."

"What?! The person you mentioned... I mean, the one who attacked you was the jester here? Are you serious, Ethan?" Isabella asked.

"Do you think I'm in the mood to joke? I don't know why, but I'm sure it was him who attacked us."

"Alright then. I think you should tell us the story from the beginning" said Luciana, who had been silently processing everything up to this point.

After that, Ethan insisted that Isabella send a messenger, And Isabella spent about ten minutes writing something on a piece of paper with a trembling hand. Meanwhile, I called for a healer to check on Ethan's condition. After the healer finished and told us that Ethan was fine but needed some rest, and He said the head wizard would come tomorrow to check on His Excellency. 

"Okay. A messenger left just now and will reach Richard's army in a few hours. Now, tell us everything without skipping any details" she said.

Ethan nodded and then explained to us in detail how he decided to go to the rebel camp and how he fought with the jester. Luciana listened quietly, while Isabella asked questions about points she found important. I sat in a corner, listening to Ethan, who occasionally looked at me. About twenty minutes later, Ethan finished his story and answered all of Isabella's questions, then said he was tired and wanted to rest.

Although Luciana said she wanted to stay here tonight, Ethan declined and he told him to sleep tonight. As the three of us left the room, Ethan's gaze was strangely focused on me. He didn't take his eyes off me, and as I turned around to head for the door to hide my blushing face, I felt his gaze piercing my back.

•••

Hours later, with the feeling of relief from today and the pleasant emotions evoked by Ethan's looks, I lay down on my bed. The moon had already pitched its tent high above, providing a dim light for the beings below. As I was about to fall asleep while looking at the starry sky...

"Tap-tap."

When I heard a footstep, I turned around but saw no one, thinking the sound might have come from Pipkin. I laid my head back on the pillow.

"Tap-tap-TAP-TAP-TAP."

As the steps got closer, I realized it wasn't the sound a cat party would make and quickly lifted my head, but then my heart started pounding loudly when I saw two hands around my throat. But... but... what hurt my heart even more and shocked me was seeing who the man strangling me was.

"E-Ethan? What are you doing—"

"SHUT your mouth" he said with cold eyes that seemed to see my soul.

At that moment, when I looked at the bubble above his head, tears welled up in my eyes from the shock I felt. H-his love percentage was 15... negative 15... This... This was the lowest value I had ever seen. Why? Why? Why? What have I done? What have I done? The love of my life...the man I care about most in this world...how can he hate me? Now... What's my motivation to live now? Why should I live if Ethan hates me?

"W-what did I do?"

....

_____