A table too close

They already knew that both the Eighteenth Prince and I had entered this inn.

Which only made this situation stranger.

No matter how one looked at it, meeting face-to-face like this would only be awkward for everyone involved. Yet despite that, Namgung Hwi kept sending scorching gazes in my direction as if he had no intention of looking away at all.

And not just casually, either.

The intensity behind his stare was incomparable to earlier when we had briefly crossed paths downstairs.

While holding eye contact with him, I suddenly realized something.

Yeon Ji-oh was no longer beside him.

“……”

Distance-wise, Yeon Ji-oh and Namgung Hwi were close enough that all it would take was a slight turn of the head for them to locate each other.

Even if Namgung Hwi himself was too distracted over here to notice, Yeon Ji-oh should have been fully aware that both he and the Namgung clan members were within sight.

My confusion lingered only briefly before the Eighteenth Prince called out to me, pulling my attention away from Namgung Hwi.

“I ordered a few additional dishes with milder flavors, so choose whichever ones suit your palate.”

“Thank you for being so considerate.”

“It is only natural for me to do so. You need not thank me that much.”

No, it wasn’t.

I immediately refuted him inwardly.

Just then, the waiter arrived with tea. The moment I accepted the cup, my eyes widened slightly.

“This is…”

“It is the tea you favor. I specifically instructed them to bring this one out first.”

The way he looked so smug after seeing my reaction was honestly absurd.

Still…

This choice alone deserved praise.

The corners of my eyes softened faintly as I looked at him.

Immediately, the Eighteenth Prince—who had been preparing to continue rambling on about something or another—suddenly froze mid-motion.

Lifting the cup filled with tea, I thanked him politely.

“Thanks to you, I can soothe my throat comfortably.”

“…Ah.”

Earlier, when I had smiled brightly because I was genuinely in a good mood, he reacted so dramatically that I intentionally toned it down this time and only gave a small smile.

At this point, maybe I should just stop smiling altogether.

Ignoring the Eighteenth Prince, who could only stare blankly at me as though his soul had left his body, I lowered my gaze and quietly took a sip of tea.

“……”

The stare coming from beside me was intense enough to feel physically hot, but I had absolutely no desire to meet those eyes again.

I continued sipping my tea calmly when I sensed movement coming from the staircase nearby. Without thinking much of it, I glanced toward the source of the noise.

Then I froze completely.

“……”

Why were they here?

No…

Was I hallucinating?

But that dazed confusion did not last long.

Seeing Namgung Hwi and Yeon Ji-oh walking directly toward this side—not another table, not another corner of the inn, but this exact direction—my hand unconsciously tightened around the teacup.

Namgung Hwi already knew I had taken a seat at this inn.

I never imagined he would deliberately bring Yeon Ji-oh over here.

No…

Looking at it another way, perhaps they intentionally came because of what happened earlier between the Eighteenth Prince and Yeon Ji-oh.

Otherwise, there was no explanation for why both of them were staring this way so openly.

No—more specifically, staring directly at me.

I watched them approach in a straight line as though they genuinely had business at our table.

Then suddenly, Yeon Ji-oh grabbed the arm Namgung Hwi had crossed over himself and gently pulled him aside.

Namgung Hwi paused for a brief moment as though reluctant, but eventually allowed himself to be led away.

Straight to the table beside ours.

“……”

Watching the two of them sit down, I could only let out a quiet, incredulous laugh.

Taking the neighboring table was already ridiculous enough, but what exactly were they thinking by sitting side-by-side while directly facing my direction?

The tables may have been separate, but the arrangement made it feel as though we were dining together.

The absurdity of it all left me speechless.

Seeing Yeon Ji-oh seated there—and Namgung Hwi remaining motionless beside him without the slightest intention of moving—slowly caused irritation to crawl beneath my skin.

I silently sipped my tea, trying to steady my emotions.

By the time I came back to myself, my cup was already empty.

The moment I set it down, the Eighteenth Prince immediately refilled it for me.

“If you drink that quickly, you may upset your stomach.”

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Since you agreed to accompany me, taking care of you is naturally my responsibility.”

…Sure.

Interpret things however you want.

I had merely thanked him, yet somehow everything he said—and even the way he looked at me—felt unbearably burdensome.

While watching him smile warmly at me with that heated gaze, I lowered my eyes toward the teacup and suddenly became aware of two additional stares fixed upon me.

Since they were sitting right beside us, our eyes meeting from time to time was unavoidable.

But we were certainly not close enough for them to stare this intensely.

Those two may have been the novel’s main protagonist and main love interest, but to Geum Seoyul, they were nothing more than an ex-fiancé and the man he cheated with.

I was trying hard to suppress the irritation steadily rising inside me when the Eighteenth Prince spoke.

“Young Master Seoyul, if this makes you uncomfortable, shall we move elsewhere?”

“No.”

If anyone should leave, it should be those bastards.

There was no reason for me to avoid them.

I immediately shook my head and turned toward the Eighteenth Prince—only to belatedly notice that his own teacup was empty.

Setting my cup down, I picked up the teapot instead.

“Allow me to refill your cup.”

“Hm, hm! If it is poured by my young master, I believe I could even drink poison willingly.”

“Your Highness.”

Even when one was in a good mood, there were still things that should and should not be said.

At my warning, I glanced toward the guard.

At some point, he had already quietly shortened the distance between us.

The moment our eyes met, he gave a faint nod before turning an unusually sunken gaze toward the Eighteenth Prince.

Honestly, even I had flinched when the Prince casually mentioned poison.

So for someone serving him directly, it must have sounded far worse.

I was quietly observing the guard’s grave expression when the Eighteenth Prince suddenly let out an awkward laugh.

“…I may have gotten too excited. Forget what I just said.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At that response, the guard stepped back once more.

I was about to look away when the Eighteenth Prince turned his head toward me, causing our eyes to meet.

“My words may have been extreme, but I trust my sincerity was conveyed properly.”

To say something like that in this situation…

I genuinely lost the ability to respond for a moment.

Instead of answering, I simply lifted the teapot.

At that, a pleased smile spread across the Prince’s lips.

“Tea poured by Young Master Seoyul tastes like paradise itself.”

Ha.

Where in the world did he learn to say such things?

Perhaps because every word out of his mouth felt overwhelmingly burdensome, I kept feeling sighs threaten to escape.

Carefully suppressing my emotions, I answered the Eighteenth Prince, whose eyes sparkled brightly as he watched me.

“You flatter me.”

“Hahaha, after the meal, let us continue exploring this place together. Because of an unexpected disturbance earlier, I was unable to finish finding all the gifts I wished to give you.”

“Hwi-rang, we finally came out together after so long. You’ll buy me something delicious, right?”

Yeon Ji-oh’s deliberately sweet voice drifted over the Eighteenth Prince’s words.

Maybe it was because of the way he intentionally used the word Hwi-rang loudly enough for me to hear, but the discomfort I had been feeling suddenly vanished.

In its place came pure disbelief.

I let out a short laugh and idly toyed with my teacup.

At that moment, the Eighteenth Prince’s hand quietly slid over mine.

Then, naturally taking hold of my hand completely, he looked at me while both of his ears slowly turned bright red.

“Hm, hm! May I ask you something?”

“Please do.”

“It is about the person who bumped into me earlier.”

I had not expected him to bring that up directly in front of the person involved.

Finding it somewhat surprising, I gave a small nod.

The Eighteenth Prince briefly glanced toward Yeon Ji-oh before continuing.

“He seems to be someone tied to you by ill fate?”

Back when I had merely been acting according to the original storyline, I had no real feelings toward Yeon Ji-oh.

But things were different now.

I slowly nodded.

“That is correct.”

Perhaps because my answer came so firmly, the Eighteenth Prince’s eyes widened slightly.

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes.”

In the original novel, Yeon Ji-oh may have been the main shou.

But to Geum Seoyul, he was simply a cheating bastard. A homewrecker. Nothing more.

“Then it seems he committed a grave wrong against you.”

“That is correct.”

Honestly, if I had not personally witnessed that scene after returning to Hefei from my travels, Yeon Ji-oh probably would have remained nothing more than the novel’s protagonist in my eyes.

But because he considered Geum Seoyul easy to deal with, he had also looked down on the Mangeum Merchant Guild itself.

That was something I could never forgive.

I intentionally answered loud enough for them to hear.

As if pleased by that, the Eighteenth Prince placed his other hand over mine as well before quietly asking,

“…Would you like me to help you?”

“Pardon?”

Help me?

What exactly did he think he knew?

As I stared blankly at him, his cheeks slowly flushed red.

“As you witnessed last time, if anyone dares harm you, I possess the authority to execute them immediately. During this outing, my imperial brother granted me that right.”

The “imperial brother” he referred to was the Emperor himself.

In other words, he was openly saying he would use imperial authority for a personal matter rather than an official one.

Wondering if I had misheard him, I stared directly at the Prince.

Yet somehow, he interpreted my gaze differently, because the corners of his lips lifted even higher in satisfaction.

“That is how much power I possess.”

“Ah… yes. I’m aware—”

“Hwi-rang, should we go boating after our meal?”

Just as I was trying to humor the Prince’s mood, Yeon Ji-oh interrupted once more.

If it had been any other topic, perhaps I would not have cared.

But bringing up boating while sitting here in front of me only proved one thing:

Yeon Ji-oh was extremely conscious of this situation.

Still, he failed to provoke even the slightest reaction from me.

No…

Rather than his mention of boating, what bothered me more was Namgung Hwi’s face.

The last time I saw him, he had not looked nearly this terrible.

Even from this distance, I could clearly see how pale and rough his complexion had become.

And on top of that, he had lost enough weight that even his once decent-looking face no longer looked good at all.

“Young Master Seoyul?”

Perhaps because I had trailed off mid-sentence, the Eighteenth Prince called out to me while tightening his grip around my hand slightly.

I came back to my senses and nodded immediately.

“I know that very well.”

Better than anyone.

The Eighteenth Prince did not appear often in the novel.

But every time he did, Yeon Ji-oh gained immense support from him.

In simple terms, the Prince became an extraordinarily powerful backer.

Although there was a period when he distanced himself from the Namgung clan because he could not overcome his jealousy while they were struggling, the guilt from that eventually weighed on him heavily enough that he later offered tremendous help.

Thanks to that support, the Namgung family obtained enormous power.

And ultimately, that became the shortcut leading the story toward its happy ending.

If the Eighteenth Prince had not helped them back then?

No one could say whether those two would truly have achieved a happy ending at all.

“Hearing that you know this gives me strength.”

Apparently pleased by my response, the Prince smiled warmly.

At the same time, he gently patted the hand he was still holding, leaving me with no appropriate way to react anymore.

So instead, I simply gave him the sort of answer he wanted to hear.

“Anyone who knows Your Highness would think the same way I do.”

“I have no need for the thoughts of others. Only Young Master Seoyul’s thoughts matter to me.”

I really should stop talking altogether.

Every time I tried to maintain the atmosphere, another unbearably heavy flirtatious remark came flying back at me.

Remaining silent, I reached for my teacup with my free hand.

The Eighteenth Prince burst into laughter.