The Shadow Behind the Mask

It was a simple question, but Chase seemed to take it entirely differently. The color drained from his face as he looked up at me, his eyes losing their focus and shaking with a primal instability.

“Yo-Your Highness.”

“…”

“I… I truly didn’t know!”

“Chase.”

“I… I… really!”

“Chase!”

I tried to calm his frantic rambling, but the more I called his name, the more desperately he clung to the iron bars. I could see the bones protruding white through the skin on the back of his hands as he gripped the metal.

His eyes clouded over, and soon, thick tears began to fall.

“I truly… I’m not.”

Between ragged sobs, Chase continued to weep. I didn’t know how to comfort someone gently, nor could I offer him any sweet words of solace right now.

I simply wanted to know his heart. Did he still want to live?

‘If it were me, I probably would have chosen death.’

I took great pride in my imperial blood and in the person I was. It wasn’t that I didn’t fear death, but I didn’t want to live a pathetic, lingering existence by grasping at forbidden arts just to survive as something less than human.

That was why I had accepted my terminal fate. I wanted to end my life as Crown Prince Ailen, never losing the dignity befitting royalty.

‘But Chase would want to live, even if he isn’t royalty.’

Or perhaps the continuous onslaught of misfortune had made him want to let go of life entirely? I wished for him to survive, overcome his misery, and find happiness, but Chase himself might not want that.

So, I had to know. If that was how he felt, shouldn’t I at least try to persuade him?

I placed my hand over Chase’s, which was still white-knuckled against the bars. Perhaps because of the cold iron, his skin felt freezing to the touch.

At my contact, Chase flinched and ducked his head. Staring at his golden hair, which seemed to emit a faint glow even in the dim dungeon, I asked once more.

“Do you want to live?”

Chase lifted his head and looked up at me. His tear-stained face twitched as if he wanted to say something, before he looked down once again.

After a moment of waiting, a frail voice emerged.

“I want to live…”

A whirlwind of emotions flickered through his trembling frame. I saw the relief of having spoken his truth, the anxiety of being judged, and the fear that I might become angry, knowing my usual temperament.

I had no intention of blaming him. I reached through the bars and silently stroked his hair. The moment my hand touched his crown, his rigid body began to slump as he realized my intention was to soothe him.

The protruding bones on his hands faded as his grip on the bars loosened.

“Then that’s enough.”

If that was what he wanted, I would make it happen somehow. Since my goal and Chase’s desire were now aligned, there was nothing more to hesitate about.

“Wait. I’ll get you out soon.”

As I stepped back and spoke, Chase nodded slowly. I felt his gaze lingering on my back as I walked away, but I didn’t turn around until I had exited the dungeon.

Why was Mayril so obsessed with finding Chase? In the original work, it only mentioned that she had exposed his identity after “accidentally” discovering the truth while passing by.

‘If that was the case… it’s strange that she went as far as my palace to drag him out.’

And there was one more thing that had changed.

The prophecy. It hadn’t existed in the original story, yet it was the very thing allowing Mayril to run rampant in the Imperial Palace.

‘Where on earth did that prophecy come from?’

In the original book, there wasn’t a single mention of the world ending. The more I thought about the prophecy, the more my head throbbed.

‘The irony of prophecy.’

In reality, no one knows why Chase would want to destroy the world. Only Chase knows the reason. But if the story had flowed according to the original, Chase certainly would have destroyed it.

‘However, things have changed from the original, and the probability of Chase destroying the world has decreased.’

Yet, because the priestesses of the Great Forest arrived, spoke of a prophecy, branded Chase as the seed of evil, and oppressed him, the probability had shot right back up.

It was as if they were intentionally inducing his misfortune.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this trope in my past life.’

Was it Greek mythology? The tale of Oedipus came to mind—a father hears a prophecy that his son will kill him, so he tries to kill the son, but the son survives to kill the tyrant father and marry the mother.

Tragedy followed tragedy in that myth, but would it have happened if the father hadn’t believed the prophecy and hadn’t abandoned his son?

What made that story feel even more foul was the implication that everything I had done to twist the original plot might be futile. It was a visceral reminder that no matter how one struggles, one cannot escape fate.

‘Like how misfortune keeps finding Chase no matter how much I struggle.’

I had mistakenly believed that hiding Chase from dangerous things would keep him safe. But malice found a way to squeeze through the cracks, dragging him out and pouring misery upon him. It felt like a warning that everything would eventually return to the original script.

I shook my head violently.

If I gave up here, I was simply surrendering to the power of a “prophecy.” I didn’t believe that the future glimpsed by a mere dragon—not even a god—was set in stone. Especially if that future was seen before I regained the memories of my past life.

‘That’s why I have to meet the dragon.’

I had to hear from the dragon’s own mouth that the prophecy was wrong. Only then could I save Chase. If it became known he wasn’t the one to destroy the world, the calls for his execution would stop. As for the crime of impersonating royalty, that was settled by my exile to the monastery.

‘What kind of grudge does Mayril have against Chase?’

To say she did it for the prophecy or world peace didn’t sit right—the look of pure ecstasy on her face as she captured him was burned into my mind.

She had clearly targeted Chase from the start. Yet, Mayril shouldn’t have known his name or his appearance. That was likely why she had been so vague while speaking of the prophecy.

‘Malice toward someone whose face she didn’t know… No, it’s more likely malice toward the concubine Dalia.’

I clicked my tongue, realizing I couldn’t solve what had happened between them by pondering alone. I was walking toward Mayril to find a way to dig for information when I saw her in the distance.

She was strolling through the rear garden of the palace assigned to the priestesses. Just as I was about to approach her, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Mm?”

I saw Mayril glance toward me, but she couldn’t see my position. After a brief look, she turned her head away.

I watched Mayril disappear from view, my mouth covered as I was held in someone’s arms. I could have broken free and called out to her, but I sensed no murderous intent from the person holding me, so I stayed still. Once Mayril was completely gone, the person let me go.

“Haa.”

“Hmph, what is the meaning of this, Elder Priestess?”

The person who had pulled me into hiding was Ita, the Elder Priestess. Her wrinkled hands were trembling violently. Her face was filled with terror, and her eyes darted around to check our surroundings.

Her shaking only subsided once she was certain we were alone.

“Tell me why you pulled me away.”

At my question, she hesitated before slowly opening her mouth.

“I… not Elder.”

“Pardon?”

In broken Imperial speech, Ita—the woman introduced to me as the Elder Priestess—revealed that she was not the Elder at all. It took a moment for the meaning to sink in, and when it did, I couldn’t hide my shock.

“You’re… not the Elder?”

“I, not Elder. Mayril… she real Elder.”

“Hah?”

I was floored by her words. Why on earth would Mayril hide the fact that she was the Elder and set up someone else as a front?

‘It was a bit strange.’

It wasn’t normal for a subordinate priestess to run the show while the Elder sat back. If I hadn’t been so tunnel-visioned, I might have realized something was off sooner.

As I let out a sigh of self-reproach, Ita spoke again, having gathered her thoughts.

“Must tell about Elder. And I, tell Crown Prince… the real prophecy.”