The first time Eloise tried to leave him was when she was fifteen, and Rishid was seventeen.

“What’s this?”

Rishid asked, his gaze drawn to the paper bag suddenly in front of him.

“It’s a gift, Your Highness.”

He frowned at the strangely disturbing sound of the oil paper wrapped around the basket, rustling. When he unwrapped the present, he saw a cookie shaped like a rabbit’s head.

The chocolate adorned with ears and nose was crooked, and the baked color was uneven. It was not a cookie prepared by the Imperial Palace’s chef, who was renowned for his culinary prowess.

“What is this?”

Rishid frowned at the appearance of a crude cookie he had never seen before.

“It’s a rabbit.”

Eloise blushed red, perhaps embarrassed to say so.

“This……?”

Rishid tilted his head in disbelief.

“The ears and nose were decorated with chocolate.”

“Then it’s too sweet.”

When Rishid replied with a tight tone, Eloise’s words became more timid.

“It has a pretty shape…….”

With a hardened expression on his face, Rishid responded to her mumbling.

“Who eats something like this?”

Rishid narrowed his eyes and stared at Eloise, seeing how her face quickly changed to a nervous expression. Rishid’s lips curled into a smile, but Eloise didn’t appear to notice.

“Well, don’t eat it.”

Eloise hurriedly tried to take back the pack of cookies she presented. She extended her hands toward the cookie as if embarrassed, but Rishid smacked those hands lightly and said.

“How can you take back what you gave me?”

“That…….”

Eloise bit her lips as if she had nothing to say and mumbled these words instead.

“It’s not pretty. You don’t like it.”

“Yeah, it’s ugly. I don’t want to eat it.”

Rishid was meaner than usual. This had never happened before; thus, Eloise was more embarrassed and had no idea what to do.

It was strange to see that. Rishid’s eyes narrowed, and he locked his gaze on Eloise.

“So give it back…….”

“That’s enough. Once you gave it to me, does it matter if I break it down or feed it to the birds on the street?”

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, even though she knew he had chosen those harsh words deliberately. Eloise appeared to be already upset, fearful that he might actually do it.

“Don’t do that.”

“Why?”

He asked, his eyes narrowed. His gaze was drawn to her trembling eyelashes, which appeared to be on the verge of tears.

“I made it myself. I burned it a few times and baked again.”

“Is that why your hands are like this?”

Rishid took her small hand, which she had been trying to hide, and brought it in front of him.

There were blisters on the tip of her hand; the red and swollen marks could also be seen. As if she had cut herself on the kitchen tools, the vertically swollen shape seemed to glide over her skin.

“Why are you making this? What were all the maids doing?”

He asked with a frown.

“Well, that’s…I just wanted to make it.”

Eloise’s voice grew smaller and smaller.

“This is not what you should be doing.”

Rishid spoke coldly.

“You are my play maid. Don’t forget your duty.”

“……Yes.”

Eloise lowered her watery eyes.

“You’re not even good at it.”

He made a calm and purposefully harsh remark about Eloise’s cooking abilities, and Eloise’s ears got redder.

“Still, I want to make it for you.”

He calmed down again as she spoke, her ears drooping like a rabbit’s.

He knew why she was talking like that and why she even made cookies that she couldn’t even handle without hurting her hand, but when he gave her a chance to speak, she seemed to be biting her lips.

“Eloise.”

“Yes?”

“Look at me.”

She was a girl who usually looked at his face a lot, which was rude. But now, he didn’t like the way she looked as if trying to hide something that’s stolen.

Her face, forcibly lifted by a hand holding her chin, was full of indescribable emotions.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.”

Eloise told a blatant lie. Lying to him even though she knew it wouldn’t work anyway, Rishid was astonished.

“You wouldn’t like it if I found out.”

As his cold voice sank into her ears, Eloise flinched.

“I just wanted to make it for you.”

Eloise said stubbornly.

“As a farewell gift?”

“…….”

He gazed sharply at the sight of Eloise’s face growing pale.

“How did you–”

“It’s not funny, Eloise.”

He whispered affectionately, but his voice was filled with a cold chill.

“Are you trying to keep it a secret from me?”

“I… I…”

Eloise could not make any excuses. Her tongue hardened against his fiercely condemning eyes, and she couldn’t even utter a single word from her mouth.

“…… I’ll make you pay for the sin of trying to deceive me.”

“Your Highness!”

“Don’t say anything and stay here. If you take even one step outside, I will break that ankle of yours.”

“…….”

“Then you won’t be able to dance the way you like.”

“…….”

“You might have to lie down for the rest of your life, Eloise.”

Eloise bowed her head, becoming more terrified as his tone shifted to a soft growling sound.

“All you have to do is listen to me. How dare you obey someone else’s order.”

“Sorry… I’m sorry.”

Rishid, who looked down at her trembling hands, turned around. Eloise’s quivering, anxious eyes remained riveted on the spot where he had left.

“What’s going on, Rishid?”

The empress greeted her son, who suddenly visited her with a smile.

“I heard that you are going to release Eloise.”

“…… I assumed there was nothing to discuss since it was just a trivial matter, but it must have reached your ears.”

The empress put down her tea and looked at her son.

“It’s a toy given to me, so it belongs to me.”

“Rishid.”

“Even if it was my mother who pushed that child into my playroom.”

His eyes were glinting fiercely as he gazed toward the empress.

“That girl has done her job. She was not even an aristocrat, to begin with, and therefore I wanted to send her away with the money.”

The empress said as if it were insignificant.

“She’s the kid I brought in for your play therapy from the beginning. Isn’t it normal for her to leave the Imperial Palace and live her own life now that she’s done her best?”

“Her own life?”

He laughed as if he had heard something strange.

“Yes. If you have a life as a crown prince and the status as a future emperor, that child has her own life as well. So she’s free to go and live–”

“How can you believe that?”

The empress was cut short by Rishid’s mockery.

“What if Eloise goes out and talks about my illness?”

“…….”

“It’s a story that everyone knows in secret, but it’s a different subject when someone speaks as a witness.”

“What do you suggest then ?”

“I will keep her by my side. Not to anyone else.”

“Rishid–”

“So, mother, don’t get involved in my toys either.”

The empress, who met Rishid’s bright blue eyes, was silent for a moment.

“…I made a mistake. I didn’t know you cared so much. I was only cleaning it up since it was already an old toy.”

“You should have known by now.”

Rishid spoke in a polite tone.

“Toys are like the world to young children. If they’re hastily taken away or got rid of it, the consequences will be far from little. So…”

His terrifyingly glowing eyes headed back to the empress.

“I just want you to remember that whatever I do, whether I play with it, break it or not, is all up to me.”

After exclaiming furiously, he turned around. A bewildered expression appeared on the empress’s face as she continued to stare at his back; regardless of whether he saw it or not, he continued to walk away.

I came dangerously close to losing what is mine.

The thoughts in his head darkened and engulfed him whole, leaving no trace.

* * * * *

“Oh!”

The sound of Eloise’s moan jolted him back to reality. He gazed down at her dazzling face that lay beneath him and swallowed a groan.

He was captivated merely by looking at her. It was only the count yesterday, but he knew anyone who saw her would feel the same way.

Her gorgeous blonde hair was scattered like silk across a white sheet, and her creamy skin was covered in traces left by him. The red bite marks on her breasts and legs have not faded.

There was no time to dry those tears from the corners of her eyes. This was his favorite moment. Since it was enough for him to have those tears glistening in her eyes.

“Tell me you’re leaving again.”

A gentle, piercing voice echoed through her ears. Eloise panted fiercely and took in their hot entangled breath.

“Come on, Eloise. You want to leave, just say a word. Then I’ll listen…”

He whispered like a devil offering the forbidden fruit. Eloise’s eyes widened at the tempting words he whispered that he would listen if she said so.