Chapter 74 - Why Don’t You Confess? (1/2)
Chapter 74 – Why Don’t You Confess?
Claude was the first one to break the silence. “You endured this better than I expected.” His jaw stiffened. “You don’t hate me now?”
“…”
Xavier remained mute. He glared at Claude with his mouth closed, and after a long moment, finally spoke.
“No way. I still hate you,” Xavier scowled.
Claude squinted his eyes at the other young man. “Aren’t you acting too coldly towards me?” he asked.
“…”
“What did I do wrong in this situation? We’re both innocent. In fact, we’re the victims of our parents’ generation.”
“Victim?” Xavier laughed mockingly. “You’re very mistaken, and your family has never been a victim.”
“…”
“The victims were always us. No, technically it’s not ‘us’ either.”
Xavier’s father was exempt from any victimhood. Xavier couldn’t bring himself to say that, but Claude seemed to have noticed the unspoken words.
Claude didn’t say anything for a moment, and when he couldn’t bear the silence any longer, he spoke again.
“So it’s going to stay like this in the future?”
“Do you want the relationship to change?”
“I don’t hate you,” Claude said, bluntly pointing out the truth. “You don’t hate me too. Am I wrong?”
“…”
“If you hated me, then there would be no reason for you to be so nice to me before. You just felt a sense of duty and guilt about the late Empress—”
“Stop it,” Xavier said in a low voice, sharply cutting through Claude’s words.
Claude hid his surprise, but did as Xavier wanted and didn’t provoke him any further.
Xavier continued in a flat voice. “Whatever feelings I have towards you, we already crossed a bridge that cannot be crossed back. We can never go back to what it was like in the past.”
“…”
“You understand that, don’t you?”
“That’s all?” Claude said with a frown, and Xavier’s forehead crumpled equally.
“What do you mean?” Xavier asked.
“Is that problem really the only reason we can’t go back to the way things were?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you asking because you really don’t know?” Claude stared intently at Xavier before giving him the answer. “Lady Maristella.”
“…”
“Do you like her?” Claude probed.
Regardless of any answer, Claude already had a relaxed smile, as if he already knew his response. Xavier didn’t like the Duke’s attitude, and he didn’t want to give Claude the satisfaction of guessing right.
Xavier involuntarily clenched his left hand. “Don’t involve her in our relationship.”
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Your Highness. You probably know this already, but I also care for her a lot.”
“That’s why,” Xavier bit back, acidity tinging his words. “Isn’t that strange?”
“What?”
“That when I came to like her, you immediately liked her, too.” Xavier’s eyes were cold as ice. Instead of being intimidated, Claude gave a knowing smile. Xavier’s stare grew even harder.
“You had ulterior motives in getting close to her,” Xavier accused.
“…”
“Isn’t that right?”
“…You’re painting me as the bad guy,” Claude said tiredly.
“Just tell me the truth. Am I right or not?”
Claude sighed and scratched the back of his head. Xavier made it impossible to slip out of a difficult situation; Claude both liked and disliked that about the Crown Prince. He paused for a moment before answering.