Life As A Tower Maid: Locked Up With The Prince

It might have sounded like sarcasm, but Mercy was genuinely asking.

In all honesty, she thought that Albert would live like a lone wolf for the rest of his life.

It’s not because no one was interested in him or approached him, but because there was no one he carried in his heart.

“If Your Majesty answers me this, I will stop protesting.”

The answer that first came to mind was on the tip of his tongue.

He liked his daily life with Jung-in at the tower. That small happiness that she had given him forever changed his life.

The time they had together in the tower was brief, but it was enough to touch him deeply…

That’s what he wanted to say.

Until there was one particular thing about it that bothered him.

Albert furrowed his brows, meeting at the center slowly. This seemingly lingering fog in his mind seldom went away, but it felt like it was disappearing for a moment.

‘…Was it really only small happiness that she gave me?’

What about before that?

Before she proposed their contract?

Albert grappled with his memories.

An answer that he could not understand came out.

…It became that way only after she brought up the contract.

The way she treated him and the way she spoke and acted changed only after the contract, and that’s when his feelings for her began to grow.

An inscrutable feeling kept rearing its head at him as though it’s been waiting for this opportunity.

The daily life that she had introduced to him, the way she would praise him, the way she spoke and acted—it all quickly settled in his mind.

Even he had been disconcerted by her sudden change.

Regardless of whether a person could change in their lifetime, he was fully aware that it was not enough reason for someone to fall in love with them.

But he did.

As if he himself had been waiting for her—for a long, long time.

At first, he had also been very taken aback by how drastically she had changed. Somehow or another, he used that reason to justify his actions.

He told himself that he was putting up an act all for the sake of using her.

This was the reason he had when he had kissed her with his eyes open, and even when he had kissed her on the forehead.

But outside of this, he could not explain the sudden, inexplicable desire to touch her.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t fool himself any longer. Emotions incongruent to the intention of ‘using’ her soon emerged.

Whether it was expressing his own feelings or speaking up for her, it was all as easy as breathing.

He was not the kind of man who’d express himself in that way.

The same was true with the undeniable urge to express his desires so openly or with teasing innuendo with her.

Everything was a first for him. Even so, he did not find it awkward.

Whenever he listened to his words, he felt pleased to see her blush.

Each and every reaction she showed whenever he expressed himself was utterly addicting. His eyes kept gravitating towards her.

He called her name more and more. And, each time, he liked the way she would look at him.

None of it felt unpleasant.

Every little thing about Jung-in attracted him so.

He could still clearly remember Jung-in’s face, illuminated by the moonlight.

Though she had Rosé’s outward appearance, Jung-in’s smile transforms her into a completely different person, as if he could see her silhouette right in front of his eyes.

When she had cut his hair for him, regardless of whether she showed embarrassment or complete focus, looking at her like that made him think that it did not matter who the person within that body truly was.

“Rosé, let’s kiss.”

She was so lovely that he could not hold it in any longer. He needed to kiss her.

Right then, he confessed to the lies he had told himself. He could never find it in him to use Jung-in.

Because he was the one who fell first.

He did not know which exact moment in time he had fallen for her, but there was no doubt about it. It didn’t matter where they were; just being together with her—together in bliss—was enough.

He could no longer imagine life without her.

“Your Majesty.”

As Mercy was sincerely curious to hear his answer, she urged him softly.

Pulled back from his reverie, Albert spoke slowly.

“…Do you believe in such a thing called destiny, Mercy?”

Right. There was no other way to explain it.

It’s destiny.

In the same way that he quickly found out that the person in front of him had changed, so too had he quickly fallen headfirst in love with Jung-in. It’s as though his entire being had been waiting to meet her all this time.

“I don’t know when it started…”

Just as he told Liam before, he couldn’t find the right words to explain the emotions that he was feeling.

“It’s just, I couldn’t help but love her.”

“……”

“As if I’d been wishing for her my entire life.”

Thinking about Jung-in, Albert’s red eyes burned deeply like the sun.

…He had let go of the hand of the person he’d been longing for so much. Albert clenched his teeth.

I don’t wish to experience this sense of loss. Not again.

But, wait.

In his train of thought, Albert found something odd.

‘Why… again?’

Albert reflected on his thoughts. Had he ever felt such a desperate sense of loss before he met Jung-in?

Strangely enough, it felt like his heart was already used to this sorrow.

Did he feel the same way when his first love had left? No, he wasn’t sure.

His memories of her were slowly coming back, but there were still so many things that were not clear.

It was also difficult to say whether the memories rushing out were rooted in reality.

Albert shook his head. Above everything else, this was not the time to think about such things.

The first and utmost priority was finding Jung-in.

If he could not find her, there would be only one outcome.

He’d end up going insane.