| Chapter Three |

Three hours had passed.

Y/n did not know what he was still doing in the same place he had been three hours ago; namely—he had been with the Crown Prince for hours. His plight was almost inescapable; for their conversation had just gone on and on and showed no sign of stopping. He did not dare to interrupt Aristidis, for fear of offending him. It would have been pleasant to talk to him; for they had much more in common than he had realized, but time was ticking by.

Y/n almost thought that this whole thing—was orchestrated out. Was Aristidis doing this on purpose out of playfulness, or perhaps amusement to see Y/n sit there, unable to budge? How fitting of a love yandere game protagonist. They were sadists at heart, Y/n seethed inwardly.

Well, it wasn’t like Y/n really had anything to do. But he was partially nervous; of letting anything slip by. And he needed the Crown Prince to leave, for any minute now Angelina would come in, and his whole plan would be ruined. Aristidis would take one quick look at his sister, fall in love, and proceed to destroy the whole Empire.

That was a reluctant thought.

“Your Highness," Y/n finally mustered the courage to interject, "I apologize for interrupting, but I'm afraid I must attend to some urgent matters."

Aristidis paused mid-sentence, his piercing dark eyes narrowing—jeweled blue, like shards of diamond— as he tilted his head. The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of the prince's gaze almost suffocating. Y/n's heart raced, unsure of how Aristidis would react to his interruption.

To Y/n's surprise, a mischievous smile slowly curved on Aristidis' lips, revealing a glimpse of his playfulness. "Urgent matters, you say?" he repeated, his tone laced with amusement. "And here I thought you were enjoying our little conversation. "

Y/n's brow furrowed in confusion. Aristidis' response was not what he had expected. It seemed as though the prince had been aware of Y/n's growing restlessness, perhaps even deliberately prolonging their discussion to test his patience.

“I…know what you are doing,” Y/n said at last, “I can see…right through you.” A frown appeared on his face, as he crossed his arms. “I’m not some mere child that can't see your little plot.”

“Hmm? Then what exactly am I doing? Enlighten me, dear lord.” The last two words were said in an amused tone, but Y/n knew it was just to aggravate him.

“You’re fooling around,” Y/n huffed, “people like you feed off the power they hold, the control they exert. It's a game to them, a twisted amusement—no doubt you are one of them.”

Aristidis' lips curled into a knowing smile. "Ah, so you think I'm one of them? A sadist, as you put it?"

“You said it, not me.” Y/n gave a sudden chuckle, realizing that it would be fun to tease the playful Crown Prince to make him get what he deserved—tit for tat, as one would say—“there you have it. The Crown Prince, the Sun of the Empire and his Royal Highness, is a sadist.”

“Glad to know you hold me in such high regards,” Aristidis said smoothly, “well, what happened to that little urgent matter you had? Seems to have disappeared with your little witty retorts.”

Oh right. Y/n snapped back to reality—“oh, about that..”

What kind of stupid event should he make up?

Y/n quickly gathered his thoughts, realizing he needed a plausible excuse for his sudden change of plans. He cleared his throat, his mind racing to come up with a convincing story.

"Your Highness," Y/n began, his voice tinged with slight mirth, "I apologize for the sudden change, but there has been an unforeseen development within the castle. And also, there’s the matter…of my health. I feel rather..unwell.”

Y/n tried to ignore the curling smile on Aristidis’s lips. It was obvious he had seen through his lie.

“An impending crisis, you say? That sounds serious. Do you require assistance?”

Y/n shook his head, trying to maintain a composed facade. "Thank you for your offer, Your Highness, but it is a matter that needs to be handled discreetly. I will report back to you as soon as the situation is resolved."

“And your health?” Aristidis inquired, though his eyes betrayed the serious question posed; “surely you need me to escort you back to your room and get sufficient rest—then call the Imperial Physician for you, if it’s that dire. We can’t lose such a valuable person to the academy.”

And then there was the matter of the academy..

“Oh, no. It’s actually not that painful, anymore.” Y/n said hastily.

He had walked right into Aristidis’s trap.

The Crown Prince propped his arm on the table, leaning towards Y/n. “So I gather it’s been resolved, and you no longer need to leave. Then we can continue our delightful discussion.”

Escape.. he had to find a way..

“Ah! What about this?” Y/n held up a chess set, and with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes, he turned to Aristidis and challenged him, "Your Highness, care to engage in a friendly competition? I bet I can beat you in chess.”

After all, being in the hospital left no room for physical activities. But chess, he knew well.

Aristidis raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "Oh, is that a challenge I hear? I must say, Livio, I highly doubt you can beat me.”

“Pride comes before a fall, Your Highness,” Y/n shot him a look.

“Chess was one of the subjects I was gruelled in, Livio.” Aristidis was taunting him at this rate; purely to get a rise out of him.

Y/n feigned a gasp, his hand placed dramatically on his chest. "Oh, you underestimate me, Your Highness.”

Soon, an ornate chess board lay between the two of them; and Y/n immediately started to realize Aristidis was not kidding. He was a frighteningly formidable opponent.

Y/n moved a pawn forward, causing Aristidis to raise an eyebrow. "Bold move, my dear Livio. But I'm afraid your pawn is no match for mine."

Y/n chuckled softly, leaning back in his chair. "We shall see, Your Highness. Don't underestimate the power of a well-placed pawn."

Aristidis crossed his arms, a smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, I never underestimate you. But let's not forget who won the last three games."

Fuck.

Y/n immediately studied the chessboard, his fingers tapping the side of his chin in contemplation. With a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, Y/n promptly moved his knight in a precise, sharp direction—and winked.

“Checkmate in three moves, my dear Prince.”

“Really?” Aristidis deftly maneuvered his pieces—“that doesn’t seem to be the case. Checkmate.”

Y/n stared in horror at the board. Him? Losing? In chess? Just what kind of a monster of a person was the prince?

“A monster and a sadist,” Y/n muttered under his breath, “I look forward to our next game, where I shall claim victory.”

“Let’s see if that’s true.” Aristidis smiled, “but a well-played game. You narrowly beat me.”

“I should have beat you..” Y/n grumbled under his breath, “I suspect foul play.”

“I see someone can’t stand losing,” Aristidis said, and was that amusement evident in his tone?—“a competitive person, I see. Makes me rethink all those rumors I heard about you.”

Y/n paused in his tracks.

“…Rumors, you say..”

What kind of person was Livio?

“Gentle, sweet—but rather of a pushover. The apple of his family’s eye, intelligent, well-liked..no swordsmanship abilities but has a strong mana core…why are you making that kind of face? Embarrassed?”

Gentle? Sweet? Then it would be almost impossible for Y/n to act as Livio. He possessed no such qualities, he believed.

“Forget I asked,” Y/n mumbled.

Aristidis leaned forward in interest. “I must say—you are very, very different from what the rumors claim you to be. You might as well have been a different person; though perhaps the rumors were simply exaggerated.”

Y/n sweatdropped, swallowing.

“I could say the same thing for you, Your Highness.”

Aristidis chuckled softly, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Oh, but I am well aware of the rumors that surround me," he replied, his tone lighthearted. "They say I'm cold and distant, unapproachable even. But you see, sometimes rumors tend to distort the truth."

Y/n's curiosity piqued as he leaned in closer, his embarrassment fading into genuine interest. "Distort the truth? How so?"

“Well,” Aristidis gave a maddeningly vague smile, “you are talking to me right now, aren’t you? Why don’t you answer that question yourself?”

An annoyed look crossed over Y/n’s face.

“You—!”

“Brother?” A sweet, feminine voice called out, interrupting his retort

Y/n’s heart immediately dropped as the door opened, realizing with horror that Angelina had come personally into the meeting room. Which was bad, because then all he had done so far would have been for nothing.

His eyes immediately riveted back to Aristidis, wanting to see if he was intrigued or perhaps having fallen in love at first sight.

But he looked..disinterested.

Confusion struck Y/n's heart as he observed the prince's lack of interest.

Huh? He doesn’t seem to be paying her any attention..

"Angelina," Aristidis greeted, his tone polite but devoid of any excitement. "What brings you here?"

Angelina—who looked like she was looking at a mere stranger; simply regarded him politely. "I heard Livio was having a meeting, Your Highness, and I wanted to see what was going on. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

Y/n struggled to compose himself, forcing a smile onto his face. "No, not at all. We were just discussing a few matters. Your arrival is a pleasant surprise."

Aristidis merely nodded, his gaze drifting back to the window. Y/n's heart sank further, realizing that the prince's attention had slipped away once again.

While I’m happy the destruction route doesn’t seem to be happening, this is odd. But I suppose it’s because I disrupted the events of the game.

“You told me to avoid dark-haired men, Brother.” Angelina said pointedly, “and here I see you flirting with the Crown Prince.”

Aristidis raised an eyebrow, and Y/n choked.

“I’m not flirting!” However, Y/n’s retort was unfortunately drowned out by the Crown Prince’s bemused tone: “he told you to avoid dark haired men? That’s oddly specific.”

Angelina smirked mischievously, clearly enjoying Y/n's discomfort. "Oh, it's true, Your Highness. Livio here gave me a whole list of characteristics to avoid in potential suitors, and dark-haired men were at the top of the list."

Y/n's eyes widened, realizing his slip-up.

Aristidis leaned against the back of his chair, his expression shifting from amusement to mild intrigue. "Is that so, Livio? You have quite..specific taste."

Y/n stammered, desperately trying to salvage the situation. "I... I mean, it's just a preference. It doesn't mean I'm flirting or anything like that. It's just a coincidence."

Aristidis' eyes sparkled with amusement as he studied Y/n. "Coincidences can be quite interesting, don't you think? Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye."

Could it be possible that his altered presence in the story had sparked Aristidis' interest? Y/n had only realized now he had essentially just…stepped into the story. He had essentially just..brought himself to the Crown Prince like a sacrifice.

No. That was simply ridiculous.

Y/n was just thinking too much of it.

(Or was he?)

“Anyways, Brother,” Angelina whispered into his ear, “did he force you to do anything? Did he bully you? How did you get so close all of a sudden? You two weren’t close in the academy. You were always by yourself. A true introvert.”

“Too many questions,” Y/n mumbled under his breath, “later.” He was aware of the sharp eyes that rested on him; noting every movement he did.

I feel like I’m being hunted down by a predator.

“Well then,” Aristidis interrupted, “it seems it’s really time for you to return, given that your sister had to trouble herself to make the trip all the way here.”

Y n breathed a sigh of relief. Under his breath, he murmured a soft thank god.

His mind was still whirling from the fact that he had prevented the destruction ending.

He had stopped a route.

Y/n had somehow managed to stop the two love interests from colliding; which only proved his point. As long as the first meet was disrupted or interrupted by something, the two love interests would never grow to love each other.

That’s useful to know.

He had hardly noticed when Aristidis had taken his hand; and had pressed a small, feathery-like kiss on it. Those jeweled eyes met his; and it was a blend of anticipation and interest.

Calm down, Y/n. This is just a polite gesture from places of this setting. It’s always in novels.

Yet Y/n's breath still caught in his throat as a shiver traveled down his spine, a delicate warmth lingering where Aristidis’s lips had grazed his skin.

Aristidis barely seemed to pay Angelina any attention.

“See you at the academy, Livio.”

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