How to Escape from My Possessive Fiancé - Chapter 65

“Uh… what is that…?”

She even mumbled sounds that couldn’t quite become words from the shock. If Yulicias hadn’t been standing next to her, Sophia might have actually raised her hand and gone over to pinch the cheek of that white-haired thug.

In fact, when Sophia’s hand was already half-raised, Yulicias grabbed it and brought it down, whispering nervously.

“If you’re going to act stupid, do it when I’m not around. What do you think you’re doing?”

Only then did she snap out of it and manage to look forward. But she still couldn’t forget what she had just seen. The man carrying the heavy responsibility of the Rockwell Imperial Family—so naturally, as if he belonged to it—looked so much like a royal that she now wondered why she hadn’t realized it before.

He even looks just like Yulicias!

Now that she thought about it, she had noticed before that he and Princess Yulicias had similar eyes. Those green eyes, like bright green leaves.

That wasn’t all. Looking back, the man had been really careless. He had casually called the princess by her name, spent time every day in the hunting grounds watching Sophia shoot arrows, and acted arrogantly, saying he’d scold anyone regardless of whether they were nobles or royalty.

Didn’t all of that point to him being royalty?

And his name… was it Kiel or something?

Sophia snorted. The white-haired thug had a very long name. Even after hearing it once or twice, she had asked, “What was that again?”

Even now, Sophia only remembered that his last name was Rockwell. The rest of the long name had completely slipped her mind.

At that moment, a priest slightly bowed before the man and said,

“It is an honor to be able to bless Prince Ezekiel.”

It was rare for a priest to bow in such a respectful way, so that alone was surprising. But that wasn’t what shocked Sophia. It was his name.

Ezekiel?

That was the same name as the man she had seen in her dream. Of course, Ezekiel was a common name for heroes, so many people used it. But for the man who reminded her of that dream to also have the same name… was this really just coincidence?

But if it’s not coincidence, then what is it?

Sophia frowned. Even if it wasn’t a coincidence, she had no way to explain what it was.

Sophia must find out for herself. Who I am, who the duke really is?

She remembered what he had said. He also said it might be the will of the gods. Sophia felt like she was caught in a huge storm.

No, wait. There’s something even more important than that.

More important than the mysterious feeling of facing something unknown and dangerous. Sophia raised both hands to her face in shock.

I almost killed that man!

She clearly remembered how he was about to jump off a cliff without hesitation. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, if someone twisted the story, it might be considered an attempted assassination of a royal. That thought gave her chills.

He wouldn’t arrest me for that, right?

Now for a whole different reason, Sophia glanced at the man—Ezekiel. Their eyes met for a moment. Ezekiel didn’t seem surprised to see her here. His calm eyes showed no real emotion, not even the kind of joy one might feel when seeing someone they know.

Only determination, like someone about to carry out a duty. He seemed focused only on the hunting contest. As if to prove it, he quickly turned his head away.

To Sophia, that dismissive glance felt like he was ignoring her.

Why… why is he so confident?

It was frustrating. If anything, he had been hiding his identity from her. That could be seen as mocking her.

Shouldn’t he be at least a little worried that Sophia might be angry? But he didn’t seem to care about her at all.

This made her feel hurt. Maybe he had only been kind to her because she didn’t know who he really was. Now, Sophia felt like she had become nothing more than a toy he was done playing with.

Of course, that didn’t match the way he had treated her so far, but Sophia, overwhelmed with emotions, kept focusing on those thoughts.

So, when it came time to get on her horse, she was still deep in those thoughts and forgot all of Michelle’s warnings. Sophia mounted the horse she had always used and headed into the forest.

—

She didn’t notice something was wrong with the horse until halfway in. It kept resisting her direction and tried to rear up. It even shook as if her weight was bothering it.

When she tried to stop it, it only ran faster. Sophia held the reins tightly in fear and looked around to see if anyone could help. But the group had already split up long ago.

“Let’s split up and each look for prey. Sophia, you head west.”

That’s what Yulicias had said. And Sophia had gone west, without a second thought.

Idiot. Michelle even warned you in advance. How could you let yourself get separated like this so carelessly?

Feeling ashamed of herself, Sophia lay flat on the horse that was getting faster and faster.

All this trouble, just because of a man.

“If I die like this, I might wake up in my coffin from embarrassment.”

She said in a teary voice and squeezed her eyes shut. Just then, she heard another horse galloping nearby.

“Sophia!”

Somehow, Ezekiel had found her and was calling her name. He rode quickly and reached his hand out toward her.

“Take my hand!”

He shouted with a desperate voice. Sophia wanted to. But the horse was too fast, and letting go of the reins felt like certain death. The wind was loud and harsh in her ears, and it felt like she could be thrown off at any moment. What if she reached out, missed his hand, lost her balance, and fell?

“No! I’m scared!”

She screamed with her eyes tightly shut.

“That road leads to a cliff! If you keep going, you’ll die. Take my hand—it’s the only way to live!”

“But what if I fall when I reach out?”

“Damn it, I said I’ll catch you!”

His voice was rough and urgent. Sophia opened her eyes in shock and saw his tense face. His white hair blowing wildly in the wind. His hand reaching out so desperately. His eyes, begging her to look only at him.

“Don’t think about anything else. Just reach out—I’ll take care of the rest. Even if we die, I won’t let you die alone. Trust me.”

“Why would you say something like ‘if we die’ right now?!”

“Fine, then let’s live together. Let’s live. So, give me your hand.”

His heartfelt voice cut through the wind and reached her. Her heart was pounding too hard, and the wild wind scattered her hair, making it hard to think. Just like he said, the cliff was getting closer.

Finally, Sophia squeezed her eyes shut and reached out her hand.

Snap.

A strong force grabbed her. Her shoulder hurt like it might pop out, and her body flew into the air. It was terrifying. But the moment she landed safely in the man’s arms, relief washed over her.

“Are you okay?”

After running a little more, Ezekiel finally slowed the horse and asked. Tears welled in Sophia’s messy hair, and then she burst into sobs.

“Huhuhuuhh…”

Ezekiel looked troubled, unsure where to begin fixing her mess of a face. Her tangled hair completely covered her. Tears streamed down her cheeks without stopping.

“Don’t cry. Your hair is getting soaked.”

He awkwardly brushed her hair back with his hand. But her long hair didn’t stay in place. In the end, he gave up and simply cleared a round space to see her face and barely managed to meet her eyes.

Sophia was still crying like a child.

“Hic… this… this is all your fault. I really… I didn’t think the princess would… Michelle warned me, and I should’ve… hic… listened…”

Between hiccups and loud sobs, Sophia’s words were barely understandable.

“Yes. It’s my fault. So, stop crying now.”

Ezekiel said. Then Sophia, still crying big tears, suddenly asked seriously,

“This doesn’t count as royal assassination, right?”

Ezekiel looked at her blankly, not understanding what she meant. Sophia wiped her tears and raised her head. Her face was red where she had rubbed it. Ezekiel wanted to reach out and brush it, even though he had no healing powers.

“Hic… since you came to save me, I’m not responsible, right? I mean, I’m really thankful you did save me, but still…”

Ezekiel laughed.

“You just want to show off that you know I’m a royal now.”

Sophia flinched, as if caught.

Ezekiel looked at her quietly and said,

“Do you want to blame me for not telling you?”

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