I Became the Cure for the Cursed Prince - Chapter 57

Leon slowly opened his eyes. His blurred vision gradually began to clear.

From the moment he’d heard the words “You’re not someone special to me,” he’d barely managed to pull his shattered mind back together just enough to speak, unwilling to let this moment slip by.

“Not later. Please, listen now. You said,  I owed you a debt.”

He didn’t like thinking of it as a debt, but if using that excuse could delay their parting, he’d do anything. Lucas pressed his lips tightly together. He looked as if he regretted what he’d said but he made no effort to take the words back. As Leon had expected, Lucas gave a small nod.

“Go ahead.”

It felt like his last chance, and Leon’s heart grew restless. Swallowing the sob rising in his throat, he finally managed to speak.

“…My wish is to never be separated from you. I don’t care if I have to become a gatekeeper at Rion Castle, or serve as your personal attendant, I’ll do it. Just,  don’t tell me to leave.”

Overcome with emotion, Leon couldn’t speak for a while. He simply clutched his chest, breathing shakily. When he finally looked up, his eyes were glistening with tears.

“I love you.”

“…”

“I don’t mean that I love you just because I’m your ward…”

I want you as my mate. One day, when I become Emperor of the Theian Empire, I want you to be my Empress. And if you say you can’t leave the North then I’ll live here with you. I’d give up everything for you.

All the words he couldn’t say piled up in his heart. In their place, tears streamed down his cheeks and soaked them. Leon wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He didn’t want to show Lucas any more of this pathetic side of himself.

I wanted to make a cool, confident confession… and this is what it turned into.

With a deep breath, Leon forced the words out.

“Like how one loves a lover… I love you.”

It was a truth wrenched from the depths of his soul.

Lucas’s eyes widened. His expression, which had remained cold and unreadable, suddenly broke—as though he’d just heard something he never should have.

“How could you…”

It was as if salt had been rubbed into an already bleeding wound.

Lucas had thought Leon’s affection was nothing more than a child’s love for a parent. Having lost his own at such a young age and living in a foreign land, he must have been terribly lonely that was why Lucas had looked after him so closely.

Sion and Michelle had once said he was too overprotective, that the way Leon looked at him was strange. But Lucas had brushed it off, thinking I know him best.

Yet, in the end, he was the one who knew Leon least. He’d thought he was raising him well but instead, he’d raised him wrong. In trying to protect him too closely, he’d let those feelings twist.

“…How could this happen.”

Now, Lucas knew, he had to push Leon away, no matter what it took. His whole body felt cold, like icy water had been poured over him. Forcing his breath to steady, he looked at Leon with frozen eyes.

“I can’t grant a wish that makes no sense. I’ll have them bring another cup of tea. Drink it slowly, then return to your room.”

He tried to pass Leon, who was still crying—but Leon grabbed his wrist.

Just as Leon opened his mouth to speak, Lucas coldly pulled his arm free, brushing him off without a word.

As he stepped outside and closed the door, he could hear Leon begin to cry behind it. The sound tore at his chest—but his ears were still ringing too much from the shock to take it in fully.

He wanted to run back and hold him. But he couldn’t—not anymore. Not after learning how Leon truly felt. Leon wasn’t someone who should waste his heart on someone like Lucas.

“…It really is cold,” he muttered to himself as he walked down the long corridor alone.

Since that day, Lucas had deliberately avoided Leon. Or rather, to be precise—he had stopped responding to anything Leon said. Few people were capable of stopping an alpha as dominant as Leon, and so he simply stood there, gazing at Lucas all day, silently.

The one most troubled by the chilly standoff between the two was none other than Sion. Today, once again, he stood awkwardly in the office, caught between the tension of the two.

“Lucas, today Raika…”

“Sion. What’s the current status of the Black Forest? Are the nearby villagers still living in fear?”

Sion glanced toward Leon, who was looking at Lucas like he might never look away. With a sigh, Sion quietly dropped his shoulders.

Lucas’s reaction was so chillingly cold that even I felt frozen, though I knew he was only trying to distance himself emotionally. It felt as if something had happened between them.

“Sion, answer me.”

“Yes, the villagers have been reassured now that we’ve increased the number of knights stationed near the Black Forest. Also, the stories spreading about the knights who succeeded in subduing the gargoyles have helped to calm public fear.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Lucas and Sion exchanged a few more words about the tasks at hand. Leon remained seated nearby, waiting for an opportunity to join the conversation, but Lucas gave him no opening.

His face was excessively cold. It was as if he never wanted to see Leon again.

Leon had promised himself he would endure whatever treatment Lucas gave him. But when the same thing repeated for days on end, even the slightest change in Lucas’s expression made Leon’s heart sink. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t eat. His eyes ached from crying so much. His mood was always scraping the bottom.

It’s going to be just as painful as yesterday, he thought, lowering his head in resignation. But then, he felt Lucas’s gaze land on him. Quickly, he looked up and locked eyes with him.

But Lucas didn’t smile.

“Your Highness, Leon Theian.”

“…?”

“I need to speak privately with Sion. Would you please step out for a moment?”

“L-Luca…”

After days of waiting, the first words Lucas spoke to him were so cold so formal they left him stunned. Leon reached out to grab his wrist, but Lucas lowered his hand beneath the desk, out of reach.

“What… What is this all of a sudden…”

Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Sion awkwardly cleared his throat and quickly excused himself.

“I’ll just,  go get a glass of water.”

Leon, who had barely been holding himself together, collapsed the moment Sion left the room.

“Why are you speaking so formally? I know you’re trying to push me away, but isn’t this too much? How much more do you want to hurt me…”

“Your Highness, as I said before this is a place for official work. There are matters not fit for outsiders to hear. Please leave.”

“…How…”

Leon couldn’t speak. An outsider? He wanted to scream, to ask how Lucas could say such a thing. But Lucas looked so weary like Leon had truly become a burden.

In the end, Leon had no choice but to turn and leave. All he could leave behind were a few parting words.

“…Fine. If it’s time you need, I’ll give you as much as you want. Just,  don’t hate me too much.”

Not long after Leon left, Sion returned. His face was filled with worry.

“Are you really going to send him away?”

“…Yes.”

Lucas gave a short reply and took out a letter he had stored in the drawer. He handed it to Sion. It was a message intended for the Theian Empire, proposing a time and method to safely return Leon.

“Choose the fastest rider and send them to the Theian Empire. It needs to be someone strong, discreet, and absolutely tight-lipped.”

Sion’s eyes widened. He had known that Lucas intended to send Leon away—but he hadn’t expected it to move so quickly.

“Won’t it seem suspicious to the Theian Empire if we send him back so suddenly?”

Sion asked cautiously, reading Lucas’s expression. When Lucas said nothing but gave him a sharp look, Sion quickly added on, understanding his unspoken thoughts.

“I know you’re worried because of the recent intrusions, but Lady Michelle is deeply concerned. If the only person who could truly stand beside His Highness leaves like this, won’t he be left too alone?”

Lucas understood. He knew how Michelle always put her younger brother first. And he knew that Sion was using her words to speak his own heart, too. But sometimes, even when you understand pretending not to is the only choice you have.

“You’re right. But Sion, tell me have I ever known a life without loneliness? Have I ever run away from it, just because I feared it?”

That was all he could say.

Like a master scolding an overstepping servant, he tilted his head with an edge in his voice. Sion nodded immediately.

“No, you’ve never feared loneliness. You simply bury it in work until it can’t be felt anymore.”

Reluctantly, Sion accepted the letter, as if he were being forced to carry out something he didn’t agree with. But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the office immediately. He stood there hesitating, caught in the middle of the room.

Lucas pressed again.

“What are you waiting for? I told you, it’s urgent.”

“…Yes.”

Only after Sion had left did Lucas lean back in his chair, allowing his body to finally relax. His gaze drifted to the spot where Leon had been sitting. He could still feel his scent lingering there, and in his mind, he could see the face that had looked as if it were about to break into tears at any moment.

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