Chapter: 10
Castilian tilted his head.
“…You like a guy like him?”
He sounded a little surprised.
‘He says my older brother is his type… I suppose that’s possible…’
…right.
Well, it made sense—Chase was undoubtedly the most popular guy at the academy.
The prestigious Tiarosa Academy in the Kingdom of Lehaten.
There existed the so-called “G4 (Gorgeous Four).”
Chase Willow, from the Carnon Empire.
Archduke Trosian Politeum Lochard.
Crown Prince Castilian La Idebert Carnon.
And the minor duke of Lehaten, Roderick de Vichel.
At the time Castilian entered the academy, Chase’s popularity was at its peak.
“His Highness the Crown Prince has enrolled!”
“Finally, we’ll get to see him in person?”
Everyone was curious about the mysterious crown prince shrouded in secrecy.
Yet, no matter how long they waited, he never appeared, and people gradually lost interest.
The truth was different.
In reality, Castilian was attending classes as usual—disguised by a magical item called the “Appearance-Altering Glasses.”
So those who saw “Glasses Guy Castilian” remembered him as a large, unattractive man.
“Where is His Highness? For some reason, I’ve never seen him in person.”
“Right? Why is it that only his ugly secretary follows him around G4…?”
“When will we get to see His Highness…! Ahh! Senior Chase! Senior Trosian!”
From Castilian’s point of view, he was grateful that people mistook him for a secretary while he wanted to remain hidden.
Chase asked him.
“Rian, why do you hide your face? If you walked down the street, women would collapse in waves.”
“…I once realized I had to hide it.”
Castilian replied only that, giving no further explanation. Chase didn’t press—it seemed he didn’t want to talk about it.
Anyway, during his academy days, Chase was so popular he could virtually devastate the school.
‘Well… there wasn’t a woman who didn’t like Chase.’
Having grown up seeing an older brother like that, it was no wonder Siena’s type was someone like Chase.
Chase shrugged, as if he knew what Castilian was thinking.
“Of course, if you reveal to Siena that you’re the crown prince…”
“I won’t reveal it.”
“Right… you won’t want that, and you’ll hide your hair color too.”
Chase drew out the words while stroking his chin. Then he spoke again.
“I’ve come up with a good method.”
“Method?”
Chase poked Castilian.
“Rian, you’re fine in every way except your personality.”
“….”
“Even other guys would say you’re perfect. Face, body, status, wealth—you’ve got it all.”
“….”
“But you barely talk, and your expressions are nonexistent. In short, you’re boring.”
He drew an X in front of Castilian’s nose.
Maybe because Chase and Siena had similar eyes? It felt as if Siena herself had drawn a line saying, “I don’t like boring guys like you!”
Chase added,
“If you liked another girl, I wouldn’t have said all this. But Siena is my little sister, and she’s used to my way of speaking.”
“….”
“So, if you want to win Siena’s heart, you must act like me.”
“….”
“Crown Prince, it’ll be tough, but try to follow me.”
Thus, Castilian, properly “hooked,” spent an entire year learning how to be like Chase.
That year was the hardest time of his life.
Though Castilian excelled at almost everything, “imitating Chase” was truly difficult.
“Today’s weather is nice. The sunlight is dazzling.”
“…It is.”
“No, Rian. At a time like this, you should say, ‘Well, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because someone more dazzling than the sun is by my side?’”
“I see.”
“Don’t just respond—memorize it. Next question: if Siena says, ‘It’s raining today,’ what should you say?”
“Rain… Rain… so you shouldn’t catch a cold…”
“Wrong.”
“….”
“‘The rain falls because the heavens envy your beauty and cry. Now I see I am with a beauty acknowledged even by the heavens. I am truly a lucky man.’”
“….”
“And you must wink at this moment. Understand?”
Chase’s examples were indeed outrageous.
‘How am I supposed to follow something like this…’
But to win Siena’s heart, he had no choice.
Castilian didn’t give up and eventually succeeded.
“Hello, Center Director? Please take care of me. I look forward to your consideration on my behalf from now on, okay?”
Through painstaking effort, he had become a clone of Chase.
Wearing this “butterfly prince” mask, Castilian was officially assigned to the Center a month ago.
“Chase, what should I do at the Center? How should I work?”
“You don’t have to.”
“But as the youngest entrant, if I don’t work…”
“I’ll let you lounge around with the authority of the Center Director. Don’t worry.”
“….”
“Focus on Siena.”
Thanks to Chase’s lack of principle, Castilian became a noble junior who did no work.
‘I feel a bit sorry for the staff, but this is my chance.’
Castilian focused on courting Siena.
“Center Director.”
He lingered by her side every day, talking whenever he could.
Yet Siena seemed uninterested.
“Be quiet.”
She almost seemed to dislike it.
‘Why? I’m acting like Chase, and she said she liked guys like him…’
Meanwhile, he noticed she liked Johan.
“I don’t have any personal feelings, really. None at all.”
Though she said she had no interest, it was obvious.
Whenever Johan appeared, she fumbled, stared blankly, and felt gloomy when investigating Violet…
‘I don’t know Johan well, but I can tell he’s completely opposite from me in personality.’
Johan was a completely different type from quiet Castilian or carefree Rian.
Even by just looking at him, you could feel his kindness. Without a word, his character felt upright.
The confusion grew uncontrollably.
‘She says she likes guys like Chase, so why Johan…?’
When did they even meet?
‘Does the Marquis Veloster change to a Chase-like personality when alone with Siena?’
He had no clue where it all went wrong.
Back to the present…
Thus, the crown prince’s predicament showed no sign of resolution.
Chase spoke.
“It’s frustrating, both you and Siena.”
“….”
“Rian, just reveal your status and make her the crown princess. You know that’s the fastest way.”
Castilian, staring at his clasped hands, looked up.
Chase sat on the back of the sofa, one arm draped as if around a friend.
For a moment, part of Castilian’s memory flickered.
“Rian… that’s a fitting name.”
“….”
“I’ll remember it.”
It was the day three years ago when he first became aware of—or rather, fell for—Siena.
His red eyes had briefly wavered, and his Adam’s apple had throbbed.
After a while, Castilian replied.
“…I don’t like it.”
“….”
“I don’t like seeing you as the crown prince. I don’t like being forced to be a princess while flaunting your status.”
“Our prince is quite stubborn, isn’t he?”
He recalled Castilian during academy days, wearing glasses and pretending to be ugly.
‘I don’t know why, but he always seemed to want to hide himself.’
Something must have happened back then…
Chase scanned Castilian’s dry expression.
‘…As expected, he doesn’t seem like he’s going to tell me.’
So Chase changed the topic.
“They say no tree resists ten strikes. Keep at it. One day, it’ll work.”
He poured whiskey into the glass on the table.
At that moment, the cry of a raptor seeped in from outside.
Chase raised his eyebrows.
“Looks like His Majesty the Emperor is desperately looking for his son.”
As mentioned before, Castilian had left the palace and was hiding at Chase’s mansion.
He only returned to the palace occasionally to report his safety, then escaped back to Chase’s mansion.
Because the crown prince kept disappearing on his own, the emperor and empress devised a plan.
They dispatched well-trained hawks across the empire to track Castilian’s whereabouts.
Screech. Caw.
A black hawk circled above the mansion, screaming fiercely.
Castilian, with dyed patches behind his ears, stood up.
“I’m going.”
He tried to hide in a windowless room.
Chase was left alone.
Spinning his glass, he headed to the window.
“I need to calm it down. Too noisy in the middle of the night.”
Chase flung the window open.
Then shouted to the hawk circling in the sky.
“Mr. Crown Prince’s Secretary? Want to come in for a drink?”
Raising his glass as if genuinely inviting the bird for a drink.
Siena spent days carefully preparing a script.
Yesterday, she even called Johan for a script reading and final meeting.
And today, finally, dawn arrived.
The day the “Johan Veloster Romance Operation” would be executed.
