Scrubbing Away Someone Else's Fingerprints Until No Trace Remains
I was right in the eye of the storm, rubbing away every trace of fingerprints that weren't mine until not even a smudge was left...
To my left was a child who grabbed my hand with a bright cry of "Daddy!", beaming innocently. To my right loomed a black-haired woman glaring daggers, barely holding back from killing me as she waited for my explanation.
"Ha..."
Why did this kind of crap always happen to me? I wanted to crack open a bottle right then and there, but first, I had to survive the woman on my right. So I started talking calmly.
"Be ti, please hear me out. It doesn't make any sense logically. That kid looks about five or six years old—that means at least six years ago. I was only twelve back then! What the hell was a twelve-year-old kid from the capital doing all the way up north, getting into trouble like that?"
I raised my voice in frustration, but Be ti wasn't buying my airtight logic. Her eyes were locked solely on the child clinging to my pant leg, smiling up at me innocently.
"Shut your mouth, Rian. I'll hear your excuses later."
Her icy command snapped my mouth shut. She didn't care that the hem of her elegant purple velvet dress—the kind she'd never normally soil—was dragging in the snow. She slowly knelt to meet the child's eye level, gently grasping the kid's shoulders. She'd been glaring at me like she wanted to murder me, but to the child, she wore her usual composed expression.
"Listen to me seriously, sweetie. Is this man really your daddy?"
"Yeah! He is! It's Daddy!"
"I see..."
There was no hesitation in the child's answer. Someone had definitely sent this kid to assassinate me. Golden Scales, was it you bastards?
Be ti's eyes darkened, gleaming with an eerie light. She subtly tightened her grip on the child's shoulders and began her leading interrogation.
"So, what have you been doing with Daddy lately? Tell me everything you remember. Where did you meet, what did you talk about?"
"Um... Mommy said Daddy went far away to work before I was even born, so I never saw him. But today we finally met! Mommy said Daddy was super handsome and cool, just like a prince from a fairy tale!"
The child pointed at me with a huge grin. Hearing that innocent response made my heart ache a little. The kid's real dad must've died or gone somewhere he could never return from. But the "obsessive monster" beside me jumped to a totally different conclusion.
"...Gone since before you were born. Did you hear that, Rian? Proof you ran off before the child was even born. Very plausible."
"No, why does it twist like that?! You just heard it! The kid's never even seen her dad, so she's mistaken me for him!"
No, you're not supposed to be this emotional!
Be ti ignored my gut practically exploding in real time and kept building her case.
"Obviously, a prince drops into the north briefly, has a one-night fling, then cowardly flees. Seeing you now—not in those reports—it's not impossible. And with your looks, seducing a country girl would've been child's play."
I was dumbfounded by her words. "Hang on, even if it were true, wouldn't a country girl seducing me be more likely? I was twelve."
Be ti didn't even properly hear me out. She stood, glaring murderously as she whispered low.
"Hmph... We'll decide what to do with the child later. Rian, for now, you're headed to the duke's manor basement..."
"Maria! Maria, where are you!"
Just then, a woman spotted us from afar, paled, and rushed over, snatching the child into her arms.
"Mommy! Mommy, there's Daddy over there. Daddy!"
"He's not your daddy...!"
She frantically covered the child's mouth, knelt before us, and bowed her head repeatedly into the snow.
"Your Highness! Prince! We've committed a grave sin! My child was just spouting nonsense!"
Be ti asked coolly, like the blade of a guillotine.
"Why did the child mistake this man for her father? Tell the truth, and nothing will happen to you or Rian."
Be ti glanced between the kneeling woman and me. Why me?
The trembling woman looked around, covered the child's ears tightly, and spoke cautiously.
"The truth is... the child's father died of illness before she was even born. I couldn't tell her that, so I just showed her fairy tale books and said, 'Your daddy was handsome and radiant like a prince.' She must've thought Your Highness looked just like the pictures and mistaken you for him coming back. I'm truly sorry!"
"..."
Be ti pondered for a moment, then let the woman and child go. Finally came to her senses.
The chaotic mess wrapped up quickly after that. The mother hugged her child, bowed deeply, and left. Silence returned to the plaza. I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.
"Ha... See, Be ti? I told you it wasn't me."
"I'm sorry. I got overly excited and imagined nonsense. Let's head to the manor."
With that, Be ti turned and walked ahead, showing me her back. Of course, her ears stood out even redder against her pale skin.
In the carriage back to the duke's manor, only silence filled the cramped space. Be ti stared out at the snowy landscape the whole way, her refined profile giving away no emotion. I couldn't stand the awkward quiet any longer and tossed out a playful question right before we arrived.
"Be ti, just out of curiosity, hypothetically speaking. If I really were that kid's dad, what would you have done to me?"
The carriage jolted to a stop at the manor entrance. Be ti slowly turned to look at me. Gone was any trace of the embarrassment from clearing up the misunderstanding—her eyes plunged into an abyss of vicious possessiveness.
"So it was true after all."
"No, no! It was just a hypothetical! A what-if!"
I waved my hands frantically, but Be ti was already leaning deeply toward me, her upper body invading my space. In the tight carriage, her cool fragrance squeezed my lungs. Her chilly fingers roughly traced my lips as she murmured in a spine-tingling voice.
"I extremely hate it when someone else's fingerprints get on my precious possessions. If that happens, there are only two options."
Her fingers slid slowly from my lips down my jawline, like a predator savoring its prey's flesh.
"One is smashing the whole thing to pieces so no one else can ever have it. The other is... scrubbing away every trace of those foreign fingerprints until nothing's left, then covering it completely with my prints. So only my fingerprints remain on it."
Be ti left me frozen, breathless, and descended from the carriage gracefully, as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, what kind of 'wow' is that? I thought I was done for today. This is why we need harsh punishments for false accusations."
I watched Be ti enter the manor, then stepped out of the carriage. "Ah... but that kid's underage anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered..."
I dragged my exhausted body back to my room and flopped onto the bed.
"Seriously, that woman has no sense of moderation. I'm too scared to even joke around."
The carriage scene lingered, keeping my heart racing. Covering fingerprints? What an extreme woman.
"It's only 4 p.m.? Today feels extra long. I should nap before dinner."
I tried to catch some shut-eye before supper, worn out.
Knock knock.
"Your Highness, it's me."
Just as my eyes were closing, Luna entered with a straight face.
"Your Highness, I apologize for interrupting your rest, but now's not the time to sleep."
Maids filed in behind her, preparing my formal attire. I blinked in confusion.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"A messenger just arrived from the border. Your sister, Second Imperial Princess Eleanor, is leading the Imperial Guard's Second Knight Order straight for Winterfell Duke's Residence."
What the hell is this situation?
"What? Why's my sister coming here?"
Luna straightened my collar and added, "The Princess said, 'I can't leave my precious little brother in this freezing north—hand him over now,' as she passed the border gate. Lady Beatrice is already mustering the Winter Guard."
I glanced out the window. The icy duchess who wanted to possess me and the imperial "invader"(?) trying to take me back were about to clash over me in this frigid north.
Man, on the surface, this looks just like a harem scene. Haha...
Rian, snap out of it! No harem allowed! The one trying to take you is your 'sister'! Even if she's borrowing that body, she's still your sister!!! Harem absolutely forbidden! And incest harem? Just die!
I know, you bastard.