Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Chapter 247
Chapter 247
Translator: Yonnee
—
A chill ran down my spine.
I hadn’t seen it wrong. I was, indeed, handcuffed.
I smiled and replied,
“Even without something like this, I would have stayed by your side for a lifetime. Why did you do this?”
In response to my words, the smile on Albert’s lips slowly disappeared. He looked so expressionless at this moment.
I rarely saw him with a cold face when he was by my side, so for a moment, he felt like a stranger. Seeing me taken aback, Albert blinked.
His face softened again, returning to the familiar look I knew. Standing up, Albert took a seat next to me.
Leaning towards me, Albert rested his forehead on my shoulder and let out a sigh. Then, he murmured quietly.
“Whether by choice or by circumstances, you’ve distanced yourself from me twice already.”
The voice admitting the truth was filled with a profound loneliness.
…It made a bit more sense now.
Although it wasn’t my intention to distance myself from him twice, those moments had become lifelong wounds for him.
I raised my other hand and comforted his back.
“…I was so worried, I felt like I was going crazy.”
He shivered slightly. His voice, deep as if from the abyss, seemed almost inhuman.
“What should I do if you no longer exist in this world?”
I listened silently to his words.
“If I sacrificed my life, could I have saved you?”
“……”
“If I hadn’t suggested leaving the tower together that day, would this have happened…”
During the year without me, he searched for me, constantly doubted my whereabouts, and self-reproached.
Imagining him agonizing over his choices at every moment made my heart ache.
What had he done wrong?
“Albert, look at me.”
In response to my words, Albert slowly raised his head.
He moved, causing the front of his robe to loosen. Unconsciously, my gaze gravitated towards that robe.
At first, I thought it was casual attire, but the open front of the robe resembled the one he wore when going to sleep.
The man wearing the slightly disheveled robe had a face tainted not with his usual refined charm but with raw desire.
“When did you change your clothes?”
“While you were asleep.”
I wondered how long he had been waiting for me. The attitude of waiting until I woke up only made me feel guilty. He could have awakened me.
“I can’t lie down next to you in dirty clothes.”
Really, he could have just woken me up.
Albert said teasingly as he noticed my darkening expression.
“Rest assured, I only looked.”
It seemed like he didn’t care that I might be afraid of something else.
“I don’t care about that. I trust you.”
As I was about to explain, Albert smirked.
The atmosphere was subtle. He, with eyes mixed with madness and passion, had even created handcuffs linked to me. Yet, he hadn’t dared to wake me up, and that left me bewildered.
“Just…”
Albert’s slightly raised eyebrows were playful.
“I couldn’t bear to take my eyes off you even for a moment, afraid you might disappear again if I did.”
I released the hand that had been holding his and gently cupped his cheeks with both hands.
“I won’t go anywhere now.”
“……”
“I’ll stay by your side forever and ever.”
It was my first confession of love, but it felt like the right time.
It was also an opportunity to give Albert confidence.
I spoke bravely.
“Because I love you.”
Albert’s eyes went wide.
The face he made, like a boy experiencing his first confession, was unfamiliar on this man who seemed to know everything about love.
Rather, my face turned even redder.
Trying to cool down my flushed face, I looked away slightly.
“Why are you making such a face as if you had no idea that I love you. It’s not like you don’t know, do you?”
In response to my words, Albert, as if awakening just now, flashed his usual languid smile.
The strange glint that had lingered in his eyes melted away like snow in spring.
“You’ve never said it like this before.”
He looked deep into my eyes.
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
Despite the embarrassment, I said it clearly, but he looked at me again as if he hadn’t heard.
“Again.”
“I love you.”
Again. My lowered voice repeated the confession of love several times.
I kept uttering those three words. As long as it could reassure Albert, I’d say it as many times as he needed.
Albert’s lips formed a lovely curve.
His smiling face was so beautiful that it could rival anything in the world.
As if morning had already come, light found its way. It seemed like a halo was shining behind him.
My heart pounded fiercely like a girl who had just fallen in love.
“I love you.”
“I want to hear it closer.”
Albert, speaking to me as if whispering, leaned on my shoulder.
Despite his much larger stature, it seemed like he was leaning on me.
“We still have a lot to talk about….”
“I know. First, I can explain about how we met when you were young—”
“I want to hear the words ‘I love you’ the most.”
However, my words were completely swallowed by Albert’s plea.
It was the first time I saw Albert in such a vulnerable state, so I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt him.
Saying ‘I love you’ was a form of conversation, and it wasn’t wrong to continue the conversation in this way.
I love you, now and forever. I felt like my confession was turning into a spell as I kept saying it.
Perhaps, it really was like that—a spell that would exist eternally between the two of us.
Want to read more? Advanced chapters are available on Patreon! (for selected novels only)
≪ Discord ≫
≪ Novel Updates ≫
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
