Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Chapter 258

Chapter 258

Translator: Yonnee

—

Her honest face seemed to say no, but before Jung-in could speak, Albert preempted her.

“I haven’t slept properly because I was working.”

“Even while I was sleeping, you were working?”

“Yes, I tried not to let you notice, but…”

Albert brushed his hair back, lips tightly sealed.

He hadn’t slept properly since a year ago…

But, well, there was no need for Jung-in to know that.

Silenced by Albert’s soft words, Jung-in fell quiet.

“Being with you seems to chase away the fatigue.”

Jung-in hesitated for a moment, her face a picture of contemplation.

“…Fine. But we’re just bathing, right?”

“I can’t promise that.”

Albert’s laughter was bright as he retrieved oils from the drawer.

Pouring the oils into the tub, a fragrant scent filled the air.

Albert dipped his fingers into the water to check the temperature, his gaze lowered.

“Do you not like it?”

He knew if he looked helpless, Jung-in would reluctantly agree.

“…It’s not that I don’t like it.”

Just as he thought. Jung-in sighed and spoke honestly.

“It’s just embarrassing.”

Albert’s lips curled up.

“Then I’ll take that as permission.”

Their proximity narrowed.

“I should help you undress.”

As a maid would do. Standing behind Jung-in, Albert began to untie her ribbons, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

Her scent was better than any oil. Then, in his mind, he whispered things to Jung-in he should never say aloud.

Every moment of every day, I wish to devour you. To ravish you.

To roll around with you, to fill you completely with myself.

To gouge out the eyes of others who dare to look at you, to cut off the hands and feet that dare to touch you.

But revealing such dark desires would disappoint her.

She knew Albert as a different person.

Biting his lip, he exhaled.

He remembered the look in Jung-in’s eyes when his cold nature revealed itself behind his usual composure.

Once, exhausted from hiding his anxiety, he had spoken his true feelings.

I wonder what you’d think. I want to know.

“I want to keep you locked up in this tower for as long as we both live.”
“I want to keep you here, I want you to look at only me. I want you to live every moment just for me. I wish that you wouldn’t care about anyone else.”

Jung-in did not contradict his words.

But Albert saw the resurgence of fear on her face, the trembling in her eyes, and the dilation of her pupils. She loved him, but she didn’t fully understand all of him.

Albert wished that she would not fear him.

He enjoyed her candid manner of speaking and her honest attitude.

The Albert she knew now was laid-back, occasionally mischievous, but generally accommodating to her views.

If that was the person she wanted, he would be that person in front of her.

What did his true nature matter? He had worn masks all his life just to survive—he could wear them for his beloved.

The schemes done for her would be carried out beneath the surface, hidden for a lifetime.

‘In your presence, I will remain just as you like.’

All for the sake of continuing to love and be loved by her.

* * *

After the bath, Albert carried the sleepy Jung-in to bed. Lying on the bed, she glanced at him.

“In the end…”

She trailed off, and Albert, smiling at her hesitation, stroked her hair.

“I’ll finish my work and return. There are books for you to read if you wish. Stay in the room.”

“I don’t even have the energy to move.”

“Just as I intended.”

It was completely intentional. Albert covered her with a blanket and left the room.

Stepping into the corridor, his tousled hair now neatly arranged, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by his usual impassive expression.

Albert straightened his clothes and then cast a spell over Jung-in’s entire room. It was a protective spell to prevent others from entering.

He trusted no one.

He also cast a tracking spell so that he would know if Jung-in left the room.

Truthfully, he wanted to confine her in the room until his return.

But since she disliked the idea of imprisonment…

A form of pseudo-confinement would suffice.

Recalling his memories of Jung-in during his childhood, Albert exhaled deeply.

‘Regaining those memories was a stroke of luck.’

A dragon contractor’s magic power is influenced by the dragon’s capabilities.

From what Albert could gauge, Jung-in’s current magical power slightly surpassed his own when they first met when he was a child.

Her power had grown merely with the passage of time.

Regaining his memory was possible only because his strength currently surpassed that of the power Jung-in possessed when she had cast the spell on him when he was a child.

But now, even that had been surpassed by her.

Blanc’s potential was indeed remarkable.

He felt no sense of powerlessness in Albert at Jung-in being stronger. He was content as long as she could protect herself with her strength.

However, he was anxious that she might erase her memories for his sake again.

‘I must also develop my magic further.’

Continuously, continuously. He had to strive to stand on the same level as Jung-in, now a dragon contractor.

Further, dragon contractors lived far longer than ordinary humans, and this was because they shared their lifespans with their dragon.

But Albert himself was merely human—destined to fade away, like an existence made of clay.

Staring at his palm, Albert clenched his hand tightly.

‘To be with you…’

Just as she had overcome all trials to come back to him, he too needed to grow.

Not just to find her, but to stand by her side.