Pride and Sanctimony

Chapter 1

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[Valentia] “What are you doing here….?”

Valentia muttered in a flustered voice. A man she never thought she’d see ever again had appeared, right before her eyes.

Or rather it was because she had one-sidedly cut off all ties with him that she was so shocked. Because she left without saying much of a word to him. But she thought that would be the end. She couldn’t understand why he was here. 

Why would he come here when he had no reason to?

[Lexus] “Is it really so strange that I’m here?”

He answered casually as if it were no big deal, but it was very strange. This was a town far from the capital. A place that had nothing to do with him.

He would not even have known such a small place existed. He was an Imperial Prince, but something like that was far from odd.

Just as there were a great number of lords who did not know every little happening in their vast territories, a Prince would not know of such a small town, tucked away in a corner.

[Valentia] “It’s not that strange.”

Still, Valentia remained calm, quickly hiding her bewilderment and looking at him with a straight expression. She was shocked to see him here, but she couldn’t show that on her face.

[Lexus] “You don’t think it’s weird?”

[Valentia] “You are someone who has every right to go where you please.”

There was no place that was off limits to him. He was the second son of the Imperial lineage, younger brother to the Crown Prince, and a Prince himself.

[Lexus] “Ha. You’re confident.”

[Valentia] “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be?”

[Lexus] “Considering you left without a word. Where did you happen to dump your respect for other humans?”

[Valentia] “I left a letter.”

[Lexus] “Oh, right. That letter. Just four measly lines. Should I remind you what they were? It was so short, I’d never forget it.”

[Valentia] “Oh, you still remember. I seem to have forgotten them myself.”

That was a lie.

She remembered them, too. She even remembered the tears she shed while she wrote them. Sitting there, trying to come up with the words to say, she thought for so long. But she kept coming up empty.

Dear Prince, it took me hours to write those four lines.

So of course she wouldn’t be able to forget them. Even all these years later, she could still remember him with emotions other than sheer anger.

After Valentia successfully answered in a way that managed to betray the sorrow and pain of that time, Lexus looked at her like he was amazed, asking with a cold expression.

[Lexus] “Why did you run away?”

[Valentia] “Run away? I wouldn’t put it like that.”

She denied it, but that was also true. She ran away from him.

He looked at her with a cold expression, but then his lips curved up. A smile upon his handsome face always bloomed brightly when they were young, but now, his smile was only cold.

[Lexus] “If you didn’t run away, then why did you leave so quietly? Do you have any idea how long I waited…..”

He grinded his teeth, and then his face distorted into a twisted smile.

Bark—!

Then, he turned his head to the side at the sound of barking to see Goldie there.

[Lexus] “But you were able to take the damn dog with you.”

She was taken aback.

He was clearly referring to Goldie, but he wasn’t the kind of man to talk about him like that.

It was he who named Goldie, a retriever with soft golden fur. At the time she told him that it was a rather weak and insincere name, but eventually she came around to it, agreeing it was fitting for such a golden puppy.

Goldie was the only one who followed her more than he did, and Valentia could remember how much Goldie loved him. This came as a bit of a shock. Meanwhile, Goldie kept wagging his tail, regardless of whether or not he was happy to see him.

[Lexus] “Go away.”

His voice was low and quiet, scratching his mind as it left him. It was so soft that Valentia could not hear those words as they disappeared into the air.

[Valentia] “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

[Lexus] “A misunderstanding?”

[Valentia] “I didn’t run away. You may not know this since you’ve never been broken up with before, but I don’t need your permission to make that decision for myself.”

[Lexus] “……..Didn’t you love me?”

The signs were there. All of them served as warnings but Valentia believed otherwise. He wasn’t a bad person, even if everyone and everything said he was.

But he wasn’t just a bad man. He was a cruel one, too.

He made her trust in him, made her love him, but there wasn’t an ounce of sincerity behind the way he treated her.

I loved you, and I was foolish to have done that.

She loved him, trusted him, and was eventually betrayed by him. But he wouldn’t think of it as a betrayal. For him, he was just…..

[Valentia] “I was just toying with you.”

Just like he was with her.

He was playing with her. And once she knew that, she couldn’t stand it and didn’t want to see him again. The betrayal shook her to her core, knowing how she had trusted him with so much of her heart.

[Lexus] “You were toying with me?”

She knew she wouldn’t be able to hurt him with these words, but she wanted to say them anyway.

[Valentia] “Arrogant Prince. You’re not the only one who can toy with others.”

Valentia smiled brightly.

She didn’t want him to know how terribly hurt she was. She didn’t want him to know how much she had cried over the wounds he had caused. She didn’t want him to think he had won his game. So she held back the pain from the cracks in her heart and forced a casual smile.

Now, it was becoming clear why he came here like this. He couldn’t stand the fact that she was the one who broke things off, until eventually, his wounded noble pride led him here to see her.

[Lexus] “Did you really toy with me?”

[Valentia] “Yes.”

[Lexus] “Did I really mean nothing to you?”

[Valentia] “Need you keep asking?”

[Lexus] “I, I…..”

His eyes were trembling. Perhaps because the shock was too great.

[Valentia] “You must be angry because you were fooled by a woman like me, but are we not guilty of the same? That’s why you’re here. Because you’re embarrassed. But you shouldn’t act so pathetically.”

I hope you get hurt. I want you to be hurt too. If only just a little bit.

But then he responded with a smile.

[Lexus] “What if I’m fine with being pathetic?”

[Valentia] “I don’t know why you’re acting like this.”

He was a selfish man. He toyed with her first, yet could not bear to know that she had done the same.

[Lexus] “I can’t live without you.”

[Valentia] “And as I said before. I don’t work well with people I despise.”

Again, his eyes trembled.

The irises of his eyes became smaller—that beautiful golden color shrinking like he was in shock. It was rather stellar acting. She almost believed he was hurt right now.

He was so good at putting on an act. Now that she was thinking about it, she had no choice but to make the mistake of loving him back then. He was so lovable at the time, so how could she not love him? 

But it was a miserable love because the man in question was not sincere. She was the only one whose feelings were true and she played right into his hands.

But she didn’t want him to know that. That was why she left him like this—why she ran away.

[Valentia] “Go back to your seat. I can’t say it was nice to see you, so I’ll just wish we never meet each other again.”

Valentia turned around, intent on leaving him behind. But the moment she tried to take off like she was running again, he grabbed her by the wrist.

[Lexus] “…..Wait.”

[Valentia] “Let go of me.”

She spoke firmly, but the handle holding her did not loosen. Instead, he held her tighter with a cold expression.

[Valentia] “…..ow.”

But when she made a pained sound, he immediately let go. Even so, he wasn’t ready to give up.

[Lexus] “Too bad. I’ll keep following you.”

[Valentia] “Why me?”

[Lexus] “Because I want you.”

[Valentia] “I really hate people like you.”

Valentia didn’t notice the pain in his eyes.

[Valentia] “We’re not a good fit for each other. Nothing good would come from us seeing one another. So let’s just go back.”

[Lexus] “Go back? Where?”

[Valentia] “To our own lives.”

Valentia was starting to get really nervous.

She needed him to leave now and there was a reason for it. She was waiting for someone, and it was almost time for him to come home.

He definitely wouldn’t notice, but even so, she didn’t want him to meet him. He might try and take him away, and she didn’t want to lose him no matter what.

So before that, this man had to go.

[Lexus] “Valentia!”

When he called out her name, her heart sank. She used to like it when he said that. He was the only person who would say her name with such tenderness.

But when she turned to look at him, what she saw was a small figure standing behind him, and Valentia’s face turned pale. There was only one person who would come at this time.

And it was someone this man absolutely could not meet.

[Elijah] “Mom!”

Valentia’s expression stiffened.

At the sound of the boy’s voice, Goldie brushed off the man’s coldness, gleefully and excitedly running off to say hello to the child he hadn’t seen in a while.

The gaze that was once pinned onto Valentia followed Goldie, eventually stopping right on the boy. The child shouted Goldie’s name, hugging the large dog before running with him towards Valentia.

All the while, the man’s eyes followed the boy as he looked down at him.

[Elijah] “Mom, did you come to pick me up?”

The child had a bright and vivid smile on his face as he asked. Valentia knelt down and hugged him, pulling his face into her chest. As if that would hide him from that man.

[Elijah] “Mom? Is something wrong?”

Goldie ran around all three of them, wagging his tail excitedly. He couldn’t help but be happy because all the people he loved most were together.

The man’s gaze moved past Goldie, reaching both her and the child. The moment she realized he saw the boy’s face, she thought her heart was going to explode.

[Lexus] “Did he just say you were his mom?”

He looked directly at Valentia as he asked. She couldn’t say anything back as her expression turned paler.

But that was unavoidable.

For the child she held in her arms was also the child of this man.

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