I’ll Become the Female Lead in this Trashy Webnovel

As expected, it was right to lock her up. (1)

Joshua was more relaxed than he thought when they first heard the news. He was sitting on a chair with his legs crossed for a person who didn’t know of his wife’s whereabouts. As he listened to the servants’ testimonies, the glossy black shoes at the end of his long legs slowly rattled.

“Was it possible that she was kidnapped?”

“I didn’t find anyone suspicious. The palace’s front and back gates were swarmed with knights, so they couldn’t get out.”

When Joshua heard that, he got up from his seat. Even when he walked through dozens of rooms in the palace on his own, he looked for her endlessly. Leisurely. Even the servants who didn’t know him well must have seen him like this. Macon, who had been following Joshua as he searched, already knew that the crown prince was acting like he had a missing screw on his head. As if he was merely strolling, his footsteps had already roamed around the wide palace, the garden, and the forest non-stop until sunset.

“My lord, you’ve already done three laps.”

“She must have fallen asleep somewhere. A pregnant woman is sleepy most of the time.”

As it darkened everywhere, Joshua’s steps accelerated. Eventually, Macon grabbed his arm to stop him. As a result, the lantern in Joshua’s hand dropped helplessly.

“I think… they might be right that she had left the palace.”

“How can she get out when no one saw her?”

“The servants in the kitchen said they last saw Ariad there.”

“So—-”

Normally, Joshua could infer several things with just one small clue to pick out the right answer. Unfortunately, his head seemed to have stopped working. Macon noticed that and shared his theories, instead.

“The servant said that he ran into Ariad in the kitchen around noon, so I think she probably escaped using the carriage that transports the food supplies.”

“Why on earth?”

“What is it, Your Highness?”

“She had no reason to go out,” Joshua uttered seriously, still appearing relaxed even in the face of denial. “She probably didn’t go out on her own.”

Joshua bent down to pick up the fallen lamp and silently walked his way again. This time, he was planning to walk to the forest path a little far from the palace. Two hours later, he arrived at the office which was his starting point. A man stood in front of the place where he arrived without a preamble. He couldn’t seem to hide his embarrassment as he wiggled his hands together out of habit.

“Your Highness.” The chef cleared up his terrible trembling voice and continued. “The truth is, I know where Ariad is.”

* * *

A day had passed. Two days had passed and they turned into a week in the blink of an eye. His days of blankly staring at Ariad’s empty room had accumulated, and Joshua eventually accepted the reality he was in. She did go out on her own. The testimony of the knights, who carried the food supplies to the warehouse, made it impossible for him to deny everything anymore.

“I didn’t think it was the princess because she looked so pale. I dropped her off in front of the Imperial City entrance because she asked me to. I even saw her meet a man right there. I don’t remember his exact appearance, but I know he was very tall.’

Man. That bastard, again? Joshua smirked as he recalled the knight’s statement.

When his quill shook with his trembling hand, his paper got stained with black ink. The woman, who had whispered sweet nothings in his ear, saying that she would be by his side forever, disappeared in an instant when he thought he had her in his hands.

‘I like you, too.’ Her confession still rang in his brain.

A bitter smile caught his lips.

“Then, why the hell did you leave me, Ariad?”

He didn’t know that his voice had trembled at that time. Still, her confession was so sweet that he engraved it in his heart without suspicion. Now that he thought about it, he felt quite stupid. Most of all, the fact that she had thought of escaping all on her own came as a big shock to him. The day before Ariad’s disappearance, they had fallen asleep while hugging each other. No. He had this stupid hope that their relationship could continue even after seeing her face darken sometimes every time they talked about their future. Joshua reflected on his actions and repeatedly regretted them. He should have locked her up. He should have tied her to his side all the time. He should have contented himself with her body. If he hadn’t been greedier, this mishap wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Still, he didn’t let go of hope. Once he got her back, he would be alright. He would never allow himself to be deceived by her sweetness again. He would harden his ridiculously generous heart into stone. He’ll just have to tie her up close. Heart? He would tell her to give him that kind of thing now. The grip on his quill tightened even more. As he glanced at Joshua’s constant smirking as if he had turned into a madman, Macon put the organized documents on the table.