“You… you’re the second prince.”

Estella spoke with a firm voice, her gaze locked unwaveringly on him. The moment the words left her lips, Ciel’s mind went blank. It was as if his heart, turned to stone, dropped with a thud to the ground.

“…What?”

He blurted out the stupid question just to buy a little time to think. Ciel had never felt so pathetic.

“I’m asking you. Are you the second prince?”

“Estella, I…”

“Just answer yes or no.”

Estella’s sharp question left Ciel in a daze. He needed to smooth things over somehow, but no method came to mind. Even the Squirrels, who normally leapt to his defense, stayed silent this time.

They all knew this was something he had to handle on his own.

After fruitlessly searching for a way out, Ciel gave up and met Estella’s eyes head-on.

“…Yeah. But I never meant to deceive you from the start!”

“I know.”

“…What?”

The unexpected response made Ciel’s face light up with hope. It felt like a beam of light had pierced through the darkness.

“If I hadn’t stopped you and insisted on that contract, you wouldn’t have needed to lie or stay in Wintfall.”

“Estella…”

She understood him. His eyes welled up with emotion. The smallest look or word from her tossed him between heaven and hell. He felt like he was choking one moment and trembling with sweet anticipation the next. He was completely unhinged.

“Do your subordinates know? That you’re the second prince?”

At her question, the Squirrels, who had been standing back, frantically waved their hands and raised their voices. Even though Estella hadn’t spoken loudly, they reacted like people burned by fire.

“Of course not! We had no idea!”

“Boss, what the hell! Why’d you lie?”

With Lily and Bruno taking the lead in betrayal, Airi crossed her arms and nodded in silence, while Kyle and Haru shook their heads with expressions of exaggerated innocence.

“To think you lied to us…”

Haru muttered quietly, and Kyle patted his shoulder comfortingly. They were so perfectly in sync, it felt like they’d rehearsed this moment in advance.

Ciel didn’t even have time to feel betrayed. His desperation was overwhelming. Not even when he had left the imperial palace had he felt such despair.

“How long were you planning to keep lying to me?”

At Estella’s icy words, the Squirrels’ chorus of excuses cut off like someone had flipped a switch. One by one, they started inching away. It was clear none of them intended to defend their leader.

They had no hesitation when it came to risking their lives, but for this kind of matter, there was no mercy.

Ciel shot a desperate look at his subordinates, but they muttered things like “It’s getting hot these days” or “Lying is bad,” carefully avoiding his eyes.

Giving up on them, Ciel turned back to Estella, pleading. Pride? Dignity? He didn’t have the energy to care. His lips were dry with fear that she might tell him never to come near her again.

“I was going to tell you. Really.”

“Wintfall can’t take the side of the Imperial Family.”

Her reply was heavier and colder than he had feared, and Ciel grew even more desperate.

“I left the Imperial Family! I’m not royalty anymore! Ask them—ask those guys! I gave up my royal status long ago! I have no intention of going back.”

He scrambled to explain, voice raw, as Estella pushed him away with her words. That wretched title that brought him only pain—he had no attachment to it. His expression was more sincere than ever.

“But you still can’t take my side.”

Estella was firm.

No.

If things continued like this, he wouldn’t be able to stay by her side.

Flustered, Ciel reached out and grabbed her hand as if begging.

He looked so pitiful that even the Squirrels, who had been about to enter Birch Hall, stopped and turned around.

“Should we go and kneel for him?”

The one to speak first was Bruno, the big guy with the softest heart. He’d never seen the boss look this desperate—not even when they’d run out of money and gone two days without eating.

“Right? If we leave him, he’ll cry, won’t he?”

At Lily’s remark, Airi sighed heavily and walked forward, mumbling.

“I really can’t stand full-grown men crying.”

Following Airi’s lead, the Squirrels slowly approached Estella like linked beads on a string.

And without anyone prompting them, Lily knelt first. Then Bruno, and the others followed suit, one by one.

Estella blinked, startled by the sudden mass kneeling, and took a few steps back. Ciel had lied, but she was the one who felt like a villainess.

“Please forgive us, Lady Estella. Truth is, we knew the boss was some unlucky royal bastard. But we swear—he never once bragged about being royalty or said anything about going back to the palace. I bet even the Emperor doesn’t want to see him.”

“That’s right. Our boss is a no-good brat who abandoned his family without a second thought.”

Bruno’s over-the-top excuse made Lily frown in annoyance, but given the situation, she held her tongue.

Though grateful for their support, Ciel couldn’t bring himself to feel thankful.

“Our boss really didn’t mean to deceive you.”

“Please give him one chance.”

“Please.”

After Kyle’s long excuse, Airi and Haru chimed in briefly.

“Haa…”

Estella’s thoughts were a tangled mess. If she let them go now, they might die just like in the past.

But her ultimate goal was to kill Aslan.

Even if they were half-brothers, even if they had severed ties, blood was still blood. Could Ciel really forsake that bond at the critical moment?

Even Katrin’s death—no blood relation at all—still weighed heavily on her when fragments of old memories surfaced.

She’d find herself asking useless, painful questions like, Was there really no other way? whenever memories of their childhood together blindsided her.

It was a kind of torment that Yoon Seo-yi would never have indulged in.

But Estella Cardeine’s memories and emotions were interwoven with her now. Even feelings that weren’t truly hers left her breathless.

Did Ciel really need to go through that too?

But what if she pushed him away now and he died?

What if Aslan had something to do with that death?

“Estella…”

Her thoughts were spinning so violently she thought her head might explode, and then Ciel called her name again.

His voice was desperate.

And so, so sad.

If he were the boastful type, flaunting his royal status, there would be no dilemma.

But the man standing before her looked at her like a dog abandoned in the rain.

There was no sign of royal dignity. Not even a scrap of pride.

“…Just give me a little time to think.”

Estella finally looked away and spoke.

Ciel, who had expected her to tell him to get lost, brightened slightly at the less-than-devastating answer and hurried to speak again.

“Right. Take your time. Really think it over. I—I mean we—are people you absolutely need.”

Perhaps thinking it was more effective to emphasize we rather than just himself, he gestured quickly toward his subordinates.

Watching their boss desperately cling to Estella, the Squirrels made a decision.

They would donate their boss to Lady Estella.

As if they were saving a life.

Sure, he was a bit of a disaster—but he was a good person.

Sure, being royal was a fatal flaw—but he was damn good at killing monsters.

And above all, he was a sincere person.

“That’s right! The Squirrel Mercenary Band is absolutely essential to Wintfall!”

Lily shouted at the top of her lungs.

So please, don’t throw our boss away. I can’t stand the thought of seeing him sobbing every night. Pleeeeeease.

Of course, she swallowed those words for the sake of what little pride the boss had left.

Ugh, we should’ve known the moment we named ourselves “Squirrels.”

But it was too late for regrets. They had only one path forward:

Make sure their boss didn’t get dumped.

Lily silently began crafting her strategy, wondering if maybe it would’ve been easier to just raise a child.

From a little distance away, Gerard watched the scene unfold, shaking his head at the pathetic sight of Ciel groveling.

“Tsk tsk, no pride at all. What the hell is that? A prince? He’s embarrassing all men everywhere.”

Hands clasped behind his back like a grumbling old man, Gerard clicked his tongue and strolled toward the forge with exaggerated ease.

Ciel, who had been drooping in front of Estella, straightened his spine at the sight of Gerard and shot him a displeased glare.

The more he looked at him, the less he liked him.

And Gerard, sensing he had the upper hand, puffed out his skinny chest with pride.

“You don’t have any secrets from me, right?”

“What kind of person do you take me for!”

Gerard was about to bark confidently, but then Estella’s icy blue eyes met his—and suddenly, all the things he’d done wrong came flooding back.

Compared to Ciel’s sins, they were minor—but something told him now was the time to confess.

Unconsciously, he folded his hands politely and murmured,

“Well… I may have, uh, slightly inflated the price of some lab tools… but I produced results, didn’t I…?”

Gerard tacked on the polite “-yo” at the end without thinking, then tried to recover with a smug look—but the Squirrels had already seen everything, and his dignity was shot.

Still, compared to Ciel, he figured he was in better shape, and his back straightened just a little.

“I hate liars the most. So don’t ever deceive me again. Once is enough to get stabbed in the back by someone you trusted.”

Estella spoke slowly, firmly, looking from Gerard to Ciel.

Both of them stood side by side, hands folded, listening solemnly.

The Squirrels, who had been kneeling, slowly got to their feet.

They pinned all their hopes on that one word—once.

But Estella still didn’t meet Ciel’s eyes.

And Ciel’s face only darkened further.

Dolan watched the heavy atmosphere settle and felt awkward, even though he’d done nothing wrong.

The Squirrel Mercenaries, usually loud as hell, were silent. Even the scrawny mage kept his mouth shut.

Only Lady Estella seemed unchanged.

Determined to lighten the mood, Dolan forced a cheerful expression and yanked the cover off the finished crossbow.

Chapter 127

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