The Reason Why the Forsaken Fake Returned Chapter 47

“Who are you?”

 

“What?”

 

“At first, I thought you were a fairy by the lake. A waterhorse disguised as a human, something like that.”

 

“The kind that lures a beautiful maiden to its home?” Caleb chuckled and shook his head. “That’s not my style.”

 

“Right. You’re Caleb. The devoted man who loved me enough to willingly give up everything he had for my sake.”

 

Instead of answering, Caleb gazed at her intently. His expression seemed to say, ‘If you have more to say, go ahead.’

 

Shailoh bit the inside of her mouth and continued slowly. “Or.”

 

“…”

 

“A cold-blooded schemer who never had a single shred of sincerity from the start.”

 

The man who had been smiling with another woman in his arms was Caleb, yet not Caleb.

 

“Which one are you?”

 

All Shailoh got in return was a faint smile.

 

At her direct question, Caleb twisted his lips. “Curious?” He stared at Shailoh as she nodded.

 

When it came to Octavia, he’d anticipated two possible reactions from the woman before him. Either she’d ask more indirectly, or she’d brush it off, insisting she must have seen wrong. He’d thought through how to respond to either scenario, but he hadn’t expected her to confront him so directly, especially while pointing a weapon at him.

 

After a moment’s consideration, Caleb conceded. “Both.”

 

Shailoh’s eyes wavered at his candid admission.

 

“You’re admitting… that you used me? And what happened on the terrace, too?”

 

Caleb smiled brightly and reacted as if he’d just heard some trivial joke. “Our eyes met, didn’t they? Sasha.”

 

The gun in her hand clattered loudly to the floor. Her face, which had seemed unshakable against any threat, quickly filled with turmoil.

 

Caleb quickly closed the distance to her as she backed away and pulled her into an embrace, his arm wrapping around her waist. “Sasha.”

 

Bold, perceptive, and quick-witted. Yet she was also a woman who, starved of love in childhood, craved someone to pour her unconditional trust and faith into.

 

“Everyone has two sides. You’re smart enough to know that.”

 

“I do. But… how could you… I was sincere with you!”

 

She pushed against his broad chest with all her strength, but couldn’t budge him. His large hand grabbed Shailoh’s chin as she struggled desperately.

 

“You took another woman, and not just anyone, but your own brother’s woman. You used my feelings and crushed me!”

 

“Sasha.”

 

Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. Caleb furrowed his brow and gently wiped away each tear as if they were precious.

 

Shailoh couldn’t bring herself to push his hand away. She should have found it all hateful and disgusting, yet it felt as sweet and dreamlike as when he’d whispered words of love, which made it all the more wretched.

 

“It’s true that I love you. It’s true that I was ready to throw everything away for you.”

 

“But…?”

 

“The situation changed.” Caleb raised and then lowered the corners of his lips before taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack by the door. “Not long ago, I met an old confidant who served my father and mother. He told me how my mother really died.”

 

“You said she died of illness.”

 

He spun around sharply and grabbed her chin. “She died in agony. She writhed so violently that all her fingernails wore away. I was too young to know.”

 

Even in the dim light, his eyes, so close to hers, were vividly clear. Shailoh held her breath. The turquoise eyes, which had always been calm and gentle, now looked utterly black. They weren’t the eyes a living person could have. They were dead eyes. The eyes of someone who had seen the very bottom of hell. But the moment he closed and opened his eyes, it vanished.

 

Caleb released his grip and pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in her shoulder. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not being swept up by emotion. I’m not blinded by rage and vengeance, sleeping with my brother’s woman like you said.”

 

“…”

 

“I met Octavia Perus by chance. We somehow ended up as acquaintances, and what you saw was a misunderstanding because we parted ways right away.”

 

“You expect me to believe that? You promised you wouldn’t do anything dangerous, but then you declared war on the third prince and Queen Ingrid’s faction.” Shailoh spat out the words and pushed against his solid chest. “You got upset with me for not telling you the details about Claire, but then you go and pull something this huge. Don’t you think that’s ridiculous? Let me go!”

 

She struggled, but he wouldn’t let go. Instead, his arm around her waist tightened, and his hand rose to gently sweep her long hair aside.

 

“I told you. I’m in a precarious situation.”

 

“What…?”

 

“Until now, I was abroad, and Father was alive, so they pretended to leave me alone. But things have changed. Soon Father will pass, and if the third prince is to inherit the throne, I’ll be a major obstacle.”

 

“Even if you renounce your claim to the throne?” The strength drained from Shailoh’s hands as she stopped pushing.

 

Caleb whispered the harsh reality into her ear. “If I could renounce it, I would have already. It’s true that I wanted to abandon everything and leave with you. But the circumstances I was born into won’t let me go.”

 

“…”

 

“Even if I gave up the throne, they would never let me be. They’d come after not just me, but the people around me, even you.”

 

Suddenly, the memory of that dawn by the lake flickered through Shailoh’s mind. The man stared at the lake with an impassive face.

 

“I’ll be honest with you, Sasha. Octavia Perus is a woman I need. She’ll play a major role in solidifying the third prince’s position as crown prince. That’s why I need to stay close to her.”

 

It felt like a dagger piercing her heart.

 

Caleb kissed the top of her head and explained. “But that’s all. There’s nothing at all between us. She craves freedom, and I don’t want her to become the third prince’s consort. Our interests simply align, nothing more, nothing less.”

 

“What about in the future?”

 

“In the future too. It’s to my advantage if the third prince and she don’t end up marrying without any trouble. I plan to help her find a way out of this kingdom.”

 

Relief washed over Shailoh, and all her tension melted away. “Back then… why did you smile?”

 

The hand stroking her hair stopped. Caleb quietly recalled that moment. A face filled with shock, betrayal, rage, and sorrow. That expression… It was magnificent. So magnificent that if he could preserve it, he’d want to keep it on display forever, like a hunter mounting a trophy. Just recalling it sent shivers through his entire body, a thrill coursing through him. It was an expression that could only be made when someone trusted and loved another person completely, when that person was the center of their entire world, and then was brutally betrayed and abandoned by them. A blindly devoted, absolute existence.

 

Caleb had carefully, gradually tamed her and finally held her in the palm of his hand. He could have crushed her at any time, in any way, but he hadn’t.

 

Shailoh furrowed her brow as his grip unconsciously tightened. Noticing this, Caleb loosened his hold and answered belatedly. “It was just a momentary impulse.”

 

“Remember this, Caleb.”

 

“…”

 

“If even one word of what you just said isn’t true, I’ll leave your side.”

 

“You won’t take revenge?”

 

It was a fair question.

 

Shailoh lowered her eyes, then slowly raised them again. “I love thoroughly, and I take revenge thoroughly. But.”

 

“But?”

 

“When there are two targets, they can’t coexist. So I’d have to abandon both.”

 

Caleb looked down at Shailoh with an unreadable expression, then tilted his head and captured her lips. Shailoh wrapped her arms around his neck, surrendering to the hands that lifted her up.

 

* * *

The moment he flung open the bedroom door, Caleb laid Shailoh on the bed as if throwing her down. Then, like a predator pouncing on prey, he climbed on top of her, unbuttoning his shirt. Shailoh traced the sharp, perfect line of his jaw with both hands. He, too, hadn’t shaved properly in the past few days due to the sudden events, leaving a faint shadow of stubble. Unlike his usual flawless appearance, this slightly disheveled look was more wild and made her heart race.

 

“Sasha.”

 

His turquoise eyes darkened as he gazed down at her while she caressed his face. Caleb lowered his head and licked her lips with his tongue. At his gesture, as if asking permission for her to part her lips, Shailoh willingly accepted him.