The Prince’s First Love Was Me Chapter 7

When I kept darting my eyes away, Aaron suddenly cupped both my cheeks.

Gasp.

I sucked in a breath and instinctively looked at Aaron. But my gaze got caught in his, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“Don’t look away. Look at me.”

His red lips curved into a smile as he whispered in a low voice.

“With a face like this, don’t you think I’d be popular with men, too?”

Aaron took my hands and placed them against his cheeks, then gently leaned his face into my palms as he asked.

I could vividly feel his soft skin pressing against my hands. Then, as he flashed me a dazzling smile, my mind went completely blank.

“How about giving me a try? Why don’t you fall in love with me?”

His eyes curved beautifully as he whispered those sweet words, as if he were putting me under a spell.

“I’m already more than ready to fall in love with you.”

He was ready to fall in love?

At that moment, the last thread of reason I had been desperately holding on to snapped.

‘Holy crap! Forget the original story and all that nonsense! Don’t try to stop me! I’m dating Aaron!’

The moment I faced that melting smile from mere inches away, my mind was already racing ahead with my relationship with Aaron.

‘We should get married around autumn, and two kids sounds nice. And then…’

Just as I was busy imagining our happy future…

“Your Highness. Haven’t I told you a hundred times that verbal agreements have no legal effect? Stop wasting your breath and work out the details in the contract.”

Chris suddenly poured cold water all over the situation.

Thanks to him, my mind, which had been running wild without limits, finally came back to its senses.

‘Whoa. What was that just now? Is this what it feels like to be bewitched? When a ridiculously handsome guy who knows exactly how good-looking he is comes at you with everything he’s got, there’s no way to resist!’

Aaron noticed that my wild, unfocused eyes had regained their clarity and frowned.

“You always interrupt at the most important moments. I was just about to get him to fall for me.”

Just about to get me to fall for you?

Why would you say something so hurtful?

I’d already fallen head over heels and even planned our children’s future!

“Sit.”

Aaron moved to another seat and pointed to the sofa across from him.

I obediently sat down where he indicated and placed both hands on my thighs.

According to the original story, the next step was to draw up the contract.

And sure enough, the unavoidable moment had arrived.

Aaron took the contract from Chris and immediately began filling in the blanks.

When Chris stared at him, Aaron spoke as he continued writing.

“I heard you’re busy.”

“…I’ll be going, then.”

Understanding what Aaron meant, Chris strode out of the room.

After removing all potential distractions, Aaron handed the contract to me.

Here it comes.

I swallowed nervously and carefully picked up the contract to read it.

 

(Liam Nixon) and (Aaron Day Redmayne) hereby enter into a “Romantic Partner Service Agreement” through this contract.

– This contract shall remain in effect indefinitely. It may be terminated by mutual agreement if the contractor, (Aaron Day Redmayne), wishes to end the contract first, or if its intended purpose has been fulfilled and the relationship is no longer needed.

– During the contract period, both parties pledge to faithfully fulfill their duties as romantic partners and remain loyal to each other in their respective roles.

– Neither party may disclose any information related to this contract to a third party.

Should any secrets be revealed, the contractor (Liam Nixon) and his family shall pay the price by execution through beheading.

 

It was a simple, straightforward contract without any unnecessary complications. Maybe that was why the words “Romantic Partner Service” stood out even more.

But if I revealed the secret, not only would I be beheaded, but my entire family would be executed, too?

‘Was there really such a terrifying clause in the original story?’

Well, I had never planned on telling anyone about it in the first place, so the clause wasn’t much of a problem.

Besides, from Prince Aaron’s point of view, there were all kinds of risks involved, so it was only natural to take such precautions.

“May I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why are you making this offer to me?”

I knew all about Aaron’s circumstances from reading the original novel, but I still had to ask something.

If I acted as though I knew everything without even asking why, he might get suspicious.

“Princess from the Kingdom of Benita will be arriving soon. Her name’s Claire Blanchett. She’s a doll-like woman.”

Usually, calling a woman a “doll” implied that she was exceptionally beautiful. But Aaron’s brow furrowed sharply.

“She was chosen to be my fiancée, but I have absolutely no intention of marrying her. So I need an excuse to get her off my back.”

“And I’m that excuse.”

Aaron nodded.

“A prince who prefers men? That’s pretty scandalous in itself. If she has any sense, she’ll know how to handle the situation.”

It was certainly a shocking idea.

If the prince preferred men, that meant he might even take a man as his lover, right?

What woman would go through with a marriage knowing that?

Aaron’s stiff expression made it obvious how much he wanted to avoid this marriage.

And understandably so. If he married the princess, he’d have no choice but to return to the royal family, whether he wanted to or not.

What was Aaron like when he eventually married the princess in the original story? His panic attacks got worse as he became more and more crushed by his responsibilities and obligations, didn’t they?

Ugh, just thinking about that ending makes my blood boil all over again!

I looked at Aaron in front of me and barely managed to calm myself down.

“Didn’t your aide object?”

If Chris had heard Aaron’s outrageous plan, he wouldn’t have just sat back and done nothing.

It was a mystery, since the novel had never described his reaction, either.

“Who knows? Did he?”

Judging by that answer, Aaron had just forced his plan through. Well, that was just like him.

I let out a deep sigh and stared intently at the contract.

The moment I signed it, I would become Aaron’s lover instead of Paul.

‘That means the story itself is starting out differently from the original. And there’s no telling how different everything else will be.’

When it came to Aaron, I didn’t have to think twice. But when I thought about Paul being left all alone, and about the two of them, who had been happier than anyone else together… I wasn’t sure whether interfering was the right thing to do.

“What if I refuse your offer? What will you do? Will you find someone else to replace me?”

Deep down, I hoped he would.

If that happened, there was a high chance Aaron’s next choice would be Paul.

“I suppose I’ll have to.”

“Then I—”

“First, I’ll have your head cut off.”

I had been about to refuse right away, but Aaron’s next words left me blinking at him in a daze.

“My head? Why all of a sudden?”

“Information about the royal family is generally confidential. You just heard confidential information. If you refuse the contract after hearing all that, I can’t exactly let you walk away alive.”

Aaron rested his chin leisurely on his hand, raised an eyebrow as if asking what I planned to do now, and smiled.

Unable to move in either direction, I protested in an aggrieved voice.

“It’s not like I asked to hear it! You practically shoved it into my ears and made me listen, Your Highness!”

“If you didn’t want to hear it, you should’ve covered your ears.”

For a moment, I was completely speechless.

What kind of miraculous logic was that? And why was I the one getting talked into agreeing?

At a loss for words, I looked down at the contract again, my expression complicated.

“I understand why you’re hesitating. You’ll take a hit, too. I heard you were quite popular with the ladies you delivered to.”

Aaron seemed to think I was hesitating because of the reputation I’d built up among the married women I delivered to. That didn’t matter to me at all.

“That’s why I’ve set the compensation pretty high.”

“How much?”

“Two hundred thousand Rockens.”

“…Wow. You’re generous.”

I earned ten Rockens a day delivering orders. In terms of prices in my previous life, that was about 100,000 won. Two hundred thousand Rockens would be a whopping two billion won.

I had no choice but to accept his offer anyway, but hearing that I’d also receive such an enormous sum made a smile spread across my face.

‘Fine. Since things have turned out this way, I might as well stop worrying about things I can’t change and focus on the wonderful rewards.’

For example, Aaron’s face. Aaron’s face. And more of Aaron’s face.

Having made up my mind, I slapped the contract I’d been fidgeting with onto the table and raised my head.

“I’ll do it. I’ll be your lover, Your Highness.”

Aaron raised the corners of his mouth with a satisfied smile, as if he’d known I’d say that.

“But since you’ll be paid afterward, you’ll have to do a proper job if you want your money.”

“Who said I’m doing this for the money? I’m doing it because of you, Your Highness.”

“Good attitude. Keep it up.”

“Tch, but I mean it…”

I grumbled as I signed the contract.

‘Paul, I’m sorry. I’ve fallen into a trap, so I don’t have a choice right now. Princess Claire will be arriving soon, so I’ll stay by Aaron’s side only until he manages to break off the engagement. Just until then.’

After checking my tearful signature, Aaron gave a slight nod as if to say that was settled.

I gazed at his slender fingers as he neatly wrote the compensation amount into the contract, then asked,

“But why me, of all people?”

Aaron stared at me.

“I mean, there were plenty of men more impressive than me back there.”

“Because your face is my type.”

“Ha! Oh, come on.”

His immediate answer, without even a second’s hesitation, made me flare my nostrils and break into a silly grin.

He really was born with a talent for making people feel good.

“Besides, if I’m going to play at being in a relationship, I might as well do it with someone who’s not boring. I can’t stand boring people.”

If that was his reason, Aaron got a perfect score. He could make me laugh just by breathing.

Heh. To think that someone like him is my man. This is kind of embarrassing.

“Most of all, that dance earlier.”

Aaron rubbed the corner of his mouth with a smile, as if he still found it funny just thinking about it.

“I know a guy named Maximus, and I really like his butt. When you were dancing earlier, yours reminded me of his.”

Maximus? Who is this man who sounds like an absolute beast of a man?

I didn’t think my butt was that impressive.

I was absently fiddling with my pants when Aaron added another condition.

“You’re not going to keep calling me ‘Your Highness’ when we’re lovers, are you? From now on, just call me by my name.”

“Really? Then I’ll take you up on that and use your real name.”

Deep breath. Deep breath.

After taking several deep breaths, I finally managed to say his name.

“…Aaron.”

“Yeah, Liam.”

Aaron met my gaze and replied warmly.

At that moment, it felt as though something had exploded inside my head.

I hurriedly fanned my flushed face with my hands to cool it down.

What was I even doing, getting myself all worked up like this?

Fortunately, Aaron didn’t seem to pay much attention to my behavior.

“If there’s anything you want, tell me. Anything you’d like me to do for you during the contract period.”

“Something I want?”

I was getting Aaron, and money was coming along with him. What more could I possibly ask for?

Still, if there was just one thing I really, really wanted him to do for me…

“Smile at me often.”