Little Pink Starfish

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Time rewinds slightly.

As people bustled through the streets, Fold watched Asher and Theodore disappear into the crowd before turning on his heel and heading back to his shop.

His lips curled into a smirk.

As expected, the Third Prince had reacted just as he had imagined.

When Fold pushed open the door to his shop, Hugo was already inside, scowling at him.

Fold let out a sigh.

“Come on, Hugo. Don’t look at me like that. I get why you don’t believe it, but Asher wasn’t lying. I can always tell when someone’s lying.”

“There’s no way—”

“Tch, and after all the trouble you made us go through… This was a complete waste of effort.”

“If he had snapped and turned violent, we were ready to deal with it.”

“Yeah, well, don’t put us in situations where we might have to throw away our newly earned shop.”

Just outside the shop’s back entrance, several large carts were loaded with luggage. Horses were prepared, ready to leave at any moment.

To openly confront Asher like that meant they had to be prepared for the consequences.

If things had gone wrong, they might never have been able to return to the city again.

Every one of them had accepted that risk before taking part in the confrontation.

“And another thing—no one told me Noah would be there. And you! You were stuck with Noah the whole time!”

“What else could I do!? I never expected Noah to be that attached to him… Damn it!”

“As soon as you walked in, you just threw Noah into another room and disappeared, telling us to keep Asher busy!”

“I didn’t want Noah to hear that conversation.”

“Yeah, well, that’s your problem.”

At that moment, Lillian grabbed Fold’s arm, her grip surprisingly firm.

“You idiot!! You completely ruined the plan!!”

“Oh, please! My performance was flawless, wasn’t it? And let’s be real, that wasn’t even acting. I just said everything I’ve wanted to say to that prince for years.”

“…Lillian, Hugo is right about this. That wasn’t part of the plan. I thought my heart was going to stop.”

Lillian leaned into Fold, clinging to him with a playful pout.

Fold, hopelessly charmed by his mate, softened immediately.

“Ah, my beloved… You’re just too adorable.”

The others groaned in exasperation at the couple’s display, but someone spoke up.

“Well, thanks to Lillian, we confirmed that the rumors about Asher were true.”

“Yeah. I didn’t believe it at first, but I saw it with my own eyes… I heard him apologize.”

“Even now, I still can’t believe it…”

“If that had been the old devil prince, we’d all be dead by now.”

Some of them shuddered at the thought of the former Asher, their faces darkening with unease.

Lillian snorted at their reactions.

“Oh, please. If this were the old Third Prince, anyone who spoke against him would’ve been thrown in prison on the spot. That’s why these so-called ‘useless’ men here made sure we had escape routes if things went south.”

“You call me a prince, but only to mock me, huh?”

“You are a prince, Hugo. A useless one, though.”

“You—!”

“What? Don’t like it? Should I call you ‘Prince of the Peasants’ instead?”

“Lillian, as much as Hugo acts like a street thug, he’s still a prince. We may talk to him like this, and his mouth is as foul as ever, but he is still royalty.”

“Hey.”

Fold tried to calm Lillian down, but Hugo simply let out a sigh.

“My bad, Hugo.”

“…Noah just didn’t understand what was happening.”

Noah was too young to fully grasp the weight of what had been said and done.

But Hugo hadn’t expected him to get so emotional over Asher.

This is all Asher’s fault.

Hugo scowled deeply, deciding he’d have to talk to Noah later.

“…And the beastman bandit incident? I doubt Asher had anything to do with it.”

Fold’s voice was quieter, more serious now.

“He even got injured in that attack. That alone is strange.”

Fold’s hand landed firmly on Hugo’s shoulder.

The bandit attack.

It had been an ambush on Queen Jeffrey’s carriage, right after she visited the orphanage.

The incident had spread quickly, striking fear into the hearts of many beastmen.

Dias was the only country where beastmen could live in peace, where discrimination against them was outlawed.

But outside its borders, beastmen still faced persecution.

Many had been forced into lawless bands of outcasts—beastman bandits.

They stole, they killed, and they held no allegiance to any kingdom.

And yet, despite their lawless nature, they had never once dared to touch Dias.

But then—

“They attacked Queen Jeffrey’s carriage. Our own kin, even if they live outside the law…”

“After that incident, the mood among the beastmen was grim.”

“I thought this kingdom would become even harsher on us…”

Hugo scoffed and sat on a nearby chair, laughing mockingly.

“Don’t be stupid. Just because a bunch of criminals did something doesn’t mean every beastman is going to suffer for it.”

His confidence eased the tension in the room slightly, but the reality remained.

If a royal had died in that attack, things might have turned out very differently.

Even Hugo knew that, though he chose not to say it.

Fold, sensing the shift, brought the conversation back on track.

“Alright… If Asher had nothing to do with it, then who helped the bandits get inside the city?”

Ever since the attack, the Crown Prince’s faction had been secretly investigating.

Queen Jeffrey’s carriage had been targeted—so, naturally, suspicion fell on the Queen’s faction.

But Asher had been in that carriage, too.

Would the Queen’s faction really risk his life?

And then there was Asher himself—the unbelievable rumors surrounding him.

Right when Fold had been wondering about the connection, Hugo had come to him with this request.

“He’s not off the hook yet. I still don’t buy it. And besides, someone leaked the Queen’s orphanage visit to the bandits.”

“Calm down, Hugo. Think rationally. Asher was in that carriage too. Do you really think the Queen’s faction would have risked his life?”

“Fold! You were the one who first said it could’ve been staged!”

“That was…”

Fold had considered it.

But after seeing Asher with his own eyes, he found it impossible to believe.

Asher had been too sincere.

There was no way he would have willingly endangered Queen Jeffrey and young Noah.

Then—

The back door of the shop creaked open.

A beastman with a boar-like face entered, cloaked in a dark hood.

“Is the Third Prince gone?”

“Fold, this is urgent. A letter from the ‘Forest People.’”

Fold’s brows furrowed as he accepted the letter.

The ‘Forest People’ were an underground faction that worked closely with the Crown Prince’s supporters.

He quickly read the contents before passing it to Hugo.

“…Read this.”

Hugo’s lips curled into a grin as he scanned the letter.

“See? He’s not uninvolved after all.”

The letter detailed a location where the beastman bandits had been recently spotted.

And that location was within the lands of someone close to Asher—

Marquis Clarke.

“So that’s where they’ve been hiding… Looks like the Queen’s faction is behind this after all. And Asher’s sudden change? It’s all part of their plan.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Lillian swiped the letter from Hugo’s hands and waved it playfully.

“Asher isn’t the same as he used to be. Trust me—I served as his maid for years before I was thrown out.”

“What are you saying?”

She smirked.

“The Asher I knew would have thrown a tantrum like a child. He wouldn’t have bowed his head and apologized.”

Hugo clenched his fists, unable to argue.

Asher was a mystery.

And the more they tried to uncover the truth, the less sense it all made.

Lillian tossed the letter back to Hugo, her smirk unwavering.

“Trying to catch Asher in a lie has only made things even more confusing, hasn’t it, Prince Hugo?”

“…Just because the beastmen are hiding in Marquis Clarke’s territory doesn’t mean it’s solid proof of their involvement,” Fold muttered.

Hugo clenched the letter tightly in his fist, his jaw tightening.

“Either way, I’m heading back to the castle to report this to Sam.”

“Then pass my regards to Prince Samuel while you’re at it,” Fold said.

“You damn woman… What’s with that tone?”

“Oh, but Prince Hugo, you’re hardly one to speak about proper etiquette. Do you really share the same bloodline as Prince Samuel?”

“You—!!”

Hugo spun around, glaring at her, but she merely chuckled and turned away.

“Whatever. If Sam hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t have involved myself with a woman like you in the first place.”

“That makes two of us. If it weren’t for Prince Samuel, I wouldn’t have agreed to help you either.”

Hugo let out an irritated grunt and stormed toward the exit.

After a brief discussion among the remaining members of the group, they too dispersed, each heading their separate ways.

Once the shop was empty, only Fold and Lillian remained.

A quiet stillness settled over the space.

Fold turned to Lillian, studying her closely.

“…Why did you lie?”

Lillian blinked at him innocently.

“Lie? About what?”

“Your back.”

Fold stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, his voice gentle.

“The scars are gone. I made sure of that.”

Lillian remained silent for a moment before sighing, resting her head against him.

“Yes, you healed them. But saying they were still there made it easier for them to believe my resentment was still as strong as ever.”

A small chuckle escaped Fold’s lips.

“My mate is quite the liar.”

“Well, then, let me ask you something—why did you lie to Prince Asher?”

“…What lie?”

“You told him I didn’t know you were my mate.”

Fold smirked, his golden eyes glinting mischievously.

“If I’d told him, he might have realized you’re happy now. And if he knew that, his guilt would’ve lessened.”

Lillian chuckled softly and lifted her face to look at him.

“That was rather cruel of you, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe. But after everything, I think a little suffering suits him just fine.”

Their quiet laughter intertwined with the muffled sounds of the bustling city outside.

Despite everything, in this moment, they were content.