I Became the Abandoned Daughter of an Underworld Boss

They were married, and sooner or later, a cute baby who looked like both of them would be born.

Despite being filled with happiness, Aidan sometimes woke up in the middle of the night.

It was strange; he couldn’t understand what had caused this unease in his heart.

He felt happy. Nothing was interrupting his and Alice’s love, so everything should’ve been fine.

Elf Heidel, who had used to compete with Aidan over Alice’s affections, had left to rebuild his homeland.

The alliance with that side was stable, and the guy from Dark Town also kept quiet.

According to recent intelligence, something mysterious was going on, but only time would reveal the truth.

‘There’s nothing to worry about. It must be fine… why do I feel so uneasy?’

It wasn’t that he felt bad; there was just an underlying sense of unease that lingered.

Was it because of a sense of loss?

His father, a rival to the late Queen Consort, had left the palace forever, and he had ascended to the throne alone.

Alice, who was dear to him, had become his, and together, they were destined to protect the Nea Kingdom forever.

Having gone from a Crown Prince to a King, Aidan sensed an intangible unease around him.

He chose to bear it alone.

He didn’t want to burden Alice with unnecessary concerns.

The next day.

Usually, affairs were finished earlier in the day, but today was different.

A sudden illness had forced Count Marshall to cancel the afternoon meeting; it was rescheduled to the next morning.

Aidan felt excited.

Maybe he could spend some relaxing time with Alice today.

“Hmm…”

He went to the King’s Garden and harvested a bouquet of late-blooming roses that had survived the season. With a wide smile, he imagined her reaction when she saw the neatly tied bouquet adorned with white ribbons and rose petals.

Aidan went to visit the queen’s chambers, but a gray-faced maid met him at the door.

She was alone. Aidan had a bad feeling about it, but he asked to confirm.

“Where’s the queen?”

“Uh, um, she went out for a walk around the inner walls. She said she’d be back soon. Should I call a servant to find her?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go check for myself.”

Aidan loved Alice dearly. He didn’t want to make her feel watched or restrained unnecessarily.

It had taken a long time to reach this point.

He remembered his chance encounter and parting with her, feeling a whirlwind of emotions.

Whenever he tried to hold on tight, she seemed to always slip away.

When he learned of the doppelgänger’s identity, he tried to solve the issue alone. But Alice had been resolute.

“Prince Aidan! I can’t just stay by your side! If there’s any unrest in the kingdom, as a citizen, I have to step forward!”

“Alice…”

“I appreciate your offer to build me a garden and greenhouse, but the kingdom comes first. Let’s deal with the doppelgänger together!”

“Alice…”

“I’m not afraid.”

Alice’s steadfastness had changed Aidan, who had originally wanted to face the doppelganger alone.

The guy from Dark Town took a different approach.

From a conversation that they previously had; Aidan knew that Asil could never get Alice’s love.

When Asil tried to use the Mirror of Origins to reveal and eliminate the doppelganger, he made the wrong choice.

Aidan barely managed to stop him.

‘Hmmm…’

Aidan suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

This sensation!

It reminded him of when he encountered Queen Amira, who had demanded that he take over the throne…!

‘Maybe I’m just being too sensitive. I’ll wait outside.’

He didn’t want to look suspicious as a husband lingering in his wife’s chamber without reason.

Aidan didn’t want to tie Alice down.

Because it was the reason he won over Asil.

“… hmm?”

As he prepared to leave, Aidan noticed something on the floor.

A crumpled white sheet of paper had been thrown beneath the remains of the fireplace.

‘What’s this?’

He shouldn’t look at it. He shouldn’t. It was Alice’s private business. But something compelled him to pick it up.

Maybe it was the sudden change in weather, making him feel uncomfortably warm.

Rustling…

The sound of paper made him uneasy.

‘… hmm?’

The writing was neat, but there was an awkwardness to the script that Aidan didn’t recognize.

Alice’s handwriting was usually neat and tidy, but this didn’t seem like her usual style.

Was Alice’s handwriting originally like this?

Before he got acquainted with Alice, Aidan had the opportunity to see several of her notes and signatures on the reports.

Aidan recalled that Alice had spent long hours in the palace library, and sometimes, she helped out with various tasks there.

She had a fondness for books.

Alice, whom he first saw in the library, was trying to take out a book at the top but couldn’t do so because she was short.

“Take it.”

“Ah… thank you.”

“Hehe. That book is very fun. There’s also a sequel, if you’re interested, you can come back to borrow.”

“Are you the librarian?”

“Me? No, but I wish I were. I want to read all the books in this library and recommend them to others! Hmm, I’ve already read all the books from here to there.”

“What?”

Aidan smirked inwardly as he gauged where the woman pointed.

The royal library was incredibly vast, and this reading room alone had about 300 bookshelves. And what? She claimed to have read all the books on 70 shelves already?

‘She’s a big talker. Let’s see if she can actually do the job of a librarian.’

Aidan was not dressed as the crown prince at that time.

Later, he secretly gave orders to have her appearance noted and hired her as a temporary librarian.

And… they grew closer as he borrowed books from her in disguise. He cherished the note she had written him back then.

The man, reminiscing about the past, smiled.

‘What am I thinking? She might have changed her handwriting to look more regal now. Hmm, I should stop this…’

Aidan’s face stiffened as he was about to put the crumpled paper back without reading it.

A word that he glimpsed caught his attention.

“… El… lodia?”

Behind the sentence hoping for the reconstruction of Elodia, there were crossed-out marks where the word had been misspelled.

So, this letter was addressed to Heidel.

After Asil separated from them, Heidel had tried to pursue his affection to the end.

It was only after seeing Alice crying and embracing Aidan after defeating the doppelganger that he gave up.

Before their wedding, Alice had continuously cried with a pale face.

At that time, Aidan had sworn.

To protect her from loneliness for a lifetime. To embrace Alice, who suffered from countless meetings and partings after coming to the capital…

‘That’s like Alice. I shouldn’t be jealous of her concern for Heidel.’

Reading the sentences before, it was clear she was indeed inquiring about Heidel’s well-being. The content was serious.

[Heidel, are you well? It’s Alice. I heard you’ve already settled near the Elodia River and are building a fortress? Congratulations. I believe you can do well. Someday, Elodia and Nea Kingdom will interact again, right? I hope the reconstruction of Elodia goes well. Actually, I…]

“……”

What was she trying to say next?

His curiosity surged, but he didn’t regret seeing it.

Aidan crumpled the paper again and put it back where it was, then left the queen’s bedroom.

Alice came to the parlor where he was waiting after a while.

“Aidan!”

His name, called sweetly when they were alone.

All his worries should have vanished upon hearing her sweet voice, but they didn’t.

His mood had become quite edgy for some unknown reason.

“Alice.”

“I didn’t know your duties ended early. If I knew, I would have come running sooner.”

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

Had Alice been visiting the library as often as before their marriage lately?

She was someone who couldn’t live without books, and he hadn’t seen such scenes recently.

The last time he saw her searching the library was when they were looking for the doppelganger’s weakness.

He didn’t even have time to check if there were books in the queen’s bedroom he entered earlier.

“……”

“Aidan?”

He still loved her. The lips of a man who loved a woman, not a king, opened easily.

“Mm. I see.”

“I’ve been thinking about something lately.”

“What is it?”

Alice only spoke after the maid, who had poured the tea, left.

“I hope our kingdom becomes more peaceful and expands.”

“…… expands?”

Aidan, who had been king for less than a year, was puzzled by her unexpected words.

The southwest of the Nea Kingdom was originally Elodia’s territory. They were planning to support its reconstruction since they had allied with Heidel, right?

To the north were the Tanat Mountains and snowfields, and apart from the area bordering Elrodia, the western and southern territories were close to the Reef Empire ruled by Emperor Harun. And to the south and extending east…

Alice sipped and put down a steaming cup of tea. Then she looked somewhere. It was towards the east window.

Her smile was as gentle as the peace she spoke of.

“It’s the kingdom’s territory, darling. We should incorporate Dark Town entirely into the kingdom.”