The Wastrel Prince Becomes Ruthless-Chapter 25

Chapter 25
On his way straight to the library after finishing breakfast, Yuwon noticed a suspicious figure trailing behind him.
‘Again….’
For the past few days, Yuwon had already noticed shady individuals stealthily following him at a distance whenever he went to and from the library.
However, he had deliberately chosen to ignore them.
After all, the only information they could possibly was how diligently he had been frequenting the library.
‘But today, they’re rather bold. Does that mean they’re confident in their skills?’
It wasn’t that the pursuer walked up openly.
Rather, even while hiding their presence, they were drawing closer and closer without keeping a safe distance — that recklessness was what made Yuwon think them bold.
He had been waiting for someone foolish enough to overstep the line. Yuwon had planned to quietly dispose of one or two as a warning.
‘Today’s the day, then.’
As Yuwon walked down the path toward the library, he suddenly stopped.
The tall roadside trees lining the way cast deep shadows over the path.
He melted into the darkness.
‘I’ll subdue them in one strike.’
Three minutes later, the back of the pursuer’s head came into his view.
The moment Yuwon identified the target, he knew the other might notice him as well — so without hesitation, he moved.
Like a hawk swooping down on its prey, Yuwon plunged downward, fierce and precise. Even his clenched hand resembled the talons of a raptor.
Thud—!
‘Got you!’
Yuwon, now like a hunting hawk, seized the suspicious figure’s nape in one motion.
The captive, subdued by the back of the neck, fell forward face-first and sprawled flat on the ground.
The dull sound of impact echoed through the quiet wooded path.
‘What, a woman?’
The soft sensation at his fingertips made Yuwon pause in brief surprise — but only briefly.
There were far more women than men inside the Imperial Palace, so it was hardly strange that a spy might be female.
Lowering his voice, Yuwon demanded,
“Who sent you?”
Was it the shock that had knocked her out? She made no reply.
‘I was careful with my strength… did she really faint? No, that’s impossible.’
Still lying motionless, the figure remained silent. Yuwon brought his lips close to her ear.
“Stop pretending to be unconscious and answer my question. If I apply just a little more pressure, you’ll die right here.”
To prove he wasn’t bluffing, Yuwon tightened his grip.
At last, a strained voice came out.
“Ugh… u-ugh!”
Her lips were half pressed into the dirt, so her words came out muffled, but it was enough to understand — she was terrified and trembling.
‘As I thought. She’s awake. No way she fainted from that.’
Realizing that his captive’s mind was intact, Yuwon slightly loosened his grip and asked,
“Let’s start with your identity. Who are you?”
“Renania… Renania Valaris.”
It was the first meeting between Yuwon and Renania.
“Renania… Renania Valaris.”
Each time she forced her lips to move, a bit of dust entered her mouth from where it pressed against the ground.
‘Valaris? Renania Valaris?’
Renania — wasn’t she Yurion’s fiancée?
Yuwon’s eyes widened in shock.
Only for a moment, though — he quickly grasped the situation.
‘Coming without notice is one thing, but if she had just followed me normally, it wouldn’t have come to this… Why sneak around like that and confuse people? If she starts crying or making a scene, this is going to get messy….’
Even if he was a Prince, slamming the only daughter of a Count’s family into the ground was bound to cause trouble.
Yuwon relaxed his grip on her nape — then immediately tightened it again to keep her from seeing his face.
‘No, that’s not the right move.’
Fortunately, Renania seemed wise enough to value her life; she stayed perfectly still, her face pressed into the dirt. That gave Yuwon a chance to salvage the situation.
‘A noble young lady’s face is scratched and covered in dust… there’s no way this ends well if she sees who I am. Best to erase the evidence now.’
Of course, as the Fifth Prince, even if things escalated, it likely wouldn’t become a serious issue. But he had no desire to stir up unnecessary trouble.
He had just decided to stop living like a wastrel and start behaving properly. A scandal like this spreading around now would do him no good.
‘Damn it, it’s not even my fault this time….’
In truth, Yuwon had his reasons.
Lately, spies had been tailing him to an irritating degree, so he had planned to make an example of one — and it just happened to be his fiancée.
‘Good thing I brought a mask….’
At the moment, Yuwon wore a jet-black mask over his face — something he’d found earlier in Tang Seogyeom’s storage room filled with miscellaneous items beneath the underground hall.
He had picked up a few convenient throwing weapons there, and the mask had caught his eye as well.
He didn’t know what material it was made of, but it was light, thin, easy to carry, and did its job perfectly — a handy thing to keep around.
‘They say preparedness never goes to waste. Glad I had it.’
Since he’d already been wearing it while waiting in ambush, it made this situation easier.
‘Alright, let’s do it this way.’
Luckily, Yuwon was not fond of flashy attire, and his clothes today were rather plain.
With his decision made, Yuwon acted.
“Wait. Did you say… Valaris?”
His tone was now completely different.
Yuwon released her from his grasp — and not only that, he even helped her up carefully.
“Ah… my goodness… you’re a lady! My apologies. That was terribly rude of me.”
“Cough, cough…”
Freed from Yuwon’s hold, Renania spat out the dirt that had filled her mouth.
Her face was smeared with dust and small scratches, her once-fair features completely disheveled.
“Oh dear… I’m truly sorry. I made a mistake, my lady.”
“W-what… what do you mean?”
Yuwon’s performance was flawless — he now played the role of a loyal subordinate to the Fifth Prince.
Dragged unwillingly into this farce, Renania had no idea what was happening.
Just moments ago, the man had looked ready to snap her neck, and now he was apologizing and calling her “my lady”? Anyone would be confused.
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Having regained some composure, Renania frowned at the lingering pain on her neck as she finally managed to speak coherently.
“Just as I said. I serve as a guard under His Highness the Fifth Prince… Lately, many have been secretly tailing him, so I intended to catch one and teach them a lesson. It seems I was mistaken. My apologies.”
Aside from the speaker’s true identity, everything else was technically true — Yuwon mixed fact and falsehood skillfully.
Fortunately, it worked. Renania, after all, was a knight and a warrior herself — quick to think in such matters.
In her mind, she instantly painted a picture: the Princes locked in a bloody power struggle for the throne, shadowed by political intrigue and ruthless ambition.
The secretive battles of the Imperial Palace — a world of blood and scheming — the very kind of tale she had always longed to be part of, trapped as she was in the dull confines of the social world.
Renania wove together the few hints Yuwon had thrown at her and crafted an easy-to-understand story of her own, one that soon convinced even herself.
“Ah… so that’s what happened….”
Once her thoughts had settled, the hostility she’d felt toward him visibly diminished.
“Thank you for understanding. And I truly apologize. I’ve left a mark upon your face — a grave discourtesy — yet I beg your forgiveness. My duty is to remain by His Highness the Fifth Prince’s side.”
Though Yuwon’s tone carried sincere regret, there was not a shred of shame in his expression for what he had done.
‘This man… even after going through something like this, if anyone seems even slightly suspicious, he’d do the same thing again and again! To him, nothing matters but the Prince’s safety.’
For a man who had just ground the only daughter of the Valaris family’s face into the dirt to speak so proudly — his demeanor struck her with an odd sense of admiration and shock.
“My lady?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Are you unharmed? You don’t need to see a physician?”
“N-no, I’m fine. I train quite regularly, actually. This much is nothing.”
Indeed, she was no ordinary lady — but a rare woman of strength and courage.
Renania flexed her arms and legs in broad motions, showing off her sturdy build.
“That’s a relief. If you’d been seriously injured because of me… phew, it would’ve brought great shame upon His Highness.”
‘Even now, he’s worrying about the Prince….’
She was the one injured, yet the man before her spoke only of the Prince again.
“True. ‘I’ and His Highness both nearly got ourselves into quite a mess today.”
Renania subtly emphasized the word ‘I’. Yuwon caught the nuance instantly — a faint glint passed through his eyes.
‘Oh? So that’s how you want to play it?’
But since he was currently acting the part of the Fifth Prince’s devoted secret guard, Yuwon let it slide, feigning defeat.
“Haha… my apologies. Now that I think of it, it’s rather improper to speak that way when you’re the one who was hurt.”
“Well, at least you realize it. I’ll forgive you — just this once.”
“Thank you.”
With a bright smile and a lighthearted apology, Yuwon neatly resolved the situation.
Had he been in his true identity as the Fifth Prince, such a matter could never have been brushed off so easily — but the mask made everything simpler.
‘That should do it. Enough playing along — time to wrap this up.’
Yuwon decided to end this farce here.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave. I cannot stay away from His Highness’s side for too long.”
“Ah… yes, of course.”
“My lady, thank you once again for your understanding today.”
With his final farewell, Yuwon activated his light steps technique and swiftly vanished into the distance.
Then he stopped abruptly, glancing back to deliver the finishing touch to the act.
Judging by Renania’s reaction, she didn’t seem likely to spread word of this incident — but it was better to be certain.
“Ah, and please keep our encounter a secret. If word of my existence spreads, it could endanger His Highness. After all, I am still his secret guardian knight.”
Renania nodded at once, as if she didn’t need to ask for further explanation.
“Understood. I’ll keep your secret. But in return, you’ll keep mine too, right?”
“Haha, of course. If I want to keep my head attached, I’d best do so. In any case, thank you. Farewell.”
And with that, it truly ended. Yuwon’s graceful figure soon disappeared down the path toward the library.
With each stride spanning several meters, he quickly faded from Renania’s sight.
Before long, only Renania remained alone on the long path connecting the Fifth Prince’s Palace and the library. She reached up and rubbed her throbbing neck.
‘That man… his fingers were so unexpectedly smooth — like a woman’s….’
Yuwon had gripped her nape with such force that faint red marks, shaped like his fingers, still remained upon her skin.
For a man to have subdued Renania — a capable knight in her own right — so easily spoke to his remarkable skill in martial arts.
‘No, it wasn’t just that he subdued me — I didn’t even have the chance to fight back.’
The nameless man who secretly guarded the Prince was fierce and powerful like a beast, yet composed and courteous like no other knight.
The very image of the ideal man she had dreamed of as a young girl had fallen straight from the heavens.
“Maybe I should’ve asked his name…?”
After parting ways with Renania, Yuwon swiftly reached the library using light steps.
Moving discreetly, he avoided Hastings Bartlett’s notice and descended into the underground chamber of the library.
Inside the chamber, Yuwon rummaged through the cluttered storage room.
“Phew… what a mess that wild young lady’s gotten me into….”
In Tang Seogyeom’s underground chamber, everything from the simple weapons he’d used in life to rare-looking trinkets lay scattered about.
Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to find some suitable clothes among the piles.
“Well, at least something fits.”
The plain, neutral-colored outfit fit him perfectly, as if tailored to his size.
Yuwon straightened his clothes and headed back toward the library.
“Now then, preparations are complete. Time to sit and enjoy a cup of tea while I wait.”
Having left the chamber, Yuwon entered the library through the main gate once again.
Sitting across from Viscount Bartlett, he leisurely sipped his tea.
“Come to think of it, Your Highness usually arrives the moment the library opens, yet you’re a little late today. Did something happen? Perhaps you were feeling unwell?”
“Viscount, is that the only reason you can imagine for a man to be late in the morning? Rather undignified for someone of your stature, isn’t it?”
“Whether dignified or not, it happens to everyone, does it not? Why act as though you’re above it?”
“I simply prefer not to discuss such matters over tea.”
“What sort of matters might those be…?”
At the viscount’s teasing inquiry, Yuwon sighed lightly, just enough to be heard.
“You must be rather bored today, Viscount… Just wait. You’ll soon have something entertaining to see.”
“Pardon? Did you say something entertaining?”
After that, Yuwon ignored the viscount’s persistent questions about what “entertaining thing” he meant, quietly drinking his tea instead.
It was a small act of revenge for earlier events.
And about fifteen minutes later—
Thud—
The doors of the Imperial Library swung open, and a guest appeared. The sound made Hastings’s ears twitch.
“Oh? Who could that be at this hour…?”
“Seems our guest has arrived. Why are you sitting there, Viscount? Go greet them.”
Yuwon smiled faintly, teacup still in hand.
“Y-yes, of course. I’ll be right back, Your Highness.”
Setting down his cup, Hastings quickly rose and went down to greet the visitor.
And then…
“I am Hastings Bartlett, librarian of the Imperial Library. How may I assist you?”
Receiving his polite greeting, Renania immediately requested an audience with the Fifth Prince.
“I am Renania of the Valaris family, betrothed to His Highness the Fifth Prince. I’ve come to see him. His Highness is here, isn’t he?”
“Well, His Highness is upstairs, but…”
Hastings frowned awkwardly. Renania’s clothes were dusty, her hair disheveled, and her once-fair face scraped and dotted with blood.
“Did I not say I am his fiancée?”
“Well, that may be true, but…”
For someone in such disarray to suddenly claim to be the Prince’s fiancée — it was hard for the viscount to believe.
As far as he knew, no lady of a noble house would appear in such a state.
‘He’s breaking into a sweat already.’
Listening from afar with his sharp senses, Yuwon chuckled quietly.
The game had gone far enough. Yuwon’s calm but clear voice echoed through the library.
“She is my guest, Viscount. Please, escort her upstairs.”