Chapter 760: Confide
"So, is that why you turned into a playboy?" Dora asked Kael, her eyebrows raised as she listened to his full story about how he and Rafe had both been deceived by the same woman. Yet, it was Kael who had taken all the blame—shouldering the weight of it in front of their parents and everyone else. After all, the crown prince’s reputation had to stay spotless.
"Kind of," Kael admitted, his voice carrying a hint of resignation. "The truth is, to protect his identity, I had to be the one to take the hit. Someone had to, and it couldn’t be him."
Dora frowned, her frustration bubbling up. It always seemed like Kael had been forced to clean up Rafe’s messes. "So, you just let them pin every mistake on you? Even when it wasn’t your fault?"
"That was the pact," Kael said, his tone turning cold. "The crown prince had to remain unblemished. Whether it was academics or anything else, if Rafe messed up, he’d use my name. Slowly, he got comfortable with it. He’d drink and party, and people would assume it was me. If he wanted to play around with women, well, it couldn’t be the crown prince seen as a playboy—it had to be the youngest prince. There were even rumors I’d been with three women in one night."
Kael paused, his lips twisting into a bitter smile. "Let me assure you... it wasn’t me. Or at least... it wasn’t only me."
Dora looked into his eyes, reading the pain that lingered beneath the surface. The unfairness of it all made her angry. But Kael had lived through it. He had taken on the burden alone for the sake of the royal family, for the crown prince. And it made her ache for him. She understood that certain things had to be kept under wraps, especially given Petrovia’s political unrest in recent years. But it didn’t sit right with her that Kael had paid the heaviest price.
As a crown prince, this should have been Rafe’s burden—or at the very least, a shared burden. But it had been Kael’s to shoulder alone.
Trying to lighten his mood, Dora cupped his face, offering him a teasing smile. "Are you trying to tell me you were never a playboy?"
Kael smiled faintly and kissed her palm. "Don’t worry, I’m not trying to claim complete innocence. Just that it wasn’t always as bad as people think, okay?"
"Okay..." Dora nodded and rested her head against his chest. "Then? What happened?"
Kael went silent for a moment, and Dora’s thoughts drifted back to her encounters with Rafe. He had never come across as someone so irresponsible. But something must have happened to change him. Something significant.