#254
I can’t let the desert get in my eyes! (3)
“Cedric, are you seeing someone?”
Please don’t say it like that; it makes my heart drop!
“…He issued an imperial order.”
“Good heavens, it’s true.”
Lady Elisabeth put down her teacup and widened her eyes.
If even she, who is closest to the Crown Prince among us, didn’t know, it seemed this matchmaking was known only to a very few.
Before we knew it, we were sitting around the training ground table, enjoying refreshments.
I received the Hyegeom of Mars [a ceremonial sword] from David and held it tightly (I didn’t forget to apologize, saying, ‘Sorry for spreading the rumors.’ He smiled and shook his head).
I couldn’t help it.
If I didn’t have it, the Crown Prince would have cut down Christel, who was cackling, right away.
“I thought you weren’t interested after it fizzled out last year. I was mistaken.”
“……”
It didn’t fizzle out. It’s just that our protagonists have a long warm-up time!
I tucked the Hyegeom under one arm and stuffed my mouth full of Gâteau Nantais [a type of French cake], which I had cut haphazardly with the other.
I craved sweets because of the stress of not being able to proclaim the truth.
Not being able to call an official couple official… Delicious.
“Has the partner been decided? Or are you meeting several and then choosing one?”
“The latter.”
“Hmm.”
The Baronet, who had come to slack off from work for a while, reacted more seriously to the marriage story than anyone else.
Honestly, I’m taking it more ‘seriously,’ but she seemed to be doing her best as a friend.
Baccari and Sant, sitting side by side, were just moving their eyes diligently like tennis spectators.
David and Ganael calmly brewed tea for the guests, and Sir Johann had a peaceful face as if he were listening to weather stories.
Christel on the opposite side is still…
“Ah, congratulations! The best news of Holy Era 1614. I’ll definitely throw you a bachelor party.”
She dabbed her tears with a handkerchief and danced.
In an instant, a fire blazed in the Crown Prince’s eyes. I moved almost reflexively!
-Clunk!
“Please be patient; you did it a lot earlier!”
I shouted, clinging to his sleeve.
Just a moment ago, I was stuck to the protagonist’s leg like a barnacle, begging, but this time it was the male lead’s arm.
It wasn’t easy to survive as a sub between the two.
When I made a gentle expression, he looked down at me and straightened his posture, puffing out his chest.
The heartless Christel still giggled quietly and secretly gave me a thumbs up.
I barely swallowed a sigh.
She can act like that because she doesn’t know anything. Eunseo Jeong definitely told me.
‘Ah! In the beginning, there was no way this guy was the main lead. I thought it was a cover fake.’
‘Isn’t black hair always the male lead?’
‘That’s prejudice. Now, I’m holding my breath until the cover of the Heir Apparent comes out.’
‘Come and eat. The budae jjigae [Korean army stew] is ready.’
‘Whoa!’
…I didn’t read the original, so I don’t know the details, but I could tell just by putting together what I’d heard.
Christel and Crown Prince Cedric confirmed their feelings for each other quite a while after the main story.
It seemed like the so-called ‘digging’ was long [referring to a slow-burn romance].
Even though the two of them were always fighting and sometimes looking at each other like cats and dogs, it was another reason why I couldn’t give up on the official couple.
I had faith that it would catch fire if there was just a spark. It’s just slow.
We didn’t get close quickly either, did we?
“How about you, Your Highness?”
So, until then, a rival should not appear. I turned to look at him with determination.
The man, who was drinking espresso, only rolled his eyes at me.
“What is it?”
“Do you want to get married?”
Then he furrowed his brow slightly. The answer that came back was predictable.
“It has nothing to do with my will.”
“That doesn’t mean your opinion isn’t important, Your Highness.”
I naturally rattled off pleasant words.
If this were a marriage proposal with Christel, my reaction would have been quite different.
But now, isn’t the other party an unknown young lady from the Mendy Duchy?
I already felt a strange hostility toward someone I had never even seen before.
Once opened, the floodgates didn’t want to close.
“You have to have a state wedding someday, but you may want to focus on other things right now.”
“……”
“The desire for self-realization is important. Wouldn’t it be a shame if you missed the opportunity and regretted it later?”
Then everyone’s eyes turned to me. The Baronet bit her lip and twitched her philtrum [the vertical groove between the upper lip and nose].
Sir Johann tilted his head.
I wondered if I had said something I shouldn’t have, so I looked back, but it seemed like this level of opinion was okay.
Even though it was an excessively 21st-century value, it seemed like I had said it well in a moderately roundabout way.
I was racking my brain for a better sentence when the Crown Prince stared at me intently. Why?
“…You must have thought that when you ran away from the stable.”
Damn it. I hid it so well, but I can’t fool the Ether Pig!
“No, that’s… It was a bit embarrassing to meet in a place like that. I thought you might be uncomfortable, so I did that.”
I waved my hands hastily and smiled awkwardly.
Then Christel looked back and forth between him and me with an expression that she was going to die of fun.
Peri, who had replaced Demi, was lying on my lap, enjoying herself, and Lady Elisabeth was eating Mont Blanc [a chestnut dessert] like *gukbap* [Korean rice soup], watching us.
If you put a pair of 3D glasses on her nose, it would be perfect. The person involved is sweating bullets right now.
I don’t know who to blame!
“Is that your story?”
“Why would I be uncomfortable? I just avoided you because you seemed to be having a heavy conversation.”
“I thought you said you wouldn’t avoid it.”
“Ah, not that. The atmosphere…”
He even remembered exactly what I said when I was sick in Sadie’s form. It wasn’t a false promise, but he was a scary guy.
Looking at him again, his carrot-colored eyes seemed a little sulky.
His gaze was subtly averted, and there was an edge to the corners of his eyes.
I’ve never raised a younger brother like this, so I had no idea how to appease him.
First, I decided to apologize honestly.
“I’m sorry if you were offended. But at that time, I didn’t think it was a situation for me to add anything,”
“That’s my problem to judge.”
He growled. It had been a long time since he had been so aggressive, so I couldn’t control my expression.
Then, on the contrary, he turned his head away. Did you just get embarrassed?
“Your Highness.”
“It seems that the Prince wants to help His Highness the Crown Prince.”
At that time, the protagonist’s clear voice saved me.
I saw a hallucination of a supernova-like light emanating from one side of the table.
Very slowly, my head turned.
In the radiance that seemed to blind me, Christel, who was supporting her chin with both hands, was smiling brightly at me.
*
Yes, if it wasn’t her, who else would step in to save them? Those crazy handsome men!
“Christel.”
Beautiful purple eyes sparkled with expectation and hope.
Christel felt a surge of joy and instantly gathered attention.
It was easier than the end of the Sobaek Mountains [a Korean mountain range, implying it was very easy].
“I’m always ready to sing a congratulatory song, but I guess the Prince thinks differently. There are people like that around. People who feel sad when their friends get married first. People who feel somehow empty. It’s not weird.”
“Hmm…”
“From what I can see, Your Highness doesn’t seem to welcome the state wedding either. If you were really okay with it, you wouldn’t have let the topic flow this far. Lady Elisabeth?”
“I agree.”
The Baronet raised a silver spoon and said with a solemn expression.
Then David nodded his chin with weight.
When Christel sent a fierce look, Ganael and Sant also flinched and said, ‘That’s right.’
Johann Haynes added praise, saying, ‘That’s an excellent analysis.’
Modest Baccari couldn’t go back to the office because he missed the timing to leave and was sitting there.
The Crown Prince glared at his *saje* [a senior female colleague or mentor] with blazing eyes but didn’t particularly deny it.
Only then did Christel raise the corners of her lips.
Of course, it would be good for her if the Crown Prince got married nicely.
The time she spent with the kind and gentle Prince would be longer, and as a bonus, she would be able to receive pleasant Ether more often than now.
Above all, she hated the look of conquest and possessiveness in that guy’s eyes.
But what could she do? Christel decided to act once again.
The reasons were, first, the young lady who had to live with that thing was too pitiful. Even if she only ate his face for the rest of her life, she would be full, but anyway, it was pitiful.
Second, he had already done crazy things like finishing the final assignment as soon as the semester started to play with the Prince. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t repeat that even after he got married.
Third, Christel needed a place to focus her mind these days. Living with her mother, grandmother, and grandfather was happy, but sometimes she desperately needed a topic to forget ‘Father.’
Fourth and last, Prince Yesuh didn’t seem to want to break up the play group, including the vixen. It seemed that the Crown Prince was similar.
Well… It wasn’t an emotion she couldn’t understand. It was only a little bit.
“So. When, where, and at what time will the matchmaking take place?”
Christel took a pipe candy out of her pocket and put it in her mouth and even took out the notebook she had brought as a concept.
Then the Prince widened his eyes and was delighted.
He was subtly pleased every time she did such theatrical things.
“On the upcoming Saturday banquet, Berenice Mendy, the second daughter of Duke Florian Mendy, will attend. Laura Mendy, the chief maid, is her aunt.”
David stated as if he had been waiting.
For Christel, who had a notebook but no pen, Peri brought a pencil from the Prince’s bag.
She stamped the lesser panda’s forehead with a kiss and scribbled.
“How old is the victim?”
“She’s not a victim.”
“Ah. How old is the matchmaking partner?”
‘If you have any information, please give me a brief description.’ Christel requested in a low voice.
David clearly had a gentle face, but he looked very excited.
It was as if he had been waiting for this day.
“She is eighteen years old. She is known to be quiet and passive and is more interested in reading and writing book reports than in external activities. She is an ordinary person with no talent for mana and Ether.”
“Ah…”
“Oh dear.”
“My goodness.”
“That’s too much. The parents on both sides were too much.” The crowd stirred and looked at the Crown Prince. Cedric quietly gritted his teeth.
He had been very uncomfortable since earlier.
He didn’t like himself for threatening the Prince even after receiving an apology, and he was even more angry at the fact that his emotions had gotten out of control.
He thought that there would have been no such result if the priest had not avoided him.
But when the Prince expressed a negative opinion about the marriage, he felt better again for some reason.
It wasn’t that the condition of the vessel had deteriorated, but his fickleness poured down like a fox rain [a phenomenon where the sun shines during rain, symbolizing something strange or fickle].
This attitude was unlike him, so he was confused.
But when he thought about it, he had been like this since last spring.
“Can’t we undo it?”
“It would be possible if His Highness the Crown Prince strongly refused, but this would greatly damage the honor of the Mendy Duchy. She is one of the loyal families, so His Majesty would not want that either.”
“I guess so. It’s too late to be on this side. Then, conversely, this side has to be dumped. Hmm.”
“Is that possible?”
When Christel muttered, Elisabeth asked seriously.
The Prince, who was concentrating hard, also had a worried face.
“I don’t think His Highness is someone who will be dumped anywhere.”
Then she glanced at the Crown Prince’s face and body.
Christel could see his actions so well that she felt like she was going to die of laughter.
How could the outside and the inside be so consistent?
“Your Highness. What kind of actions do you think a person has to take to be dumped?”
So she threw a sudden question. The twenty-nine-year-old man was noticeably embarrassed.
“Uh… Shouldn’t you say bad things or do bad things? Like in *I Gam-shin*, ‘It’s not a sin for a believer to fall in love with a priest!’ and cheat on them. Or pour water on their face. The parents appear and throw gold coins, saying, ‘Break up with my son.'”
“Heo-heo-heong.”
The head of the near guard, who had been holding on well, finally cried and collapsed.
Christel clicked her tongue as she watched Teacher Johann, who was maintaining an amazing poker face. No, actually, she couldn’t even open her mouth.
She was turning white from holding back the laughter that was coming from her diaphragm. Her nostrils naturally widened, and her jaw tightened.
The Yesuh Venetian in front of her acted as if all she had seen of romance was in trashy novels.
How did she get the nickname ‘The Playboy of the Holy Kingdom’? Isn’t it just irony?
…She barely opened her mouth solemnly.
“Still, you got close to one correct answer. Cheating.”
“Yes?”
The Prince blinked his eyes as he patted Shinsoo.
“If a much better man than the Crown Prince, who is known to be taciturn and scary, appears and steals the young lady’s heart, that’s it. Make her fall head over heels.”
“Can such a person exist…”
A halo appeared on the beauty’s face. Christel stretched out the pipe candy and pointed at him.
So that there would be no more room for doubt. The direction is also clear.
Soon, her beautiful eyes slowly widened.
“Could it be.”
Yes, you. Handsome, tall, and decent, and a capable person who enjoys wealth and fame.
I’m talking about you. You!