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Chapter 4
“Since I’m not feeling well, I think I should return now. If I stay any longer, I might end up causing a scene.”
“Kaien!”
The real conversation hadn’t even begun yet, and barely anyone had finished eating.
Yet thanks to the First Prince, the atmosphere instantly turned into a disaster.
Seriously, look at him ruining the mood.
Looks like he’d spent his whole life throwing tantrums whenever he was upset and getting coddled for it afterward.
Did he think I’d react the same way?
Unfortunately for him, the only thing I feared was Lionel’s future corruption.
“Oh my, your complexion really does look terribly pale. You should hurry back and have a physician examine you.”
When I exaggerated my concern with an overly dramatic gasp, the First Prince stared at me in disbelief for a second before leaving silently with an even fouler expression.
The Empress half-rose from her seat to follow him, then stopped herself.
Apparently she still retained at least a shred of reason.
Good grief. I need to tell my family not to behave like that once I’m older.
Pretending not to notice the Empress’s desperate desire to end the gathering immediately, I leisurely enjoyed the luxurious feast before me.
And I didn’t forget to keep talking to Lionel either.
“As thanks for peeling the shrimp, I’ll spread jam on your bread. Is apple jam okay?”
“Yes. That’s fine.”
“So you like apple jam. Then what about whipped cream?”
“That’s fine too.”
No matter what I offered to spread on his bread, Lionel simply nodded and said it was fine.
Does he only know how to say “that’s fine”?
I deliberately asked about every little thing I could think of, wanting to hear him say something wasn’t fine for once.
But every answer remained the same.
In the end, dinner concluded without me ever hearing Lionel say he disliked anything.
Well, it’s not like today’s my only chance.
After confirming that both our families had finished eating, I turned toward him.
“Ah, I’m full. Your Highness, I’d like to take a walk to help digest a little. Would you escort me?”
Before Lionel could even answer, the Empress quickly jumped in as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Please escort the duke’s daughter.”
Her face practically screamed that she was desperate to go check on the First Prince.
Lionel seemed to notice that too, because he immediately rose and approached me.
“Lady Roheim. Would you grant me the honor of escorting you?”
“With pleasure.”
Taking the hand he offered, I rose from my seat and smiled brightly at my family, who watched me with worried eyes.
“We’ll just take a short walk.”
“Very well. Just don’t trouble His Highness too much.”
“Of course not. I’m all grown up now, you know?”
That only made them look even more concerned.
Leaving them behind, I looped my arm through Lionel’s and walked out beside him.
The place he led me to was a flower garden in full bloom.
The sun had already set, leaving the surroundings dim, but the softly glowing magic lamps scattered throughout the garden gave it an even more romantic atmosphere.
“Wow, it’s beautiful! Your Highness, do you know what flower this is?”
“I do not.”
“Aren’t you answering a little too quickly? At least pretend to think about it.”
“Even if I thought about it, I still wouldn’t know. I’ve never been taught about flowers.”
“Why? Because it isn’t related to imperial studies?”
“Yes.”
I’d asked partly to provoke him a little, but once again his answer came immediately and calmly.
At this point, I was beginning to understand.
This man absolutely wasn’t someone bottling up his emotions deep inside.
Is he secretly a robot? If I knock on him, I bet he’ll sound hollow.
“By the way, I’m sorry about earlier, Your Highness. I acted rather spoiled, didn’t I?”
“No. It was fine.”
“Really? Truly fine? Then I’m going to keep acting like that from now on.”
“Yes.”
He remained completely composed.
And it didn’t even seem like he was lying.
Which was honestly astonishing.
My family spoiled me because we were extremely close, but ordinarily, asking someone else to serve your meal was incredibly rude.
That was a servant’s job.
In other words, I’d practically treated a prince like a servant.
Yet not a trace of displeasure appeared on his face.
“Hm. My expectations were wrong. I thought Your Highness would be much stricter and more rigid.”
At that, Lionel—who had been walking quietly along the garden path—suddenly stopped and turned toward me as if realizing something.
“Were you testing me?”
I nodded honestly.
“Halfway, yes. I wanted to see how you’d react. Are you angry?”
Contrary to my expectations—
No, contrary to my desperate wish that he’d please get angry already—
Lionel simply shook his head calmly once again.
“No. I’m used to it. Things like passing tests.”
“Oh my. I never said you passed yet, though?”
Through the arm linked with his, I felt Lionel’s body twitch slightly.
It was such a tiny reaction, but I was almost moved by the discovery that this man could get flustered.
“If you tell me what I did wrong, I’ll correct it.”
“I never said you failed either. You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“……”
Perhaps he’d only now realized I was teasing him.
A faint crease finally appeared between his beautiful brows.
And for the first time, he truly looked sixteen years old—my age.
Looking at him now, he really doesn’t seem like someone who’d someday start a rebellion, kill his family, and imprison people.
More than anything, what surprised me was that the real Lionel didn’t feel frightening or unpleasant at all.
Even if it was only a novel, knowing that this man would someday kidnap and imprison me should’ve made me instinctively wary of him.
Maybe it’s because that future still feels far away.
At any rate, it didn’t seem necessary to immediately convince my whole family to flee the Empire.
Still…
You never knew what the future held.
“I think I’ll observe a little longer before deciding whether you pass or fail. Is that alright?”
“Of course. Please tell me whenever you decide.”
“Good. But if there’s anything you want from me, tell me too. If it’s something I can fix, I’ll try.”
At that, Lionel tilted his head slightly.
“And if it’s something you can’t fix?”
“Then I can’t fix it.”
At my confident reply, he looked momentarily dumbfounded.
He really is handsome. Even that expression looks good on him.
My admiration lasted only a second before I emphasized firmly:
“I can’t fix being immature. Maybe that’ll naturally solve itself as I get older, so just leave it to the flow of time.”
“I don’t particularly wish for that. …Somehow, that side of you feels very natural.”
“Why, thank you.”
He probably meant I obviously looked like someone raised with a lot of love.
Smiling contentedly, I finally asked him the question that truly mattered.
“There’s actually something I’ve been curious about since hearing our engagement was decided. May I ask?”
“Yes.”
“This engagement—who proposed it first?”
“His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Then it wasn’t something you wanted?”
“Yes.”
“Have we ever met before as children?”
“Our official schedules have never overlapped.”
“Huh? Then does that mean we met unofficially?”
“No. Though perhaps we may have coincidentally been in the same place at some point.”
“Oh, that’s what you meant?”
Wow, that startled me for a second.
“So today really is our first meeting?”
“Yes. It is.”
“I see…”
…Wait a minute!
Suddenly, I realized I’d missed an incredibly important opportunity.
Then it would’ve been completely fine if I’d just let Mother cancel the engagement back then!
I should’ve canceled it when I had the chance!
But now it was truly too late.
There was no way I could suddenly say, “Actually, after meeting the Second Prince, I don’t like him very much, so let’s call off the engagement.”
This wasn’t just any marriage.
It was a union between the imperial family and a ducal house.
An engagement born from political interests might collapse due to mismatched conditions during negotiations—
But not because someone casually decided they disliked their fiancé.
So whether I liked it or not, this engagement would proceed.
Unless fault could somehow be found on his side.
Which meant there was only one path left now.
Prevent this budding obsessive male lead from descending into darkness!
People always say you can’t change someone… but as long as this man doesn’t turn evil, there’s nothing wrong with his face or future career, right?
If I had to marry someone anyway, then marrying a handsome, diligent, wealthy man was obviously the best option.
Absolutely.
That’s right! I’m the heroine, aren’t I? So let’s do this!
