TOMLOM 10

“Yes. She’s waiting in the reception room.”

Although Kaien himself didn’t realize it, the moment he heard those words, the corners of his lips curled upward.

“Then bring her here immedia— ugh.”

The instant he stood up from the sofa, a violent wave of dizziness struck him, making his body stagger.

“Your Highness!”

Before the servant could properly support him, Kaien collapsed back onto the sofa.

“Your Highness, are you alright? Shall I summon the royal physician?”

“No…”

If a royal physician were called, the news would immediately reach the Empress. Then she would come rushing to the First Prince’s palace, and he wouldn’t be able to meet Cecilia.

“I’m fine… Bring Cecilia here.”

“To… here, Your Highness?”

The servant hesitated because this was Kaien’s bedroom.

Regardless of his physical condition, it was hardly an appropriate place for him to meet his younger brother’s fiancée alone.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“N-No… none at all. I shall bring the young lady at once.”

From the beginning, the servant was in no position to refuse the First Prince’s orders.

A short while later, he returned with Cecilia Roheim.

“Your Highness. Lady Roheim has arrived.”

After escorting Cecilia into Kaien’s bedroom, the servant quietly summoned the attendants waiting outside into the room and made sure Cecilia’s maid entered as well.

Then he deliberately left the door wide open.

It was the best precaution he could take against possible scandal.

“It is an honor to meet you, First Prince. I am Cecilia Roheim.”

Cecilia elegantly bowed toward Kaien, who had barely managed to sit upright on the sofa.

Exhaling slowly, Kaien observed her carefully.

‘At the banquet, she seemed like a childish little girl…’

But her movements were remarkably refined. Though her pretty face still carried traces of youth, it seemed certain she would bloom into a lily-like beauty once she reached adulthood.

For no particular reason, Kaien found himself in a better mood.

With a faint smile on his lips, he gestured for Cecilia to sit.

“Philip, serve tea to the young lady. I heard she likes rose tea.”

“No thank you. Tea won’t be necessary. I’ll be leaving shortly anyway.”

“…Leaving shortly?”

Strangely, his mood immediately sank.

Kaien crossed his legs and stared at Cecilia’s brightly smiling face with pale eyes.

“Now that I think about it, I’m curious. What purpose brought you here to see me?”

“I came to give Your Highness a gift.”

“A gift?”

Is she trying to win my favor?

While Kaien entertained that thought, Cecilia instructed Eunice to bring over the present.

A moment later, five boxes were stacked atop the table.

“What is all this?”

“I told you—it’s a gift. Why don’t you open one?”

Cecilia said cheerfully.

Kaien stared at her face for a moment before picking up one of the boxes and opening it.

“This is… a fountain pen.”

Even to a prince like him, it was clearly an extremely luxurious item.

Though he hadn’t opened the others yet, the remaining four boxes likely contained gifts of equal quality.

Satisfied with the feel of the pen in his hand, Kaien spun it lazily between his fingers and asked Cecilia,

“You wouldn’t give me something like this without a reason… So why are you trying to gain my favor?”

“I heard Your Highness took the fountain pen I gave my fiancé.”

The pen stopped spinning instantly between Kaien’s fingers.

His gaze drifted toward the fountain pen adorned with blue diamonds sitting on the table nearby.

Since the item was plainly visible, there was no room for excuses.

For some reason, his cheeks suddenly felt warm.

Trying not to let Cecilia notice, Kaien deliberately met her gaze and answered in a relaxed tone.

“I did. Did Leo tell you?”

“Yes. Since Your Highness wouldn’t simply take a fountain pen your younger brother received from his fiancée without reason, I assumed it was because you urgently needed one to use.”

Still smiling brightly, Cecilia picked up the blue-diamond fountain pen before Kaien even had the chance to stop her.

“This one was specially made as a matching set for my fiancé and me. I’ll take it back with me so there won’t be any unnecessary misunderstandings.”

“Who said you could?”

Kaien’s voice turned cold, but Cecilia didn’t flinch in the slightest.

“Obviously I did. This is a token of love I made for my fiancé. But Your Highness isn’t my fiancé, are you?”

Then Cecilia rose from her seat.

Her posture was utterly confident, as though she feared no consequences whatsoever.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave now. I heard your health isn’t good, so please rest well—”

“Do you know this? Your original fiancé was supposed to be me. It was only changed later.”

It was a lie.

The moment the words left his mouth, even Kaien himself realized his mistake.

Cecilia looked equally startled, surprise spreading across her beautiful face.

What thoughts might be hidden beneath that lovely appearance?

Perhaps she regretted that the fiancé had been changed—

“Anyway, my fiancé now is Leo.”

“…You call him by a nickname?”

“He’s my fiancé. If we want to become closer, using nicknames is the first step.”

As though there were nothing more worth discussing, Cecilia gracefully bent her knees in farewell.

“Then I shall be going now, First Prince.”

She had spoken Lionel’s name so familiarly, yet when addressing Kaien as “First Prince,” her tone became impeccably formal.

Watching Cecilia turn away from him without the slightest hesitation, Kaien let out a scoff.

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it felt.

‘She’s unbelievably insolent.’

Ill-mannered. Rude. Arrogant. Disrespectful.

And yet somehow, he didn’t dislike it.

Before he realized it, Kaien found himself imagining—

“Kai.”

The nickname no one but the Empress had ever dared to utter aloud.

A nickname that would only ever be permitted to the woman standing beside him.

Imagining Cecilia saying it with those small lips of hers, Kaien looked down at the mountain of gift boxes piled before him.

Unlike the meaningful fountain pen Cecilia had taken away for her fiancé, these were merely cheap substitutes devoid of any significance.

“How irritating… truly irritating.”

The tapping of his index finger against the armrest grew faster and faster.

Watching his increasingly agitated demeanor, the servant swallowed nervously.

“Go tell Mother.”

“Y-Yes? …Ah, yes! Please give your command!”

“I heard that newly appointed bishop—the youngest in history—has requested permission to treat me?”

Kaien had already met every physician reputed to be talented, every archbishop praised for holiness, even the Pope himself.

And yet none of them had cured him.

At this point, he no longer wanted treatment at all, but—

“Kai.”

He had to hear it directly.

That voice.

Those lips.

Calling him that name.

“There’s no helping it. Tell them that I’ll grant an opportunity to anyone claiming they can treat me. Youngest bishop or not.”

He felt a little sorry for Lionel, but after all—

He intended to take everything currently in Lionel’s hands for himself.

Wow. This is insane. Completely insane.

‘My original fiancé was supposed to be the First Prince? Did my parents agree to that too?’

Could that be why, in the original novel, her fiancé changed after the First Prince eventually became Crown Prince?

‘No, seriously though—even setting everything else aside, isn’t it weird to marry the brother of the guy you were engaged to before? Personally, I find that disgusting.’

And beyond that instinctive revulsion, her personality simply didn’t match the First Prince’s.

Just remembering how he had ruined the atmosphere during the family meeting with Lionel told her everything she needed to know.

‘Though honestly, Lionel’s basically a ticking time bomb too.’

Still, with Lionel, there was at least a chance that if she cut the right wires—the red one or the blue one—the bomb might fail to explode.

…Probably.

Hopefully.

Returning once more to the Second Prince’s palace, Cecilia crossed her arms and looked down at Lionel, who sat at his desk.

“Have you reflected on your actions yet?”

“Reflected on what exactly?”

“On failing to properly protect the token of affection your fiancée gave you.”

“Ah.”

Lionel blinked with a face that clearly showed he hadn’t reflected on it at all.

Cecilia had to close her eyes briefly to calm the fury rising inside her again.

‘Forget the First Prince and the Second Prince. Maybe I should just grab my whole family and run away right now.’

Seriously considering that possibility, Cecilia sighed and placed the box she had been carrying onto the desk.

“Here.”

“What is this?”

“What do you think?”

Even at her slightly irritated tone, Lionel merely blinked before carefully opening the box.

Then, upon seeing the fountain pen inside, a shocked expression crossed his face.

The Lionel who always seemed like a doll—

for the very first time, looked human.