VDBO 17

Chapter 17

Time passed frighteningly fast, and before I knew it, the date written on his invitation had arrived.

Exactly on time—so precise it was almost uncanny—the carriage arrived in front of my house. But instead of a servant, Valeri himself was inside.

I naturally assumed he would send a carriage to take me to the meeting place.

No—he has plenty of people he could order around, so why was he moving personally?
What a strange man.

I hurried down the stairs a little faster.

“Please come down slowly.”

He crossed the distance in a single step and held out his hand to me.

I stopped just before placing my hand in his, momentarily dazed by his smile—it looked brighter than light itself.

“If I had known you were coming yourself, I would’ve come out earlier.”

“I didn’t write that in the letter on purpose. You look wonderful today.”

“…Thank you.”

Taking his escort, I lightly climbed into the carriage and asked,

“So where are we going today?”

“That’s a secret.”

He answered confidently. Well, he is royalty—there probably isn’t anywhere he can’t go. Watching his self-assured expression, I decided to look forward to it.

“How did you get home that day?”

“You mean after the banquet?”

“Yes.”

“I did. Thanks to you, Your Highness. That’s why I’m here now.”

After the banquet ended, he had offered me his own carriage. I already had one of my own, but I didn’t refuse and boarded his instead.

It was so spacious that even with my legs fully stretched out, they didn’t reach Ian’s, who sat opposite me. The carriage today was just the same.

“To be honest, I wanted to take you home myself.”

“Ah… but Your Highness must be busy.”

“Not today.”

That sounded like he meant he would personally take me home even after our outing ended. Though, since we had just departed, I didn’t know how that would turn out.

The carriage turned and began heading toward the outskirts of the capital.

“May I ask why you dyed your hair?”

“Oh, this?”

I lifted a lock of my hair and showed him.

“Hmm…”

I couldn’t exactly say that I dyed it red because I had to dye it red.

“They said red hair is in fashion in the capital, so I tried it. But maybe it doesn’t suit me. Is it strange? Not pretty?”

“No—no, that’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

Valeri hesitated, stumbling over his words.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help it—I burst out laughing. I think I laughed louder than I intended, and feeling a bit embarrassed, I glanced at him.

His face flushed slightly, and he raised a hand to roughly rub the back of his neck.

“It suits you as well, but… your original silver hair was truly beautiful.”

“I appreciate the compliment, but… I don’t think I can show it for a while. They said this dye would last about a year.”

New hair would grow in silver again, but the already-dyed part was probably beyond recovery. After all, I endured the pain of having my scalp nearly peeled to do it.

He looked deeply regretful—but then, as if another thought struck him, his expression brightened instantly.

“Then I’ll just wait until then.”

As if he had been waiting to say it.

Truthfully, the less we saw each other, the better our relationship should be. Ideally, we should finish everything as quickly as possible and have as little reason to meet again as we could—for my happiness and my lifespan, which had nothing to do with his wishes.

“Ah… um… yes.”

I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze as he looked straight at me, so I turned my head toward the window.

“How much longer will it take?”

When I changed the subject, Valeri raised his eyebrows and leaned a little closer.

“Are you tired? We’ll arrive soon.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just excited.”

As he said, the carriage slowed not long after.

Even after it came to a complete stop, I couldn’t guess where he had brought me. Only when he stepped down first and escorted me out did I realize.

“Wow…”

It was a place I never expected.

“Is it as good as you hoped?”

“There’s a sea near the capital?”

Excitement slipped into my voice without me realizing it. Waves crashed into a small, concave beach. I never imagined the destination would be the sea.

“This is the only place.”

It was the closest beach to the capital and restricted to the imperial family. Apparently, it was usually used as a summer retreat.

“I’ve never seen the sea before.”

Strictly speaking, it was my first time seeing it in this life. I’d seen forests and mountains until I was sick of them—but never the sea.

“I’m glad you seem to like it.”

“I really do. It exceeded my expectations.”

Truly. I had assumed he would take me to an art gallery or somewhere similar. This was completely unexpected.

I stood there for a long time, staring blankly at the crashing waves. It felt like my chest finally opened up.

“I thought if I put you in a good mood, you might look at me more kindly. That’s why it took me so long to choose the place.”

A sea breeze blew in, scattering my hair. I tucked it behind my ear and looked at him.

“…Your Highness is terrible at judging people.”

His eyes widened—and then he burst into laughter.

I frowned. I was being genuinely honest.

“That’s not an insult, you know.”

“…I know. It’s just frustrating.”

“Am I truly that unsatisfactory to you?”

“No. That’s not it. Who would ever say such a thing to Your Highness?”

“Not anyone else—you, my lady.”

“I’m not any different.”

His voice dropped lower than before as he stopped smiling and looked at me quietly.

“Blake.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

His tone was serious, but I almost let out a scoff. Had I ever loved someone? Of course, love has no age or time limit—but it wasn’t a story to share with him.

“No.”

At my answer, his expression brightened uncontrollably. He cleared his throat, as if nervous.

“This is the first time I’ve ever felt this way.”

“……”

“Not a single day has passed since we first met without your face coming to mind. When I saw you again, my heart nearly overflowed. It may sound like a lie, but there hasn’t been a moment since that day when I haven’t thought of you.”

His voice was almost pleading—desperate to show his sincerity. We hadn’t met many times, nor had our time together been long. That was why I couldn’t quite understand him.

“Your Highness.”

“That’s why I want to be honest with the person who made me feel this way. I want to look good to you.”

“Prince Kashinef.”

“Please call me Valeri.”

“Prince Valeri.”

When I stubbornly refused to drop honorifics, he looked genuinely disappointed. Hearing his soft sigh, I simply smiled faintly.

It seemed he planned to speak casually if I did the same. A royal who showed such courtesy to the Ariandel family—who bought their noble title with money—was probably rare.

“First emotions always feel stronger. They aren’t actually that big—but because it’s your first time.”

“But don’t those ‘not-so-big’ emotions sometimes grow larger than anything else?”

“They can also fade.”

“Do you still find me that lacking, Lady Blake?”

“Uh… no. I actually like you a little, Your Highness.”

That must have hit him harder than I expected. His pale, handsome face flushed red, like petals being stained with color.

Valeri scrubbed his face roughly with both hands.

Suddenly, he felt strange—almost mysterious. So this is what someone who falls in love at first sight can look like. If someone looked at another person with that expression, how could anyone not fall for them?

For a moment, I foolishly wondered if my mother might change her mind just once.

“Then that’s enough. Just please don’t push me away. I’ll take you to many wonderful places like today. There are many things I want to show you, many things I want to give you. I’ll wait until your heart is satisfied—slowly. So please, don’t reject me.”

He seemed curious about everything—what I liked, whether I was picky with food, what I usually did.

I answered his questions quite diligently.

Of course, everything I said belonged to the real Blake Ariandel.

My mother’s ultimate target is not the Second Prince, Valeri Ahibara Kashinef. But for her goals, the Second Prince must be the first ingredient—because he is the easiest target.

And he is showing me unconditional goodwill. Every bit of that information will surely reach my mother’s ears.

They say the Emperor loved the Empress’s purity. And that the Second Prince resembles that Empress very much—the same woman who once stood against my mother.

I’m going to hurt you and make you angry. And I might even have to make you fight your brother.

If I fail to escape my mother, that may truly happen. Even if it isn’t my will, the actions will be mine—and the resentment will be directed at me alone.

Hiding the truth, I smiled lightly in front of him.

We walked along the shore until the sunset dyed the sky. When my feet started to ache from sinking into the sand, we returned to the carriage.

“It’ll be night by the time we arrive.”

“I’ll explain everything directly to your household.”

“It’s not that serious. Let’s just depart.”

As expected, by the time we arrived home, the moon was shining brightly overhead.

“I want to see you again, my lady. Would that be alright?”