The first-floor hall of the inn.
The knights were whispering in the corner, criticizing Kaiden.
“…I heard she was crazy.”
“And wasn’t she supposed to be terribly ugly, too?”
“They said her personality was awful as well.”
But the Princess was completely different from the woman Kaiden had been talking about nonstop.
And above all—
“She seemed to have… a favorable impression of our Grand Duke, didn’t she?”
She had been friendly toward them.
In truth, Kaiden was simply the most outspoken about it, but the others were also deeply dissatisfied with this marriage.
Yet seeing that the Princess was completely different from the rumors and even acknowledged the Grand Duchy’s contributions, they could not help but feel their opinions wavering.
“What do you think, Your Highness?”
Brian asked with an expectant look.
“…Enough with the pointless talk and drink your beer.”
Axid awkwardly changed the subject.
Didn’t she seem to have feelings for him?
It was an embarrassing question to answer, let alone contemplate.
Moreover, Brian was the only person who knew that Axid intended to let the Princess go when the time came.
He was the one who had watched Axid throughout his entire life, especially when that day came and he became as wretched as a beast consumed by his instincts.
Why was the man who had witnessed his suffering more closely than anyone else suddenly getting his hopes up now?
At that moment, Kaiden, who had been unusually quiet, spoke in an anxious voice.
“…Shouldn’t we station some people around the building?”
“What are you planning to do?”
At Brian’s question, Kaiden glanced toward the stairs leading upstairs.
“The Princess might secretly run away during the night.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…?”
Everyone looked at him as though they were fed up with his pathetic behavior, like someone suffering from terminal paranoia.
“No, think about it. We’re leaving on a long journey, but setting aside the fact that she has barely any luggage, does it make sense that she doesn’t have a single personal attendant?”
It was obvious she had deliberately gotten rid of anything that might become a burden in order to maintain her mobility.
And what about that bright expression despite facing the very marriage everyone else was desperately trying to avoid?
“This won’t do. We should station people nearby to keep watch, just in case…”
Brian smacked Kaiden sharply on the back of the head with his palm.
Whack!
“Enough. Drink your beer.”
“Damn…”
Kaiden rubbed his stinging head and grumbled indignantly. Then, sensing someone’s gaze, he turned around.
The Princess was standing halfway up the stairs, covering her lips as she laughed.
“P-Princess!”
The startled knights hurriedly jumped to their feet.
Axid also stood up with them and looked at her with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m sorry. I only came down to wet my throat. I had no intention of eavesdropping on you.”
“T-that’s…”
“It’s fine. Honestly, if I were in your position, I probably would have suspected the same thing.”
Kaiden stood awkwardly, cold sweat trickling down his face.
No matter how much he disliked the Princess, treating her like a criminal was a grave discourtesy.
“Princess, please, have a seat first…”
“It’s all right. I don’t intend to stay long anyway.”
She gently declined.
She had no intention of intruding awkwardly into a gathering meant only for the men.
But she should clear up the misunderstanding before leaving.
“The reason I have so little luggage is because I can’t buy clothes suitable for the North here.”
Clothes she would not be able to wear in such a cold place anyway.
Even if she packed them all up and took them with her, they would only become unnecessary baggage.
“…And, although this is embarrassing to admit in front of you, I had no trustworthy attendants to bring with me.”
The only attendants she had were the maids of the Princess’s Palace.
She was already sick and tired of them. Why would she bring them all the way to the North?
“I couldn’t live like a human being here for even a single day. So you may put aside the suspicion that I might run away.”
She gave a bitter, somewhat forced smile.
Kaiden flushed awkwardly and avoided her gaze.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for interrupting you all while you were enjoying yourselves.”
“N-No, Your Highness! You weren’t interrupting us at all!”
Brian nudged Kaiden in the side.
Kaiden hesitated for a moment before lowering his head.
“…I apologize for being rude to you, Your Highness.”
Lumiere nodded, letting him know it was all right, then turned her gaze away.
Axid was watching her with an unsettled look in his eyes.
“Grand Duke, then I’ll head back upstairs.”
If she stayed any longer, she felt the atmosphere might become painfully awkward.
After returning upstairs toward her room, she suddenly heard heavy footsteps behind her and turned around.
Axid was standing there with a stiff expression.
“I will not make excuses.”
“……”
“But something like what happened today will never happen again.”
Lumiere gave a faint smile at the sight of his firmly pressed lips after he finished speaking.
“Please don’t worry about it too much. I actually think it was fortunate that I was able to learn what my companions truly thought so early on.”
There had to be a time when they could speak honestly with one another anyway.
Kaiden had merely given her that opportunity.
She was neither hurt nor angry.
If anything, she was almost grateful to him.
Besides, Kaiden was known throughout the Grand Duchy as a mad dog because of his reckless words and actions.
His temper was fiery and his personality prickly, but beneath that, he was surprisingly affectionate and soft-hearted.
Now that she had given him a favor to repay, perhaps he would be useful to her someday.
“Then I’ll go to bed now. Don’t drink too much, and get some rest early.”
She lightly ran her hand down his arm before entering her room.
Click.
“……”
Axid stared at the firmly closed door.
Downstairs, he had remained silent and merely listened.
She certainly had not seemed like someone who intended to run away, but he could not understand her either.
Even in a situation that should have offended her, she had simply laughed it off.
She had even casually brushed her hand over his arm as though they were already familiar.
And above all—
“…If anything, I’ve been waiting for it.”
She had said she had been waiting for the marriage everyone else desperately wanted to avoid.
Not a single thing about her had gone as he expected.
With a complicated expression, he rubbed the place on his arm where her touch had lingered for a long time.
The next day.
Before leaving the capital, they went into the busy commercial district lined with shops because Lumiere had a few things she wanted to purchase.
“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll be back soon.”
Lumiere asked Axid’s permission with an innocent expression.
It was a boutique filled with various cosmetics and all sorts of dazzling things to see.
There was no reason a man could not enter, but she felt that if he came in with her, that already stiff expression of his might become even more rigid.
“It’s fine. Take your time looking around. I’ll wait here.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he surveyed his surroundings.
The way he naturally remained alert made her feel strangely reassured.
Why had she been so afraid of this man in her previous life?
“…Is there something you want to say?”
Had she been staring at him too much?
Unlike his firmly set lips, his black eyes were trembling slightly.
His awkward expression made her want to laugh.
Well, then again—
He was someone who had spent his entire life receiving nothing but looks of either awe or fear.
This was probably the first time someone had openly stared at him like this, so naturally he would be flustered.
“It’s nothing. I’ll be back soon.”
She turned lightly and entered the boutique.
Ding!
After the clear sound of the doorbell rang, the voices of the knights could be faintly heard through the slowly closing door.
“…Vice Captain, aren’t you going after her?”
“Shut up!”
“Why? You said yesterday that we had to keep an eye on the Princess.”
“Should we go instead?”
“Enough, you bastards…!”
A small laugh escaped her lips.
Just moments ago, they had been standing alert and keeping a disciplined watch over their surroundings.
Seeing them bicker and tease one another like that was rather endearing.
In her previous life, she had been so afraid of them that she had not only fainted but had spent the entire carriage ride trembling in fear…
Yet they, too, were simply ordinary people.
The thought that her behavior in her previous life might have hurt them in its own way left her feeling bitter.
“Welcome. It is an honor to have such a distinguished guest visit our boutique. How may I assist you?”
The employee’s polite greeting pulled her from her thoughts, and she spoke.
“I’d like to purchase some moisturizer suitable for use in a cold climate. I’m thinking of buying the entire stock. How much do you have available?”
Most moisturizers in the North were made from animal fat, so they had a strong, unpleasant odor.
The Empire’s products, on the other hand, smelled pleasant and had a much smoother texture.
Since they would be difficult to obtain in the North, they would come in handy in many ways.
She intended to take as much as possible.
“Fortunately, a new shipment arrived this morning, so I believe we can provide you with as much as you’d like. Please, take a look.”
She followed the employee into a small storage room.
“This should be enough.”
The products she wanted were stacked in layers inside wooden crates across the floor.
She handed over her money pouch.
“I’ll purchase everything. Will this be enough to cover the cost?”
“Yes. Where would you like us to send the goods?”
“I’ll load them into my carriage, so just bring them out…”
At that moment, a woman who had been glancing at her uncertainly for some time approached.
“My goodness! I had my suspicions, but you really are the Princess.”
“…What is it?”
Lumiere instinctively became wary.
There was no one here who would approach her for a good reason.
More importantly, that arrogant face looked strangely familiar.
“I’m not sure why the Princess, who I heard had already departed for the Grand Duchy, is here alone, but surely you didn’t follow Lady Clora Edvard here, did you?”
The woman stepped aside with a smile, as though she had stumbled upon something entertaining.
And the person standing behind her was naturally revealed.
“……”
Hair that shimmered as though it had been sprinkled with gold dust.
Eyes as blue as a lake.
Clora Edvard—
Her romantic rival from her previous life.
