IFGO 12

Chapter 12

In the original novel I had read, Crown Prince Kyle was described as someone with a personality like a wall.

Not only was he cold toward Ariel, the fake saintess, but it also took him a very long time to open his heart to Camilla, the true saintess.

That didn’t mean he was some kind of bookworm or a useless noble.

Kyle was portrayed as a talented successor who had reached the realm of a Sword Master, and he possessed excellent leadership and judgment as well.

It was just that he devoted all his attention to swords and politics, so he had no interest in women.

Considering that Camilla was described as the first woman who ever drew his attention, it was strange.

Then why was someone like him showing so much interest in me?

“Saintess.”

When I heard his voice, I snapped back to reality.

His crimson eyes were looking at me, demanding an answer.

I tried to figure out his intentions, but eventually I could only ask back with an awkward expression.

“Is there something you need from me?”

My voice was so quiet that only he could probably hear it.

At my words, his eyebrows furrowed.

A cool scent reached the tip of my nose, and his low voice brushed against my ears.

“You’re a little strange today.”

His words hit the mark, but I answered without panicking.

“What do you mean by strange?”

His eyebrow twitched.

“Was it delivering the will of the gods, or interpreting the lightning strike as a blessing?”

He knew that I was a fake saintess.

After all, he was, alongside Rayhas, one of the main people responsible for placing a fake saintess like me in this position.

Soon, his cold voice followed.

“You accomplished something today, so does that mean your work is finished?”

Wasn’t that a win-win situation for both of us?

“You seem to have changed enough that I might mistake you for someone else.”

At his words, I calmly replied.

“I think I’ve lived too carelessly until now, so I decided to change.”

I used the same turning over a new leaf excuse I had used on Rayhas.

“……”

A brief silence passed before his quiet voice continued.

“Even if I accept your resolution, you haven’t forgotten what you need to explain today, have you?”

The moment I met his deep crimson eyes, I flinched.

Something I needed to explain?

A sudden sense of unease filled my mind.

As I looked at him with confusion, his voice continued.

“The marriage proposal letter you sent me last time.”

At that moment, I froze and looked up at him with wide eyes.

I knew that Ariel, in the original story, had a crush on Crown Prince Kyle.

But…

‘She sent him a marriage proposal letter?’

I had no idea about that part, so I couldn’t help but panic.

He continued.

“You said you would give me an answer by today.”

I felt dizzy.

‘Oh, Ariel.’

Crown Prince Kyle brushed past my shoulder and began walking forward.

Since the center of the banquet hall had already become a place where nobles were dancing, there was nothing particularly strange about the main character of the banquet briefly leaving.

I watched his retreating shoulders and regretted my decision.

‘I should have just returned to the temple immediately when the statue was struck by lightning.’

But it was already too late.

I had chosen a different path, and now I had to clean up the mess Ariel from the past had created.

Either way, his answer would probably be…

Politely refuse.
Harshly refuse.

It would be one of those two.

Still, I could only hope that saving him earlier today would work in my favor and result in option one.

Clenching my fists tightly, I followed him toward the balcony.

The glass balcony was quite spacious, and there was no one else there.

I closed the door so our voices wouldn’t leak outside.

He slowly turned toward me.

His red hair, illuminated by the moonlight behind him, shimmered with a strange hue.

Looking at his expression that was anything but pleasant and his slightly twisted red lips, I thought.

It seemed our relationship had already gone beyond being merely “reasonably friendly.”

But human relationships depended on effort, didn’t they?

I saw him open his lips with a stiff expression.

“I knew you had lost your mind, but I never expected you to send a letter like that.”

His terrifying gaze looked as if a murderous intent was flowing through it, though perhaps that was only my imagination.

‘Ariel… That was really a marriage proposal letter, not a challenge to a duel, right?’

I swallowed back my tears.

“Writing such a letter… Do you even have awareness as a saintess?”

Thinking that his answer might be as close as the sword hanging at his waist, I quickly spoke first.

“That marriage proposal letter was a mistake.”

At my words, his eyebrows rose.

“A mistake?”

I didn’t know the contents of the letter, but knowing Ariel, it probably wasn’t much different from the childishness of that blessing speech.

“That was a mistake?”

“Yes. So… I think I must have accidentally drunk something like alcohol and gotten drunk.”

Nothing better came to mind.

“I must have written whatever came to mind while drunk and sent it to His Highness.”

I then put on an expression that genuinely looked apologetic.

“I’m really sorry.”

Although it felt unfair to apologize for something I hadn’t done, I couldn’t exactly explain that the previous owner of this body was responsible.

‘It’s troublesome. Let’s just smooth this over.’

“But I helped Your Highness earlier, so please consider that mistake canceled out.”

In my judgment, that was a reasonable request.

“……”

A long silence passed between us.

He stared at me for a long time with crimson eyes filled with an unreadable emotion.

Then he reached out his hand.

I felt his fingers touch my chin.

A moment later, my head was lifted toward him.

“……”

Standing so close that we were almost touching felt extremely awkward.

Wasn’t this the kind of distance that would suit Camilla, the heroine?

‘At this point, shouldn’t you let me go?’

“Calling it a mistake, a mistake…”

He opened his lips while looking at my trembling eyes.

“For a mistake, it was remarkably specific. Shockingly so.”

Since I didn’t know what was written in the letter, I simply kept my mouth shut and looked at him.

His lips twisted into a strange shape.

“Fortunately, it came directly into my hands. If word got out that the saintess wrote something like that, the entire empire would be turned upside down.”

At that moment, I began feeling uneasy.

‘Just what kind of letter did Ariel write?’

Was it even more childish than the blessing speech she wrote before?

“I honestly don’t really remember the contents of the letter.”

I forced a smile.

His eyebrows hardened, and he growled.

“You don’t remember?”

His gaze was so frightening that I looked at him nervously.

“You wrote in detail about how every night you thought of me, what kind of love you wished to share with me…”

“……What?”

“And how happy you would be if I accepted your proposal.”

My mind stopped for a moment.

“It was eight pages long.”

Eight pages.

The description itself.

Ariel… you hopeless idiot.

‘So you wrote an adult romance novel in that marriage proposal letter?’

What on earth was going through her head when she did that to Kyle?

My mind went blank, and after struggling for a while, I barely managed to speak.

“……I, actually, drank an entire barrel of alcohol and poured it down my throat. That’s why I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

After hearing that, his eyes became even sharper.

Then he said,

“People often become honest after drinking.”

“Honest?”

“About their most primitive desires.”

“That’s not honesty. That’s just insanity.”

I shook my head, my lips twitching slightly.

I didn’t know why I had to feel this embarrassed over something Ariel had done, but I was dying of shame.

“So please pretend it never happened.”

I had just saved him from a crisis involving the statue explosion, hadn’t I?

“Please accept what I said about Ciel’s blessing today as part of my apology.”

Although somehow, that also felt like it was related to me.

“I’m sorry for bothering Your Highness all this time. The same goes for that inappropriate letter that was practically sexual harassment. From now on, I will focus on my role and make sure such unpleasant incidents never happen again…”

“You.”

He cut off my rambling explanation.

His rough voice made my heart sink, and his strange gaze pierced through me.

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

I blinked.

At that moment, I felt like his eyes were desperately trying to uncover my true intentions.

“What? Making fun of you?”

“The letter… I received that letter and for several nights I couldn’t even sleep because of how much…”

Kyle stopped himself.

His crimson eyes flickered with a dangerous light.

When Kyle growled and was about to speak again with a terrifying presence—

KRA-KOOOOM!