The Crown Prince’s Fiancée — Chapter 43
* * *
A subtle tension hung in the air.
Arti caught her ragged breath, avoiding Adrian’s relentless gaze.
It had been a short chase, but running so suddenly had left her badly winded.
Looking at Arti’s flushed cheeks, Adrian clenched his teeth.
‘Even in this situation, I hate that I’m glad to see her after so long.’
Seeing her avert her eyes as though frightened, Adrian knit his brows.
“Why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not…….”
“You were.”
“I-I wasn’t, really.”
At Arti’s refusal to answer properly and her insistence on simply dodging the question, Adrian swallowed his anger.
He had thought that asking her directly would give him the answer, but he understood even less now.
He had no idea at all what was going on inside that tiny head.
Suppressing the urge to demand an answer right then and there, Adrian opened his mouth. In his own way, it was a kindness.
“Fine. Let’s say you weren’t avoiding me, as you claim. Then why did you run just now?”
“Th-that’s…….”
Arti clamped her mouth shut, having nothing to say.
Because she really had been avoiding him.
She hadn’t wanted to run into someone who had declared he would kill her now that she was no longer useful, not if she could help it.
All she had wanted was to live, so was that really so wrong?
Just as Arti hung her head lower, fumbling for words, a low voice struck her ear.
“Look at me.”
“……Pardon?”
“My eyes. Don’t look away.”
The Crown Prince’s command was simple, and one he often gave, but this time it was hard to obey.
Yet she felt she would die if she disobeyed, so Arti barely managed to raise her gaze.
Crimson eyes that looked only at her.
The imperial crest etched into those blood-red irises was vivid.
Her own reflection shimmered faintly within them.
“I’ll ask once more. Why on earth did you avoid me?”
Faced with his stubborn demeanor, as if he were determined to have an answer no matter what, Arti squeezed her eyes shut.
He had told her not to look away, but she simply couldn’t meet his gaze.
‘I can’t dodge the question like this, can I?’
Trapped by Adrian and unable to move an inch, with his relentless interrogation continuing, there would be no escaping this situation.
She had only not wanted to die.
No matter how hard she tried, she knew the Crown Prince could kill her whenever he chose, and so she had been afraid to stay by his side.
‘Besides, we can never be together anyway.’
As her thoughts grew tangled, tears burst forth. She couldn’t stop them in time.
When Arti suddenly broke into tears, Adrian couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“……Why are you crying?”
He couldn’t remember ever having comforted a crying person.
Adrian awkwardly raised his right hand, then froze at the words that followed from Arti.
“You said you’d let me go once Her Majesty the Empress’s birthday party was over……. So why are you doing this to me?”
Adrian slowly lowered his hand.
His chest throbbed as though someone had struck it hard with a fist. It was far from a pleasant feeling.
He couldn’t shake the feeling of being the worst scum in the world for having made Arti cry.
On top of that, it infuriated him that there was nothing he could do for his weeping fiancée.
‘Does she hate me that much?’
He had a premonition. That no matter what he did, he would never know what was in that head of hers.
He had known she was wary of him, but he hadn’t known she disliked him enough to cry.
Anyone else, he would have shouted at and raged against, but the despair came from knowing he couldn’t do that when it was Arti.
‘Even being with me must be dreadful for her.’
With a trembling hand, Adrian released Arti and stepped back.
Then he stared at her with a stiff expression.
Those blue eyes looking at him, red from crying, made his chest throb once more.
“Fine. This is truly the last time, so wait only until we find Essen.”
Arti’s eyes widened. She had been so sure she would hear him say he would kill her, but that wasn’t it at all.
“Since Essen isn’t here yet, you have no choice but to act as her stand-in.”
Only until Sir Essen returned. Just until then, she could stay by the Crown Prince’s side.
Wiping away her tears, Arti nodded.
“Understood.”
Gazing at Arti with a complicated look, Adrian abruptly turned and left the corridor.
The hearts of the two, who were thinking such different things, passed each other by.
‘I’m relieved he didn’t say he’d kill me. But what on earth was that dagger about……?’
In the end, Arti never got to ask what the dagger meant.
Chapter 10. While You Were Away
For some reason, the Crown Prince suddenly stopped appearing before me.
He no longer summoned me, saying I had to attend a party, and on the rare occasions we crossed paths, a light nod of greeting was all there was.
My life became more peaceful than ever. The lessons I’d been taking to cultivate the qualities of a future Crown Princess had also grown lax, and my free time had increased considerably.
And yet, why did everything feel so empty?
Ah, it must be because I’d heard that Acacia was leaving.
“Acacia, do you really have to go back to the territory? Can’t you stay?”
With the party over and my schedule freed up, I had thought I could spend more time with Acacia and had even made plans, only to hear this bolt from the blue.
“Acacia, stay with me, Sister!”
“I don’t want to be apart from you either, Sister!”
“Then stay with me. Please?”
“But, my brother and my parents……”
Since Sissignu had to return to the territory, Acacia had no choice but to go back as well.
“Doesn’t Sir Diano live at the capital residence?”
“But my brother has to go to work every day.”
What good was it that Diano lived at the capital residence?!
Diano went to the imperial palace to work every day, so in the end Acacia had no adult in the household to properly look after her, and that was why she had to go.
Apparently their parents had objected, saying it was unsettling to leave Acacia in Diano’s care.
“Acacia, I’ll be so sad if you go.”
“Me too, Sister Arti.”
After a round of tearful grumbling, we soon drank the tea that had been given as a gift from Sirius.
“Her Majesty the Empress sent it to me. How is it? Is it good?”
“It’s so sweet, Sister!”
“Right? The scent is lovely too.”
“Wow, it’s delicious!”
“Shall I pack some for you?”
“Is that all right?”
“Of course it is.”
When I signaled to the maid standing nearby, she stepped out.
I had grown used to such things from doing them so often. At first, even this had made me uncomfortable.
“Oh, Sister. Speaking of Sirius, it reminds me, Ronen sent me a letter.”
“A letter?”
“Yes. Didn’t you get one, Sister?”
“Hmm……. I didn’t get one.”
“That’s strange. Ronen said he sent them. A whole lot, he said.”
“I see.”
I hadn’t received a single thing.
I nodded, thinking I would ask the Crown Prince about it the next time I saw him.
* * *
With so much time on my hands, I went out for walks more often. Since I walked so frequently, I now felt confident I wouldn’t get lost.
“Oh, Michael. We meet again. I’m so glad to see you.”
“Lara. Did you get lost again today?”
“I know my way around by now, more or less.”
Michael was kind as ever today. A gentle, sweet, handsome man. He was the best.
I thought I was lucky to be able to be friends with a man like this.
“Actually, I came because I wanted to talk something over with you, Michael.”
“A counseling session, then.”
“Is it better to call it counseling?”
“It doesn’t matter what you call it. What is it this time?”
I couldn’t share the deeper circumstances, but having someone to talk to even this much brought me a great deal of peace of mind.
After our talk, as I watched Michael’s retreating back, I realized something.
“Oh, come to think of it, I didn’t bring the handkerchief.”
I resolved that the next time I saw Michael, I would be sure to return it.
I still hadn’t seen Crown Prince Adrian, but I had other people.
For example, a fellow fandom buddy.
Though he never brought up any other topic, Diano, the founding member of my AAS (Acacia Appreciation Society), was just that.
“This is the first flower Acacia ever gave me.”
“You made it into a bookmark! It’s been dried so beautifully, Sir Diano!”
“Of course. Look at who gave it to me.”
Diano chuckled and, as if showing off, pulled out something else.
“This is the gift she gave me yesterday.”
“That’s…….”
It was an empty bottle. When I tilted my head in confusion, Diano said proudly.
“She said she wanted a drink while we were out walking and made me buy it for her, and when she finished, she gave it to me, calling it a present.”
Wasn’t that just throwing her trash at you?
It was a gift I didn’t envy in the slightest. Still, Acacia was so cute. How clever of her to think of using Diano as a trash can.
As expected, Acacia is the future.
