Chapter 67

The Crown Prince’s Fiancée – Chapter 67

Essen couldn’t make sense of the situation, but he could tell it was working against him.

“I’m sorry, Essen.”

“…”

He wanted to ask what she was sorry for, but Arti looked so sincerely apologetic that Essen couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“I’ll just step away somewhere with Sir Diano for a bit.”

“Where are you going?”

At Essen’s question, Diano answered in her place.

“That’s a secret.”

Essen’s face crumpled at once, but Diano paid it no mind.

“I’ll be with her, so don’t worry about the guard duty. If you’re really that worried, you can follow from a distance.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, Essen. We have things to discuss among ourselves.”

Essen’s brows knitted together. To him, the scene looked deeply suspicious and strange.

When Essen didn’t answer, Diano handed Arti something neatly wrapped that he had brought with him.

“Our ‘Dear One’ asked me to pass this to you, Miss Arti.”

“From our ‘Dear One’!”

Dear One?

“I’m so curious what it is! I want to open it right away.”

“Not here.”

“True, not here.”

Arti cleared her throat with an ahem and glanced at Essen. Diano lowered his voice and whispered to Arti.

“This morning, too, was so adorable. Already grown by 0.01 centimeters.”

“Already that much! I can’t wait to see!”

“And yesterday, how well it ate! I thought my salary would be wiped out.”

“I want to ruin myself on fandom, too!”

Unable to understand what Arti had said, Essen frowned again.

‘What’s fandom? I get the part about ruining yourself.’

“You can’t keep up with me on that. Heh heh. When it comes to squandering a fortune, I’ll be the best, without a doubt.”

“I won’t lose!”

“Anyway, I have so much more I want to tell you besides this…”

Diano glanced at Essen. This was the same guy who usually clung to him begging for a spar, and seeing him act like this put Essen in a sour mood.

“Essen.”

In the end, Arti stepped in.

“I’m Arti’s bodyguard, so I can never be separated from her.”

Sensing danger, Essen tried to protest, but it didn’t work on Arti.

“It’s all right! Just stay here for thirty minutes!”

With a bright smile, Arti gave Essen her order.

“Now, let’s go, Sir Diano!”

Watching Arti’s retreating back as she led Diano away, Essen pressed a hand to his forehead.

“…Was I just abandoned?”

* * *

The Asa-mo meeting with Diano, my first since I’d been tormented by those false rumors, made me very happy.

It was wonderful to have someone to talk with and rejoice together over Acacia’s growth, however small the detail.

‘I should tell Michael, our other Asa-mo member, what I learned today.’

Every member had an equal right to hear about Acacia.

So, taking advantage of the short while Essen was away to see Adrian, I headed for the garden.

“Michael!”

I had been worried about what I’d do if I couldn’t see him today, so I was glad to spot Michael the moment I reached the garden.

“Lara.”

“Michael, it’s been so long!”

“It has. Have you been well all this time?”

Seeing Michael after so long, I thought he looked a little worn out. I smiled and nodded.

“Yes. I’ve been well.”

“That’s good.”

“Actually, a lot happened, but it’s all been resolved nicely!”

At my words, Michael smiled faintly.

“I’m glad it was resolved nicely.”

I nodded with a smile.

“Have you been well, too, Michael?”

“Lately… not so well.”

“Lately?”

Michael nodded. Rubbing his temple, he spoke with a truly exhausted face.

“It’s my sister. Ah, I told you before. I have a younger sister, and she’s gotten herself caught up in gossip.”

“Oh dear. Gossip?”

“Yes. Well, it was her own fault, so I think it can’t be helped that this happened…”

Michael let out a long sigh.

“My sister believes she’s done nothing wrong at all, so I warned her firmly that it must never happen again, but the problem is that Father indulges her far too much.”

“You must be so worried.”

I had only just been caught up in gossip myself, so my heart ached for him.

“Actually, I was recently caught up in some completely absurd false rumors, too, and it was really hard.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! It wasn’t my fault, and it all came from an unnecessary misunderstanding…”

When I’d talked with other people, I hadn’t been able to speak properly about how I felt or what I thought, for fear of worrying them, but perhaps because it was Michael, the words came flowing out.

“The truth is, it was the doing of someone who dislikes me intensely. Isn’t that so petty? She bullied me directly, and when that didn’t work, she switched to bullying me in a roundabout way.”

No matter how I thought about it, Gabriel was someone I couldn’t understand.

“I haven’t been unkind to her, so I can’t understand why she dislikes me so much. Even if she did dislike me, did she really have to go that far…”

Little by little, I came to understand why the Crown Prince had started saying “that woman” and avoiding even speaking Gabriel’s name.

Having to deal with someone incomprehensible for a long time was truly an ordeal.

“Ugh, seriously.”

All sorts of emotions welled up. Then I suddenly noticed that Michael had gone quiet.

“Michael?”

“Ah. Yes. I’m listening, Lara.”

Michael answered sheepishly. I felt sheepish right along with him for no reason.

“It’s not a pleasant story, so let’s move on. You look really tired, so please go home early today and get plenty of rest.”

“Thank you for worrying about me. I will.”

It was a short meeting. When I got up, Michael rose with me.

“Please rest well, too, Lara.”

“Yes, I will!”

I was waving as I saw Michael off when I belatedly realized why I had come looking for him.

“Oh, right! I was going to tell him about Acacia!”

By the time I realized it, it was already too late.

* * *

Pausing his guard duty over Arti for a moment, Essen headed to Poinsettia Palace.

Arti thought Essen had gone to see Adrian, but the truth was different.

“Hey. Come out.”

The moment he spotted Diano, Essen tossed him a sword.

Diano, who had been guarding the door of Adrian’s office, stood up in bewilderment.

“Sir Essen. What brings you here?”

“I have business with you.”

“Pardon? With me?”

Diano thought for a moment, then lit up immediately.

“Are you finally going to spar with me?!”

Looking at Diano, whose eyes had instantly begun to sparkle, Essen smiled coldly.

“No. I’m going to beat you up from now on.”

“Pardon?”

Not understanding at all, Diano scratched his head. Essen was exasperated.

“Have you already forgotten what happened yesterday?”

“Yesterday?”

“You went off alone with Arti!”

When Essen snapped at him, Diano finally seemed to remember and wore a look of realization.

“Ah, so that did happen yesterday.”

“What, you forgot? You’re annoying.”

“Ha ha. That couldn’t be helped. Even for you, Sir Essen, that is our sacred gathering.”

“What on earth is it, anyway?”

At Essen’s question, Diano raised his sword and said,

“If you spar with me, I’ll tell you!”

“So that’s where it always ends up.”

He had expected it to go this way anyway, but Essen felt a little deflated.

He had thought Diano would resist, saying he couldn’t tell, yet here he was, swallowing the bait so readily.

‘Well, that works out well for me.’

Telling himself that all’s well that ends well, Essen nodded.

“Come on.”

“Yes, sir!”

The match ended anticlimactically.

Diano was a strong knight, easily worthy of being called a genius, but he was no match for Essen, who did nothing but eat and swing swords with Adrian.

“Wow. As expected, Sir Essen is on another level! Though not quite as much as His Highness!”

“Why am I below Adrian?”

“Because His Highness is the best.”

Essen snapped irritably, but Diano didn’t mind. In any case, as promised, Diano spilled all his secrets.

“Who’s Acacia?”

“My younger sibling.”

“Your sibling? You have a sibling?”

“Yes.”

Grinning goofily, Diano began to gush, with a revolting look on his face, about how adorable his sibling was.

Essen listened attentively at first, then looked at him as if he were a lunatic and left Diano, still praising Acacia, behind as he walked out of the training ground.

And so, on the way back to Lily Palace,

“The Asa-mo, huh.”

Essen remembered the intense sense of exclusion that had struck him yesterday.

‘I will never be left out again.’