The Crown Prince’s Fiancée – Chapter 25
“Well, if that’s how you feel, Arti, I’ll let it go just this once.Ah, I really do have a big heart.I’m only letting it slide because I’m so generous.Arti is a lucky little sister, isn’t she?”
“…Yes, Brother.”
Generous, my foot.
What kind of generous person crosses a whole dance floor just because someone avoided his eyes?
And after scattering all the dancers in every direction, no less.
“Terni.”
The middle-aged gentleman who had been silent until now called Terni’s name.
Who is he?
After exchanging a nod of greeting with Crown Prince Adrian, the gentleman looked at me.
Terni, smiling, looked back and forth between me and the gentleman.
“Ah, right. I almost forgot. Say hello, Arti.”
“Ah… Good evening…”
Judging by the mood, that man seemed to be my father.
I had greeted him, but things were turning out strangely awkward.
The people had stopped dancing and were only staring in our direction.
Ugh, damn.
Did I sound too much like a stranger?
“Well, then, Marquis…”
I opened my mouth to greet him again, but at the way I addressed him, Terni scowled and crossed his arms in an X.
This isn’t right?
My pupils quaked, and I had no idea what to say, until Terni mouthed something again, soundlessly.
‘Dad, Dad.’
Ah, am I supposed to call him Dad?
“D-Dad…”
An awkward voice slipped out.
Calling a strange man “Dad” made it hard to get the word out at all.
On top of that, Marquis Obiedo was a far more dignified and dapper gentleman than I had imagined.
So much so that it was impossible to connect him with having a son like Terni.
“W-well, yes.”
His Excellency the Marquis, who was receiving the greeting, looked as if he were dying of awkwardness too.
An awkward air hung between us.
What do I do now?
While I was fully savoring that awkward silence, I heard the sound of grinding teeth beside me.
My body tensed in an instant.
“You’re dead.”
At the murderous voice that only I could hear, I broke into a fit of nerves and ran forward.
“Dad! It’s been so long!”
At my tearful greeting, His Excellency the Marquis cried out in turn and caught me.
“W-well, yes. My daughter!”
“How long has it been? Sob, Dad!”
“Yes, yes. It’s b-b-been a long time!”
We had clearly never met before, yet we embraced in a tearful reunion.
I had thrown myself happily into his arms, but what came next?
The Marquis Obiedo who held me seemed just as lost.
The temporary father and I began to steal glances at each other.
I set aside Terni, who was watching us beside us with a satisfied expression.
What on earth should we talk about?
As I tried to read the mood, my eyes met Adrian’s again.
The Crown Prince’s gaze was murdering me.
Father seemed to have seen it too.
“H-have you been well? My daughter.”
“Have I been wel… How could I have been, Dad, I missed you so much!”
“W-well, yes. I missed you too.”
“You’ve… gotten so thin. You’re thinner than the last time I saw you.”
“Yes. I’ve been a little…”
Because I’ve endured so much heartache.
…I wanted to answer, but Crown Prince Adrian beside me looked at me and smiled coldly.
“No, I haven’t!! I’m eating well!!”
When I shouted at the top of my lungs, Father was startled and answered in an equally booming voice.
“I see!! I must have been mistaken!!”
The booming voices of father and daughter echoed across the hall.
Everyone sincerely celebrated the reunion of us fake father and daughter.
My face burned on its own under the shower of applause.
Everyone is watching us.
I was wondering how I might get through this atmosphere without incident when two unfamiliar people broke through the applause and approached us.
No, one of them was a familiar face.
“Oh my, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
Gabriel!
Adrian instantly stuck to my side.
I let go of Father and grabbed the Crown Prince’s hand.
“Ah, so this is where you were. I nearly couldn’t find you, Marquis Obiedo.”
“Well, if it isn’t His Excellency the Chancellor. You were looking for me.”
His Excellency the Chancellor?
Then did that mean he was Gabriel’s father?
Just as Gabriel was pretty to look at, His Excellency the Chancellor was handsome too.
In the meantime, Gabriel approached Adrian and greeted him.
“Oh my, Your Highness. So you’re here?”
“Yes.”
“My, my~ Did you miss me that much?
I was just over there.
How did you know I was here?
Ho ho ho.”
I heard teeth grinding beside me.
Crown Prince Adrian squeezed my hand tightly.
Thanks to him, the hand he was holding was crumbling to pieces.
It hurts…
“Oh dear, you can’t take your eyes off me. Your Highness, it’s embarrassing when you look at me with such passionate eyes! And the other ladies will get jealous! Do spare a little glance for Miss Fiancée, too~.”
When Gabriel covered her mouth with her fan and laughed, I heard Adrian’s hollow laughter beside me.
“I want to tear that mouth open.”
It was a murderous voice that only my ears could hear.
There was real sincerity in it.
Gabriel’s life is in danger.
It was rare for the Crown Prince, who cared nothing for consequences, to turn so grave, and I was tense, not knowing what kind of incident might erupt, when Gabriel’s gaze moved to Terni, who had been laughing openly beside us.
“Young Master, it’s no use looking at me like that, no matter how hard you try. No matter how many smiles you send my way, there’s only one person in my heart, His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Terni, who had been guffawing with all his might, was struck by a bolt from the blue, and his laughter dropped into a straight face.
“What is she saying? Crazy woman.”
Terni’s voice was audible only to my ears.
To make the great Terni go stone-faced, she truly lived up to her reputation.
“This is why being pretty is so exhausting~.”
Everyone was staring at Gabriel with straight faces, yet she alone was oblivious to the mood.
“Ha ha. You are so well loved, my daughter.”
“Oh, Father, honestly. This much is only to be expected. Ho ho.”
No, there was one more.
Leaving that hopeless father and daughter aside, the rest of us were all driven out of our minds.
What an incredible talent.
It’s hard enough to see things so conveniently in one’s own favor.
“It feels like it’s been quite a while, Your Highness the Crown Prince. You are so busy that one can hardly manage to see your face.”
The Chancellor, bringing Gabriel along, acknowledged Crown Prince Adrian.
Perhaps intending to use me as a shield, the Crown Prince pulled me even closer to block the two from approaching.
I have become a living shield.
“How unfortunate. Still, I’m glad we could meet like this after so long.”
“Ha ha. Indeed.
My son ought to be of help to our Crown Prince.
But now he’s busy attending to His Majesty the Emperor in person.”
“Oh, is that so?”
In a tone that made it openly clear he had no interest, Adrian looked at me.
W-what?!
Since our eyes kept meeting, Adrian soon scowled.
Ah, what is it now!
He looked ready to murder me with his eyes again, so I quickly looked at Terni.
Terni was too busy playing with the Marquis to notice.
That useless brother of mine.
Under the Crown Prince’s increasingly vicious gaze, I felt my life threatened and let out a sound without meaning to.
“Aah.”
I don’t want to die yet!
I had squeezed my eyes shut when, abruptly, the Crown Prince pulled me into his arms and smiled.
“Oh dear, you must be tired from standing so long.”
No.
It doesn’t hurt at all.
I squinted up at Adrian.
Wearing a sweet smile I had never seen before, Adrian spoke to me gently.
“It is time to rest.”
“Y-yes?”
Ignoring my question, Adrian looked at the Chancellor and Gabriel.
“It was a pleasure to chat. I must move to another seat for my fiancée’s sake. Let us make time again soon, Your Excellency the Chancellor.”
“Oh, the prospective crown princess must be very tired in the legs. Of course, of course.”
“Then, if you’ll excuse us.”
Smiling, the Crown Prince led me to one of the sofas arranged here and there in the hall.
The moment we were away from the Chancellor, the Crown Prince’s expression crumpled instantly.
“…I’ll kill him first.”
Pretending not to hear the Crown Prince’s ominous mutter, I walked carefully, lest I misstep.
Even the walk to rest was anything but peaceful.
Perhaps intent on never leaving Crown Prince Adrian alone, people greeted us and spoke to us from every direction.
The Crown Prince answered with practiced skill and brushed them off as appropriate, but no, in fact, he gave only curt replies with an openly annoyed look, yet everyone managed, by some amazing ability, to keep the conversation going on their own.
As expected, being a noble wasn’t something just anyone could do.
“Sit here.”
When I sat on the sofa, Crown Prince Adrian sat beside me with his legs crossed.
He scowled as though he would kill everyone, then closed his eyes and quietly let out a sigh.
He seemed tired.
I sometimes forgot it because of his temper, but the Crown Prince truly was a perfect prince who could have stepped out of a picture book.
Many ladies must be fooled by that outer shell.
With nothing in particular to do, I looked around.
The noblewomen who had been talking among themselves, and the other gentlemen too, were all glancing at Crown Prince Adrian.
As expected of the Crown Prince, he was immensely popular.
Diano had come to stand next to us, I didn’t know when.
Was the order to scowl still in effect? He scowled diligently.
He gave off such a vicious air that the nobles who were about to approach met Diano’s eyes and promptly backed away.
