The Proposal
Since the room Lirith and Charlotte had reduced to utter chaos was completely unusable, Camilla had brought the two of them to her own chambers to calm them down. They were drinking tea now, waiting for news.
Allen, eldest son of the Frigid family, had gone to his younger brother Edward’s room to try and fix the problem. Until they heard the results, the three women would simply talk here.
“Mother, do you really think that damn older brother of mine can cheer Ed up?”
Lirith’s expression was sour as she voiced her doubts about Allen.
Yes, Allen had spent a lot of time with Edward when they were children, making him laugh. But more than ten years had passed since then. Not a single exchange, not even a letter or any other contact. He certainly hadn’t reached out to Edward on his own. Edward would have had no reason to hide any correspondence with his brother either.
So today would be their first meeting in over a decade. Would simply seeing his older brother after all that time really help anything? Lirith’s private hope was that Allen wouldn’t just smirk and end up irritating Edward instead.
“You’re right! I just want Ed to feel better soon…”
Charlotte’s expression was equally uncertain; she was just as worried.
That slippery snake Allen—had he only used her so he wouldn’t get beaten to death by Lirith? Yet his words had been so sweet that her ears had perked up despite herself. He had claimed it was for her future with Edward as well…
He must have known why the Imperial Debutante had been held at the Frigid Grand Ducal Castle yesterday. After all, the moment he learned Edward’s condition had worsened, he had come straight here today. Of course he would know that information. Which meant he also knew the true purpose of the Imperial Debutante—her plan to bind herself to Edward.
And the way to lift Edward’s spirits was for the two of them to be joined?
Wait a second…
Something felt off. Charlotte suddenly wondered whether she had been thinking far too positively. He had never said “the two of us.” He had said “everyone’s future.” What if those words had only been a desperate ploy to escape the moment Lirith was about to beat him to death?
“I’ve been played!!”
Charlotte shouted in sudden fury after thinking it through alone.
“Let’s just wait and see… Your Highness as well. Please try to calm yourself for now.”
Camilla felt a headache coming on as she watched Lirith and Charlotte, but she soothed them both and decided they would wait.
The reason she had trusted her runaway eldest son Allen enough to send him to her youngest, Edward, was that she had her own grounds for believing in him. That constantly smiling face of his might make him seem frivolous, yet Camilla, as his mother, knew perfectly well that the boy was no ordinary person. His abilities were considerable as well. Physical strength was one thing—women dominated that domain in this world—but in every other area he had shown outstanding talent. There had even been moments when she thought she could entrust the position of family head to him.
Then, out of nowhere, he had left a note and vanished.
Still, she believed he was not a child without thought or plan. She simply hoped Allen would be of help to Edward, and waited for the outcome.
And so the women continued fretting and lamenting together while they waited for word of Edward.
“Lirith is right, you know… If I hadn’t forced the Debutante to happen…”
Charlotte was in the middle of berating herself when a knock sounded at the door.
Knock knock.
“I’m coming in, Mother.”
The voice they had been so anxiously waiting for—Edward’s—reached them from outside.
“Ed?”
“Ed! / Ed!”
.
.
.
Creeeak.
“Ah. So you’re here too, Sister. And… Your Highness as well…”
When he opened the door, Camilla was not alone; Lirith and Charlotte were with her.
Ugh, looking at her now is a little embarrassing…
Marry her.
The princess.
The conversation he had just had with his brother Allen in his room came flooding back.
“Are you all right? / Are you okay? / Are you feeling better?”
All three of them approached, examining him carefully and asking after his health. He really had made them worry a great deal.
“Haha… Yes, thanks to Brother.”
He was grateful to Allen in more ways than one. Not only had he offered a solution, he had given Edward the strength to pull himself together again. Without him, Edward would probably still be having fits alone in his room.
“That man Allen… no, Big Brother actually helped! Ed♡”
Whoosh.
Lirith threw her arms around him in pure joy. Ordinarily he would have simply pushed her away, but he could feel her body trembling slightly and found he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Grab.
“Haa… Thank goodness. If nothing had worked I was going to finish beating him myself…”
This time Camilla took his hand, stroking it with clear relief.
But the words that followed…?
“Beat him?”
“Ahem! Never mind that. Ed… are you feeling a little better?”
When he asked the obvious question, Camilla cleared her throat and inquired after his condition again.
“Hiiing.”
He gently pushed Lirith away so he could answer his mother; she made a soft, disappointed sound of protest. Still, he needed to lower his head and apologize to Camilla, so there was no choice.
“Yes. I’m sorry for causing you so much worry.”
He bowed his head to Camilla.
“It’s all right… Yesterday must have been difficult for you in many ways. That woman who frightened you is no longer here. We won’t let her come back.”
“That’s right! Some woman you’d never met suddenly tried to threaten you—of course you were scared! If she shows up again, this big sister will teach her a lesson!”
“Ed, you’re safe now. That Hero isn’t here. The Imperial Family will keep a close watch on her as well!”
Instead of accepting his apology, they understood, comforted, and encouraged him. It would have been natural for them to find it strange that he had collapsed and gone berserk at the sight of a woman he had never met before… yet from their perspective Lee Hye-yeong must have looked like a complete lunatic. They simply soothed him, telling him to relax because the Hero was gone.
“Yes, thank you… Um… more than that, Your Highness.”
After offering his thanks, he called out to Charlotte.
Well, I hadn’t planned on doing this right this second…
Little brother! This big brother will handle the arrangements from here, so just wait!
No. First I want to speak with Mother and Sister…
W-wait, then this big brother’s life will be in danger!
…What?
You understand, little brother?
Ah… yes… Still, I want to show them I’m healthy, so I’ll go see Mother first.
Huh? Oh, right…
He still didn’t know why Allen had looked so panicked, but Charlotte was standing right in front of him now.
Strike while the iron is hot.
“Ed…?”
Charlotte looked at him with curious eyes at being called.
Mm, she really is beautiful up close.
And he remembered the expression she had worn last night while watching him cry and thrash. She had looked just as heartbroken as his own family. He remembered how hard she had worked alongside the others to calm him.
The princess likes you purely for who you are…
Even someone as dense as you should be able to tell she has feelings for you from the way she acts…
His mother’s and brother’s words about her rose in his mind. How could he not know? The faint flush on her cheeks at being called by him was proof enough.
“I have something I wish to say to you.”
She must truly like him. Some people might call him conceited… or accuse him of having a prince complex… but when he thought about it carefully, it could only be true.
Charlotte had lived in the Imperial Palace since childhood, yet every time there was an event at Frigid she had always traveled all the way to this distant northern region. She had always come to greet him with a smile and tried to give him something. Back then he had assumed it was merely to strengthen the bond between the Imperial Family and the Grand Ducal House… but looking back now, she had simply wanted to see him. She had wanted to be kind to him. He had never returned the favor or shown any particularly warm reaction, yet she had always been kind to him.
The more he thought about it, the more of a bastard he felt like. He had spent years ignoring the feelings of someone so high-ranking and beautiful…
All right. He would say it.
He still wasn’t sure whether he loved Charlotte or felt that kind of emotion for her. But with her… it might be all right. She was incomparable to the madwomen who had drowned him across so many lives.
Just as he opened his mouth—
“No! Ed!”
His sister Lirith screamed and tried to stop him.
“Sister?”
What’s gotten into her all of a sudden?
“Lirith? What’s the matter?”
Camilla was just as confused; she asked why Lirith was acting this way.
“Ed! I don’t know what Allen—no, Big Brother—told you, but let’s talk it over with the family first!”
Lirith’s voice was frantic as she tried to hold him back. Did she somehow know what he was about to say?
“Lirith! Calm down for a moment! I don’t know the details either, but for now, as your sister says…”
Camilla tried to soothe Lirith and suggested he speak later, but—
“No. I’ll say it now.”
He had no intention of waiting. Strike while the iron is hot.
“Ed, no!”
Why is she wailing like that?
“Ed?”
He had already told Charlotte he had something to say; putting it off now would simply be rude.
“Your Highness, I know it is improper to skip the Debutante and do this…”
He understood the etiquette of this world well enough. Everything had its proper order, and he was about to break that order, so he asked for her understanding first.
“Pardon…?”
Charlotte looked puzzled by his words.
Mm, she probably can’t guess what I’m about to say. I’m ignoring every procedure… and this is something a man of this world would never normally utter…
He slowly sank to one knee, gently took her hand, and opened his mouth.
“Will you marry me?”
The words he had never been able to speak to anyone across all his lives. More accurately, the words he had never gotten the chance to speak because the madwomen had always drowned him first.
Charlotte, the one who heard the confession, first looked briefly stunned.
“I didn’t mishear you just now… did I?”
Then her face lit up with a radiant smile as she stretched both arms out, ready to throw herself into his embrace.
“This moment… it isn’t a dream, is it? I’m so happy!”
And watching the entire scene, his sister Lirith let out a scream of pure despair.
“No!!”