Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Waking Up from the Dream and Realizing Reality
The balcony in the corner of the banquet hall was a place created for nobles to hold private conversations away from prying ears.
The inside was too noisy.
Dozens, hundreds of nobles laughed, chatted, and clinked glasses together, making it a terrible place for serious discussions.
The balcony was different.
Thick curtains filtered out most of the noise, while the cool night air eased the heat.
If two people stood close enough and whispered, even someone nearby wouldn't hear them properly.
In other words,
it was the perfect place to exchange secrets.
As soon as Rouang arrived at the balcony, he turned and leaned against the railing.
Moonlight brushed across the side of his face.
A jawline that looked carved by an artist.
Skin exposed beneath his loosely opened collar.
A posture that appeared relaxed yet wasn't the least bit disordered.
Angela stared blankly for a moment.
'Wait... am I drooling?'
Her hand immediately flew to her mouth.
Thankfully, she wasn't.
That had been close.
"Do you understand the situation you're currently in?"
"Huh? My situation?"
The question was far too broad.
Her family's situation?
Her own position?
Or what had just happened in the banquet hall?
As Angela merely rolled her eyes around in confusion, Rouang's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Hmm. So you don't fully realize how serious things are."
"Ahaha... I'm not really sure what you mean..."
An awkward laugh escaped her.
Nobles usually smiled politely or drank wine in situations like this.
They didn't stand alone together and laugh out loud.
Another noble might've been offended, but Angela was genuinely dazed, so Rouang let it slide.
"You know this banquet is being hosted by my brother, correct?"
"Yes, of course."
"And yet you didn't go greet him?"
"Ah..."
Only then did Angela realize exactly what mistake she had made.
Even at a birthday party, you greet the host first.
This was a banquet hosted by a prince.
Naturally, she should've greeted the host before anyone else.
And she hadn't.
Something incredibly basic.
'I'm doomed...'
The first person who came to mind was her father.
'I'm going to get scolded so badly when I get home.'
Then Bianca came to mind.
'Bianca had every right to be angry. I really was in the wrong.'
Bianca had gone through a terrifying experience that left her pale just because she'd pointed out Angela's mistake.
Yet she hadn't insulted Angela's parents or openly humiliated her.
If anything, she'd tried to explain.
She'd tried to make her understand.
Which made Angela feel guilty.
The person who had simply pointed out her mistake had ended up getting dragged into trouble.
'I should apologize later.'
Snap.
The sound of fingers snapping brought Angela back to reality.
"What are you daydreaming about now?"
"I was... daydreaming."
"Hah. Fine. Since you answered honestly, I'll forgive you."
Rouang sounded tired.
Yet strangely, there was no mockery in his voice.
Then he continued.
"From now on, people will treat you as my concubine."
"...Huh?"
Angela's eyes widened.
Concubine.
Not a lawful wife, but essentially a lover.
A very delicate, very troublesome, and very dirty word in noble society.
Why was that suddenly being applied to her?
"I didn't want this. You brought it upon yourself."
"What? I'm not a concubine!"
Angela practically shouted the words.
This world followed monogamy because of religion.
That was why nobles entered political marriages and sought genuine love through lovers and mistresses outside marriage.
But concubines were different.
They entered a household without a wedding.
Their children could inherit a small amount of property.
But they always stood beneath the lawful wife.
Low status.
No dignity.
And they could be discarded whenever a man changed his mind.
Who would want that?
Angela possessed common sense.
Which made her deny it even more fiercely.
"Why? Why would I be your concubine?!"
"It's honestly fascinating that you don't know."
Still leaning against the railing, Rouang slowly looked down at her.
"Think about the question I asked you earlier."
"Huh? Um... why I didn't greet Prince Manuel first..."
"Exactly. That's the reason."
Rouang looked at Angela as though she were some strange creature.
Most people avoided him.
Like people avoiding a rabid dog so they wouldn't get bitten.
Angela was different.
She was afraid of him.
But she didn't run away completely.
Instead, she felt more like a puppy barking stubbornly right in front of him.
"From other people's perspective, there are three possible explanations for why you came to greet me while ignoring Prince Manuel."
Rouang held up three fingers.
"First. House Goldrun wants to join my faction."
"Huh? But Father never said anything like that..."
"Exactly. That's what I heard too. Which is why it was initially the most likely explanation, but it has already been ruled out."
One finger folded down.
"Second. It's an attempt by another faction to create conflict."
"Uh..."
"There are many members of the Imperial Family besides Manuel. There are people who would enjoy seeing my brother and me continue clashing."
Rouang added casually,
"Of course, they wouldn't send a girl like you."
"Why not? What's wrong with me?"
"To create division, you need weight behind your words. Someone influential enough that people would listen. A young lady like Bianca Lascacci could manage it. House Goldrun doesn't possess that level of influence yet."
That wasn't a criticism of Angela's personal dignity.
It was simply a matter of her family's position.
Political manipulation in noble society wasn't driven by emotion.
It was driven by power.
Territory.
Military strength.
Generations of accumulated influence.
Without those things, words carried little weight.
A second finger folded down.
Only one remained.
Looking at the final finger, Rouang spoke.
"The third possibility is that you've fallen for me."
"What?"
"Love makes people stupid. It's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why you behaved so strangely."
"Whaaat?!"
Angela's face instantly turned red.
She liked him.
Because he was handsome.
Because he was the protagonist of a novel.
Because he was fascinating, pleasant to look at, and honestly her type.
But if someone asked whether that was love...
'That's a bit...'
"Th-That, that, that, that..."
"That what?"
"That's a misunderstanding!"
"Perhaps it is."
"No, it really is a misunderstanding!!!"
Angela shouted at the top of her lungs.
Loud enough to echo across the balcony.
In the process, she stepped closer to Rouang.
Then lost her balance and stumbled against him.
And touched him.
Hard.
Not his clothing.
The exposed skin revealed beneath his loosened collar.
Warm.
Firm.
Abdominal muscles so perfectly sculpted that she questioned whether a human body should feel like that.
"Uh..."
Angela froze.
Her eyes moved to her hand.
Then to where it had landed.
Then back to her hand again.
'...What exactly did I just touch?'
The human brain shuts down surprisingly easily when touching perfect abs for the first time.
"Kyaa—! Mm?!"
Just before she could scream, Rouang's hand covered her mouth.
"If you're trying to become a complete pervert, then feel free to scream."
Angela glared at him with wide eyes.
Or rather, she tried to.
But the warmth of the hand covering her mouth and the closeness between them made it difficult to put any strength into her glare.
With his free hand, Rouang casually pointed somewhere.
"Look over there."
"Mmph...?"
Angela followed his gesture.
The nobles scattered around the balcony were all staring at them.
Even if the curtains blocked most of the noise, people naturally looked when someone suddenly shouted.
In a place designed for whispered conversations, a noble lady was pressed close to a prince and had her hands on his body.
Anyone would find that suspicious.
Angela's face turned bright red instantly.
Rouang removed his hand from her mouth without changing expression.
"Now rumors will spread that you did something very strange with me on the balcony."
"No way..."
"The moment Bianca noticed your mistake, she jabbed at your side. Have you already forgotten?"
"That was because I made a mistake..."
"Exactly. Noble society is a place where people stab at mistakes faster than anyone else."
Looking thoroughly sick of it all, Rouang rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Seeing that expression, Angela suddenly remembered.
The Rouang from the novel was exhausted by political struggles.
So exhausted that if he could escape them, he would.
Someone like that would never enjoy rumors, speculation, interpretations, and social maneuvering.
"Um... anyway... so am I really going to be treated as Your Highness's concubine?"
"Is that what you wanted?"
Rouang asked incredulously.
Angela immediately shut her mouth.
Imagine confessing to someone handsome at school.
And he answers,
"I already have a girlfriend."
Then imagine replying,
"I don't mind being second."
The embarrassment alone would make someone want to die.
Angela possessed the emotions of a perfectly ordinary girl.
She had no confidence in surviving that level of humiliation.
"Then what am I supposed to do now?"
"That's for your family to decide. Why are you asking me for help?"
He wasn't wrong.
Matters of noble society were ultimately decided by family heads.
If someone genuinely wanted her to become a concubine, they could easily arrange it.
Send her over as an attendant.
Keep her nearby.
Grant favors.
Eventually share a bed.
Angela accidentally imagined the scenario.
And immediately blushed even harder.
"My father gives me a great deal of authority."
"Not authority over who you support politically or who you marry."
Political allegiance and marriage were the greatest cards a noble possessed.
Play them incorrectly, and a family's foundation could be shaken.
As long as the Emperor remained alive and healthy, supporting Rouang as heir wouldn't instantly overturn the world.
But relationships with other factions could collapse overnight.
"So what exactly are you trying to say?"
Rouang looked at Angela.
He had become interested in her.
The mention of first-rank grades suggested she might be a transmigrator from South Korea.
The way she saved Bianca showed she acted out of simple justice rather than hidden schemes.
Her political calculations were clumsy.
Yet she was strangely honest.
People like that were rare for Rouang.
He couldn't trust family.
He had no loyal retainers.
Everyone around him approached with an agenda.
So a person who was honestly this foolish...
almost felt worth keeping nearby.
"W-Well... if we keep meeting for a while... won't people's interest eventually fade?"
"Hmm..."
Rouang considered it briefly.
This world suffered from a lack of dopamine.
As a result, bizarre rumors flourished.
If three people slipped and fell inside a mansion, the real reason was probably that a servant had polished the floor too well and forgotten to lay down rugs.
Rumors worked differently.
People would spread stories that the mansion was cursed and caused people to fall.
Worse than modern tabloids.
More sensational.
More ridiculous.
And in a world like that, if a young lady who had already created a scene like today's kept appearing around him afterward?
The rumors would write themselves.
"Just ask your family's head."
"Ahaha... right..."
In the end, she didn't receive permission.
But Angela didn't completely give up.
To be honest, she didn't want to waste the chance to stay involved with a novel's protagonist.
If she stayed near him, she might meet the other protagonists too.
And if she got lucky, she might even witness some lovey-dovey romantic developments firsthand.
Of course, at the moment she was the one in danger of becoming entangled in concubine rumors.
Even so.
'He's just... way too handsome to give up on.'