The Tacit Agreement Between Two Men
Of course, Meriel had received an invitation to the party celebrating the prince’s appointment as Governor of the East. The moment she first read his letter, her heart dropped like a stone. Her initial thought was to refuse. She was terrified.
The prince had broken their engagement for her sake, and the storm of consequences that followed had left her frightened of him.
Yet the memories she shared with “Luca,” not the prince, eventually convinced her to accept. When she arrived at the Eastern Administrative Hall and presented her invitation, the attendants gave it a cursory glance before guiding her to a different room. There, waiting for her in a private chamber, was Prince Lucas himself.
“Meriel… At last, I can see you again.”
“Luca… No… Your Highness…”
The prince looked far thinner than the last time she had seen him. After the engagement was annulled, they had only exchanged letters; she had refused to meet him in person, fearing it would only cause him more harm amid the chaos.
In truth, she had been even more afraid of what might happen if he actually came to her. Respecting her wishes, he had kept his distance and sent only letters. This was their first meeting in a very long time. The prince smiled at her.
“When it’s just the two of us, you may call me Luca. I… No, I will always be Luca when I’m by your side.”
“Lord Luca… You don’t look well. It seems you’ve been through a great deal.”
At her words, the prince recalled the pain he had endured during his house arrest. His father the emperor’s indifference, the purge of his own retainers—it had been an agonizing period.
“A great deal, yes… But Meriel, I do not regret the choice I made to stay by your side.”
“Lord Luca…”
The prince stepped closer and took her hand.
“This room is too small to properly celebrate our reunion… Meriel, could you close your eyes for a moment?”
“My eyes?”
“Yes… Just for a little while. Trust me and close them…”
“All right… I trust you, Lord Luca.”
With her hand in his, Meriel closed her eyes and let him lead her. The prince guided her out of the private chamber and into the garden beyond. Their footsteps echoed softly.
“Um… Lord Luca… Is it much farther?”
“You may open your eyes now, Meriel.”
She did. Before her stretched a breathtaking field of crimson tulips. The vast garden was filled with them, welcoming her from every direction. The sight was so overwhelming in its beauty that she was rendered speechless.
“Wow…”
“What do you think, Meriel? Is it beautiful?”
“It’s too beautiful… Lord Luca.”
With the setting sun at his back, Prince Lucas stood amid the sea of red tulips, and she stood with him. For a moment, Meriel felt as though she had become the heroine of a fairy tale.
“Crimson tulips are said to be the most beautiful of all, yet they still cannot compare to your beauty.”
“Lord Luca…”
“No matter how difficult things became, I believed I could overcome anything as long as I had you. Meriel, please stay by my side.”
At the prince’s confession, Meriel’s heart trembled. It wasn’t an ordinary love, but if she were with him, perhaps a happy future really could be hers. Just as that thought crossed her mind, another voice spoke from behind them.
“Is that… Lady Meriel, by any chance?”
“A-Adler?”
It was Adler, the green-haired nobleman. He was dressed in far more extravagant aristocratic attire than when they had last met. The prince stepped forward first, recognizing him immediately.
“So you are Adler, son of the Brabant family.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness Prince Lucas, the Sun of the Empire.”
The Brabant family—Marquesses of the Eastern Frontier. When the name of one of the empire’s greatest noble houses emerged, Meriel’s eyes widened in shock.
“A-Adler… You were from the Brabant family?”
“…I’m sorry, Lady Meriel. I feared it would burden you, so I couldn’t tell you the truth. Please forgive me.”
“This can’t be…”
Meriel was stunned once again. First the prince, now the heir to a marquisate… As she struggled to process the appearance of two men of such impossibly high status, the prince spoke.
“Yes… Sir Adler. I thank you for keeping Meriel from feeling lonely while I was away.”
“Pardon? What do you—”
“However, now that I have returned, there is no need for you to concern yourself with her any longer.”
I’m here now, so get lost. Adler immediately caught the hidden meaning behind the prince’s words, and a surge of emotion rose within him. Normally, he would never have let such feelings control him. But when he looked at Meriel standing before him, he surrendered to them completely.
“I cannot obey that command, Your Highness.”
“What did you say?”
“My heart already belongs to Meriel. To ask me to ignore a bond that has become one with hers is impossible.”
“What? A-Adler…”
The prince’s expression froze at Adler’s outright refusal. He placed a hand on his sword and advanced.
“Are you… insulting the imperial family right now?”
“How could pure devotion to one’s beloved possibly insult the imperial family? I believe the true insult would be forgetting one’s duty as a member of the royal house.”
At those words, the prince felt his reason snap.
“Ha… Hahaha! So that’s how you want to play this?”
The prince drew his sword and leveled it at Adler’s throat.
“Right here and now, I could execute you for insulting the imperial family.”
“Do as you wish… But my devotion to Meriel will remain eternal!”
“Then die well!”
The prince truly meant to cut him down. The relationship with the East, the promise to his father the emperor—none of it existed in his mind anymore. Just as catastrophe was about to unfold, a woman’s voice rang out across the crimson tulip field like a scream.
“S-Stop!!!!!! Stop it!!!”
“Meriel…!”
“Lady Meriel…”
Both the prince and Adler froze at her cry. She stepped between them.
“I… I’m truly grateful that both of you care for me, but… I prefer peace. I don’t think solving things by shedding blood is the right way.”
“……”
“……”
At her words, strength drained from the prince’s sword and from Adler’s body. Meriel looked at the prince.
“Please… for my sake, lower your sword. Your Highness. Or rather… Luca.”
“…Understood, Meriel.”
The prince sheathed his blade. He approached Adler once more.
“I became too emotional today.”
“Not at all. I, too, overstepped my bounds, Your Highness.”
“We will let Meriel decide this matter. You have no objections, I trust?”
“…None.”
The two men had reached a silent understanding: they would settle this as men, not as prince and marquis’s son, and leave the woman’s choice to her. Thus, the suffocating love triangle between the prince and the eastern duke’s heir began in the East.
I watched the entire spectacle from a private room on the second floor, far in the distance. How did I manage to sneak into the Eastern Administrative Hall’s restricted area? It wasn’t that difficult. I had a master key, after all.
You’ve all heard of it. It’s called bribery.
Crunch! Crunch!
“Wow… So this is why the aunties watch morning dramas. It’s genuinely entertaining.”
I sat by the window of the second-floor room, watching the scene unfold in the flower garden with rapt attention. I had even brought the essential drama-watching snack—popcorn—and settled in comfortably. Right on cue, the show began.
The prince who had descended upon the East, Adler the eastern noble completely smitten with Meriel, and Meriel caught helplessly between them. When the prince drew his sword, I genuinely thought a bloodbath was about to happen and scarfed down my popcorn in panic.
Fortunately, just as the original story dictated, Meriel’s words prevented any major disaster, and the situation was resolved.
Elina, who had been eating popcorn beside me and watching with equal fascination, offered her opinion.
“I don’t quite understand what you meant by ‘morning drama,’ Young Master, but… I agree that it is entertaining.”
She seemed even more engrossed than I was. That made sense. Even though I already knew the future, I was still this invested. How tightly must she have been clutching her chest?
Now I understood why the phrase “buy a brain that hasn’t read the original” never went away. Ugh. I’d love to buy an unspoiled brain, but if I did, I wouldn’t be able to make money! What a tragedy!
Anyway, the situation outside had mostly wrapped up, and we had finished our popcorn, so I brushed off my hands and stood. After stretching to loosen my stiff body from sitting for nearly an hour, Elina asked with concern,
“Young Master, is it really all right to simply watch like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“The atmosphere between the prince and the eastern duke’s son is ominous. Shouldn’t we take some measures?”
If a man in love could be persuaded with words, it wouldn’t be a romance fantasy. I answered Elina’s worry with a smile.
“This is their love battle. If we interfere, won’t it just get weirder?”
“I suppose you’re right…”
“Don’t worry too much. There’s no chance they’ll harm our people.”
That’s right. Far from harming me, those two would become incredibly, massively important customers.
The day after the two men formed their tacit agreement, the price of tulips began to surge even more wildly.