Pretending You Can't When You Can — That's Romance (1)
Until evening came, the conversation revolved entirely around the Eastern Expedition.
Natalie, who had been trailing him all day, was nowhere to be seen either. Perhaps she'd gone off in shock to dig up the details. With her out of sight, his heart felt lighter.
But wherever people gathered, the talk always circled back to Kiera, so Maru retreated to his room early and holed himself up. He was washing up with the water a maid had brought and fiddling with this and that when a knock sounded at the door. Without much thought, he walked over and opened it.
Audrite stood there, beaming.
"I've come to attend to you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
"I gratefully accept."
Once inside, she was holding a lidded cup in her hand. She held it out to Maru as he closed the door and turned around.
"Drink this. Baroness Marsh brewed it for me — she says it helps with conceiving."
Maru blinked in mild surprise.
"We're having children already?"
"They say if you prepare in advance, before the wedding, it takes better on the wedding night. And since we're supposed to drink it together, I had mine earlier."
Perhaps because this was a society where the unspoken rule held that married couples were expected to have children right away, Audrite showed not the slightest hesitation about pregnancy.
"You're not going to use it, are you?"
"It's drinkable enough."
Maru took the cup and savored the taste.
It was just wine.
"This is wine."
"Wine with healthy powder mixed into it."
"I'm the Crown Prince. Assassinating me would cause a real scandal."
"I'd rather not become a widow either, you know?"
Under her watchful gaze, Maru downed the medicine in one go.
"The whole world knows we're getting married, so I can't very well poison you. They say I can't even get asked to dance at balls anymore."
"Good. From now on, you'll only dance with me."
"I'm starting to wonder if you're a man I can actually handle."
"Why's that?"
"Before you came, the vassals used to grumble all the time that Edward should never be named heir. Father couldn't do anything about it, and it left him at his wits' end. But once word spread that you and Edward were close, those arguments simply evaporated. Edward did nothing at all, yet his power base solidified on its own. So when I look at you, I think — this man is truly remarkable."
"Only now you've figured that out?"
"Do have some humility, won't you?"
"And you should feel proud about marrying such a remarkable man."
"I'd love to, but I still can't quite believe it, so I'm waiting before I let myself feel proud. It's as if I'm dreaming a dream that will vanish the moment I wake up."
Audrite wore a contented smile as she went on.
"I mean — I'm marrying the child of the Queen Alexandria I've admired all my life? Is this real? It's not a dream, is it? I pinch my own cheeks a dozen times a day. It feels like stepping into the pages of history — the history I read about in books, where the heroes breathed and lived. And I get to become a character in it too. It's glorious, my heart races, and none of it feels real."
Maru put on a mischievous expression.
"So now I see — you don't like me, you like my mother. You're marrying me for her sake, aren't you?"
"Is that really something to say right now? I'm marrying you because I like you. If it were the Queen I loved, I'd have chosen one of those handsome men in her portraits long before it came out that you were the Crown Prince. Do you not trust me?"
When she flared up unexpectedly, Maru made an apologetic face and scratched the back of his head.
"I was just, um... joking. There, there. It was a joke, I promise."
"Fine. Stop talking to me."
Audrite poured herself water from the pitcher and gulped it down, then stomped over to the desk, dropped into the chair, and crossed her arms.
Her anger lasted only a moment. Catching sight of the book spread open on the desk, she asked with a puzzled look.
"A guidebook to Nalundra? You were reading?"
"We're heading there soon, aren't we? I studied up in advance so I could show you a comfortable time sightseeing. For your sake."
"Tch."
She shot Maru a look that was somehow pleased and annoyed at once. Then, cautiously, she asked,
"You... did hear the news that Lady Kiera was defeated?"
"I did."
"Honestly, I came because I was worried. Afraid you might still be thinking about her."
Audrite lowered her eyes, her lips trembling faintly.
"...Well, the fact that you were reading a book puts my mind at ease, at least."
"Do I look like I still haven't gotten over Kiera?"
"I believe you, but still, my heart..."
"Then allow me to run down my ex-girlfriend a little, shall I?"
Maru couldn't fail to understand the unease Kiera stirred in her, and he resolved to make things absolutely clear.
"Kiera was a woman of ambition. Her one and only goal was to court the nobles' patronage and outshine every other Hero in the land. She showed no real interest in defeating the Demon King. It seemed she wanted nothing but the fame that came with displaying her power — and the authority and wealth that fame dragged along behind it. In pursuing that ambition, the moment anyone became expendable, she cut them off without mercy — comrades, and even a boyfriend, no exception. That's what never sat right with me."
He hoped hearing it would finally set her heart at rest.
"I'm a cold-hearted man who never looks at a woman twice once we've broken up. And right now, my head is filled to the brim with thoughts of my wife-to-be, Audrite. I'm so hopelessly smitten that I can barely get any work done."
"Where do you get off telling such a tall tale? You didn't even come by the docks today."
Audrite pushed out her lips in a pout. And then, before she knew it, tears were welling up in her eyes.
Maru noticed a beat too late and his face went pale.
"Why are you crying?"
"I'm not crying. Who said anything about crying?"
Seated at the desk, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and turned her head away.
"Don't tell me — you're crying because you thought I was still hung up on Kiera?"
"I said I'm not crying."
She sniffled hard.
"I like you this much — so why couldn't I have been your first love? Don't answer that. It's just me being childish."
She soon rose from her seat, heaved a sigh so deep her chest heaved with it, and looked at Maru.
"Honestly, I'm jealous of Lady Kiera. And so — I've decided. I'm going to lock you up in a prison."
"Er...? That came out of nowhere."
"Shall I make it come even more out of nowhere?"
Audrite rounded the desk and strode toward him. She flung her arms around Maru and crushed her lips to his in a deep, molten kiss. She sucked at his lips and tongue again and again, until he felt numb with it. When their mouths finally parted, a sticky thread of saliva stretched between them, then snapped.
The two of them let out their held breaths at the same moment and gazed at each other.
"If you lock me up, we won't be able to see each other. Will I live alone my whole life?"
"It's a prison where I'll feed you, clothe you, and tuck you in at night. Don't you want in?"
"I want into that prison more than anything. Put the shackles on me yourself."
The two of them kissed again. This time Maru took the lead, and Audrite trembled as if jolted by an electric current, clinging to his shoulders as the tingling heat coursed through her.
In the middle of it all, Maru sensed something odd by the window and broke off the kiss.
"Luciella. Leave — before I get angry."
At his flat, indifferent command, the black smoke that had been hiding beneath the curtain let out a lewd chuckle and slipped out through the window. Maru walked over unhurriedly and latched the window shut.
Audrite, startled out of her wits, pressed a hand to her chest and stared at him blankly.
"What on earth was that?"
"A demon I'm on friendly terms with."
"A demon?"
"A succubus — one with more loyalty than most humans, mind you. You probably saw her in my room before. The woman with purple hair wearing a hood."
"Oh..."
Audrite was astonished that Maru kept company with a demon, but seeing how nonchalantly he spoke of it, she relaxed. Thinking, so she must be a good demon, then, she was nodding along absently when a question occurred to her.
"Does she just barge in whenever she pleases?"
"She only comes when she has something to report or discuss. Not often."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
She seized Maru's hand and pulled him down beside her on the edge of the bed. Face to face, she pressed him with sudden gravity.
"The Hero's party, the Crown Prince, a succubus — if there's anything else I don't know about, tell me all of it. Even if it sounds absurd and impossible, I won't laugh it off this time. I'll believe every word. So be honest with me."
"Hmm..."
Maru scratched his cheek, considering, then broke into a bright smile.
"Want to see something?"
He picked up a small bowl from the shelf and set it on the table. After pouring water halfway up the bowl, he folded his hands together.
"I serve a god named Belkhran. Like this — I fill a bowl with water and offer prayers twice a day, morning and night."
"There's a god called Belkhran?"
"I'm his only believer. A lonely god. If I die, I suspect he'll die with me."
"Gods can die?"
"A god only exists so long as people remember him. If his one and only believer disappears, there's no one left to remember him — so he'd fade away."
"Ah... I suppose that's true."
She nodded and asked,
"What does he govern?"
"All I know is that he's called the Conqueror of the Stars, the Preserver, and the Destroyer."
"The Preserver sounds lovely, but Conqueror and Destroyer are somehow terrifying."
"He even has two names — Belkhran and Belkrania. A man and a woman dwelling together in one body."
"How fascinating. I've never heard of a god like that."
Audrite's eyes sparkled. Talk of gods seemed to thrill her enormously. And watching her, Maru found himself quietly delighted as well.
"Just for today — shall we pray together?"
"I'd love that."
The two stood side by side facing the bowl and clasped their hands.
"I'll begin the prayer."
"One moment. I want to become a believer too."
"Really? What about the god you already worshipped? You didn't have one?"
"I revere every god in the world, but I never devoted my heart to any one in particular. I thought I'd follow you and try it this time."
"With another believer added to the fold, Belkhran must be pleased."
"Honestly, what sold me was that it takes no grand preparation — you just set out a bowl of water."
The two of them burst out laughing at the same time. Then, composing themselves into reverent postures, they pressed their palms together and offered their prayer.
"Belkhran, rejoice. Your unworthy servant has found himself a wife. Her name is Audrite. And more wondrous still — as of today, she has become a believer in your name. She is a woman who loves me enough to embrace even my faith as her own. The two of us, from this day forward..."
A solemn stillness settled over the room.
And as the two of them prayed with eyes closed, the surface of the water in the little bowl began to ripple.
The ripples danced, as if the water itself were moved.