Chapter 185
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185
“Don’t those two look even better together than one could imagine?”
“Flowers and sunlight are inseparable, after all. Even Lady Tulia’s name sounds like a tulip. Since she is as radiant as a single blossom, she suits His Highness the Crown Prince, who is like the sun, perfectly!”
Nobles from the Frezier Grand Duchy exchanged knowing glances.
They knew the truth.
If one were to compare Tulia Frezier to a flower, it wouldn’t be some fragile blossom, but a terrifying man-eating plant…
Of course, no one dared to say it out loud for fear of Tulia; they simply sipped their champagne in silence.
A young lord looked at Klaus and asked, “What do you think, Prince Klaus?”
Klaus was among those standing silently with a glass in hand.
However, what made him stand out was the fact that he was currently surrounded by people.
A prince from the rare lineage of the Summer Continent’s royalty, introduced by the Emperor himself as a special guest.
Above all, he possessed exceptionally striking looks. He exuded a dangerous aura, looking like someone who could toy with a person’s heart without a second thought.
But humans are naturally drawn to things that are beautiful and dangerous.
It was only natural for a crowd to form around this beautiful foreign prince with his beast-like charm.
Despite the young lord’s amiable question, Klaus didn’t offer a single word in response.
It had been like this through two or three changes in the dance music.
People tried passionately to win Klaus’s favor, but he responded with utter indifference. His answers were curt, and even those were few and far between.
His attitude was as cold as the color of his hair, yet there were those whose hearts were captured by that very trait.
A few ladies who had been entranced by Klaus the entire time were among them.
“The jewels Prince Klaus is wearing… they look similar to Lady Tulia’s.”
Klaus, who had been surveying the ballroom with a bored expression, shifted his gaze toward them.
Those two predatory eyes.
The lady who had tentatively spoken up found herself flinching instinctively.
He wasn’t glaring at her.
He certainly wasn’t angry.
And yet, it was difficult to meet Prince Klaus’s eyes.
It felt as though she were being consumed by an instinctive fear, like a weak herbivore encountering a predator.
The beautiful prince of wolf lineage, whom she had fallen for at first sight—the lady who had tried to catch Klaus’s attention quickly abandoned her ambitions. In a pathetic, trembling voice, she barely managed an apology.
“I—I’ve said something unnecessary. My apologies, Prince.”
Klaus didn’t give her a single word of reply.
Eventually, the lady retreated with reddened eyes, and everyone else tactfully looked away.
Because of what had just happened, people became even more hesitant to speak, but in truth, almost everyone in the ballroom was curious about the source of those jewels.
Lady Tulia Frezier.
And Prince Klaus Rocheva.
Why on earth were those two, of all people, wearing matching tokens like a couple or a married pair?
Was it a coincidence?
It had to be, right?
“Please do not be too offended, Prince. My niece is young and must have wanted to speak with you after hearing the rumors floating around.”
A noblewoman, a relative of the lady who had just left in tears, offered a half-excuse to Klaus.
“Since both of you are so exceptionally beautiful, all sorts of rumors are already circulating. For instance, that Prince Klaus gave those jewels to Lady Tulia as a gift in advance…”
“That’s right.”
“Pardon?”
“I said, you’re right, Madam.”
In an instant, the noblewoman’s forced smile froze.
Klaus continued in the same indifferent tone he had maintained all along.
“I gave them to Lady Tulia Frezier. I fell for her at first sight.”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
Klaus asked back with an almost bored expression, “Why? Is there a problem?”
“O-Of course not!”
The startled noblewoman shook her head quickly and hurried away.
The gathered nobles were visibly flustered. They didn’t dare whisper for fear of Klaus, but more than a few faces had turned pale.
Only Klaus remained calm—beyond calm, actually, looking cynical as he crossed his arms again.
He was quite pleased that the pests buzzing around him had finally gone quiet.
And this kind of silence was much more familiar to him.
Originally, in the Lupinus Kingdom, not a single Idalgo (noble) dared to open their mouth in his presence. No matter how old the Idalgo was, they did nothing but break into a cold sweat before Klaus.
Royals of the same rank?
They were even worse.
They were merely archenemies whose fates to kill or be killed were decided from the moment of birth. Not a shred of soft emotion like brotherly or familial love could be found among the royalty.
Even in the Lupinus Kingdom, a place filled only with bloodlust, tension, and silence, Klaus Rocheva was the prince almost certain to be the next king.
Klaus, who had always occupied the position of the absolute predator, was surprisingly considerate toward only one person.
So much so that while he was inwardly grinding his teeth, he didn’t dare stare at her and throw her into the center of the rumors.
So, what he had just said was…
Hmm…
Let’s just call it a bit of mischief.
“If you cause even the slightest harm to my granddaughter’s reputation, you’re dead, Prince of Lupinus.”
“Ha. Do you think I’m afraid of dying, you old man?”
“I shall relay those exact words to my granddaughter. She loathes it when people speak rudely to those older than them. It would be better for me if she never sees you again…”
“Ah, Your Grace! I meant Your Grace!”
“Relay ‘Your Grace’ to my granddaughter?”
“I’m calling you Grand Duke! Happy now?!”
That damn old geezer…
Hurling silent curses at Grand Duke Asis Frezier, Klaus took a deep breath and shifted his gaze.
Yes, he had behaved exactly as he had been taught, refraining from staring at Tulia the whole time.
It was behavior perfectly suited to the etiquette of the Spring Continent’s nobility.
But not anymore.
He had suppressed his temperament and waited patiently for his turn; now, Tulia was his rightful partner.
“Look. He’s going straight to Lady Tulia Frezier.”
“I wonder how many castles one could buy with that necklace Lady Tulia is wearing?”
“He really must be smitten.”
“Indeed, why else would he give such a precious jewel as a gift so suddenly? It wouldn’t be hard to believe if someone said it was an imperial heirloom.”
Thanks to his lineage, his exceptionally keen hearing picked up the non-stop whispering.
Of course, that necklace was the most expensive treasure Klaus owned.
But the most expensive thing didn’t necessarily mean it was the most precious.
He had simply given her the most expensive thing he had, yet they were gossiping like that.
He realized anew why that old man—no, Tulia’s grandfather, Grand Duke Asis—had nagged him so much.
The attention the nobles focused on Tulia Frezier was beyond imagination.
“He really must be smitten.”
Fine. He had proudly declared his one-sided infatuation.
So what?
Besides, honestly, it wasn’t strange to be smitten, was it?
Her personality was a bit of a wreck, but a queen who would rule a nation—especially the Lupinus Kingdom—ought to be cold, decisive, cruel, and strong.
The position was practically made for Tulia…
…But would she even be satisfied with being a queen?
What if she told him to hand over the throne?
He wasn’t sure about those kinds of customs.
Was there even a precedent for that?
Since the Lupinus Kingdom was a place where everything was decided by strength, would she have to kill him to take the King’s crown?
But how could a companion kill their companion?
He didn't know.
It was a topic he had never thought about, so he had zero knowledge of it. None at all.
But.
“…”
Even so.
“Hey.”
I don’t want to die and leave her behind…
“…I mean, Lady Tulia Frezier.”
Even though the song had ended, he was annoyed by that blonde guy who was still holding Tulia’s hand.
It bothered him so much that he wanted to break one of the man’s fangs, place a massive boulder on his kneeling knees, and throw him into a cave teeming with man-eating monsters for a year.
Because that was the most annoying and difficult thing he himself had endured while surviving in the Lupinus Kingdom.
However.
“Have you come to request a dance?”
It felt as if a few drops of rain were suddenly falling onto a parched, sensitive desert.
“The next turn on my dance card originally belongs to someone else… but well, the order has gotten a bit tangled.”
Her lime-green eyes sparkled haughtily.
“Isn’t this also one of the charms of a banquet? It is an honor, Prince Klaus.”
This wasn't the Tulia who usually laughed wickedly, saying, ‘What? You want to learn the dances of the Spring Continent? Fine, I’ll absolutely wreck your feet today—no, no. I mean I’ll teach you well. Uh-huh. You misheard me. Yeah. You might be going deaf. Sure. I understand, I understand.’
Seeing Tulia like this, primly reaching out her hand, was…
“The honor is mine, Lady Tulia Frezier.”
The warmth of her hand as it rested lightly on his.
No, just…
He just liked it.
He liked this arrogant, wicked woman, whom he was finally meeting again after so long, to the point of madness.
As he walked toward the floor with Tulia, Klaus let out a short laugh.
“Right. This is why they say to be careful when offering a Wolf’s Submission.”
“What?”
“I’m completely hooked on you.”
Tulia leaned toward him slightly and asked in a low voice, “Wolf’s Submission?”
She didn't look surprised at all.
Klaus felt strangely cheerful and answered readily.
“Yeah. That.”
“The mages from your kingdom are here, aren't they? You’d better figure it out.”
“Yeah.”
Following the etiquette of the Spring Continent, Klaus bowed politely to Tulia and spoke.
“I’ll have to figure it out.”
His voice was just as low as the whisper Tulia had just shared with him.
The desert was merely the bones of the sea.
As always, the downpour swallowed all depths in an instant, and the desert soon became the sea and began to ripple forever.