Chapter 17
Chapter 17
‘She’d make a perfect external brain for Angela.’
Luang hadn’t grabbed Bianca’s wrist with some terrible intent.
He had only reacted instinctively because it seemed she was about to run.
He planned to make good use of her in the future, in many ways.
But Bianca wanted, by any means, to redirect the attention that was focused on her.
So she quickly changed the topic.
“So… why did Lady Angela come at me like that?”
“Come at you?”
Luang’s gaze naturally shifted to Angela.
Angela froze completely.
Here. Now. In front of Luang? To talk about this?
Seeing Angela, who had been dazed and dragged around just a moment ago, finally show real embarrassment, Bianca felt a small sense of satisfaction.
It had been frustrating that she alone kept ending up in awkward situations.
“Uh, well… that is…”
Both of their eyes turned toward Angela.
Strictly speaking, Luang’s gaze was too intense.
Bianca looked at Angela as if she were paying attention to her, but in truth, she was more concerned about another thing.
The wrist that had been grabbed earlier.
The lingering sensation kept brushing against her awareness.
So she very carefully pulled her wrist away.
Like a chrysalis tearing its way out, slow and persistent, watching every step, cautiously.
And finally, she was free.
“Ah… aah, okay! I’ll tell you!”
Angela raised both hands in surrender.
Her heart raced just because Luang was looking at her.
It was true she found him handsome.
But the greater reason was something else.
The fear that she could die because of the attention.
That fear made Angela’s heart beat even harder.
“I… I was worried.”
“Worried about what?”
“Well… because of the rumors about me being a lover… the fiancé…”
“Fiancé?”
Bianca blinked. That was the first she’d heard of it.
It was true that Luang was at an age to arrange a marriage. In noble society, the prince’s engagement was always hot news. But until now, it had been mere rumor.
To confirm it, the emperor himself—the master of the royal family—would have to make the announcement.
Angela kept her mouth shut and glanced at Luang. Her expression asked silently whether she should speak.
Luang let out a small chuckle at Angela.
“Right. He’ll probably be assigned to one of the great noble families.”
“That seems certain enough.”
Bianca accepted it calmly.
“Royal blood is that precious.”
She knew well how noble families treasured their daughters.
Of course, Bianca herself wasn’t in that category. The Rascacchi marquis house was already a core family allied with the first prince. There was no reason to be entangled with the second prince.
Angela hesitated but finally spoke.
“So… I’m afraid he might do something terrible to me…”
“Hmm, Lady Angela?”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t that a bit… overthinking?”
Angela’s mouth dropped open.
She was too shocked to respond immediately.
To call her self-conscious right to her face—it was practically saying, you’re not that threatening of a woman.
“What do you mean…!”
“Why would a daughter of a great family obsess over someone like you?”
Bianca cut straight to the point.
“If she’s to marry a prince, she should be thinking on a much bigger scale.”
“Well… what if the prince loves her instead of me…”
Angela cautiously glanced at Luang.
Even hearing that, Luang didn’t get angry. He just smiled.
Only then did Angela realize the truth, belatedly.
Right. Luang was indeed showing interest in her. But it wasn’t a crazy love that would destroy the world.
He could be a lover someday. That was possible.
But not right now.
Bianca summed it up naturally.
“It’s better if the prince explains this personally.”
“Indeed, Lady Goldrun.”
“Yes, yes!”
“You’re foolish, but cute.”
Luang’s lips curved.
“I won’t throw away everything for your sake alone. Do you understand now?”
“Ah… ahaha… yes…”
Angela forced a smile, but inside, she wished she could sink through the floor.
Not interested.
Those words were crueler than any rejection.
Cute, yes, but not to that extent.
To draw that line so clearly in front of her, and with a friend present, too.
Her cheeks burned red all over.
Bianca tilted her head thoughtfully and spoke.
“Hmm… but if she’s jealous, Lady Angela might still suffer a little.”
“Exactly!”
Angela brightened immediately.
Finally, she felt she had an ally.
“Sometimes, such people exist.”
Luang lightly agreed.
“If she’s devout or dislikes outside activities, it’s fine. Just take your wife to official events. But if she’s intensely jealous, she won’t even allow a lover.”
“Hmm… has a candidate been chosen?”
Bianca got straight to the point.
“There are five duchies in the empire, right?”
“Yes, though…”
Bianca quickly sorted through the noble houses in her mind.
“To my knowledge, there’s only one place with a lady of marriageable age. The others are all too young. If His Majesty doesn’t plan to delay his marriage… it must be the Rosefield family.”
“Oh…!”
Angela was impressed.
Bianca concluded almost instantly.
Noble society was narrower than it seemed. And truly important families were even narrower.
Excluding nobles of common origin, fallen nobles, and minor border nobles, the number of families who could realistically be royal marriage candidates drops sharply.
“There are prominent count families in the capital, even excluding dukes… but they’d conflict with the royal family’s interests.”
“And I said I would act as a knight. I’ll have more contact with outside families. Managing a single family’s territory wouldn’t suit me.”
“Then count families with distant lands are excluded too? They’d want royal blood, not a wandering knight.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve given almost all the hints.”
Bianca admired her.
“So Lady Angela figured this out first? Surprisingly smart—”
“No.”
Luang cut her off.
“Lady Goldrun mentioned that duchy before I even told her.”
The air grew subtly tense.
If they expanded to include dukes and counts, there would be many candidates. But since Luang had directly hinted at the duchy, Bianca could narrow it down immediately.
And yet Angela had guessed it without the hint.
“Hmm… how did Lady Angela figure that out?”
“Ahaha… by accident, I suppose?”
“…”
Bianca silently watched Angela.
Luang also quietly observed her.
She had been told to prepare excuses yesterday, but seeing her reaction now, it was obvious she had prepared nothing.
Angela felt a chill down her spine.
If she were alone with Luang, she would truly get scolded.
So she subtly shifted her position.
Right next to Bianca.
Thanks to Bianca’s thick, curled blonde hair, Angela could somewhat escape Luang’s gaze.
“Uh, Lady Angela?”
“Sorry, save me!”
“Huh? Save you from… what?”
Bianca was flustered.
She didn’t want to be directly under Luang’s gaze either. Especially at this distance, the sensation from his touch on her shoulder yesterday kept coming to mind.
But now Angela was pressed right against her, taking the gaze in full.
At that moment,
knock knock
“Excuse me. Your Highness Luang, the master asks if he may see you.”
“Has the steward just returned?”
Luang stood.
“Yes. Since the master is back, we should greet him.”
“Oh, I… also…”
“Huh?”
The steward’s message meant Giovanni Goldrun had returned.
The owner of this house was Giovanni. Luang was the guest.
So the guest should greet the owner first.
Likewise, Bianca, as a guest, also stood.
But then.
“I-I want to go too!”
Angela shouted almost.
“Uh?”
“Uh… alright. Let’s go together.”
As Bianca answered in surprise, Angela grabbed her hand.
And linked her arm through Bianca’s.
The soft, large touch wrapped around Bianca’s arm.
Bianca froze.
It was a strange feeling.
Unfamiliar, burdensome, yet strangely warm.
She tried to pull her hand away, but Angela’s grip was far stronger than expected.
The grip of someone desperate not to die was unnaturally strong.
In the end, Bianca could not free her hand and had to move while held by Angela.
“Shall we meet separately?”
“Yes. He said he wants to see His Highness first.”
“Then let’s go in first.”
Luang entered Giovanni’s study.
From the outside, the Goldrun mansion was dazzlingly luxurious. But the study was surprisingly tidy.
It seemed to show a noble trying to display proper dignity.
Of course, there was still plenty of gold. The walls gleamed with gold accents, and almost half of the space was filled with jewelry-adorned ornaments and high-end items.
The other half was books.
Books were luxurious, but compared to the gold, they seemed almost modest.
In the center stood Giovanni Goldrun.
He did not wait seated.
Like greeting a superior, he stood and bowed.
Luang returned the greeting politely.
“Your Highness. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Honor, indeed.”
Luang smiled.
“I may have ruined your family plans, for which I apologize.”
His words were polite, but the meaning was anything but courteous.
It was like a father gritting his teeth as a man came to take his daughter.
Yet Giovanni’s expression remained unmoved.
“Can you pay the price for that child?”
“Price…”
Luang narrowed his eyes.
What is he thinking?
Giovanni, true to his noble status, did not hedge.
Like a merchant, he went straight to the point.
An ordinary noble would have been offended immediately. Nobles believed money came naturally to those with power. They looked down on anyone clinging to money, thinking they lacked both power and force.
But the Goldrun family was different.
They had bought power and influence with money.
So the old nobles kept a close eye on them. If another Goldrun-like family appeared, the established order would shake.
Luang, however, responded calmly.
He did not see Giovanni’s words as rude. He took them as an interesting business proposal.
Giovanni let a small smile slip.
“I want the fruit of love.”
“Love…”
He didn’t mean literal fruit.
The fruit of love.
That is, a child.
A metaphor for the fruit born from mutual love.
Among commoners, it was a common phrase.
But among nobles, it was different.
For nobles, children were tools before they were the fruit of love.
They were wed in political marriages for alliances, sent as knights to bring honor, or sent to monasteries to uphold religion and lineage.
Commoners were freer.
Of course, they also used their children, sending them to serve, learn crafts, or fight in wars for advancement.
But at least they didn’t erase a child from records simply for marrying out of love.
Nobles did. They could strip children of titles, even heirs.
Giovanni’s words were not a simple demand.
He wanted one thing.
Do not treat Angela as a fleeting woman.
Hold her truly.
And the child born from that love.
In other words.
The heir of the Goldrun family, carrying royal blood.
That was the price Giovanni Goldrun demanded.