Warrior Marygold (10): What a Spectacle
20. What a spectacle. Lancel couldn't describe the current situation any other way. It was truly a spectacle.
"I've admired you for a very long time, Miss Mary! Please accept my proposal!"
"Uh... Have we known each other from long ago...?"
First pattern. Brainless lines. These were the types who fired off clichéd confessions even to someone they'd just met. Surprisingly, they made up the largest group.
"Mary, when I look at you, my heart feels like it's flying across the Ronaronia plains. You are a woman like the fresh moonlight rising after the brilliant sun has set! This empire without you is like an empty night sky—how could I even put into words the void in my heart without you...!"
"I'm sorry!"
Second pattern. The poet. These guys put in all that effort but got nothing in return. It was just too grandiose, for one thing. Where the hell was Ronaronia anyway? Lancel had never even heard of the place. Their speeches were so unnecessarily long that Marygold always cut them off midway and bolted.
"Look here. If it's me, I'll become the strongest man on this continent. I'll rack up merits in this war and join the empire's top knight order. For a woman of lowly birth like you, isn't this more than enough?"
"......"
Third pattern. Just your standard arrogant prick. At this point, it was hard to tell if they were flirting or insulting her.
"Alright, Miss Mary, here's the deal. Out of three hundred gold coins, I'll give you one hundred. It's nothing difficult. Just pretend to fall in love with me for a bit. You can earn a hundred gold coins without even standing up. Sound good? Brilliant idea, right?"
Fourth pattern. The negotiator. These types started slinking out when emotional appeals clearly weren't working. Another fun point was that no one was willing to give up more than half, even on their deathbed.
"Woman. Marry me. Or die by my hand."
Fifth. Non-category.
* * *
"Puhahaha! Those idiots are really flailing around like drowning dragons."
The 6th Prince was doubled over with laughter from a safe distance, watching the farce he'd orchestrated unfold like a bad play.
"Can't even snag one woman—must all be married already. Bunch of morons."
He hadn't approached Marygold for days. He just sat back confidently, as if he could claim her whenever he wanted, content to watch the show.
Lancel found Marygold hiding in a corner to avoid the men.
"What're you doing?"
"Eek! Oh, Master."
She looked miserable.
"......What do you think His Highness the 6th Prince is planning?"
"Probably nothing."
Lancel rubbed his throbbing brow as he looked at the dejected girl.
'6th Prince, you cause trouble wherever you go.'
The guy was treating this expedition like a joyride. He'd completely forgotten they were the imperial relief force heading to rescue the 5th Prince's army in crisis.
What if they lost the war? Everyone here would take the fall. Everyone except the culprit behind it all—the 6th Prince.
Failing to rescue the prince wasn't something they'd brush off. Every knight and officer would lose their titles and be shipped off to some remote backwater. Some might face even harsher punishments.
Lancel couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be one of them.
* * *
"What possessed you to make this bet?"
"Huh?"
The 6th Prince chuckled slyly.
"Do bets need a reason? Isn't it just for fun?"
"Fun......"
It was already the second day. The feeding frenzy for three hundred gold coins and Marygold's game of evasion had dragged on for two full days.
Lancel couldn't forget the sight of her dozing off with half-dead eyes.
—......Master, hide me somewhere. People chase me everywhere I go. Everywhere......
Marygold saw the greed lurking in the eyes of those approaching while shouting declarations of love. Humans are truly frightening—so scary.
※ Marygold's stamina and condition have greatly decreased. Fatigue continues to accumulate.
"Why? Want me to call it off? Then just admit it."
The 6th Prince lowered his voice chillingly.
"Admit that your relationship with Miss Mary isn't just master-servant—it's something far more sticky. Do that, and I'll drop it right now."
"......"
"Word would spread through the capital fast: 'A man who married just three days ago already parading around with a lover...' Rumors like that."
'Knew it.'
Capital nobles were suckers for scandals. The moment news of Lancel cheating on his wife hit, those idle gossips would chew him up for months.
The 6th Prince was using that to keep Lancel out of the bet. He also seemed convinced deep down.
That Lancel and Marygold were in that kind of relationship.
"It'd reach Lady Iceford in no time. Wonder what Court Duke would say. That old man's nicer than he looks, but you know he's terrifying, right?"
The 6th Prince's hand crept up toward Lancel's shoulder.
"So I'll take Miss Mary off your hands, Lancel. Think of it as payback for snatching Lady Iceford—someone I had my eye on."
His eyes suddenly met Marygold's from afar.
'Hmm... The goal was to marry her off to a prince, but she's walking right into it on her own?'
Maybe this was the cleanest path. With things as they were, linking her with the 6th Prince might be the fastest way to empress status.
Even a disaster like him was still a prince—one of the eight characters tied to the game's "main endings."
Why had Lancel spent decades searching for Marygold? To pair her with a prince, wasn't it?
And now, all the pieces were in place. All that remained was his choice.
But.
"......"
Lancel let out a smirk.
"Why the laugh?"
The 6th Prince's face stiffened slightly.
"Was what I said that funny?"
"No, Your Highness."
Lancel ignored the prince's piercing glare and continued.
"Aren't you overlooking something major?"
"......What do you mean?"
Even a prince.
'You're not it.'
Lancel's gaze shifted to the 6th Prince.
"Why are you so sure Mary will fall for you already?"
"......?"
The 6th Prince looked genuinely baffled. Probably something he'd never considered.
The typical delusion of a man who could have anything he wanted.
But Lancel knew better. This world's protagonist, Marygold, wasn't some pushover who fell for any prince. Especially not with Lancel interfering.
"You'll see soon enough."
The next day.
Marygold received a dinner invitation from the 6th Prince. Just the two of them.
She turned it down.
Not just any invitation—a prince's, no less.
......
"Insolent wench!"
The 6th Prince slammed the table in fury.
Dishes and food crashed down from the overturned table.
The atmosphere he'd carefully set for Marygold's invitation now lay in shattered pieces scattered everywhere.
"......She really said that?"
"Y-yes, Your Highness. I heard her clearly: 'I don't see the reason for a private dinner......'"
"Ha, hahaha."
The 6th Prince's face twisted in disbelief.
He'd never been rejected before. Heat rushed to the top of his head.
"Lead the way. I'll go myself."
He stormed down the train corridor with heavy, hurried steps.
He flung open the door to the dining car where Lancel and Marygold were.
"Lancel Dante!"
"......? What is it, Your Highness?"
Lancel Dante and Marygold.
The two shamelessly sat in the corner of the dining car, sharing a modest meal of a single loaf of bread and a few slices of ham.
It was almost insulting to compare to the lavish feast the prince had prepared.
"I came to see what the woman who snubbed my banquet was up to, and this is......"
Lancel stared blankly at the prince for a moment.
"I see."
He wiped grease from his hands and continued.
"Don't take it too hard, Your Highness."
"What?"
"You're courting Mary right now, aren't you? Rejections come with the territory."
"C-courtship? Courtship?"
The 6th Prince looked like he'd taken a blow to the head.
"Your Highness?"
He stood there dazed for a long while, then whipped around and stormed off with a whoosh of air.
That shocked, huh? Lancel thought it was for the best.
"Maybe things'll quiet down now."
"......I hope so."
Marygold sighed deeply.
It was a bet for three hundred gold coins, after all.
Suitors still popped up constantly.
But they weren't complete idiots. Seeing even the 6th Prince leave empty-handed, they were starting to realize there was no way to win Marygold over.
As hopelessness spread, defeat etched deeper into their faces.
"Can't even talk to her—how the hell are we supposed to seduce her?"
"Three hundred gold? Wouldn't do it for a thousand. She flinches at eye contact......"
This expedition wasn't a vacation anyway.
'Grown men gearing up for war can't cling to this nonsense forever.'
Only a few days remained until their destination.
The 1st Imperial Relief Force was waking from the dream, facing reality.
Ahead lay not gold, but a battlefield soaked in blood.
Marygold's condition is too low.
How about a picnic soon for a change of pace?
Dark shadows had formed under Marygold's eyes as she dozed off.
"Once we're back, wanna go somewhere quiet for a trip?"
"Huh?"
Marygold paused at Lancel's words, then nodded faintly.
The fatigue shadowing her face vanished in an instant.
"......Yeah. I want to go."
21.
Bang!
Lancel burst through the door of Marygold's room.
He'd just woken from deep sleep, but fatigue was long gone.
Marygold trembled before him.
A blood-soaked hilt slipped from her grip.
Bright red blood splattered across the floor.
"Ma, ster."
Lancel silently examined the man collapsed at her feet.
No pulse. Dead from a single strike.
The man's eyes stared wide in disbelief, unclosed in death.
Obviously not the 6th Prince.
But one of his men, for sure.
The dead man's hand clutched a small pouch.
'No way...'
Inside was finely ground purple powder emitting a sweet scent.
Lancel already knew what it was.
"Blindweed."
A very expensive poison that first clouded the mind, then blinded its victim.
Something ignited inside Lancel.
A feeling he'd forgotten since meeting Marygold.
"6th Prince Karin... You've finally gone and done it."
Only the screech of train wheels on rails broke the silence.