The Crown Princess Won't Leave
The long, drawn-out plea from the Crown Princess of Bellot finally came to an end.
‘It takes real talent to stretch out a simple request to lower the reparations that much.’
“I will consider it.”
Edwin swallowed back the urge to speak sarcastically—true to his nature—and answered as gently as he possibly could.
The empire had only just found peace. He had no desire to start another war.
‘So please, just leave already.’
Taking advantage of the brief pause after the princess finished speaking, Edwin signaled the attendant with his eyes to open the doors of the audience chamber.
“Then I sincerely hope you will view this matter positively…”
When it looked like she was about to launch into another lengthy speech, he cut her off with a vague smile and a nod.
The Crown Princess’s previously gloomy face—clouded by the aftermath of defeat and a terrible drought—brightened slightly with a spark of hope.
‘Whether or not she chooses to hope is her own business.’
At last, the leech-like princess showed signs of actually leaving.
“You must still be weary from your journey. Please return and rest.”
It had already been a full week since the Crown Princess arrived in the empire, but apparently her fatigue had yet to subside.
Edwin issued the order to leave with firm finality.
Only then did he finally succeed in sending her away—the woman who had lingered well beyond the scheduled audience time.
“She really has no sense of timing.”
The moment the doors of the audience chamber closed, a grumble laced with irritation slipped from Edwin’s lips.
The Kingdom of Bellot had been the central force behind the coalition that waged war against the empire for eight long years.
Thanks to its advantageous geography, Bellot had clung on with stubborn tenacity until the very end. The current Crown Princess had played a rather significant role in finally breaking them.
In exchange for guarantees of safety for the royal family and the preservation of their nation, she had convinced the ministers to surrender.
‘If we were to swallow them whole, the land is infested with high-ranking monsters and completely cut off from the empire by a massive mountain range.’
At the same time, they couldn’t simply leave the Bellot royal family as it was—dominated by the current king and a majority of hardline anti-empire factions.
Leaving a knife at his back had never been to Edwin’s taste.
As a compromise, they had elevated a princess from the very fringes of the line of succession to Crown Princess in order to install a ruler friendly to the empire.
‘If only the empire didn’t have to act as her backing until she stabilizes her position…’
Edwin clicked his tongue softly.
Then his eyes landed on the wall clock. This was no time to be standing around.
“Change of clothes. Now.”
Having briefly despaired after checking the time, Edwin recovered and issued the command to his attendant.
The attendant quickly brought over a rack packed with stealth clothing.
Edwin picked out the least conspicuous outfit, changed into it, and headed straight out of the palace.
His reason for leaving the palace was, of course, Carolina Diaz.
When he arrived near the exhibition hall where they had agreed to meet, Lina was already there waiting for him.
“Miss Diaz.”
Edwin walked up to her with quick steps.
“You’re here?”
Lina greeted him with a smile, not even asking why he was late.
But Edwin fidgeted restlessly and offered an excuse anyway.
“Work ran a little longer than expected.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Lina let out a sigh.
‘Is she angry because she waited so long?’
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Lina’s sigh wasn’t directed at him.
“The imperial palace really works its people to the bone, doesn’t it?”
‘Wait, is she talking about me? Or not?’
While Edwin wrestled with an identity crisis, a pair of eyes filled with the weariness and grievances of a working adult landed on him.
“You’ve worked hard. Still, there’s plenty of time left before closing. If we hurry inside, we should be able to see everything.”
Lina gave his forearm a light, encouraging pat.
And so, basking in Lina’s sympathy(?), Edwin entered the exhibition hall.
Whether Kylus’s investigation had been accurate or not, Lina moved through the exhibition like a fish in water.
“Sir Rohas, they say this is the parchment they used to make scrolls in ancient times. Isn’t it fascinating?”
“Fascinating.”
Watching the violet sparkle in Lina’s eyes as they gleamed with interest, Edwin answered on pure instinct.
Even though his reply was rather dry, Lina was bursting with excitement.
“To think Sir Rohas is also interested in ancient history… It seems our tastes really are quite similar.”
“Seems so.”
In truth, Edwin had zero interest in ancient artifacts.
Even during the brief time he attended the imperial academy as a child, he had never particularly enjoyed history classes.
He was simply interested in the way Lina’s eyes lit up like an excited puppy every time she looked at half-rotted scraps of parchment or broken quills.
‘How trivial. And how cute. Again.’
For Lina, it was a time of admiring ancient relics. For Edwin, it was a time of admiring Lina.
After circling the exhibition hall twice, Lina’s cheeks had turned a rosy red.
As they stepped out of the entrance, Edwin gently fanned her face with his hand.
Lina’s eyes fluttered half-closed at the breeze brushing her cheeks.
It looked like a silver-winged butterfly landing atop a violet.
Feeling the warmth from Lina’s cheeks transferring to his own hand, Edwin stopped fanning and subtly stepped back.
“Thank you, Sir Rohas.”
When the breeze that had been tickling her cheeks disappeared, Lina opened her eyes and smiled brightly.
This time, as if it were her turn, she began fanning Edwin’s face.
“It was quite warm inside the exhibition hall, wasn’t it?”
Her small, pale hand fluttered in front of him.
“Yeah. It was warm.”
Edwin found this spot far warmer than the inside of the exhibition hall had been.
Even the breeze that brushed against his jawline and neck did nothing to cool the heat rising within him.
Unable to bear it any longer, Edwin cautiously took hold of Lina’s hand.
Then he flinched at his own actions, startled that his hand had acted without his brain’s permission.
Lina’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden contact, but she didn’t pull away.
Edwin, carefully watching her reaction, did the same.
His only real worry was that his palm might have grown clammy from how nervous he was.
Just before the awkward silence could fully envelop them, Lina spoke up.
“Want to go get something cold to drink? How about fresh fruit juice?”
“Sounds good.”
Edwin answered the instant the words left her mouth.
In fact, he would have nodded even if she had suggested going to drink the coffee Kylus served.
“It’s over there.”
Edwin let himself be led by Lina’s hand—which was only about half the size of his own—toward the shop selling fresh fruit juice.
He ordered the same thing she chose, and once they sat down, their drinks arrived shortly after.
Lina took a big gulp of her pomegranate juice.
Then she smiled with deep satisfaction, her eyes narrowing like a contented cat’s.
Edwin smiled along with her.
When she took another sip and some of the thick liquid clung to the corner of her mouth, she licked her lips.
Edwin’s gaze locked completely onto her lips.
“Aren’t you going to drink? It’s really good.”
Noticing his stare, Lina tilted her head.
“I will.”
Edwin lifted the ice-filled juice as carefully as if he were drinking a scalding hot beverage.
Then he gulped it down in several large swallows.
But the cold drink did little to soothe the burning inside him.
His eyes kept drifting back to the same spot, and his vision grew hazy.
Lina, who had been watching the suddenly quiet Edwin, asked,
“Sir Rohas, are you very tired? Would you like to head back early?”
Now that she looked more closely, Everett’s eyes were slightly bloodshot.
I reflected on whether I had been the only one getting overly excited.
“No, I’m not tired at all.”
Everett’s slightly unfocused eyes sharpened again.
‘He doesn’t have to push himself.’
No matter how many times I suggested it was fine to leave, Everett’s answer remained the same.
I couldn’t keep pressing him when he kept insisting he was okay while roughly rubbing his face with that calloused hand.
Instead, I asked with genuine concern.
“Is work really that busy?”
It was only natural for the emperor’s aide to be swamped, but…
Complaining to me wouldn’t make his workload any lighter.
Still, I thought it might make him feel a little better.
Everett let out a small chuckle.
“I’m dying.”
Then he added, almost like he was whining,
“I’m terrible at paperwork, but the moment I arrived at the palace, there were piles reaching the ceiling.”
I was pretty sure my own contributions accounted for at least a finger’s width of that mountain of documents.
With that in mind, I patted the back of Everett’s hand in consolation.
‘No wonder his eyes kept glazing over.’
Everett simply smiled as he looked down at the hand I had touched.
He didn’t seem to talk much about work outside of the palace, because his complaining ended there.
Instead, he spoke like a mischievous little boy.
“I want you to know how much I struggled just to make time to see you, Miss Diaz. I’m bragging, so stop trying to send me home.”
Despite his brazen tone, his gaze gradually drifted away from me.
His cheeks flushed red, like sparks landing on white paper.
Like a mischievous boy who had grown into a shy young man.
I couldn’t see my own face, but I suspected it looked much the same.
My gaze, which had been lingering around his earlobes, finally dropped to the floor, unable to endure any longer.
‘Ah, this definitely feels like a green light.’
I fidgeted with my fingers for no reason.