The Crown Princess's Marriage Interview
The Crown Princess, who had single-handedly torpedoed the reparations adjustment negotiations and was secretly anxious about it, immediately agreed to the meeting.
Perhaps because she was fully aware that she had already offended Edwin quite enough, her attitude was more polite than ever before.
Thanks to the Crown Princess’s excellent sense of timing—knowing exactly when to yield—the atmosphere remained surprisingly cordial.
She had hesitated slightly at the suggestion of handing over the royal crown as reparations, but ultimately accepted it without much resistance.
Thank goodness she’s being reasonable.
It was fortunate that the Crown Princess understood this was the final olive branch Edwin was willing to extend.
Of course, that fortune belonged to Bellot.
Edwin had neither the creativity nor the patience to come up with a gentler, more rational solution than this.
The Crown Princess merely requested a short delay, saying she needed the King’s formal approval.
“Once we receive a reply from Bellot regarding the details, I would like to discuss them again.”
That much is fine.
After Bellot’s surrender, most of the real power had shifted to the Crown Princess, but the King was still her father.
“Very well.”
When Edwin readily gave his permission, the clouds over the Crown Princess’s face parted just a little.
It was an unexpected approach, but the re-negotiation of reparations seemed to be heading toward a peaceful resolution. Even someone bold enough to strut through the heart of an enemy nation she had been at war with just months ago without batting an eye felt relieved once she could set down such a heavy burden.
The Crown Princess must have realized she had let her guard down too much, because she quickly schooled her expression again.
Then, looking slightly pale—perhaps from exhaustion—she spoke.
“Along with our reply, I will also send those who will oversee the royal marriage.”
It was her way of emphasizing that Bellot, too, was paying a price in the form of an “imperial consort.”
The King of Bellot really gave birth to a snake.
Yet unlike usual, the sharp remark stayed inside my head and didn’t slip out.
I heard she had a fiancé before, but the engagement was broken off because of this political marriage.
My personal impression of the Crown Princess wasn’t particularly favorable, but I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of pity for a woman who had to part with her lover for the sake of her country and enter a strategic marriage with a man from an enemy nation.
Edwin quickly erased Lina’s face that had suddenly floated into his mind.
After all, there was no chance he would ever be forced into a political marriage like her.
“We should start preparing on our end as well.”
Edwin summoned Kylus, who would act as his matchmaker in his stead.
Kylus, who had been waiting outside, entered carrying documents with the personal details of the Crown Princess’s potential marriage candidates.
He neatly laid out five profile sheets in front of her.
“Would you like to take a look?”
The Crown Princess’s gaze swept across the five documents before landing on Kylus.
“What is this?”
Surprised by the far greater number of choices than she had expected, she asked as if seeking confirmation of his intent.
Kylus flashed his well-practiced salesman smile and began to explain.
“Unlike Bellot, the Empire is currently swept up in the trend of love marriages.”
With that single sentence, the Crown Princess instantly grasped the situation and let out a dry laugh.
“I am deeply grateful for His Majesty the Emperor’s gracious consideration, which extends even to my personal taste in men.”
Still wearing a faintly incredulous, sardonic smile, the Crown Princess bowed her head in thanks.
Edwin returned the gesture with a moderately benevolent smile and a slight nod.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
Apparently determined to avoid the worst possible outcome, the Crown Princess began carefully examining the five profiles one by one.
Her attitude was less like choosing a marriage partner and more like selecting a dress to wear to an important event.
She flipped through the first four at almost the same speed, but her eyes lingered for a long time on the final document.
The last candidate was someone whose background was rather humble for a royal marriage, but whose abilities and appearance had been taken into consideration.
“Hmm?”
Kylus, noticing where her gaze had stopped, asked in a deliberately cheerful tone.
“Does Sir Everett Rohas catch your eye?”
The Crown Princess nearly denied it strongly out of reflex, but quickly shut her mouth.
This was hardly the right place to blurt out whatever had crossed her mind—not with the Emperor and his closest aide present.
The excuse she offered after a brief silence was fortunately quite plausible.
“I simply heard that black hair is uncommon in the Empire, so I was merely curious upon seeing someone with it.”
Kylus smoothly accepted her explanation.
“Black hair is indeed quite rare across the Empire as a whole, but there are quite a few people with it in certain eastern regions. There’s even a legend that the black panther beastmen—with their black hair and deep golden eyes—are the ancestors of the eastern people. Sir Rohas is also from the east.”
“I see.”
The Crown Princess gave a half-hearted reply to Kylus’s words, but her gaze subtly drifted toward Edwin.
Specifically, to his hair and then to his eyes in turn.
When the errand boy who delivered documents and letters between departments handed me an envelope with no sender’s name on it, I’ll admit I felt a small flutter of excitement.
Is this what makes secret office romances so thrilling?
Could it be from Everett?
But the moment I opened the letter to check its contents, I was completely thrown off guard.
Kylus?
The sender was the last person I had expected.
What could this be about?
Through a string of coincidences, I had continued meeting Everett regularly, but this was my first contact with Kylus since the rotten coffee bean incident.
The letter was brief.
I’d like to meet regarding a matter concerning the Blue Hawk.
Even after reading the entire thing, I still couldn’t guess what he wanted, but I quickly wrote a reply suggesting we meet that evening.
“I’ll find out when I go.”
As it happened, I had already planned to leave work early that day.
Curious about what this “Blue Hawk matter” could be, I found myself wondering about it roughly every two hours, and before I knew it, quitting time had arrived.
When I reached the café we had agreed to meet at and opened the door, I was—well, quite startled.
The café that had always been nearly empty now had a decent number of customers scattered throughout.
“Welcome.”
Kylus, who had been serving tables, turned at the sound of the bell and greeted me with a bright smile.
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
He was already a cheerful person by nature, but seeing him smile so widely that the corners of his eyes crinkled made me wonder what was going on.
Still, I couldn’t exactly ignore the greeting, so I responded somewhat awkwardly.
“Would you mind taking a seat wherever you like and waiting just a moment?”
Kylus was in full café-owner mode. For a second I even wondered if the message I’d received was some bizarre new form of café advertisement.
He did say it was about the Blue Hawk, so… surely not, right?
With a faint sense of suspicion, I sat down in a corner seat where I was mostly out of sight.
Kylus whispered something to a cute, freckled girl with brown hair, then soon approached me.
“Sorry to keep you waiting after I was the one who asked you to come.”
Kylus smiled warmly.
I was about to make a polite comment that I hadn’t waited long when he spoke again, his voice clearly excited.
“We’ve had a sudden surge of customers lately.”
After finishing his sentence, Kylus smiled with genuine pride.
He must have been dying to say that.
It was true that business had picked up considerably.
The place used to be so empty you could hear flies buzzing; now half the seats were occupied.
Considering the steep rent in the capital and the cost of coffee ingredients, they were probably still operating at a loss.
But seeing the man in front of me looking so happy, I decided to let it slide.
Besides, the Emperor’s right-hand man isn’t going to go broke just because one café isn’t doing well.
“Wow, at this rate you’ll soon be turning people away.”
I had only said it to be polite, but Kylus beamed as if the very thought filled him with joy.
Then, realizing his expression had grown far too loose, he attempted to compose himself.
Even so, he couldn’t hide how much higher his cheekbones were than usual.
Fortunately, before Kylus could embarrass himself further, the freckled girl he had whispered to earlier brought out the drinks.
“This is a special coffee prepared especially for our honored guest.”
Kylus explained the menu item I hadn’t even ordered.
So that’s what the whispering was about.
“Thank you.”
I was still a bit dazed, but the moment the saucer and cup were placed in front of me with a soft clink, I instinctively thanked her.
However, I wasn’t entirely pleased.
My drink was coffee. Kylus’s was plain water.
This looks suspicious.
It would be rude to complain when someone was treating me, but the memory of that two-year-old rotten coffee was still burned vividly into my brain.
Noticing my reluctant expression, Kylus hurriedly explained.
“I’ve been drinking far too much coffee while practicing how to brew it, so my physician has forbidden me from drinking any for the time being.”
He joked that after drinking twenty cups a day, he had developed heartburn and insomnia.
Wow, twenty cups.
It was impressive his stomach hadn’t developed holes.
“I really practiced hard. I feel terrible for serving you that spoiled coffee twice before, so I prepared this with sincere apologies, Miss Diaz.”
His voice trembled slightly when he said the word “spoiled,” which somehow made it feel genuine. In the end, I lifted the coffee cup.
The trauma of the spoiled coffee still lingered, so my hand shook a little as I raised the cup, but the aroma wafting up from it was actually quite decent.
I took a very cautious, tiny sip.
“Huh?”
This…