“Everything is my fault for not being able to keep her in check,” Kevin somehow managed to say. He stopped trying to stand up and instead prostrated himself, rubbing his forehead on the floor. “So please, do not kill my daughter. My life is yours to do as you wish, so I implore you, spare her!” Kevin pleaded frantically.
Raising a hand against royalty was tantamount to treason, and the punishment implicated the offender’s entire family. The outcome wouldn’t change even if Kevin offered his head—and yet, he had to try. After all, Arnette was the last memento from his late wife and the only family he had left now that Caim had severed ties with him.
“Please, I beg you!”
“Be at ease. I do not plan to execute any of you,” Roussel reassured Kevin, much to the latter’s surprise. “Not out of compassion, however. This is purely political. You are the hero of our country, Count Halsberg. Revealing that your daughter has harmed royalty would cause much anxiety among the populace and might even create an opening for another nation to attack.”
Kevin was loved by the people as the hero who had saved the kingdom from the Poison Queen. He was also an important figure in the Adventurers’ Guild, even after becoming a noble. Announcing that the daughter of such a hero had injured the prince would sow unease and doubt among the populace. It would also erode the royal family’s relationship with the Adventurers’ Guild.
“Therefore, what Arnette has done will be treated as a mere unfortunate accident, and she won’t face punishment,” Roussel said.
“Your Highness... I thank you from the bottom of my heart!” Not caring about appearance, Kevin once again prostrated himself in tears before a man more than a decade his junior. Coupled with his emaciated body ravaged by poison, Kevin looked nothing like the hero he once was. Now, he was nothing more than a father concerned about his daughter.
“However... I will not do this for free. There is a condition,” continued the prince.
“A...condition?”
“Arnette must become my wife. You won’t object, will you?”
“What?!” Kevin exclaimed, shocked. He felt like he had just been thrown into the abyss. This was one of the most distressing things a father could experience—having his beloved daughter taken away by another man. “Wh-Why would you want her as your wife...?”
“Do you think any woman will approach me ever again with this face? It’s only natural that I demand the perpetrator to take responsibility for it, no?”
“B-But...!” Kevin reflexively tried to protest the idea of his beloved daughter being married off, but quickly stopped himself as he stared at the prince’s eye. It was murky, clouded by a complex mix of emotions—love, hate, obsession, longing, desire to possess, and many others.
Roussel had fallen for Arnette at first sight. He had been charmed by how, despite her cuteness and naivety, she was strong and resolute. But having his face ruined by the girl he loved had twisted his affection. While he still loved her, he also hated and resented her just as much, and his contradictory feelings had intermingled to form a complex obsession with Arnette.
“If you refuse our marriage, I won’t show any mercy. Arnette will be executed, and House Halsberg will also receive an appropriate punishment.”
Kevin groaned in distress.
“Think carefully, Count Halsberg. This is hardly a bad outcome. After all, Arnette will have to marry someday anyway. Indeed, it should be an honor that I, the fifth prince of the Jade Kingdom, will become her husband.”
Kevin didn’t reply, pondering this in silence. Roussel wasn’t wrong. As a provincial noble, Kevin should be weeping in joy that his daughter could marry into royalty. The issue, however, was that Kevin didn’t know what Roussel planned to do to Arnette. No father would give his daughter to a man with the look the prince had in his eye.
There’s no doubt that he resents Arnette. Does he want to marry her to take revenge...?
“Be at ease, for I shall take very good care of your daughter. I’ll even make sure that we produce an heir for House Halsberg. She’ll birth dozens of children. I’ll never allow her out of my sight—never!” Roussel declared with a smile that only confirmed Kevin’s fears.
Unfortunately, even if the prince’s objective was revenge, Kevin couldn’t do anything to stop him.
If I weren’t in this state, I could have freed Arnette, defeated the palace’s soldiers and knights, and escaped with her to another country! Had he been in his prime, Kevin would have been able to solve this problem with force, but that was impossible now that Kevin was so weak that even a rookie soldier could easily knock him down.
“Understood... Please take care of my daughter...” Kevin relented, dropping his shoulders. He couldn’t refuse. Without the power to protect Arnette, he was forced to rely on the prince’s mercy.
I lost my wife, forced a curse upon my son, and now can’t use my prized martial arts anymore. Arnette is the only thing I have left. And yet...!
If his wife had been alive, or if he could have entrusted Arnette to his reliable son, he would have been able to make a different choice. Once again, Kevin realized just how terrible a mistake he had made.
Roussel nodded contentedly, seeing Kevin’s resignation. “Then the matter is settled. We shall announce my marriage to Arnette to the public soon. Unfortunately, because of my face, the ceremony will have to be held in private, so—”
“Your Highness! This is an emergency!” a soldier suddenly interrupted, barging into the room.
Roussel frowned, displeased, and glared at the soldier who had interrupted him. “What is the meaning of this? I am in the middle of an important conversation!”
“B-But the criminal has run away! Arnette Halsberg has escaped from prison, defeated the soldiers guarding her, and fled the castle!”
“WHAT?!” Kevin and Roussel screamed in unison.
The tomboy princess slipped from the men’s grasp like a little bird, injuring the dozens of soldiers and knights who had tried to stop her prison break.
Roussel’s face grew red with fury at hearing that the girl he loved had fled. Kevin, meanwhile, went deathly pale and fainted on the spot at the new scandal his beloved daughter had created.