“The Prince of Ethenell’s visit has another objective, besides just learning about Sorcié’s technology and other innovations. That objective is for the prince to find himself a fiancée.”
“Find himself a fiancée?” I had not expected this whatsoever, so all I could do was to parrot what I’d just heard.
Jeord nodded firmly to confirm that point before continuing.
“That’s right. Ethenell is adamant about wanting to strengthen their ties with Sorcié. To facilitate that, they are apparently hoping that their prince can find a bride here.”
“Is that so?”
Because of how rich and advanced Sorcié was, there were many countries who wanted to establish ties with our kingdom. Though this was naturally the case for foreign nobles, apparently many commoners felt the same way. However, due to our kingdom’s wealth, there weren’t many people interested in emigrating elsewhere. It was apparently far more common for foreigners who wanted to marry someone from Sorcié to move here instead.
“Wouldn’t that mean that a woman from Sorcié would end up going back to Ethenell with him?” I had heard that Ethenell still wasn’t very safe, so no matter how strongly their royal family might desire this marriage, I would feel sorry if someone was forced to go back with the prince as his bride.
Jeord seemed to read my mind.
“Indeed. However, we have agreed this will only happen on the condition that a woman accepts his offer. We shan’t tolerate anyone being coerced to marry him. We have stressed that, if they commit any such offense, we will immediately shut down the possibility of any of our subjects marrying their prince. Ethenell has accepted this condition.”
“I see; I suppose that’s all right then.” As long as no one was going to be forced to do anything they didn’t want to, I felt I could relax.
“Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve had such a request from another country...” said Jeord, before launching into an explanation of how Sorcié would decline an offer of marriage from each of the other countries in the region.
In the past, if someone from Etran sought a political marriage, they were reminded that the previous king’s wife came from Etran, and that was sufficient. If a man came from Lousabre, they were told that their country was unsafe and the woman whose hand they sought was afraid to move there. In every case, our rulers had tried to sugarcoat these rejections.
In the case of Ethenell, because it had been in much the same state of unrest as Lousabre up until now, we had refused requests for marriage in much the same way. However, since its current ruler had assumed the throne, public order had begun to improve markedly. Jeord explained that, because of this, and the fact that the present king seemed trustworthy, we had not immediately rejected Ethenell’s petition.
Incidentally, the one remaining country that bordered ours, Xiarmah (a country whose culture was a bit like Japan’s), was also fairly advanced in its own right—though not quite as much as Sorcié yet—so they didn’t feel the need to make such requests.
But, due to his own country’s circumstances, it had been decided that Cezar would come to Sorcié to study, while at the same time looking for a fiancée.
“And so, why is that a problem?” I asked.
The King of Ethenell seemed to be a decent man, and we had stipulated that marriage would only be possible if the woman Cezar asked wanted it. They had agreed not to try and force anyone, so I couldn’t see where the problem was.
“I suppose you’re right,” said Jeord. “I wouldn’t really say that there’s a problem with it...” Then he fell silent again. Somehow, Jeord seemed to be behaving a little bit differently than usual. “Erm... Katarina, could you tell me what exactly your relationship with the Prince of Ethenell is?” After he clammed up for a while, these were the next words out of Jeord’s mouth. I was stunned by this question.
“Eh? What’s our relationship...?” Cezar was someone I’d met at the International Assembly and had managed to become a little bit friendly with before either of us knew each other’s identity. And after that, he helped me during the kidnapping incident. If I were being entirely candid, I would admit that he was a romanceable character in an otome game and I was the villainess who was meant to try to foil his romance. But I was the only one who would even understand what that meant, so I couldn’t say as much. “Umm... I guess you’d call him a casual acquaintance?” I finally answered.
“Eh? Just a casual acquaintance? You wouldn’t consider him a close friend, then?” responded Jeord, seeming shocked for some reason. His shock shocked me.
“Eh? No, I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a friend...” When I still thought Cezar was just someone’s servant, I might have felt comfortable calling him a new friend, but once I learned he was a foreign prince I was no longer sure if I ought to say that. Taking that into consideration, I described him as a mere acquaintance, and for some reason, Jeord appeared to let out a sigh of relief. “Excuse me, Prince Jeord?”
Jeord had displayed a series of behaviors that I couldn’t understand. Starting to worry, I peered closely at his face.
“It’s nothing, only, after seeing you interact with the Prince of Ethenell at the Assembly, I became convinced that you must be close friends. So when I heard that the prince would be coming to Sorcié to find himself a fiancée, I panicked,” he finally said, with a somewhat awkward expression.
“Hm?”
Even if Cezar and I were close friends, what reason could there be for Jeord to panic when he heard that Cezar was coming here to look for a fiancée? Seeing my puzzled expression, Jeord looked troubled and furrowed his brow slightly.
“We have informed Ethenell that if the prince chooses a woman from Sorcié to marry, and that woman agrees, then we will allow him to take her as his wife. Provided the woman is not compelled, and the prince has her permission, they will be married.”
“Yes.”
Ah, I see. So that’s how the Cezar route goes in the second game! After he and the protagonist fall in love, he takes her back to his home country! I was pretty impressed with myself for being able to figure out how the game’s story would unfold on the spot like that. I’m pretty clever, I thought.
Unaware of my internal reaction, Jeord continued speaking.
“He is visiting as a representative of his own country, so I should think he would make sure to avoid approaching any woman who already has a fiancé... However, I just thought that, if you and the Prince of Ethenell were already close, the chance of him approaching you might not be zero.”
“Huh?!”
At this point, I finally realized why the news of Cezar coming here to study had sent Jeord into a panic: Because Cezar and I were already on friendly terms, he was worried that Cezar may ask me to marry him!
“No chance! True, we have met before, but we don’t have the kind of relationship that would lead him to consider choosing me as his fiancée!” I insisted, while waving my hands dismissively in front of my face.
The fact of the matter was that, in terms of our relationship in the games, we were actually supposed to be enemies. For that reason, I already felt like I shouldn’t interact with him too much. And Jeord’s concerns required us to assume that Cezar thought of me romantically, which I didn’t think was true. He was such a handsome man that, just by standing still, he could attract any number of beautiful women, and he seemed to have plenty of experience with them too. I couldn’t imagine that someone like him would consider a woman he found lying on the palace lawn one day as a romantic prospect.
“I don’t believe I have the kind of charm that would allow me to attract someone like Prince Cezar. It simply isn’t possible that he would approach me as a potential fiancée!” I declared confidently, starting to breathe a little heavily.
Jeord somehow seemed irritated by my reaction.
“I know that you always maintain a low opinion of yourself in these matters, Katarina, but you have plenty of the kind of charm that men find attractive. Please try to be a little more aware of that fact.”
His words surprised me. I waved my hands even more dismissively than I had a moment earlier.
“Wh-What are you saying? That isn’t at all the case; you simply have too high an opinion of me!”
“You are incorrect. In fact, isn’t someone who finds you very attractive standing in front of you at this very moment?” said Jeord, bringing his face much closer to mine.
“In front of me...?” I muttered, not understanding what he meant.
Oh, that’s right! This incredibly beautiful prince is in love with me. When I remembered this fact, I suddenly felt my cheeks start to burn. At that point, I knew I had to be blushing.
While continuing to stare intently at me, Jeord kept speaking.
“I find myself attracted to you most powerfully, Katarina. When I think of the possibility that the Prince of Ethenell might end up just as lovestruck as myself, I simply cannot bear it.”
Jeord’s impassioned speech—and his fiery gaze—caused the burning sensation in my cheeks to increase even further. I struggled to collect my thoughts.
“S-Surely not... You’re just too niche in your interests, Prince Jeord!” I cried without thinking.
“Niche?” Jeord echoed, looking at me with a quizzical expression.
Ah, whoops. That use of the word might not exist in this world.
“Ah, erm, I mean you have some unusual tastes,” I quickly corrected myself.
“Unusual, you say? I really don’t think that’s the case.”
“N-No, they really are unusual. Normally, you would have chosen a cuter, more sensible girl.” What I really meant was that he should have fallen for someone like Maria, the game’s protagonist.