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“Well, looks like you’ll be heading home too, Katarina,” Cezar said to me. Since we’d come together, if Cezar was going back to the palace, it only made sense for me to go home as well.
“I suppose I will,” I replied.
“Excuse me,” Maria said, “but you will be returning to the palace, will you not, Prince Cezar? If that is the case, as I shall be returning to the Magical Ministry myself, I believe coming with me would prove more convenient. Would you like to accompany me?”
She was right in saying that would be convenient for Cezar if she took him back, and I’d be able to head straight home as well.
Cezar looked at me, then at Maria.
“I guess it would,” he said with his princely smile. “Well, if you insist, I’ll head back in Miss Maria’s carriage.”
Thus, Cezar and I parted ways at the orphanage, and I headed home by myself. After boarding my carriage, and once I was done waving to the children who ran to see me off, I immediately dozed off and slept like a log. I guess I somehow really tired myself out.
★★★★★★
I, Cezar Dahl, found myself sitting in a clattering carriage with a woman I had only just met for the first time—Maria Campbell. Despite being a commoner, she was a Light Magic user. News of this anomalous individual had already reached as far as the royal palace of Ethenell. Because I had previously laid eyes on her at the Assembly, she was not entirely unfamiliar to me, although we were meeting for the first time.
In the course of my work, I had ridden in carriages with people I had only just met before. That in and of itself was not remarkable. But after seeing the sharp look in this beauty’s eyes, I was unable to feel at ease. Her gaze, which had been dripping with hostility from the moment she’d first spoken to me, had only grown more fierce since we boarded the carriage together. I might have felt lucky to spend this time alone with such a breathtaking beauty, but I did not find my situation to be enjoyable in the slightest. Though I knew perfectly well the reason for her hostility, I thought I would still attempt to break the ice.
“You needn’t act so openly hostile toward me. I have no intention of doing anything untoward to your dear friend.”
Maria looked startled by my words, then she covered her face with her hands.
“I beg your pardon... I wasn’t even aware that I was acting that way.” Her voice sounded anxious.
I was pretty shocked myself, to learn that she had displayed such open hostility unconsciously.
Come now, just how precious is Katarina to this girl? I was already aware that Maria Campbell and Katarina were close, but having seen how hostile she became immediately after we met (though I suppose she did come across a compromising scene), I could hardly believe that her reaction was unintentional.
After burying her face in her hands regretfully for a while, she suddenly raised her head again and turned to me with a look of determination.
“Excuse me, Prince Cezar, but I was told you had come to Sorcié to find yourself a bride. Is that true?”
Though I was aware that people had been saying that, I was still startled to discover that she knew about it.
“Where did you hear that?” I asked somewhat sternly.
She answered smoothly and frankly.
“One of my superiors at the Magical Ministry told me what I ought to do if you spoke to me. I was also instructed not to tell anyone else, and I haven’t.”
It sounded to me like, having heard about me from somewhere else, someone important had worried that I might approach Maria with an offer of marriage, and had taken steps to prepare her. Not only did she possess Light Magic, a rare ability, but she was also so pretty that some men would probably fall in love with her at first sight. Though I did get the impression that she was perhaps honest to a fault, she did not seem stupid. In fact, I’d heard that she was always near the top of her class at the academy.
That was the kind of woman I was dealing with. Even though she was a commoner, it would not be so strange for foreign royals to seek her hand in marriage, despite her lowly status. That must have been what Maria’s superior had been thinking when they had informed her of this rumor. In fact, if I hadn’t already met her, there might have been some chance of me being attracted to Maria Campbell.
But that was merely a hypothetical scenario. As I was now, no such feelings for Maria were awakened in my heart. And I suspected that the same was true for her. She was probably wary of me. And from what I’d just heard, I felt I understood why.
The reason for that wariness is...
“I was told that, if you met a woman whose hand you desired, and if she gave her consent, you would be permitted to take her back to Ethenell as your fiancée. However, Lady Katarina is already engaged to a prince of this kingdom. I cannot imagine that you will be able to marry her,” said Maria, looking me squarely in the eye.
There was such a powerful look of defiance in her eyes, I almost felt like she was challenging me. It was just as I’d expected. Maria was wary of me because she thought I wanted to seduce Katarina and take her back to Ethenell as my fiancée.
Well, I can see how she got that from the scene she walked in on. If she’d already heard that I was looking for a bride, I can understand how she’d think that. I really don’t want to make an enemy of her.
I plastered a peaceful smile on my face and spoke firmly.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I wouldn’t even think of making a pass at the thirdborn prince’s fiancée.” I said this to her as if it were obvious.
Maria blinked in surprise.
“Is that really true?” she asked, apparently still slightly suspicious of me.
“Yeah, of course,” I declared with a smile.
She must have been an honest and trusting girl at heart. Once I’d declared firmly that I had no untoward intentions, she let her guard down. Though in my own mind, I added, At least, not yet. She didn’t seem aware of that.
Now that her guard was down, she had a much gentler look in her eyes. When I asked her about Katarina, she seemed delighted, and answered me with a smile. It seemed that this woman, Maria Campbell, really could not help but love Katarina from the bottom of her heart. I suspected that, if I made an enemy of her, she would be just as vexing an enemy as Prince Jeord.
Though I wore a smile as I heard her talk about Katarina, internally, I noticed that I was breaking out in a cold sweat. After I listened to Maria talk about her darling Katarina for a while, she dropped me off at the palace, and I was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.
When I returned to the quarters that had been allocated to me, I found Janne waiting there for me.
“How did it go?” he asked with a grin. This was after he’d claimed to have urgent business and skipped out on me, intentionally leaving me to spend the day alone with Katarina.
My first reaction was, Who asked you to do that? But after spending the day with Katarina, and thoroughly enjoying my time with her, I started to feel like I should thank him for giving me that opportunity. However, given our relationship, and my personality, I felt too embarrassed to honestly say something like “Thanks to you, I had a great time.” Instead...
“It was all right.”
I then quickly headed toward my private bedroom. Though I could still faintly hear Janne chuckling behind me, I decided to pretend that I hadn’t. After entering my room, I immediately fell back onto my bed.
When I started to relax, I naturally started thinking about Katarina. Ever since we met at the Assembly, when she had shown no fear of my abnormal golden eyes, I’d been interested in her. However, when I learned that she was already engaged to a prince of this kingdom, I managed to repress those feelings and prevent them from developing further.
But...
“Your hands are warm and gentle. And you are as well, Cezar.”
I remembered how kind Katarina’s voice was, and how warm her hands were. Her kind words worked their way into my heart, which had been so full of turmoil that I had long felt like screaming, and started to soothe it.
Ah, am I really such a simple man?
Back when I had been a mercenary, I’d enjoyed the same pleasures as other mercenaries, and had my share of dalliances with working girls. Despite that, when I thought about Katarina, I felt my cheeks start to burn like those of an adolescent boy. I’d never felt that way before. Though any attempt to become involved with her would only spell trouble for me, I could no longer deny the truth: I had fallen for this woman, Katarina Claes.
Unable to suppress these feelings by reason alone any longer, I sighed heavily. After all, she was already engaged to a prince of this kingdom, and he was smitten with her. On top of that, she was surrounded by many others who were just as smitten with her, including the Light Magic user, Maria Campbell. Katarina wasn’t someone I could become involved with just like that. Still, now that these feelings had awakened in me, the thought of my acquaintance with Katarina ending at the close of this study trip filled me with sadness. I didn’t want to be unable to see her again.
I have to maintain at least some kind of connection with her, and if I could grant just one wish... But in order for that to even be possible, I guess I need to ingratiate myself to Sorcié.
From the very start, I had already intended to do just that, for the sake of my country. But now that my personal feelings were involved, I was even more motivated. Following my investigation of the incident at that harbor town, and the conversation I’d had with Liam—a boy born in Ethenell—that day, I decided to look into a matter that had been bothering me. I felt like, if I did, it might yield information that could allow me to curry substantial favor with Sorcié.
I cast aside the fog that had entered my mind along with these unprecedented feelings, and switched gears to prepare myself for work.