🌷 🌷 🌷
WITH Claudio rushing her the entire way, Ophelia leapt into the waiting carriage. Apparently, they would be visiting a location where one went to listen to the highest members of noble society speak. As a living lie detector, all Ophelia needed to do was simply stand there and listen, so she didn’t have to bring anything with her, but she still felt a bit uneasy going empty-handed. She wished she’d at least had time to retrieve her trusty bag from her desk.
“We’re not going far, so you don’t need anything.”
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“Everything you’re thinking always shows on your face; anyone could’ve figured it out.”
Claudio crossed his legs, almost as if attempting to fold himself up to fit inside the narrow carriage, and he suddenly turned his head to gaze out the window. Ophelia followed suit, and after a moment, she realized that the scenery outside wasn’t moving at all. They’d climbed into the carriage in such a rush, but it still hadn’t departed.
“I wonder what the problem is; we haven’t left yet…” she noted.
“No, not yet. We’re going to… stay like this for a bit longer.”
Ophelia looked up at Claudio, who was being uncharacteristically cagey, with a curious expression.
“This is the only place we can be alone.”
Those words from Claudio, whose beautiful face she could only see half of from this angle, made Ophelia suddenly uneasy. She reached out for the carriage door, but Claudio moved faster, his hand darting out to lock the door.
“I finally understand just how sheltered you really are, so I wanted to take my time and let things progress naturally, but the situation has changed. Well, and there’s also Bruno prodding me in the arse.”
“Huh?! L-Lord Bruno struck you?! O-On your… posterior?!”
“No! You really are an idiot…”
“Unnh…”
Ophelia was shocked for a moment by the fact that her body didn’t shake, but then her eyebrows drew together, and her eyes teared up. Claudio’s eyes widened slightly, and his lips parted as he watched her.
At long last, Claudio had finally realized that he liked this expression of hers. If he were a normal man, it would probably be a woman’s enchanting smile or dainty deportment that would catch his interest and enflame his heart. But for Claudio, that kind of behavior from women only ever seemed like insincere fawning inspired by his position as a duke and brother of the king.
This expression of Ophelia’s represented something unique only to her: the juxtaposition between her tendency to run recklessly into danger and the weakness she didn’t bother trying to hide.
It wasn’t just the fact that her special ability made her unable to lie, but also this pure, genuine quality that she possessed, which Claudio was drawn to.
“Ophelia.”
“Sniffle.”
“Respond properly.”
“Y-Yes?!”
The corners of Claudio’s mouth drew up involuntarily at the way Ophelia reflexively straightened her spine as she responded. Inside the silent carriage, not disturbed by the sounds of horses’ hooves or tires creaking, Claudio’s quiet voice echoed loudly, seeming to delve deep into Ophelia’s ears with the next words he spoke.
“Ophelia, I find myself quite fond of you.”
“F-F-Fond…?”
“I’m saying that I like you.” Claudio reached out and grabbed Ophelia’s right hand, then raised it to the level of her eyes. “See for yourself, am I being sincere? You should know better than anyone.”
Ophelia stared at her hand, which seemed somehow traitorous in its lack of shaking, and her cheeks grew redder and redder. Her body swayed, and she felt like she might go boneless and slip right off the seat at any moment, but Claudio moved to sit directly beside her so he could support her body with his own.
“I submit for your consideration one proposal of marriage. Do you approve or reject this request?”
“Huh… M-Marriage…?!”
Ophelia was frozen in shock at the sudden and unexpected development, but when she noticed Claudio peering into her face from right beside her, she reflexively turned her head away.
“The difference in status is too great.”
When she finally squeezed her voice out, it came out sounding thin and weak, as if it might fade out at any moment.
“And if I told you to leave all that to me?” Claudio asked steadily, squeezing Ophelia’s hand gently in his. The fact that this hand wasn’t shaking at all proved that he was entirely serious.
But even so, a difference in status wasn’t something that could be overcome so easily… Wasn’t this exactly what she’d been agonizing over earlier herself?
“My family has nothing to offer the brother of the king.”
Claudio’s expression didn’t even flicker when Ophelia forced those words out. “I don’t need anything like that from you. All I want is for you to stay by my side.”
Ophelia’s heart was beating so wildly that she would’ve almost thought it was located in her ears for how loud it sounded. Claudio raised her hand once more in front of her face, as if reminding her of his sincerity, and all other thoughts fled from her mind. Her brain stopped processing, and her head was entirely full of Claudio.
Glossy pink hair fluttered across her blurry, unfocused field of view. “If you feel the same way about me, you can just nod your head.”
Ophelia could hardly see through the stars that swam in front of her eyes, but the persistent thought that she needed to burn this image of Claudio’s face into her memory for the rest of her life broke through her panicked state.
With her face bright red, Ophelia gave a single, emphatic nod, and in response, a brilliant smile broke out on Claudio’s face.
“Good job.”
✦ ✦ ✦
After saying that, he lifted Ophelia’s hand to his lips and gave it a chaste kiss. Then, from the corner of her eye, Ophelia saw him raise his other arm past the side of her face. She gulped, wondering what more he planned to do, but when Claudio leaned forward, it was simply to knock on the wall of the carriage.
“To the Royal Residence, the Golden Lotus Gate.”
Those familiar words issued from Claudio’s mouth, and the carriage began to move, causing Ophelia to let out a strange squeal of surprise.
“Th-The Golden Lotus Gate?”
Wasn’t the Golden Lotus Gate the entrance reserved exclusively for the royal family’s use?
“It seems that my brother’s already begun searching for a new fiancée for me. I even heard he expanded the candidate pool to include noblewomen from other countries. I have to introduce you before that progresses into anything troublesome.”
“Please go by yourself! I’m still in my work uniform, and my hair is a mess…”
“What’s wrong with your work uniform? Anyway, it’s fine. You’re cute no matter what you’re wearing.”
Ophelia’s mouth flapped open and closed, but no sound came out. Was Claudio always the kind of person who said things like this?!
The carriage arrived at the Golden Lotus Gate in record time. Ophelia was still kicking up a fuss about not wanting to go, so just like last time, Claudio scooped her up and carried her under his arm as he strode through the Royal Residence in an uncommonly good mood.
As for Ophelia, her brain still hadn’t caught up.
After passing through the Golden Lotus Gate, Claudio hurried down the long hallway and headed straight for His Majesty’s study. This time, the guards reacted quickly and opened the doors before Claudio could kick them open, allowing them to enter the study without startling the king.
Still holding Ophelia under his arm, Claudio succinctly announced that he’d decided to marry her and then just as quickly turned to leave. The king chased after Claudio and forced the two of them to remain. Ophelia never in a million years would have guessed that she would one day witness a king doing something as undignified as running.
Ophelia had already given up trying to resist and was simply watching as if this were all happening to someone else and had nothing to do with her.
“Lady Narve, huh? Hmm, very well, then.”
Just like that, the king easily gave his approval for Claudio and Ophelia to marry. Ophelia had been counting on the king and his advisors and ministers, and the many other important people whose opinions mattered, to put a stop to Claudio’s outrageous idea.
It wasn’t as if everything would be fine just because the king had given his permission. Everyone had to be thinking that the daughter of a minor earl wasn’t good enough to marry into the Stolarni ducal house.
Ophelia’s memories from the remainder of that day were hazy at best.
When she returned home, her father made a face that seemed equal parts surprised and happy, and her brother ran down the hall shouting something.