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WITH the council finally adjourned, Richard returned to the villa that night.
“Your Highness… I couldn’t wait for your return. Welcome back.”
“Yes, it’s good to be home.”
Sara had been waiting for him in the entrance, and as soon as he got inside, he drew her in with his long arms and held her tight against his chest.
It was just like when he had hugged her back in the castle parlor, when Sara had revealed the truth of her identity, but they had become closer than ever in the time since then, and Richard had started actively reaching out to touch her. Months ago, Sara could never have imagined being able to hug him like this.
But…surely Richard has the innate desire to be cuddled, too, right?
After thinking this, Sara gently stroked his hair. He seemed to enjoy it, nuzzling his cheek against the top of her head. He took a step back only to drape his arm around her shoulders as they walked together to the living room.
There, Claire was preparing tea. Sara and Richard sat beside each other and rested quietly for a few moments, sipping the tea Claire brewed, before diving into the topic at hand.
“So the council’s finished the first stage of planning, then?” Sara asked. “You must be exhausted.”
“I didn’t do much. I just listened to the plan while at Edouard’s side and told them I didn’t care about the particulars so long as I was given the job of eliminating the king.”
“R-Really?”
He truly was incredibly eager to take out King Saleilles. His level of enthusiasm did surprise Sara, but when she stopped to think about it, the king and queen mother had been very keen on that plan from the very beginning as well… Perhaps the Ferrier royal family were simply warlike in general…
Oh! That’s right. I have to ask him about my request.
“So, about this plan to go to Saleilles… May I accompany you there?”
“Hm? Yes, of course you can. I don’t mind.”
“What?! You don’t?”
She had thought he would be a bit more hesitant, so his ready agreement was slightly anticlimactic.
“In fact, if you didn’t offer, Edouard was going to approach you about it. When we go ashore, the townsfolk will almost certainly be wary of us, but if we’re with you, it should put them at ease somewhat. You also know the layout of the Saleilles castle. If we get into a tight spot, we may have to rely on your expertise.”
“That’s true…”
The king of Saleilles surely wanted to keep the princess-switch-up plan a secret until the very end. His envoy was locked away in the Ferrier castle jail, but the king probably had some inkling that his second assassination attempt had failed.
They had no idea if King Saleilles was becoming increasingly impatient, or if he was already discussing his next move with his prime minister, but they had to strike now, when the Saleilles civilians were still ignorant of the truth and the king was likely planning his next attack.
In a situation like that, Sara being there, acting as Princess Hermine, would surely keep the general public at bay.
“I’ll take care of the basics of the operation, so you just stay by my side… Having said that, a commanding officer will lead an advance party, and they will move in before we even arrive. I want to preserve my strength as much as possible until the time comes.”
“Yes, I think that’s a good plan,” said Sara, nodding.
For a while, Richard was silent, holding his cup of tea. Eventually he put it back on the table.
“You,” he addressed Sara. “You really…won’t regret doing this?”
“Do you mean invading Saleilles? Or your plan to attack the king?”
“Both.”
“…There’s no undoing what has been done. And the king has been the puppet master behind it all… If the current king falls, Prince Alphonse ascends the throne, and the people of Saleilles live happier lives because of it, then I will have no complaints or regrets.”
Sara may have felt resentment toward the king and Hermine, but she hoped her fellow countrymen—townsfolk who had showed her kindness when she was just the daughter of a baron and soldiers who were deployed in senseless disputes—would be kindly looked after.
Richard nodded.
“Of course. Edouard said he would consider the future of the civilians once he spoke with their prince. I’m sure he’ll be concerned about the townsfolk, even if they are Saleilles subjects.”
“Right. Thank you.”
“And also…”
Richard pressed his lips together. After fretting silently for some time, he continued in a quiet voice.
“I… About marrying you…I would like to reconsider it…”
“……”
“This political marriage was invalid from the very beginning, so I will annul my so-called marriage with Princess Hermine of Saleilles, with the Saleilles party at fault. And then, I would like to enter a new marriage with you…Sara.”
Sara’s heart slammed against her rib cage.
That was the first time Richard had ever called her “Sara.”
He had called her the name given to her by her parents.
And he told her he wanted to marry no one other than “Sara.”
Sara blinked in speechless surprise. Richard must have misinterpreted her reaction—he suddenly broke eye contact, crossed his arms, and turned in the opposite direction.
“If you don’t want to, we can just annul the marriage and call it a day. But I wouldn’t want to marry Hermine, a terrible woman I’ve never even met before, and if I am to take a wife…I just thought it should be you. If you’re sick of me, I’m not going to force you.”
“….to….”
“What?”
“Of course I want to!” Sara shouted gleefully, throwing herself at Richard.
She seemed to have taken him totally off guard. He yelped a bit in panic, taken aback, but then he unfolded his arms and properly wrapped them around Sara.
✦ ✦ ✦
His chest had a clean, soapy scent, and it felt warm when Sara nuzzled her cheek against it. His bony fingers were gentle as they clumsily stroked her hair.
“I’m so happy,” said Sara. “But…I’m just the daughter of a bankrupt baron. And… ‘Sara’ is legally married to Firmin…”
“No, their marriage is the same as ours. This ‘Firmin’ guy married Princess Hermine—she was just borrowing the name ‘Sara.’ To put it this way, we both married women under fake names, so the marriages have both been invalid from the beginning.”
Sara’s eyes widened at his logic.
“That’s true… Wait, then that means…”
“Even if they challenge us in court, we have a good chance of winning. This means that you—Sara—won’t have your reputation sullied. You are a single woman with no history of marriage at all. No one has the right to keep you from getting married.”
“But…my social standing…it’s…”
“Were I in Edouard’s position, that might have been an obstacle…but I’m just an illegitimate prince, born of a royal concubine and later adopted by the queen. I abdicated my right to the throne when I was still a child, so even if I marry and have children, they won’t interfere with the Ferrier line of succession at all. Edouard will probably marry his fiancée before long, and sooner or later I plan to retire from the royal family.”
That was the first Sara had heard of this!
“You’re going to leave the royal family?” she asked.
“Yes. Well, I had resigned myself that my plan would be more difficult to carry out once I had married the princess of Saleilles, but…if I were to marry the daughter of a baron, I could become an ordinary subject much more freely. Oh… Unless you’d rather remain the wife of a prince? If that’s the case, I’ll just call off these plans—”
“No, no! Please don’t even think of flippantly changing something so important to you on my account!”
Sara was incredibly grateful that Richard cared so much about her, but she knew if she ever told him, “I’d like to be the queen of a kingdom,” he would genuinely go lay siege to some kingdom and wrest the throne away. The sheer authority and physical strength Richard possessed was a little startling at times.
“I don’t care about what my social standing is in life…as long as I can be by your side!”
“Sara…”
“You, looking me in the eye and calling me by my name like this…that’s enough for me. And when I lived with my parents, I used to lend a hand to the family business and people around town, so even if we’re working nobility, that’s fine with me!”
Richard laughed.
“You’re right. If I can be with you, I think it would be nice to work as an ordinary citizen.”
Richard laughed again and wrapped his arms around Sara’s waist.
“Let’s go to Saleilles, Sara… We’ll cut away all our loose ends there, and then we’ll come back here together.”
“Yes… Your Highness?”
“Yes?”
“I love you… From the bottom of my heart.”