She had never seen a person like that before.
“Why...?” Standing in the corner of a decadent hall housing a slew of people dressed to the nines, Rosemarie had her eyes locked on and fixed to a single point. A single young man, to be exact.
The young man had sharp features complemented by a head of sleek, shiny black hair. He’d been smiling amicably as he conversed with the guests, but she could see that he looked a tad pale in the face.
“...Heidi.” Her voice cracked as she called to her maid standing just behind her. Her heart was pounding like mad. The sound of it drove her up the wall. She placed her hand upon her chest for composure.
“Yes, my princess. Might I offer you some water? Please, help yourself.”
“Huh? Ah, yes, thank you. Um, but...”
“Oh, do you feel faint? I have come readily prepared with smelling salts if need be. Or, perhaps you feel nauseous? Please, do not go anywhere. I will go fetch a bucket and...”
“No, those aren’t the issues I’m facing here...” Without an ounce of panic, her maid attempted to tend to her needs, but Rosemarie stopped her before things got into full swing. She tightened her hand around the glass of water she’d been given.
“I... I will be that man’s wife.” Not even noticing that her maid’s mouth was open wide in a dumbfounded and shameless display, Rosemarie made her way straight toward the young man. Her legs trembled in nervousness.
“P-Princess, as much as I would love to see you walk the aisle as a bride-to-be, are you truly—and I mean truly—set on that individual over there?” Her maid asked with extra added emphasis in an oddly flustered, yet hushed, tone. Rosemarie kept front and center, squeezing the glass in her hand even harder.
“Yes... he is the one. I don’t think I can settle with anyone but him.” She was doing it to have claim of peace of mind.
Besides, she would eventually need to marry for the sake of her land. In which case, that black-haired crown prince would be the one to take her hand in marriage.
She had never wanted anything as badly as this in her entire life.
“And, after all, he is the first one that doesn’t look like one of those.” Her soft murmur was probably too low for her maid to hear. She could hear the chatterings of disapproval still going on behind her, but that did not stop her stride.
Publicly, this evening gala was to celebrate the birthday of the crown prince of Baltzar, a magical regional superpower. But in actual fact, it was to select a bride for him. She’d reluctantly agreed to attend after receiving an order not so subtly disguised as a party invitation. But she’d never have expected that same event to cause her to lose so much of her composure.
Yes, she was positively enthralled. So much so, in fact, that she hadn’t even noticed that there were barely any girls approaching the crown prince for some inexplicable reason.
—Claudio, the Crown Prince of the Magical Nation of Baltzar, boasted the greatest mana of anyone inside and outside of the country. He was famed for his accomplishments as a warrior, as well. If one were to bring up a demerit in regards to him, it would be that his face is so terrifying that one look at it would be enough to haunt your memories.
The unsettling rumors that she had once heard from Heidi before she entered Baltzar had fallen right out of her head.
(I need to be that man’s wife... I shudder to think of anyone else.) She remembered all too well the day that her father, king of his own realm, had ordered her to go to Baltzar.
Back then and even now, she was so afraid of people that she found herself helpless—so much so that she hid herself in her secret little garden.