“It seems that my wife wasn’t feeling very well. She caused quite a scene.” Claudio looked around, his hold firm on the now-unconscious Rosemarie in his arms. The suspicious faces were filling him with an internal sense of impatience.
“It would seem so. It had me quite concerned.”
“Forgive me. I uttered that request without even thinking.”
“Oh, think nothing of it. It was partially my fault for trying to touch her without due consideration.”
Claudio apologized one more time to Kastner, who stood there with a gentle smile, and then quickly left the area. Heidi followed him, flustered, with Alto and his solemn expression joining up right after.
“Master Claudio, what is the meaning of this?” Heidi asked, clearly enraged, as Claudio proceeded down the corridor with Rosemarie clutched in his arms. He ignored the question and continued walking. Her temper reaching a boiling point, Heidi circled around in front of him and cut him off.
“Please stop being secretive and tell me what you’ve done to the princess!” Claudio saw Heidi’s slender eyebrows dip into a scowl, and his face took a very sour turn.
“I took her to the banquet and left her by herself, knowing full well she doesn’t do well in public. That’s it.”
Speechless from her anger, Heidi’s face grew redder and redder by the instant.
“I never thought that she would lose her composure this badly...” At the wedding, his office, and the Imperial Bout not too long ago, Rosemarie would go pale and start trembling, but she never once brought her emotions this out into the open before.
“Why did you do such a thing? Are you saying that the princess did something to upset you that much, Prince Claudio? Well? Did she?”
“...” Claudio was struggling to find his words.
Even though he spared no expense to make the despicable person who stole his mana comfortable, she brushed away his hands when he tried to stop her from falling off her feet in terror. And then she told him that he didn’t understand her feelings—two things that sent him over the deep end in rage.
As he thought about it now, he didn’t quite know why it made him that angry.
“Good maid, leave it at that. If you stir up commotion, it will damage Her Highness’s reputation. Your Highness, allow me to take Her Highness off to her room. It might pose problems if the guest of honor is not present as his own banquet.” Alto butted in to defuse the situation, and Heidi reluctantly backed off. Claudio passed the unconscious Rosemarie off to Alto’s waiting arms, and after a quick bow, he began walking away.
Claudio watched Rosemarie and the others go off into the distance, but as they disappeared behind a corner of the corridor, his fatigue hit him and he clutched his forehead.
He felt an emotion coming from within—an emotion called guilt. It was heavy, felt like lead, and was bearing down on his chest.
“A rare blunder on your part, eh?” A cheery yet disappointed voice unexpectedly addressed him from behind. When he turned around, he could see Fritz, the mole under his eye lifted by his wry smile. Claudio grimaced, getting the sense he was being criticized.
“...I never expected her to be so afraid that she would lose her bearings. She had never displayed such behavior up until now.”
“She had been enduring it because she didn’t want to inconvenience you, Your Highness. Quite the mental fortitude considering she’s not even aware of stealing your mana, I’d say.”
Claudio glared at Fritz as he shook his head in disappointment, then turned around and started walking back to the hall. Fritz followed in his path, but Claudio didn’t rebuke him for doing so.
“Still, I never would have pegged the royal wife as being able to say something that would actually upset you. But you said something to upset the royal wife beforehand, didn’t you?”
“—I recall besmirching King Volland, saying that it was pathetic she cowers over every little thing.” However, was that alone the reason?
“I don’t think any sensible person wouldn’t be upset by someone badmouthing their father, but... there must be some other reason as well. Why not try thinking back and remembering? Just apologizing for abandoning her doesn’t really count as an apology, after all.”
“...! Why are you taking that thing’s side? They even said that they would have much preferred having a beast head instead.”
Fritz passed by Claudio and quickly walked toward the hall—an act that made Claudio grit his teeth in frustration. Fritz turned around and raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. My point, Your Highness, is that this girl, who lives in constant fear, got so angry that she found it in herself to lash out at you. Now, cool down a little and give it some thought,” Fritz said, as if admonishing a toddler. Then he turned back around and departed, leaving Claudio dumbfounded.
Fritz made a good point, but the frustration over why he had to virtually break his back for the sake of someone he detested reared its head.
Claudio suddenly stopped in his tracks and glanced toward the end of the corridor down which Rosemarie had been carted away. But, not seeing any merit in doing anything, he eventually made his way back into the hall.