Chapter 13: A Very Public Proposal
“WHY hello there, future duchess! It’s an honor to meet you! What say we go on a trip together? I can show you my family’s best horses! Hahaha!”
Some time had passed since the incident at Duke Brooke’s house. I arrived at the library first thing in the morning as requested, and there I found the crown prince in his usual seat, spreading his arms out with an exaggerated grin. It was quite the warm welcome.
His guards were already standing at the entrance, which meant no one would be nearby to overhear us.
“You’re certainly in a good mood today, Your Royal Highness.”
Before I could even curtsy, the crown prince grabbed my hand and lifted it to his lips, but never let them make contact.
“How could I not be? There’s no one left to threaten my place in the line of succession. Estellise is feeling much better, too. The color has returned to her face, and Duke Gridimore isn’t so hard on her anymore. But even if none of that happened, every obstacle that could get in my way of becoming king is gone. Now I can focus on cherishing and loving my fiancée, and all I need to do is avoid any stupid mistakes on my part.”
He pulled out a chair for me like last time, so I took a seat. He sat opposite me and looked me straight in the eyes. That icy stare from before had vanished. His Royal Highness had no need to put on an act in the empty library, so if he grinned at me like this, it indicated he’d come to see me as someone with value.
“I thank you, Lady Cynthia. I was about to do something very foolish before we spoke.”
“Something very foolish?” I inquired.
“That’s right. I wanted Estellise to be freed from me. I was going to hire a woman to work for me, pretend I was being unfaithful with her, and create a scenario where I would be at fault for the annulment of our engagement. I was prepared to throw away my title as crown prince, or even as a member of royalty if it came to it,” he confessed.
I’d heard this exact story before. Is that why he started a romance with the heroine?
The game reached its happy ending when the heroine and the crown prince became engaged, but the player never found out if he was disinherited afterward.
“I can tell how deeply you love Lady Gridimore.”
“Of course I love her. I never stopped since the day we became engaged as children. But I thought she didn’t love me. After all, she’d started to hang her head whenever we met, and I couldn’t get a smile out of her no matter what I said or did. I was convinced she hated me, but it seems I was too short-sighted.”
“As the royal family’s vassal, I’m most pleased to hear the conflicts between you two have been resolved,” I said with a genuine smile.
“Thank you. Now, what happened with Siraiya? When is he coming back to school?”
“He needs to receive medical treatment for some time first. When he returns, he’ll be this kingdom’s first duke to ever be enrolled in school, so I imagine he wants everything to be perfect.”
“I see. I look forward to it. You know, I’d noticed how his uniform looked a bit small. I hope you’ll fix up this prominent backer of mine and get him in tip-top shape.”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
“Oh, by the way, as long as we’re alone, I’ll allow you to use my first name. I’ll tell Siraiya the same once he’s back.” His Royal Highness rose from his seat.
I quickly joined him, but the prince was already heading for the exit, telling me that our conversation was finished. But he turned to me just before leaving the study area.
“I want the two of you to show the world that you’re backing me. That means pretending to be my followers around campus. It doesn’t sound so bad to spend our school lives around friends, does it? I’ll be looking forward to it, Lady Cynthia.”
I realized the crown prince had started to use my first name at some point. He grinned at me with perfectly white teeth. I curtsied.
“As you wish, Prince Adelberd.”
My response seemed to satisfy him, as he spun around and strolled out of the library. His guards dispersed, too.
Siraiya and I were villains in the game, but in this world, we’d become the main hero’s friends. Although having a friend like the cunning Prince Adelberd left me more uneasy than reassured.
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I returned to my classroom, a bit tired after my conversation with the crown prince, only to find all of my classmates staring at me the second I stepped through the door.
The perceptive ones and those from families in the know seemed to be already aware of the situation, as they came up and spoke to me. Or perhaps His Royal Highness had already spread rumors on purpose.
Only the boys wanted to talk to me when I was looking for a fiancé, but now the girls want to talk to me, too. This might get even more intense than before.
“E-Excuse me, Lady Rhuddlan. Do you intend to marry Sira— To marry the third Brooke son?”
“How lovely! A passionate romance with the young nobleman who’s down on his luck. It’s like something out of a novel! Would you care to discuss it over tea at my home?”
Those voices belonged to Eddie’s former followers. I almost respected how much they’d changed their tune when it came to me. I knew they didn’t want me to become a duchess while we were still on bad terms.
I was only a viscount’s daughter and barely participated in high society. Not only that, but I worked alongside commoners often. These girls once believed they could bully me without any repercussions, but they were sorely mistaken.
“Thank you for the invitation. However, as you’re aware, I’m quite busy at the moment… And there are many things I can’t just discuss with other parties. Most inconvenient, wouldn’t you say?” I gave them a pained smile.
“Of course! I’m sorry for overstepping!”
“Let’s do it some other time instead!”
I pictured these girls fainting if they ever found out His Royal Highness gave me permission to use his first name and counted me among his friends. Now would have been the perfect time to get my revenge on them, but I couldn’t disgrace myself when I was going to marry Siraiya and become a high-ranking noble. I chose to feign politeness as I shot them down instead of doing anything dramatic.
The boys in class saw their chance to approach next. Fortunately, it was already time for today’s lessons to start. Some of them still aimed to get engaged to me, especially the confident ones who thought they could pull it off.
This was probably because the news hadn’t fully circulated around the academy yet. I could knock them down a peg with their ridiculous fantasies of stealing me if only they knew Siraiya was to become a duke. I just needed to hold out a bit longer.
Siraiya was staying at our home for now. I could hardly wait for him to return to school and reveal the outcome of my hard work all this time. The other young noblewomen at school would probably try to seduce him, but Siraiya would never betray me. I could show him off to the world without fear.
Though I still paled in comparison to Siraiya, as the future duchess, I approached that day’s class with an intense desire to learn.