“I’ll speak plainly since this is an informal setting where you both can address His Majesty at ease,” Jeykos said, “but that prince never had any intention of becoming king in the proper way. He was under the false assumption that he could gallivant his way to the throne. I myself wouldn’t have wanted any part in being lorded over by such a dull-witted fool of a king. The true misfortune of it all, however, was the fact that the far more capable second prince was born after he’d already become crown prince.”
Jeykos’s voice was warm, but his words were biting. You just mixed some insults in there, didn’t you? Is that any way to speak of the prince of another country?
Then again... Sophie didn’t have so much as a shred of affection for the prince who, as Jeykos put it, had been on his way to becoming a “dull-witted fool of a king,” and Sophie herself had run away, so that hardly concerned her. By all means, do whatever you’d like! Sophie cared for him as much as the sautéed fish on her plate. Oh, but that would be an insult to the head chef, wouldn’t it? Whatever dish the prince was, it didn’t matter if he were boiled or baked—Sophie didn’t want a single bite.
“The reason he was able to function as the crown prince was because you were there with him,” Jeykos said.
“What?”
Looking at her plate and imagining the prince arrogantly jutting out his chin on its surface, Sophie jerked her gaze upward in surprise.
“You were always whispering something in his ear when you were in formal settings, were you not?” Jeykos said. “You were leading him, weren’t you? Telling him what he should say in his speech or who was who and where they were from.”
Jeykos was exactly right.
No matter how much time had gone by, the prince never had memorized the names or faces of any of the influential figures in other countries, let alone those of the nobles in his own kingdom. Sophie had been in charge of feeding him all the answers.
As his fiancée, Sophie had been perfectly suited for the role—no one would raise an eyebrow if she were always beside the prince, no matter where he was. Seeing her always glued to the prince’s side, the wiser nobles laughed about how well the two of them got along, while the noble ladies merely sneered at the plain and unfortunate Sophie for her “unbecoming” behavior.
Then please, by all means, take my place! Sophie had wished that from the bottom of her heart.
The prince’s speeches, for example, had been praised for being brief and to the point...but Sophie had been whispering the two or three sentences that she’d deemed absolutely necessary into his ear beforehand! When the situation had absolutely called for a longer speech, the two always stood close together—or at least they made it look that way, so she could whisper the lines into his ear beside him. He’d looked like an excellent prince, speaking boldly, almost as if he were speaking to an old friend—almost as if he’d thought of the words himself. If nothing else, Sophie did have faith in his acting skills and his ability to handle what was thrown at him.
Sophie was silent for a moment. “What’re you talking about?”
She had contained her reaction to Jeykos blabbing openly about the nation’s affairs, merely letting a smile grace her face, whereas Vyce snorted.
“If you’ve got eyes and a brain to think with, you’d know exactly what I’m talkin’ about! There had to have been plenty that noticed, so you don’t have to try ’n’ cover it up.”
Now that it was all out in the open, Sophie couldn’t help but feel just a bit down. She’d thought no one had noticed, but all she’d done was make a proper clown out of herself.
“He was that stupid and he was still the crown prince?” Lunetta asked bluntly.
Livio gave a hearty laugh. “Sophie was tremendously talented, so everyone thought it would all be fine so long as she was the queen. What a load of horse dung! In that case, those brainless bastards would’ve been better off skipping the prince entirely and just putting Sophie straight on the throne! To hell with them!”
Livio’s words didn’t match the smile on his face. His expression was that of a dazzlingly radiant angel—and yet it spewed all manner of curses.
Sophie was just the slightest bit scared of this side of Livio, but she liked it all the same. The dissonance was just right. It was just like sweet-and-sour candy—it left you wanting more. Then again, Sophie was fine with anything so long as it was Livio, so all it took was a smile on his face to leave her in fulfilled bliss.
Sophie smiled, clutching her throbbing chest. “Oh, don’t be silly. The kingdom will go on just fine without me. There are all sorts of people who could serve in my place. I was merely fulfilling my role as His Highness’s fiancée, that’s all.”
“That may be, but listen up.” With his elbow on the table, Vyce ran his left hand through his hair and tapped one long finger of his right hand on the table. His expression was suddenly grave and mature. “Yer right—it doesn’t matter how important somebody is to society; the world ain’t gonna end just because they kicked the bucket. Even if I died today, someone’d keep this kingdom runnin’. In an organization, no one is irreplaceable. So if it’s got ya worn down, then you can run as far away as you want. Ya can go look for some other place to be.”
“But,” Vyce continued, staring at Sophie. His gaze was piercing and intimidating, and yet, his dark blue eyes were illuminated with kindness.
Indeed, it was almost as if he were trying to tell her, Don’t forget this. Take it with you.
“When it comes to people that individuals find to be irreplaceable, though? There are more than you can even start to count.”
Tomorrow, Sophie would be departing alongside Livio on a journey into an unfamiliar world. It would be a long, long time before they would be able to receive guidance from Vyce like this again.
The first adult that Sophie had ever encountered who worried about her had looked at her with the face of a king—and the face of a friend.
“You were irreplaceable for the prince to become king,” Vyce explained. “But to Livionis Warrion, you were also the very one who could be replaced by no other. To try and deny that would be an insult to me after I felt so much pity for you I wished I could keep you here in my kingdom. Stand tall and have some more pride in yourself.” Vyce’s expression shifted into a grin at the end.
Wearing that characteristic cynical grin, Vyce pointed at Livio with his thumb.
“If you don’t, you’re gonna leave our young little lover boy here in tears.”
“Sir Vyce, why don’t we wrap this up?” Livio said.
The following morning, a great number of people gathered at the entrance to the castle. There were Lunetta’s maids and ladies-in-waiting who’d taken care of Sophie; the castle librarian; Jeykos, the prime minister, and the civil servants Sophie had assisted; the mages who’d gone in and out of Lunetta’s laboratory; the kitchen cooks and maids that Azuello had frequently visited; the military members Livio had trained with...
And Lunetta and Vyce too.
“Sophie, I have a letter for you.”
Lunetta clutched the rectangular metal cases close to her chest. The cases were larger all around than an envelope and engraved with magic circles for transfer magic, with a protective spell guarding over the circles. Sophie’s case was inlaid with one of Lunetta’s red magic gems, while Lunetta’s was inlaid with one of Sophie’s brown ones. The cases sparkled, decorated with little ornamental touches and a number of smaller magic gems that had been set in the case alongside the center stone in each. The letter cases were both beautiful and cute—Sophie and Lunetta had put everything they had into making them.
“I have one for you too,” Sophie said.
The mighty witch—Sophie’s very first friend—gave a hearty nod, her obsidian eyes trembling.
“I mentioned this yesterday, but it doesn’t look like you’ll have to worry about anyone comin’ after you,” Vyce said. “Sophie, Livio—leave all your fears behind in my kingdom, you hear? Go out and have some fun.”
“We will!”
The corner of one side of Vyce’s mouth was curved up in a jaded grin. Sophie gave a hearty nod back.
“And take it easy with the booze, Vyce,” Livio said. “Don’t go croaking before we get back, okay?”
“Who d’ya think you’re talkin’ to, twerp?!” Vyce shook his hand, as if to send them on their way. Sophie and Livio laughed.
“We’ll see you around.”
“Yeah.”
“See you soon.”
“Of course.”
Sophie and Livio looked at each other. Those sparkling, sweet, and gentle blueberry eyes that Sophie adored so much were narrowed by his wide and loving grin.
Sophie smiled back at those eyes of his before returning her gaze to the people seeing them off.
Each and every face was lit up. They all warmed Sophie’s heart, like a cascading ray of sunlight or a tranquil spring day. It was a sight that could’ve come straight from a fairy tale—the sort Sophelia had always yearned for as a young girl.
It was all because Livio had taken her hand. It was because Sophelia—because Sophie had lived to see this day. That was why she’d been able to see—and claim—all those glistening specks of light.
I’m so glad I hung in there, Sophie thought with a smile as she gently caressed the inner child crying within her.
She let a wide grin grow on her face and gave them a big wave.
It was a far cry from “ladylike” behavior. And? So what? A graceful lady? Oh, how wonderful! A lady would wear a beautiful dress, stiletto heels, and ribbons and lace and swallow down all sorts of unsavory things. She’d be perfectly armed with a smile that kept everyone out, fooling herself and others over and over again as she crushed her own spirit only to be left all alone. That was the type of “lady” that Sophie knew. It was a curse.
I’ll be damned if I have any more to do with that nonsense! Throw it all away, straight out the window! Sophie wasn’t the daughter of some noble house anymore.
Without a family crest or title weighing her down, Sophie’s shoulders were light, and inside her small enchanted bag, she had all sorts of items she couldn’t wait to use. In her heart, she carried the excitement of beginning her next adventure.
And there, shining on her ring finger, was the light of her beloved.
Sophie was alive.
And she’d go on living.
I’m not alone anymore.
“We’ll be back!”
My Fiancé Cheated, But a New Love Rings! Volume 2
THE END