“And here I’d been hoping you’d say, like, ‘It took but one glance to recognize you,’ but nooo...”
Overcome with shock, I sank into the bed as Nadir stroked my back.
“You can’t seriously think something that unrealistic would happen,” he said, his words harsh despite his comforting touch. “If things were always that convenient, every story in the world would have a happy ending.”
“Oh, let a girl dream,” I protested.
“Girls are a pain,” he remarked.
“You know, this is why nobody likes you.”
“I see,” he said, still stroking my back. For all his faults, I really appreciated this caring side of his. “Also, Ms. Dreaming Girl, I have good news for you.”
“Good news?”
“I’m now close to a prince.” Nadir’s chest puffed up proudly.
“Oh,” I replied half-heartedly.
Displeased with my listless reaction, he repeated, “I’m now close to a prince.”
“Um, right.”
“Unfortunately, this kingdom practices hereditary succession. While it’s not impossible to overthrow the royal family, the risk of failure is high. The people are quite content with our monarchs at the moment, and so a coup would likely be met with backlash.”
What unsettling words. It was true: there was very little dissatisfaction among the people toward the royal family. A coup under these circumstances would surely be an unpopular choice. Did he mean he’d have tried to overthrow them if the people had been unhappy? Had he thought about becoming king?
This man is terrifying, I thought to myself, shivering.
He just continued to rub my back. “So I decided to take an easier path toward affiliation with the royal family. If Leticia bears a child by the crown prince, that child will be the future monarch, and I’ll be said monarch’s uncle.”
“Um, right.”
Being that close to the royal family would indeed bring him significant influence. But why was he so fixated on being “close to a prince,” I wondered...? A certain past event surfaced in my mind. That couldn’t be it...could it? “Is this because I told you I wanted to marry a prince?”
He said nothing in response.
“I-I’m taking your silence as a yes!”
“If you want,” he mumbled after a pause. So that had been a yes!
No way. Was his entire obsession with power all due to something a girl had said? A girl he’d only met once, twelve years ago?! In other words...
“Y-You were in love with me back then?”
He said nothing in response.
“I-I’m taking your silence as a yes!”
“That’s not it,” he said. Oh. So this time it’d been a no. My disappointment had me on the verge of tears, for some reason.
No, not “for some reason.” I knew why. Deep down, I’d wanted him to say yes. I’d still been hoping for a happy ending to my story.
“There’s no ‘back then.’” Nadir brushed away the tears that had begun to form. “I still love you now,” he said with certainty, looking at me with an anxious expression. A rare moment of vulnerability from someone usually so levelheaded.
He’d...confessed his love for me? Really?
For a moment, I thought I must be dreaming. The warmth of his hands at the corners of my eyes, however, assured me that this was reality.
“I—” I choked on my words, my voice a high-pitched mess. “I’m so deeply in debt.”
“I’ve already paid it off,” he said.
“M-My home is nothing special...”
“I’ve told you before that my family values love above all.”
“I-I’m not cute...”
“You are to me.”
Was he all right? He’d never said anything like this in all the time I’d known him.
“Y-You think I’m cute?” The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“I do,” he answered gently.
Ah. Truly, what a fool I’d been.
“I-I love you too,” I said. Of course I did. How could I not be moved by this?
Nadir smiled joyfully.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Okay, but why? What’s so good about my brother?” my friend—and my fiancée’s younger sister—asked the moment she entered the dressing room.
“You’re asking me that on the day of the wedding?” I said.
“I mean, I just don’t get what’s sooo great about him,” said a clearly irritated Leticia as she bit down on her handkerchief, seemingly displeased with how things had played out. “Brie, you were a live-in maid for my brother, right? He was totally, totally trying to win you over! I mean, you know? I bet he made you help him get changed and help him with bathing and stuff!”
“I did not help him with bathing!”
“So you did help him get changed!”
Crap. Baited.
“I always did think it was odd how my self-serving brother never got engaged, despite arranging political marriages for other people. You know. For other people.”
Wow. She was never going to let that go, was she? She’d even repeated it.
The heavy door of the dressing room swung open. And who else would it have been at a time like this? It was the other star of the day—the groom.
“We’re marrying for love,” Nadir said. “What’s the fuss?”
“You know, people say that it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony,” Leticia said. “Makes her want to run away.”
“Don’t make up weird superstitions.” Nadir looked different today, more put-together than usual in his white tuxedo, with his hair styled. Which, of course. It was his big day today. “To be clear, I supported your match with the prince because you liked him.”
“Yeah, but it went from great to awful really quickly!”
“That’s because our father spoiled you so much you couldn’t do anything! You’d never have been able to keep an engagement like that.”
“I could definitely do things! I could climb trees!”
“And how many tree-climbing princesses have you heard of?!”
“One! Standing right here!”
They really were close in their own way, weren’t they?
“As for making her work as a maid,” Nadir continued, “it wasn’t only for that reason. I wanted her to understand the inner workings of our household so she wouldn’t struggle as lady of the house.”
“And you couldn’t show your own sister that kindness why, exactly? Also, ‘that reason’ was so obviously to win her over.”
“Why wouldn’t I treat the woman I’m in love with differently from my sister?”
“Ugh! Augh! I don’t wanna hear you of all people be mushy! I’m leaving! Bye, Brie! See you later!”
With that, Leticia stormed out. The woman was a veritable whirlwind. And then, when she was out in public, she’d just switch into “elegant crown princess” mode. It was astonishing, truly.
Siblings through and through, I thought to myself as I stood up from my chair. “So you’re in love with me?”
“Have been for the longest time.” How casually he said it took me aback. I blushed furiously, and he laughed, looking thoroughly entertained by my embarrassment.
“I wonder if I’ll be of any use as a duchess.”