Upon hearing the name, Agnes knew immediately who the young man was.
Claude Visage…the fourth-born prince.
He was second in line to the throne after the current crown prince, ahead of his two other elder brothers. Agnes had heard that Prince Claude was employed as a knight.
Philip had barely ever swung a sword, which only became all the more apparent when he stood in proximity to the prince, who carried himself in a way only a trained soldier did. Rumors of the prince’s swordplay “hobby” went far and wide, but one look at him showed it was clearly more than a hobby.
“The king personally tasked me with sorting out this disturbance. If you won’t listen to me, then we will head to my father directly and you can answer to him…”
Philip gulped audibly.
Perhaps it’s starting to sink in just how much of a colossal man-child he’s being…
“…I was merely putting this woman in her place. She took the news of the dissolution of our engagement with poor grace and insulted my honor in the process.”
As Agnes stared incredulously at the pompous Philip, who somehow seemed convinced of his own righteousness, she started wanting to sprout a mushroom on him.
No. Not just one mushroom. She wanted to sprout them all over him.
Maybe Agnes really would live up to her hated nickname after all. Perhaps this was her time to really shine? But no. Reason must prevail.
Frowning slightly, Claude turned to face Agnes.
“Please, tell me what happened. In your own words.”
He was asking her. Asking Agnes. Rather than just taking Philip, with all his royal status, at his word.
How unlike Philip Claude was. He seemed…fair.
“Lord Philip informed me that our engagement was off. When I told him he should’ve been honest about having found someone else, he told me that she was his Dragonmate and that I’d only been a fake. He didn’t like my reaction to that, so he announced I was to be sent to the dungeons. I asked him why he bothered getting engaged to a fake in the first place and questioned his judgment regarding his new paramour. This angered him and he drew that sword on me.”
There was a pregnant pause. Then Claude sighed audibly.
His handsome features were colored with distress as the women in the nearby crowd began to whisper and exclaim in shrill voices.
“…Clarify a few things. This woman is your fiancée, isn’t she?”
“Like I said, I just broke it off with her! I’ve found my Dragonmate and—”
“…Are you seriously a member of the royal family?”
Claude knit his brows in disgust and cut Philip off.
“An engagement is more than a verbal agreement between two parties. It is a binding contract between houses. You can moan about it being over all you like, but the fact remains that you two are still officially engaged. This fuss achieves nothing and only damages your credibility.”
“Nonsense. I’ve found my soul spirit—”
“When? When did you find her?”
“…Huh?”
Claude plucked the sword from Philip’s hands, glancing at the girl with the golden-brown hair.
“When did you meet this Dragonmate of yours?”
“It was…it was about a month ago.”
Aha.
So Philip had been cheating on me for an entire month?
Philip’s infidelity was obvious. But he was truly a fool to admit to it in a public forum.
“And why did you not dissolve your engagement at that time?”
“Well… Well, I just…”
“According to the writ of dragon’s blood, once one locates their Dragonmate, they can love no other. By your own admission, you’ve loved this woman a full month already. And yet, you did not dissolve your engagement. Why? Whether that woman is your true Dragonmate or not, it remains a fact that you’ve behaved unjustly. You’ve disrespected not only your fiancée but the woman you claim to be your Dragonmate as well.”
As Claude handed the sword back to the guard, Philip’s expression clouded over.
“Yes, but…”
Faced with the truth that he’d been secretly unfaithful for a full month, Philip found himself at a loss for words. And, faced with his clear superior, he was visibly cowed.
While Agnes’s angry words hadn’t affected Philip at all, he was unable to deny Claude’s admonishments.
Philip was a simple man. But he knew when to bend rather than break.
Agnes knew he was a bad guy, but she couldn’t help feeling a pang of pity for him. He had been her fiancé, after all.
“…Still, since things have come to this point, perhaps we should resolve them once and for all. Do you acquiesce to the dissolution of your engagement?”
Claude’s dark gray eyes found Agnes’s.
She’d only one thing to say:
“Gladly!”
She couldn’t bear to remain engaged to pathetic Philip for even another second.
Claude nodded. “Then I shall inform the king directly so that the engagement’s dissolution can be made official. I shall see you home myself, my lady.”
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness, but I’m fine.”
Agnes had already drawn far too much attention to herself.
The last thing she wanted to do was be seen with eye-catching Claude.
Besides, her mushroom alarm bells were ringing.
But Claude leaned in, lowering his voice.
“…Don’t want to get caught up in the gossip mill, now, do we?”
He was right. They were at a royal ball, with many fellow aristocrats in attendance. And her altercation with Philip had drawn quite a crowd.
No doubt the crowd would swoop in on her as soon as Claude left. Agnes was a mere count’s daughter with no influence of her own. Escape would prove difficult.
“…Okay, then. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Claude grinned as she accepted his offer.
The crowd was getting even louder now, but Claude didn’t seem to be concerned. He was probably used to being surrounded by screaming women. He was a prince, after all. And a devastatingly handsome one, at that…
“Incidentally, Philip…has there been any kind of sign?”
The abrupt change of subject took everyone—not just Philip—by surprise.
“They say that when one whose veins flow with the blood of the dragon finds his or her Dragonmate, there’ll come a sign.”
“I’ve never heard that! I’m sure you’re making it up.”
Philip seemed agitated and disturbed. But Claude simply stared at him, a hint of amusement on his features.
“Of course you haven’t heard of it. It’s a tale passed down among the blood of the dragon only. And you have no such blood.”
“Don’t be absurd! I’m a royal! Dragon’s blood flows through my veins.”
“If you truly did have dragon’s blood, but there was no sign, that’d indicate that you had not, in fact, met your Dragonmate.”
No one was quite sure what kind of sign was being discussed here, but if Prince Claude, second in line to the throne, brought it up, then it must be true. Accordingly, if Philip was claiming that there had indeed been no “sign” when he’d met his “soul spirit,” then this would surely cast doubt on his claim to possess dragon’s blood.
Conversely, if Philip insisted on his dragon blood lineage, then this would cast doubt on his claim that the woman who’d taken his fancy was truly his Dragonmate.
Either way, the haughty and prideful Philip would lose face. He might’ve been able to throw his weight about and bully Agnes into submission, but he’d no such chance with Claude.
At an impasse, Philip merely stood there, cheeks bright red, as if he was in a pot of hot water that’d slowly been brought to a boil.
“Either way, what we do know is that your engagement is off and you’ve decided to pursue this other woman instead. In the future, I implore you to comport yourself with greater dignity as a fringe member of the royal family.”
Having said this, Claude reached for Agnes’s hand. Startled, she pulled away.
“N-No thank you, my prince. I can walk unassisted.”
It was gallant of him to reach for her hand, but she had to decline. Mushrooms could sprout at any moment, after all.
Frowning slightly, Claude nonetheless nodded, and headed off in front of Agnes.
Feeling hundreds of eyes on her as she went, Agnes beat a hasty retreat from the ballroom.
“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? Surely, there was no need to provoke him that way. Yes, he was in the wrong for turning a sword on you. But you really put yourself at risk back there.”
Claude was speaking to Agnes over his shoulder as he walked in front of her.
Agnes nodded. Claude sounded mildly impressed, but he was undeniably warning her here.
“I know. Our engagement was off either way. There was no need for me to put my neck on the chopping block.”
She could’ve just taken Philip’s rejection on the chin and left the ballroom quietly, under her own steam.
But she was too mad for that. After all her efforts had ended up being for absolutely nothing, she’d seen red.
“So then, why’d you do it?”
As Claude turned to look back at her, Agnes thought she could hear him gasp a little.