Chapter – 08
“Did you have a good conversation? Any results?”
William, who had been waiting, immediately asked Leonard as he returned.
Leonard casually tossed his gloves onto the table and said,
“I agreed to have tea with her tomorrow.”
“Seriously? Have you been completely dazzled by the princess’s face? The princess must be blind.”
Eric, who had been polishing a dagger beside them, asked in surprise, but Leonard lightly ignored him.
William then asked Leonard,
“Your Highness, does the princess already know that we crossed the Resher Desert?”
“She doesn’t seem to know. It was definitely right to get ahead of her. Or maybe she’s just pretending not to know.”
Leonard sat on the sofa and interlaced his hands behind his neck.
“The princess is the one who located and killed the Dark Lord, Knox Glaston. She is someone worth keeping a special eye on.”
“How on earth did the princess find out the confidential fact that Knox Glaston was the Dark Lord?”
“She is the royal family’s relic administrator. She probably has other relics we don’t know about.”
Soon, Leonard straightened his upper body and pulled a piece of paper from inside his coat.
The paper he took out was filled with incomprehensible characters, just like the parchment he had previously thrown to his subordinates.
“The princess has no divine power, but she has actively led many incidents. She may be the most dangerous person—and also the most necessary one for us.”
His low, heavy voice quietly echoed through the study. His expression was extremely serious and grave.
However, that solemn expression quickly disappeared as, moments later, a faint laugh broke out at the memory of what had happened earlier.
“Your Highness? What is it?”
“…No, nothing.”
The sudden burst of laughter confused not only the aides but Leonard himself.
He quickly stood up and used the excuse of changing clothes to go into the bedroom.
But even then, the image of the woman who had abruptly stood up earlier kept replaying vividly in his mind.
—I cannot accept Your Highness’s proposal…
Was she overflowing with narcissism? Or was she simply tired of receiving too many marriage proposals? Or both?
Of course, the princess was very beautiful.
It was said that even Saintess Aurora’s eyes would be dazzled by her beauty, and Princess Charlotte was no less.
Her cloud-like pink hair was so lovely that it made one want to touch it. Her puppy-like curved eyes and round green irises shimmered like candy drops whenever they moved.
As for her personality… he had heard it was on a completely different level compared to other kingdoms’ princesses, and it seemed to be true.
Didn’t she look ready to hit him just because he kept laughing?
Charlotte did not know it, but Leonard had clearly noticed her tightly clenched fist hidden inside her sleeve.
—“Brother, although Princess Charlotte is famous for her beauty, she is also notorious for her strange personality. She might be as terrifying as the women of Blake.”
The words his younger brother had said before leaving flashed through his mind like lightning.
Who in the world would even think of hitting a prince of another empire? Normally they would slap him for disrespect or call a knight.
“…She didn’t look like someone choosing a husband at a birthday banquet.”
Rather than being confined to a small territory and manor and soothing her people, she seemed more suited to looking out at the vast world.
As Leonard continued thinking, he lightly shook his head.
“What am I even thinking? Did William’s talk about proposing make me lose my mind?”
Leonard changed clothes and then sat at his desk to review the remaining documents.
A few hours later, Aurora visited the princess’s palace.
Aurora rushed up to me without warning and said without even catching her breath,
“Charl. Don’t get close to Prince Leonard. If possible, don’t even talk to him before he leaves.”
“Why?”
I had just had a very pleasant conversation with him earlier, and we had even arranged a tea time for tomorrow, so I asked Aurora in a confused voice.
“Did you hear from the owls? He crossed the Resher Desert with his royal guards. There must be some reason.”
“I did hear that, but I heard it directly from Prince Leonard rather than the owls.”
With a bewildered expression, Aurora blinked, and I explained everything that had happened.
“Aurora, I don’t think Prince Leonard is someone worth worrying about. He even gave me a gift.”
I took out the gift I had received from him and handed it to Aurora.
“It’s a mana stone called . They say it can be used to create powerful items.”
Since Singkester was a holy kingdom, its citizens used relics more often, and Aurora, being a saintess, was not very familiar with mana stones.
“…Let me check if there’s any trap magic on it.”
Aurora raised her hand and placed it over the mana stone.
A golden butterfly appeared on the back of her hand, and golden threads extended from her fingers, entering the mana stone.
It was Aurora’s divine power.
“Your divine power is always beautiful to look at.”
“Huh? Ah…”
Perhaps feeling awkward using it in front of me, who could not use divine power, Aurora quickly withdrew it.
But I truly didn’t mind at all.
It had already been nine years since I lived without divine power, and honestly, having power only meant getting involved in troublesome things.
“Aurora, there’s no magic on it, right?”
“Yeah. But that makes it even more suspicious. Maybe he revealed it to you to cover up the fact that the owls already found out?”
“Aren’t you being too suspicious? It’s just crossing the Resher Desert.”
“But he’s a prince of Blake. People from that country are the type you have to suspect again and again.”
Then Aurora suddenly grabbed both of my hands.
“Charlotte. You’re definitely going to leave, so you should forget your duties in the palace. But… honestly, I still feel sad about you going on this journey.”
“Aurora.”
“You’re like my sister. Do you really have to go?”
“There’s no particular reason…”
“There are so many handsome men in Singkester too. His Majesty would even support passing polygamy at the noble council if you stayed.”
I was moved by Aurora’s kindness, but also felt guilty.
“I want multinational handsome men. And I have to achieve that by traveling the world.”
“You’re really insane.”
“I’m joking.”
I laughed and stood up, walking over to Aurora. I hugged her trembling shoulders tightly and whispered gently into her ear.
“It’s only temporary. I’ll come back to Singkester. This is still my home after all.”
“Charlotte…”
I placed my hands over Aurora’s and smiled again.
“I’ll be back.”
“…Alright, I can’t help it.”
Aurora sighed and gently held my hand again.
“But still, don’t let your guard down around Prince Leonard.”
Since I had already accepted the gift and made a promise, I couldn’t cancel my tea time with Prince Leonard.
And it wasn’t because he was handsome.
I had once refused his visit because I was getting dressed, and if I refused again this time, it could turn into a diplomatic issue.
Erdan also said it would be better to go this time.
I prepared expensive tea and snacks on the beautiful terrace in the garden and waited for Prince Leonard.
However, he arrived exactly 34 minutes late, causing my maids to frown.
I was about to say something myself when I noticed a couple of knights behind Leonard and widened my eyes.
“Your Highness, why are there royal knights behind you?”
Leonard looked slightly different from his confident self yesterday. After a brief hesitation, he reluctantly admitted,
“I got lost… and received help.”
“…What? Really?”
His face turned red after he finished speaking, and I was the one who burst into laughter this time.
“How do you even get lost in our palace? Isn’t the Blake Empire much bigger? It must be ten times, no—twenty times bigger than Singkester!”
“Let’s drop this topic. It’s not interesting.”
Prince Leonard sat down with a dissatisfied expression. He looked grumpy, but it only made me laugh more.
His large build was like a boulder, yet the way he awkwardly sipped tea made him look like a child.
‘Well, without a map app, getting lost in such a huge palace isn’t impossible. These novel characters must all have antennas in their heads.’
His slightly flushed face was too funny and oddly cute.
I barely managed to hide my laughter behind my fan.
“Alright. I’ll generously forgive your lateness.”
“…Thank you.”
Leonard expressed his gratitude reluctantly, and I couldn’t help laughing again.
