ARPTCF 05

Chapter 5

Beatrice stared straight at Clyde’s face, which seemed to be shining from how much effort had gone into it, and widened her eyes.

‘Right! Let’s just grit our teeth and go through with it.’

This was a mountain they had to get over sooner or later. Think about it.

Today was their wedding, of all days. If she showed even the slightest hint of her usual disgust, what if people started suspecting, “Wait, are they really in love? Are they faking it?”

‘I already threw myself on the floor in front of the family and said things like “you’re the best, sis~” to the enemy who killed me. There is no way I can be exposed by something like this.’

If Clyde had heard her thoughts, he would probably have laughed and said it was an unnecessary worry. But still, the motivation was solid.

Steeling herself, Beatrice held the veil with one hand and cautiously glanced sideways one last time.

Where she looked, she saw her family happily chatting, completely unaware of the truth.

‘…Ha! Their mouths are practically stretched to their ears! Weren’t they just jumping up and down saying this kind of rushed wedding was unacceptable?’

Fine. Good.

‘I’m making a huge sacrifice for my family.’

If she had to choose, it was better to see them smiling like that than to watch them die miserably.

She naturally placed a hand on Clyde’s shoulder and slowly closed her eyes.

Was it because her sight had been cut off? Clyde’s approaching presence felt unusually clear. As if the two of them had already discussed it in advance, he leaned in as though to kiss her and lowered his voice to whisper.

“…Hey, that wasn’t in the plan. Why’d you suddenly close your eyes? You’re scaring me.”

“I don’t want to look at your face up close. Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I’ve got one of the best-looking faces in the empire, you know? It’s a gain if you look at it up close.”

The fact that he knew that made it even more annoying.

Instead of answering, Beatrice tightened her grip and pressed down on his shoulder, as if he wasn’t even worth responding to.

Just as their lips were about to hover at the agreed-upon distance—

Bang!

The sound of a chair being kicked back rang out, followed by a sharp voice bursting through the crowd.

“Hah. I was willing to wait like a proper lady, but you threw procedure to the dogs? You didn’t even ask whether anyone objected, and you’re already announcing the union of the two of them? Who gave you the right!”

The woman who had sprung to her feet wore a wide-brimmed hat and a tightly layered lace veil that obscured her face, but Beatrice immediately recognized who she was.

No—everyone at the scene probably did.

Because…

“Hah! I thought it was just some prank to provoke me again, but this ridiculous situation is actually real.”

The one who tossed her hat aside as if it were an annoyance was none other than the notoriously infamous Valoa Edvain Crawford.

The only daughter of Grand Duke Alec, the Emperor’s brother, she was a well-known troublemaker and degenerate.

A notorious brat who, whenever someone offended her, would lash out at anyone and everyone. There were reportedly dozens of petitions sent to the Emperor by nobles complaining about her.

The problem was that for about a year now, she had been aggressively targeting Clyde Dalton.

‘She sent proposal letters to the ducal residence almost every other day, and at the New Year’s ball she even publicly declared Clyde was hers and threatened all the young ladies.’

Of course, Beatrice—who spent a lot of time around Clyde—had received those sharp warnings too.

“Hey, you. Blondie from the Hartwell family. I’m sure I made myself clear. If you dare covet what’s mine when you don’t know your place, I’ll crush you like powdered bricks, so keep your distance.”

“……”

Yes. She had stopped by the imperial palace after her mother snapped at her to go deliver the documents her brother had left behind if she was just going to laze around at home, and that was when she’d gotten caught in that disaster.

Back then, Valoa had cornered her against the wall as if she had been waiting for this exact moment and had crushed bricks right in front of her.

‘Even then I thought she was completely insane!’

Beatrice stared in silent shock at Valoa’s golden eyes, even more unhinged than she remembered, and nudged Clyde.

“…What is this? Why is that woman here? Don’t tell me you invited her?”

“……”

“Oh, no way. No, right?”

Beatrice’s suspicion was entirely reasonable. Valoa’s name would have been at the very top of any wedding blacklist.

Unless Clyde had gone mad, there was no way he would have invited her.

‘Then why aren’t you answering and making me nervous?’

Beatrice abruptly turned toward Clyde.

The moment she saw his face, her eyes widened a little.

“Valoa Edvain Crawford.”

That was not the usual expression.

There was clear hostility in the way he quietly spoke her name.

‘…What? Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’

He hadn’t even looked like this when dealing with Princess Elodie.

Thrown off by Clyde’s unfamiliar demeanor, Beatrice reflexively grabbed his hand.

His hand felt a little colder than usual.

Of course, it was not a good move.

The moment Valoa saw the two of them holding hands, she erupted.

“Let go of her right now!”

“Lady Crawford! What exactly do you think you’re doing at someone else’s wedding—”

“Doing what? Is it tyranny if I’m just taking back what’s mine? I already said Clyde Dalton would be mine!”

In a fury, she stomped on the hat she had thrown aside and stormed toward the couple.

Just as the situation seemed poised to collapse completely and both families were about to intervene—

“Valoa, enough!”

Princess Elodie, who had been standing close by Caelan like she was already part of the ducal family, stepped in front of her.

As if to protect the two of them, she had moved out into the aisle, and her expression was resolute as she spoke.

“I allowed you to attend the wedding because I wanted to give you a chance to let go. If you act like this, what am I supposed to do?”

Oh no! So the princess was the one who had let Valoa into the wedding hall!

Beatrice’s gaze landed on Elodie, whose expression looked surprisingly solemn.

“Sister, move aside. Do you really think I wouldn’t hit you too?”

“I can’t move aside. Not for you, and not for the two of them—or for Uncle, no, for the Grand Duke.”

“Hah! So you’re really going to stop me?”

“Yes. I’d rather you blame me. After all, I’m the one who helped those two find their happy ending.”

Oh?

‘If someone heard that without context, they’d think we—no, the two families—were united by the princess.’

That was probably exactly what she wanted people to think when she said it.

Annoying, but undeniably clever. And that determined look on her face…

‘She’s using Valoa to build up her own angelic image at the same time, isn’t she?’

After all, if she used Valoa’s fiery temper as a contrast, her own gentleness would stand out even more clearly.

Beatrice might not have noticed it before, but now that she knew everything, the princess’s intentions were crystal clear.

Seeing the goodwill in the guests’ and family members’ eyes, Beatrice gave the joined hand she was holding a slight squeeze.

If she didn’t consciously apply pressure, she felt like a laugh might slip out.

‘Wow, that’s a pretty extraordinary level of strategy. I guess you need to be this good to destroy a family and all that.’

She had intentionally offered up a tempting target for the sake of her own goal, but she hadn’t expected the princess to wring this much out of it.

‘But honestly, I’m really relieved that the princess in front of me seems to be the same person I know.’

She had worried, just a tiny bit—really, not even the size of an ant’s eyelash—about whether it was right to blame the current princess for the sins of the future.

But now there was no need.

If the princess had truly acted for the sake of the two of them, she wouldn’t have arranged things so that she would be the one drawing attention at a wedding where Beatrice and Clyde should have been the stars.

Clyde seemed to find the whole performance amusing as well, visible only to someone who knew the truth.

“…Interesting.”

He muttered it so quietly that only Beatrice, standing right beside him, could hear. Then he gave her hand a slight squeeze and let go.

“Stay here for a moment.”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

Instead of answering, Clyde walked over to Elodie’s side. Then he spoke with calm firmness, as if refusing to accept something.

“No, Your Highness. There’s no need for you to shoulder such a heavy burden.”

“Clyde?”

“You only indulged our little selfishness once and kindly allowed Lady Crawford to attend out of generosity. We can’t put you in such a difficult position.”

Pretending to protect the princess while smoothly turning the blame away from her, he looked at Valoa and continued.

“And Lady Crawford, as I’ve said every time you’ve rejected me, I do not belong to you. I am not an object, and I am not prey. How could I possibly belong to someone?”

“Yeah. And I’ve said it every time too. That kind of defiance is adorable. I don’t need your permission. If I say you’re mine, then you’re mine.”

“Then you should take that up directly with His Majesty. Because under His Majesty’s approval, we are now officially ‘husband and wife.’”