I watched the denunciation unfolding before me with an uncomfortable feeling.
Had that girl really done something to deserve being interrogated so thoroughly?
Before I realized it, a sigh escaped my lips.
The one being scolded by Arios, Crown Prince of the Luminous Kingdom, part of the neighboring Karaban Union Kingdom, was none other than Citroen Barrymore, the girl about to become his official fiancée.
Since I’d heard she had been living in the Luminous Kingdom for about two years prior to the engagement, I assumed the two of them were already familiar with each other.
According to tradition, Lady Citroen was veiled from head to toe in white.
From our perspective as attendees, it was impossible to imagine what she looked like.
When she entered the chapel, I almost mistook her for a moving white cocoon.
“Prince Arios will lift the veil and kiss her on the forehead soon,” my mother whispered quietly beside me.
Apparently, that was how the engagement ceremony would end.
Both I, and my mother—the Queen of Tidros Kingdom—had, in short, been invited to this engagement ceremony, traveling for seven days by carriage, just to watch a public display of affection. We had finally arrived in the capital of the Karaban Union Kingdom, Reez, just yesterday.
Normally, after the engagement ceremony, we’d be expected to attend the customary royal banquet, where noblewomen would engage in conversations like, “Oh, is your son still unmarried?” and “Yes, if you know someone suitable, please introduce them.”
As a man who’s entirely lacking in female attention, it would essentially be a public execution for me.
At 25 years old, still unmarried and without a fiancée, people would naturally start wondering if there was something wrong with me.
There’s nothing wrong, though.
I just… don’t have any luck with women.
Honestly, isn’t it usually the king or crown prince who escorts the queen to these kinds of foreign engagement ceremonies?
Why me, then?
Ah, of course.
It’s about matchmaking.
Mother wanted to show me off to the noblewomen, like, “Look at my son, isn’t he great?”
But honestly…
I feel bad for my mother, really. She’s always saying things like, “My son is such a good boy, but for some reason, all the marriage proposals keep getting rejected. Everyone must have no sense.”
…Yeah.
Unlike my older brother, the crown prince, or my second brother, who married into another kingdom, both of whom have delicate, princely looks, thanks to inheriting our mother’s beauty, I take after my father.
I mean, it’s an honor, really. I look like the king, after all. Mother even said she was relieved because people had started to ask, “Whose child is he, really?”
But still.
Looking like the king doesn’t exactly mean I’m in vogue.
I guess you could say I have a very… masculine face.
I’m taller than almost anyone in the knight order, and though I’m not overweight, the more I train, the bulkier my muscles get—on my arms, back, thighs—until I hardly resemble a duke at all.
On top of that, I lead the knights to guard the border every winter, scattering bandits and rebels.
The nickname I got from that? “The Winter Bear of Tidros.”
I mean, sure, I stopped shaving while on border patrol! It’s not like we’re in the royal court. It’s just men around the campfire at night! A beard is fine!
…And so, that nickname stuck. As soon as I returned to the capital, the women screamed and even said I smelled.
Honestly, I’m ready to stay single for the rest of my life, but my mother is still desperate to find me a wife.
It stings a little every time I’m rejected.
That’s why I was dreading the matchmaking session that would follow this ceremony. But then, out of nowhere, Crown Prince Arios started talking about breaking off the engagement.
This… this is going to get messy.
I was sure of it.
Tonight, it won’t be about finding me a wife. The broken engagement will become the hot topic of conversation.
At first, I was watching the situation with excitement, but gradually, I started to feel disgusted.
The reason? That Crown Prince Arios.
There’s something so off-putting about him.
His voice, trembling slightly as he relishes in his own self-importance, is downright creepy.
It’s like he’s intoxicated with himself.
My eldest brother, the crown prince, isn’t like this at all. He’s someone I’m proud of—someone the whole country can be proud of.
But… is this really acceptable for a crown prince?
I glanced around the chapel.
Most of the attendees were nobles from the Karaban Union Kingdom and their relatives.
As the name suggests, the Karaban Union is composed of five kingdoms. When the elected king passes away, each kingdom selects a representative to decide who the next elected king will be.
The current elected king is Norris Jiena Luminous, the head of the Luminous royal family, one of the five royal families.
He is also the father of Crown Prince Arios, who is now barking at the poor young lady in the middle of the red carpet of the chapel.
This King Norris is a distant relative of my mother, the Queen of Tidros Kingdom.
Mother married into Tidros as a sign of goodwill, which is why we were invited to this auspicious event.
It seems we were among the rare exceptions; aside from us, only three other families in attendance had no direct connection to the Karaban Union Kingdom.
Well… I suppose the Luminous Kingdom has managed to save face, at least.
Without realizing it, I smirked.
Whether it was fortunate or not, the crown prince’s foolish actions wouldn’t be leaked to other countries. A gag order would probably be issued when we leave.
“And on top of that, you ignored Maille when she spoke to you multiple times!” Crown Prince Arios shouted, his voice rising in volume.
Whoa, that startled me.
I glanced over at the crown prince.
There, in the center of the chapel, stood Crown Prince Arios.
Facing him was his veiled fiancée, Citroen Barrymore, wrapped in a white silk cocoon.
Standing behind Arios was a girl dressed in lavish clothes, Maille Harty.
Before Arios began his tirade, this girl had been brought in from the attendees. Her outfit was so extravagant that she looked more like the fiancée than Lady Citroen.
The attendees near me whispered, “That’s Maille, from the Harty barony,” and “Oh, she’s the crown prince’s lover,” with disdain in their voices. It seemed she was his public mistress.
I understood now. There’s no way a baron’s daughter could wear something so extravagant, regardless of taste.
Maille stood behind Crown Prince Arios, clutching the hem of his sleeve and casting her eyes downward.
Occasionally, she’d glance up at him, trembling her lips as if to say, “Poor Lady Citroen,” but ultimately she would lower her gaze again.
Rather than looking meek, it was more like watching an audacious actress at work.
A timid girl would have fled by now, under the angry stares of all the high-ranking men in the room.
Yes.
Every attendee was glaring at the crown prince and his lover.
Yet Crown Prince Arios was completely oblivious, thinking the anger was directed at Lady Citroen.
Honestly, this is embarrassing. What is he so pleased with himself about?
Seeing Crown Prince Arios in his euphoric state was truly repulsive.
From the beginning, he had basked in the attention of the attendees, delivering his speech as if he were some kind of stage actor.
He was making grand claims about how Lady Citroen ignored Maille, how she didn’t respond when spoken to, but as far as I was concerned, it’s the duty of someone of higher status to speak first to those of lower status. For someone of lower rank to initiate the conversation is entirely improper.
Lady Citroen, the fiancée of Crown Prince Arios, was from one of the five kingdoms—part of a royal family that holds voting rights. A mere baron’s daughter had no business addressing her, even if they were acquaintances. In such a situation, pretending not to hear might even be considered the correct action.
Now, Arios was claiming that Citroen hadn’t invited Maille to a tea party, but the difference in their status was too vast. How could a baron’s daughter even expect to attend a royal tea party?
It’s sheer ignorance. Or maybe it’s more than that.
Crown Prince Arios, despite his lofty title, seemed completely unaware of the social hierarchy.
And with Maille at his side, equally clueless, they were probably both wailing about being “bullied” and “neglected.”
Now he was accusing Lady Citroen of “bumping into her during a dance,” but who knows if that’s true? Did Maille even know how to dance properly? It might be more likely that she was the one who bumped into Lady Citroen.
Read the room, Arios.
I scanned the attendees. The seats were arranged to face each other across the central aisle.
At first, the nobles were murmuring and visibly shocked, but now they were all glaring icily at the three figures in the center.
No, at him.
I let out a small laugh. Crown Prince Arios still believed those cold stares were directed at Lady Citroen. Maille probably thought the same.
But in reality, every single person here sympathized with Lady Citroen. No one harbored anger or contempt toward her.
After all, she was being publicly insulted, yet she remained silent, not uttering a single word in response.
At first, I thought she was just enduring it, but soon I realized she had simply given up.
No matter what she said, it would be pointless.
That sense of resignation enveloped her, along with her veil.
“Saryu,” a quiet voice called my name, making me blink and look to the side.
My mother, hiding her mouth behind her open fan, was looking at me.
“Yes?” I asked.
“You still don’t have a lover, do you?” she asked out of the blue.
What?
“Well… no, I don’t,” I stammered slightly.
“There isn’t anyone right now.”
I answered honestly. The truth was, I’d been heartbroken right before I turned twenty, and after that, I cried to my adjutant, Raul, swearing off love forever. I had come to believe that my appearance only scared women, and I would never be loved.
“I see.”
What did she mean by that? When I met her gaze, she smiled behind her fan, like a young girl.
“Well then, let’s take that young lady as your bride.”
She said it so casually, like she was asking someone to gift wrap a present.
Wait, wait, wait.
What do you mean, “take her as my bride”?
“M-Mother…” I started to speak, but my words were drowned out by Crown Prince Arios’s booming declaration.
“A woman as vile-hearted as you could never be my wife! I hereby annul this engagement!”
He proclaimed triumphantly, puffing out his chest.
Ah… he’s done it now.
The chapel fell into a stunned silence, filled with a sense of disbelief and pity toward King Norris for having such a son.
“And furthermore,” Arios gave a smug chuckle from the back of his throat.
No, please just shut up already. Isn’t there someone in his retinue who can drag him away, even if it means knocking him out?
“A woman with looks like yours could never be my fiancée.”
He spat out.
I thought I saw the white veil tremble for the first time.
Even though he was a prince of a neighboring country, that comment couldn’t go unchallenged.
That struck a nerve.
Insulting a woman’s appearance in public? Unacceptable.
“Take back those words,” I said before I even realized I was on my feet, addressing Crown Prince Arios.
