Feeling awkward, she turned her head in the direction he was looking to gaze at the pebbles. The small, cute stones touched by the sunset light were wet from the river water and shone brilliantly.

“I wonder. Maturing seems far off.”

When she stared at Greg blankly, he lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled.

“It’s a contract marriage between the empire and the kingdom, yet you speak of breaking the engagement so easily.”

As he said, there were aspects she had thought of too lightly. But I have no choice if I want to survive.

“It’s my marriage. What can you do when I say I hate it?”

“Your decisiveness is remarkable.”

It was probably a compliment, but it didn’t sound like one, so she shrugged. But the next moment, the words that came from Greg’s mouth left her speechless.

“If you break off the engagement with Theo, would you get engaged to me?”

When something is too absurd and ridiculous, words don’t come out and you end up stuttering. That was exactly the situation now.

“Uh. That. Uh. What?”

He said he would protect me and stay by my side, so what, are you really interested in me? Thinking about it, when Theodore pushed me into the carriage this morning, his action of blocking him was also excessive. She didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t even a love confession, but suddenly asking for an engagement made her freeze.

All this time, she had only been thinking about escaping from the original story. The story flows regardless of what happens to the extras, right? Centered around the protagonists. So she had planned to quietly step aside, but somehow the story was flowing strangely. With Greg, it was more like camaraderie or friendship, not romantic feelings. Since he was her favorite sub-male lead, she had grown more attached to him.

She glanced at Greg’s face, which seemed to be waiting for an answer, and frowned. As she hesitated to answer while fidgeting with her fingertips, Greg playfully pouted his lips.

“Relax. You don’t need to think too seriously about it.”

“Ah, so. Um……”

“I didn’t intend to make you uncomfortable, Princess. I don’t know about the Kingdom of Portia, but in the empire, you’ll face difficulties if you break off the engagement. So I meant that if you ever need me, you can use me anytime.”

Ah, so that’s what he meant? Then I should speak properly. She sighed in relief and looked at him. Greg, who had swept back his noble black hair, made a pitiful expression like a man who had confessed and been rejected. He seemed to be in anguish somehow.

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

Greg continued speaking.

“Though Theo isn’t the type to let you be taken away.”

Greg’s words made her mind confused and puzzled again. Theodore wouldn’t let me be taken away? No, why? Why exactly? Then she arrived at the thought that this marriage was the result of a political union. Of course. Right now, the Arepe Empire desperately needed the military power of the Kingdom of Portia, so they needed her as the princess. The heart that had fluttered momentarily shattered completely in an instant. I was nervous for nothing. Heart, why are you fluttering and making a fuss? She smiled calmly and opened her mouth.

“He won’t be able to get his hands on me so easily.”

When she looked at Greg with a sidelong glance as if she had become a femme fatale, her words seemed meaningful, and his expression became quite serious. It was an expression of surprise.

“It sounds like you’re saying you might change your mind.”

“Humans can change anytime.”

“I wish you luck.”

In the end, Greg finished the conversation with an awkward smile. She didn’t ask what kind of luck he meant, but since Greg’s intention to be on her side was clear, she smiled broadly.

“You too, Your Grace.”

When she emphasized the honorific, Greg chuckled and walked away. She had a lot to think about. Could there be a way to survive in the original story?

It was just when she was thinking there might be other methods that Theodore came into view.

His sparkling silver hair, dyed red by the sunset light, looked like a mysterious-colored sunlight. When the wind blew from somewhere and that dazzling silver hair fluttered, it was hard to look away. When Theodore encountered Greg, they exchanged a few words, and Greg glanced at her before turning and heading toward the procession. Conversely, Theodore continued walking in her direction. As she was captivated watching him, a memory suddenly flashed, and she jumped up from her seat.

Why are you coming and making a fuss! She roughly stuffed her wet feet into her shoes and quickly headed in the opposite direction to avoid him. Fortunately, Theodore maintained a distance of ten steps and didn’t come any closer. It bothered her, but right now, seeing his face was more uncomfortable.

Constantly worrying about Theodore following behind her, she decided she couldn’t take it anymore and turned toward where the procession was, climbing up the slope. The place where she had first come down to the riverbank had a gentle incline, but now it was steeper—not impossible to climb, but not gentle enough to walk up gracefully either.

With Theodore behind her, climbing the hill crawling awkwardly was unseemly. But there was no choice. She walked diligently with the pointless determination to climb that slope at all costs and quickly blend into the group of talkative maids. As she grabbed the leaves of weeds with her hands and nearly reached the end of the slope, she suddenly heard a splash.

“Huh. What’s that?”

The sound of something cutting through the water was quite loud. Did Theodore throw something into the river water? She quickly turned her head to look at the riverbank.

“What?”

But no matter how much she looked, the river water flowed quietly without any sign of human presence. The riverbank, where dusk was beginning to fall, was already dim, making it difficult to distinguish objects.

“Did I hear wrong?”

Even when she craned her neck to look closely, Theodore was nowhere to be seen. Wondering if he had gone back, she looked far into the distance, but it was useless.

“Don’t tell me he fell in?”

She was suddenly frightened. How many minutes is the golden time if someone falls into water? When the thought arose that he might have fallen into the water, fear suddenly washed over her.

With her mind spinning, she grabbed her skirt and quickly ran down the slope. She didn’t even feel the sharp grass blades scratching her legs. When she reached the riverbank, she shouted loudly.

“Your Highness! Where are you?”

Don’t tell me he took his own life because I asked for the engagement to be broken off? Even so, that’s not right. How could you do such a reckless thing! Why would the male lead do that! Once her train of thought headed in that direction, the idea that Theodore wouldn’t do such a thing didn’t occur to her. All sorts of crazy thoughts came up without restraint. Does Theodore really like me? Then what about Biella? Greg also asked to get engaged to him. Why is everyone suddenly acting like this?

She turned around frantically, checking the river water. But then, a familiar voice came from behind her.

“Princess, what are you doing there?”

Trembling with anxiety while searching through the water, she reflexively turned around at the familiar voice. Absurdly, the person standing by the riverbank looking at her was none other than Theodore. Relief rushed over her instantly, and she unconsciously let out a faint sigh.

“Ha.”

How could someone make a person’s heart shrink so much? It was ridiculous that she had imagined the nonsensical scenario of him jumping into the water, but on the other hand, she felt relieved that he hadn’t made such a judgment.

“Don’t tell me you were looking for me?”

Embarrassed by her own flustered worrying, she was about to bite her lips when Theodore made a serious expression with a cool gaze.

“Were you afraid I had fallen into the water?”

Seeing his eyes widen, he seemed unaware of why she had jumped into the river water. But in this situation, asking ‘why are you there?’ would only reveal to the world that she had jumped into the river water to find him. She ground her teeth and answered.

“No! I’m catching fish!”

The river water, completely engulfed in darkness, was piercingly cold. Her dress was already soaked up to her waist, and when she raised her arms, water dripped from her sleeves, flowing down her arms to her waist, making her shiver. But she couldn’t get out of the water! Embarrassing, shameful, and absurd. All sorts of embarrassing emotions rushed over her at once. The only fortunate thing was that since the sun had already set, he wouldn’t notice that her face had turned red.

When she realized Theodore was safe, only then did she feel that the river water was extremely cold, and her body began to tremble. As the tension disappeared, her brain was finally working properly. By now he should know that she came in to catch fish, so please tell me to come out now! She looked at Theodore with a desperate heart. Still waving her hands around.

“Are you going to catch fish with your bare hands? That’s reckless.”

I know that too. So please tell me to stop this and come out of the water!