“Ah, good.”

My body felt light and refreshed as if I had slept well. The encounter with the monster must have been a dream. I must have been so tired that my mind temporarily malfunctioned.

So I had a spectacular dream like a movie. A smile slowly formed on my lips. Just as I was about to open my eyes and start preparing for work,

“If you’re awake, stop pretending and open your eyes.”

The sweet mood was completely shattered by the suddenly heard cool voice, and I opened my eyes wide. The owner of the voice was standing with a stern face, looking down at me.

“Kyaaah!”

I flailed my legs and screamed with all the strength I had from nursing. Who is this person brazenly in my room? I glared at the man who didn’t even blink at my scream.

Deep eyes and proudly shining silver hair that was disheveled with moisture, and straight eyebrows that twitched before straightening out neatly.

“Huh? You!”

The silver-haired man who had thrust his sword into the monster’s chest. The man whose face had shone even when covered with the monster’s blood. I hurriedly looked around the room. It wasn’t my comfortable room but inside some barracks. What’s this! Can’t I return to real life? As I roughly tousled my hair, light reddish hair became tangled messily.

“Ha.”

A sigh burst out in despair.

“This is quite an insolent attitude toward one’s lifesaver.”

As I was calming my despairing heart, the man spoke coldly. Feeling unfairly treated, I glared at him, and the corner of the man’s mouth twisted to one side, making a strange expression. The gaze that met in mid-air gradually moved downward. Following his gaze, I was startled.

“Huh.”

Unconsciously, had I stretched out my foot? One of my feet was caught in the man’s hand. Embarrassed, I quickly tried to pull my foot away with force.

“Let go of me.”

At the same time, the man released his strength so easily that my foot dropped with a thud.

“Ugh.”

I barely managed to pull back my foot that almost hit the bed’s edge and glared at him. If I tell him to let go and he lets go like that, what’s he trying to do?

“What are you!”

Irritation surged up and I shouted. I was already troubled by still being in the novel. The man let out a hollow laugh as if incredulous and opened his mouth with an arrogant look.

“Ha. Do I really have to introduce myself with my own mouth?”

He was definitely the knight who had thrust his sword into the monster’s chest. The perfectly handsome knight who saved me. In the procession heading to the Arepe Empire’s imperial palace, there’s no knight who doesn’t know the princess who will become the crown prince’s consort. But to speak with such an insolent attitude? It’s cold. Chills ran through my body and my spine felt cold, as if I had encountered someone I shouldn’t have met. Wait. So in the novel, after being attacked by monsters……

I was on my way to marry the crown prince of the Arepe Empire when I encountered monsters. After that, I, or rather the owner of this body, Princess Arnica, committed the outrageous act of trying to monopolize the magic shield, resulting in some attendants dying and knights being seriously injured. Throughout the journey, she caused all sorts of trouble, and upon arriving at the empire, she even committed the incident of criticizing and slapping Crown Prince Theodore who had come to greet her for not coming to pick her up personally.

In the original work, this scene caused readers’ criticism to pour down on the villainess. Of course, I was also one of those pouring criticism…… saying that a mere princess of a vassal state had laid hands on the empire’s crown prince. If this follows the original, the meeting with Crown Prince Theodore should take place in front of the Arepe Empire’s castle gates. So the man in front of me couldn’t be Crown Prince Theodore. But this man seems exactly like the crown prince.

Theodore Gartner—the empire’s greatest sword master whose beauty is also the greatest, so handsome that one would fall for him at just a glance. A handsome man with silver hair as noble as a symbol of royalty, a straight forehead like his upright character, skin as white as light, and deep blue eyes that shine more brilliantly than any blue light.

But the man’s appearance reminded me of the crown prince I had read about in text. Golden epaulettes hung on the shoulders of his dark blue uniform, and various gold ornaments symbolizing high rank were also attached all over. Not only that. The golden eagle badge symbolizing the Arepe Empire, which only royalty can wear, was prominently attached to his chest. Even though I thought it couldn’t be, I asked in a voice that was almost crawling.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

There was no denial in the man’s eyes looking at me.

What? Does this mean the original story has gone awry? Because I didn’t enter the shield? Because I tried to deviate from the original?

My mind was in complete chaos. I almost died to a monster while running away, and then the crown prince appeared just in time to save me. It’s a situation that has deviated far from the original.

The crown prince is someone who would kill me, absolutely not someone who would save me.

Theodore’s face contorts strangely as if puzzled.

“I thought you’d at least know my face before coming.”

Theodore muttered and then turned around sharply, pulling over a chair and sitting down heavily. I was confused and at a loss about what to do, and his piercing intense gaze felt like it would cut through my skin. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why I had encountered him here. What was more important was that now that the crown prince had joined, it might be even harder to escape from his eyes and run away. Ominous thoughts kept floating in my head when Theodore suddenly opened his mouth.

“Now that you know who I am. Let me ask you.”

Theodore leaned his broad shoulders forward, rested his elbow on his solid thigh, and his eyes gleamed, making me momentarily breathless. It was an intimidating attitude, but I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere emanating from his appearance. Even though he’s someone who would kill me.

“Don’t tell me you thought you’d be safe if you ran into the forest?”

Is it because he’s a sword master? He saw right through what I intended. I barely held back from giving him a thumbs up and bit my lips tightly.

“Even though Pearl clearly cast a shield.”

Honestly, if I hadn’t made eye contact with the female lead, Biella, I would have entered there. Even if the shield was full and I couldn’t enter, it would have been better to hover around next to it. I don’t know why I wanted to avoid the female lead. It might have been a choice I made because I knew the original story. I didn’t want to explain the detailed circumstances, so I spoke in an indifferent voice.

“It looked full inside.”

Theodore let his brow droop helplessly and shook his head. He seemed to think there would be some special reason.

“Never do such a thing again. The princess’s life is no longer yours alone.”

He said it in a dry voice without affection or tenderness. Since the princess Portia is only a politically necessary figure to Theodore, it might be natural. In the original, he had beautiful and passionate love with the female lead, which made him my favorite male lead…… The fantasy completely crumbled.

Would it be nice if I had possessed the female lead?

“I didn’t realize my life meant that much to you.”

When I sarcastically spoke, perfectly possessing the character, Theodore’s eyes instantly hardened coldly. I don’t know why he’s making such an expression when I’m the one who got hurt.

“If you want to use me politically, you should know how to give carrots too.”

I spoke coldly and turned my head sharply. Then I stopped my gaze where I saw a dress stained with dark red blood crumpled in a basket.

“!”

I remembered being covered in the monster’s blood before losing consciousness. I glanced around, then looked down at myself. Though I had been drenched in blood just moments ago, I was now clean. On top of that, I had been changed into a thin chemise. My eyes widened as I turned a sharp glare toward Theodore.

“Why are my clothes like this?”

“What do you mean?”

I grabbed the thin chemise with my fingers and shook it roughly.

“Surely not, right? My clothes, that what, the maids. The maids changed me, right?”

I stared intently at Theodore as if demanding he explain what exactly he had done. Theodore’s straight brow twitched and then he avoided my eyes. His face gradually reddened and even his nape quickly turned red.

“Why, why are you avoiding my eyes?”

What?

Why is he embarrassed!

I quietly pulled the blanket to cover my exposed pale chest and shrank my body. Although there’s nothing to see in my figure, my cheeks burned hotly as if I had already been caught in an unseemly state.

And Theodore’s earlobes gradually reddening came into my view. As if flustered, he still couldn’t meet my eyes.

“There’s no wayyy. Right?”

The man who roughly swept up his silver hair let out a light sigh.

“You’re acting as if something terrible happened. I’ll see it in a few days anyway.”

She glared at him with a shocked expression. How could she know what he had done while she was unconscious?

Of course, she knew very well that he had no feelings for her whatsoever. In the original work, there was even an incident where Arnica tried to seduce Theodore by stripping off her dress, but Theodore didn’t even touch a hair on her head.

“The maids were too frightened to even touch the blood-stained clothes, so there was no choice. I couldn’t ask a manservant to do it either.”

“Ha. You call that an excuse?”

Good grief. How absurd.

“Then, should I have left you in such a miserable state?”

Theodore shot back with fierce eyes. She was dumbfounded. Even if they were to be married, still. They didn’t even know each other yet, and having met for the first time today, he had stripped off her clothes and seen her bare skin? Her own body that she hadn’t even seen yet? Just thinking about it made her dizzy. Her head spun and her face burned hotly. She had no idea how to handle this situation. Now that things had come to this, her goal became even more desperate. She had no choice but to escape from this place as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to see the face of this crown prince who had seen her body anymore.

Because…… it’s embarrassing…….

Then, fortunately or not, a man’s voice was heard from outside the barracks.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. It’s Greg.”

“Come in!”

Theodore jumped up and turned toward the barracks entrance. As she peeked her head behind his broad back, she could see Greg entering the barracks. Grand Duke Greg Otwin, the brown-haired knight who had been wiping the monster’s blood from his sword with a cloth. The knight she had thrown herself to save.

Grand Duke Greg Otwin was a sub-male lead in the novel, Theodore’s longtime friend and later rival. In the early part of the novel, he spent time with the female lead Biella and the crown prince like childhood friends, but when Biella was heartbroken by the crown prince’s marriage, he comforted her and developed feelings for her. As a result, the relationship between Greg and the crown prince naturally grew distant.