“Eeek! I can’t believe it! How is a face like that even real?”
“Her Highness the Princess Consort…… I’m so envious……”
“Hey, watch your mouth! You’ll get hauled off for insulting the royal family!”
The chatter of the cheeky girls was endearing, and Blair let out a small laugh. Kalintz murmured quietly beside her.
“……You’re feeling better.”
“Oh, yes. I was a little suffocated earlier, but being out like this after so long is nice.”
The lively energy of the streets, felt for the first time in nearly half a year, helped Blair shake off the heaviness from before.
“I’ve never ridden in an open-top carriage before. It’s rather fun.”
“You like this sort of thing?”
“Well, it’s not so much that I like it as…… it feels like I can breathe. It’s lively.”
This was far better than any social gathering where everyone hid behind fans and whispered in voices barely above a murmur.
“It’s a ceremonial carriage, so there won’t be another chance to ride it. Should we have another wedding?”
“What a strange thing to say.”
Kalintz burst out laughing at Blair’s look of horror.
“Well. From what I saw earlier, it seems like you could use a bit more practice closing your eyes.”
“Wh, what?”
“For someone who talked such a big game, you were a little clumsy.”
Blair was indignant but had nothing to say in rebuttal, so she simply fixed him with a quiet glare.
“Smile. What will people think if you glare at me like that.”
Where had all that consideration from earlier gone.
Kalintz was insufferable to the very end, and Blair thought once again that she would never quite figure him out, forcing the corners of her mouth upward.
“Your Highness the Princess Consort!”
A familiar voice called out from the crowd. A young man with light brown curly hair was waving his hand.
“Ned?”
Blair half rose from her seat in the carriage at the sight of the familiar face.
But there were too many people, and she lost sight of him almost immediately. His voice congratulating her drifted over from somewhere, but she could not find him again.
“Who is it that you’re so reluctant to lose sight of.”
Kalintz watched Blair crane her neck and asked. There was a faint edge of irritation in his tone.
“Just someone I know.”
Blair brushed it off vaguely, wondering what had gotten into him now.
“……You know a lot of men.”
“Pardon? Who else is there?”
But he said nothing. He was truly impossible to read.
❀❀❀
The procession ended and they returned to the palace to find a grand banquet waiting.
“Congratulations, Blair. You are now a member of the same royal family. May nothing but happiness lie ahead for you both.”
Queen Rhea offered her congratulations with a warm smile. King Rubens, standing beside her, extended his own words of blessing.
The banquet was, as always, filled with nobles in their finest attire. Blair and Kalintz, as the guests of honor, had to receive an endless stream of visitors.
How many people had they greeted by now. Just as her face was beginning to cramp from smiling, a gentle waltz melody drifted through the Great Hall.
The nobles throughout the hall stopped what they were doing to watch the first dance of the evening.
“Finally, a moment where I don’t have to speak.”
Kalintz muttered in relief, apparently worn out from dealing with people as well.
“Dancing is just as tiring, isn’t it?”
“I prefer using my body.”
So that was why he had talked about joining a mercenary company later.
Blair recalled the plans Kalintz had shared with her before and took the hand he extended.
“You’ve gotten quite natural at this.”
“We’ll be doing it countless times from now on. I’d better get used to it.”
“I really did choose well.”
A satisfied smile settled on his lips.
That face is still something I need a little more time to get used to.
Blair thought to herself as she rested one arm lightly on his shoulder.
The piece for the first dance of the newly wed couple began to ring out beautifully.
True to his word about preferring to use his body, Kalintz danced with flawless, impeccable skill. He matched his partner’s rhythm with uncanny precision while leading with effortless fluidity, and even Blair, who was no stranger to dancing, found herself genuinely impressed.
“You dance quite well.”
“Not something I learned out of love.”
It was thanks to her parents’ greed, making her learn anything and everything that might raise her value on the marriage market.
“And compared to you, I feel like a toddler taking its first steps.”
“I learned it more out of necessity than anything else.”
“Pardon?”
The cryptic remark made Blair look at him with a puzzled expression, but he guided her through the steps without a word and gave no answer.
Their first dance came to an end, met with applause and cheers from the nobles. Couples paired off and began dancing to the next piece.
“Now we can finally breathe.”
Blair whispered quietly, feeling as though the biggest hurdles were behind her. But Kalintz said otherwise.
“I wouldn’t count on it.”
Before she could ask what he meant, she caught sight of Tilda approaching.
“Your Highness the Princess Consort, the Countess of Martini has arrived.”
But the Countess had not come alone. A whole train of other noble ladies followed behind her.
At the same time, the King’s chief chamberlain came to find Kalintz and whispered something in his ear.
“I’ll go now.”
Kalintz gave a brief nod.
“His Majesty is calling for me. It seems a number of foreign dignitaries have arrived.”
Kalintz glanced briefly over the row of noble ladies lined up nearby, then deliberately pressed a light kiss to the back of Blair’s hand before making his way toward King Rubens and the foreign guests.
It was a performance to keep anyone from suspecting their contract marriage, but the ladies, with no way of knowing that, let out delighted little gasps and smiled among themselves.
He really was a devious prince.
The banquet continued long after the sun had set.
“Haah…… I’m going to die at this rate, truly.”
Blair slipped quietly away to a terrace tucked in the farthest corner of the banquet hall and muttered to herself.
She had spent the past while being pestered by noble ladies desperate to hear about her romance with Kalintz, and had only just managed to escape.
“Two weddings would drain the life right out of me.”
Recalling the offhand joke Kalintz had made earlier in the day, Blair let out a small laugh without thinking.
“Love doesn’t always bring only good things.”
“Aaah, you startled me!”
A woman’s voice from out of the darkness made Blair shriek in surprise.
She had checked that the terrace curtains were open before stepping out. If someone had been there first, the curtains would have been drawn.
There shouldn’t be anyone among the invited nobles who doesn’t know that basic etiquette.
Blair swallowed without meaning to and fixed her gaze on the direction the voice had come from. Looking more carefully, she could make out a figure standing at the far end of the terrace, leaning against the railing.
“Who…… are you?”
Blair asked carefully, staying where she stood. The faint shape took one step closer.
The light filtering through the curtains gradually illuminated her.
“……!”
Hair as dark as a moonless night. Large, sharp eyes and a straight, elegant nose. A bearing that was proud and utterly unruffled.
Everything about her resembled Kalintz.
“Lady…… Vivian?”
The woman with doll-like beauty offered a faint smile.
But perhaps it was her skin, too pale. Or perhaps it was her eyes, empty as though no one were home.
Her smile was less beautiful than it was unsettling.
“This is the first time we’ve spoken. Blair. Ah, may I just call you by your name? Kalintz goes by his name too, after all.”
“Oh…… yes. Please call me whatever is comfortable for you.”
Blair could not begin to understand why this woman was alone in such a dark corner, without a single guard or maid.
The birth mother of the crown prince, and the king’s one and only love.
“You were beautiful. Earlier, at the grand temple.”
Blair had had no idea she was there, and thanked her awkwardly.
“Kalintz…… I’ve never seen that look in his eyes before.”
Blair looked at her, not quite sure what look she meant, but Vivian began to say something entirely unexpected.
“But Blair. Do you know what’s funny?”
“Pardon?”
Her voice, shifting without warning to informal speech, carried a slight edge.
“Love doesn’t always glitter. It loses its light, in time.”
“……What do you mean by that, all of a sudden—”
“He may look at you that way now, but one day it will change. And what will be left then?”
A burning rage flared in her otherwise hollow eyes.
“Hatred. The greater the love, the greater the hatred grows. Enough to want to kill.”
She was no longer looking at Blair at all.
The flash of red in her eyes made her look slightly unhinged, and Blair took a wary step back.
“Your Highness?”
A voice calling for her came from behind the curtain. She had never been so glad to hear Tilda’s voice.
“Oh, Tilda! I’m over here!”
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JTLovesYah
OK my bet is his mom killed Ana’s. Look my heart goes out to her. I couldn’t lose my fiance to another woman and just be his concubine, basically his side piece, even if I was already pregnant. I know she may not have much choice, with pressure from her family, but surely she could have demanded child support and broken up with him. Then at least she can live her own life in peace without constantly being roped into that toxic dynamic. I would rather be single as a Pringle than share my man with another woman.