Tell Me To Regret, Don’t Tempt Me - Chapter 27
Chapter 27
“How does it feel to receive a public proposal?”
The day after the banquet, Louis woke up early as usual. He had already completed his sword training, had a simple breakfast, and was now in his office handling some minor tasks assigned to him.
Arnold had arrived early in the morning and was loitering in Louis’s office. While Louis saw it as a waste of time, Arnold was too curious and had woken up an hour earlier than usual to rush to the palace.
“She seemed shy and quiet. Hmm… but her voice is loud. Very loud.”
Louis continued to read and re-read the text on the paper, ignoring whatever Arnold was babbling about. The document contained policies that would be implemented in the first half of the next year, and the Emperor had instructed Louis to review and provide his thoughts. It was a sort of lesson and homework assigned by the Emperor.
“That day, many young ladies who had a crush on you, the Crown Prince, were in tears. It seems your appearance appeals to women of all ages, huh?”
Louis shook his pen, which had run out of ink. He quietly opened a drawer and took out a bottle of black ink.
“Are you really going to stay silent and not say anything interesting?”
Frustrated by Louis’s continued silence and focus on his work, Arnold got up and walked over to Louis’s desk.
“So, are you going to get engaged?”
Arnold placed his hands on the desk and smiled broadly at his friend, who was refilling his pen with ink.
“Are you bored?”
Louis looked up at Arnold after refilling his pen.
“No, I’m not bored…”
“If you’re bored, I can call Rayden for you.”
“No, thanks! I’m leaving!”
Knowing that getting caught by Rayden would mean running ten laps around the training ground and practicing swordsmanship until drenched in sweat, Arnold hurriedly left Louis’s office without looking back.
Watching his friend disappear like the wind, Louis shook his head.
Turning his attention back to the paper, Louis recalled Vivian, who had disappeared like the wind after proposing to him the previous day.
“Let’s get engaged!”
Though she hadn’t spoken loudly, the timing was unfortunate. In the suddenly quiet banquet hall, Vivian’s voice echoed loudly.
Until Vivian’s echoing voice faded away, and even after it did, everyone in the banquet hall remained still and silent. Some even held their breath.
It felt like time had stopped for a moment.
‘Screeech.’
What broke the frozen moment was when a violinist’s arm, weakened from the pause, let the bow slip across the strings, producing a jarring sound.
“Vivian?”
Stiff as a statue, Vivian blushed from head to toe at Louis’s call.
With her body trembling, she awkwardly turned around and started running.
“Vivian!”
Duke Tereon, who had been with the Emperor, called out to his daughter, but Vivian only ran faster out of the banquet hall.
“Haha, it seems we will hear good news from the royal family soon,”
Someone said to the Emperor.
“Haha. Am I finally going to have a daughter-in-law?”
The Emperor laughed heartily, and the surrounding nobles joined in, offering their congratulations.
“Running away won’t make it go away…”
Louis chuckled, set aside the plans for the first half of next year, and pulled out a blank sheet of paper.
[Come to the Emperor’s Forest – Louis]
Satisfied with the neatly written letters thanks to the fresh ink, Louis smiled and waited for the ink to dry before preparing an envelope.
If he sent it under his name, she probably wouldn’t even look at it.
Louis wrote Aitor’s name on the envelope. Seeing Louis’s expression, Jayden, the attendant, rubbed the goosebumps on his arm and quietly left the office.
* * *
The Emperor’s Forest, which had become familiar to her, was still covered in snow on the path to the cabin where Aitor and Zero were.
Though she was dressed warmly, the thought of soon meeting Louis made Vivian’s body shiver with nervousness.
Though there was still some distance to go, the carriage began to slow down.
‘Knock, knock.’
The carriage stopped, and someone knocked on the door.
“Yes!”
Worried that there might be a problem with the carriage, Vivian hurriedly opened the door.
As the door opened, the cold air met her warm breath, creating a white mist that obscured her vision. As the mist slowly cleared, she saw Louis standing there in a black hat.
“Why are you so late? It’s cold, and I’ve been waiting for a while.”
His pretty nose was red, indicating that he had indeed been waiting in the cold.
“Before meeting Aitor and the Teria, I have something to say to you.”
Getting off the carriage, Vivian nodded solemnly at Louis’s words.
“Rayden, follow at a distance.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
At Louis’s command, Rayden began to guard him from a much greater distance than usual. Confirming that Rayden was far enough away, Louis spoke.
“Shall we walk for a bit?”
On the path marked only by carriage and horse tracks, two small footprints appeared side by side. Each step they took was accompanied by the sound of crunching snow.
“I didn’t expect you to propose so boldly.”
Vivian stopped abruptly at Louis’s words.
“Relax. I’m not teasing you.”
“Liar.”
Louis chuckled at Vivian’s response and pressed his foot onto her footprint.
“Why did you decide to get engaged to me?”
Louis’s foot was larger than Vivian’s, completely erasing her footprint as if it had never been there. Watching this, Vivian stepped beside it, creating a new footprint.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Vivian shook her head vigorously at Louis’s words.
“I like you.”
Her small voice was like her breath, quickly dissipating into the cold winter air.
“What?”
Vivian lifted her gaze from their footprints to look at Louis. Her peridot eyes, shining more beautifully than the winter sun on the snow, met Louis’s golden eyes.
“I said I like you.”
Following her unexpected proposal, Vivian’s confession left Louis stunned. His mind felt like it had stopped working, and he took a deep breath to get his thoughts back in order.
The cold air filled his lungs.
“Didn’t… you hear? I said it loudly… Um. I like you!”
Frustrated by Louis’s lack of reaction, Vivian shouted her confession again.
“Eep!”
“C-could you keep it down a bit?”
Louis noticed Rayden, who was trying to stifle his laughter, and quickly covered Vivian’s mouth with his hand.
“Mm!”
Vivian was the one who confessed, but Louis felt more embarrassed.
Removing his hand from her mouth, Vivian glared at Louis, breathing heavily.
“Rayden! Move ten steps back!”
Realizing she had confessed loudly in front of others again, Vivian ran behind a tree to hide.
“There’s no need to hide; everyone already knows it’s you.”
Vivian flinched at Louis’s words.
Why do I always end up confessing publicly?
She banged her head against the tree in frustration.
Something warm yet firm touched Vivian’s forehead. When she looked up, she saw Louis’s hand placed between her forehead and the tree.
“Don’t hurt yourself. Come out.”
Vivian turned her head away.
“I know you don’t like me.”
Vivian moved to the other side of the tree. With the large tree between them, she continued speaking.
“I don’t know why you need to get engaged to me, but I believe you have your reasons.”
Louis, feeling frustrated, walked towards her, and Vivian quickly moved to the opposite side. They circled the tree, chasing each other.
“I don’t know your reasons. But I want to be by your side…”
They circled the tree three times, leaving a messy circle of footprints around it.
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
Vivian snapped at Louis’s indifferent question.
“I mean, why did you suddenly start liking me?”
“…”
Louis changed direction, and Vivian’s left foot bumped into his shoe. Realizing he had switched directions, Vivian tried to turn but was blocked by Louis’s arm.
“Liking someone doesn’t need a reason.”
“Does it make sense to like someone without a reason?”
“It does!”
They argued back and forth, debating whether liking someone without a reason made sense. Vivian finally said,
“Fine. I’ll cancel it.”
“Cancel what?”
“The engagement. I don’t want it.”
Vivian turned away from her hiding spot and walked briskly towards the cabin where Aitor and Zero were.
“After declaring it in front of everyone?”
“Yes!”
Watching her retreating figure, Louis barely suppressed his laughter.
“This is a problem. The formal proposal from the royal family will arrive tomorrow.”
Vivian stopped abruptly at Louis’s words.
“Jayden told me today that the Emperor’s seal is already on it.”
As Louis finished speaking, an unknown bird flew away from a branch above, causing the snow to fall onto Vivian’s head.
“It means there’s no turning back now, Vivian.”
Louis approached her slowly. Unaware of the snowflakes melting on her skin, Vivian blinked rapidly.
Louis brushed off the melted snow from her face.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you the answer you want.”
Vivian clenched her fists tightly. If she hadn’t been wearing gloves, her nails would have dug into her palms.
“But as I told you, I will do my best for you. As your fiancé, future husband, and eventually as the Emperor.”
For the first time, Vivian felt a sense of helplessness. She wanted to sink to the ground, feeling like she was facing something unattainable despite all her efforts.
“I look forward to our future together.”
Louis removed his luxurious leather gloves and offered them to Vivian.
Yes, this hand was the problem.
This hand, extended so casually, was what had completely captured Vivian’s heart. Louis was half right.
While there might not be a reason for liking someone, there could be a trigger, Vivian corrected her thoughts.
When faced with an unsolvable problem, Vivian became even more determined.
She gathered her strength, straightened her shaky legs, and looked directly at Louis.
“I look forward to it as well!”
Vivian grabbed Louis’s hand and shook it vigorously up and down.