Tell Me To Regret, Don’t Tempt Me - Chapter 6
Chapter 6
The frustrated steps of Louis as he headed towards the Crown Prince’s palace were tinged with a touch of endearing anger.
Whenever the topic of betrothal came up, Louis had been quick to avoid it.
Engaged to the ugly noblewoman of whom rumors abounded. Despite mustering the courage to tell his mother, the Empress, that he disliked the idea, all he received in return was a scolding.
At tea with the Emperor and Empress, Louis’s mother and father, the young noblewoman’s story always came up. They were all words of praise for her, especially noticeable was the Empress Annette’s fondness for the young noblewoman.
When Annette praised the young noblewoman, the Emperor, leisurely sipping his tea, would chuckle loudly, as if he knew why the Duke was so fond of his daughter.
Then, if Annette asked, “Don’t you think so too?” Louis would simply answer soullessly, “Yes.”
When the Ducal family was invited to the imperial family’s summer palace, Louis was terrified, but thankfully, news arrived that the Duke and Duchess had urgent matters in their territory and couldn’t accept the invitation, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Just thinking about it made Louis’s body tremble.
It was an inevitable engagement.
Louis felt like telling his overly praising mother in front of him that if the Duke of Dinever’s daughter was so wonderful, she should just take her as her daughter.
Throwing off his sweaty clothes haphazardly, Louis sighed deeply as he entered the prepared bath.
“Next is the lesson with Hugo.”
The figure of the week, Hugo Platten.
Hugo had been constantly singing praises of the young lady these days, and if he went a day without praising her, it was as if thorns were growing in his mouth.
Regardless, Hugo had been the one Louis disliked the most recently.
Although there wasn’t much time left before the class, Louis’ movements as he bathed were sluggish.
“Your Highness. You’re 10 minutes late. 10 minutes! The Lady Dinever always arrives at the class before me. She has never been late once. Haha. How splendid a student she is.”
Hugo pointed to the clock with exaggerated gestures. And it all ended with praise for the young Dinever noblewoman.
“Then I suppose there’s no need for me to continue this lesson. What’s the point of teaching such a delinquent student?”
“Haha, when you put it that way, it almost sounds like I’m the one who’s done something wrong.”
Louis, who clicked his tongue softly at Hugo’s teasing laughter, had just taken his seat when unexpected words flowed out of Hugo’s mouth.
“Starting next week, you’ll be joining the lessons with the young Lady Dinever, Your Highness.”
Louis jumped up from his seat. With the sudden movement, the chair fell backward with a loud ‘thud.’
“Why!”
Louis’s booming voice echoed loudly.
Thump-thump.
As Louis’s voice faded away, this time a thumping sound came from his left chest.
Why do I have to meet that noblewoman?
He detested the idea.
“Why…I mean, why… to have lessons together…”
The shock had rendered him stuttering. Even if he could logically list the reasons why he shouldn’t have lessons with that young lady, it wouldn’t be enough to convince the sly old man. He stumbled over his words.
But the words had already been spoken.
“Haha. As you know, I’ve just begun a new research project. I suspect I won’t have much time to spare for lessons, you see.”
Why should I suffer because of your research?
Louis looked calmly at Hugo, taking a deep breath to think as rationally as possible.
“So while I was contemplating how to handle both of your classes, Her Majesty, the Empress, kindly suggested it first.”
“The Empress?”
Louis’ voice sharply raised in pitch again. Momentarily startled by Louis’ bizarre tone, Hugo continued.
“Hmm, yes. As Your Highness knows, this research is also very important for our relationship with the Mages. So the Empress has kindly considered it.”
At the mention of the Mages, Louis’s pupils flickered for a moment.
“You will oblige as well, won’t you, Your Highness?”
In the end, Louis couldn’t even properly protest and had to raise the white flag. Bringing up the Mages left him no choice.
“Then, shall we begin today’s lesson?”
Throughout the lesson, Louis was completely distracted.
Seeing his student unable to concentrate, Hugo sighed deeply and abruptly packed up, saying they would see in the next class with the young Lady Dinever.
Slouching forward in his chair, Louis stared blankly at the elaborate patterns on the ceiling.
“It’s so frustrating when things don’t go my way.”
Louis’ dejected voice drifted forlornly through the air.
***
“Did you double-check everything?”
“My Lady, I’m sure you’ve checked at least 10 times already.”
When Vivian heard from Hugo that she would be having class with the crown prince, she initially thought he was joking.
Because Hugo was mischievous like that.
But when she heard the same thing from her father, Terence, she couldn’t contain her surprise.
When she asked what kind of person the Crown Prince was, the Duke and Duchess exchanged a meaningful glance before answering.
“He is an extremely intelligent young man.”
After the lengthy exchange of silent looks, that was their simple response.
Luideos Lindez Tapeullon.
The perfect Crown Prince, with not only an exceptional intellect but also remarkable talent in swordsmanship. Vivian’s heart was racing at the prospect of having lessons with this renowned Crown Prince.
Suddenly, a familiar face came to mind.
The face of Louis, whom she had encountered at the imperial library on her first day at the palace.
As the image of his jet-black hair and shimmering golden eyes flashed through her mind, Vivian felt a tingling sensation down her back.
“Why is his face suddenly coming to mind?”
Vivian shook her head vigorously, trying to erase the memory of Louis’ strikingly beautiful features.
“The carriage is ready, Miss.”
“Yes! I’m coming!”
At Tia’s call, Vivian sprang up from her chair and hurried out of the room.
***
The imperial palace, as always, was breathtakingly beautiful and grand.
With a nervous heart, Vivian followed Alina, who was leading the way, and wandered around the Crown Prince’s palace, which had a slightly different feel from the Empress’ palace,
While the Empress’ palace had a warm atmosphere, the Crown Prince’s palace seemed a bit colder and more austere.
“Alina, is there anything I should be particularly mindful of when meeting the Crown Prince?”
Alina, who was leading the way, turned back and smiled.
“No, he may seem a bit aloof at first, but he is a person of propriety and good manners, so there’s no need to worry.”
Propriety and good manners.
Rather than feeling relieved by Alina’s words, Vivian felt even more anxious.
“You can wait here.”
The room Alina guided her to was where Crown Prince Louis usually had his lessons and studied.
Unlike the somewhat barren corridors, the interior was splendid. Bright sunlight streamed in through the large windows in the moderately sized room, and several books were placed around a spacious desk.
Next to it, a long green velvet sofa was casually placed.
Unsure of where to position herself, Vivian perched on the edge of the sofa.
Apart from the soothing sound of the fountain outside, the room was quiet.
Drip, drip, drip, drip.
As Vivian listened to the sound, she suddenly stood up.
Oh, I need to use the restroom!
Despite her agitation, the sound of water dripping from the fountain continued to echo in her ears.
Thinking she couldn’t possibly sit through the lesson like this, she carefully opened the door and peeked out. Seeing the empty corridor, Vivian’s face fell.
“Where is the restroom?”
She wanted to ask someone, but the corridor was devoid of any human presence, not even a single ant in sight.
Fully opening the door, Vivian decided to just wander around and see if she could find it somewhere. Her steps quickened with the urgent need.
“Excuse me…”
At that moment, someone called out to Vivian.
Turning around with a hopeful expression, Vivian responded.
“Th-That is…”
An enormously tall man. Even when Vivian tilted her head back as far as she could, her gaze barely reached his neck. Stepping back hesitantly, Vivian almost screamed when she saw his face.
“Hmm?”
“I, um…”
As Vivian struggled to respond, another man suddenly appeared behind the towering figure.
“Commander! It seems the young lady here is frightened because of you.”
“Huh? But I didn’t do anything.”
“Have you ever considered that your mere presence could be intimidating?”
The commander’s brow furrowed. Despite feeling more threatened by his imposing presence, Vivian found her legs unable to move.
“Commander, please step aside.”
The man who appeared behind him easily pushed the commander away.
“This is the palace where Crown Prince Louis resides, even from the Dovelia Palace. Did you happen to enter by mistake?”
He was less intimidating than the commander. With a gentle smile, he asked Vivian, who shook her head vigorously in response.
“I’m here for the… lesson today.”
At Vivian’s soft-spoken words, the man’s eyes widened in realization.
“Ah, you must be Lady Vivian! I see, I see. But why were you wandering the corridor? Have you gotten lost, perhaps?”
Vivian couldn’t bring herself to tell these people that she urgently needed to use the restroom. Shaking her head at the ever-smiling man, she gave a small bow and hurried away.
“Why is she running off all of a sudden?”
A little further away, Knight Commander Rayden, who overheard the conversation between Vivian and his subordinate, asked.
“Young people sometimes have inexplicable behaviors.”
“Is that so?”
Nodding at each other, the two began walking down the hallway.
***
What do I do? How can this be?
After fleeing, Vivian stopped in a quiet, secluded area, her steps faltering.
Not only had she lost the way to the restroom, but now she couldn’t even find her way back to the original room. As her bladder tightened, Vivian began to fidget and whimper in place.
Suddenly…
“Oh? It’s you?”
Another presence made Vivian turn around, and the sight of those familiar golden eyes caused her tears to pour forth.
“Uhuh! Huhuh.”
“W-what’s wrong? Huh? Why are you crying?”
Seeing the back of the familiar brown-haired head, Louis had followed, abandoning his original path to go to the class. The girl he didn’t even know the name of, whom he had met once at the library.
He didn’t know why she was here, but her sudden outburst of tears caught him off guard.
Had I done something wrong again?
A twinge of frustration stirred within him.
Just as he was about to voice his confusion, the crying girl suddenly grabbed his hand.
“B-bathroom!”
“What?”
“Where’s the bathroom!”
Louis, who was just blinking in surprise, suddenly came to his senses at the touch of the girl shaking his hand again.
“You need to use the restroom?”
Nodding vigorously, her eyes still streaming with tears, the girl looked up at him. Louis took her hand and guided her towards the restroom.
“Here it is. Come in quickly.”
Was she in tears because she was in a hurry to go to the bathroom?
The girl didn’t enter, instead twisting her body and peering up at Louis.
“I’ll wait here for you. Don’t worry.”
Nodding desperately at Louis’s words, the girl wiped her tears roughly and hurriedly went into the bathroom.
*Thud*.
The door closed so loudly that the wind created tousled Louis’s bangs.