“Of all days, you chose the day I came to say you want to learn swordsmanship because you like swords. Isn’t that too convenient?”

…Ha, this guy. So he didn’t just let it go.

But now that I knew he was the blond Crown Prince, I couldn’t raise my voice or respond sharply like before.

I tried to defend myself as calmly as possible.

“I had no idea Your Highness was coming. I only found out today that Dain is a knight.”

“Am I supposed to believe that? That guy’s a lunatic with nothing but swords in his head.”

“We’ve only met a few days ago. How would I know if a distant cousin is a lunatic or not?”

“How can you say you like swords without knowing that? It’s obvious Dain is obsessed with swords.”

“I apologize, Your Highness. No one informed me whether Dain was obsessed with swords or bears.”

A fierce exchange ensued.

“…Wait a minute. I’m not a lunatic, though?”

Dain’s protest, sounding incredulous, was ignored by everyone.

Standing straight with my hands politely clasped, the Crown Prince frowned and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Enough, this isn’t getting through.”

Isn’t that what I should be saying?

“I’m leaving, Dain.”

He gave me one last unpleasant look before departing.

Regret crept in belatedly. I should have been more compliant with someone so powerful.

Without realizing it, I had stubbornly talked back out of frustration.

As I held my head in reflection, Dain tapped my shoulder.

“Shailyn, if you’re interested in swords, come to the training grounds and practice. I’ll show you where it is.”

“Is that okay? Thank you.”

Readily accepting his offer, he explained the way to the training grounds in detail.

On the way back to the main building, I thought of the hint and subtly asked.

“Are you close with His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Yeah, we’ve known each other since we were kids. We often sparred together. He’s still my best sparring partner.”

According to him, the Crown Prince was extremely popular, and because women approached him in various ways, he was very cautious.

Though I was still annoyed about being treated like a stalker, I could somewhat understand, given he had been harassed by obsessive fans.

‘The important thing is that the Crown Prince and Dain are close.’

Everything, from his appearance to his status, strongly indicated he was a male lead.

However, considering the fake blond incident, I decided to judge cautiously.

Nothing was certain yet.

3. Pride and Prejudice Are Too Much

The next day, I went to the training grounds with a wooden sword and encountered the Crown Prince again.

As soon as he saw me, he openly frowned and approached me, questioning.

“Why is the lady here?”

“Shailyn Sharofe greets His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“I asked why you’re here.”

Ignoring my greeting and only saying what he wanted, I replied kindly to this super powerful individual.

“I got Dain’s permission to practice swordsmanship in the training grounds starting today.”

“What?”

The Crown Prince’s face twisted horribly. Anyone would think I said I came to assassinate him.

Standing with one leg cocked, he sneered, twisting his lips.

“You think I don’t know you came crawling in here knowing I often train in swordsmanship at the Duke’s residence?”

“I didn’t know. And I walked in.”

Unable to hold back, I corrected the facts. Though he had the face to act like a prince, he should moderate it to make it believable.

With a strangely vexed expression, the Crown Prince sneered.

“Is ‘I didn’t know’ the only excuse the lady has? Is that the only phrase you’ve learned in life?”

“If it were, wouldn’t I be unable to have a conversation with Your Highness? How could I have learned only that, logically speaking?”

“……”

“But if you want to hear something else, I’ll think it over and make something up now.”

I carefully spoke as gently as possible to avoid sounding like I was talking back.

However, for some reason, the Crown Prince seemed even angrier, biting his lip hard.

He turned his head sharply and called out to Dain, who was warming up on one side. His voice was full of irritation.

“Even if she’s your cousin, who gave you the right to let someone in?”

“Hahaha, what’s the harm? Adding one more person to the training grounds won’t cause any issues, will it?”

Dain shrugged lightly.

The training grounds weren’t just occupied by the three of us; the Duke’s knights were scattered around.

Meanwhile, my name was mispronounced again, which made my insides churn slightly.

Ah, I can’t even smack him on the head.

“Isn’t that something we can’t be sure about?”

The Crown Prince glanced at me and spoke like he wanted me to hear it.

“She might pretend her arm hurts or that it’s hard to practice alone, trying to cling to me for help.”

…Ha, honestly, I’ve thought about it, so I have nothing to say.

But how could I leave the fake blond Crown Prince alone when I needed to find the real blond male lead?

But he kept acting like a jerk, which is making it difficult.

“Then I’ll stop her. And Linus, you’re not someone who easily helps others, are you?”

Dain patted the Crown Prince’s shoulder, soothing him cheerfully.

It felt like he was subtly insulting him?

Anyway, we each dispersed to our spots and began training.

* * *

Linus glanced at Shailyn with a dissatisfied expression.

Watching her clumsily swing a wooden sword, he couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

It was evident she knew nothing about swords and had never been interested in them before.

And yet, she was lying.

In fact, he had planned a ten-day swordsmanship training at the Duke of Diart’s residence starting the previous day.

It wasn’t a particularly secret matter, so anyone could find out if they tried.

Especially someone related to the Duke of Diart by blood.

‘She must have targeted me from the start.’

Such approaches were frequent for him as the Crown Prince.

People would spill drinks on him while pretending it was an accident, deliberately fall and get hurt in front of him, or perform dances of courtship.

There were countless people trying to attract his attention with peculiar actions.

Shailyn’s behavior pattern was no different from theirs.

‘Her true motives are clear to me.’

But his friend, who saw nothing when holding a sword, seemed oblivious.

Dain’s pink eyes gleamed with a mania for swords.

‘This lunatic really…’

Linus sighed, rubbing his forehead, and approached Dain.

“Dain, stop.”

“I’m in the zone right now. If it’s not urgent, tell me during the break.”

“It’s urgent, so stop.”

Dain, who had just smashed a training wooden target, lowered his sword and looked at his friend.

Linus spoke firmly.

“Get rid of her.”

“Who? …Oh, Sabrina?”

Linus nodded slightly, frowning.

“Do you really think that lady has no ulterior motives?”

“No?”

“……?”

Linus’s expression changed to one of surprise at the unexpected response.

Dain rested his sword on his shoulder and spoke in his characteristic cheerful tone.

“From what I heard from Father, she seems to have had a tough life. It does seem like she’s trying to latch onto someone higher than her.”

That was precisely why he had deliberately let her into the training grounds.

Keeping her nearby would allow him to stop her if necessary and prevent any trouble.

Of course, there was a bit of personal bias mixed in.

He had been momentarily intrigued by her claim of liking swords…

“But well, she’ll soon come to her senses and realize where her limits lie.”

Dain smiled. Linus’s brow twitched.

“…You’re going to wait for that?”

“She’ll never work out with you anyway. Just bear with it for a bit. She’ll find a suitable husband and leave.”

Dain patted Linus’s arm and focused on his training again.

Linus, with his brow furrowed, fell into thought.

‘Does he think self-awareness comes that easily?’

If that were the case, she wouldn’t have dared to target him.

He couldn’t just stand by while such an impure seed stayed at his close friend’s house.

As the training session was nearing its end, he deliberately approached Shailyn and spoke.

“Miss Sharofe.”

“…Yes?”

“From what I’ve observed today, the ladu seems genuinely interested in swords.”

“……?”

Watching Shailyn’s puzzled expression, Linus curled his lips into a crooked smile.

“So, how about sparring with me for the right to use the training grounds?”

“…Pardon?”

Shailyn’s eyes widened.

For someone like her, who had only picked up a wooden sword for the first time today, to spar with the Crown Prince?

It was an absurd proposition.

Linus, knowing this full well, continued speaking nonchalantly.

“If you win, you can use this place freely when I’m here. If you lose, don’t come near when I’m around.”

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t have the skills to spar with Your Highness. I must decline.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll impose a penalty on myself, too.”

Linus arrogantly tilted his chin.

“I’ll use only one hand. And I won’t attack you.”

“……”

“We’ll settle it by seeing if you can disarm me within the time limit. What do you say?”

What do I say? I don’t want to.

But Shailyn couldn’t express her honest feelings aloud.

— Ding!

【A new mission has occurred!】

Because of the notification that suddenly appeared.