Even though they’d come to celebrate the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s marriage, this was a rare opportunity for nobles from inside and outside the capital to gather in one place. 

There was no law saying there wouldn’t be feuding nobles among them. What’s the point of mentioning the petty trouble caused by hot-blooded young people who feared nothing? 

Even now, the laughter of thoroughly drunk men leaked through the window opened just a hand’s width.

“…Your Highness.”

Only after a long while did she realize another voice was mixed in with that sound.

An unfamiliar man’s voice.

A man’s voice came from beyond the door to the adjacent room where the maids had withdrawn.

‘Is it the Crown Prince…?’

No, that man’s voice was softer and lower than this.

“Your Highness the Crown Princess, Knight Waverley has come to see you.”

A maid announced. Edith didn’t even know who that was. Since they called him ‘Knight,’ he was probably a royal guard. But why would a royal guard visit at this hour instead of the Crown Prince?

She put on a tea gown over her nightgown.

“Come.”

After about thirty seconds of hesitation, the maid gently opened the door and entered. 

Following her was a tall, blond young man. Judging by the sword at his waist while coming to see the Crown Princess, despite looking young, his rank must be quite high.

The young knight knelt respectfully as soon as he entered.

“Jude Waverley pays his respects to Her Highness the Crown Princess. I am the vice-captain of the Osborne Guard.”

Just as she thought.

He was a member of the Guard, which only accepted outstanding talents even among the royal knights, and the vice-captain at that, second only to the captain. That made Edith even more suspicious.

“Has something happened to the Crown Prince?”

Knight Waverley raised his head. Perhaps because Fenwick’s territory was several times larger than Aberdeen, it seemed the Crown Prince wasn’t the only handsome man in this royal palace, Edith thought admiringly without meaning to. She saw the young knight’s amber eyes waver in the firelight.

“…N-no. Nothing has happened to the Crown Prince…”

“Stretch your legs.”

“If I stretch my legs in this position… ah, you mean stand up.”

The standing man’s height seemed two heads taller than Edith. Being a knight, he naturally had a good build too. 

Perhaps sensing her reflexive shrinking back, he quickly stepped back two paces.

“I apologize. The Crown Prince wishes to see you.”

“I wait.”

“Well… that is the tradition, but there are special circumstances today.”

Edith slowly observed Knight Waverley. The young man looked honest and didn’t seem to be lying. Someone with such an imposing physique wasn’t easily forgotten once seen, so she vaguely remembered receiving this person’s greeting in the audience chamber earlier. However,

‘How am I supposed to trust him…?’

Today the royal palace was full of outsiders. Moreover, she was a Crown Princess from Aberdeen. On the off chance someone harbored resentment toward Aberdeen or opposed this marriage and wanted to harm her, how could she be sure this person’s visit wasn’t a trap for that purpose?

Only then did the complicated expressions she’d seen at the wedding ceremony, in the carriage leaving the palace walls, and in the audience chamber come back to life in her mind. 

Grand Duke Angelic couldn’t have been the only one wanting to marry his daughter to the Crown Prince.

Then reality suddenly struck.

…There wasn’t a single person from Aberdeen here.

Everyone she knew and was close to, she’d left across that sea.

If Edith were in danger, who would risk their life to protect her? 

Even this man before her eyes, even the knights standing guard outside—they only protected the Crown Princess out of duty.

“…Your Highness?”

“Require visible trust.”

Edith pointed her finger at the still bewildered young man.

“You, distrust.”

Knight Waverley seemed not to have anticipated this situation. His gaze, frantically looking around, stopped on a maid who had quietly withdrawn to one side.

“Um… could you please tell Her Highness that I’m trustworthy?”

Befitting someone who served in the Crown Princess’s bedchamber, the maid didn’t back down  quite easily.

“Knight Waverley is certainly trustworthy. However, why would the Crown Prince summon Her Highness outside on the wedding night?”

“Didn’t I say there are circumstances?”

“With all those drunk people outside, how can Her Highness go out alone in the middle of the night? She’s not someone who should get her feet wet with night dew.”

“That’s why I came to escort her.”

Then Edith barely remembered a name.

“Lord Bernard Doville.”

The court secretary who led the welcoming party from Wordsworth Harbor and brought her to Osborne. Unless all of Fenwick was conspiring to deceive her, she realized that man had no reason to lie. She demanded.

“Lord Bernard Doville come.”

Knight Waverley shouted with delight.

“That very Bernard sent me here, Your Highness! …But poor Bernard is at his limit now. If you summon Bernard now, by tomorrow morning he’ll probably die from overwork—”

“My, who’s working Lord Bernard Doville so hard?”

“Why, our Prince Wilfred, of course. Bernard complains so much that whenever we drink together, we inevitably stay up all night.”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it. So my secretary goes around badmouthing me.”

“…Your Highness!?”

Knight Waverley jumped in shock.

Wilfred, who had entered the room at some point, stood with his arms crossed, glaring at the royal guard.

“Do you know why I work Bernard so hard? Because when I give him work, he never does it right the first time.”

He glanced toward Edith.

“Sir Jude, think you’re any different? What use is a Guard vice-captain who can’t even earn the Crown Princess’s trust?”

‘How long was he listening…?’

Though she didn’t show it, Edith was just as startled. She wasn’t a careless person, yet she hadn’t even seen Wilfred enter.

Only after hurling a few more scathing remarks at Knight Waverley did Wilfred call her.

“Edith.”

It was a summons that somehow felt like she should properly say the equivalent of ‘yes,’ but since no one had ever dared respond to Her Highness the Crown Princess’s inquiry with just a simple ‘yes,’ Edith still didn’t know how to properly say ‘yes’ in Fenwick as Crown Princess.

Wilfred didn’t wait for her answer. Instead, he simply draped the cloak he’d worn over her and spat out a brief phrase.

“Follow me.”

Then he immediately left the room. Edith and Knight Waverley had no choice but to hurry after him.

“Where to?”

Edith asked while chasing him. He gave no answer as they passed through the area where she was staying, turned two corners, and descended stairs. 

None of the guards who clearly recognized the Crown Prince acknowledged them. This place was strange. And too vast. Now she was out of breath.

Still not giving up, she asked again.

“Where to?”

Before long, the three reached a dark corridor with almost no light. No one stood guard around them. Knight Waverley stood about five paces away, pretending not to eavesdrop in their conversation. 

Wilfred, who had been ignoring Edith and walking the whole time, suddenly turned and approached her.

“There’s one rule in this Osborne Palace.”

A face armed with coldness. Gray eyes darkly shadowed. 

Though not quite hostility, Edith read unmistakable wariness in that gaze. He reached out and gripped her elbow tightly. A distance where their breaths could touch. 

But what lay between them was a distance she could neither understand nor cross. His following words widened that distance further.

“Don’t you dare question me.”

* * *

「Brother Ambrose treated me like a nobody my whole life, and now His Majesty tells me to take that position.」

「That’s the fate of House Hartwell’s second son, Wilfred. Regardless of your wishes.」

「Then should I marry Ambrose’s fiancée too?」

「If it benefits the royal family, you should take even your brother’s wife, not just his fiancée, as your bride.」

「So that’s why Ambrose stole another man’s woman and made her his own.」

「Even you say such things, Wilfred? Before a father who lost his Crown Prince overnight? If you had even half of Ambrose’s sense of responsibility, you’d agree to be engaged to Lord Barnum’s daughter tomorrow. …I should have sent you to Barracks instead.」

「Then I would have died a dog’s death, and Ambrose would have been a coward who sent his brother to the battlefield before his coming-of-age ceremony. Is that the ending Your Majesty wanted?」

「Wilfred!」

「If Your Majesty so desperately wants Ambrose’s Crown Prince position, you don’t have to pass it to me. Instead, marry Gwendolyn to Lord Bishop.」

‘The fate of House Hartwell.’

This was a phrase His Majesty King Joffrey, his father, habitually used. 

According to that fate, House Hartwell’s eldest son should become Crown Prince, the second son should never escape the eldest’s shadow his whole life, and the princesses, however many there were, existed only to make marriages that benefited the royal family. 

That’s why Wilfred believed in neither fate, nor superstition, nor religion. Not a single prince or princess turned out as their father wished, at least not among King Joffrey’s children.

With Ambrose’s death, Wilfred received the Crown Prince position right after his coming-of-age ceremony, and Gwendolyn died horribly. 

And Crown Prince Wilfred took as his wife the second princess of a nation with which they’d had no relations. A marriage his father would never have permitted if he’d been in his right mind.

「She will become the Crown Princess of Fenwick. Since this is a royal marriage, I hope Your Highness the Crown Prince will make a more careful decision—」

Was it Lord Dunsany who said that, or some other old fool? The troublesome nobles would think him mad, but he was terrifyingly sane.

Wilfred looked at the partner of that ‘mad’ marriage.

Did she even understand what he said?

At his words not to question anything, Edith immediately closed her mouth and had maintained silence from then until now. 

Though it was a hastily arranged bridal chamber, Bernard had taken care to light candles, bring wine, and prepare everything needed for a wedding night chamber, but she didn’t seem to notice the surroundings at all. 

However, judging by her posture, she was certainly very tense. Only shadows flickered in the candlelight; the shadow’s owner hadn’t moved for several minutes.

「If I am inferior to my elder sister Princess Lucille, you may send rock salt instead of sea salt.」

‘…When did you speak so confidently?’

Wilfred pulled away from the wall he’d been leaning against.

Edith flinched.

“Edith.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. Since it was somewhat interesting to see what this woman who understood Fenwick but couldn’t speak it naturally would say, he spoke again.

“Do you know why I married Aberdeen’s second princess?”

He’d told her not to question him, but this much he could tell her.

However, she came back with an unexpected counter-question.

“How you speak like that?”

When he stared at her, she furrowed her pretty brow. She seemed to have something to say but couldn’t think of the exact expression.