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His breath felt extremely close. Then a squeak sounded, and Derol suddenly jumped up.
Ardion paused in his approach toward me and lowered his head.
Derol stood on his two feet and punched Ardion. "Get away from her right now!"
Ardion reached out to grab Derol, but Derol quickly dodged behind me.
He clenched and then unclenched his while looking at me. "Laila, how long are you going to keep carrying Derol around?"
His tone was gentle, but there was something strangely sharp about it. Most of all, his green eyes looked unusually cold. It was clear he wanted to capture Derol.
"Derol is like family to me. And his wishes matter too."
"Then what about me? Do you not recognize me as family?"
"Your Highness."
"Have you thought about my marriage proposal?"
I froze, unable to find the right words.
Ardion, seeing my hesitation, slowly took my hand. As I stood still, he smiled and met my eyes. "Do you know what my dream is?"
"What?"
"To marry you."
"…"
"It’s been my dream since I was young."
"… Do you really like me that much?"
"Yes. I like you more than anything."
"Why?"
"Because you’re the only one in my life. You’re the one who gave me all my firsts. Everything you've shown me was a first. I still remember the flower fireworks I saw at the festival, the scent of lilacs I smelled then."
Ardion’s lips curved upward in a beautiful smile. He looked genuinely pure, as if laughter was coming from his heart. He looked at me calmly, his green eyes looking fresher than ever. "That’s why you’re my most beautiful memories and my love."
I stared at Ardion blankly. I was certain that marrying me would be a loss for him. After all, I didn’t have a family to support him. "… Are you sure you won’t regret it?"
I was scared that marrying me would lead to awkward situations for him later. Most of all, my status didn’t give me anything to stand on, and it wouldn’t help in this situation.
"I won’t regret it. Just looking at you like this feels like I’ve gained the world."
Ardion’s eyes showed my reflection completely. At that moment, he grabbed both my hands. "Marry me, Laila."
I couldn’t answer.
I lowered my head, looking at his hands completely enveloping mine.
"Give me a place beside you too," Ardion said in a low voice as his grip tightened slightly and he looked at my hands. "… Please."
My heart was conflicted. Serina had already drastically changed from how she was in the original story and had tried to kill Ardion, while Ardion wanted to marry me.
Seeing that I didn’t answer immediately, Ardion spoke again. "Laila, it’s okay if you don’t love me. I’ll make sure to earn it. I’ll make you love me."
At that moment, Derol squeaked. "Master!"
I bit my lip. With Ardion saying that, there was no way to avoid it anymore. I took a deep breath and lifted my head. "Then promise me you’ll treat Derol well too."
Ardion looked briefly at Derol, who was watching from behind me, then nodded. "I promise."
"Good."
It didn’t feel like the best decision, but in this situation, there was no other way. Above all, escaping from here wouldn’t be easy given my current circumstances. Ardion and I were practically in the same boat.
Maybe, as Ardion said, marrying him and getting one over on Rowell might be the best choice. I had overheard something at the mansion that suggested Ardion would benefit from marrying quickly.
Ardion studied me with a slightly questioning look. "Laila, so you’re saying you’ll marry me?"
I nodded.
He quickly kissed my cheek and embraced me. "A-am I dreaming? Y-you’re really marrying me, aren’t you?"
"Yes, it’s not a dream."
Ardion speaking in a daze made me laugh without realizing it. This was the first time I had seen him like this. He kept whispering his love in my ear, and only when we arrived at the mansion did he finally let me go.
❋ ❋ ❋
In the grand hall of the palace, Rowell shouted, "The retrial of the Duke Orchid case is denied."
A nearby noble immediately responded, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, you won’t even reconsider?"
At that moment, a noble seated next to Lewell slammed the table. "Ah, didn’t His Highness already say that the retrial is denied? Besides, the Duke Orchid case is a matter of the past. It makes no sense to approve a retrial just because a few commoners are interested in it."
"But it’s not just a few commoners. There’s dissatisfaction building up due to the treatment of the common soldiers who returned from the frontier, and approving this retrial could help calm the people of the empire."
Many of the nobles seated in the hall nodded.
"That’s right. It was just an arson incident at the Duke Orchid mansion, wasn’t it? If we catch the culprit properly, His Highness’s standing will only rise."
"That makes sense. For us, this is a good opportunity to boost His Highness’s standing easily. It will highlight the more compassionate crown prince over the prince who committed the crime."
"But this is a past event…!"
"Delrit." Rowell’s soft voice rang out.
In return, Delrit lowered his head and fell silent. The room grew quiet for a moment.
Rowell said quietly, "Since this is your will, I suppose denying the retrial would be wrong."
"That’s a good decision. I’ve heard there’s a lot of talk in front of the court about this case. If we approve the retrial, we could get rid of the accumulated dissatisfaction all at once."
"However, others might get hurt because of this case. Some people involved are already living away from the capital…"
"Delrit, it seems you’re quite involved in this case. From the way you’ve been opposing it, it seems you’re guilty yourself."
"What do you mean? I have nothing to do with it!" Delrit shot to his feet, unable to hold back his anger. His face turned red in a burst of emotion.
"If you were innocent, you wouldn’t be so worked up about this, would you?"
Rowell’s finger, which had been tapping the table regularly, wavered slightly. His long fingers paused in midair as the nobles murmured. As their whispers grew louder, Rowell narrowed his eyes slightly. "I will allow the retrial."
Delrit looked at Lewell in shock. "Your Highness! This has never happened before. Reopening a past case—!"
"Delrit, stop. Come to think of it, you seem very involved in this case. You’ve been worrying about it a lot. You look like you’re hiding something."
Delrit stared at him in silence as their eyes met. Rowell faintly smiled. Soon, Duke Delit hurriedly turned his head and left the conference hall. As soon as he left, a tongue-clicking sound was heard.
“Tsk tsk, you must have been to quite a few places.”
“Your Highness, you made a good decision. This might be our opportunity.”
Most of the nobles nodded their heads in satisfaction at Rowell’s decision.
The noble who had been silent the whole time tilted his head and said, “However, I heard that there were rumors Your Highness was involved in this. This incident became a spark for nothing…”
“Oh, what are you talking about? Are you insulting His Highness just because you saw a third-rate article?”
“Oh, no! I just saw the newspaper rolling around on the market ground…”
“Your Highness! Punish him right now! How dare you insult His Highness—”
“Enough.” Rowell stood up, his expression even worse than before. His eyebrows were hard, and his eyes were sharper. “Dismissed.”
Rowell immediately left the conference room while the nobles stood up and bowed to him.
As soon as he left the conference room, he said to his aide, “Burn all the documents related to Duke Orchid from three years ago.”
The aide’s face twisted into a worried expression. “That…”
“What is it?”
“All the documents related to Duke Orchid have disappeared. It’s as if someone already took them.”
Rowell raised the corners of his mouth in disbelief. “Who dared to do so?”
“We immediately began investigating but found no culprit. Perhaps someone working at the court made a mistake or…”
“Do you think that makes sense? Surely, someone took them!”
“But…”
“Investigate who took them, and if someone blocks your way… immediately deal with them.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, and if the culprit isn’t caught, make Duke Delrit the culprit and have him stand trial.”
“But wasn’t Duke Delrit the one who supported Your Highness more than anyone else? He was the one who helped Your Highness the most in that incident…”
The aide fell silent upon noticing Rowell’s eyes turning cold. The atmosphere around him seemed to have frozen in an instant.
“Would you like to say that again?”
“N-no! I will do as Your Highness commands.”
Rowell looked down at the aide. The aide quickly lowered his head and left the hallway.
❋ ❋ ❋
Ardion brought dresses, accessories, and even wedding decorations to my room the day after I said I would marry him.
The fancy accessories and dresses looked nice, but I wasn't feeling well after going to the fruit shop. So I just chose carelessly, but he thought my choices were the best of all.
TN: Well, the progress of both is truly magnificent. They’re different from most novels I have read. Comment down below on what you think about it!