“Episode 39”
Celestian’s Expertise
Seated beside Daphne, a neatly dressed man with a blue sapphire pin on his tie pushed a glass of water towards her. Even without turning her head, his regal demeanor was unmistakably of royal descent.
“Diddy.”
Elegantly styled jet-black hair. Despite soaking up so much sunlight, his skin remained unnaturally fair, almost corpse-like. A handsome face marred only by an incongruous dimple!
“You nearly beheaded a royal family member, Roméo.”
Roméo murmured as he gently grasped a lock of Daphne’s hair. The ribbon Celestian had tied felt strained. Daphne tilted her head as Roméo held it to prevent it from slipping off.
“Your Highness, could you please ease your grip on the delicate strands of your cousin’s hair?”
“Why were you late?”
Daphne’s words went unanswered. She simply crossed her arms and looked up at her towering cousin. Rebelling here would only result in him indulging in his favorite pastimes.
“Don’t be coy. The invitation was missing.”
“That’s impossible.”
As expected, Roméo quickly lost interest and released his grip, muttering.
“Wasn’t it you?”
“Impossible?”
Roméo wore an expression of genuine confusion. Daphne continued to scrutinize him suspiciously.
“Lunch.”
“Are you hungry?”
“You seem to have completely forgotten our lunch appointment.”
Roméo pouted, realizing belatedly that he had made lunch plans with his sister.
“There was really no invitation.”
As Daphne replied, Roméo laughed heartily.
“Even then, you managed to show up.”
“I’m not incompetent.”
“Ah, killing me?”
Daphne almost choked on her water. He was talking about her own wedding.
“It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I won’t. I have too much to lose.”
Daphne met Roméo’s amused gaze.
“You little shit. Do you find this situation amusing?”
“Cousin, did you just refer to His Majesty as a dog?”
“Mongrel. Do you find it amusing?”
“Naturally.”
Roméo rubbed his chin and squinted slightly, acknowledging. It was a gesture similar to Celestian’s. If Daphne had been in a slightly different mood, she might have been the protagonist of this wedding. Daphne sighed in exasperation.
“My wife is probably waiting desperately for me. I’ll go check on her later.”
“Right, Psyche…”
Psyche must have been quite anxious waiting for Daphne even though the time for their appointment had passed. She might even be blaming herself a little.
“It’s so obvious even without seeing it.”
Daphne sighed heavily.
“And you let someone sneak away with my invitation?”
“I told you it wasn’t me.”
“How can I believe that?”
“If it was missing, you should have come to the palace to find it. If someone really stole it, knowing your personality, you would have turned this kingdom upside down to find it. Why didn’t you?”
Come to think of it, the invitation arrived two days ago, and under normal circumstances, she would have stormed Roméo’s palace to demand answers.
“I thought I wouldn’t be allowed in.”
“You emphasized that there are no exceptions. Probably.”
“Did the Daphne Viewcatchers enjoy the show?”
“Yeah. I gladly welcomed the first ‘Daphne Viewcatcher’ who arrived.”
Daphne’s mouth hung open.
“If, um, you’re feeling unwell, go to the hospital, cousin.”
“You crazy bastard, saying that won’t faze me. Shall we go together?”
If she nodded here, she felt like she would immediately be swimming over the ocean to a mental institution. Daphne ran her fingers through her hair and popped a grape into her mouth.
“When someone says Psyche’s crazy, you flinch. Happily.”
“And you enjoy it when I’m called insane by my brother.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Daphne raised an eyebrow.
“In the end, if I hadn’t made it in, Psyche would have torn out all your hair.”
“My wife wouldn’t do that to me.”
“You still don’t know Psyche.”
“Do I need to? Sometimes, it’s best not to reveal everything in a loving relationship. If my wife knew everything about me, she’d probably want to run away from me.”
Honestly, that was also an irrefutable point. But when the words “loving relationship” came out of Roméo’s mouth, a shiver ran down her spine.
“Cousin, I feel a bit unfairly treated.”
“What else is bothering you?”
As Daphne speared her salad with her fork, she stared straight ahead. Roméo’s expression soured, his lips turning downward.
“But still…”
Daphne grabbed an olive with a sour expression and tossed it towards her cousin’s face. Roméo casually caught it and placed it back on the table without retaliating.
“You’re unpredictable, which makes it more fun, Diddy. I didn’t know you’d go as far as gambling. And involving my brother too.”
“Wow, you even brought someone along?”
Roméo shrugged. It wasn’t surprising, so Daphne just shook her head.
“Anyway, you planned to throw me under the bus, and there were conditions before that.”
As Roméo denied the premise that he had stolen the invitation, Daphne erased the assumption itself and let out a long sigh.
“I cried. In coach.”
“I heard. You said you regretted loving me. It was very touching.”
“How can we avoid each other for the rest of our lives? Should we seek asylum in a foreign country? Should I really marry into the empire?”
“Before that, I’ll make you an international criminal.”
“Amen.”
Daphne clasped her hands together in prayer.
“Do you want to become a criminal suddenly, to the point of gaining faith?”
“What? Because of your kid, my sense of decency just died a collective death. I’m sending myself gently to God.”
When Daphne shot back with a nonchalant tone and harsh words, Roméo laughed cheerfully.
We were supposed to have a meal together, and I thought we would really have a peaceful meal. But he seemed relentless in wanting to torment Daphne. He wouldn’t even touch his food. Daphne lost her appetite and just sipped on her lime soda.
“Did you like my reply?”
“What… Oh.”
Daphne remembered the note she had written in coach, which was written eloquently in a letter that was now in her mind.
It was to the point where all the knights and sailors who served as Roméo’s eyes and ears would be terrified. Daphne smiled innocently.
“Eat shit.”
Roméo replied with a smirk as he raised his glass.
“I’m glad you liked the gift. Thanks for bringing it dressed like this.”
“Romeo Iššūn Rodríguez, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Why are you talking so much today? It’s your wedding day. I remember your bride was probably Psyche.”
“…”
“When you act like this, people keep misunderstanding us.”
Daphne calmly pointed it out and then slammed her fork back into the table with enough force to make a point.
“Is your adrenaline going wild because you’re about to become a married man? I’ll eat my meal now, brother.”
“Sure thing, sister.”
Thanks to her cousin, who only started to shut up now, she was getting agitated again.
“Princess.”
Daphne gritted her teeth at Roméo’s call.
“Why, princess?”
Even though she called him the same way, Roméo didn’t even blink.
“Did you bring my brother?”
“Naturally.”
Daphne wouldn’t miss the amusing sight of Celestian looking at the heroine marrying the hero. Her ears tingled at the thought.
“I’m thinking of borrowing him later.”
“Celestian? Why?”
“For the bachelor party.”
A bachelor party with only the stupid men from the royal club.
“It’s not that difficult.”
If she were to enter such a place with an invitation from the Crown Prince, Celestian’s ambiguous position would undoubtedly emerge, and she would likely receive invitations to various other events in the future. It wasn’t a bad proposal for Daphne, indeed.
“I was curious, how did the seating arrangement change?”
“We’re having a memorial party now. To honor Mother. Then it’s the bachelor party. The wedding is tomorrow.”
“What?”
Daphne’s golden eyes widened.
They were having a memorial party for the deceased Queen, who had passed away years ago, at what was supposed to be the only wedding of its kind? It was a seating arrangement that was inexplicable by any standards.
“Is this the idiots’ doing?”
Roméo nodded his head. Daphne swallowed her annoyance with a sip of water.
“Damn royal parasites, living off the state’s coffers without paying taxes, all thanks to royal privileges.”
It was clear that those parasites, who couldn’t even stand the hardworking Psyche, were afflicted with a disease that would make them die if they couldn’t torment her.
“You really have lost your mind. And you just let it be?”
“Father said so. If you have to criticize, criticize him.”
“Look at you imitating my speech.”
Daphne paused for a moment at Roméo’s low-class speech but then chuckled softly.
“I’m just curious when Father will pass away.”
She thought again of her uncle, whose health didn’t seem to be in good condition, and whose face turned paler by the day.
Roméo raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk before rolling an olive towards Daphne with his index finger.
“That statement you just made is treason.”
“What does that mean, brother? I was just concerned about Uncle’s health. I told you, I don’t think much about serious risks because I have too much to lose.”
“I still don’t understand why you saved our brother.”
“Father wanted me to. So, I did.”
“Just because your brother’s life is at stake?”
Daphne paused for a moment at Roméo’s vulgar speech but then chuckled softly.
“I’m just curious when Father will pass away.”
She thought again of her uncle, whose health didn’t seem to be in good condition, and whose face turned paler by the day.
Roméo raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk before rolling an olive towards Daphne with his index finger.
“That statement you just made is treason.”
“What does that mean, brother? I was just concerned about Uncle’s health. I told you, I don’t think much about serious risks because I have too much to lose.”
“I still don’t understand why you saved our brother.”
“Father wanted me to. So, I did.”
“Just because your brother’s life is at stake?”
Daphne paused for a moment at Roméo’s vulgar speech but then chuckled softly.
“I’m just curious when Father will pass away.”
She thought again of her uncle, whose health didn’t seem to be in good condition, and whose face turned paler by the day.
Roméo raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk before rolling an olive towards Daphne with his index finger.
“That statement you just made is treason.”
“What does that mean, brother? I was just concerned about Uncle’s health. I told you, I don’t think much about serious risks because I have too much to lose.”
“I still don’t understand why you saved our brother.”
“Father wanted me to. So, I did.”
“Just because your brother’s life is at stake?”
Daphne paused for a moment at Roméo’s vulgar speech but then chuckled softly.
“I’m just curious when Father will pass away.”
She thought again of her uncle, whose health didn’t seem to be in good condition, and whose face turned paler by the day.
Roméo raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk before rolling an olive towards Daphne with his index finger.
“That statement you just made is treason.”
“What does that mean, brother? I was just concerned about Uncle’s health. I told you, I don’t think much about serious risks because I have too much to lose.”
“I still don’t understand why you saved our brother.”
“Father wanted me to. So, I did.”
“Just because your brother’s life is at stake?”
Daphne paused for a moment at Roméo’s vulgar speech but then chuckled softly.
“I’m just curious when Father will pass away.”
She thought again of her uncle, whose health didn’t seem to be in good condition, and whose face turned paler by the day.
Roméo raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk before rolling an olive towards Daphne with his index finger.
“That statement you just made is treason.”
“What does that mean, brother? I was just concerned about Uncle’s health. I told you, I don’t think much about serious risks because I have too much to lose.”
“I still don’t understand why you saved our brother.”
“Father wanted me to. So, I did.”
“Just because your brother’s life is at stake?”
Daphne paused for a moment at Roméo’s vulgar speech but then chuckled softly.
“I’m just curious when Father will pass away.”
