I suddenly shrugged my shoulders as I watched Dominic’s back after he kicked the chair away and opened the door.
It seemed that there might be someone outside the door, and it turned out to be true.
‘Could it be the little kid who visited my stationary store?’
However, the person standing in front of the door wasn’t clearly visible from here, being obscured by Dominic.
‘I hoped it wasn’t those Red Priest Pirates breaking in.’
I rubbed my dim eyes.
The identity of the man was quickly revealed, as Axion, who was beside me, said with a beaming smile, “It’s our brother! He said he would come, and he has!”
“Hmm……”
It was as if Carat, seeing this as interesting as if living a second life, was looking beyond the door.
“Is that so, it’s our Axion’s brother?”
If it’s Axion’s brother, I’ve got to charm him!
I quickly got up and prepared to wave my hands sparklingly beside my head.
The cute teenager is about to appear!
I should soothe him nicely, feed him lots of delicious food, play castanets in rhythm, and dance to win his favor!
As I saw Dominic turning around and walking towards me, I stood up, lifting my hands to the sides, sparkling, and took the position.
“Oh my, has our Axion’s brother arrived…?”
But the person who appeared behind Dominic was a sturdy man.
With hair as fine and soft as silver, covering his eyebrows like a silver thread.
I was startled as I made eye contact with his sea-blue eyes.
He definitely didn’t look like a teenager, no matter how you looked at him.
“What the. I was expecting a teenager, and here comes a man with a robust physique.”
Isn’t my hand, which was about to wave frantically, extremely, vastly embarrassing now?
He spoke with a mature-sounding baritone voice, clearly having passed puberty long ago.
“…It’s been a long time, Lady Meldenik.”
I hastily lowered my hand and stared intently at the man entering through the door. Were we acquainted somehow?
‘Somewhere his face seems familiar…’
I narrowed my eyes and closely examined his face.
“Please, have a seat.”
I was awkward beyond measure, having prepared to welcome a young child only for a robust young man to enter.
To lighten the awkward atmosphere, I coughed briefly.
Meanwhile, Axion ran blurtingly towards the unidentified man and hugged him tightly.
“Brother! Did you know Mel? Are you two, by any chance, fated?”
The atmosphere became significantly awkward at the boy’s words, with his eyes twinkling.
Dominic had meanwhile sat down beside me, glaring at him as if he was looking at something annoying that had entered his territory.
Even amidst the chaos, the man sat down straight, looking directly at me.
The situation was between the overly excited Axion and Carat, who was calmly observing the situation.
A strange standoff began around the small stationery shop’s round table. This man, with his dignified posture, elegant manner, and beautiful clothes… he was certainly no ordinary man.
‘Where have I seen him before?’
I calmly recalled the memories of Meldenik from the past.
It feels like I’ve seen it quite often. At the boat party hosted by Duke Hesman, and the gardening party created by Sheria…
“Wait.”
At the end of my thought, I scrutinized his face and opened my mouth wide.
“That person, isn’t he Prince Cassian?”
Then…
There is something more important than him being Prince Cassian.
“Axi, Axion, you…”
Prince Cassian’s younger brother, Axion.
“Axion?”
‘That’ Prince Axion?
The one rumored to be recuperating from illness in a villa rather than the capital all this time?
The very Axion who is rumored to have recovered and decided to become a knight?
The youngest prince who is said to be doted on by the Emperor in his later years?
So much so that there are even jokes about him being the real power in the palace… that Prince Axion?
“Huh?”
“…Really, just curious and asking. By any chance, are you Prince Axion?”
…If he’s the younger brother of Prince Cassian, then the one I’ve been calling carelessly and was even covered in dirt…
“Right! I am the prince! Ah, didn’t I mention it?”
‘You didn’t! Not even once!’
The Emperor deeply loved Axion, who was born late.
Of this generation’s princes and princesses, there were originally eight, but only two remained after the others died from illness or under mysterious circumstances.
Among the two, it was Prince Axion who grew up loved and adored.
And I just said anything to that Prince Axion!
‘I wonder if I’ll be arrested for insulting the royal family. As if I don’t have enough enemies already!’
To calm down and regain my composure, I quickly drank the slushy that I had left on the round table.
Thanks to the cold beverage flowing down my esophagus, I felt a bit calmer.
I could feel Dominic, standing next to me, crossing his arms and looking around the crowd with displeasure.
He must have noticed the uneasy atmosphere.
But I gestured to him with my eyes.
It wasn’t time for Dominic to step in yet.
Prince Cassian was not an easy opponent, and in the original timeline, he ‘still’ didn’t hate me. Meaning, there was no need to deliberately make an enemy.
The young Prince Axion, not realizing the calmed atmosphere, said with a giggle,
“Wow, I had no idea Mel was a lady!”
“…I also did not know you were His Highness Axion.”
“I’m so happy! We can really get married! To my brother! It’s a perfect match!”
Snap.
The sound of the armrest of the wooden chair Dominic was leaning on broke.
I glanced at him. Dominic muttered quietly and ominously,
“It’s just a mistake.”
I see. It seems he couldn’t control his strength.
I nodded and turned my gaze back to Axion.
I tried to lift the corners of my mouth, watching Axion laugh with a hehe.
“I prefer His Highness Axion, you know?”
“Uh, huff… Oh, everyone does like me, but even Mel…”
Wondering what he’s thinking, Axion buries his face in his hands, his face turning red.
Just seeing that, I know. He must be grinning from ear to ear, that adorable prince.
“…It seems you’ve become close with Axion, Lady Meldenik.”
“Yes. By chance-.”
Interrupting me, Axion shouted with a wide smile.
“Mel saved me by chance!”
‘Huh? That sounds too suspicious. It’s as if she saved him just to gain the prince’s favor.’
Prince Cassian seemed to think so too.
He looked at me as if he could see right through me.
I tried to smile as harmlessly as possible. I already have enough enemies. I couldn’t afford to make this man an enemy too.
I recalled some information about him in my mind.
‘Prince Cassian was also a capable supporting character in the original work. And he was friends with Lennox since childhood.’
Born in an era when the imperial authority was exceedingly weak, this rightful heir became crown prince with the support of the Hesman ducal family, eventually ascending the throne.
‘He wasn’t very close to Lennox. He never really considered him his person. As a result, he ended up playing the role of being unrequitedly in love with the heroine, Sheria.’
I remembered the outpouring of sympathy from readers for his unrequited love.
Just as much, he was quite loved by many readers.
He was said to be someone who would have become the greatest prime minister in history if he had graduated at the top of the Imperial Academy and was born a noble, but in the end, he was rumored to be fatally flawed because he never achieved love.
However, the person in front of me right now was not yet Cassian, the prince serving as the sub-male lead. It was Cassian, the prince who was wary of me.
Cassian looked at me as if he were harmless but with eyes hiding a blade inside, and he spoke.
“…Meldenik Babeloa, Lady.”
“Yes.”
“May I ask why you saved Axion and manage a stationery store?”
A sharp gaze began to reach me.
I had finished organizing my thoughts.
The sub-male lead in the novel who ends up falling in unrequited love with Sheria, a perfect neutral and strategic character, and the next emperor.
‘It’s a person I neither want to get involved with nor suspect.’
It would be good to charm him since he’s going to be a person of power. However, there was a setting that he was close to Lennox. It could very well be a poisoned chalice in many ways.
I thought deeply as I stared at him.
‘I hope he neither dislikes nor likes me.’
I smiled slyly, hiding my scrutinizing gaze.
“Would you like a sip of Slurpee first?”
“…Excuse me?”
“It’s an ambitious invention.”
I pointed at the cup in front of him with my hand.
A prince who frequently shows his face in social circles and is popular among the nobility for his kindness.
Before being a dangerous person, this man is a human billboard who could promote my stationery shop. So…
“I will serve you properly, Your Highness.”
Please come in, billboard.
No, guest!
[TL/n: She called the king a billboard 💀]
