He was a man with dark golden hair that looked like it was made from melted gold. It seemed like he hadn’t seen her and bumped into her because there was a tall flower pot that was just around the corner.
“Tsk, dirty.”
The man looked down at her and clicked his tongue, brushing off his clothes as if they were now dirty. Elaine, what had initially opened her mouth to apologize, narrowed her brows when she heard his words.
Of course, she had felt bad about bumping into him, but that wasn’t something you should say to someone’s face. She felt her sincere apology melt away like snow.
“… I apologize, then.”
You don’t avoid stool because you’re afraid of it, you avoid it because it’s dirty, and it’s not worth your time to deal with it, just like the situation now. She nodded her head and turned to walk away, intending to leave quickly when the man stopped her.
“Wait a moment.”
He said, raising a brow.
“Do you call that an apology? Be more sincere.”
“… I beg your pardon?”
Elaine, who turned toward the man, asked back, momentarily dumbfounded.
“Do you have bad hearing as well? I told you to apologize again, properly this time.”
She really didn’t hear it wrong. Should she say it was more shocking or absurd? Elaine looked straight at the man and spoke in bewilderment.
“Then why don’t you apologize properly too? Didn’t you also bump into me?”
“What?”
The man let out a laugh.
“That’s funny. How dare you ask me to apologize? Do you know who I am?”
“Is that something I need to know?”
“If you knew, you wouldn’t be speaking to me like this. The responsibility for speaking carelessly is entirely your own.”
The man sneered. He spoke arrogantly, as if born that way. He seemed to be looking down on everyone as if they were lowly beings. His attitude appeared to be as natural to him as breathing.
It was then that his attire caught her eye. The cloak the man wore was simple in design, but if you look closely, it was made of very luxurious material. In terms of clothing and attitude… Was he a noble?
Then…
“Dame Elaine, what are you doing here…”
Ash, walking to the end of the hallway, stopped when he saw Elaine and the man. His expression turned cold as he gazed at him.
“His Highness, the Crown Prince. What are you doing here?”
He said as he stood in front of Elaine.
‘…Crown Prince?’
Elaine looked at the man, no, Crown Prince Michael de Phillion, with startled eyes. Almost at the same time, people who appeared to be Michael’s vassals appeared near the stairs.
“Your Highness, what is going on…!”
Then, they spotted Ash who was standing across from him and frowned. As they quickly gathered behind Michael, a tense standoff quickly unfolded.
Michael sneered and laughed again.
“I never thought I’d see your face at this place. What brings you here?”
“I have no obligation to report my doings to Your Highness.”
“You still have that cocky attitude. Yes, that’s been your problem since the beginning.”
Michael’s eyebrows twitched as Ash responded in a flat voice.
“If you were born dirty, you should know how to clean up your act and not keep bothering me without knowing the subject.”
“…”
“It looks like the woman behind you is your knight, correct? I heard you had some female as your escort, this must be her. She crawls around, not knowing a thing, just like her master.”
Since she was out of uniform, he hadn’t known she was a knight of Killiard, though because she was still wearing a sword he had assumed she was a knight of the Lakers family.
“You seem very aware of the situation here.”
“Since I will be the ruler of the country in the future, I must be aware of the affairs of my people. Of course, you are too lowly and insignificant to be considered my people, but I am very merciful.”
Michael scoffed sarcastically.
“But, seeing as you’re running around doing mercenary work, I suppose you can’t help your humble origins, can you? Don’t you think it’s a waste to call you a sword master?”
His retainers around him laughed. A sneer filled with obvious ridicule and disdain could be seen on his face. Elaine clenched her fists and looked at Ash.
However, there was no change in his expression. He smiled coolly, only the corner of his mouth slightly rising, making him appear to be mischievous.
“Well, I don’t know what you mean. I’ve never been a mercenary, but even if I were a lowly mercenary, wouldn’t the skill of a master be better than a knighthood, which is just a decoration?”
Michael had no talent for swordsmanship. He had been taught by great teachers from a younger age than Ash, but unlike him, whose talent blossomed early, it was one of Michaels complexes that he could not become a master, even after he has reached 20 years old.
Although he had received a knighthood for appearances, it really was just a decoration in name only. Ash was mocking him.
Michael, who understood this, distorted his face in shame.
“How dare you…!”
“What are you doing here?”
It was the Margrave. He saw the tense atmosphere in the hallway and his expression turned hard.
“Your Highness, what kind of rudeness is this?”
“Rudeness? I think you are the one who is truly rude. Was he the only reason you made me wait like this?”
Michael pointed at Ash as he spoke.
“Your Highness is the one who came here without even making an appointment. I was just keeping my promises.”
“Are promises even important when I have come this far? Do you even know what I have come here for?”
“Then, what brings you here?”
Michael closed his mouth in response to the Margraves question. He took one look at Ash and spoke proudly, as if wanting to be heard.
“I will give you the special honor of betrothing your daughter to me.”
He spoke in a relaxed tone of voice, as if he was being generous. Now they knew what his purpose for coming here was.
The Lakers were the guardians of the north. They were a family that could directly control the publics opinion in the north by taking care of the poor through numerous charity projects. Most of their land was mountainous, had a large number of mines and had once before produced a queen. In terms of prestige alone, it could be said that it was superior to most dukes. If he were to marry the only daughter of such a family, he would be able to seize, not only the numerous mines, but also the public opinion of the north all at once.
The look in his eyes seemed to be telling the Margrave ‘this is an honor you couldn’t even dream of’. He had a superior look, as if there was a large gap between them. But, there was something he had overlooked.
“Thank you for your kind words, but I will have to decline.”
The Margrave answered in a calm voice.
“…What?”
“What is that…”
“What in earth do you mean!”
“Are you serious!”
Michael questioned as if he had heard incorrectly, and his retainers shouted one after the other behind him, as if they too could not believe it. The response was truly unexpected.
It’s not surprising though that they couldn’t believe his response. Michael was the country’s only crown prince. Becoming his fiancé means that she will become the future mother of the nation. She would hold the second most noble position in the country. Thy never thought there would be someone who would decline such an opportunity.
Michael questioned the Margrave through gritted teeth.
“Do you know what you are doing right now?”
“I do.”
“Ha… How could you answer like that, without even thinking? Isn’t your hasty decision going to block your daughters path in the future?”
“This is not my hasty decision, it is the will of my daughter.”
“Are you saying that your daughter, who isn’t even here, has given her will?”
“If she were here, she would definitely not have accepted your proposal.”
“That’s incredible. How can…”
His daughter hadn’t even shown her face because she was feeling unwell. He didn’t know if the Margraves statement was true or not, but it was clear to him that he had been rejected. The position of Crown Princess was one that all fathers and daughters longed for. Of course, he had no idea he would be rejected so he had spoken out in front of everyone.
But to be rejected in front of everyone instead, Michael’s face reddened in shame and embarassment. He spat out, through gritted teeth.
“Okay, I guess I got the wrong person.”
Then, he turned around and walked back the way he had come.
“Wait, Your Highness!”
His pale-faced retainers hurriedly chased after him. Ash asked as he watched him walk away.
“Are you sure this is alright? This is going to be quite a headache later on.”
“It doesn’t matter. My daughter would not have accepted this betrothal, no matter what.”
“I see.”
“But, if I let him go like that, I will have an even bigger headache on my hands. If you’ll excuse me.”
The butler whose complexion was pale and looked like he was about to collapse, was looking at the Margrave with an earnest look on his face. The Margrave rubbed his temples and walked in the direction Michael had stormed off to. Eventually, they disappeared, leaving only Ash and Elaine in the hallway. He immediately looked back at her.
“Dame Elaine, are you alright? Did the Crown Prince do anything to you?”
“Nothing really happened. Are you already finished?”
“The conversation ended sooner than expected. I waited for you, but you never came back, so I went to look and was surprised to see you with him.”
“I accidentally bumped into him on the way. But what if you get reprimanded because of me?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. It seems like every other day the Crown Prince is picking a fight with me.”
So, he’s been hearing those things every time he met the crown prince?
She had heard Ash stayed in the royal palace until he came of age. He would have encountered Michael more often there. She could picture how much they must have argued every time.
‘…Should I destroy him as well?’
She looked out the nearby window with cold eyes. A carriage, most likely Michael’s, was seen leaving the castle gates. Even though he had acted so arrogantly, it seemed like he still had a sense of propriety and had brought formal gifts.
‘Well, they’re all useless now.’
She followed the carriage with a cool gaze as she lowered her folded sleeves. Her outer clothes were still damp, but the sleeves of the shirt underneath were now dry. Her bracelet clinked around her wrist as she tried to button up the sleeves again.
“What is that?”
Ash, seeing the bracelet, asked. He felt like he’d seen it before.
