The vice-captain wiped the smile from his face and, with a heavy tone, addressed the crown prince, who was glaring at him in silence.
“I know this is disrespectful, but I must ask—could the rumors about the young lady be true?”
The vice-captain’s lips twitched as he tried to stifle a laugh, causing the crown prince to clench his teeth in frustration.
The two had known each other for nearly ten years, ever since the crown prince had brought a gravely injured Sig from Altheim. Back then, the crown prince was still a boy who had never ventured outside the capital, so it was easy for him to admire the rugged and strong man who seemed to have emerged from the wild.
“Given that succession is at stake, wouldn’t it be better to clear this up now?”
Of course, the crown prince no longer felt even the slightest bit of admiration for the man who could so flippantly make such remarks.
“If you know it’s disrespectful, don’t you think you shouldn’t have said anything at all?”
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
The crown prince could feel his temper rising just from listening to the vice-captain’s unsolicited advice. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned to Sig.
“What do you think I should do?”
Sig, after contemplating with a serious expression, finally spoke.
“Perhaps you should go to the lady and convince her that it’s not true?”
“What exactly am I supposed to deny? That I’m not impotent? She’ll find out once we’re married; why bother with petty excuses now?”
The vice-captain waved his hand dismissively.
“But what did you do to make the young lady think of you as nothing more than a scarecrow with nothing but air between his ears?”
At the mention of “scarecrow,” Sig slammed his fist on the table.
“She didn’t call him a scarecrow. She just questioned whether he’s eunuch.”
“My lord, in my opinion, that’s even worse than being called a scarecrow.”
“Enough with the impotence talk.”
At the crown prince’s stern voice, Sig and the vice-captain fell silent.
“Your Highness, I can think of three possible solutions.”
The vice-captain cautiously raised three fingers while watching the crown prince’s reaction.
“First, give up. It’s the easiest option, but I doubt you’d want that.”
He folded down one finger.
“Second, declare your intention to marry Duke Scandars’s daughter immediately.”
In that case, the duke would do everything in his power to rush the marriage.
“You could definitely get married, but you’d likely be resented for it. If you’re hoping for a harmonious marriage, I wouldn’t recommend this.”
The crown prince shot a glare at the vice-captain for offering such unhelpful advice.
“Third, propose to the Scandars lady yourself.”
“Is that supposed to be some grand piece of advice? I was already planning to resolve this matter soon, certainly before my birthday.”
The crown prince spoke irritably, but the vice-captain urged him to hear him out.
“I’m sure Your Highness will handle the proposal just fine when the time comes—I trust you. The real issue is figuring out the right moment to propose.”
Kyra was currently painting in the presence of the Emperor. It would have been ideal to excuse herself for a moment, but that was not an easy task.
The Emperor was still upset with his son for always siding with his mother. He even ignored requests to have tea with Britia when not busy, so he was unlikely to let Kyra leave. If anything, he might become suspicious and act out if he suspected the prince wanted to meet with her.
But they couldn’t wait indefinitely.
“The most important thing is that the young lady has already tried to leave once,” the vice-captain said cautiously, watching the crown prince’s reaction.
“Having experienced failure once, she might succeed on her second attempt.”
Kyra had tried to contact Harty but failed. Although the timing hadn’t worked out then, what would happen if she succeeded in getting Harty’s help this time?
“Slanford has Nir, the empire’s largest port city.”
“She could board a ship and go anywhere,” Sig said, and the vice-captain slowly nodded in agreement. If they hesitated, the young lady might be in some distant foreign land before they could even propose.
“We need someone who can convince Miss Scandars, who is desperate enough to leave, that there’s still hope here.”
The vice-captain tapped his fingers on the table, deep in thought.
Who might be close enough to Kyra Scandars to persuade her?
She hadn’t been to the capital since her marriage, so all he knew about the social scene was what he’d heard. With such limited information, he had to guess who could do the job.
The only thing that came to mind was that she always seemed to be with her cousin, the Count Slanford, a strikingly beautiful but intimidating man.
“The Count Slanford has long supported Your Highness, so he might be worth approaching. However, he’s currently dealing with severe distrust of people.”
He probably wasn’t in a state to help anyone else with their romantic issues.
While the vice-captain pondered, Sig turned to the crown prince.
“I’ll go and persuade her.”
Sig spoke with determination.
“Are you planning to use force? Please, don’t threaten to break her legs if she tries to leave,” the vice-captain joked, causing Sig to frown.
“I wouldn’t do something like that to the woman my brother wants to marry.”
“Then how do you plan to persuade her?”
“I’ll talk to her,” Sig replied confidently, leaving the vice-captain speechless.
Was this man, known for being terrible with words, really confident he could persuade such a prickly and sensitive woman just by talking? Was he serious?
“The only woman in the world who can look at your face without fear and actually listen to you is probably Lady Britia,” the vice-captain began to mock Sig, but then he slowly lifted his head.
“I apologize for underestimating you. Indeed, you should be the one to convince Lady Britia.”
It seemed Britia was emotionally close enough to Kyra that she might confide in her. Plus, since they were currently together, the conditions were perfect.
“If you succeed, the next move is up to Your Highness. And this time, don’t fall in love all by yourself.”
The vice-captain, suddenly struck by a good idea, rubbed his hands together and smirked. He had just come up with a plan he dubbed, “Oops, I couldn’t resist your charms.”
***
When the Emperor saw the sketch that Kyra had drawn, one of his eyebrows arched.
“This isn’t Britia Lockhart.”
Britia, who had been pleased with the beautifully drawn portrait that didn’t include any wine bottles, widened her eyes in surprise at the Emperor’s words.
“Does being good at drawing mean you’re good at drawing something completely different?”
“This is clearly me, Your Majesty!” Britia protested.
“Ridiculous. Are you claiming you’re this beautiful?” the Emperor retorted.
Britia couldn’t respond and simply bit down on her lower lip.
The Emperor, who had been grumbling that the portrait didn’t resemble Britia at all because it was too flattering, suddenly had an idea and turned to Kyra.
“You may rest for today. Tomorrow, you will draw me.”
Kyra, who had been on edge, sighed in relief at being dismissed, only to freeze in place at the Emperor’s next words.
“If it doesn’t meet my expectations, I’ll have your father come and fetch you himself. I’m sure your father would rush here to drag you back.”
The Emperor spoke mischievously before getting up and heading to his bedroom. The night had grown late.
“Kyra. Kyra!”
Britia shook the frozen Kyra. Kyra turned her head toward Britia, but she still seemed dazed.
Britia took her by the arm and led her to the room she used. There was only one bed, but since it was a room meant for the Emperor’s attendants, the bed was large enough for the two of them to sleep comfortably.
“The Emperor always speaks in such a difficult manner. But since he didn’t say your drawing was bad, it seems he actually liked it,” Britia tried to console her.
Kyra’s lips moved slightly. The thought of having to draw the Emperor made her feel faint. There was no way she could create a portrait that would satisfy him.
“He’s just saying that. When he’s truly serious, he doesn’t give any advance warning. If you draw the Emperor tomorrow like you did today, flattering him a little, I’m sure he’ll be pleased.”
“I only drew what I saw,” Kyra insisted.
Hearing that she hadn’t intended to flatter her in the drawing, Britia’s lips twitched slightly. Did Kyra see her as that beautiful? The thought made Britia feel a little happy.
“Anyway, don’t worry about tomorrow. No matter how you draw, it’ll be better than my dancing,” Britia added with a grin.
She then pulled out a piece of candy wrapped in paper from her pocket—a jelly she had received from the Empress.
“Eat something sweet to calm your nerves.”
Kyra accepted the jelly Britia offered and looked at her. Seeing Britia’s completely unconcerned expression, her trembling began to subside.
As her vision gradually cleared, she noticed Britia’s ring.
“Did Duke Turas propose to you?” Kyra asked, her dry lips quivering.
“That’s a long story,” Britia replied.
“I don’t mind,” Kyra said.
“Really? Are you curious?”
When Kyra nodded, Britia sat down on the edge of the bed with a slight pout. She had planned to give a brief explanation, but soon she found herself passionately recounting the entire story.
“I’ve heard so much that I’m not sure where to start with my questions. But did the Duke Turas really say he wanted to be your dog?” Kyra asked, stunned by what she had just heard.
“You’re mistaken.”
“Mistaken? There’s a limit to what kind of ridiculous thoughts one can have!”
“He’s just that innocent.”
Although Britia agreed with Kyra, she still defended Sig.
“It’s because I’m his first love. It was really absurd at the time, but now that I think about it, it’s kind of cute…”
Britia trailed off, feeling a bit embarrassed.
What kind of innocent person would mistakenly declare they wanted to become a dog out of love?
Britia didn’t object since she liked him, but to Kyra, Sig was someone completely incomprehensible.
“So, you agreed to be his master just because the Duke said he wanted to be your dog?”
“No! Would you have agreed to that?”
“If it were me, I would’ve told him to bark.”
Britia couldn’t believe her ears.
“He said it himself, so I would’ve tested him to see how far he could go with it.”
Britia’s mouth fell open.
“What do you think Sig is? How could you suggest something like that to my dear Sig?”
“If he had done it, he might have realized sooner that it wasn’t what he wanted.”
Britia paused for a moment, imagining the scene. But she quickly pushed the thought away, fearing Sig might actually bark if told to.
“Anyway, the misunderstanding has been cleared up, and we’re going to get married.”
Britia tore the last piece of jelly in half and handed one piece to Kyra.
“Now, tell me about yourself. I’ve already informed Count Slanford that you’re here, so he’ll probably come looking for you tomorrow. What will you do after that?”
Kyra gave a bitter smile at Britia’s question.
“I’ve given up on the naive idea that my father wouldn’t be able to catch me if I went to the East. Tomorrow, I’ll speak with Harty and leave the Empire before my father comes to take me back.”
Britia, who had just popped the jelly into her mouth, widened her eyes in surprise.
“And then I’ll die in some unfamiliar street, painting pictures that no one will even glance at.”
Kyra seemed to have already made up her mind.
“There’ll be plenty of people happy about my death. My siblings, who can’t stand the sight of me even though we share the same blood, and Brian Raiders, who clings to Harty like a leech in my absence…”
The only ones who might grieve would be Harty and Britia, but Kyra smiled bitterly, thinking that if she died in a foreign land, even they wouldn’t know.
“Why are you saying such weak things about dying?”
Just as Britia was about to plead with her not to think that way, there was a knock at the door—three quick taps.
