At that moment, there was only silence in my father’s office.
I thought I must have heard incorrectly, as both my father and Luke looked completely stunned.
I managed to come to my senses and asked him.
“Your Highness, did you propose to me?”
“Ha ha. As expected, you are truly my cup of tea. You’re the quickest to react in this room.”
Are you testing my reaction speed now?
“Are you seriously asking me to marry you?”
Just answer me.
“Yes, I’ve told you repeatedly that you’re my preferred cup of tea. I liked you from the beginning, but since you were set to marry Grand Duke Leon, I thought I had no choice but to accept it and let go. But if you don’t like the Grand Duke that much, why don’t you do it with me, that marriage?”
Why is he speaking so casually about this?
Is marriage some kind of child’s play? Is he joking?
Or does this scheming fellow have some other agenda?
“Your Highness, are you serious about this?”
Perhaps having finally regained his senses, my father asked Eden.
“Yes. I don’t seem like someone who speaks carelessly, do I, Duke Brockburg? But our agreement remains unchanged. I will start the war on the date you provide, and you must adhere to my demands. Even if your daughter becomes the Princess of Darkus instead of the Empress of Everetian.”
Ah-ha!
So it’s because of the secret pact.
Looking at Eden confirming the implementation of the secret agreement with my father after he made a jolting remark, I began to vaguely understand his ulterior motive behind proposing this marriage.
Eden went on.
“I get the princess, who is just my cup of tea, and I can guarantee the security you want, regardless of the success of the Duke and Grand Duke Leon’s treason. I don’t think the Duke will have any complaints about sending his daughter to me. After all, wouldn’t it be better to send a daughter who’s trying to run away from her father to become the Princess of Darkus rather than letting her escape vaguely without a suitable story?”
This man is certainly skilled in using marriage as a means to his own end.
How could I have ever thought of such a man as just a frivolous playboy?
Marriage to this type of person?
Is that even possible?
I told Eden.
“So, you’re saying that if I want to live, I must choose to marry you?”
Eden grinned.
“You wanted asylum. Seems like it’s not that much of a dilemma. Isn’t marrying me better than seeking asylum elsewhere?”
You really think so, Eden?
I think asylum would be a much better choice!
But setting apart my personal feelings, my head began to turn at a fast pace.
It was an unexpected development.
Marriage to Eden…
Just asylum would be much better, but it’s already impossible….
As I rolled my eyes thinking, Eden continued.
“You asked me this before. Between Calix and Leon, who would become the Emperor? I don’t know about that. But if Calix becomes Emperor and demands that I hand you over, what would I do?”
I swallowed my saliva silently.
“I’ve been thinking about it. But no matter which asylum seeker I like, I’m not the kind of person who can get into political trouble for an asylum seeker just for nothing.”
What a thoroughly calculating bastard.
“Then what can Your Highness gain from marrying me?”
Don’t give me this crap about taste and tea, tell me what you really mean, tell me what you really want!
Eden smiled again.
“As the Darkus Empire, we have no need or reason to protect you to such an extent, but if you were the Crown Princess or Empress, it would be a different story.”
He didn’t answer my question, but continued on with his story.
“But you have nothing to gain by marrying me, Lord* Eden.”
*TN: She uses -nim here instead of the word for prince
You said you’d only reward those who give you what you need after all.
“Why wouldn’t I gain anything? I’d get you.”
“!!!!”
What are you talking about!
Are you saying that you really like me?
“You don’t like me, I’m just to your taste.”
I’m embarrassed by how I’m speaking about being his taste as he proclaimed.
“Is it that easy to find a woman who fits your preferences? With someone like you, it shouldn’t be too difficult to develop feelings. I already like you quite a bit.”
!!!!
Oh my gosh!
If that were a confession, I might shudder just hearing it.
“Answer me, Kailyn Brockburg. I want to hear your answer right here, right now.”
Dad and Luke froze again, listening to Eden’s not-so-quiet-confession from the sidelines.
No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like he was lying when he said he liked me.
It felt like he was hiding, covering, and disguising himself so thoroughly.
Marrying a man like that?
How can I decide that right now?
I wanted to say no right away, but I couldn’t.
He was right about everything he said.
If my greatest goal was to survive, and becoming his crown princess was the only way to do it, then it wasn’t something I could say ‘no’ to in a fit of temper.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t decide whether or not to marry you right now. Could you spare me a few days?”
“Hmm…. Is it that hard to decide to marry me? I think marriage will be more advantageous to you than seeking asylum.”
Asylum is much better.
With asylum, you only have to change countries, but with marriage, not only do you have to go to another country, but you also must have a husband! A husband you don’t love.
But if I accepted his offer of marriage, it would mean that I’d be able to play the ‘Darkus Empire’ card, which I’d already given up on, and it meant that the existence of Eden Darkus in my life would become very important.
I spoke carefully so as not to offend him because I had to consider all possibilities.
“Lord Eden, I don’t know any girl who could just get proposed to out of the blue and decide on the spot; no, not even a guy would do that.”
“One day. I’ll give you one day. I hope you give me an answer by tomorrow, Lyn.”
Eden said the name ‘Lyn’ with a little too much affection.
No wonder I want to turn down the proposal right away.
“Sure.”
But instead of making a fool of myself, I answered obediently.
Hearing my answer, Eden suddenly turned to my father and asked.
“Chancellor, if Lyn makes a decision, you’ll support her choice, won’t you?”
My father looked at me and Eden alternately, paused for a while, and then said.
“Yes. That is correct.”
My father, too, must have judged that the proposed marriage was not a bad deal, considering the practical benefits.
That was the end of the conversation.
I left the office to give the answer by the next day, and Eden came right behind me.
Eden’s guest room was on the second floor, and my room was on the fourth floor.
My father’s office was on the third floor, so when I got to the place where the stairs were, he and I left in opposite directions.
I went up a few stairs and turned around.
“Lord Eden.”
Eden, who was going down the stairs, stopped walking and looked back at me.
I took a moment to compose myself, then turned to face him and began to speak.
“The reason you wish to take me as the crown princess is to create a safeguard in order to keep my father firmly bound to this pact, is that not so? Especially since my bond with Grand Duke Leon is gone after all?”
My father would not need to be bound to this pact if it were not for my sake in the first place.
That would explain Eden’s insistence on the continued existence of the agreement with my father, who now had nothing but various obligations.
Eden smirked at my question.
“That’s not the whole story, but I won’t say I didn’t consider it, Lyn.”
Yeah, you must have thought a lot about it; such a scary guy.
“If my father succeeds in treason, Eden will take the highest-ranking woman in the Everetian Empire as his wife.”
In the Everetian Empire, where there were no princesses, Luctine Brockburg’s only daughter, the daughter of both the Chancellor and Duke, was objectively not a bad spouse for Eden.
And if my father succeeds in treason, his position will be stronger.
“I suppose you could say that, Lyn.”
Eden didn’t deny it.
But what if my father fails?
I had, in fact, said the preceding words in order to ask my next question.
“But if my father fails, I will not be the daughter of a Chancellor, nor the daughter of a Duke, but the daughter of a man about to be executed as a traitor. Does that make me worthy to be Crown Princess of the Darkus Empire?”
Eden, you’ve declared that you didn’t love me.
It’s said that it’s just a matter of taste, and that you’re going to marry me when I’m going to be reduced to nothing.
I didn’t trust his claim of taste.
You don’t get married just for ‘taste’.
“Kailyn Brockburg.”
Eden called me by my full name.
“Yes.”
“You don’t seem to have understood the word ‘taste’ very well. There’s never been a woman I’ve liked as much as you, and there’s never been a woman I’d be happy to marry. But if your father fails in his treason, as you say, you’ll die. Is that right?”
Sadly ‘you’ are not my cup of tea.
“That’s right. That’s why I want to run away.”
By the way, why are you telling me that I could die instead of talking about my taste?
“I don’t want to see you die. I need a princess, too. That’s why I think you’re okay. There’s never been a woman I’ve liked as much as you, and there probably wouldn’t be. And your position is suitable for being the Crown Princess.”
He still sees marriage as part of the deal.
He said he would tie my father to the pact and accept the daughter of the Chancellor of the Everetian Empire as the Crown Princess.
Yet, I couldn’t deny that he seemed to have some sort of genuine affection for me, considering he was willing to marry me even under the possibility that I might be putting his plans in danger.
Well, if that’s the case.
“Lord Eden, if you win the war, there won’t be any problems, right? But what if you lose the war, and Everetian Empire demands that you hand over the daughter of the traitor? What will you do?”
He had mentioned that asylum seekers could be killed or discarded.
Once again, I wanted to receive a definite answer of whether I would stay alive if I became a princess.
“Lyn, you always consider the worst-case scenarios. You’re talking about the case where your father fails in his rebellion, and I lose the war.”
That worst-case scenario is the real future, you just don’t know that.
So what are you going to do?
“What are you going to do, Lord Eden?”
I asked again.
“Hmm. Hahahaha.”
Suddenly Eden laughed.
What’s wrong with him?
I’m being serious with my question.
Eden finally stopped laughing and replied as he looked at me, frowning in bewilderment.
“I told you. It’s hard to demand the princess to be handed over. After all, she’s to become the Princess of the Darkus Empire. Didn’t you want to run away to my country because you believed that even a mere exile wouldn’t easily be handed over to the princess of Everetian?”
If it really becomes such a worst-case scenario, it would be more advantageous to have the status of the Crown Princess for personal safety.
Yeah, that’s right…
Frankly, he was right.
He was right a hundred times if I had given up hope of a happy marriage with the man I loved.
To the point that I should thank him for doing me this favor…
Still, I asked him again.
“What if they still demand that I be handed over?”
In Everetian, the daughter of the Duke who attempted a rebellion and the Crown Princess of Darkus who started a war might be seen as more deserving of retribution than just an exile.
Eden paused for a moment, looking at me thoughtfully.
And finally spoke; his response was truly unexpected.
“Lyn, if it comes to giving up the Princess, I’d send the Imperial Princess instead.”
“!!!!!!!!”
The Imperial Princess…!
If he’s referring to the Imperial Princess of Darkus, that would be none other than Eden’s sister, Estelle Darkus—my novel’s heroine.
