Chapter 68
“You’ll..…. grant my request?”
“Yes. You may ask for anything within my power.”
I think I can use this to ask him to release Ian.
Although it came with the somewhat troublesome condition of participating in the Crown Princess selection exam, it wasn’t a bad deal. After all, it was a command she couldn’t refuse anyway.
“Alright.”
Chloe, who had been flicking an imaginary abacus in her head to calculate her gains, nodded.
“If Your Royal Highness grants my request, I will participate in the selection exam.”
“It seems there is something you wish to ask of me.”
“Yes. There is something I truly hope you will fulfill.”
The Crown Prince gave a benevolent smile as if telling her to say anything.
“Actually…… I heard that Ian is facing considerable trouble because of me.”
Since demanding outright that he stop bullying Ian would seem too arrogant even if he offered to grant a request, Chloe added a bit of appropriate acting.
“I don’t know if you’re already aware, but during the last Ideol Academy graduation, I asked Ian to settle things with me through the Imperial Knightage admission exam.”
“I am aware. High society was buzzing about that for a while.”
Was it? It was the first she’d heard of it, but Chloe clicked her tongue inwardly, clearly seeing what those who love to slander others must have been gossiping about.
“Ian had no intention of taking the Imperial Knightage admission exam at all, but he reluctantly accepted because I requested that I wanted to settle the score this time. In other words, now that I am in a state where I cannot take the exam, there is no reason for Ian to take it either.”
Chloe even widened her eyes to emphasize the part about there being no reason.
“It was an unreasonable request on my part to begin with. Goodness, asking the sole heir of the MacMilden Household to take the Imperial Knightage admission exam. Thinking about it now, it was truly a foolish and stupid thing to do. Don’t you think so, too, Your Royal Highness?”
Perhaps because answering ‘yes’ would be like shooting himself in the foot, he merely smiled without a word.
That meant her groundwork, even to the point of putting herself down, was effective, so Chloe clasped her hands tightly and spoke.
“So, regarding that, could Your Royal Highness stop Ian from taking the Imperial Knightage admission exam? It seems he has already submitted the application…… but if he actually takes the exam like this, people will criticize me even more. I don’t want to lose face any further, so please stop Ian from taking the exam.”
It was a reason she had come up with on the spot upon seeing the Crown Prince’s face, but Chloe felt proud of how well she had thought it through. Since she pleaded so desperately for him to please grant the request, the Crown Prince chuckled as if he had no choice and nodded.
“I understand. As soon as I return to the Imperial Palace, I will visit the Knights and withdraw the induction application.”
“You promised! You must fulfill it!”
“Of course.”
For someone who had come all the way to the tea room to urge Ian to sign quickly, the Crown Prince accepted her proposal quite readily. It was highly suspicious, but Chloe pushed aside her uneasy feeling, thinking that a man who was the Crown Prince wouldn’t lie about such a small matter.
Well, she had achieved what she wanted. Now, how should she end this conversation? Pretending to be sick would be a simple solution, but doing that now was too transparent.
“May I ask one thing?”
Chloe, who was contemplating what to do because she didn’t want to continue a meaningless conversation, blinked her eyes wide at the sudden question. Taking that as an affirmation, the Crown Prince tilted his head slightly and asked.
“What is your relationship with Ian MacMilden?”
“We are friends.”
When Chloe answered immediately without a moment’s hesitation, Antonio let out a short, cynical laugh.
“Is that all?”
At the question prompting her to say more, Chloe pondered for a moment before answering.
“We are classmates who graduated from the same academy and the same knightage department. And he is also a rival I want to beat at least once.”
That was all. No other words to define her relationship with Ian came to mind besides these.
However, Antonio didn’t seem satisfied, as the corners of his lips quirked into a slant while he looked at Chloe. His golden eyes, from which laughter had suddenly vanished, were eerie. Just facing them made her skin crawl as if a snake as thick as an arm was slithering up her back, causing Chloe to involuntarily shrink her shoulders slightly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Don’t you like him?”
“……Pardon?”
“I asked if you like Ian MacMilden.”
How did the conversation end up there? It was sudden, but not surprising. It was a question she had heard often back at the academy.
Chloe had chased Ian around purely because she wanted to win, but people who knew nothing misunderstood and teased her, saying it was because she liked him.
Once she became an upperclassman and rumors spread throughout the school that she and Ian MacMilden were in a rival relationship, the number of people asking such questions dropped sharply. They still seemed to misunderstand, but almost no one asked her outright. Even more so after graduating from the academy.
Was that why? Instead of being annoyed at hearing a question she hadn’t heard in a long time, she felt like laughing. As Chloe let out a smirk, Antonio’s eyes narrowed.
“So you do like Ian MacMilden.”
“Hmm, that’s right.”
If he had asked if she loved Ian, she would have firmly said no, but since he asked if she liked him, Chloe admitted it readily. Because she did like Ian MacMilden as a friend. Friendship was also a type of liking.
Of course, she knew the Crown Prince was asking if she liked Ian as a man, not a friend. She also knew that answering like this would cause a misunderstanding.
“I like Ian.”
That was precisely why. She didn’t know for what reason he wanted to take her as the Crown Princess, but since he wouldn’t want to marry a woman who liked his cousin, Chloe lied nonchalantly.
* * *
The servants of the Crown Prince’s palace hated Ian MacMilden. It was because whenever the Crown Prince returned from meeting him, his mood would sink as if it were plummeting through the floor.
Small mistakes that he would usually overlook generously became capital offenses at those times. As such, when the servants heard that the Crown Prince had met Ian MacMilden, they were careful even about how they breathed.
Today he went to see Young Lady Chloe Elena, not the Young Duke Ian MacMilden, so it should be fine.
The servants, who had been feeling relieved, collectively gasped when they saw the Crown Prince’s expression upon his return in the late afternoon as the sun was setting. The moment they met his eyes, they bowed so low their heads nearly touched the ground out of a fear that felt like they might die.
[When he went to the Count Elena’s mansion, did he meet the Young Duke as well?]
[They said he goes to visit Lady Elena almost every day, so maybe.]
In times like this, even the smallest whispering could be pointed out, so the servants exchanged conversation through glances and written notes. The Crown Prince’s palace, where human sounds had completely vanished, was as quiet as a grave, like a ghost castle.
[Should we inform Her Majesty the Empress? She told us to let her know if His Highness’s mood turns sour because of the MacMilden Young Duke.]
[But His Highness told us never to speak of it……]
“I-It’s a disaster!”
At the sound that shattered the silence, the eyes of the servants who were writing by hand flew wide open. While everyone looked at the servant who had shouted with eyes asking if he had gone mad, the servant panted for breath and cried out.
“T-the MacMilden Young Duke has arrived!”
Ian MacMilden visiting the Crown Prince’s palace? Since it was an impossible occurrence, the servants, who had snorted and told him not to talk nonsense, were horrified to confirm that he had indeed arrived.
Why on earth had Ian MacMilden come to the Crown Prince’s palace?
What shocked people even more was the Crown Prince’s declaration that he would meet Ian MacMilden instead of turning him away.
The Crown Prince’s palace, which had been enveloped in a silence thicker than twilight, became noisy in an instant at the master’s unprecedented move—so much so that the Chief Chamberlain, who usually knew what was wanted with just a glance, asked again if he was serious.
“…….”
“…….”
In only one place was there silence: the reception room where the Crown Prince and Ian MacMilden sat facing each other.
The Crown Prince, Antonio, looked past his teacup at his cousin, who had intruded upon the familiar scenery. It had been a long time since Ian MacMilden had sought him out first. This was the first time he had come all the way to the Crown Prince’s palace.
It meant he had a matter that important, and Antonio let out a short laugh, thinking he knew what it was.
“Did you come because I went to visit Miss Chloe Elena?”
Since they were in a relationship where looking at each other’s faces for long wasn’t good for either party, Antonio asked point-blank.
At that, Ian’s indifferent face turned chilling in an instant. Ian looked at Antonio with eyes full of wariness, anger, and a hint of exhaustion as he parted his lips.
“The person Your Highness dislikes is me, so I hope you will vent your anger only on me and not touch the people around me.”
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.