The Prince’s Taste - Chapter 5.5

“Maybe it’s your siblings or other rivals.”

“Possibly. Judy, you need to eat while you drink, or you’ll ruin your stomach.”

Calix watched in disbelief as Richard peeled a shrimp and placed it in Judy’s mouth, only to scold Richard for not peeling it properly. Calix shook his head in disbelief.

“Calix. Yeah… Calix.”

Judy muttered, staring blankly into space. “That’s the name of most of the Northern High Dukes, isn’t it?” She said as if lost in thought.

“There’s a book I read a long time ago and it said something about a Northern Grand Duke.”

“….That Grand Duke’s name is the same as mine?”

“Ugh, don’t interrupt, it disrupts the flow! Stop talking.”

Judy puffed out her cheeks, glaring at Calix.

Calix muttered, “I don’t think it’s your place to interrupt me.”

“You’re an amazing woman in so many ways, and the only one who’s ever dared to talk me down and survived.”

“Hey, stop with the smugness and just hear me out, okay?”

Judy Esther didn’t realize she was using informal language with both the Crown Prince of Rumelern and the Prince of Adrian. In a strictly hierarchical society, she was boldly pulling the whiskers of the top predators, acting as if they were the prey.

“Anyway, the Grand Duke had a fiancée arranged by his family. But then he met a woman he fell in love with at first sight. They both believed they were destined lovers. But the fiancée refused to be separated from the Grand Duke, while the Grand Duke only wanted to be with the woman he loved. But the woman he loved had another guy who loved her, and the other guy thought his woman was…….”

“Judy, sorry to interrupt, but that just sounds like a cheating bastard who caught feelings for another woman while already engaged.”

“Yes, yes.”

“And you’re saying that both the cheating man and the cheating woman already had partners?”

“Oooh, exactly!”

Calix summarized it simply, and Judy Esther gave him a thumbs-up. Calix chuckled at the praise.

“It seems like you’re asking what I would do in this situation.”

Judy Esther looked at Calix with sparkling eyes. He smiled slightly and spoke.

“Well, I wouldn’t be pathetic enough to cheat in the first place. But if I had to pick, I’d be the guy whose lover got stolen. I don’t like that option either, but whatever—if this is the scenario, then fine.”

“Oho! Look at you, knowing your assigned role! That’s exactly your position, after all.”

Judy Esther clapped her hands, impressed. Calix let out a long sigh, seemingly resigned.

“Skipping all the unnecessary drama… The guy who stole my woman? Dead. The woman who betrayed me? Also dead.”

A brutally simple conclusion, as expected from Calix.

“Then what about the cheating guy’s fiancée?”

“She can just find another man.”

“Wow. That’s… so straightforward.”

It was an eternal truth: if you get hurt by a man, you heal with another man.

Judy muttered, “So, it’s just about finding another guy. I really spent all that time agonizing over something so stupidly simple?” She mumbled to herself about how pointless her worries had been and how, at the very least, she wouldn’t be killed by the second male lead.

“This was never something worth stressing over. Judy, if Richard ever cheats on you, just come to me.”

“Calix, watch your mouth.”

Richard sighed deeply. He realized that Judy Esther had grasped the essence of the ‘Northern Grand Duke story’. Despite saying she was the only one for him countless times, she still didn’t trust him.

“Richard, isn’t Judy worried because you’re so popular?”

“The opposite is true. The moment I take my eyes off her, flies start swarming around Judy.”

Richard responded nonchalantly. Judy Esther held up her empty glass and turned it over in her hand. Seeing this, Richard calmly picked up his own glass, poured out the remaining liquor onto the ground, and replaced it with water before subtly switching it with Judy’s. Calix chuckled in amusement.

“Judy, if you have questions about me, ask me directly. Don’t believe what others say.”

“If you were the Northern Duke, what would you have done?”

Judy Esther asked with a smile, though sadness lingered in her eyes .

“Is this what you really wanted to ask me? Falling for another woman while I already have you?”

Richard’s eyebrows turned cold, and the atmosphere at the table suddenly chilly.

“Judy Esther Emers. Since becoming crown prince, I have never lightly made promises. I know the weight of my words, and I’ve never made frivolous jokes. My position is such that I must take responsibility for every word that leaves my lips. If I promised marriage, I must keep it, even if it’s a strategic alliance between families. Once I agreed to it, I couldn’t break it even if I fell in love with someone else. Marriage is one of my duties.”

“…That’s even sadder. That marriage is just a duty to you.”

“Judy, you asked, and I answered.”