Chapter 17

Finishing up yet another magic lesson filled with irritating mathematical symbols, living through my peaceful routine, eating a delicious dinner, and taking a refreshing shower, I flung my body onto the bed.

Yul had gently nagged me, saying, “As a young lady of the ducal household, My Lady ought to carry herself with a bit more dignity,” before heading out, and I had nodded and told Yul I understood.

‘Oh, Yul. There’s no way I’d ever act like that in front of others.’

Floating on a mattress so plush it made you want to ask, “Is this truly what a bed is supposed to feel like?”, I gazed at the small communication orb resting on the shelf.

It was a portable magic communication orb worth a cool twelve hundred gold pieces. While it carried an astronomical price tag that a commoner couldn’t easily afford even by saving up their entire life, to me, it was nothing more than pocket change. It didn’t quite function like a smartphone, but it played a role roughly equivalent to an old-school flip phone mainly used for calls.

I had ordered it before going on my trip, and it had arrived today. Word was that Miel had bought one as well. Just as I was about to call her, my mind drifted to the appointment slated for next week.

‘Six days left until dinner with Prince Fren. Ah, just thinking about it is annoying.’

Why on earth! When I have Miel—who is cute, beautiful, and kind—waiting right here, do I have to go meet some damn guy who hates me, happens to be handsome, and is competent enough to become the next king of this country?

A surge of anger boiled up inside me, but the moment I remembered my mom standing right behind that thought, the flames froze and nearly shattered into dust.

“Hah, nothing to be done about it.”

Sighing lightly, I slotted a mana stone into the orb. This, too, boasted a price tag commoners couldn’t even dream of. Anyone capable of handling mana didn’t strictly need to use a mana stone, but as a young lady of a ducal household with money to burn, I figured I didn’t need to exhaust myself doing it the hard way.

I like you~ I like you~

The song BGM I had recorded beforehand as a ringtone played for a moment before the orb lit up, and the voice of the angel I had been waiting for flowed out.

[Oh, Armien. What’s up?]

Smiling at the simple feeling of healing that washed over me just hearing her voice, I spoke with a hint of feigned grievance.

“Do I always need to have a specific reason just to call you? Are we really that kind of relationship?”

At my words, the sound of someone scrambling around in a panic echoed from afar.

[No, no. That’s not what I meant at all, Armien.]

She must have been terribly startled even by a remark that was obviously a joke. Truly, the more you got to know her, the cuter and kinder she was.

“Heh-heh, I’m just kidding, Miel. Were you surprised?”

[Auw! Seriously, you gave me a fright!]

I could practically imagine Miel letting out a breathless whew while clutching her chest all the way over here. The more she did that, the more my heart ached. To think I had to go off to meet some damn dude before I could even consummate things(?) with such a cute and gentle woman.

And my heart hurt knowing I had to break this news to Miel.

After all, the ending of a romance-fantasy novel always concluded with Miel winding up with Prince Fren. I worried about how much it would hurt her feelings if I told her I was going to have dinner with Prince Fren.

Still, since I had zero desire to deceive her, I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.

“Say, Miel…”

[Oh right, didn’t you say you were going to have dinner with Prince Fren?]

Huh? How did she know that?

Unable to hide my utter bewilderment at the fact that she already knew what I was about to say, I let it show plain as day.

“You knew?”

[Yeah, your mother came by our house yesterday, you know. She was just as beautiful as ever. And… a little terrifying, though.]

Just when on earth did she go over there! Mother dearest!!

Astonished by Mom’s boundless, onion-like omnipresence that seemed to peel back endless layers the more you dug, my heart simultaneously ached as I wondered how much sadness she must have felt hearing that news.

“Listen here, Miel.”

Yet, once again, before I could even finish speaking, Miel clapped her hands together.

Clap.

[Huge congratulations, Armien. You’ve always said you wanted to end up with Prince Fren, right? I’ll be cheering you on, so do your best!]

[……………]

Hmm.

It might just be my own delusion as someone who has never dated in their life, but… Try as I might, not a single hint of disappointment or sadness could be detected in Miel’s voice, what on earth was going on here?

“Are you really okay, Miel?”

[Yeah, about what?]

“W-wait, give me a second to process this.”

Faced with her casual response, as if it were no big deal at all, I clutched my head for a moment.

‘Hold on, hold on.’

What kind of dog-water plot development is this?

Unless I’d actually dreamed the whole thing or my memories had been altered, Miel was supposed to end up with Prince Fren and reach a happy conclusion. That had been the ending of [Harmiel], too.

Yet?

Right now, Miel looked like she wouldn’t give a single damn even if you handed her a truckload of Prince Princes.

Could it be that my presence had somehow triggered a change in the overall storyline?

No, that couldn’t be. I hadn’t done anything particularly eye-catching or caused any major incidents, so just when?

I had no idea. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out.

Which was why I decided to ask her straight up.

“Didn’t you like Prince Fren, Miel?”

[Not really?]

She said not really.

“D-didn’t you and Prince Fren hold hands and create a great atmosphere at the banquet last time?”

[Ah, that? The Prince said he learned how to read palms and offered to read mine, so that’s why we were holding hands. Heh-heh.]

That is literally the classic pickup move a guy uses to flirt! Miel! You’re getting played by that damn bastard.

As anger flared up inside me, a single, crucial realization hit me.

‘Current’ Miel had zero interest in Prince Fren. It was obvious that as the story progressed, Prince Fren’s fervent affection would eventually sway Miel’s heart and lead them together;

To sum it up, right now Miel was entirely indifferent to Prince Fren—well, maybe she had about as much interest in him as a single amoeba, but it was safer to assume she had none. And Prince Fren was single-mindedly devoted to Harmiel from the past, through the present, and all the way into the future.

And the most important part was that right now, Miel didn’t like anyone at all!

Which meant that depending on how I played my cards from here on out, I might actually be able to win Miel for myself.

“Awesome, awesome. This is amazing!”

[I have no idea what’s so great, but if Armien is happy, I’m happy too.]

Imagining that I could make Miel mine naturally got my spirits soaring. And that high spirits conjured up a cleverness I didn’t even know I had.

“Do you want to go shopping with me?”

[Shopping? Out of the blue? Not that I mind, though.]

Hmm, what should I say? Come to think of it, Miel probably still thought I liked Prince Fren, right?

If I just blurted out, I don’t like Prince Fren anymore, there was no way she’d believe me. I’d better keep up the act for the time being. I could even use it as a convenient excuse.

“We have that dinner with Prince Fren next week, you know. Because of that, I’ve been feeling unnecessarily nervous… and as Miel knows, the Prince doesn’t really like me.”

He might literally hurl a walnut pie straight at my face the moment he lays eyes on me.

At my follow-up remark, Miel giggled and insisted there was no way he’d do that, but given how much Prince Fren used to detest me—rivaling Carusien’s level of hatred in the original story—it felt entirely within the realm of possibility.

“Still, unlike the old days, I’ve changed now, so I’m hoping to buy some new clothes, and I’d really love it if Miel came along with me.”

[Ah, I see… you mean a total image change?]

I had no clue what that actually meant, but I nodded anyway. Hesitating for a moment at my words, Miel ultimately indicated her agreement.

[Then let’s meet around lunchtime two days from now in the shopping city of ‘Adre’. Oh, and by the way, is Sir Carusien coming along too?]

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why she was suddenly asking about that inflexible jerk, but I had zero intention of dragging him along on the shopping date with Miel that I was so eagerly looking forward to.

“No, he probably wouldn’t come even if I asked him to.”

[………….]

Sensing a sudden wave of unease at Miel’s momentary silence, I felt a familiar foreboding wash over me. Whenever I got this feeling as Armienne, it was a hundred percent accurate.

[The truth is….]

Her hesitant words made me feel even more terrified. I prayed and prayed that her next words wouldn’t be what I thought they were.

[I think I might like Sir Carusien.]

“………….”

Damn it.

I guess I needed to revise the realization I’d had just a moment ago.

Miel hadn’t liked Prince Fren back then, and it wasn’t like she didn’t have anyone she’d fallen for, she had actually been crushing on that damn Carusien all along.

I felt utterly crushed, but forcing all my remaining energy into a smile, I told Miel that I’d definitely make sure to drag Carusien along with me; thanking me profusely, she finally hung up the communication orb.

Click.

“…………….”

Staring blankly at the communication orb, which had gone dark as the connection severed, I collapsed sideways onto the bed like a limp scarecrow.

Then, burying my face deep into the blankets where nobody could hear me, I cried softly.

Sob, sob.