Chapter 25

However, at Prince Fren’s lack of any reaction or movement to my actions, a quick glance to the side made me realize that the guy right next to me was completely beyond saving. There was no vitality left in his eyes. He looked as though he had given up on everything.

Crazy. Just where had the guy who was brimming with confidence until moments before gone, leaving behind only an empty husk of a man instead?

True, with my mother standing right in front of our eyes and an enormous crowd of nobles watching us, even I felt overwhelmed just looking at them.

The people looked at me in my pajamas and Prince Fren in his properly dressed state, clapping and cheering as if they understood everything completely. To their eyes, Prince Fren and I already looked like a married couple. They were undoubtedly piecing together this exact scenario in their heads.

The two of them enjoyed a nice dinner with a bit of wine at a fancy place, and after naturally doing that during the night, Prince Fren woke up intending to leave his beloved sleeping wife behind to go to work, but waking up at the rustling sound, she opened her eyes.

[Honey, where are you going?]

[Looks like I woke you up. You should have slept a little longer.]

[Hehe, I’ll just watch you leave and go back to sleep. I love you.]

[I love you too. Chu]

I figured they were imagining pretty much this exact situation. It was driving me insane.

Just the thought that Miel might be thinking that exact same thing made me dizzy and stagger, and I’m not even lying.

“Ah….”

Yet, of all things, Fren—this bastard right next to me—did the one thing he shouldn’t have and instinctively offered his body to support me, which once again caused the crowd to erupt into an explosive wave of enthusiasm.

“Waaaah!”

“You guys look so good together!”

“The phrase ‘a match made in heaven’ is practically made for this exact moment!”

Swish—!

Clap-clap-clap!

As the applause and cheers burst out once more, I quietly closed my eyes and opened them again, praying that all of this was just a dream.

However, the entities before me weren’t created by illusion magic, nor were they fake images conjured up by my dream; every single one of them was completely real.

‘Oh, damn it.’

How on earth could things turn out like this?

The time right now was barely around nine in the morning. No matter how fast rumors spread, it had only been a few hours. For this many people to gather this quickly—especially when the King, the Duke of Harun, and my own dad were nowhere to be seen, meaning nearly half of all the nobles in the kingdom had shown up like this—was, by any logical calculation, completely impossible.

“Armienne.”

At the warm, affectionate voice calling my name, my head turned automatically. Standing there was Mother, looking at me with a face full of pride, and it was only then that I realized how this entire situation had been orchestrated.

‘There was someone who could turn the impossible into the possible!’

Mother was smiling as she watched me swaying on my feet, and it was dead obvious she had completely misunderstood the situation.

“Naturally, a woman is bound to feel a little sore the next day. I can’t help feeling a bit sorry if Mother brought everyone here and made things hard for you, Armienne.”

Seeing her wear a truly apologetic expression and gently take both of my hands in hers made me start feeling guilty instead. And that only made my heart grow heavier, leaving my mouth unable to open.

Don’t do this, Mother. It’s just making it harder and harder for me to speak up.

Yet, I felt like this might be my first and final chance. If I didn’t speak up right here and just went along with it, there would truly be no turning back after that. I forced myself to imagine a future with Fren.

The moment the scene of me accepting him as a woman in the future, smiling face-to-face with him while holding a child, popped into my head, a blazing fire erupted deep within my chest, making me feel like I could scream out loud right this instant. Catching sight of Miel in the distance made that resolve harden even more firmly.

For the sake of my rosy future with Miel, this very moment was when I had to step past the mother standing right before me.

For the sake of love!

Yes, now is the time.

I will overcome this pressure.

It was precisely the moment I was about to open my mouth.

“Prince Fren. I leave our daughter in your good hands. She takes after me, you see—a truly smart and kind child.”

Of all things, Mother bowed gracefully to Prince Fren and spoke first. Mother, who had never once shown warmth to anyone other than me, spoke to Prince Fren as gently as she used to speak to me, and the prince—the very same guy who had sworn up and down until just moments before that he would slice someone’s throat—either bewitched by Mother or completely out of his mind, smiled and replied.

“Understood.”

I realized it now. This bastard had gone way past giving up and had officially lost his mind.

Ah, no—unless his brains were thoroughly scrambled, there was no way he could give a reply like that.

“What on earth are you claiming to understand?”

I barely managed to keep myself from tearing that jerk’s mouth apart right then and there. The shock was so massive that the world genuinely felt like it was starting to spin, but believing that if I passed out here, the next time I opened my eyes I’d only find myself trapped inside a wedding gown, I gritted my teeth and chanted Miel’s name three times in my head.

‘Miel, Miel, for Miel, for me.’

Now wasn’t the time to waste agonizing over resolve. No, I had to open my mouth out of sheer terror that someone else might jump in and interrupt again. Utilizing a magic spell I was now quite accustomed to, I cast Voice, a spell designed to amplify sound.

“Mother.”

Though spoken softly, my mana-infused voice echoed throughout the entire hallway. The moment I quietly called out to her, the bustling crowd that had been overflowing with cheers just moments before instantly fell dead silent, while Mother continued to wear that same affectionate smile toward me.

Just imagining what would happen if I announced right here that this whole thing was a massive misunderstanding and a total mistake was terrifying.

Yet, enduring the aftermath of that was still preferable to spending the rest of my life bound to the guy standing next to me. I’d rather lose my life than keep quiet.

Feeling my throat tighten from nervousness as I tried to speak, I swallowed hard once.

“Actually, this is….”

That was the exact moment I tried to reveal the truth. In the distance, someone could be seen kicking up dust and rushing toward us at incredible speed.

It was a middle-aged nobleman with a magnificent white beard. Spotting Prince Fren right beside me, the man shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Your Highness! R-run for your life! A traitor—no, a madman is coming!”

Even without using magic, his voice was louder than mine had been with the Voice spell. And the moment his shout finished, yet another cloud of dust appeared.

The figure leading that cloud of dust looked strangely familiar from somewhere.

“Uwaaaaaah! My daughter, my daughter! I’m so happy. But I cannot allow this! You rascal, Fren!!! I’m going to kill you.”

Calling the prince of this kingdom by name with reckless abandon while brandishing a sharp sword in one hand was none other than Dad.

“……………”

Having thought I was already too shocked to feel any more surprise, I found myself shocked all over again when I caught the faint glow of an aura blade—the hallmark of a Sword Master—flickering at the tip of Dad’s sword.

To think Dad was a Sword Master. Deciding that this was truly the most absurd, trash-tier fantasy script imaginable, I simply closed my eyes.

I give up on everything now. Damn it.

With my eyes closed, voices began to drift over to me.

“Calm down, you crazy bastard Ventor. If you swing that thing around, it’s actual treason. You’ll be executed by hanging.”

Ah, hearing the voice made me realize who the middle-aged man with the magnificent beard from earlier was.

He was definitely my eldest uncle and the head of the Harun Ducal House, Duke Mentus.

“Shut up! You’re a plankton-like bastard who’s never been any help in my life. If it were you, do you think you could let your daughter, Harmiel, be handed over to a man who doesn’t even love her?!”

Oh, I was slightly touched by that.

As the head of a ducal house who held information right in the palm of his hand, Dad apparently knew just how much Fren detested me, and because of that, he seemed opposed to this marriage. Though his chosen method of opposing it—committing treason by assassinating the prince—seemed a bit too extreme.

“Well, naturally I can’t allow that. What kind of maggot-like jerk dares to take Harmiel away? My cute little daughter is going to live with her daddy forever.”

Uncle really knew how to show off as the ultimate doting father. Still, seeing a dashing, middle-aged dad say something like that with such absolute confidence made it look kind of cool, too. I should totally use that later when I have a kid with Miel (?).

“Dad, geez…”

Looking embarrassed, Miel flushed red and couldn’t lift her head.

Anyway, if this wasn’t absolute chaos, I didn’t know what was. If the King himself showed up on top of this, it would genuinely be horrifying. Fortunately, however, the King was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, stepping forward with a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead as if she had just returned from somewhere, Yul lowered her head and took the lead. Despite the chaotic atmosphere, everyone’s gazes naturally converged on her.

“There is a fact I must reveal, My Lady.”

Watching Yul fearlessly address someone of higher status, I imagined a blizzard swirling behind Mother’s back as she tore her gaze away from me. Naturally, she raised her chin and looked down at Yul.

“How dare you open your mouth with such disrespect in the presence of those holding positions far higher than your own. To lack even that basic sense of decorum.”

Even though Mother merely spoke in a tone of ordinary reprimand, the temperature plummeted as sharply as if it had started snowing in the middle of summer. Dad, who had been rampaging in a fiery rage just moments before, swearing he’d slice the prince’s throat, shriveled up like a hedgehog caught deep in the middle of a Siberian blizzard.

It was astonishing every single time. They said people were born with an innate aura, and Mother naturally radiated the absolute majesty of a ruler. For an ordinary person, simply meeting her gaze would be enough to drain all the strength from their muscles and force them to collapse right on the spot.

Yet Yul simply kept her head bowed and continued speaking.

“Knowing it is rude, I spoke because this is something that must be told.”

“Hah… you really don’t know when to give up until the very end. Are you only going to come to your senses once I cut out your tongue myself?”

The moment Mother spoke those words and I started to step in, Yul lifted her head and met Mother’s eyes head-on.

Flinch—

Defying everyone’s expectations, the one who flinched and pulled back was none other than my own mother.

Whoa, for Mother to lose out in a stare-down. Realizing I wasn’t the only one shocked, I saw everyone’s pupils dilate in widespread astonishment.

Yul, you might just be my maid, but you’re truly incredible.

“I apologize, but even if it costs me my tongue, I must speak the truth.”

At Yul’s resolute words, Mother’s expression twisted into a deep scowl for the very first time.