Chapter 7

The princess, who looked unequivocally insane no matter how one looked at her, had not a single normal part about her aside from being pretty enough to dislocate a jaw. It was already infuriating enough that she had suddenly barged in and disrupted someone else’s rest, but hearing her brazenly spin such crazy talk made him feel so baffled it gave him a headache.

Even while Arkin was feeling a headache, the princess sitting cross-legged on the stump with a prim face was letting slip precarious remarks.

“I don’t want to cling to it this much either, Arkin. But isn’t the situation strange enough to warrant it? Besides… think about what your retainer said a moment ago. If you might not be able to ascend the throne after all…”

“What on earth are you trying to say right now?”

Arkin’s gaze, which had been trying to endure it somehow, instantly turned icy.

“If that were the case, wouldn’t you be able to come with me to Kepet? Actually, that was the part I was most worried about…”

Arkin’s face twisted. It was hard to tolerate a woman who finally brought up the one topic that shouldn’t have been touched.

Should she be called selfish? Or was she simply a bit mentally unhinged? How on earth was Kepet run as a country for a person claiming to be a princess to behave this rudely? Did she lack even the minimal self-awareness that one shouldn’t pry into another nation’s private affairs?

“Hey, Kepet.”

Sparks flew in Arkin’s eyes as he desperately suppressed rising anger.

“There’s a limit to how much I can brush off as eccentric behavior. Keep crossing the line endlessly, and bear in mind that it could escalate into a diplomatic issue between our two nations.”

“……”

“And even if you heard such things, the polite thing to do is to pretend you didn’t. At least for anyone with basic common sense.”

Was she shocked by the remark that she lacked common sense? Or was it because he had issued a thinly veiled threat that it could turn into a diplomatic issue? Princess Nephitia suddenly clamped her mouth shut and went quiet.

…Did I say it too harshly?

“Your Highness! Princess Nephitia! Where are you!”

It was then that someone’s desperate cry echoed from close by. The moment she heard that voice, Nephitia startled and abruptly overlapped a finger over her lips, telling Arkin to be quiet without any preamble.

“Shh…!”

Even as he screwed up his face in a grimace and tried to lower his voice in tandem, Arkin realized that this was his golden opportunity to escape from the insane princess.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

The shadow of someone thrashing through the brush, sounding almost on the verge of tears, had drawn close enough to be right at hand by now. Nephitia clumsily crouched down in an attempt to hide her body, but a mischievous smile, unlike any he had worn before, hung upon the lips of Arkin as he briefly checked the situation outside.

“Looks like they’re searching for you, doesn’t it?”

“Be quiet for a second.”

Looking displeased by the approaching voice, Nephitia muttered with a sour expression. Cheering inwardly, Arkin stood up abruptly from his spot just as the other person drew close enough to hear his voice.

“Princess ‘Nephitia’ of ‘Kepet’, you committed rudeness as naturally as breathing from our very first meeting, but I’ll let it slide generously this time.”

The name, spoken deliberately loud, seemed to carry across the brush. As the searcher’s movements quickened, Arkin drove in one final wedge.

“I hope I never have to mix words with ‘Kepet’ again in the future. It’s terribly bothersome.”

The moment Arkin finished speaking, the large bushes right beside them split wide apart into two halves. A Kepet woman with completely white hair popped out from between them.

“Your Highness?”

Shadia’s gaze, engulfed in bewilderment, confirmed Nephitia sitting with a glum expression, and then shifted to the tall prince standing proudly before the princess. Brilliant golden hair, blue eyes. A handsome face just as she had heard, and a silver brooch dangling from a red cape.

Oh, dear… The moment she recognized who the other party was, Shadia was struck with horror. Of all people, to get tangled up with the Prince of Solinar…!

Toward the dumbfounded Shadia, Arkin offered a polite bow.

“Judging by the looks of it, you must be an attendant from Kepet. It must be quite difficult looking after such a precious princess, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about… What on earth did our princess say to…”

“The Princess Nephitia here says she wants to buy me and take me back to her home country. From what I roughly gathered, she seems to want to use me as a bedroom slave to bestow her pleasure.”

Contrary to his polite attitude, the words he spat out were ruthlessly sharp and edged with frost.

“Pardon? P-Pardon?”

Leaving Shadia standing with a vacant expression, Arkin summoned his retainer.

“Let’s get going, Magnus.”

Kicking up a chilling breeze, Arkin walked away, and Magnus followed behind his master with a hesitant shuffle.

“What… Who is taking who where?”

Shadia was left stranded with her jaw hanging wide open, but the Solinar party had already entered the forest path and vanished from sight. Leaving behind only the princess, who looked aggrieved as if she had done nothing wrong.

Shadia muttered blankly.

“Your Highness, just what… on earth have you done?”

“How could you do something like this? What? You couldn’t bear that short span of time, sneaked off, and laid hands on the body of a prince you’re seeing for the very first time? Didn’t I tell you time and time again? I drilled it into you until my mouth went dry! Leaving the robe behind on the deck! You’ve done a just-so wonderful job!”

Shadia poured out her anger with literally her entire body. Hurrying after Nephitia, who was walking briskly ahead as if she didn’t want to hear her aunt’s nagging, she shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Just how much are you trying to drag down the national dignity of Kepet! No matter if you’re a princess, you can’t just live doing whatever you want in this world! Why are you acting like this when you’re old enough to know better!”

“……”

“The other party is a prince, someone who will become the ruler of Solinar down the line. How could you commit such a blunder to a person like that! Even if it felt like nothing to Your Highness, it’s not the case for others!”

…Whether he becomes a ruler or my partner, who’s to say?

Nephitia grumbled inwardly. Remembering Prince Arkin, who had dyed his face bright red while putting on a straight face and pretending nothing happened, even made her feel a bit resentful. The sight of him ratting her out to Shadia and making a smooth getaway was still vivid in her mind.

As if having made up her mind, Shadia continued her lecture in a rigid tone.

“The only saving grace is that the other party happened to be Prince Arkin of the Kingdom of Solinar. That man wouldn’t dare try to seduce Your Highness or lead you down a path of deviance.”

Even though he had been looking at the princess with a look of utter abhorrence, though… Swallowing down her sour stomach, Shadia struck the ground hard with her cane. She still couldn’t believe such a mega-disaster had unfolded right from the start.

“Shadia knows Prince Arkin too?”

“Because Solinar is quite a distance away from our Kepet, news doesn’t reach us quickly, but Prince Arkin is exceedingly famous. He possesses excellent qualifications as a successor, and many women adore him. Rumors are widespread that he overflows with dignity, is always well-mannered, and has a splendid character.”

“I didn’t really notice any of that… He seemed like someone who spoke rather rough and prickly.”

“No, Your Highness. If even a Prince Arkin with such boundless patience went so far as to get that angry, just how bad must it have been?”

Really, now? He might have just endured all of that overwhelmingly surging sensation using that very patience of his!

She was certain he must have felt the exact same sensation. For all she knew, he might have just lied because he was afraid of getting caught up in a bothersome affair! Seeing those flushed cheeks, heavy breathing, and flustered expression, there was no doubt about it.

Annoyance surged within her from a sense of undeserved unfairness. However, she didn’t want to discuss this matter any further in front of Shadia. Nephitia curled her fists into tight balls and pressed her fingernails firmly into her palms.

“No matter how many fascinating things there are, this aunt gave you countless warnings! Exactly how long are you going to behave this childishly? If you carelessly end up tangled with some prince like that, it really will become a massive crisis then.”

“……”

“You must never, ever give your heart to anyone here. Keep that strictly in mind. Do you understand? If you do something like that, you might spark an unforeseen disaster that could cause an entire nation to go up in smoke. This is a terrifyingly serious matter. You need to realize just how disastrously emotional entanglements between royals can turn out!”

“Shadia, please, stop it already!”

Eventually, Nephitia snapped in irritation.

“Nothing even happened between me and the Prince of Solinar. Why on earth do you try to control me over every single little thing?”

“I was trying to stop, too!”

Shadia shrieked out in a voice that sounded like a scream of pure desperation.