Chapter 369

“Princess Veronica!”

Leon interrupted the princess’s teasing inquiry, his face falling as he looked at her with exasperation.

“Stop fooling around, alright? How did you suddenly show up at my house? Where’s Anna?”

“Anna’s asleep with the two kids… Besides, I am your fiancée, isn’t it strange for me to be here?”

After seeing Leon’s look of respectful distance, Princess Veronica blinked and said in a feigned hurt tone:

“Dear, why are you so cold to me? Could it be… you’ve found someone else outside?”

“…”

This… I don’t know if it counts, but there’s definitely nothing between us. Why did you ambush me at my house, and why are you dressed so… casually? Struggling to control his gaze, Leon said with a headache:

“Princess Veronica, between us…”

“Though we see each other rarely, our feelings are still good.”

Taking the initiative to hold onto Leon’s arm, she pulled him into the room despite his exasperated expression. Princess Veronica then pressed Leon to sit by the table and pointed to the dishes covered on it:

“Hurry up and eat. These were prepared under my watch by Anna especially for you. Moreover, I’ve already tasted every dish; they’re quite delicious!”

“…”

I thought you prepared them yourself. So you just watched and took credit? Also, why do you seem a little… strange today? You look…

Pretty happy?

Looking at the princess whose excitement was evident despite his “cold treatment,” Leon hesitated briefly before obediently sitting by the table.

“Your Highness, what brings you here today?”

“Look what you’re saying. Can’t I come see you without a reason?”

Princess Veronica adjusted her loose nightgown and sat elegantly across from Leon, resting her chin on her hand and smiling brightly:

“However, I do have a few happy things to share… Eat first, talk while you eat, okay?”

With her movement, the silk sleeve of her nightgown slid slightly, revealing a glimpse of her white arm.

Combined with her radiant smile and the subtle curves visible at the neckline, it stirred a slight tremor in Leon’s heart. He quickly turned away, not daring to look more, focusing instead on the food.

Not bad reaction~ It wasn’t wasted that I specially had this oversized nightgown custom-made.

Stealthily pulling at the loosened sleeve with her finger, exposing a bit more of her arm, and adjusting her position slightly, Princess Veronica smiled and said: “There are many reasons to be happy recently. The happiest one is that our wedding date has been set. We’ll get married at noon the day after tomorrow. I came today specifically to fetch you.”

What?!!!

Hearing Princess Veronica’s words, Leon nearly choked on the soup he was drinking, almost drowning himself.

“Cough! Cough cough! You! What… cough cough cough!”

“Oh dear, there’s plenty of soup, why such a rush?”

Rounding the table to where Leon was choking, she lightly patted his back. A mischievous glint flashed in her eyes as she said regretfully:

“Seeing you this excited makes me truly happy, but alas… if only it were real.”

“…”

Revenge! This is definitely revenge for my earlier cold attitude!

After catching his breath, realizing he’d been tricked, Leon frowned and was about to confront her when suddenly a shiny fork with a piece of fish appeared before his eyes.

The princess who had been sitting opposite had taken advantage of the back-patting opportunity to move directly onto the adjacent chair, smiling as she tried to feed him.

“A~”

“…”

“No need… I can do it myself.”

“Alright~ all yours.”

Seeing Leon’s embarrassed expression, knowing she’d teased him enough and might risk being pushed away, Princess Veronica stopped. Letting Leon take the fork, she smiled and said:

“By the way, do you want to hear why I’m so happy?”

“…”

After waiting two seconds without a response from Leon, Princess Veronica straightened up and sighed despondently: “Well, if you don’t want to hear, then sitting here is meaningless. Perhaps…”

Upon hearing this, Leon couldn’t help but react.

Do you leave?

“I’ll continue feeding you instead!”

“…”

“All content within 69shu available on!”

“A~”

“Not really… I… um… still kinda want to hear something from you…”

Hmph humph, gotcha! With an unhidden sly smile, having successfully subdued him, Princess Veronica straightened up and said cheerfully:

“Well then, let me tell you… Do you know about the Gold Nightingale Marquis?”

Gold Nightingale Marquis?

Upon hearing this familiar name, Leon’s expression shifted slightly before nodding: “I’ve heard some… the one who drowned recently?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

Although the weather had warmed up lately, it was still chilly at night. The silk nightgown the princess wore accentuated her beautiful figure but offered poor warmth. Curling her body slightly, drawing her limbs closer together for warmth, the princess with a slightly red nose happily recounted: “He was the tax secretary of the Ministry of Finance, second only to the Minister. He’s always been obstructing the Military Department’s budget and harshly exploiting artisans’ guilds, using the kingdom’s fiscal budget to fill those… well… let me put it this way, he was a terrible person, extremely terrible!”

Indeed, he was a terrible person in every sense.

Nodding in agreement, Leon asked curiously:

“So, you’re this happy because he’s dead?”

“Not entirely.”

Blowing warm air into her palms, Princess Veronica shook her head:

“Rather than dying mysteriously like this, I’d rather personally arrest him and make him pay for his past actions.

But this outcome isn’t bad either. Even if I could bring him down, it would be hard to make him confess. Now that his position is vacant, there’s an opening in the Ministry of Finance.

Without him holding things up, many reforms that were previously stuck now have a chance to proceed. If we can redistribute some tax rights, we could clean up those harsh and complicated taxes, so that… um…

Leon, are you interested in these topics? Shall we talk about something else?”

Looking at the princess curled up in the chair, frozen but with shining eyes, Leon hesitated briefly before removing his coat and draping it over her. Then he shook his head:

“No need, I’m quite interested… please continue, but keep it down, don’t wake Anna.”

“Um~”

Seeing Leon finally remember to cover her after hinting seven or eight times, Princess Veronica glanced at him teasingly before leaning closer with a look of “I’m deeply moved.”

“You’re so nice~ Let me continue… Oh right, did you know about the attack on the Boarding Tower?”

(End of Chapter)