Chapter 3

To my statement, which could be considered the most shameless in the world.

“Are you playing word games with me now?”

The princess looked stunned. Well, Rebecca must have been confident that she would win.

Moreover, she lost not just by losing, but by being defeated by a cowardly trick. If she was angry, she was angry, and there was no way she would calm down.

But as the saying goes, the best defense is offense. It was clear that the person who could get out of this situation was not the one who bowed their head, but the one who shamelessly pushed forward.

So I decided to push forward even more shamelessly.

“No, I am in a very serious state right now.”

“Then, what was that statement just now…”

“That was also a very serious statement, Princess.”

“…”

From the way the princess looked at me, I could feel the meaning of ‘What the hell is this?’

How full of that thought must she be to express her meaning even through her gaze? As expected, she truly is a genius princess.

“Think about it. Did I ever say anything about what not to do while explaining the staring contest to you?”

“…That’s not it, but.”

“Then that’s the end of the story. What more is there to say?”

“…”

Rebecca still seemed to have a lot to say about my shameless tone.

But Rebecca couldn’t refute. Because there was not a single flaw in my words.

I had never told the princess not to use cowardly tricks, and the princess had never mentioned it before starting the staring contest.

If Rebecca had truly taken this fight seriously, she should have naturally discussed such rules beforehand. But Rebecca didn’t, and this situation was the karma she had to accept.

She must have countless things she wanted to say, but in reality, she had nothing she could say. That kind of hopeless situation, in short, a situation with no solution, was Rebecca’s current situation.

“Won’t you apologize?”

“Ha, do you expect me to apologize after winning with such a cowardly method?”

Rebecca, who refuses to admit defeat, clearly has no intention of apologizing to me, who urged her to apologize.

But unfortunately for her, I had a plan all along this time as well.

“Fine then. I’ll just have to use another method.”

“…Another method?”

Rebecca sharply looked at me as if asking what now.

Perhaps that sharp gaze, which might have even contained murderous intent, was at a level that an ordinary person like me would find hard to withstand.

But my competitive spirit, which refuses to lose to that crazy princess, kept me going.

“If you don’t apologize to me, I’ll immediately leave this room and spread the word that the great Princess Rebecca is a sore loser.”

“A sore loser? What nonsense…”

“If you don’t keep your word, what else would you call it?”

“…”

Upon hearing my words, the princess seemed confused, with all sorts of thoughts crossing her mind.

Probably thinking something like, ‘What is this crazy guy saying?’, ‘Surely he wouldn’t really do that.’, ‘…Somehow, I feel like this lunatic would actually do it.’

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“No. It doesn’t seem like it.”

At my serious tone, which clearly wasn’t a joke, the princess seemed to realize. Ah, this guy really is a lunatic.

Although I ended up being treated as a lunatic by the princess, I didn’t regret it.

After all, to catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger’s den, and to catch a villain, you have to become a villain.

To catch a crazy princess, becoming a lunatic is just common sense.

“Fine, do as you please. Anyway, people will believe my words over yours.”

Realizing that persuading me was impossible, Rebecca seemed to change her strategy to use her influence.

It was a pretty good method.

I was just a mere son of a count family, and Rebecca was the only daughter of one of the only two ducal families in the empire, the Valencia Duchy.

If both Rebecca and I spoke, it was natural that far more people would believe Rebecca’s words.

But there was one fact that Princess Rebecca overlooked. That was the fact that I was Princess Rebecca’s fiancé.

“If you say so, Princess. Then I’ll spread the rumor that you tried to assault me.”

“…Wait, what did you say?”

Princess Rebecca asked as if she had misheard. But unfortunately, there was nothing wrong with the princess’s ears.

“I said I’ll spread the rumor that you tried to assault me.”

“That’s nonsense… That’s a lie!”

Although the princess refuted me with logical words.

“What does it matter? Only you and I know what happened in this room.”

“…”

It was completely useless against me, who had already decided to shamelessly push forward to win this fight.

As I said, only Rebecca and I were in this reception room. So no matter what I made up, the only person who could say it wasn’t true was Rebecca.

“…Do as you please. Anyway, no one in the Valencia Duchy would believe that I did such a thing.”

Cornered, the princess bluffed that no one would believe it.

But there was a subtle difference between now and before.

“Of course, the people of the duchy would believe your words over mine.”

“You already know that. So stop doing useless things and just quietly…”

“But what if I tell other nobles instead of the people of the Valencia Duchy?”

“…”

As if she hadn’t thought of that.

An ‘Oops’ expression quickly passed over Rebecca’s face.

The nobles who love gossip wouldn’t miss such a stimulating topic, and Princess Rebecca couldn’t possibly not know that.

The nobles of the social circle are crazy people who seek out the most interesting things, and they don’t care if it’s someone’s private life or something shameful.

Even if it’s a false rumor.

Realizing she had been caught, the princess’s previously confident voice had now changed to a timid, trembling voice.

“…Do you think other nobles would believe that…”

“They will believe it. That’s why you’re feeling anxious now, right?”

“…”

Looking at Princess Rebecca’s trembling eyes gave me a rather pleasant feeling.

A sense of relief as if a weight had been lifted and the thrill of victory from finally winning the argument rose within me.

Eventually, the princess, who had been trembling, raised the white flag.

“…What do I have to do?”

“I already told you. Just sincerely apologize to me for what you said earlier.”

“…Fine.”

What was that? Did I just hear something?

Princess Rebecca definitely said something, but her voice was so small that I couldn’t hear it at all.

Naturally, I asked the princess to apologize again.

“The person who was shouting at me just now is now speaking in a voice smaller than an ant crawling.”

“…”

“If you don’t apologize properly, I’ll tell the newspaper connected to our count family to publish that you assaulted me.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Only after hearing my warning did Rebecca apologize in a voice loud enough for people to hear.

But I had no intention of forgiving Rebecca just like that.

“Exactly. Specifically, what are you sorry for?”

“…Do you really have to go that far…”

Rebecca looked at me with resentful eyes, as if asking if she really had to suffer this much.

“Newspaper.”

“…”

At the single word ‘newspaper’ from me, her pretty mouth had no choice but to shut tightly.

“…I’m sorry.”

“What was that? I can’t hear you, Princess.”

“I’m sorry for saying you were unpleasant as soon as I saw you!”

Finally, Princess Rebecca shouted an apology at me.

And perhaps feeling too ashamed of herself, there were slight tears in her eyes.

‘Wow, I won.’

Of course, I was intoxicated by the fact that I had defeated that Princess Rebecca and received a polite apology from her, completely ignoring Rebecca herself.

But it wasn’t over yet. If you receive something, you must give something. If you receive an apology, it’s only proper to forgive.

“I have heard your apology, Princess. I will specially forgive you, considering the face of my fiancée, Princess Rebecca.”

“…”

“You should say thank you at times like this, Princess.”

“…Just you wait.”

As she said this, the princess’s body was trembling as if she was furious.

Although her words were extremely threatening. Seeing her trembling with tears in her eyes made it not scary at all.

It was like the expression of a 6-year-old child who had their toy taken away. Anyway, it was really not threatening.

“You want to see me again? I’m touched, Princess.”

“…”

Not forgetting to tease Rebecca until the end, I left the reception room.

“Prince, how is our Rebecca…?”

As I came out of the reception room, Duchess Valencia, who had vacated the room earlier, greeted me.

“It was resolved amicably, so you can rest assured.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

I only told the Duchess what had happened(?).

Since I received an apology, it was resolved amicably, right?

“The princess said she wants to see me again next time.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. It’s true.”

“That’s a relief…”

Seeing Duchess Valencia’s genuinely relieved expression made my heart ache a little.

But at least there were no lies in what I told her.

Probably.

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