Chapter 44

After leaving the sleeping Rebecca in the care of the Duke and Duchess, I returned to the banquet hall. The reason was that the banquet wasn’t over yet, and I wanted to witness the events from the original story that were supposed to happen on the second day of the imperial banquet. It wasn’t because I wanted to see the events I had only read about in the original story. What would I even do with Mikhail’s romance events? Besides, I already knew what was going to happen since I had read the original. There was no need to review what I already knew.

The only thing I wanted to confirm was, “…How much has the original story changed?” I wanted to see how much the situation unfolding before me differed from what I remembered from *[The Crown Prince Wields a Sword]*.

Even now, the flow of events was already twisted. Rebecca and the Crown Prince, who were supposed to meet for the first time today, already knew each other for some reason. One of the key events, the “Attempted Assassination of the Saint,” had completely changed, with the assassins targeting me and Rebecca instead of the Saint. In the original story, the Church would demand compensation from the imperial family after learning of this incident, and the Saint, Estelle, would oppose it, leading to a closer relationship between Mikhail and Estelle. But now, that pivotal moment had essentially disappeared.

Moreover, it was strange that Isabella Bluebell, who should only be interested in the Crown Prince, Mikhail, had shown interest in me. Isabella was supposed to have been trained since childhood to become the Empress, ignoring all other suitors and focusing solely on Mikhail. Even if I had performed a waltz that caught everyone’s attention on the first day, it was hard to predict why she would take an interest in me instead of the Crown Prince.

In any case, to confirm whether these events would still unfold, I returned to the banquet hall.

“…So, how is the Princess doing?”

“She’s resting comfortably.”

I was now sitting next to Mikhail, who looked exhausted, keeping him company.

“Leaving your drunk fiancée alone like that. You’re quite the scoundrel.”

“…Do you know that one of the reasons my fiancée got drunk was because of you, Your Highness?”

“Haha, you’re quite the joker.”

“…”

I kept thinking that Mikhail was quite different from the Crown Prince I knew from the original story. In the original, the Crown Prince was described as straightforward and taciturn, charming all the young ladies of his age. But the person sitting next to me now seemed more like an Emperor who had been worn down by years of struggle with the nobles, someone who had resigned himself to everything. Like Rebecca had said, he was someone whose true intentions were completely inscrutable.

“…Your Highness, don’t you want to enjoy the banquet more?”

Even if the Crown Prince had unintentionally had a few drinks, he wasn’t as drunk as Rebecca, who had passed out. Why was he just sitting there, enduring the piercing gazes of others?

Curious, I asked Mikhail, but instead of answering, he turned the question back on me.

“You’re asking me, but why aren’t you enjoying the banquet more? Is there something you don’t like?”

“…”

I was momentarily at a loss for words. I couldn’t very well tell the Crown Prince, who was essentially the host of the banquet, that there was something I didn’t like about it. Nor could I tell him about the promise I had made with Rebecca to spend time alone.

“Everyone has their reasons. There’s no need to be curious about each other’s actions.”

“…Understood.”

I had no choice but to nod at the Crown Prince’s words, which seemed to suggest he wanted to drop the subject.

A short while later, a servant who appeared to be from the imperial family approached Mikhail with a note.

“Your Highness, someone asked me to deliver this note to you.”

“Let me see.”

After reading the note, Mikhail turned to me.

“…I’m sorry, but I need to excuse myself for a moment.”

“It’s fine. Please go ahead.”

I could tell him not to worry with a clear conscience. Thankfully, the original story’s flow was still intact.

*

The note.

The starting point of the second event in *[The Crown Prince Wields a Sword]*.

The first event, of course, was the “Attempted Assassination of the Saint.”

The second event, which was about to unfold, was also closely related to the Saint, Estelle.

To summarize the event briefly:

After the assassination attempt, Estelle, who had developed feelings of gratitude toward the Crown Prince, sent him a secret note the next day after finishing her duties. Since Estelle didn’t write who the note was from, Mikhail, curious, headed to the imperial garden, just like the day before. There, he met Estelle, and their relationship grew closer through their conversation. It was one of the classic clichés of romance fantasy novels.

The level of plausibility was almost nonexistent.

The Crown Prince, who should value his own safety above all else, heading to the garden based on an anonymous note? The Saint, who had nearly been killed by assassins the day before, waiting for the Crown Prince in the garden again? From a reader’s perspective, it was enough to make you say, “What the…?”

But.

“…Well, I guess it’s possible.”

At this point, I just went with it.

As I’ve said before, *[The Crown Prince Wields a Sword]* had more than a few plot holes. The author had ruined the Valencia Duchy, the most powerful noble family in the story, just to avoid backlash from readers in the comments. What could you expect from them? This level of implausibility was almost cute in comparison.

Now that I had confirmed the original story’s flow was still intact, I could just stay here, send off the Crown Prince, and enjoy the banquet’s food like before. Whether my fiancée, who had traveled to dreamland, would return to reality before the banquet ended was uncertain, but if she woke up and came back to the banquet hall, I thought it might be nice to dance with her again like yesterday. Maybe the reason she had gotten drunk was because I had pretended not to know her feelings. Spending the remaining time of the banquet together might help soothe her upset heart.

…Or so I thought.

“Fancy seeing you again, Prince Albert Zernias.”

“…”

Until the person I had already rejected once came up to me again, shamelessly.

***

Rebecca was in a state where she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide if she saw one.

As always, the reason was her fiancé.

No, this time it wasn’t just because of her fiancé.

– *You couldn’t have not known how I felt.*

– *You always seem to read people’s minds like a ghost, so how could you not know?*

The words she had drunkenly spoken in the past kept haunting her, tormenting her.

“…Ugh.”

“Rebecca? Are you awake?”

Her mother, the Duchess of Valencia, asked with a voice full of concern, but Rebecca could barely hear her. She was too busy blaming herself for what she had said.

– *…I was anxious.*

– *I was afraid… that you might dance with someone else…*

*Thud.*

“…Rebecca?”

She had just punched the pillow she had been lying on.

*Squeak.*

The pillow made a pitiful sound as it crumpled under her strong fist, but that wasn’t important to Rebecca right now.

What on earth had possessed her to say such things?

Anxious? The only daughter of the Duke of Valencia, anxious because her fiancé might dance with someone else?

How… disgraceful… What was she thinking…

– *I’ve always thought you were pretty, Princess. What a shame.*

*Whoosh.*

The memory of Albert’s words flushed her cheeks red.

Her head was spinning.

He had always thought she was pretty?

Even though he teased her every day, even though he knew her feelings but pretended not to…

Her fiancé, who had no redeeming qualities and no manners to speak of…

– *Why does he… look so cool today?*

“…”

*Slap.*

A rather crisp sound echoed.

“Rebecca!”

Her mother, startled, shouted from beside her.

Of course she would.

To her mother, Rebecca must have looked like a madwoman, suddenly slapping her own cheek after waking up from being drunk.

But.

“Did I… really say that?”

Unfortunately, Rebecca, filled with resentment toward alcohol, couldn’t hear her mother’s voice clearly.

She felt like she needed to immediately propose to the Crown Prince, whom she didn’t particularly like, that alcohol should be banned by imperial law.

This was a drink that turned people into lunatics.

She absolutely had to propose it.

And she had to tell Albert.

That she had been momentarily drunk and out of her mind.

That there was no way she could have said such disgraceful things.

She absolutely had to tell him.

Otherwise, her fiancé would get the wrong idea that she liked him.

He would mistake something that could never happen for the truth.

The idea that she liked her fiancé? Absolutely impossible.

It was absolutely impossible, and it absolutely shouldn’t happen.

Why she felt that way, even Rebecca herself didn’t know.

But at least at that moment, Rebecca thought so.

“…Where is he?”

“You mean Prince Albert?”

So she immediately asked her mother about Albert’s whereabouts.

She had to correct whatever delusion her fiancé might have.

“He was here until your father and I came in… I think he went back to the banquet hall.”

“…”

It wasn’t a perfect explanation, but it was enough.

Even if she didn’t know exactly where she was now, she wasn’t so much of a fool that she couldn’t find her way back to a place she had already been to.

*Thud.*

“Going to find your fiancé as soon as you wake up…”

“…It must be love.”

Ignoring the strange comment from behind, Rebecca headed back to the banquet hall.

When she arrived at the banquet hall, Rebecca…

“…Hah.”

…let out a cold scoff at the scene unfolding before her.

Her fiancé, who supposedly didn’t talk much, was with Isabella Bluebell.

The moment she saw that, an indescribable emotion took hold of her heart.

It made her stride over to the two people talking.

It made her grab her fiancé’s hand and say:

“…What are you doing? My fiancé, of all people.”

“…”

“Alone with another woman.”

The thought of correcting her fiancé’s delusion had long since disappeared.