Chapter 2

“Rebecca!”

As soon as Rebecca’s grumbling ended, a loud voice echoed.

It was Duchess Valencia, the mother of the princess.

“I told you to fix that tone of yours!”

“……Yes, Mother.”

Rebecca, who clearly had no confidence to argue back with her mother, immediately gave in.

‘……Something feels off.’

But seeing that only made me feel worse.

Why does someone who can speak so politely immediately throw a tantrum the moment they see me?

Am I that ugly? Honestly, I can’t say I’m handsome, but at least I’m not ugly, right?

Suddenly, I felt a wave of depression.

“Go apologize to Prince Albert right away.”

Seeing my stiff expression, the Duchess seemed to think I was hurt and urged Rebecca to apologize politely.

It seemed like things would settle with Princess Rebecca’s apology, but…

“……No.”

“Rebecca!”

The princess’s insane response far exceeded my expectations.

To refuse to apologize in this situation? Could this also be due to her excessive competitive spirit?

“It’s not like I wanted this engagement. Why should I apologize?”

Rebecca used the excuse that it wasn’t an engagement she wanted.

To be fair, Princess Rebecca’s words weren’t entirely unreasonable.

Engagements or marriages for noble ladies were rarely decided by their own will. Most were arranged marriages or engagements decided by their families, regardless of their personal feelings.

In Princess Rebecca’s case, it was clear that her engagement with me was arranged without her consent, so her frustration was understandable.

However, the reason I couldn’t hold back my irritation despite understanding Rebecca’s position was simple.

‘What did I do wrong?’

Even if it was an engagement Rebecca didn’t want, there was no reason for me to be told to my face that I was unpleasant.

Did I want to be engaged to Princess Rebecca? Of course, Rebecca Valencia was my favorite character in [The Crown Prince Wields a Sword], but that didn’t mean I suddenly wanted to be forced into an engagement with her.

Not that I disliked the idea, though.

Rebecca Valencia was too beautiful to refuse. What man could reject a beautiful woman?

Anyway, there was no reason for me to suddenly be insulted.

“Rebecca!”

The Duchess was about to scold the princess, who was now outright refusing her words, but…

“Duchess, may I have a moment to speak with the princess?”

I raised my hand to stop the Duchess just before she could shout.

“……Prince?”

“……?”

Naturally, the Duchess looked at me strangely, and even Princess Rebecca, who had braced herself for a scolding, looked at me in confusion.

“Please trust me, Duchess.”

My resolve was unwavering.

“……If that’s your wish, Prince. I’ll leave you two alone.”

The determination in my eyes must have reached the Duchess, as she agreed to my bold request.

“……Mother?”

As the situation took an unexpected turn, Rebecca tried to grab her mother’s sleeve as she was about to leave the room.

“Rebecca, if you cause any more trouble for the Prince, you’ll be grounded.”

“……”

What came back to Rebecca was the Duchess’s cold warning.

For Princess Rebecca, who loved going out despite her bad temper, being grounded was a severe punishment.

I felt a bit relieved.

“Then, I’ll leave Rebecca in your care, Prince.”

“It won’t take long.”

After hearing my confident(?) reply, the Duchess nodded and left the reception room, leaving only me and Princess Rebecca inside.

As soon as she confirmed her mother had left, Princess Rebecca immediately showed her true colors.

“I don’t know why you sent my mother away… but if you try anything weird, I’ll cut off your hand.”

Her bold tone showed no regard for etiquette or noble elegance.

I was speechless. Was the princess treating me like a criminal now?

I could have gotten angry right then. I could have asked how she could think of me like that, or if she was out of her mind.

But I didn’t.

‘……Getting my hand cut off sounds bad.’

Princess Rebecca’s threat to cut off my hand was definitely not a joke.

I’ve only talked about Princess Rebecca’s nasty personality so far, but in reality, Rebecca was a powerhouse.

Whether it was swordsmanship, magic, archery, or even spear skills, Rebecca could do it all.

I never understood why a heroine in a novel had to be so overpowered.

But what could I do? The author made her that way.

Anyway, I had no intention of losing my hand, so instead of getting angry, I spoke to Rebecca calmly.

“Weird things? I never even thought of such things, Princess Rebecca.”

“……”

Her suspicious look seemed to say, “Really? I don’t believe you,” but I had to hold back my irritation. My hand was too precious.

Losing a hand would be so inconvenient.

“I have a proposal for you, Princess.”

“A proposal…?”

The princess tilted her head, urging me to continue.

“If you win a bet against me, I’ll leave this room immediately and request an annulment of our engagement.”

“……Ha, why should I accept that proposal? If I ask my father, it might take some time, but we’ll annul the engagement anyway.”

As expected of an overpowered princess.

Her situational awareness was excellent. She immediately realized she didn’t need to accept my proposal.

But I had a bait that Rebecca couldn’t resist.

“Is the great Princess Valencia of Valencia scared of a mere child from a Count’s family? This is disappointing.”

It was her competitive spirit.

The same Rebecca Valencia who obsessed over challenging the original protagonist and ended up losing not just the heroine role but her place as a character altogether.

She couldn’t stand being looked down upon.

As I expected, the princess took the bait.

“……Are you looking down on me now? Fine, I’ll take that bet.”

As the princess took the bait and stepped into my trap, I immediately threw in the next hook.

“It’s simple. If you win a staring contest against me, I’ll admit my defeat and request an annulment from the Duke.”

“……A staring contest?”

“Yes, a staring contest.”

“Are you talking about that game commoners play? A staring contest?”

The princess asked as if she had misheard, but unfortunately, the staring contest she was thinking of was correct. The one where you keep your eyes open.

When I nodded in confirmation, the princess looked at me with even more pity.

“A staring contest? That’s what commoners do. How far do you want to humiliate me?”

“So, will you do it?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

Rebecca seemed to have made up her mind to go through with the staring contest.

“The person who blinks first loses, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And if I win, you’ll immediately tell my father to annul the engagement?”

“Of course. But if I win, you’ll have to sincerely apologize for what you said earlier.”

“……So that’s your goal.”

Rebecca seemed to have finally realized why I proposed this bet.

“Of course, you wouldn’t suggest a bet where only I benefit.”

“So, will you do it?”

“Let’s get it over with quickly.”

The princess was overflowing with confidence, as if the possibility of her losing didn’t exist.

But what could I do? I had no intention of losing.

“Then I’ll count down.”

“Hurry up. I want to annul this engagement with you as soon as possible.”

“……I’ll count.”

Three. Two. One.

As the countdown ended, Rebecca and I both opened our eyes wide.

From a distance, this scene of a man and woman staring deeply into each other’s eyes might have looked romantic.

“Your eyes look painful.”

“Yours are already turning red.”

But up close, there was no fight more serious than this.

A staring contest with an annulment and a sincere apology on the line.

My eyes were starting to hurt.

“Are your eyes already hurting? Well, someone like you could never beat me.”

Rebecca, noticing I was reaching my limit, immediately taunted me.

But as I said before, I had no intention of losing.

So instead of responding to Rebecca’s taunt, I blew a small puff of air from my mouth.

The tiny gust of wind I created went straight toward Princess Rebecca’s eyes.

Blink-

Caught off guard by the unexpected breeze, Princess Rebecca’s eyes blinked.

“……I win, Princess.”

“This is ridiculous……”

The princess looked at me with a sense of injustice.

“Did I ever say blowing air was against the rules?”

Unfortunately, life is a battlefield.