Chapter 5

The birds were chirping, and the bright sun was beginning to rise. It was a morning where enjoying a leisurely breakfast with the breeze coming through the window would have been perfect. Unfortunately, that was an impossible wish. What was in front of me now wasn’t a warm breeze but Princess Rebecca glaring at me. Just moments ago, I had thought her face was incredibly beautiful, but with that glaring expression, it became unbearably annoying.

“······Why aren’t you eating?”

“······If you keep glaring at me like that, even someone with an appetite won’t be able to eat.”

“When did I glare at you?”

How did things even come to this? To solve this mystery, we need to go back to yesterday.

*

Yesterday afternoon, right after I had finished teasing Rebecca and was leaving the reception room, the problem arose. I thought that since I had met Princess Rebecca, the purpose of my visit to the Valencia Duchy Mansion, I could return to the Count’s mansion right away.

“······What did you say…?”

“The Duke and the Count are drinking together.”

The news I received was that my father, Count Zernias, and Rebecca’s father, Duke Valencia, were drinking heavily together. The butler of the Valencia Duchy, who delivered this news, looked apologetic, as if there was no room for excuses.

“···.”

I was at a loss for words. Was there a better way to describe the situation? Probably not. I even wondered if it was acceptable for people of such high status as a Duke and a Count of the Empire to act like this.

I thought my mother, Countess Zernias, might have a solution, so I went to her, but…

“Albert, your father hasn’t seen his old friend, the Duke, in a long time. Please understand just this once.”

My mother simply defended my father, who had reunited with his old friend, and didn’t offer any real solution.

‘······So my father is Duke Valencia’s close friend?’

Was that even a thing? It wasn’t entirely unbelievable, though. If the Duke and the Count weren’t close friends, Rebecca and I wouldn’t have been engaged in the first place. A Count is a high-ranking noble, but it’s nothing compared to a Duke. In a world with a strict social hierarchy like [The Crown Prince Wields a Sword], there’s no way a Count’s family and a Duke’s family would become in-laws without a good reason.

And so, thanks to my father reuniting with his old friend, I was forced to stay overnight at the Valencia Duchy Mansion. The result was a breakfast alone with the Princess.

······Alone? Then where did our parents and the Duke and Duchess go?

“······Princess, where are our parents…?”

“If you’re looking for Count Zernias and the Countess, they’re still asleep due to their hangovers.”

“···.”

“They drank late into the night.”

As if it were the natural outcome, Princess Rebecca nodded and continued eating her soup. She was calmly having breakfast as if this situation was nothing out of the ordinary. Watching her eat so nonchalantly, as if my feelings didn’t matter at all, made me curious.

“Princess, aren’t you bothered by this?”

“······What do you mean?”

“This situation where our parents are completely drunk, and we’re having breakfast together.”

“······Pfft.”

Hearing my question, Rebecca let out an unexpected laugh. Her expression was as if she had expected this, and she smirked annoyingly.

“Are you bothered by being with me?”

“···.”

“Well, you’ve probably never had breakfast with a beautiful lady like me before. Don’t be shy. It’s only natural.”

It was an incredibly irritating statement, but sadly, there was no lie in Rebecca’s words. The way she was eating, following all the noble etiquette, was truly beautiful, and any normal man would have fallen for her. Even I, who had argued fiercely with her yesterday, had been staring at her eating until she asked what I was looking at.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Have you really fallen for me?”

But regardless of that, I couldn’t just let Princess Rebecca sit there with that smug, victorious smile. My pride and burning competitive spirit wouldn’t allow it. I had to change that annoyingly smug expression of hers somehow.

After making up my mind, I stood up.

“Princess, does this mean you’re not bothered by this situation?”

“······Huh?”

Rebecca seemed confused by my question, as if she didn’t understand the point. Like, why is he suddenly saying this?

To help her understand, I decided to explain kindly.

“Princess, I asked if you’re okay with having breakfast alone with me.”

“Of course. Why would I care about you?”

“Then it wouldn’t be a problem if I fed you, right?”

“Of course······. Wait, what?”

Rebecca glared at me as if she had misheard. Once again, I kindly repeated myself for her.

“I’ll feed you, Princess.”

“······Have you lost your mind?”

She directly asked me if I was crazy. That was probably a toned-down version of what she really wanted to say. In her mind, she was probably thinking, ‘What kind of lunatic is this?’ or ‘This guy’s completely insane.’

But unfortunately, I was in a perfectly normal state.

“No, I’m perfectly sane.”

“A sane person would say they’re going to… feed someone?”

Rebecca stumbled over her words, as if even saying it was embarrassing. But what I was about to say was even more outrageous.

“Isn’t it natural to feed the fiancée you love?”

“The fiancée… you love…?”

Rebecca now looked at me as if I were a complete madman. If before it was ‘What kind of lunatic is this?’, now it was ‘What kind of freak is this?’

“Yes. The fiancée I love.”

“······Are you serious? ······No, don’t answer. I’m getting goosebumps.”

As I opened my mouth to answer, Rebecca immediately cut me off. She then looked around as if checking if anyone else was nearby. If anyone from the Duke’s household had heard what I just said, they would probably die of embarrassment.

I looked at Rebecca curiously. Feeling my gaze, she glared at me and asked.

“······What’s with that creepy look?”

“I’m just confused.”

“About what…?”

“Didn’t you say you don’t care about me?”

Rebecca seemed to realize she had dug her own grave. According to her logic, it shouldn’t matter whether I fed her or not. But her overreaction to me offering to feed her meant that she did care, didn’t it?

Rebecca was trapped in the contradiction she had created.

“Let me ask again. Do you care about me, Princess?”

“······No. Why would I care about you…”

Her voice was smaller than before, but Rebecca still refused to bend her pride. Typical of Princess Rebecca, who had as much pride as she did competitiveness.

I approached her, holding a spoon in one hand.

“······Why are you coming closer?”

As I approached, Rebecca shrunk back like a cat seeing something unfamiliar. She was still sitting in her chair, but she was subtly shifting her hips back, trying to get as far away from me as possible.

In an instant, I was right beside her.

“Didn’t I say? I’m going to feed my beloved fiancée.”

“···.”

I could tell she wanted to say something, but because of what she had said earlier, she couldn’t say anything.

I brought the spoon to the soup in front of Rebecca and successfully scooped up a spoonful.

“······Are you really going to do this?”

Rebecca seemed confused, as if she couldn’t believe this was real. Her expression was one of disbelief, as if she couldn’t reconcile the person who had argued with her so fiercely yesterday with the one now trying to feed her.

I ignored her hesitation and spoke.

“Yes. So open your mouth.”

“···.”

After hesitating for a while, Rebecca finally opened her mouth slightly, as if she had no choice.

“Chew well.”

And I fed her the soup.

*Creak-*

The dining room door opened at that moment.

“Rebecca? I’m sorry. I drank too much last night…”

The voice of Duchess Valencia, apologizing, entered the dining room.

“······Mother.”

“···.”

Of course, she saw me feeding Rebecca like a mother bird feeding her chick, and Rebecca accepting it without a word like a baby bird.

Faced with the unexpected arrival of her mother, Rebecca’s face turned bright red, as if it were about to explode.