Chapter 76

If you give up, your heart feels at ease. Or, if you accept it, your heart feels at ease.

The moment you make your heart comfortable, everything in the world feels comfortable.

I don’t know who came up with this saying, but it was easy to tell that whoever created this sentence was an extraordinary person.

Whoosh-

“Ohh.”

“As expected, our young lady is the best.”

As evidence of that, the blue blade swung with the admiration of the Valencia Knights was showing the most outstanding level of swordsmanship I had ever seen from Rebecca.

“……Amazing.”

“Right.”

They say that when you witness someone so outstanding that you can feel the difference in skill, you feel awe rather than jealousy or inferiority.

That’s exactly how I felt right now.

Not sticky emotions like inferiority or jealousy, but awe that such an outstanding person exists, and pride that such an outstanding person is my lover.

Perhaps, along with Rebecca’s swordsmanship skills, my mind has also grown.

“……Your Highness. Your ears might get caught in your mouth.”

“Huh?”

“I understand that you’re fond of your fiancée… but please remember that there are many knights here who are forced to live like bachelors due to their dedication to the knights’ duties.”

“……”

Of course, as Hans said with a sour expression, it might just be that I’m being overly doting.

“Hans.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Are they really ‘forced’?”

“……”

Well, it wasn’t that important.

No matter what others say, the fact that ‘Rebecca Valencia’ is my fiancée doesn’t change.

I don’t need to pay attention to Hans, the knight of the Valencia Duchy, who subtly reminds me of our pitiful protagonist, the Crown Prince.

Leaving behind Hans’s heavy gaze filled with resentment, I headed towards Rebecca, who had just finished training, holding a towel I had received from Dorothy in advance.

“You were amazing.”

“……I told you to wait inside. Why did you come out?”

“Do you think I would miss the chance to observe the impressive figure of my beloved fiancée after so long?”

“……”

Rebecca’s face turned red again as soon as she heard the word ‘beloved.’

Her cheeks, already flushed from the intense training, turned even redder, making me worry they might burst at any moment.

“When will you get used to it?”

“……How am I supposed to get used to something like that?”

“Well, if you hear it a lot or say it yourself often, you might get used to it.”

“What are you…”

“You’re already hearing it a lot from me, so if you say it yourself often, you might get used to it quickly.”

“……”

Zap-

A gaze several times more intense than Hans’s resentful eyes was directed at me.

For someone meeting Rebecca Valencia for the first time, her naturally cold expression combined with that look would be enough to scare them stiff, but…

“If you keep glaring at me like that, I won’t do it today.”

To someone who knows her better than anyone, that scary gaze just seemed adorable.

“……”

At the mention of not doing it today, Rebecca immediately withdrew her glare.

I started to feel like an adult coaxing a child with candy, but that must just be my imagination.

“Give me your hand.”

“……Do I look like a pet to you?”

“So, you won’t give it?”

“……No.”

Feeling a slight sense of guilt creeping up, I firmly held Rebecca’s hand and left the Valencia Duchy’s training hall.

***

After Rebecca honestly expressed her feelings, my treatment at the Valencia Duchy Mansion began to change slightly.

“Oh my, isn’t it Prince Albert?”

“……What’s wrong, butler? Don’t be so formal. Treat me as usual.”

“No, how could I treat our young lady’s partner so casually?”

Not that I was treated badly before, but I guess you could say the treatment has become more splendid.

If before I was treated more like a ‘guest,’ now it definitely feels like I’m being seen as a future ‘family member.’

“Young master! Keep up the good work today!”

“You too, keep up the…!”

“Don’t get hurt! Don’t make our young lady cry! Make sure to make our young lady happy!”

“……”

Of course, sometimes that attention feels a bit excessive.

If I said a question mark didn’t pop up in my head, I’d be lying.

It’s not like I advertised that I asked Rebecca for a kiss.

It’s not like I advertised that I decided to marry Rebecca.

How on earth did every servant and every person in the duchy come to know that my relationship with Rebecca had changed?

Rebecca isn’t the type to go around spreading such stories. There shouldn’t be anything particularly noticeable……

“……Princess.”

“What is it?”

“Can you tell me since when you’ve been wearing the ring I gave you?”

“……All the time.”

“……”

They say the darkest place is under the lamp. The cause was closer than I thought.

My foolish and adorable fiancée has never taken off the ring I gave her from her finger.

“Even when you sleep?”

“Yes.”

Even right before falling asleep, and perhaps even after.

“……”

Now that I know the truth, it makes sense why all the servants in the duchy know.

Rebecca doesn’t usually wear accessories like rings.

If their young lady, who doesn’t particularly like accessories, was wearing a ring they had never seen before all day, it would be abnormal not to notice something strange.

Moreover, Rebecca’s social circle isn’t that wide.

It would be easy to deduce that the mysterious ring their young lady was wearing came from none other than her fiancé.

“……Why are you looking at me like that?”

Perhaps because I was looking at her with a look of realization. Sensing something unpleasant in my expression, Rebecca started to look sullen.

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t lie. You were definitely looking at me with that annoying expression again.”

“……Now you can tell if it’s an annoying expression just by glancing at my face?”

“Of course. How many times have I seen that expression of yours?”

“……”

I wonder if the Rebecca of the past could have ever anticipated that she would say something like this.

I think it would have been impossible, even beyond imagining.

Although not much time has passed since Rebecca admitted her feelings, sometimes I’m surprised by how much she has changed from the past.

It’s amazing how a small word like love or affection can have such great power.

As I remained silent, just looking at her, Rebecca continued.

“……So, really, why were you looking at me like that?”

“It’s really nothing.”

“Then tell me what that ‘nothing’ is.”

Because I’m curious.

I wanted to let it go, but my fiancée didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me off the hook.

I hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was okay to bring up what I was thinking in this situation.

But since it wouldn’t cause any problems to just say it, I decided to speak up.

“My fiancée is just so cute, that’s why.”

“……What?”

Finally hearing the words she had been urging for, Rebecca looked as if she had misheard.

As if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, as if her ears were playing tricks on her.

“Isn’t it cute? That you cherish the ring your fiancé gave you so much that you slept with it all night.”

“……”

But the embarrassing words that started flowing from my mouth didn’t stop.

“It’s just a simple engagement ring. I don’t understand why you cherish it so much, it’s not like you’re a fool.”

“……”

“Do you like the ring I gave you that much?”

If anything, it got worse.

Like how you get better at something the more you do it. Teasing my fiancée is no different; the more I do it, the better I get at it.

And I thought Rebecca would blush and not be able to say anything more.

That’s how she’s been until now, and although she’s occasionally exceeded my expectations, she’s never gone beyond what I could imagine.

“……Ah.”

“Huh? I didn’t hear that properly……”

“I said I like it. This ring you gave me.”

But this time was different.

Instead of bowing her head in embarrassment, Rebecca looked straight into my eyes, even though her face was red.

“I like the ring you put on me so much that I don’t want to take it off.”

“……That.”

“Is that not enough of an answer?”

“……”

In that situation, as if entranced by her red eyes and slightly moving lips, I could only slowly shake my head.

“Then it’s my turn now.”

“……”

“Why is the ring you gave me still in the exact spot where I put it on you?”

Now it was my turn to face Rebecca’s counterattack.

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