Chapter 48
While exposing one’s back was a concept of guarding, a man and woman walking side by side had a different meaning. She remembered being taught in etiquette lessons long ago that only couples who were married, engaged, or had promised such a future could stand side by side.
This looks like I’m the one seducing him.
Sian thought to herself, furrowing her brow deeply. As she was feeling awkward from this belated realization, Carl broke the heavy silence first.
“By the way, thank you so much. It must have been a difficult decision.”
“…Ah, it’s nothing. If Reva is involved, it’s also an ill-fated connection I need to cut off anyway.”
The wind blew through the landscape now plunged into darkness. The temple at night was tranquil. In the cloister of the temple, said to have been created with all the magic of the founding dragon, there were only the voices and footsteps of Sian and Carl.
“…During the day, I felt conflicted in various ways after suddenly hearing Reva’s name. But thinking about it now, I wonder if this was meant to be from the beginning.”
“Is there such a thing as something meant to be? The decision is yours to make.”
Carl said. His tone was overtly comforting. Sian smiled bitterly.
“I’ve been living thinking that way until now, but…”
Her voice trailed off involuntarily. Carl turned his head to look at Sian at her bitter voice.
“If it’s something you really don’t want to do, you don’t have to force yourself to face it.”
Carl’s words were thoroughly sincere. In the perfect silence with no other noise interfering, the subtle sincerity hidden in his words was clearly felt.
“Some people consider avoidance a sin, but everyone is born with different capacities. In the world, there are bamboos that withstand the wind well, but there are also pine trees that break. After all, everyone is born to live, so there’s no need to face a strong wind when you clearly know you’ll break.”
He continued calmly to Sian, who had closed her mouth.
Sian unconsciously stopped walking. Carl, who had been walking beside her, took one or two more steps before realizing Sian had stopped and turned his head.
“…Why?”
Sian etched in her gaze the series of actions of Carl turning his head and opening his lips to make a sound after walking ahead. It happened naturally, not intentionally.
“…Did you perhaps hear something from the High Priestess?”
“The High Priestess? Why her all of a sudden?”
Carl tilted his head. He didn’t seem to be playing dumb. This meant he had spoken without knowing anything about the conversation Sian had had with the High Priestess.
“…No, it’s nothing. It’s just that Carl suddenly said something deep…”
The more she spoke, the situation became more confusing rather than clarified. This way, it seemed like she was confessing to having had a deep conversation with the High Priestess that Carl didn’t know about.
“It’s just… it sounded profound, like something a religious person would say. So I wondered if you had talked with the High Priestess…”
She made up an excuse with whatever came to mind. Sian thought even as she spoke that this might not work, but fortunately, Carl didn’t seem to feel much dissonance as he pulled at the corners of his mouth.
“Did it sound that profound? It’s just my personal opinion.”
Carl’s voice was still kind as he spoke with a light chuckle. Sian smiled as gently as she could towards him.
“It was quite a profound comfort to me.”
“…Well, I’m glad if that’s the case.”
Carl answered, seeming a bit embarrassed. Sian smiled again.
For a moment, she suspected he might have heard something from the High Priestess, as he spoke as if he knew she had been avoiding being a dragon master and had come back.
But he really seemed to know nothing. If it was just his personal opinion as he said, it was an even warmer comfort that stayed in Sian’s heart.
This is only making me fall for him more.
Sian thought, giving up after trying to calm her pounding heart. Their halted steps resumed. Carl, who had aligned himself with Sian again to walk side by side, opened his mouth as he took a step.
“Asking my brother to create a fake identity for you doesn’t mean I intend to deeply involve you in my situation. It’s just a precaution for the one-in-a-million chance, so don’t feel too burdened.”
“It’s okay now, things like that. I’ve already made my decision, so don’t worry too much.”
“How can that be? After all, it was my will to ask you to come along, and to try not to put you in danger.”
Sian let out a small laugh at Carl’s words.
“It’s my will to follow you. It’s also my intention to conclude and settle things, whether they’re fated connections or ill-fated ones. Do I look like someone who can’t even make such decisions and just gets dragged along?”
“…Right. But hearing you say that makes me feel a bit lighter too.”
Sian glanced at Carl. Carl’s voice, as he said this with a faint smile while looking straight ahead, indeed sounded lighter.
“I’ve decided to maintain a confrontational stance with my brother as if we haven’t resolved our misunderstanding for a while. It’ll be more advantageous for drawing out weak points that way.”
“You did well.”
Sian nodded.
“You can just pretend to be part of my entourage for now. There’s no need to reveal that you’re a mercenary, so when my brother finds a suitable identity, you can stay as a noble lady with that name.”
“But if I go with Your Highness, won’t I need a justification regardless of the name? It would look strange for a prince who disappeared after nearly dying from false accusations to suddenly appear with a woman, wouldn’t it?”
“I’ve thought about that too.”
Carl trailed off as he was about to respond to Sian’s words.
This is an opportunity. Thinking this, Carl cleared his throat with an “Ahem.”
“They say when you’re thinking of a plausible lie, it’s usually best to mix in half-truths, right? So I thought…”
“…?”
Sian blinked at Carl’s strange attitude, suddenly clearing his throat and choosing his words.
“How about saying that a lady from a fallen noble family happened to save me when I was about to die, and while treating me, we got along well and got engaged?”
“…”
Engaged. Sian unconsciously stopped walking at the word she hadn’t even thought of.
Engaged? When all that’s happened is giving a few strands of hair, what’s this about…
Thinking that far, Sian shook her head hard. What’s this lascivious thought about only giving hair?
She felt dizzy.
“…But, wait.”
At times like this, she needed to be more alert than ever. Sian told herself inwardly. Of course, she had no idea what “times like this” meant.
“How is that half-truth?”
Isn’t it almost all true?
When Sian asked quite seriously while trying to control her reddening cheeks, Carl also cleared his throat unnecessarily and trailed off.
“The engagement part…”
“Be precise with your expressions. It’s mostly truth with a small amount of lies.”
“…Anyway.”
Carl, left with nothing to say at Sian’s cold point, sulkily covered up his words.
“But isn’t that strange too? You’re not some bumpkin who’s never seen a woman. The part where a prince gets engaged right away to a fallen noble woman just because she saved his life when he was about to die.”
“…”
Carl closed his mouth.
A bumpkin who’s never seen a woman?
Sian spoke in quite a serious tone, but he couldn’t understand why it made him feel unpleasantly denied.
“Well, isn’t a prince human too? If someone saved his life, he could fall for them regardless of status. He could promise engagement out of gratitude.”
“Come on, a prince has dignity. The setup is too light.”
“…”
Sian let out a ringing mockery, not knowing Carl’s feelings.
This woman…
For the first time in a while, Carl had to savor the feeling of boiling inside. Come to think of it, he had forgotten for a moment. How much of a master of provocative speech the woman in front of him was.
“Let’s remove the engagement and just keep the life-saving benefactor. I think that would be better?”
“No.”
Sian said after laughing out loud, and Carl answered immediately.
Huh? Sian made a dumbfounded sound with the same laughing face.
“Plausibility, princely dignity, I don’t care about any of that. Let’s keep it including the engagement.”
“…What?”
Sian blinked. Was it an illusion that Carl’s expression, making such a firm statement in the darkness, looked oddly sulky?
After wondering for a moment, Sian realized that even the “small amount of lies” Carl had mentioned was infinitely close to the truth. He had just covered it up by calling it a plausible lie out of embarrassment.
As soon as she realized this, the smile disappeared from her face. What replaced it was only an awkwardness more profound than silence.
…Why is this handsome prince so straightforwardly honest without any curves? And why is he moving so fast?
Sian bit her lip, unable to bear the embarrassment. It was a startling thing.
“W-well…”
Not knowing how to respond, Sian awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.
“If Your Highness really wants it that way, let’s do that… I suppose even a prince is human and could do that, well…”
When Sian, belatedly becoming aware, spoke as if giving in, Carl’s expression relaxed.
His expression changing with every word was truly honest. Along with the embarrassment rising to the top of her head, she thought his honest appearance was quite cute.
Is it okay to like this so much? Sian was swallowing the smile secretly blooming while looking at the floor when she suddenly recalled what had happened during the day.
“…Huh?”
Somehow, a strange premonition came over her. Sian stopped walking and unconsciously tilted her head.
“Why again?”
“Carl, is this perhaps a calculated move?”
“…What?”
Carl, who had stopped walking along with Sian, made a puzzled expression.
“I mean that knight, Michael, from earlier.”
“…”
As soon as Sian spoke the introduction, Carl’s face stiffened as if something had occurred to him. From that expression, Sian immediately understood the situation without needing to hear the rest.
“I’m right, aren’t I? You’ve already glossed over it with that implausible situation to him, haven’t you?”
It was certain. Michael’s attitude of responding with an “Ah!” and giving polite treatment right after Carl whispered something had no other reason.
“No? It’s not like that? Do you think I would say such an outrageous thing without getting your permission first?”
Carl tried to play dumb in an incredibly awkward tone, as if reading from a book, but Sian wasn’t one to fall for it.
“Come on, engagement isn’t child’s play, surely.”
Carl tried hard to joke, but it was still clumsy. Sian’s eyes narrowed.
“Did His Highness the Crown Prince fall for such words too?”
“…”
