4. When Things Are Unusually Quiet, It Means Something Is Happening (part 4)
“Your Majesty, I have no desire to become in-laws with you, and I don’t care in the slightest who you marry.”
“I see.”
“So please tell me honestly. Are you really planning to marry Marcella Morris?”
“That’s my intention.”
‘Why do you look like that’s such an obvious thing to ask?’
Martinez was flabbergasted. Arthur Digory, who usually played the emperor’s interpreter, was lost in thought with his mouth firmly shut. Martinez clicked her tongue in frustration.
“Why?”
“Weren’t you all the ones who told me to take an empress?”
“Why Marcella Morris, I mean. It’s not like Your Majesty said you’d just marry anyone because we were being noisy. You personally chose Marcella Morris.”
“If Marcella becomes empress, then it would be fine for me to spend time with her, wouldn’t it?”
“Your Majesty, so you want to take that young lady as empress because you want to spend time with her?”
The emperor once again tilted his head with that incomprehensible expression.
Martinez realized her mouth kept falling open like an idiot, but she couldn’t close it.
“Your Majesty actually felt such emotions toward another person? Seriously? That Your Majesty, who seems like an ancient magical weapon wearing human skin?”
“Your jokes are peculiar. Then did my mother give birth to a magical weapon?”
“I’m not the least bit amused, so you don’t need to try to return my jokes.”
Duke Martinez waved her hand dismissively.
She glanced sideways at Nell for a moment, then leaned forward and whispered.
“Are you serious? Do you really intend to take that young lady as empress?”
“Who are you referring to as ‘that young lady’—Marcella?”
“Then who else would it be? I know you’re frustrating, but stop being frustrating and tell me quickly. Are you really planning to propose to her!”
“If you mean propose, I already did.”
“What?”
“Today.”
Martinez stepped back in surprise.
She looked at Nell and shook her head repeatedly while exclaiming in amazement.
“Your Majesty, the ancient magical weapon is more passionate than I thought. There’s going to be something big in the imperial family soon. Since we’ve only had bloodshed as big events, I should have flower petals scattered for once. I need to order a warehouse full of flower petals right away.”
“If you want to buy flower petals, you may.”
“Yes, I will. So passionately that I’ll suffocate that young lady with the flower fragrance.”
“It would be troublesome if Marcella suffocated when I haven’t even received her acceptance yet.”
Duke Martinez, who had been crossing her arms and thinking about what flowers and what color petals to buy, paused.
When she looked up, Nell was still staring at her with the same expression as before.
“What do you mean by that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Acceptance! Why? Does that young lady dislike grand weddings? Does she want a modest ceremony?”
“I don’t know.”
At Nell’s mystifying and frustrating answer, Martinez clicked her tongue and turned to Arthur. He was still keeping his mouth firmly shut, lost in thought about something.
“Arthur Digory! Don’t just stand there in a daze—you tell me. Did His Majesty propose or not?”
When Martinez asked, Arthur only moved his eyes to look at her.
When Duke Martinez frowned, Arthur sighed.
“He did.”
“Then what do you mean by acceptance? Did she say she disliked the wedding itself?”
“Something like that.”
“Arthur Digory, the reason I’m specifically asking you is so you’ll explain simply and clearly for me to understand.”
When Martinez got angry, Arthur let out a deep sigh and smirked.
“To put it simply and clearly for you to understand, Your Grace, it’s true that His Majesty proposed to Lady Marcella, and it’s also true that he didn’t receive acceptance.”
“So what kind of acceptance are you talking about!”
Martinez shouted in frustration. Then Arthur let out choppy laughter.
“The proposal, Martinez.”
“What?”
“He proposed and didn’t receive acceptance of that proposal.”
“…You mean he was rejected?”
Neither Arthur nor Nell answered.
Martinez found it so absurd she started laughing. What flowers indeed.
It seemed like the situation called for putting a bouquet in the emperor’s hands for courting that young lady.
“Arthur Digory, tell me. How did it come to this?”
“Didn’t Your Grace say you didn’t care what romance His Majesty engaged in?”
“Can you call His Majesty’s one-sided love a romance?”
Arthur just smiled silently while glaring at Martinez, saying nothing.
Martinez frowned and met his gaze. That bastard wouldn’t just stay quiet.
“So? Did that young lady who rejected His Majesty return to Morris?”
“No. I couldn’t just let her go.”
Of course. That vicious bastard who would go through fire and water for the emperor’s affairs wouldn’t have let her go.
“Though she did reject His Majesty’s request, she’s staying well in the annex. Now, since Your Grace has heard all this information from us, you’ll naturally help us, won’t you?”
“Arthur Digory, what nonsense are you talking?”
“Are you saying you’ll pretend not to know after learning everything?”
Martinez was irritated by the smirking smile of fatherless Arthur.
“That’s fine with me. I do happen to know the trivial fact that your husband’s shiny, flowing hair is actually a wig magically stuck on, but it’s not important.”
“How do you know that!”
“So, will you help His Majesty and receive his gratitude? Or will you comfort your wounded husband?”
Duke Martinez gritted her teeth and glared at Arthur. A vein bulged on her forehead.
Arthur smiled sweetly at her and clapped his hands together, applauding.
“Your Grace is a true romantic.”
“Shut it, fatherless Arthur.”
“I may not have a father, but I do have hair.”
“I’ll talk to you again tomorrow.”
Nell spoke to the two people engaged in their war of nerves. Both heads turned toward him simultaneously.
“About what?”
“I’ll propose to her again tomorrow.”
Duke Martinez’s eyes turned to Arthur.
Arthur desperately searched for something to say, but nothing came easily. Tomorrow, what was he going to do again?
“Your Majesty, what’s with that expression? You don’t really expect that the young lady who rejected you today will accept tomorrow, do you?”
“You’re saying something similar to Marcella.”
“Arthur Digory.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Let’s be honest. What are the chances of success?”
Arthur’s lips stretched sideways in a grin.
“The lower the odds, the more thrilling the satisfaction when you succeed, don’t you think?”
“…Arthur Digory, do as you please. I’m sorry for Charlie, but he’ll get used to that level of mockery eventually.”
“Your Grace.”
“I’m only hearing about it secondhand, but the fact that I see no hope isn’t because I’m negative. I’m normally a very positive person.”
Arthur snorted with laughter.
When Martinez glared at him, he smiled sweetly as if nothing had happened.
“Now is exactly the time to display that positive nature. I heard Your Grace also made considerable efforts to win your husband’s love. Please think of it as similar to that.”
“At least I succeeded in my proposal, which is why Charlie became my husband.”
“Your Grace, Lady Marcella is only seventeen. Of course she was surprised and rejected the sudden proposal from His Majesty. She must have been frightened too.”
“…So how do you plan to fix His Majesty’s failed romance?”
“Failed romance? His Majesty failed at proposing, but did he fail at love?”
Martinez looked at Arthur, then sighed.
Arthur smirked and grabbed Martinez’s shoulder, kneading it.
“Come now, how can anyone be good at everything from the start? But with our positive romantic Duke Martinez helping out here and there, what is there to fear? Nothing!”
Martinez sighed again while receiving the massage.
“Your Majesty, proposals come later. Do you understand? Don’t go get rejected like an idiot again.”
“Calling His Majesty an idiot, Your Grace.”
“By the way, how exactly were you rejected?”
Arthur scolded Martinez, but she snorted.
Only then did Nell realize that despite Duke Martinez telling him proposals should come later, he had proposed again.
He was sure he had answered her that he understood, but the words had come out on their own when she said yesterday’s proposal should be forgotten.
“Marcella.”
When he called her name, she trembled again. As Martinez and Arthur had said, the order was wrong and proposing again was indeed the problem.
“If you wish, you may forget today’s proposal as well.”
Nell waited for Marcella’s expression to soften.
However, Marcella’s face didn’t soften easily. Rather than softening, it only got worse.
Hadn’t she made that same face and left her shoes behind that night when Tamarin was teasing her? Now Tamarin wasn’t even here, so why was she making that expression?
“Your face won’t clear up.”
He had even said she could forget the proposal.
Disappointed that Marcella’s face wouldn’t clear up, Nell’s voice dropped. Then Marcella startled and became wary, which he could see.
Those large eyes were definitely afraid of something.
Nell put his hand to his temple and tilted his head.
Marcella, whom he had met again after three years, seemed like a completely different person from before. But back then, Marcella was still Marcella.
Nell thought about what had changed since then.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
Marcella’s face crumpled strangely. Her complexion was still pale, and he could see her lips pressed firmly together. Nell’s expression darkened accordingly.
No matter how much she was wary after they met again, during the several times they had tea together—as Manister had said, as time spent with her accumulated—he thought they had grown quite close. She hadn’t shown signs of being afraid of anything either.
But now they weren’t close at all. Rather, he felt more distant than before.
“That’s not what I wanted.”
Nell turned his head away from Marcella.
Arthur’s brow furrowed as he quietly watched Nell. Was His Majesty hurt and turning his head away now? What was that expression?
“Lady Marcella, please don’t misunderstand. His Majesty simply spoke those words hoping you wouldn’t be so tense.”
Arthur offered an excuse for Nell. However, Marcella had already decided never to trust Arthur Digory.
“Then what do you want from me?”
Don’t be tense, he said. How could she not be tense in front of the emperor?
Marcella stole a glance at Nell. He looked back at her briefly, then turned his head away completely.
Marcella took a deep breath.
“If you want to punish me, then punish me.”
“…Punish?”
Nell looked back at Marcella and tilted his head. Had his eyes gotten a little bigger, or was that Marcella’s imagination?
“Do you want to be punished?”
“Yes, please punish me and then…”
“My lady!”
Arthur hurriedly interrupted.
Marcella blinked in surprise at Arthur’s loud voice.
“What are you saying! The person who should be treated as the most precious guest in this palace is talking about punishment! Absolutely not!”
“A precious guest?”
Who grabs the leg of a precious guest, knocks them down, and threatens them not to leave? Marcella glared at Arthur.
Then Arthur put his hand to his chest and shook his head.
“My lady, you are, after all!”
Wasn’t she the person who received a proposal from the emperor? The person the emperor declared with his own mouth in a meeting that he would take as empress. He didn’t know what she was thinking to say such things, but how could she not be treated as precious?
Well, Marcella Morris herself had rejected that proposal twice, and not stopping there, had told him never to propose again. Ah, how could he not consider her precious!
“Because you’re close friends with His Majesty.”
“Sir Digory!”
No matter that she had given up on him not spreading secrets everywhere, she had hoped he wouldn’t tell the emperor at least. But to reveal it here, now!
Marcella’s pale face gaped open. She desperately hoped the emperor hadn’t heard Arthur’s loose-tongued words.
“Close friends?”
But that was impossible. He was looking at Marcella with some unreadable thought, saying nothing.
Arthur was a liar with a tongue as light as a feather. When Marcella glared at Arthur, he smiled sweetly.
“I never promised to keep it secret, did I?”
So even if you begged me, you can’t blame me now. Arthur’s eyes seemed to say exactly that.
Arthur Digory was truly an untrustworthy man. Absolutely. Not even a little bit!
“Your Majesty, aren’t you pleased? Lady Marcella thinks so highly of you.”
Though Marcella Morris probably didn’t actually think of the emperor as a close friend, Arthur babbled whatever came to mind. Then Nell, who had seemed sulky, looked back at Marcella as if nothing had happened.
Arthur genuinely found this amusing. Though things had gotten complicated, his plan was proceeding quite smoothly.
“Your Majesty! Please say something. Lady Marcella doesn’t believe anything I tell her.”
“What should I say?”
“Your Majesty, Lady Marcella is worried that you might furiously punish her, even though she considers you a close friend! It’s an absurd thought!”
Nell’s eyelids moved slowly.
When Nell looked at Marcella, her complexion was no longer pale. She was red from her neck up, unable to close her mouth.
“Are you and I close friends?”
“That is, well…”
Arthur Digory! That liar who doesn’t even honor a person’s plea to keep something secret—shameless man!
“I won’t punish you for calling us close friends.”
Should she thank him? It was fortunate that he wouldn’t hold her accountable for her transgression.
But Marcella didn’t feel fortunate at all. How ridiculous she must look now—rejecting the emperor’s proposals in front of him while calling him a close friend behind his back!
“I didn’t know you and I had that kind of relationship.”
Rather than mocking her like Arthur would, his matter-of-fact tone made her feel even more ashamed.
“Marcella, you’re like a ripe tomato.”
Now she was too embarrassed to even lift her head.
Marcella wanted to throw away the promise and everything else and go home. If that wasn’t possible, she wanted to hide in a mouse hole. Were there mouse holes in the imperial palace?
“My lady, do you know? His Majesty calls cute things tomato-like.”
Arthur whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Marcella lifted her bowed head to glare at Arthur. His smile seemed vile.
“Have I ever said such a thing?”
Arthur’s head whipped toward Nell.
He stared wide-eyed at Nell, shooting daggers with his gaze. But as always, Nell didn’t understand Arthur’s look.
Watching this, Marcella also glared at Arthur.
Liar Arthur Digory. A fraud who always told ridiculous lies.
“Your Majesty! Why are you doing this?”
As soon as they entered his room in the main palace after leaving the annex, Arthur shouted. Though it was surprising for the usually silent fellow to suddenly shout, Nell was already used to it.
“What do you mean?”
“The tomato, the tomato!”
“Tomato?”
“To Lady Marcella!”
Nell tilted his head.
Arthur gritted his teeth and raised both hands above his head.
“I helped you! I said you call cute things tomato-like. You could have smoothly said she was cute!”
“I’ve never thought of tomatoes as cute.”
“I wasn’t talking about actual tomatoes. Lady Marcella, Lady Marcella!”
“I’ve never thought of her as cute…”
Nell trailed off.
“You have! None other than you yourself!”
Arthur bulged his eyes and shook his fists above his head, then finally grabbed his own hair.
“You should have said that!”
“If I say it.”
Nell sat on the sofa and placed the listless Phoenix on his lap.
“Will her expression soften if I say it?”
“Of course!”
Maybe.
When Arthur answered, Nell nodded slightly and stroked Phoenix.
—Nell.
Phoenix, who had been quietly feeling his touch on Nell’s lap, called to him in a whisper. Then Nell looked down at Phoenix.
—Nell. Are these emotions I’m feeling, or emotions you’re feeling?
Nell didn’t answer.
