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Chapter 25
Dating Counseling by Caesar W. Gray
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
“I haven’t seen Hamilton lately.”
One summer, while sitting with his chin on his hand and checking documents, Crown Prince Caesar muttered so as if he had suddenly remembered.
Rowena, who was standing in a relaxed posture in front of the desk, answered with a doll-like expressionless face.
“He is probably in the maze garden. Shall I bring him here?”
“The maze garden? Why there? Did he get a job as a gardener again?”
Caesar asked, frowning disapprovingly.
“He must be meeting with Count Gallon.”
Count Gallon was a woman about the same age as Hamilton. Come to think of it, the Count was also single.
“Is he in a relationship with Count Gallon?”
“Perhaps.”
“Here I am wondering if I can go see Helena right now, but he is dating?”
Last summer, he barely had time to go to the duke’s residence. This year, he was so behind in his work that he didn’t know what to do, so he was still full of bitterness.
But my only aide is dating? Seriously?
“How shameful. I myself haven’t made much progress yet, but he is trying to get married by himself…”
Caesar mumbled, chewing the tip of the pen.
As for the master whom Caesar cares about so much, she knows nothing but swordsmanship that even her love cells seem to have died.
No matter how much he teases her, she just looks at him with the gaze of “you are doing cute things, my disciple”. When Caesar met those eyes, he felt despair as if there was no hope no matter what he did in this life.
“Have you not held hands yet?”
“Of course. We held hands, hugged, and slept in the same bed.”
It’s a story from his childhood. But of course he didn’t say that.
They even kissed. It was Helena’s, who doesn’t  like to meet people, first kiss as well.
The problem is that she thinks it was just a brief impulse of being swept away by the atmosphere.
She’s saying kissing is nothing. She’s never dated before. Why is she so open-minded?
“Considering the indifferent nature of the princess, it seems that things are going well.”
“Even after all that, she doesn’t seem to see me as a man, though?”
“…Giving up hopeless things quickly is the shortest way to hurt less…”
“Don’t say it’s hopeless.”
Caesar choked off his words.
“Why don’t you try more intense physical contact?”
“I’ve even given up my thighs.”
“Thighs… Surprisingly, you have already given away so many things.”
Rowena hummed.
In any situation, a grown-up lady touching a grown-up man’s thigh is…
“I’m going crazy. I’m ready to give Helena anything she wants, but the problem is that Helena is the incarnation of ignorance.”
“What a difficult love you have.”
“What else do I have to give to make me look like a man? Rowena, what should a man give to make your heart beat?”
“Money.”
“Nevermind. I chose the wrong person to ask.”
Caesar clicked his tongue, turning his head away from Rowena.
“Since everyone has different tastes, wouldn’t it be useless to ask anyone? All that’s important is what the princess likes.”
“I mean, Helena… Helena likes to do nothing.”
There was a heavy silence at Caesar’s answer. After a while, Rowena opened her mouth as if she had found the answer with difficulty.
“Hopeless relationship should end quickly…”
“I said no.”
Caesar said with disgust.
However, it is true that a question crept into his mind. Is there really any hope?
“Ha… I miss Helena.”
Talking about Helena, loneliness suddenly flows in like a tide. Caesar fell flat on his face on the desk.
This grown man behaves very differently in front of his own people and in front of others.
Those who fear Caesar as the “gray wolf” should see this now.
Rowena clicked her tongue outwardly.
“If you are unsure, would you like to seek counseling?”
“Counseling? What kind of counseling?”
“Dating counseling. With the son of my friend’s husband’s in-law’s relative who belongs to the Black Knights.”
“What’s with that relationship? Isn’t that just a stranger?”
“Before joining the Knights Order, he was called ‘The Devil’s Black Rose’ and popular with women.”
“It’s getting more and more suspicious.”
What is that? A playboy?
Caesar frowned. He doesn’t want to be popular with women. He wants to win Helena’s heart.
However, Rowena continued speaking in a voice that was not at all daunted.
“For reference, I was also a little shaken when I first met him.”
“…That’s a little tempting.”
Caesar’s eyes finally lit up.
If even Rowena is shaken at first sight, he might be someone who knows a lot about a woman’s heart.
Learning the secret may help to shake Helena’s heart.
“Alright. I want you to arrange a meeting with him soon. Before I go south this summer, I must listen to some tips.”
“Instead, you have to finish your work.”
“I promise. Even if I stay up all night, I will finish it.”
Rowena, who is being called ‘the wolf trainer’ by people who know her, fixed her glasses with a rare smile.
***
Ash Garon was a handsome man who was tall with a gentle impression. The black uniform of the Black Knights suits him like a painting, so Caesar understands a little that even Rowena was smitten at first sight.
“The secret of winning a woman’s heart.”
Ash, who had already heard the circumstances through Rowena, explained with a smile that seemed to blow the scent of flowers.
“It’s simple, Your Highness.”
“What is it?”
“You just have to be good-looking.”
Caesar was greatly astonished at the answer. God, I didn’t expect this to help.
“Do you think I’m meeting you to hear about such nonsense?”
“But there is no weapon more than a handsome face to win people’s hearts on a first meeting, Your Highness.”
“What if it wasn’t the first time we met? If you’re already in a good relationship, just that you’re not developing into a deeper relationship.”
“Excuse me, but is it about Young Lady Brande? Or about Princess Peresca…?”
At Ash’s hasty curiosity, bloodthirst flickered in Caesar’s eyes.
“You asked despite knowing it is rude, is it because you have more than one life?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
Ash said as he quickly lowered his tail. He almost lost his neck out of unnecessary curiosity.
“Umm. I see. Then there’s the surest way to increase the progress of the relationship.”
“What’s that?”
“Money.”
“…It’s not difficult to believe that you’re acquainted with Rowena Evergreen now.”
Caesar muttered with a tired expression on his face.
“Do you have any more practical secrets?”
“It sounds like you want something more specific. Hmm. Well, there’s one thing.”
“Oho.”
At Ash’s serious expression, Caesar leaned forward a little.
“Nine out of ten people will fall for this secret. However, this is the secret that is floating around among the common people, not the aristocrats. Would that be all right?”
“I’ll just listen and make a decision.”
Although there were only two people in the room, Ash looked around for no reason, as if he was about to tell a big secret. Then, place one hand on the side of the mouth in the shape of a funnel and whisper secretly.
“Have you ever heard of ‘striking the wall’?”
[T/N: It means ‘kabe-don’. You can search ‘kabe-don’ in google. It is hard for me to explain here]
***
Striking the wall.
It is a technique that can show reliability and charisma in the appearance of pushing aggressively, and subtlety and softness from a gaze that looks down deeply.
Moreover, it is said that nine out of ten naturally lead to kissing.
‘It’s a technique worth trying out…!’
Caesar burned with enthusiasm.
Summer. The Duchy.
Although it was a little later than the other times, Caesar managed to finish his work and come down to the duke’s residence.
To the extent that Helena’s harsh swordsmanship class felt friendly, Caesar’s whole nerves were focused on ‘striking the wall’.
‘The time, place, and atmosphere must be optimal.’
It cannot be done in a sweaty state after sword class. It is also impossible to do it in a place where servants often come and go. In particular, if Leonard or Agoth finds out, it will become very difficult.
But he can’t be too relaxed. If something suddenly happens in the capital and he gets a call, he has to go back right away.
Carefully and meticulously. Nimble and alert.
“What have you been thinking about?”
At Helena’s voice, Caesar raised his head.
Late at night, they were walking side by side in the hallway to take Helena to her bedroom.
At Caesar’s stiff expression, Helena finally spoke to him.
“Are you having any troubles these days?”
“No?”
“But even in class, you seem to have a different thought, and you look nervous all the time.”
Helena’s worried voice made Caesar happy and distressed.
You’re so quick to notice things like this, so why can’t you notice a man’s heart?
‘I feel like a fool.’
“…Ah.”
Then, Helena stopped abruptly and held her face in one hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I think some dust got into my eye.”
“What? Let me take a look.”
Helena looked up in tears. Her eyes were red because she rubbed them. Caesar blew a few times.
“How is it?”
“Uh… I think I’m fine.”
Helena wiped her tear-filled eyes with the back of her hand.
She’s a teacher who doesn’t seem to have anything to be afraid of in the world, but she cries because of some dust in her eyes.
Caesar just laughed, barely holding back her urge to hug her.
…Uh, by the way.
A quiet night. A hallway with no one in it. Two people standing close together.
Isn’t this the right time?
Gulp. Caesar swallowed his saliva.
“Helena.”
“Mm? Why… Woah.”
Like this.
Caesar pushed Helena against the wall, and put one hand on the wall.
Helena, leaning against the wall, looked up at Caesar with her round eyes, startled. She was like a rabbit entangled and cornered in a fox’s trap.
But be careful. This rabbit is carnivorous, it will bite you if you do it wrong.
‘Deep eyes. I look down with deep eyes… Wait, but what does it mean looking with deep eyes?’
His heart is pounding, and his gaze turns white. When he actually gets into action, he feels embarrassed in unexpected parts.
However, Caesar kept as calm as possible on the outside, and looked down at Helena, who was locked in his arms with that tall stature.
“What is it, Caesar? It’s cramped.”
Caesar is doing his best, but Helena is just like, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ As he looked at her face, Caesar’s mind became complicated.
Why?
Lying, laughing, and acting falsely with anyone is easy enough that he can do it as naturally as waking up from sleep.
For Helena Peresca alone, nothing is easy.
Caesar moved a little closer to Helena and narrowed their distance. Helena doesn’t know what he’s trying to do, she just looks uncomfortable because it’s cramped.
‘The next step is natural skinship. Gently grab her chin and kiss her slowly when she closes her eyes.’
Memorizing the sequence Ash had taught, Caesar gently grabbed Helena’s chin with one hand.
He didn’t know then.
I didn’t know it was an act that provoked Helena’s anger.
“…Aren’t you going to let go?”
“…Pardon?”
“How dare you raise my head by force?”
Helena’s eyes grew bloodthirsty.
Caesar had no choice but to let go to save his life.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Helena didn’t have very good memories of being held in the jaw. Because when she was a vagrant, people often grabbed her chin and shook it sarcastically.
Caesar’s touch, which was much bigger than her face, felt more like a threat than romance to Helena, the experience engraved in her bones.
“No, it means… How can you interpret this atmosphere that way, Helena?”
Said Caesar, who was told off as a dimwit, as if he had been falsely accused.
In response, Helena sighed lightly. Then she raised her arms and pushed Caesar’s chest with all her might.
“Cough!”
Caesar’s body staggered and he retreated. In the meantime, Helena quickly changed their position and pushed Caesar against the wall. His back slammed against the wall, and Caesar flinched.
Thud.
In that state, Helena put Caesar between the wall and herself, and put one hand on the wall.
“Is this what you want to do?”
Helena grabbed Caesar’s chin with a smirk. Helena’s blue eyes gleamed fiercely in the dark.
No… What is this?
Can the gaze looking up be so powerful?
“If you joke around like this again, I’ll really get mad.”
“…I was wrong.”
Let’s apologize. I don’t know why I should apologize, but Master looked at me with her eyes as if she could kill someone, so I should apologize.
‘I’m doomed!’
The success rate is said to be nine out of ten, so Helena must have been the only one left.
He only painfully realized that ‘normal’ shouldn’t be applied to Helena.
Despite so much regret, on the one hand, Caesar added one more piece of information about Helena: Let’s not grab Helena’s chin in the future.
***
“…So, in the future, I won’t act clumsy like that and just wait for the time to come.”
One day after returning to the Imperial Palace.
Caesar reported the day to Rowena with a bewildered look on his face.
He told Rowena, not Hamilton, because she wouldn’t laugh when she heard this.
“What a ridiculous case.”
But it was a different story with her words.
“Well, I was impatient. I don’t even know for sure how she feels.”
“I see. Come to think of it, why were you so impatient?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
Caesar thought with his chin wrapped in one hand.
Perhaps he was afraid that Helena, who is lethargic and uninterested in everything, might one day abandon him because he has become insignificant.
The sudden fear, which becomes a very thin needle, penetrates the heart. Through the gap, loneliness leaks out little by little every day.
“If you are so nervous, it would be quicker to order her to become the crown princess. It’s good to block Young Lady Brande as well.”
“Without caring for her heart?”
“Once you get married, you can slowly win her heart. Are you a person who put importance on the order of things?”
“Yes. Because I want to cherish Helena.”
Yes, he knows.
Even if this fleeting emotion doesn’t reach her in the end, he’ll be constantly hovering around her.
“Haha, it is easier to be an emperor.”
Caesar laughed out loud, uttering words unknown whether it was a joke or a serious remark.