/
Rian followed Christine’s gaze as he checked her drinking the tea.
“Oh, my.”
Dana, who left for a walk early in the morning, was coming down the stairs.
“I thought it would be better to have Grand Duke Tertius than being sold to an unknown man, to have the best man I could choose.”
“What do you mean you’re being sold?”
Rian roughly responded to Christine but did not take his eyes off Dana. He wanted to catch up with Dana right away, so he was shifting in his seat.
“Hah, it’s been a while since my father was sick. It’s been a long time since my eldest brother became regent, but I’m the only one with a different mother, so he has never really liked me. That’s why he would give my hand out to anyone in marriage and clean it up… for the sake of it… ah.”
Christine felt a little dizzy like she was floating. She felt confident, and at the same time, she felt drowsy.
Amid the strange feeling, Rian’s voice rang loudly like a bell in her head.
“Okay, then, let’s talk to the Grand Duke first. Aren’t the accommodations close? It’s a shame to go back like this.”
“Yes, right. Conversation…” Oh… Where is it?”
Conversation…?
Well, she hadn’t even talked to him except when she crossed the border on a mission. For some reason, she felt her tongue go numb, but when she heard Rian, she thought he was right.
“When he sees the Princess in person, the Grand Duke will change his mind. Go to the second floor and the room on the far left.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Then hurry up and go. Hurry up. Don’t get in the way.”
Rian muttered low in an angry tone. Her pupils had already loosened, and she slowly walked in the direction he pointed out without even realizing that Rian had spoken informally to her like an obedient doll.
“Oh, my. I missed it again.”’
Rian missed Dana while getting rid of Christine.
Princess Christine’s accommodation was originally on the second floor, so the soldiers did not stop her from going up.
Rian did not expect at all that Christine would be able to seduce the Grand Duke, and he just wanted her to buy him a little time. He hadn’t given her too much of it, so even if she was dizzy, she wouldn’t collapse.
After seeing Christine climb up the stairs on the second floor and disappear into the corner, he got out of there and began to walk in the direction Dana had gone.
* * *
“This is where the room of Grand Duke Tertius is located. Did you have an appointment in advance?”
It was not until Christine reached the room at the far left that a soldier stopped her. Christine nodded once with a foolish expression on her face.
When she said yes, he could no longer stop her from entering.
Princess Christine’s condition was somewhat strange, but it didn’t look dangerous, so the soldier stepped aside.
Her long skirt swept through the floor.
Squeak!
The thick door opened easily. The door was not locked because Dana had gone out a while ago. Without pulling the curtains aside, Princess Christine entered the dark room.
“Great… Ah!”
“What?”
Leon was already awake when Christine came in. As soon as the door opened and someone other than Dana entered, he quickly got up and aimed at her with his sword.
“What is it? Coming into this room.”
“…Grand… What to say….”
“Princess Christine?”
Leon recognized that she was the royal daughter, but did not pull the sword from under her neck. Watching Christine with suspicious eyes, she tried to approach Leon, ignoring the blade touching her neck.
“Speak from there, I will listen.”
No matter how much he did, he couldn’t hurt the royal daughter’s body, so he gently put the sword down. Looking a little deeper, he could see that she was not normal.
While calling Leon, Christine’s eyes were out of focus.
“Are you still drunk? Where are all the maids…”
“To meet you, ah…!”
Suddenly, Christine sank to the floor. She frowned as if she was in pain, and looked around with trembling eyes. Then she gasped and breathed in.
“Why? Why am I here? Where am I?”
Princess Christine looked very anxious, but her eyes and tone were clearer than before. Her mind had returned.
Leon looked at her even more puzzled. Princess Christine shouted at Leon in an uneasy and nervous voice.
“Can’t you hear me? Why… Am I suddenly with you? Where are we?”
“You came here with your own feet. This is my room.”
“No way….”
Christine bit her lips hard. She couldn’t remember the process of getting here at all. She shook her head from side to side and tried to get up from the floor.
Leon stretched out the scabbard and let her hold it when she reached out.
“Are you awake?”
As Leon remembered, Princess Christine was not a person with a good personality even when she was in her right mind. So he thought for a moment about what use this question was.
Princess Christine murmured, frowning.
“I don’t remember again…”
“What do you mean?”
“The reason I came here and that I came myself… I can’t remember at all!”
Princess Christine raised her voice as if she were terrified. Leon, who was watching her, spoke.
“Who were you with before you came here?”
“Why are you asking that?”
Princess Christine somehow didn’t want to tell Leon that she was involved with Rian. She didn’t know whether it was because of the heavy regret she had for Leon or the shame of what was going on with Rian at the moment that she couldn’t remember.
“You must remember that. If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll call the castle guard. It will be known from abroad that the royal daughter of the kingdom of Elard walked into other people’s rooms carelessly.”
“I don’t know his name.”
“You must have been with someone. Tell me about his appearance.”
Christine began to describe Rian’s appearance, taking a breath at Leon’s calm interrogation.