"Yes. How have you been?"
"Yes."
Nike, having answered briefly, sat back down.
Is this... the end?
I wasn't expecting a tearful reunion, but I'm a little disappointed.
“Greetings, Lady Belzer.”
Just then, I heard a voice suddenly from beside me and turned around.
'Gasp! It was here.'
Come to think of it, I was told that the adjutant came along too. I was so distracted by Nike that I didn't even realize Rainer was there.
“Hello, Sir Rainer. It’s been a while.”
“I know, haha. I’ll step outside. Please go ahead and talk.”
After Rainer left the drawing room, I went and sat opposite Nike, pressing down on my trembling heart.
“I thought you wouldn’t come. Or maybe come a little later. I thought you might be attending Dad’s award ceremony.”
"You must have called me for a reason, so I thought I should come to you first."
“Thank you. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...”
"I also asked my older brother for his understanding."
“...”
What's wrong? For some reason, Nike was a bit cold. He didn't even look at my face, which was perfectly made up.
"And I also have something to tell you. That is also the reason I came right away."
"Yes?"
At that moment, my heart started pounding with a sense of foreboding.
"What do you have to say?"
"Yes."
“What is it...?”
Nike hesitated, his lips twitching. It was obvious to anyone that he was about to say something awkward.
“...Do you want to go first? The reason you called me. What happened all of a sudden?”
Even putting it off?
How shocking is it that you intend to say?
“No. I can take my time speaking, so I’ll listen to you first, Your Highness.”
“...”
"You go first."
At my urging, Nike sighed and lowered his head. His clasped hands twitched.
I had a premonition instinctively.
Now, Nike will bring up the topic of his marriage proposal.
"The topic of my engagement came up."
Ominous premonitions are never wrong.
“Four days ago, His Imperial Majesty spoke to me about a marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Ebonwind...”
Let's not be shocked. I already knew because I heard it from Ryan.
"I couldn't come up with a valid reason to refuse."
But? Since I believed in Nike, I didn't expect this turn of events.
“To tell His Majesty that I have to wait for you, I would have had to confess everything, from my regression to our relationship. I couldn’t do that.”
"So, what?"
“I was planning to wait, but I’m sorry. I know this is sudden, given how things have turned out, but if you’re willing to understand… I was thinking we should go ahead and formalize our engagement. What do you think?”
"Yes."
Nike, having answered briefly, sat back down.
Is this... the end?
I wasn't expecting a tearful reunion, but I'm a little disappointed.
“Greetings, Lady Belzer.”
Just then, I heard a voice suddenly from beside me and turned around.
'Gasp! It was here.'
Come to think of it, I was told that the adjutant came along too. I was so distracted by Nike that I didn't even realize Rainer was there.
“Hello, Sir Rainer. It’s been a while.”
“I know, haha. I’ll step outside. Please go ahead and talk.”
After Rainer left the drawing room, I went and sat opposite Nike, pressing down on my trembling heart.
“I thought you wouldn’t come. Or maybe come a little later. I thought you might be attending Dad’s award ceremony.”
"You must have called me for a reason, so I thought I should come to you first."
“Thank you. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...”
"I also asked my older brother for his understanding."
“...”
What's wrong? For some reason, Nike was a bit cold. He didn't even look at my face, which was perfectly made up.
"And I also have something to tell you. That is also the reason I came right away."
"Yes?"
At that moment, my heart started pounding with a sense of foreboding.
"What do you have to say?"
"Yes."
“What is it...?”
Nike hesitated, his lips twitching. It was obvious to anyone that he was about to say something awkward.
“...Do you want to go first? The reason you called me. What happened all of a sudden?”
Even putting it off?
How shocking is it that you intend to say?
“No. I can take my time speaking, so I’ll listen to you first, Your Highness.”
“...”
"You go first."
At my urging, Nike sighed and lowered his head. His clasped hands twitched.
I had a premonition instinctively.
Now, Nike will bring up the topic of his marriage proposal.
"The topic of my engagement came up."
Ominous premonitions are never wrong.
“Four days ago, His Imperial Majesty spoke to me about a marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Ebonwind...”
Let's not be shocked. I already knew because I heard it from Ryan.
"I couldn't come up with a valid reason to refuse."
But? Since I believed in Nike, I didn't expect this turn of events.
“To tell His Majesty that I have to wait for you, I would have had to confess everything, from my regression to our relationship. I couldn’t do that.”
"So, what?"
“I was planning to wait, but I’m sorry. I know this is sudden, given how things have turned out, but if you’re willing to understand… I was thinking we should go ahead and formalize our engagement. What do you think?”
What?
Is this a dream?
My mind went blank. I was confused whether the man speaking to me was the Nike Valencier I knew.
Because it was a situation I couldn't even have imagined.
"Now? Right now?"
"Yes."
I was worried that since he had forgotten the memory of loving, he might make a realistic choice.
Still, he is someone who knows the fact that we were lovers before the regression, and that we loved each other enough to give up everything.
Right on the spot, right in front of me.
I never imagined that we would say we should part ways in this life. I really never imagined it.
“Is there no way? Couldn't you have postponed it? Your Highness, you may not remember yet, but even before your regression, you were unmarried until the age of twenty-four.”
I must look ridiculous fumbling around. But I couldn't help it. I had to say something, anything.
“There may have been some pressure from the Imperial Family, but wouldn’t it be that you postponed the marriage of your own free will, Your Highness? If you said you wouldn’t do it, you could simply choose not to.”
“Yeah. I’m not entirely sure, but I probably postponed it because of you. But.”
Nike spoke with cruel relief.
“Because there’s no reason to do that anymore.”
“Even if I turn down this marriage proposal, I’ll still be under pressure about this issue. The truth is, I’ve only been able to put off getting married until now because my older brother has gone through so much trouble for me.”
"So, I want to put an end to the marriage issue now."
Nike looked straight at me and added.
"Will it be okay?"
...Are you asking if I’m okay?
"Did you come here to ask for my permission?"
"Yes."
"I see."
“I know this is sudden. I’m sorry.”
“...”
I don't know what to answer.
Should I get angry and ask how you could do this to me? But we weren't lovers after the regression, so what right do I have?
But if it was going to be like this, why did you promise to wait for me?
That's too much. It's really too much.
“…Don’t you like it?”
As I remained silent, Nike cautiously asked.
“You don't like it?” What an obvious question.
“...”
“But what difference does it make if I say I don’t want to? You’ve already made up your mind. Can you really not do it just because I say I don’t want to?”
"...Of course."
However, my mood didn't improve at all.
Because the very fact that he had imagined a future without me all by himself was shocking.
'So this is what happens because you have no memory of loving.'
That's why. Because I thought it would be like this. I really wanted to give all of Nike's memories back.
“By any chance, right now...”
It was truly pathetic, but still, grasping at straws, I reached out my hand toward Nike.
“...Would you like to take the remaining memories?”
It seems like he would answer no.
If I hear an answer like that, I really, really don't think I'll be able to bear it.
"No."
Just as I thought.
“Why? Are you afraid you’ll fall for me?”
“Yeah. I was worried you might get the wrong idea. That I came to love you because of that memory.”
“...”
That's cruel.
I thought I knew this man well, but I guess I didn't. I didn't know he had such a cruel side.
“Yes, I understand. Just a moment...”
I barely managed to muster the strength to stand up with my trembling legs.
“Just a moment. Please give me some time to think alone.”
“You don’t have to think about it. If you don’t want to, I won’t do it.”
Nike grabbed me as I was about to leave the drawing room. As I turned around and our eyes met, Nike was surprised.
“...Is it... about that much?”
“Why did you say you’d wait for me?”
“...”
“I, I hadn’t even thought of that... I wasn’t prepared at all... But then you suddenly say something like this...”
"Vania."
I didn't know what I might end up saying if I kept facing Nike, so I fled the drawing room.
***
"I don't like it."
You hate it so much you'd cry?
Nike tilted his head back toward the empty air, staring blankly at Vania.
The face he saw for the first time in a year. Vania, who had cried, saying she didn't like it, with that face that was beautiful enough to leave him speechless for a moment.
"Now? Right now?"
He expected Vania to be flustered when he said what he had prepared. After all, it felt a bit too rushed.
Even though it was a promised matter, it was too early, and no warning had been given.
Naturally, Vania probably hadn't even imagined it yet.
Besides, it’s not like he was kidnapping her... and since he brought it up as soon as she became an adult, she must have been annoyed.
Wasn't it even a situation where they hadn't seen each other's faces for a whole year and reunited after a year?
'But...'
Nike understands Vania being surprised and flustered, but he didn't expect her to cry out of disgust.
'Was I too arrogant?'
Vania, who had lived her entire life as a precious young lady, abandons her family with nothing but the clothes on her back and runs away, resolves to confront her biological father, and endures unnecessary hardships...
To be honest, Nike might have been arrogant, thinking that it would be at the end of that series of decisions.
"Ha..."
Just as he let out a deep sigh.
The sound of the drawing room door opening was heard.
Let’s take a quick look,
...Rainer's.
Having lost all strength, Nike turned his head again and gazed into the void.
“Lady Belzer rushed out with a shocked expression. What happened? What happened?”
“...”
Rainer, who had approached and sat beside him, whispered in astonishment at Nike's silent reaction.
"Did you get rejected?"
"Uh."
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