"...Ah."
Arma gaped, having been rejected outright to his face as if there was no need to even think.
It was because he never imagined he would be rejected so heartlessly.
No, he thought she would at least explain even if he was rejected. But to think that wasn't the case either.
“Hey, my lady!”
Arma rushed out.
Fortunately, Roselyn was not far away.
She stood frozen, seemingly startled by the servants running in all directions, and Arma also stopped walking, holding his breath, and stared blankly at her.
Roselyn looked as if she couldn't believe someone was looking for her like this. She seemed like someone who had discovered an absurd scene.
'...What?'
In fact, for Arma, being ignored by someone was just like a daily occurrence.
However, Roselyn was not like that.
From the first time they met, he was timid and quiet, so he would only answer if she spoke to him first, but she never once looked down on Arma.
Even though she ignored other people's questions, she always answered Arma's.
Of course, it wasn't like that from the beginning. At first, Arma was always on edge as well.
However, the closer Arma got and the more she spoke to him, the more the thorns would hold their breath whenever she looked at him.
After making such efforts, Arma came to know a lot about a person named Roselyn.
No. He thought he had learned quite a lot.
However...
'What on earth is this...?'
Now, it felt as though her thorns were raised only against him.
"So, I'm sorry, but I would appreciate it if you could let go for my sake. I prefer someone who is more promising, has strong convictions, and possesses a masculine charm—someone a bit fierce."
A cold voice suddenly came to mind.
Arma walked behind her as she started walking again, tightening the corners of his mouth to keep the smile from fading.
He heard that she tried to kill herself.
It was a bit of a shock to Arma as well that he hadn't realized she was pushed to her limit to that extent.
Because he thought she would tell him anything.
However, come to think of it, she actually didn't say anything difficult.
The stories she told were always about ordinary daily life.
A story about eating, having tea, taking a walk, and reading a book.
Arma strode toward Roselyn, who was about to move again.
“Roselyn.”
Roselyn stopped at the call.
"...Your Highness, the Third Prince?'
Seeing Roselyn with a look that seemed to ask why he had chased her all the way here, he forced a smile and cautiously opened his mouth.
"Going to Kaluta. Why is it okay for you, but not for me, Young Lady?"
"Ah. Because you are the opposite of my ideal type."
Roselyn spoke briefly.
At the same time, Arma stopped abruptly in his tracks as if frozen. He watched Roselyn walk away with trembling eyes.
She was moving straight ahead without ever helping from behind, just like someone who had truly given up on everything.
"I am a bit more promising and..."
The future of the Second Prince, who was preparing to support his older brother well, was certainly brighter than that of the weak Third Prince.
"With a strong sense of self..."
The Second Prince certainly had a strong sense of his own. It was so strong that his personality was a bit nasty, but regardless, it was certain that he had a strong sense of his own.
"With masculine beauty..."
When comparing the Second Prince and the Third Prince, objectively speaking, the Second Prince did have a bit more masculinity.
It was only natural.
Because Arma was close to the image of being pushed around by the First and Second Princes and unable to even say a word to the servants.
"It's because I like people who are a bit fierce."
To put a bad temper another way, one could say it is fierce.
And all these circumstances matched the Second Prince perfectly.
Unlike the Second Prince, the First Prince did not run his mouth carelessly. He did not bother or harass like the Second Prince.
'It is annoying in a different way, though.'
Anyway, for that reason, to put it another way, her ideal type could be said to be the Second Prince.
Arma was a little shocked by that fact.
"..."
Arma did not want to become Emperor.
It was bothersome, bothersome, and even more bothersome, and honestly, he didn't want to do as his father, the Emperor, wanted.
'...What’s the reason?'
Arma was worried.
He must have done his best to treat Roselyn kindly, so why did she choose that Second Prince instead of him?
Resuming his stopped steps, Arma slowly raised his head.
Roselyn had vanished from sight before he knew it.
And the fact that she never looks back has not changed from the past to the present.
"Ah..."
And only then did Arma realize. Come to think of it, she had never once looked back.
That she had never looked before he called.
That she had never answered anything before being asked.
So they...
The fact that they had never been close, not even once.
The moment Arma realized that fact, he involuntarily opened his eyes wide.
What that meant was simple.
Roselyn has never once opened her heart to Arma.
Arma just made up his own misconception.
Or it might have been Roselyn's pity.
Or perhaps she noticed that he approached her out of curiosity with ulterior motives.
Whenever Arma saw her, Roselyn always had a dead look in her eyes, hunched her shoulders, and avoided people's gaze.
'...I thought she was interested in me, but maybe that wasn't the case. Or maybe she's given up on me entirely.'
If a person summoned the courage to die, why couldn't they summon another kind of courage?
It was clear that at the moment she was about to die, Roselyn had made up her mind to erase, forget, and cast everything aside.
'...So that's why she even broke off the engagement with me and tried to move on to someone else.'
He would rather she meet someone close to her ideal type, at least in terms of face or personality.
'If I send my second older brother and her to Kaluta like this...'
Kaluta is a land of barbarians.
It was a place where women confidently wore revealing clothes and the shameful act of kissing in the street was taken for granted.
"No."
Arma shook his head, feeling a twisted sensation in his stomach.
So, throwing away his dignity, he ran down the hallway with all his might to chase after Roselyn.
Reaching out his hand to Roselyn, whom he found not long after, he continued to spur on.
"...I'll go."
"...Your Highness the Third Prince?"
Arma gently snatched Roselyn's wrist and suddenly lifted his head.
Roselyn frowned as if flustered.
“I will do it!”
"... Yes?"
Roselyn looked at him with a bewildered expression, as if asking what kind of nonsense he was suddenly talking about.
"I will become a fierce person... one with strong convictions and masculinity! Therefore, I am the one going to cut off Kaluta Temple!"
The surroundings fell silent at Arma's voice, which echoed loudly through the hallway.
The servants, soldiers, and the chief attendant walking along the road stopped abruptly and held their breath.
Roselyn, who had not realized at all what it meant, let out a low gasp a beat late.
"Ah."
She felt a strange sensation for a moment at Arma's sudden remark.
'...So, are you saying you want to get engaged to Princess Kaluta instead of the Second Prince?'
The reason she is taking the Second Prince on this delegation is to use him for her engagement to the Princess of Kaluta. And even if the partner turns out to be the Third Prince, it will not pose a major problem to the plan.
'The more cards, the better.'
However, feeling a strange unease in her heart, she hesitated while clutching her chest, then slowly nodded her head.
“Sure.”
Yeah, there was no problem.
"Yes."
Arma smiled brightly at Roselyn's permission.
Thud-
...It shouldn’t have happened, but for some reason, she heard the sound of her heart pounding loudly.
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