“Oh, the wind is nice!”
As I said this, I placed my hands on the deck railing and felt the wind blowing in on my face.
“Cecilia, it’s dangerous if lean in too far.”
“It’s all right. But…I was inside most of the time when I first went, so I’m very happy to be able to see the ocean from the deck so slowly!”
With that, I smiled happily at Kaiser.
Then Prince Alfeld, who was giving instructions to the sailors, approached us.
“I am sorry, Cecilia. I kept you in the cabin for so long…”
“Oh, Prince Alfeld, don’t worry about it, it’s in the past!”
“But…”
“I wasn’t able to move around as much as I would have liked with the potion to begin with, and I wouldn’t have been able to go up on deck anyway.”
I smiled at Prince Alfeld as I said that, but my words caused Kaiser to look at me suspiciously.
“…Potion?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Kaiser?”
“Cecilia…what do you mean, the potion? It can’t be…”
“What? Ah! No, no, no! Well, I’d say potions are…oh, yeah! It’s the motion sickness medicine, for motion sickness!”
“Motion sickness medicine?”
“Yes, that’s right! It was my first time on a ship and I was a bit seasick…so Prince Alfeld gave me some medicine. But the potion made me fall asleep for a while…right? Prince Alfeld?”
I reminded Prince Alfeld strongly, with a make-believe smile stuck to his face.
Please! Don’t tell the truth! Because even though it’s all settled, the relationship will get worse again!
Then Prince Alfeld, who was aware of my thoughts, smiled and backed up my story.
“Oh yeah. I gave Cecilia some of my country’s secret, very effective anti-sickness potion.”
“That stuff works great! Because by the time I arrived in the Molvarado Empire, I was all better! It really helped!”
“…Well, if that’s what Cecilia says, let’s believe it for now anyway.”
And so, although Kaiser looked at me and Prince Alfeld with suspicious eyes, he didn’t ask any more questions.
By the way, the ship we are on now is a ship prepared by Prince Alfeld, and the destination is the Kingdom of Beizelm.
So why is Prince Alfeld on board this ship? It’s because it is necessary for him to directly explain the real situation and apologize to the king of Beizelm, the head of the country. That’s why this ship is loaded with apology items.
And, of course, there will be no wedding for Prince Alfeld and I.
Well, King Clive and Queen Sharondia looked very disappointed, but somehow Prince Alfeld managed to persuade them to agree to it.
However, at the time of parting, the two gave Prince Alfeld some incomprehensible words, “You must absolutely win!”
And so I was able to return from those revealing clothes to a comfortable dress, and I was on the boat back home with a clear feeling.
“Speaking of which…is Ghislan going to be okay?”
“He’s still lying in bed with a pale face.”
As if to answer my mumbled words, Viktor came out of the ship and approached me.
“Oh, Viktor. I’m sorry. I’m sorry to leave you in charge of Ghislan…”
“No, the princess asked me, so I’m happy to do it.”
“But…I still think I should go and check on him once, don’t you?”
“…I think it would be best if you didn’t do that.”
“Why?”
“Master Ghislan doesn’t want you to see him so weak.”
“I know that’s in Ghislan’s nature…but I’m worried and…”
“Princess…as a fellow man, I understand not wanting to show any weakness to the woman you like, so please leave him alone for now.”
“Uh…I understand. But please let me know if anything else comes up.”
“Understood.”
To tell the truth, Ghislan had fallen ill after being forced to come in a forced march to save me, and after a series of unfamiliar boat trips.
I was worried about him and offered to take care of him, but he flatly refused.
Ghislan didn’t want to be attended to by Prince Alfeld’s maid, so he ended up asking Viktor to take care of him.
Then we crossed the sea in a boat and returned to the Kingdom of Beizelm.
We were in the audience chamber with our knees bent and our heads down, waiting for the king to come to us.
The sound of shoes echoed through the room and stopped in front of the throne on the platform, and then we heard the sound of his robe and the sound of him sitting on the throne.
“…Raise your heads.”
The king’s dignified voice made me look up and see him sitting on his throne.
Kaiser, to my left, and Prince Alfeld, to my right, also looked up at the same time, and I sensed that Viktor and Ghislan were also looking up with us.
By the way, there is no one else here except for the five of us and the king. Because the king had arranged a private meeting for us.
I’ve been told by Kaiser that the king was informed of the general situation beforehand, but I was still very nervous because of the circumstances.
…What should I do? If the King is angry, the worst thing that could happen would be that he might start a war with the Molvarado Empire…
That thought went around my head and I stared anxiously at the king on the platform.
He looked at me for a moment, smiled, and then quickly turned his attention to Prince Alfeld.
“…Prince Alfeld.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ve heard the general story from Kaiser…is it true that you kidnapped Miss Cecilia, Kaiser’s fiancée?”
“There is no doubt.”
“Well…and you knew all of the problems between the countries that would come with it?”
“Yes. I knew it was going to be a very big problem, but I still couldn’t give up on Cecilia.”
“Prince Alfeld…”
I looked at Prince Alfeld with a complicated expression as he spoke to the king with a serious expression.
“I’m a man myself, so I can understand why you feel that way. It is really bad, but I do appreciate the fact that after such a thing, you came back to the country yourself to explain it to me.”
“Yes…thank you. And I am very sorry for any inconvenience I caused. I don’t know if I can apologize for the inconveniences, but I have some things for you to look at later.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to stir up trouble with your country if I could. However…Miss Cecilia, how do you feel about it? It was you who was the most frightened, wasn’t it?”
I was relieved that the worst of the war was behind us, when suddenly the king spoke to me.
Shaking my shoulders, I looked around at Prince Alfeld, Kaiser, Viktor, and Ghislan in turn and stared at the king.
“I would…prefer to pretend that none of this ever happened. But since it is a fact that I have been gone for some time, and there is nothing I can do to change that, it is my wish to say that I had wanted to see the Empire of Molvarado without telling anyone, which was why I decided to go along with Prince Alfeld.”
“…Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Yes! I don’t want anyone to get into trouble because of me!”
“Well…if that’s the way you want it, that’s the way we’ll do it. The truth of what happened here will be known only to those who are here, and not to anyone else.”
We all bowed our heads in unison to show our approval when the king said he had finished speaking.
The king said he was done talking and was about to get up, but I stopped him in a hurry.
“Oh, please wait!”
“Hmm? What’s the matter, Miss Cecilia?”
“…I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“Yes…I would like to ask you to remove me from my position as Kaiser’s fiancée.”
“What!? Cecilia, what are you talking about!?”
At my words, Kaiser looked at me in surprise.
At the same time, I also sensed a hint of joy from Prince Alfeld, Viktor and Ghislan.
But I ignored it all and continued to look at the king’s face with a refined look.
“… Miss Cecilia, why are you doing this?”
“…I am the reason why this matter became so problematic in the first place. As such, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be the fiancé of Kaiser, the crown prince of this country. So then please…”
“Hmm… I see. I’m sorry if you’re that concerned about it, but…”
“Father, wait a moment!”
Kaiser shouted loudly, interrupting the king’s words.
“What is it, Kaiser?”
“Think about it, Father. Cecilia stopped the alliance from breaking up and war from being inevitable, didn’t she?”
“Hmm, that is true.”
“I am sure that Cecilia will be a wonderful woman who will think of and support our country when she becomes my queen. Therefore, the only one worthy of being my fiancée could be none other than Cecilia!”
Kaiser’s strong words made the king put his hand to his chin and ponder.
Wait a minute, Kaiser, what are you saying!? I could have gotten him to call off the engagement! Honestly, this position is already…hard for me.
I waited for the king’s words, tired by everything that had happened so far.
“Indeed…Kaiser is right. Miss Cecilia, I am sorry to say this to you, but you will continue to be Kaiser’s fiancée.”
“Uh…I suppose it must be so.”
I nodded my head in disbelief at the development.
Furthermore, I also heard three little clicks of the tongue from near me.
***
The five of us were walking down the castle corridor together after our audience with the king.
Then, a figure came running towards us from the end of the corridor at great speed.
“Cecilia-sama!!!”
The person opened their arms and hugged me, screaming my name.
“Lady Lateia!”
“Oh, Lady Cecilia! I’m so glad you’re okay! I was very, very worried when I heard that you had suddenly disappeared!”
So Lateia-sama stared at my face with tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry to have worried you. I just felt a bit of a sudden urge to go out to another country…I just went without saying a word.”
“In that case, I wish you had invited me too…I would go anywhere with you, Cecilia!”
“No, you’re Lady Lateia, the Marquis’ daughter…”
“It’s fine! If it comes down to it, I’d run away from home to follow you!”
“What do you mean, you’d run away!?”
I was puzzled by Lady Lateia’s great spirit, with a twitch in my cheek.
Then I noticed that two more figures were walking towards us from across the corridor.
That’s…Prince Leon and Nina! Ahh, they’re walking side by side together, and it looks like Nina has definitely gone with the Prince Leon route after all. Yup! Thus, once again, they are very well suited for each other! Okay! Let’s do everything in my power to support the two of them!
I secretly swore so in my heart when I saw the two of them walking together in harmony.
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