Love Me Just Once - Chapter 40

At first glance, it seemed like he was offering to give her something to replace the power she had lost, but the king had no reason to do so.

If one wanted to know the truth, they had to think about those words in reverse.

The king was not trying to introduce someone to her, but rather was orchestrating this to hand her over to that person.

Anika swallowed dryly. The king continued speaking nonchalantly, even as he saw the tension and distrust on her face.

“As you know, I am planning to get married soon.”

It was news that had already spread widely throughout Aglante.

Anika recalled the king’s fiancée whom she had met earlier. The woman with large blue eyes and the silver hair characteristic of the Reden royal family was beautiful but very quiet. Anika had never seen her speak to anyone other than her fiancé.

“I don’t want to burden the woman who crossed the border just for me with Edegrun’s aloof nobles as a wedding gift.”

In other words, he was telling her to be friendly to the new queen instead of the capital’s established powers.

It was forceful, but not a bad condition. Anika didn’t know much about the new queen, but in any case, the royals were at the pinnacle of power.

However, the uneasiness did not disappear.

Anika didn’t think the king had killed his supporter just to place a young lord by his wife’s side.

But she couldn’t dare ask the king why he had killed her father – how could she ask that when it was said a beast had killed him – so Anika didn’t know why the relationship between the king and her father had soured.

All she could do was speak as carefully and indirectly as possible.

“I wonder if the gift might be inadequate and cause offense.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover up any small flaws. I lost my father at your age too, so I know how confusing that can be.”

The man who said this without blinking an eye gave her a smile. It was a smile that became more confusing when one thought about how the previous Grand Duke had died.

That confusion remained until now.

Anika watched as the king, having finished greeting her, got into his carriage. Once that carriage departed, she would be busy without a moment to spare. She had to send the guests away and clean up the mess.

The king had given her three months, and if she failed to meet that deadline, it would be her accompanying him to the hunting grounds next time.

The Lord of Rohos had died.

Because his master, the Prince, was busy, Bahamal attended the funeral of the Lord of Rohos in his stead.

It was to comfort the daughter who had suddenly taken on the weight of her father’s position, to deliver his master’s letter to the Reden princess in that castle, and while at it, to retrieve something.

The Grand Duke of Aglante was at the funeral, but the Reden princess was not. It was said that she remained in the castle but did not meet anyone.

So Bahamal couldn’t deliver his master’s letter to her. This was because he had instructed him thus:

“If you can meet Ophelia, deliver it, if not, don’t.”

The beautiful face of the young man who said those words was clouded with worry. It was a melancholy that hadn’t left since meeting the Reden princess, who was said to be an old friend.

On the day the Reden princess had dinner with his master, Bahamal had been serving by their side the whole time, so he could hear the sound of their argument.

No, it couldn’t even be called an argument. Bahamal watched clearly how pitifully his master pleaded.

His master advised his friend, begged, and in the end, almost implored.

The Reden princess ended that painfully one-sided conversation with a single sentence.

“I’ll be going back now.”

And the princess left his master in the tent. Bahamal saw the despair on the young man’s face as he watched her back.

News of the Lord of Rohos’s death came the next day.

On his way back from the funeral as per his master’s orders, Bahamal looked down at the blue waves and thought. This time, it would be good if His Highness treated that prince a bit harshly.

While he was attending the funeral, His Highness the Prince had gone down to Reden. He could no longer delay the originally scheduled itinerary.

Bahamal thought that the young man no longer needed to be generous to the Reden prince.

Until now, his master had always been kind to the Reden prince. He even lent large sums of money to the prince who was loose with his spending, so nothing more needed to be said.

The Reden prince seemed to think that the merchant guild he had borrowed money from was one he had come to know by chance, but in fact, that merchant guild belonged to his master.

If the prince had known this fact, he wouldn’t have so easily handed over his younger sister to another.

In the past, when asked why he didn’t tell the prince about this, his master answered like this:

“How embarrassed would Prince Mahanas be? He pretends to be so wealthy in front of me, but if it became known that he actually has so much debt…”

Bahamal thought that shame was also something the indebted prince should bear, but his master’s thoughts were different.

“I don’t want to shame him. He’s Ophelia’s older brother.”

Not long after being impressed by this thoughtfulness, the Reden princess’s engagement to the heir of Rakmata was broken off. It was because the other party had died, making it impossible to continue the engagement.

His master sincerely worried about his friend who had suddenly faced such a tragedy.

“Ophelia really liked Haslen. Even if he had committed a crime… how heartbroken must she be to have lost someone like that?”

And the young man wrote a letter to comfort such a friend, but no reply came.

It was then that rumors began to circulate that Prince Mahanas was looking for a new fiancé for his younger sister.

“Maybe this time, a chance will come to me.”

Upon hearing this news, his master said that, filled with joy. Bahamal also thought that might be possible.

The Reden prince would want someone who could pay a generous bride price.

However, considering Reden’s situation, not many people would want to form ties with such a spendthrift royal family. It would be difficult to marry unless one truly loved the princess.

But for his master to propose to the Reden princess, there was a slight restriction.

According to Egelbamot national law, direct imperial family members could neither write nor receive proposals without the emperor’s approval.

Thus, his master had to frequent the imperial palace countless times just to receive the emperor’s approval once. The pitiful young man was humiliated each time. It was because His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince treated him harshly.

“Still, the nobles don’t ignore me, so that’s something.”

As if the insults from his family didn’t matter, the young man said that with a smile. Bahamal was more concerned about that smile. Because he knew that he wasn’t really okay.

After such a long period of endurance, finally, the day came when his master’s efforts bore fruit.

Last summer, His Majesty the Emperor stamped the proposal letter with his seal right after the conference ended. Everything seemed to be proceeding as fate had decreed.

If only urgent news hadn’t arrived that evening that a proposal letter written by the Grand Duke of Aglante had reached Reden.

Everything started to go wrong after that day.

The Reden prince made no attempt to hide his intention to accept the Grand Duke’s proposal. Yet while doing so, he steadily reaped benefits by weighing this side against that.

The pitiful His Highness the Prince was swayed by this even though he knew it. Because he still held onto a glimmer of hope.

But now, Bahamal wished he wouldn’t do that anymore. Hadn’t the princess already crossed the border following the Grand Duke?

Holding the silver tea canister retrieved from Rohos Castle, Bahamal thought. A strong floral scent wafted up from within his arms.

Penrel Soar, one of the personal knights of the Grand Duke of Aglante, had been standing in front of the Reden royal palace for over half an hour.

There was only one reason. Prince Mahanas of Reden wouldn’t let him go.

They needed to move the procession before the sun set, but Prince Mahanas was holding him back, talking about all sorts of things.

The conversation, which had started with how precious he considered his younger sister, had long since moved on to the canal fees between Reden and Aglante. It was a transition that fully revealed that his sister was just an excuse.

As he wasn’t particularly talkative to begin with, conversing with the arrogant prince was truly a hardship. Penrel, with difficulty, opened his mouth to the prince who showed no intention of ending his chatter.

“Um, Your Highness. I’m sorry, but I think we need to depart now.”

“I suppose I’ve kept you too long. The conversation was so enjoyable that I lost track of time.”

And the prince smiled good-naturedly. He didn’t seem to realize that what he had done was closer to a speech than a conversation.

Penrel just nodded to the prince. Yes.

“Anyway, you should head back now. Don’t forget to speak well to the Grand Duke. Just relay what you’ve heard.”

The prince’s order was very natural. He seemed to have forgotten the fact that Penrel was a knight of Aglante, not Reden.

In truth, his arrogance had been high throughout. During his stay in Reden to lead the bridal procession up, Penrel had seen enough of Prince Mahanas’s fussing. If someone who didn’t know better saw it, they might think he was the bride.

And the more the prince acted like this, the more the Reden royal palace creaked. It was natural since they were trying to put up a false front.