By Zephyria 
The amethyst eyes, disguised as relaxed, were filled with a fierce glint. The shoulder that was being held tightly was aching.
“Oh, what are you talking about? Of course, it’s your imagination.”
I chattered in a voice full of coquetry, like a myna bird clinging to its owner’s arm. The consciousness that had been loosened was tightened in an instant.
“Why would you say that when you know better than anyone what the relationship between my brother and I is like? I think you drank a lot at the banquet. I was dizzy the whole way here, so I got an escort.”
The Crown Prince looked alternately at me, who was in his arms, and Andrew, who was still bowing his head, with a displeased expression. For a moment, I saw Andrew’s clenched fist tightening with force. I unconsciously turned my body so that the Crown Prince couldn’t see it, and clung to the Crown Prince’s arm even more strongly.
“Your Highness, Adrian. It hurts. What are you doing, holding me so tightly?”
I shook the shoulder that was being held and glared at him in a way that wasn’t unpleasant, and only then did the Crown Prince casually gesture for Andrew to get up.
“I’m sorry. I guess I used too much strength. But didn’t you like it better when I made you a little sore?”
“Your Highness! Such intimate stories…! My brother is here too…!”
I puffed up my cheeks and raised my eyes. The Crown Prince chuckled happily at my reaction, as if I was embarrassed to death, and nodded his head in satisfaction.
“Alright, I apologize. I can’t tarnish the reputation of the future Crown Princess like this. My words were very careless.”
“You’re still such a grumpy person, even after all this time?”
Even as I pouted my lips and narrowed my eyes, my mind was racing. The fact that he had shown up so openly meant that a fairly large area was already filled with his subordinates. The fact that he had asked why I had arrived so late, even though I had left a long time ago, meant that he had probably been watching me ever since I left the banquet hall. That meant that even if he hadn’t heard exactly what Andrew and I were talking about, he had watched all of our actions.
The Crown Prince’s strange, sharp reaction, who usually didn’t treat Andrew as anything more or less than a useful vassal, could also be explained if that was the case.
“……”
I glanced at Andrew, who was skillfully hiding his expression, and staggered into the Crown Prince’s arms as if I was still drunk.
“Ah, I’m dizzy. I want to go in and lie down quickly. Are you going to keep standing out here like this?”
“Since my queen is dizzy, how can I dare to do that? I’ll escort you to my palace.”
The Crown Prince easily picked me up and left without even saying a proper greeting to Andrew. I saw Andrew trying to say something, but I stopped him with just my eyes.
Originally, at this point in time, the Crown Prince had lost the head of the information guild, who had been the mainstay of his power, and was too busy checking Duke Grachio. It was also around the time of his first meeting with Allen that he roughly recovered from the aftermath of the death of the head of the information guild and rebuilt a proper force.
But this Iteration, thanks to my actions of discovering Lennox in advance and safely evacuating him, the head of the information guild didn’t sell Lennox to the Black magician, and he didn’t lose his life to Lennox, who had returned as a great mage. As a result, the Crown Prince’s power became incomparably more stable than before. It was the general consensus that the protracted power struggle with Duke Grachio would be over within this year at the latest.
I’m sorry to Andrew, but… he was far from being the Crown Prince’s adversary. Just as he considered Kyle Gray, a humble knight who had been hovering around me, to be a slightly annoying opponent but didn’t feel a real sense of crisis, the Crown Prince would see him as such an opponent. Moreover, since he had an outstanding second son who was more than capable of taking over the Hamilton County, even more so.
“What are you thinking so hard about that you’re not saying anything?”
The Crown Prince, who had been walking slowly in the lonely moonlight, suddenly asked. I looked up at his firm jawline and just laughed out loud.
“It’s just that the situation is a bit funny.”
“What is?”
“When we first met, Your Highness… You were disguised as a servant back then, and you couldn’t even move in front of Andrew. You just stood by and watched while he said harsh things to me.”
“Ah, was that so.”
It had only been a year and a few months, but it felt like years had passed.
“But today, you’re being so, so… Andrew just gave me a little support, and you’re misunderstanding something all on your own, even getting uncharacteristically angry….”
“Misunderstanding?”
The voice that caught the grating word was far from pleased. I wasn’t scared, and I just giggled.
“It’s a misunderstanding, of course. Honestly, it was so obvious that you were jealous of Andrew just now, you know?”
“I won’t deny the jealousy. But a misunderstanding? Do I really need to explain again how affectionately you and the Little Count, who used to be at each other’s throats, were standing face to face? How sticky his touch was as he stroked your face. Do I really have to tell you everything?”
So, he saw everything after all. How predictable… There’s just no surprise…
I quickly ruined the smiling expression I had on and hung tears on the corners of my eyes.
Activating skill ‘Tearful Mask.’
After completely figuring out Andrew’s secret preferences last time, I received the skill ‘Tearful Mask’ as an achievement reward. It was a useful skill that allowed me to shed tears whenever I wanted, no matter the situation. To deal with Allen, who often made the person he was facing feel like a criminal, I thought it would be better for me to cry first, so I rummaged through the System and got it. And as expected… It seems like I got something really good.
System is impressed by your personality, which is no different from a robber.
ଽ (৺ੋ ௦ ৺ੋ )৴
System laments that it didn’t raise you that way.
Σ( Д )ﻌﻌﻌﻌ⊙ ⊙
Shut up. When did you ever raise me?
“…Noah?”
The Crown Prince’s face, which had been covered in displeasure, showed a moment of panic. He, who was always eager to make me cry, didn’t know what to do with the tears that burst out at an unexpected time. It was quite satisfying.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Your Highness… I didn’t mean to do this, I didn’t mean to…….”
My fragile, trembling voice was so heartbreaking that even I felt sorry for myself. The Crown Prince didn’t wipe away my tears like Andrew, nor did he rush at me with a fierce look, saying that my crying face was pretty, like he usually did. He gave a quick glance to the knights who were waiting around him, though I couldn’t see them, and then he started running faster. It was a short distance to the Crown Prince’s palace. I was carried in his arms, being delivered like a package, while I kept shedding tears.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Hic…, hngh….”
“Damn it, you. You have to tell me what the reason is so I can do something about it. Huh? When I received the report, there wasn’t anything particularly special…….”
The Crown Prince, after laying me down in his bedchamber and dismissing everyone around, immediately expressed his concern and brought his face close to mine.
“I’m sorry, it’s been a while since we met…, I wanted to show you only good things…….”
“That’s not what’s important.”
“Hngh, Your Highness…….”
I burst into tears and suddenly pulled him into a hug. The Crown Prince’s head was pulled as I led him, and he stiffened awkwardly.
“I’m really a bad person…, there’s no one as bad as me in the world…….”
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, so……. You can be honest with me.”
Judging by what he’s doing now, it seems like he really cares about me. He really looks like his heart is aching when he sees me bursting into tears for no reason. It’s just ridiculous and funny. The last time I saw him was when he came to pick me up on my way back from the North, wasn’t it?
‘Whatever you heard in the North, whatever you saw, and whatever calculations are running through that little head of yours.’
‘…….’
‘Don’t rashly bring it up. Don’t try to act smart. You know? There’s only one thing I want from you.’
‘…….’
‘Just wait for me and cry prettily. What I need is a canary to be caged, not an eagle to fly through the sky with.’
If he remembers what he said to me back then, it’s against the rules to act like he’s in love now. No. Is he trying to cherish me because I’m just crying helplessly?
Whatever thoughts were flashing through my mind, my outward appearance was just pathetically shedding tears. The reward for achieving the achievement that kept saying it was calculating was definitely worth it.
“Then please promise me just one thing.”
“Anything.”
“I’m trusting Your Highness and really telling only you the truth…….”
“…….”
“Even after hearing my story, you have to keep cherishing me like you do now. If you call me a bad person, point fingers at me, and kick me out, I’ll hate you…….”
Yes, Adrian Pearson. What you should hate from now on isn’t me. I’ll target the target well, so do the same as you did before. Got it?
“Your Highness has heard, too…. A great blessing has happened to our family…….”
Allen hasn’t made contact with the Crown Prince yet. If I’m going to seize an opportunity, now is the only time.