Episode 23

'That's why, as my father said, I have to catch him while he's still young and not of sound mind... ... .'

Without her, his options are infinitely limited. There is no such hole in the perfect life he has planned. The best should always be with the best.

Oscar opened his mouth again, recalling the Emperor's wicked teachings.

"Ines, I didn't necessarily want to hear those words from your own mouth…."

Oscar spoke with a show of humility, then turned to Luciano and nodded with a hint of annoyance.

Thinking about it, Ines also noticed that around this time, the Crown Prince was not very kind to boys his age. And that was mostly when they were better looking than her.

From that moment on, a squat sprout had been growing. While Ines watched the behavior meaningfully, Luciano, who was a little more handsome than Oscar, walked towards the bookshelf that was directly connected to the drawing room.

"Perez said. He was really beautiful."

Even though he was ten years old, the Crown Prince was still the Crown Prince, so he changed the subject quite naturally.

"You said you were tired from not sleeping well all night, so Luciano took me out for a tour."

"I see.

Oscar continued speaking, sitting on the low armrest, seemingly embarrassed to neither pick up his own painting with his precious hands, nor to call an attendant to pick it up right away and show his affection for it, nor to throw it on the floor and pretend not to notice it and flop down on the sofa.

"If Perez is this cool, Mendoza must be so insignificant. Is that why you haven't visited Mendoza all spring?"

"It wasn't like that. And no matter how beautiful it is, it can't compare to Mendoza, where His Majesty the Emperor resides."

He spoke, crossing his legs as if to show off his legs that had grown a bit longer in the time since I last saw him.

"And there I am, Ines."

"… … ."

"I waited for you all spring. I waited for your letter. I worried that something might have happened… Was my request really too hasty? Was it burdensome? Is that why you avoided me?"

"No, Your Majesty. No, that is not true. How could I dare to refuse the honor of meeting Your Majesty?"

"If it's burdensome, just tell me. I can wait as long as I want—."

"Of course it is burdensome."

An unexpectedly firm answer. Oscar paused in his leisurely transition from leg to leg.

Then, he looked at her with a strange look as if to say, 'How could I have missed this?' and muttered as if possessed.

"… You, you seem to have changed since I last saw you? A lot."

"No way."

"Your face is pale, your eyes are filled with worry… If it's all because of worry, then that makes sense, but more than that… … ."

"… … ."

"You have eyes too, huh?" Ines sneered, rolling her eyes from under her drooping eyelids.

"You speak so adult-like. Your tone of voice suddenly becomes overly dignified."

"Then, Your Majesty, are you saying that I was once a frivolous and undignified woman?"

"Of course not. You've always been perfect, Ines. But there was something more, so, so, so suddenly…."

"No, it is as Your Majesty said. In fact, I was not perfect at all."

Oscar paused again, taken aback by Ines' sudden and pitiful look. Ines reached out her lovely hand and grabbed his arm.

"Did I tell you earlier that the painting fell down on its own?"

"…maybe?"

"I was so upset that I couldn't tell you straight away. I was just looking at Your Majesty's portrait from up close, as if I was entranced by its beauty and grandeur. Then, all of a sudden, without even shaking the ground, the paintings came crashing down on me."

"Oh! You're not hurt?"

"Fortunately, I just happened to step on the painting while trying to avoid it, and that is the footprint that was left on Your Majesty's noble face."

"…There are footprints…?"

Oscar, who belatedly discovered his own face trampled by a shoe, slowly tilted his head to the side in disbelief. Ines's blatantly absurd excuse did not reach Oscar, who was completely absorbed by the fact that "there were footprints on my face."

He looked so shocked that it felt like his face had been stepped on. Ines looked back at the painting with a look of regret and said,

"Your Majesty, you will grow up to be so wonderful, yet I am so shabby that I can't believe I can stand next to you. How could I dare stand next to such a great person… The painting fell on me because I was greedy and didn't know what to do. Because I dared to look down on Your Majesty…"

"… My, face… ."

"That's why I almost got punished. It was God's will that the painting fell. I had been thinking about it all spring, but in the end, God made the painting that was neatly placed on the sofa fall on me… … ."

"… Wait, what?"

"I told you, Your Majesty, that even God is against our engagement."

"What nonsense are you talking about."

"Do you know the word omen?"

Oscar paused for a moment. He was a man so vulnerable to his own ignorance that he would sometimes feel momentarily paralyzed when someone asked him what he didn't know.

He looked at Ines with his mouth wide open.

"This is a sign, Your Majesty. If we get engaged, it is a sign that it will end in failure."

Although the omen was her own doing, the bankruptcy was a fact without a doubt.

"The painting that I had left lying still suddenly fell on me, and I accidentally stepped on Your Majesty's face. Despite the omen, if I had been worthy of being by Your Majesty's side, I should have chosen to die from Your Majesty's portrait rather than trample on Your Majesty's face and live. I am so, Your Majesty, so guilty now… … ."

It was full of nonsensical words, but they poured out so fluently that Oscar was struck by the illusion that they all made sense.

Oscar said in a dazed tone.

"Rather than dying… Just step on my face… … ."

"Look at this. Your Majesty, you are too kind to me."

"No, Ines."

"That is why I cannot be with you, Your Majesty. I only have Enrique Osorno, Dante Ihar, Cassel Escalante, Leonardo Helves… … ."

"… … ."

"An opponent like that is enough."

Among the five ducal families considered the best among the Grandes de Ortega, the sons of all the families except Ballestena passed through like lowly names in the world.

Ines weakly let go of Oscar's arm, as if such worthless things were just on her level.

"So please forget about our engagement for now."

"… Cassel, just now, did you say Cassel Escalante?"

Four things were said, but only one seemed to reach his ears. With a cracked expression, Oscar asked.

Ah. She used to hate all men who were better looking than her.

Then there was no reason to decline. In her memory, there was no man more perfect than Cassel Escalante. At least in terms of appearance.

Ines briefly tried to recall Cassel Escalante. Contrary to her verbal memory, nothing particularly came to mind other than his mature appearance.

What would it have been like as a child, around this time?

As his statuesque cousin grew older, Oscar became more and more cautious, fearing that Ines would even share a few words with the perfect statue—that she might realize how poorly God had made her fiancé. He doubted it, he hated it. He even refused to stand beside it for a moment afterward.

Oscar knew that sometimes beauty standards are relative. He was either very handsome or just average, depending on who you surrounded him with, and Cassel Escalante made everyone around him look like a lump of clay that had been thrown around half-heartedly.

And since she generally did not do anything that Oscar disliked without much suspicion, it was natural that there was no special connection between them.

Despite such a close relationship, I could only picture them in uniform from a distance. The uniforms of naval officers, and off the coast of Calstera… … .

She suddenly remembered an unpleasant memory and swallowed a sharp breath.

The last remaining memory of Cassel Escalante suddenly and painfully dug into my head. As if if I closed my eyes right now, I would return to my last day in Calstera, as if I would be thrown into the cold sea wind… … That night when I held Emiliano's hand and ran as if I was going to break down. The sound of the child crying in Emiliano's arms struck my ears like a nightmare.

She stubbornly put it out before the Cassel of that day could come alive in her memory—and thus before even Emiliano could come back to life.

Even if Emiliano were to come back to life that day, he would not be able to live another day and would just die again.

It was good now. He was alive and that kind of thing had never even happened in the first place.

However, Oscar became more annoyed, so she nodded shyly.

"Yes, Cassel Escalante."

"… … ."

"I think that would be enough for me."

I don't know about anything else, but it would be a good way to vent your anger. After all, even at this point, the kid is probably still a piece of shit.