"..."
Clarice flopped onto her bed as soon as she returned to her room. She couldn't quite explain why she was feeling this way.
But the very person she wanted to ask—Isaac—was nowhere to be found.
After helping her onto the bed, Isaac had left without a word. Seeing that, Clarice felt not just a pang of disappointment but also a growing sense of unease.
Did I see something strange? Could he have noticed something?
After all, he was a man who was almost too perceptive.
Thump, thump.
'M-My heart is pounding.'
The rapid thudding in her chest refused to settle. She tried to calmly retrace her actions, only to realize, to her horror, that she had done something utterly ridiculous.
Why on earth did I say that?!
She had the perfect opportunity to spend time naturally in physical contact with Prince Raphael, but she had thrown it all away.
As she lay on the bed, lost in thought—
Creak.
The sound of the door opening.
"Isaac?!"
Clarice shot up from the bed, only to see that the person who had entered wasn't Isaac but Heirad.
"Princess."
"Ah, Heirad. What's going on?"
Heirad had been in charge of monitoring Del and gathering intelligence. There was no particular reason for him to be here. Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, he said,
"Baron Logan told me that I should switch roles. It looks like I'll be resuming my position as your bodyguard… Did something happen between you and Baron Logan?"
"Ah."
Clarice's face stiffened as she let out a small exclamation.
"Ahhh?!"
Her face rapidly turned bright red as she clutched her cheeks with both hands.
"Ahhhhh?!"
Had she ever been this embarrassed in her life?
She could say with absolute certainty—never.
"Ahhhhhhh?!"
"Princess?"
Wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole, Clarice instead dove under the covers and started furiously smacking her pillow.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"
She had been caught.
***
The next morning.
Isaac was warming up in the training hall with the Grandmaster.
"Hah, ever since you got here, you've barely paid me any attention. What's with the sudden change?"
"...."
He had no excuse. He knew exactly what the Grandmaster was implying. He had been constantly by Princess Clarice's side, helping her. There hadn't been any time to worry about Sharen or the Grandmaster.
"Ahem. Well, I am a swordsman, after all. I've been neglecting my training too much lately, so I wanted to focus on it today."
"Hmmm? The banquet is tomorrow, you know? Today's probably the most important day of all."
"Prince Raphael is seriously considering Del's proposal."
"Proposal?"
"Del suggested that he take her as his concubine while marrying Princess Clarice."
"Hmm."
The Grandmaster's eyebrow twitched. Nearby, Sharen, who was stretching her legs, glanced up at him.
"The moment he hesitates, it's already over. The marriage will most likely go through."
Although Raphael hadn't been completely won over, his reaction yesterday made it clear—he felt some level of attraction toward Clarice.
"So from now on, Princess Clarice will handle things on her own. We should just focus on preparing to leave."
"Hmm?"
The somewhat hurried explanation made the Grandmaster suspicious, but he chose not to press further. Isaac didn't seem keen on elaborating, so the Grandmaster simply let it slide.
However, the unexpected question came from Sharen.
"What? So Del will be a concubine, and the princess will be the queen?"
"You could put it that way."
It wasn't exactly a compromise. The difference in status between a princess of a kingdom and a mere bakery woman was simply too vast.
"…That's really lame."
Isaac flinched at Sharen's blunt remark.
"I mean, isn't it? It just feels like a compromise. He should pick one—either Del or the princess! What's with this indecisiveness?"
"Huh. For once, I actually agree with Sharen."
Isaac let out a bitter smile at their reactions.
"We're the ones who made it hard for him to make a clean decision."
"…Well, I didn't."
Sharen quickly distanced herself from any responsibility, but now that she had started speaking, she had no intention of stopping.
"No, but seriously, it's funny. Before we arrived, he was ready to abandon the kingdom and run away with Del. But after just a few days of the princess tempting him, he suddenly changes his mind?"
"..."
"The fact that he's even weighing both options instead of just choosing one is kind of a turnoff."
"That's because we put him in this situation."
"I said, I didn't!"
Yeah, you didn't.
Isaac muttered under his breath and sighed.
"Is that just how men are, Isaac?"
Sharen's eyes gleamed as if she had realized something profound.
The Grandmaster smirked mischievously and folded her arms.
"Ah, men are like that. If a woman is a strong wind, their coat flies off and they're stripped bare. If she's the sun, they take off their coat because it's hot. That's what men are like."
"Ooooh."
"Stop teaching her nonsense."
Sharen, who was about to nod in understanding, suddenly hesitated and turned back to Isaac.
"But you weren't like that, Isaac."
"..."
"I mean, even when Silverna was pressing her huge chest against you up in the north, you didn't even flinch."
If Silverna heard this, she'd probably come running with a spear in hand.
Isaac decided to set the record straight.
"Silverna never did that."
"Oh, come on. I saw it at least three times."
"..."
A few vivid memories surfaced in his mind, making Isaac momentarily go silent.
The Grandmaster let out a knowing chuckle, resting her greatsword on her shoulder.
"Well, well, how many hearts has this boy stolen? Starting with the daughters of Helmut and Caldias, the kingdom's finest flowers—"
"Me too! Add me in!"
"Oh? You wish to be included as well? Very well, Fine, let's add her to the list and increase this guy's crimes."
"Whoa! Isaac, at this point, you deserve the death penalty!"
"..."
How did the conversation even end up here?
The Grandmaster folded four fingers with a smile before curling the last one down.
"Even Princess Clarice, who's about to get married. Truly, you are a bad man."
"Not the princess."
Isaac unconsciously responded with a serious expression. However, the Grandmaster leaned in playfully and rested an arm on Isaac's shoulder.
"Child, you are truly terrible at lying."
"Please don't call me that."
"Child, don't lie to yourself. Sometimes, having such keen insight must feel like a curse, mustn't it?"
"Sigh."
Isaac let out a deep breath and turned slightly to glance at the Grandmaster. She clicked her tongue and shook her head with an amused smirk.
"I do not know much about matters of the heart."
"...."
"But I do know how to read change. And the way the princess looks at you is clearly different from before."
"That cannot be called love."
"Well, you would know best. After all, you're the one here who's experienced the most passionate love."
The Grandmaster smirked playfully. Listening to the conversation, Sharen suddenly looked up at Isaac with a curious expression and asked,
"Isaac, have you ever said something like that to my sister?"
"...?!"
"Oh? Now that's an interesting question."
Children sometimes had a way of asking the sharpest questions. Isaac flinched at Sharen's words and instinctively took a step back.
"Now that I think about it, your situation is pretty similar."
"Indeed. The circumstances between you and that woman, Del, are quite alike. Given your personality, I imagine you must have told the Blood Rose to marry another man."
"Ugh."
Isaac took another step back. The Grandmaster grinned and casually linked her arm with Isaac's, teasing him further.
"Come on, just tell us."
She playfully poked his cheek with her finger. Sharen, too short to reach, settled for poking Isaac's waist instead, giggling.
"Say it! Say it!"
"Haah...."
Sighing in defeat, Isaac finally recounted the story.
How he had told Liana to marry someone else while he waited for her by the river.
How she had firmly rejected the idea with a resolute, "Absolutely not."
And how her answer had made him so happy that he couldn't even control his expression.
After hearing everything, the Grandmaster blinked in surprise and muttered,
"So that actually happened? Huh… I feel kind of bad now."
"And you say that after hearing the whole story?"
"It was just too interesting."
"Wow, but you know what?"
Sharen clenched her fists excitedly and exclaimed,
"Doesn't this make the prince look even worse?!"
Both the Grandmaster and Isaac found themselves at a loss for words.
"...."
"...."
"Am I wrong? Or should I be thinking about it differently?"
As Sharen tilted her head in confusion, the two struggled to come up with an explanation. After all, what she said wasn't entirely incorrect, making it hard to defend the prince.
So instead—
"Your sister is truly remarkable."
The Grandmaster decided to praise Liana instead.
"My sister?"
"Yes, just think of it that way."
"Well, my sister is amazing. Did you know? Last time, she tried to cook with a kitchen knife?"
"...Liana did?"
That was unexpected.
"Yeah, but she kept chopping into the cutting board instead. So in the end, she switched to a greatsword."
"...."
"Hmm, should I just say that's very Helmut-like?"
"In the end, the head chef kicked her out!"
Well.
It seemed like she was having fun as the family head. That was good to know.