Chapter 68
“Noxia, have you ever met someone who’s tone-deaf in your life? People who can’t sing really can’t sing. What you just said was incredibly rude to all the tone-deaf people in this world.”
“Surely you’re not saying you’re one of them?”
“Oh—no, absolutely not! I can hit high notes too.”
Elenon flushed red, cleared his throat awkwardly, and stood up from his seat. As he hurriedly closed the piano lid and avoided her gaze, Noxia grinned mischievously at him like a little rascal.
“Why are you getting up already? Since you’re here, you should sing a bit more. This time, you try singing.”
“I can’t. I can’t find the pitch without accompaniment. And it’s not like you’re going to play for me.”
“Can’t you play and sing at the same time? Someone as capable as a prince should be able to manage that much with ease.”
“Sorry, but I’m not a professional, so I can’t do that.”
When Elenon primly denied it, Noxia covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. Elenon shot her a look at his lover’s teasing behavior, then softened his expression again and extended his hand toward her.
“Then how about showing me your dancing instead of singing?”
“Haven’t you already seen it? We danced plenty at the spring ball back then.”
“That doesn’t count. We didn’t dance together. We weren’t even acquaintances back then. I didn’t even know your name at the time.”
As memories of their first meeting—filled with embarrassment and awkwardness—surfaced, the boy’s gaze grew wistful. The girl wore a similar expression.
“You’re right. Our first impression really was a mess.”
“A mess? Was it that bad?”
“Of course. It was shocking enough to suddenly find a prince of a nation crying, but a few days later, that same person suddenly asked me to have tea with him on the street. Of course I was surprised.”
Noxia spoke in a mock-scolding tone, but her face was full of playful smiles. Elenon’s cheeks reddened.
“I—I’m sorry. I really am reflecting on what happened back then.”
“I’m joking, Your Highness. I’m honestly glad I got to meet you, even like that.”
Noxia said frankly. Now a smile spread across Elenon’s lips as well.
“I feel the same. Still, I can’t help feeling a bit regretful. I wish we’d met for the first time under more comfortable circumstances.”
“Hey, try thinking of it positively. Thanks to that, we have a special memory, don’t we? I’m just glad we can look back on it smiling like this.”
Noxia smiled brightly and stood up. She walked over to Elenon and took the hand he offered. Like a pair dancing a waltz, she pressed close to her lover and whispered cheerfully.
“If you really regret it that much, then imagine that today is the first time we met—at a ball. Like a scene from a novel where a gentleman falls in love with a lady at first sight.”
Noxia’s eyes curved beautifully. Elenon was completely captivated by that lovely smile. Interlacing their fingers tightly, he asked with a smile on his face,
“Beautiful lady, would you grant me the honor of dancing with you?”
“Gladly.”
There was no reason to refuse. There was no way she could refuse. The lady accepted the gentleman’s request with a beaming smile.
“But what should we do? There’s no music.”
“Keep using your imagination, Prince. If there’s no music, we can make it ourselves.”
The two slowly rotated, matching their rhythm. When Noxia placed one hand on Elenon’s shoulder and closed the distance even further, he swallowed dryly without realizing it.
His heart began to race anew. With a flushed face, Elenon placed his hand on Noxia’s slender waist. A ticklish sensation grew stronger. Noxia’s complexion gradually reddened as well.
With one hand clasped together and the other wrapped around each other’s shoulder or waist, they spun in place to the sweet dance tune playing only in their imagination.
Neither of them wore splendid ballroom attire, and the small music room—far narrower than a banquet hall—didn’t even have proper lighting, but none of that dampened the lovers’ mood in the slightest.
They gazed at each other with consistently tender and sweet eyes. Since it was a space meant only for the two of them, it didn’t matter if their movements tangled awkwardly.
“Noxia.”
“Yes?”
Elenon’s face was red like that of a naive child. But the confession that followed was as earnest as that of a wise old man.
“I love you.”
It was the first time he had spoken those words. He had said he liked her, and he had expressed his feelings countless times through kisses and embraces, but confessing love was a first.
As if someone had poured pink paint onto her cheeks, a vivid blush spread quickly across Noxia’s face. She murmured shyly,
“I love you too, Prince.”
Elenon came to a sudden stop. There was no more time to dance.
He kissed his lover. With the hand that had been interlaced, he cupped her cheek, and with the hand around her waist, he pulled her close, embracing her back.
As his moist tongue slid inside, carrying her fragrant warmth, Noxia closed her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Elenon’s neck. The sweet kiss continued.
It was a confession made of nothing but sincerity, and a kiss filled with love. There was no hesitation in sharing their hearts through unadorned words and desperate gestures.
It was a moment meant only for lovers in the present world.
Chapter 10. Warning
The Prince had become strange. His “friends” were gradually sinking into serious concern.
“Do you think something happened in the royal family that we don’t know about?”
“No, he didn’t look like someone dealing with family troubles.”
“Then maybe he’s angry at us? That’s why he keeps missing appointments and doesn’t meet us as often as before…”
“No, when we do meet, he still treats us kindly. It’s just that we meet less often.”
“Exactly—why is the Prince suddenly so busy on his own? We’re all attending school too. So why are we all here while the Prince isn’t?”
“And we’re all on vacation right now. What reason does he have to be busy?”
“…Could it be…?”
“Could it be what?”
“Could the Prince be secretly dating someone?”
“What?”
“……”
“……”
The students—mostly first- and second-year academy students—were sitting together at a tea house they frequented, talking about the Prince who wasn’t there. When someone proposed a shocking hypothesis, silence fell.
“The Prince… dating? With who?”
“If we knew that, do you think we’d be sitting here like this?”
“But if he really started dating, wouldn’t he have told us? It’s strange that we wouldn’t know. We’re so close to him.”
“And if the Prince were really in a relationship, there’s no way the reporters would’ve stayed quiet. Why does no one know yet?”
“Maybe we’re mistaken? Maybe it’s not dating.”
“No, no. I’ve got a feeling. The Prince definitely has a lover we don’t know about. That’s why he looks so happy these days and hardly spends time with us anymore.”
Prince Elenon, who had always smiled gently and accepted his friends’ invitations, had been unusually absent over the past few months.
When they met him in the hallway, he still greeted them kindly, and when they asked questions in class, he answered willingly. But the time he set aside specifically to meet his friends had gradually decreased.
‘Would you like to have lunch with us today?’
‘Would you like to go to the theater together later?’
Even when they tried to make plans like that, the Prince no longer nodded with a smile as he used to, instead making excuses and slipping away.
Though they called him a friend, no one dared to confront the Prince—whose status was inherently far above theirs—about what was going on or why he wasn’t meeting them anymore.
However, the curiosity, disappointment, and dissatisfaction simmering beneath the surface had nearly reached their limit.
Wanting answers, the children eventually resorted to whispering among themselves in the Prince’s absence.
Today was a rare day when the Prince had agreed to meet them.
He hadn’t arrived yet, and the children who had gathered at the tea house first leaned their heads together with grave expressions, whispering as if plotting a political conspiracy.
In the end, they reached a single hypothesis. Dating. Prince Elenon seemed to be in a secret relationship.
But with whom? Since when? And why hadn’t he told them anything?
“This won’t do. I’m too curious to stand it. Let’s ask him directly when he gets here.”
“What? No!”
“Why not? Don’t we have the right to ask? We’re his friends!”
“Yeah. Honestly, I’m hurt that the Prince has kept this secret from us for so long. Did he think we’d go spreading rumors everywhere? Does he trust us that little?”
“Yeah… it does sting a bit.”
“Tch, just because he’s a prince—”
“Hey, watch your mouth.”
When someone muttered a crooked complaint about the Prince, the student beside them gasped and jabbed them sharply in the side with an elbow.
Several students glanced sideways at Greta Beriton. Since the dating hypothesis came up, the Beriton young lady had been sitting stiffly, pale as a statue, staring straight ahead.
That Greta Beriton liked the Prince—or that the Duke and Duchess were eager to make their daughter the future Princess—was common knowledge among those in the know.
If it were true that the Prince was dating someone other than her, the Beriton family’s ambitious dream had effectively moved one step farther away.
‘Poor Greta.’
‘Poor? She’s been strutting around like she’s already the Princess. Serves her right.’
Some pitied Greta; others sneered maliciously. Feeling their sidelong glances, Greta quietly clenched her fist.
The door opened. The Prince entered. Arriving last like a proper main character, he looked around at his friends and smiled brightly.
“Hi, everyone. It’s been a while.”
“…It has been a while, Your Highness.”
“Are you enjoying your vacation?”
“Yeah, it’s been alright. What about you?”
At the Prince’s cheerful greeting, someone answered cautiously, and others exchanged polite pleasantries, which the Prince returned kindly.
The Prince had things to say, and his friends had questions to ask, but all of them were accustomed to indirect, superficial conversation. Instead of getting straight to the point, they circled around it.
The one who finally broke the silence was the Beriton young lady, who had been sitting motionless like a stone. Clenching her hands into fists on her lap, she stared straight at the Prince and suddenly spoke.
“Prince, is there perhaps something you wish to tell us?
