CHAPTER 157……………………
Jealousy and Kisses (1)
The servants of Sir Icarus of Kalion’s townhouse were very obedient to their master.
Once, he had been someone they disliked—coming from Halkion—but he was gentle and close to the princess, so their dislike had faded.
Some of them even thought:
“Perhaps our master could become the princess’s match…?”
“The princess is making an academy where humans can also attend. If that’s the case, it’s possible.”
It wasn’t just the servants who thought this way.
Even the demon nobles who had grown close to Kalion gradually nurtured such hopes.
However, when Kalion returned from the palace, his face was icy.
“Did the talks not go well?”
“Could something have happened with the princess?”
The staff were curious but had no way of knowing.
Especially since Kalion had locked the door to his private room.
…Bang!
But after a few loud noises, one of the servants hurriedly knocked.
“Sir Icarus? Are you alright?”
“…….”
“May I come in—?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Only then did Kalion calmly respond from behind the door.
“I’m tired from the journey… If I need help later, I’ll call.”
“Yes… understood…”
Reluctantly, the servant’s footsteps receded.
Meanwhile, Kalion pressed his forehead against the door and remained silent for a long time.
No one could enter.
Because his room was a mess from being hacked with a sword.
“……I knew it.”
He had known from long ago that a day like this would come.
When he met the saint again.
When he saw the saint dealing with Ares.
When he saw how the saint treated him.
He painfully realized each time that no matter how he confessed, he would lose.
That he could never, not once, beat Ares Ismenios…
“Not yet… I shouldn’t tell Ares.”
“Of course, Sir Zion.”
“…! Thank you!”
From that moment, he also realized that the saint was relieved.
In truth, he wanted to destroy everything right then.
“Don’t like Ares that way.”
By saying he loved her, he wanted to trap Zion in guilt so she couldn’t move freely.
“Sigh… That… that’s not possible.”
Kalion smiled bitterly.
He could never dare to plunge a dagger into the heart of the one he loved.
“That dagger should be Ares’s.”
In the coming autumn, when competing for the position of Commander of the Kore Knights, it would finally end.
The three of them together, perfectly…
At the end of summer,
I stood in front of my father’s office, my stomach tight with tension.
“What do I do? I’m so nervous.”
I hadn’t trembled during the negotiations that determined the nation’s fate.
So why did announcing to my father, “At the coming coming-of-age party, I’ll dance with Ares!”, make me so nervous?
“Maybe because, if I mess up, my relationship might end as soon as it begins?”
I slowly fanned myself while thinking of Ares.
“It’s embarrassing enough to like the youngest sibling, but now I have to tell dad too.”
But I couldn’t let my father wreck Ares at the party, so I had no choice but to tell him in advance.
I peeked through the slightly open door.
“Um, dad…?”
“Hmm?”
He greeted me with a very happy expression.
Though his welcoming face looked the same as always, I felt choked with guilt.
“What is it, Elysion?”
“Well, what I wanted to say is… uh.”
Even though the sun was still bright, why was the fireplace burning again?
And what were those fancy letters burning over there?
“Dad, those… burning letters are—”
“Just burning trash.”
“…….”
If it’s trash, why does it have the royal crest and the emblem of a famous foreign family?
I stared at him demanding an explanation.
“……Are you burning marriage proposals again?”
My father tilted his head at my question, as if I’d asked something obvious.
“They’re unpleasant even to tear to pieces.”
“Ah… dad…”
“These people really have no sense.”
He picked up a few letters and smiled.
Though the room was warm, the smile sent a chill down my spine.
“To send a real marriage proposal to you at fifteen. And saying things far above your level.”
“…….”
“Such arrogant people.”
I was happy he overestimated me… but at the same time, I felt cold sweat.
“Looks like today’s not Ares’s day either.”
If I told him about my intimate relationship with the youngest sibling, that boy would probably end up in the fireplace.
“By the way, Elysion, did you want to say something?”
“Ah, well! Actually, um…!”
“Um?”
Dad smiled warmly, patiently waiting for me to speak.
But looking at the marriage proposals burning black in the fire, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“Elysion?”
“You’ll… come to the school opening in autumn, right?”
In the end, the question I asked had already been asked and answered many times.
Dad kept silent and quietly watched me.
It was as if he was trying to see what I was thinking, or if I was holding back anything…
But then he smiled gently.
“Of course. You’ve been preparing for this for a long time.”
“Yes! I’m sure it will be good news!”
If this goes smoothly, I can save the person closest to dad.
Then I can erase the shadow of worry from his smile.
Hoping only for good news this autumn, I smiled brightly at him.
“Please look forward to it!”
“Sigh…”
Though I smiled brightly at my dad, once I stepped outside the palace, my mouth drooped.
Ares, who had been waiting, clicked his tongue when he saw my expression.
“You failed again, didn’t you, Your Highness?”
“…….”
“I’ll go and speak with him too.”
“No, you mustn’t.”
What kind of sacrifice would there be for someone at dad’s fireplace?
Before Ares could protest, I quickly changed the subject.
“So, where are we going today?”
“Hmm. Well, where shall we go?”
“You were the one who suggested we go out together.”
I twirled my brown hair, grumbling.
Since I returned to the capital after becoming… intimate with Ares, I had been secretly going out with him, using the transformation bracelet.
“Sorry, Minte, Lete.”
Both would be relieved seeing my “doll” napping in the room.
“But I don’t want anyone following when I’m with Ares.”
Just imagining Minte staring at us while holding hands…?
Ares suddenly leaned forward.
“Zion, are you okay? Your face is red.”
“……I just had a different thought.”
“Hmm. Holding hands with me, and what were you thinking?”
“It’s… nothing strange.”
I avoided Ares’s gaze, trying to calm down.
“Such an annoying guy, so handsome, and acting all high and mighty.”
Above all, the way he arrogantly smiled as if he knew exactly what I was thinking irritated me to no end.
Still, I silently followed wherever Ares led.
“Even without a destination, just being together makes my heart flutter.”
It felt like someone had released butterflies inside my chest.
A little later, as we turned a corner in the Veled district, a loud female voice rang out.
“Hey, Ares! Ares Ismenios!”
“Uh…? Lunai Crise.”
Hearing that name made my heart sink.
A girl with a long ponytail was running toward us, smiling brightly at Ares.
“Ah, that girl from Orpheum… the one who caused a fuss hitting and hugging Ares’s bare chest.”
Her bright face became clearer.
A very lively and cute girl, full of energy.
Her energy made me feel… a little threatened.
“…Wow, so young.”
Unlike me, who was treated like an old soul due to my past life, she was a girl Ares’s actual age.
“You! How could you not contact the others!”
“You need a reason to contact someone.”
“You’re really cruel! Even without a reason, friends contact each other!”
…And as if I didn’t exist, she was excitedly talking only to Ares.
“Oh. This is a first for me.”
Even as a Great Saint or a princess, no one had ever ignored my presence.
“Kind of uncomfortable.”
Was she really not seeing me?
Even though I stepped forward deliberately, she kept chattering excitedly.
“Hey, if you have time, come over to our side—”
At that moment, Ares raised the hand he held with me, and her words abruptly stopped.
Then Ares gestured with his other hand to shoo her away.
“On a date. You go over there now.”
