Episode 5
“That’s truly a relief. I was worried you might have already chosen someone before I had the chance to propose.”
“…Excuse me?”
What did he just say?
For a moment, Adora wondered if she had misheard him.
She glanced to either side.
At some point, the servants had gathered in the entrance hall—and every single one of them looked completely entranced by the prince’s beauty.
Men and women alike.
Even John was among them.
So this is what it means to have beauty capable of charming even men.
She could understand it—but she couldn’t afford to lose her one and only butler.
Adora lightly smacked John on the arm.
He flinched and looked at her.
She glared at him.
John, get yourself together!
At that moment, footsteps approached from the front.
Adora turned back toward the prince.
Somehow, he had already moved so close that he was standing right in front of her.
And he looked only at her—
as though he couldn’t spare even a moment to look elsewhere.
He extended the bouquet he had been carrying the entire time toward her.
Without thinking, Adora accepted it.
The fresh red roses were breathtakingly beautiful.
A faint fragrance drifted into her nose.
And yet—
the bouquet felt strangely heavy in her hands.
“Sir Alfred—no…”
Adora looked up in surprise.
The smile had vanished from the prince’s face.
Up close, his gray eyes almost seemed tinged with blue.
For some reason, Adora felt an ominous premonition.
And yet she couldn’t stop what came next.
“Lady Alfred.”
Her eyes widened.
“Will you marry me?”
By the time she fully processed his words—
it was already too late.
Shock completely overtook her face.
Adora had no idea how she was supposed to process this situation.
The current king had two consorts in addition to Queen Tatiana.
One was Lilin Sylvester, the beloved daughter of House Sylvester.
The other was Countess Anais of House Leonic.
And the son born to the famously beautiful Anais—
was Prince Lionel.
He had inherited his mother’s stunning appearance and became famous from childhood.
But his beauty came with countless cruel nicknames.
The shame of the royal family.
The half-blood prince.
The ornamental rose.
He had been born prematurely and had been frail from birth.
How frail?
He could barely walk properly.
After taking only a few steps, he would struggle to breathe, clutch his chest, or collapse.
Running was completely out of the question.
Even after feeding him rare medicinal ingredients during infancy, his health never improved.
And the nickname ornamental rose was another insult.
Though people mocked him as the royal family’s disgrace, they also said his beauty was so perfect it looked as if God had personally sculpted him.
A rose beautiful enough to admire—
but only from afar.
And now that very rose sat directly in front of her, drinking tea.
Adora stared at his face rather rudely.
His sudden proposal had once again thrown the entrance hall into complete silence.
Adora had frozen with her mouth hanging open.
John’s eyes looked ready to pop out of his head.
Even the servants watching nearby had gasped in shock.
Eventually, John was the first to regain his senses and suggested moving to the reception room.
Only after sitting down did Adora realize there had been another guest standing behind the prince.
A young man dressed in elegant, expensive clothing.
He stood silently behind Lionel with perfect posture.
Perhaps a servant?
Though judging by his sturdy build and sword at his waist, he was likely a guard.
Instead of drinking the fragrant tea prepared for guests, Adora gulped down cold water while staring at both men.
As John prepared refreshments, he quietly leaned toward her.
“My lady… how exactly do you know the Fourth Prince?”
“I briefly served as his guard before I left for war. We’ve met before, but…”
Adora recalled her connection to Prince Lionel Leonic Glorious.
Before leaving for war, she had briefly served as his escort.
At the time, he had been small and prickly—like a flower bud that had only just begun to bloom.
There was history between them.
But certainly not enough history for him to personally appear and propose marriage.
John stared at the kingdom’s precious prince before quietly asking:
“Would you like me to stay?”
Adora considered it for a moment before shaking her head.
As John left, Lionel instructed his own attendant to wait outside as well.
Once the man departed—
only the two of them remained.
A strange tension filled the room.
Adora cautiously observed Lionel.
Meanwhile, he leisurely sipped his tea as if nothing unusual had happened.
Then he set his cup down and looked up.
Their eyes met.
He smiled with his eyes.
Adora narrowed hers slightly.
Why is he smiling like that?
“I hope I wasn’t too rude by suddenly visiting.”
“Not at all, Your Highness.”
He had absolutely been rude.
But Adora skillfully hid her expression and continued sipping cold water.
“I was simply in a hurry. Please understand.”
Her hand froze mid-motion.
Did she hear that correctly?
She wanted to clean her ears.
Because otherwise—
that statement made no sense.
“So?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Will you accept my proposal?”
“……”
Adora slowly lowered her cup.
Then she took a deep breath and carefully spoke.
“Your Highness Lionel. If this unworthy subject has somehow earned your favor, I am deeply honored. However… may I ask why you are proposing to me?”
“Because I want to marry you.”
“No—I mean why do you want to marry me?”
The word marriage felt so absurd when connected to the two of them that Adora nearly bit her tongue.
Unlike her confusion, Lionel looked completely unbothered.
“Must there be some grand reason?”
Yes. Absolutely yes.
At the very least, there needed to be a reason strong enough to explain why he had rushed here without an appointment to propose marriage.
If House Alfred held enormous political power—
if they possessed immense wealth—
or if Adora herself were an unparalleled beauty—
then maybe she could understand.
But none of those applied to her.
“Is it truly so strange that I proposed? Or perhaps that I wish to marry at all? At my age, isn’t marriage something worth considering?”
That was true.
Among nobles, engagements were typically arranged during childhood, and marriage followed once they came of age.
If no engagement existed, families sought suitable partners later.
Adora had lost her parents before her engagement could be arranged.
Then she became consumed by revenge.
As a result, she never had a proper match.
And she knew Lionel had never had one either.
Likely because of his health.
When the Fourth Prince was born, physicians claimed he wouldn’t survive even a single day.
Then one day became two.
Then more.
And yet he continued living.
As the years passed, rumors spread that perhaps he was merely pretending to be sick in order to survive palace politics.
But Adora had met him personally.
And he had truly been fragile enough to seem as though he might collapse at any moment.
And now that prince had grown up enough to think about marriage.
As his subject, that should have made her happy.
If she were only his subject.
“I’ve reached marriageable age, so marriage discussions had already begun around me. But I wanted to choose my own partner. Then I heard rumors about you.”
“You heard rumors and decided to marry me?”
Adora asked skeptically.
Lionel smiled brightly and nodded.
“When you served as my guard, didn’t we get along rather well?”
…
This time she was absolutely certain she had misheard him.
There was no way those words had just come out of the Fourth Prince’s mouth.
We got along well?
Really?
Adora was speechless.
While she stared in disbelief—
Lionel simply kept smiling as if he were speaking nothing but the truth.
She desperately wanted to ask him if he had lost his mind while they were apart.
Somehow, she barely restrained herself.
Instead, she gripped her cup with trembling fingers.
The cold water had long since become lukewarm—
but it gave her enough time to organize her thoughts.
Finally, she set the cup down.
“Your Highness… this may sound abrupt, but my family is not wealthy.”
Lionel blinked.
“Hm?”
His expression clearly said:
What are you talking about?
Adora swallowed dryly.
“We’re not poor, exactly… but we only live comfortably. We have family assets, some land, a small vacation estate my parents used to visit, and I’ve saved my knight salary over the years… but compared to other noble families, we’re average.”
It felt ridiculous to explain her family’s finances in detail—
but Adora was completely serious.
House Alfred had enough money to live comfortably.
Not enough for extravagance.
They had little more than their estate and a small villa.
Though they were descendants of the kingdom’s founders—
their family had long been left with little but honor.
“That doesn’t mean my family was irresponsible.”
She quickly added, worried he might misunderstand.
Her parents had simply been modest people with little greed.
They were content with having enough wealth to live decently.
“And it’s not because we’re incompetent.”
She hurriedly added that as well.
She was determined to emphasize just how ordinary her family truly was.
Lionel listened quietly, arms crossed.
Then he gestured for her to continue.
“Furthermore, our family doesn’t hold much political influence. We were once recognized as a martial family, but that’s all in the past. Now we’re no different from any ordinary noble house. We’re completely average.”
“And?”
“So… I don’t believe I have the power to fulfill whatever it is you want.”
Adora was serious.
She had thought deeply about his proposal.
No matter how she looked at it—
it felt dangerous.
She didn’t know what he wanted.
But whatever it was—
she didn’t have the ability to help him.
Then—
Lionel suddenly burst into laughter.
His cheerful laugh sounded wildly out of place.
Adora blinked.
What exactly is so funny?
“So that’s what this was about.”
Still smiling, Lionel looked at her.
The amusement in his gray eyes was strangely directed entirely at her.
“You thought I was trying to seize the throne.”
Adora stiffened.
That wasn’t exactly what she had said—
but it was certainly one possibility she had considered.
The kingdom already had a crown prince born to Queen Tatiana.
There were also the second and third princes born to Lilin Sylvester.
Though the crown prince was the official heir, succession struggles were far from nonexistent.
It was widely known among nobles that the second prince desired the throne.
Queen Tatiana’s family, House Brilliant, held enormous power.
But House Sylvester had stood beside the royal family since the kingdom’s founding.
Their influence was nearly equal.
Before the war, nobles constantly debated which prince to support.
The war had temporarily paused the struggle.
But now that the war had ended—
the battle for succession would inevitably begin again.
The current king was old.
The time for choosing the next ruler was approaching.
And among all of them—
the prince farthest removed from succession was Lionel.
It wasn’t impossible.
The weak prince everyone dismissed as half-complete might secretly desire the throne.
He had every right to want it.
Perhaps he simply changed his mind.
Though the idea that he had chosen her as a political ally still sounded absurd.
“Or perhaps,” Lionel continued lazily, “you simply assumed I had troublesome motives and decided to reject me before getting involved.”
That was also accurate.
He had perfectly exposed her thoughts.
Adora felt guilty—
but kept her face calm.
“Your Highness… I’m not very clever.”
“You’re asking me to state what I want plainly.”
“Is there something you want?”
Adora asked quietly.
Her voice had grown sharp.
Lionel smiled strangely.
“Have you never considered the possibility that I proposed because I genuinely like you?”
Adora blinked.
She looked completely caught off guard.
Her calm façade cracked.
And the emotion she had been hiding slipped out.
“But Your Highness…”
Her voice trailed off.
Adora lowered her gaze.
She still remembered that day.
The first time she had entered the royal residence.
The magnificent palace at the end of a garden overflowing with red roses.
And the young prince standing there alone amidst all that beauty.
Rose petals danced around his feet.
And he had looked at her clearly—
with unmistakable displeasure.
“You dislike me, don’t you?”
The atmosphere instantly sharpened.
The air turned cold and tense.
Adora instinctively stiffened as she sensed the sudden change.
