His attitude seemed rather disrespectful for someone addressing the Crown Prince, and I was inwardly surprised.
But thinking about it, hadn’t something similar happened at the Imperial banquet as well?
‘Is it possible that someone with Rastan’s level of power can get away with that?’
Perhaps the order of the world up in the clouds was a little different from how it looked from below.
Unlike my complicated thoughts, Prince Joel seemed completely unconcerned about Rastan’s attitude and replied cheerfully.
“Do conversations really need a specific topic? You chat lightly, grow closer, and then end up talking about deeper things. That is how it goes.”
“Is there really any need for you to become personally close?”
Just as Prince Joel and I both widened our eyes at the incomprehensible remark, Rastan, looking slightly sharp-eyed as if displeased, swept his gaze over everyone present and casually dropped a bomb.
“Lady Krone is my fiancee.”
He said it as if it were nothing, but everyone present was visibly shocked.
“What?!”
“What do you mean…?”
Caught completely off guard by the bombshell, I was startled enough to choke.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“Are you all right?”
I kept coughing, Rastan hurriedly patted my back, and everyone else began murmuring in shock… The atmosphere turned chaotic in an instant.
Yet Rastan continued speaking with a calm expression, his hand still gently patting my back.
“Recently, we completed the engagement paperwork and submitted it to the Central Temple.”
Marchioness Baden, who was well versed in social gossip, lightly raised one hand and asked,
“Why is this the first I am hearing of such major news?”
As if he had prepared for it in advance, Rastan answered without hesitation.
“It is only natural you would not know. Today is the first time we are announcing it. We plan to hold the engagement party soon.”
The room stirred once more.
The young ladies who had been whispering earlier about me being Rastan’s partner instantly turned pale.
Marchioness Baden, maintaining a comparatively composed expression, asked on everyone’s behalf,
“When I saw you at the Imperial banquet, I suspected as much, but I never imagined House Blake would truly form ties with House Krone.”
She was asking how the two of us had come to be engaged.
Given the vast difference in wealth and power between the two Houses, it was a natural question.
From an outside perspective, it didn’t look like House Blake stood to gain anything from this engagement.
“I have had ties with the House Krone since childhood.”
Wasn’t that the same excuse he had used at Gerald’s engagement party?
‘Of course, it wasn’t true.’
But Rastan’s explanation flowed smoothly.
“And some time ago, by chance, we resumed contact. As we did, I came to harbor deep feelings for Lady Krone. Once I became certain of my heart, I proposed to her not long ago.”
In a way, it was the only possible answer.
Since the balance of power between the two families was so uneven, there was no choice but to frame the engagement as one made for love.
Because marriages among high-ranking nobles were, if anything, rarely not political alliances, everyone present was once again taken aback.
Rastan looked around the room as if asking whether there were any further questions, but no one could bring themselves to speak.
Satisfied, he lifted one corner of his mouth and then turned to Princess Selene.
“The reason I entered despite not being invited to Your Highness’s gathering was because I could not bear not to see my beloved fiancee.”
When he lifted my hand and lightly pressed his lips to my fingers, everyone sharply sucked in a breath.
So many simultaneous gasps sounded at once that I nearly burst out laughing, but I barely managed to hold it in.
Yet people were so focused on Rastan’s words that they seemed not to realize they had all reacted in unison.
‘This must be the first time they’ve seen Rastan like this. He’s handsome, but always seemed so cold that no one dared even approach him.’
Even the normally oblivious Prince Joel widened his eyes, then lowered his brows slightly as if feeling something akin to regret. And in that moment, I saw it.
The faint upward curve of Rastan’s lips, and the proud gleam in his eyes.
‘Is he finally relieved now that he had told the Princess about our engagement?’
I thought so without thinking, but then something she had said earlier came back to me.
‘Right. The Princess said there had never been any attempt to pair her with Rastan.’
I quickly lifted my head to look up at Rastan, and he spoke casually toward Princess Selene.
“May I take my fiancee now? I would rather not continue intruding upon Your Highness’s esteemed gathering.”
Coming from someone who had already barged in and thoroughly disrupted the atmosphere, it was quite shameless.
But as a Princess, Selene was no pushover either. She openly showed her displeasure and replied curtly,
“Lady Krone is my guest.”
At such words from a Princess, one might normally tread carefully, but Rastan seemed utterly unconcerned.
“I am aware. However, thanks to this gathering, I have already been deprived of my beloved fiancee for quite some time. I ask that you also spare a thought for the anxious heart of an engaged man.”
‘Oh my.’
On the surface, he spoke politely, but in the end, his conclusion was that he was taking me with him regardless.
In the end, Princess Selene pressed her temple and shook her head back and forth. It was, essentially, a declaration of surrender.
“I didn’t know you were capable of saying such things, Duke Blake.”
“Neither did I. Everyone changes in the face of love.”
At his even more shameless words, I found it difficult to keep my expression in check. As I sat there flustered, Rastan took my hand and gently led me.
“Let us go.”
We were leaving earlier than expected, but there was no real reason to refuse.
I had seen the Princess’s Palace as I had hoped, and had built at least a small degree of familiarity with some of the attendees.
‘And although it wasn’t planned, we even announced our engagement.’
More than anything, with Rastan having stirred up the atmosphere like this, I couldn’t even imagine what kind of questions would be thrown at me if he left and I stayed behind.
‘It would be wiser to make a clean escape together when he offers.’
Reaching a quick decision, I took his hand and rose from my seat.
Of course, I didn’t forget to put on an apologetic, awkward expression as I looked toward Princess Selene, who had invited me.
“My apologies, Your Highness. I will be taking my leave.”
“Very well. Let us talk more another time, Lady Krone.”
The Princess returned the farewell with an expression that was half resignation, half disbelief.
“Then next time, I will come along too—!”
As Prince Joel cheerfully tried to interject, Rastan cut him off before he could finish.
“We will be sending invitations to our engagement party to both of Your Highnesses soon.”
“Ah, well… I will look forward to it.”
As the Crown Prince withdrew awkwardly, it seemed as though Rastan let out a quiet, almost imperceptible chuckle.
I quickly looked up at him, but in the meantime, any trace of an insolent expression had been completely wiped from his face.
I was so flustered that I could barely remember how we even made it out.
It was only after we exited the front gate of the Princess’s Palace that I gathered myself enough to ask Rastan.
I also tried to gently pull my hand out of his grasp, but that proved impossible.
“Rastan, why did you suddenly bring up our engagement there?”
“Were we not going to make it public anyway? Before going to that gathering, I met the Emperor first and informed him, so it was fine.”
We were still inside the Imperial Palace, so I was startled that he referred to His Majesty simply as “the Emperor” and hurriedly glanced around.
Seeing me like that, Rastan lifted the corner of his mouth slightly, as if he found me cute.
“There is no one nearby. And I am close with the Emperor, so he will not take issue with that much.”
True enough, given his senses, there was no way anyone nearby could have been eavesdropping.
“Even so, calling His Majesty so casually inside the Palace is… It startled me.”
“It is fine, but I am sorry for startling you.”
I thought he might let go of my hand then, but instead, his fingers, which had loosened slightly, immediately slid between mine.
Our interlaced hands became more tightly entwined than before.
“As for fully answering your first question, there were several loose-lipped people present. Announcing it in a setting like that will make news of our engagement spread faster and farther.”
“Th- that is true, but were we not planning to announce it only after everything with the Lansval slave trade case was completely wrapped up?”
“…Yes. It was a bit impulsive.”
“Why was that?”
The Rastan I knew was far removed from anything that could be called impulsive.
“Up until I went in, I had no intention of doing that… but once I did, there were a few things that bothered me.”
