Chapter : 28
It was truly shocking.
Ethan was literally saying what I had written.
The rebellion fails, the Dacuss Empire loses the war, and Ethan Dacuss sends Princess Estelle as a hostage to Calix—the exact scenario I had written!
I had written it as though they had no choice but to send Estelle after losing the war, so why did he speak as if he had planned to send her all along?
And to his own sister, no less?
Was I opening my eyes too wide?
Ethan laughed again.
“Lin, why are you so surprised? I have a sister named Estelle. She’s perfect for sending as a hostage to the Everletian.”
Oh my god!
There really are people who say someone is “perfect as a hostage” for their sister….
And he even seemed pleased as he said it.
Ethan continued speaking to me, still dazed from the shock.
“Lin, when you become my crown princess, you’ll naturally be protected. And my sister… no, if you accept my proposal and come to my country, I’ll tell you the secret about her. Hahaha.”
Then Ethan turned and began descending the stairs again.
I was dumbfounded.
Watching him leave, I repeated the many words he had poured out to me in my mind:
‘I don’t really want to see you die.’
‘I can’t give up the crown princess. She’s the crown princess of the Dacuss Empire, after all.’
‘I’ll tell you the secret about my sister.’
And the most shocking of all:
‘If I have to give up the crown princess, I’ll send the princess instead.’
It felt like a sandstorm had whipped through my brain.
A secret of the princess… what could that be?
Did Estelle have a secret?
Well, I had died before even writing the scenes where the heroine appears, so I didn’t really know much about Estelle myself.
Still, there wasn’t really a “secret of the heroine” in the story.
“Huh?”
I was thinking about Ethan’s words as I watched the back of his head descend the stairs, when suddenly he stopped and looked up at me.
He had probably been conscious the whole time of my gaze following him.
And somehow, the moment our eyes met, I felt almost certain of something:
Even if Ethan didn’t love me, he wouldn’t let me die.
I wanted to marry a kind man who loved me, but maybe the man keeping me alive now was the kindest man of all.
And right now, he was the only one capable of doing that.
Of course, going to the Dacuss Empire didn’t guarantee that everything would go smoothly or that my safety would be certain, but the future in Everletian was a guaranteed death.
Then I had to choose the option that offered even a small chance of survival.
Even if it meant relying on that man’s inexplicable favor….
In that moment, I made my decision.
There was no need to wait until tomorrow.
“Ethan!”
From the top of the second-floor stairs, I called out his name to the man who was still watching me.
Ethan said nothing; he just looked at me, as if waiting for something.
Alright, I’ll give you the answer you’re waiting for.
I spoke clearly.
“I’ll marry you. I want to marry you, Ethan!”
Ethan smiled in satisfaction at my words.
It was the smile of someone who already knew the answer.
The next day, I planned to take another walk and visit the famous café alley in the capital.
Ethan insisted on coming with me.
I wasn’t especially eager, but since I had decided to marry him and wanted to see him in a more positive light, I ended up leaving the house with him.
Ethan casually chatted as we walked, tossing out this and that.
But somehow, I found it difficult to treat him naturally.
Once we settled in at a café, I asked him directly.
“Ethan, how long will you stay at our house?”
If I was going to marry him, we would live together for life—or at least for a while—but I hoped he would at least leave after the wedding.
“That’s not a question a fiancée should be asking. Do you want me out quickly?”
Fiancée…?
We just decided to get married yesterday, and now he says this so casually?
“You’re the crown prince, Ethan. In the Dacuss Empire, can the crown prince stay away this long? You should go back.”
I knew he could afford to stay away, but still… couldn’t he leave now?
I suppose the work he was doing in Everletian might be the most important thing for the Dacuss Empire at the moment.
“Of course. I was already a little delayed. You made me this way.”
“Me?”
I had a feeling he was about to say something strange again.
“You kept looking pretty, acting charming, saying you didn’t like Duke Leon, threatening to come to my country, and saying you wanted to marry me. I was a little delayed thinking over whether we should get married.”
“Hah! Ha!”
I was so flabbergasted that I was speechless.
I shouldn’t have asked when I felt uneasy.
My ears were practically bleeding.
“I want to visit the Everlen Imperial Palace with you briefly soon.”
He said this to me, utterly dumbfounded.
The Imperial Palace? Why would we go there?
“Why the palace?”
“To inform Duke Leon that we’re getting married. The empress just needs to make Leon the emperor, but he seems to like you quite a bit… we have to tell him.”
“…Ah.”
I felt a sense of gloom.
Because of my goal to survive, I had no choice but to ignore it, but I still felt a sense of guilt for Leon, who had loved Kaelin.
From his perspective, my sudden change of heart would have already hurt him….
And now, I’m marrying a foreign crown prince.
And he wants to tell him in person at the Imperial Palace?
I pursed my lips in displeasure, and Ethan looked me straight in the eyes, pressing his presence.
“No matter that we came for sightseeing, once we’re in Everlen we should visit the palace at least once. I want to take my fiancée. Don’t you want to come?”
No, I don’t.
I don’t want to….
“Yes, let’s go.”
Although Ethan asked as if he were questioning, it somehow sounded like I had no choice but to go, so I didn’t refuse.
Clearly, in this dynamic, I wasn’t the one in control.
He seemed to sense my feelings from my expression and said, scrutinizing me:
“That look in your eyes… you’re not thinking it’s a shame, right?”
A shame? What?
I’m just feeling guilty and awkward.
Seeing Leon again.
Going to the Imperial Palace….
“No. I just feel a little guilty toward Duke Leon.”
“Hm. Well, love is like that. It goes back and forth. Isn’t it?”
Yeah, maybe.
But in my case, it hasn’t gone back and forth at all.
My love never went to anyone in the first place.
And from what I see, neither did yours.
It’s not love for either of us.
After a moment of conflict, I asked him again.
“Ethan, why do you really want to marry me? I don’t think you love me that much.”
“Love? Not necessary. You’re just very much my type, so I think marriage is fine.”
“…Okay.”
“You’re not really my type? That’s rare…”
Not only am I your type, but your type has to be mine too?
Even if you’re my lifeline, that’s too much.
“I have a firm preference.”
Ethan’s eyes sparkled.
He smiled as if amused and asked:
“Oh? What’s your type?”
“Hans.”
He wouldn’t understand, but I meant Hans, the male lead from “Endless Days and Nights of Mary the Florist and Hans the Baker.”
Hans was my ideal type.
And now I’m going to marry this guy.
“Hans?”
“A kind man, Hans. Everything about him is kind, always kind.”
Do you understand my ‘Hans’?
Since he couldn’t understand anyway, I spoke freely.
“Hahaha, I see. He’s not a real person. Some creature of fantasy?”
Oh my god!
This guy’s instincts are unbelievable!
I hesitated for a moment, and he laughed even louder:
“You should think of me as Hans, the one taking you out of Everletian.”
“Yes. That’s exactly how I think of you.”
I answered gloomily.
Sure, love is difficult, but at least I’ll try not to hate you.
Still, having to marry a man who says things like that made me feel a little—or rather, a lot—depressed.
But it was better than dying.
I tried to compose myself.
A few days later, Ethan and I went to the Imperial Palace.
To my surprise, Ethan guided us not to the Empress or Duke Leon’s palace, but to the Emperor’s palace.
“Ethan, where are we going right now?”
This can’t be right. We’re not going to the main palace, are we?
“Emperor Klaus Everletian wanted to have tea. Oh! I forgot to mention. Sorry. It’s tea time with the Emperor, Empress, Crown Prince, and Duke all together. It’s fine, right? It’s more efficient to tell everyone at once.”
I froze.
No! I’m not fine at all!
Why are you telling me this now?
Seriously!
Everyone there is uncomfortable, especially Calix.
And there’s no need to even inform him!
Anyway, once I officially marry Ethan, Calix would know, but there’s no need to tell him face-to-face.
Thinking about the last conversation with Calix made me want to faint. And now, at the café last time, I said I was dating Ethan, and today I have to say we’re getting married?
I didn’t even want to imagine how much of a ridiculously strange woman he’d think I am.
Well, compared to last time when Ethan said I was dating him, this situation is at least a little less weird.
“Lin, what’s wrong? Come on, we’ll be late.”
Ethan urged me.
I had no choice. I couldn’t run away.
Even if I looked like a crazy woman, so be it.
Calix, the strange character that I didn’t even write, was the one who messed everything up first.
I was only trying to survive in a story where the settings had changed.
And after marrying Ethan and going to the Dacuss Empire, I wouldn’t see him again.
Of course, Everletian and the Dacuss Empire would become entangled in a border conflict over Aolium later, but it would be a local-scale war. Considering the situation, it would conclude with a reinforcement treaty where the heroine Estelle was sent, just as I had written. Today would really be the last time I’d be involved with him.
It had to be the last time!
Male lead, let’s see each other’s faces for the last time today and say goodbye forever.
“Ah, yes. Let’s go!”
I consoled myself with the thought that this would be my last meeting with Calix and resolutely shook off my discomfort, taking another step forward.
