CH 57

“…Is there something that I can do?”

“Why must I tell you? History will repeat itself. That is all Marcotte knows.”

I wonder what is waiting for me in the future.

History is a thing of the past, but this man seems to know even all the way to the future.

I don’t know the reason even if I think about it, but because of the man’s disturbing words, Mika’s face flickers in my mind and it makes me feel restless.

I looked toward the window and saw Mika standing tall and looking at me.

No, this is not the time to be worried. I’m sure Mika must be trying to get some information from that raven man. I turned to the man, thinking that I should do my best too, and he told me something as if piercing a nail in me.

“Do you feel safe to have that knight around? When in doubt, you can ask, and you can even escape into those arms. That knight is also not good. He does not realize that being kind and protective can sometimes ruin a person.”

“That can’t be… Mika is a reliable knight.”

I told him what I honestly believe.

But the man turned his head to me and said in a cold tone of voice.

“Then, I will ask you. I know two of your secrets. They are something you do not want that knight to know. If you do not want me to tell your secrets to that knight— Please comply with what I say. How do you wish to proceed?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“You are in love with that knight.”

“!”

Why, how, I wondered, a sense of uneasiness spreading inside me.

Whether this man is Duke Marcotte or his son, there is no doubt he is someone I spoke to for the first time today. How, just how can he say such a thing? But I can’t let him figure out everything here.

I shouldn’t panic and show my weakness, as I did with Vivienne.

I have to put up a good front. Do not convey impatience.

“There is no way such a stupid thing can be true.”

“Then, shall I tell him about it?”

“That’s!”

“See? You are too honest, and you ended up sharing your secret with me. If you do not wish for that knight to know about it, would you-…”

Saying this, the man put his gloved hand on my chin and pushed his opposite hand’s fingertips to my lips through the veil.

Then he told me.

“Would you pretend that we are lovers?”

At that moment, a feeling of embarrassment overcame me.

I was embarrassed, felt miserable about myself, and there was nothing I could do. Because earlier, Mika pressed his fingertips to my lips through the veil in the same way and said the same thing to me.

And then, that’s when I remembered what I thought about that time.

(We were being watched… When Mika said that to me earlier…)

Then I learned that we were being overheard at that time.

The thing I thought at the time was not getting through to Mika, was getting through to this man who was watching somewhere else.

I remembered being kissed jokingly, I remembered us looking at the small room behind the curtains, and I remembered imagining what it would be like if I were a nobody from nowhere.

I thought it was okay because I wore a veil and a mask.

But it was this man who went out of his way to invite us, even going so far as to present us with masks. I had thought about the possibility of being watched from somewhere, but I still failed.

Not everyone will be on my side like Vivienne.

I guess he figured it out just by my small gestures and the expression on my mouth.

And so, this is how he could grasp my secret… and my weakness.

(On top of that, I couldn’t even gloss it over when he pointed it out to me!)

I felt so ashamed to death.

I thought that it couldn’t be helped that I was getting told as someone clueless, incompetent, and foolish. I clench my fists in frustration, feeling like I almost hate myself.

The man continued.

“What would you do if Rashed Rubrum told you so?”

“!”

“That man would not ask so nicely like this. He immediately finds a weakness, and takes advantage of it. Your enemy is cunning. He is quick-witted, well-prepared, strong, and ruthless. Can you keep your will even if that knight’s life is used as a shield? Every time you have something important to you, you also increase your weaknesses. Your Highness, who is only beautiful and pure, is no match for him.”

The man’s fingers slid slowly across my jaw, and I gritted my back teeth.

The faces of Mika, my brother, Vivienne, Tillois, Marie, then Taluha and his family came to mind.

The man was right.

I have a lot of things I want to protect in my arms, but in this situation, everything ended up slipping out through my arms.

I thought about my failure in my first life.

I’m sure that today this man was observing me and examining me to see what kind of person I am. And then, perhaps he pointed out the carelessness he immediately noticed. Perhaps, over the “unknown”.

(Surely this was not a story Mika could be allowed to hear…)

I have a feeling that this man is not a bad person. But he’s not on my side. I can’t read his true nature. Come to think of it, I thought and asked.

“I want you… tell me your name.”

“It is a secret. Adorable prince.”

When he easily refused to do what I expected, and I tilted my head and wondered why, then he told me, “I1Only on this line, Marcotte speaks out of character than usual. He used the polite first-person pronoun ‘watashi’ up until now, but in this line he uses ‘ore’ and sounds more casual with his speech.* just like to have fun.”

(I*, he said…)

I don’t know the reason for the silence of the current Duke Marcotte and his son about the situation of our country. But either way, it seems that this man is silent because he doesn’t care as long as he enjoys it.

If this man is Louis, perhaps it was really his true nature to have that insolent attitude after all.

He’s probably older than me and Mika. However… there is something strange about it. I will have to ask Mika about it later. I asked, wondering if I would be able to see his face one day.

“Why do you hide your head and even your hands?”

“The reason is something you would hear often. My burn scars are hideous, half my face looks terrible, and there is a spot on my head where there is no hair on it.”

The man casually stated while touching the area around his ear, looking at the night view spread out on his left side.

While feeling a little surprised, I squeezed out my voice, “Burn scars, huh…that must have been tough.” When I finally looked at the frightening mask, the man approached me and said right in front of me.

“If Your Highness would ask for it in a cute manner, I may show it to you.”

“……”

Apparently, he has that kind of personality on the inside.

If he is the son that my brother had never seen before, perhaps he’s under house arrest by the Duke because of this unrestrained behavior, I also thought of that. Either way, he’s an unreadable man.

“As for your other secret, I will tell you about it when we meet again.”

I sigh inwardly. What in the world is the other secret that he knows?

The man’s night-colored cloak was blown by the wind.

Then, one last time, he gently pressed my nose through the veil, as if to remind me of the embarrassment I had just experienced earlier.

“Good night, Your Highness the butterfly.”