AWWEWNR Chapter 8
by NikiniksAfter the Princess’s greeting, the Emperor’s blessing, and the Crown Prince’s toast, the music began to play.
The party had begun in earnest. People danced with their partners, or worked their way around the floor to find them.
Many men tried to make advances on Rosaryn, but she ignored them and turned to Tharrott.
“Brother.”
At the sound of Rosaryn’s voice, Tharrott turned. Conscious of the stares, Rosaryn spoke to him a little further away.
“I guess finding a partner isn’t going as well as I thought.”
“…I see.”
Tharrott smiled awkwardly.
Rosaryn glanced around and said to Tharrott, “Then would you mind talking with me for a moment? I’m not finding it as easy to find a partner as I thought I would. If I had known this would happen, I should have just asked my brother to be my partner.”
Those were the words people needed to hear.
Tharrott chuckled and told her to take her time finding one, that it was her coming-of-age ceremony.
Hanaella, listening to their conversation from a distance, wanted to applaud their performance.
‘Ha– such abominable beings.’
The corners of her lips quirked upward in an involuntary chuckle, and then her head bowed low in embarrassment as she realized Lloyd was watching her. Her behavior made Lloyd chuckle again.
“Your Highness Lloyd.”
Princess Leige approached Lloyd as he stood with Hanaella.
She was Lloyd’s younger sister by two years, the child of the same deceased Empress as Lloyd, and thus closer to him as Crown Prince than to the Second Prince, the current Empress’s son.
“Oh– Leige. Congratulations on your coming of age.”
“Congratulations isn’t the right word. You didn’t forget you were supposed to come down here holding my hand, did you?”
“Didn’t they send Lord Tran instead, and you liked his hand better than mine?”
Lloyd’s playful comment made Leige chuckle and shook her head.
“Really, I can’t beat my brother, but this one…”
“Your Highness, the Princess. I am Hanaella Liv Ariel, Lady of the House of Ariel.”
“Oh, so you are Lady Hanaella!”
Leige clasped Hanaella’s hands in greeting.
“Somehow, I suspected it when I saw your jet-black hair and dark eyes, though I’m afraid you’ve been stuck with this fool of a brother.”
“Ha, fool?”
“Lady Hanaella is coming of age today, isn’t she? I’ve heard from Duke Ariel that you’re the same age as me.”
“Yes.”
“Is your hair so dark because of your dark magic? People of the House of Ariel don’t have to learn to wield dark magic, they’re born with it, right? Has the Lady ever met a Knight?”
Caught off guard by Leige’s firestorm of questions, Hanaella forced a smile and answered her questions calmly.
“No, I haven’t accepted the designation of Lord of the Knights yet because my father is still alive. I’ve never learned dark magic, but I’ve heard that it can be cast without being born with it, but I haven’t actually practiced it yet because of my father’s presence.”
“Oh! I see, then can you show me sometime, I’m actually quite interested in dark magic…”
“I’m afraid your interest must be satisfied with Lord Tran for now, for the rest of the young ladies surrounding him.”
“Aaah! What!”
The startled maiden’s eyes widened at the sight of Tran surrounded by women, and she quickly walked over to him.
Hanaella just stared at her, dumbfounded that she was greeting the Princess whom she hadn’t even spoken to in the past at her coming-of-age ceremony.
Apparently, the Princess had grown close to Rosaryn since her coming-of-age ceremony. She had even visited the Knight’s base with Rosaryn after her marriage to Tharrott and the transfer of the Knights to him.
‘So you were interested in the dark knights from the start, and it was because of it that you befriended Rosaryn?’
That’s possible. Since I became officially betrothed to Tharrott on my coming-of-age celebration, if Rosaryn knew of the Princess’s interest in the dark knights, she could have used the opportunity to get to her brother.
Certainly, after the Knights were entrusted to Tharrott, the Princess frequently visited the Knights through Rosaryn.
“What do you think?”
Surprised. Hanaella flinched at the suddenness of Lloyd’s question.
“Ah… no.”
“Would you like to dance?”
Lloyd’s words made Hanaella falter. If she danced with the Crown Prince at this point, her name would be on every tea party invitation for some time to come.
“Can I decline?”
Hanaella asked so low that only Lloyd could hear her.
“Who am I to be turned down by anyone?”
“…”
“Haha! Just kidding. I’m not much of a dancer myself.”
“Then…”
“Instead.”
“…?”
“Since you declined my dance request, I guess you’ll have to stay out until the party’s over.”
“…?”
“Since my partner declined my dance request, shouldn’t we stay until the party is over?”
“…”
“…well, shall we go then?”
“…Where…?”
Hanaella asked in confusion, and Lloyd grinned like a child.
“My secret place.”
💫
Stepping out onto the terrace with Tharrott, Rosaryn found herself biting her thumb’s nail.
It was a habit she had whenever she was nervous or things weren’t going her way.
Tharrott grabbed her hand and stopped her, saying, “Perhaps you shouldn’t be biting your thumb.”
“It seems that Lady Ariel has no interest in…”
“I don’t have a connection, so I’ll make one!”
“…It doesn’t have to be Ariel, I’d rather have some other ducal lady…”
“Where have you been listening to what I’ve been saying all this time, it has to be House Ariel, and it has to be a house that those freaking High Priests will never be able to get involved with!”
Shouting angrily, Rosaryn let out a long sigh, pressing her hand to her forehead as if realizing her actions.
Then she looked up at Tharrott and smiled her trademark soft smile.
“They see me as an eyesore, Tharo. If they knew that my brother and I were lovers, they would surely point the finger at me as a sinister woman who taints the blood of paladins.”
“…”
“A woman who tarnishes the name of House Thearine, the heir to divine power, just as they did to my mother… Is that all? There’s no telling what those old foxes will do to keep us apart.”
“…”
“Tharo. I hope they can’t do anything to us if they find out about our relationship.”
“…”
“To do that, we need the Knights of House Ariel. You know that.”
“…Yes.”
“Let’s plan again. I don’t think we’ll be able to make it past her with any effort. Her defenses are stronger than I thought.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what it was, but she didn’t seem to like me.”
“She didn’t have anything against you when we met in the dressing room. Isn’t that weird? I wonder why, since we’ve never met before.”
“…”
“Anyway, there’s no tree that won’t fall if you cut it ten times. I think you should be more assertive with her. I’ll set up the situations.”
“…Yeah… but Rose.”
Turning to Rosaryn, Tharrott’s voice sounded a little pensive.
“I know this is a bit of a strange thing to ask, but… are you sure you’re okay?”
“Huh?”
“Even if I… stay with her.”
“…”
“If you want to win her heart, you’ll have to deal with unwanted touching. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
Her heart sank at Tharrott’s words.
The tip of her nose wrinkled, and her fingertips tingled, but she forced herself to look at him as if she didn’t care.
“It’s what I’ve come to expect from loving you, Tharo.”
“…”
“We can never be husband and wife, and to preserve this love, Tharo needs a scarecrow wife, and I can live with you holding Ariel’s hand in front of me if it means marrying the perfect scarecrow wife.”
“…”
“But as you promised before, your love for me must remain unchanged, and it must be my child and Tharo’s child who will carry on the line of House Thearine. Don’t forget that.”
“…I won’t forget.”
“I love you, Tharo, and you have no idea how much I love you.”
“I love you more than you can imagine, and that’s why I decided to play this crazy marriage game for you.”
“I can’t wait for Tharo to marry her and take over the Knights.”
Looking pitifully at Rosaryn as she spoke with tears welling up in her eyes, Tharrott wished he could wipe her tears away and comfort her without paying attention to his surroundings.